Page 6 of The Isles of the Gods
And he promised. It’s been a year.
I read the board, then read it again, blinking, and thenagain,my heart slowly curling up inside my chest. There has to be at least a sighting. Therehasto be.
For the first time a new fear is prickling at the back of my mind. Could the winter storms have set in early? My father can sail a ship through anything, but there’s a reason nobody braves the straits when the cold comes. They say there are waves halfway up the mast.
“Selly! Selly Walker! Over here, girl!” Someone’s calling my name above the chatter of sailors, and I twist around to get my bearings. The voice is familiar, and I catch sight of a clerk working at the bank of counters down one side of the room. She’s pointing at the mail wall, and I turn to set a course through the crowd, shoving now with a new urgency, shouldering past sailors who’ve stopped to greet old friends and exchange news. Everyone has something to say, with foreign ports changing their mood every day right now, but my eyes are fixed on my destination.
The mail wall is where sailors pin up letters we carry back for other ships. Ducking under a chatty bosun’s arm, I find myself face to face with the board. I see the letter straightaway, and it’s like my body knows before my brain does.
The air goes out of my lungs, and there’s a sudden ache behind my eyes as I reach up to pull it from the pin jammed through it. There’s another beside it, addressed to Captain Rensa of theLizabetta,and like mine, it’s far too thick to be a quick note telling us when to expect him in Kirkpool.
This isn’t an arrival date. It’s an excuse.
The crowd jostles me, squashing me in against a wall as I pull the letter open with shaking hands, nearly dropping the sheaf of paper inside. I unfold it, still hoping that somehow it’s going to say—
Dear Selly,
I know this isn’t the letter you were hoping for, but—
But.My breath comes short and sharp as I scan the letter’scontents.
Butthere’s a fortune to be made up here.
Butthis will buy us another ship, perhaps one you’ll like even better than theLizabetta.
Butthere are some talented magicians here, and I can’t pass up the chance to recruit them.
ButI have to winter here, keep trading, keep working.
Butit’ll be another half a year before I’m home.
ButI rest easy, knowing Rensa will teach you more than anyone, and Kyri is a talented ship’s magician, so perhaps…
I crumple the letter in one fist and shove it into the bag with the candles, then grab Rensa’s and cram it in as well.
This can’t be happening.
Clenching my jaw so hard it hurts, I press a forearm over my mouth to muffle my scream of frustration. Suddenly the crowd around me is too loud, too close, and I’m searching frantically for a gap I can push through, a way to get out into the fresh air and sea breeze once more.
But then my gaze lands on the departures board, and I see it with new eyes.
TheFreyais leaving on the dawn tide, the very last ship to slip up north until spring. And that means I have one more chance to fix this.
If Da won’t come to me, I’ll go to him.
One way or another, I’ll be on board when theFreyadeparts.
—
I stumble out into the afternoon light, my pulse still drumming at my temples. The board says theFreyais across on the northern docks, and I duck and weave in that direction.
Kirkpool is one of the great harbor cities of the world andAlinor’s capital city—home port to my father’s trading fleet. Her docks form a semicircle around her natural harbor, its mouth opening to the Crescent Sea to the west.
MyLizabettais moored on the southern docks, so nobody will spot me making this visit, not all the way across the water.
TheFreya’s captain won’t say no to Stanton Walker’s daughter, and getting their agreement instead of stowing away will make for an easier passage. Hells, if they let me aboard, I’ll stay with them until they cast off. There’s nothing on theLizabettaI can’t bear to leave behind.
Urgency drives me faster as I make my way past ships from every port, from Kethos to Escium to Port Naranda itself, all tied up side by side, the sea breeze whipping blond strands out of my braid and around my face.
