Page 207 of Salt in the Seas
“We can’t keep all of our promises,” Gaeren said. “Not when we’re making impossible ones.”
Riveran stood a little taller, masking his face once more. “Which is why you ask the impossible of me.” He whistled, and Gullet flew to his shoulder. “I’ll take them, but I expect you here when I return.”
Gaeren nodded slowly. “Should I make that a promise?”
Riveran snorted.
Gaeren let go of Riveran’s hand, feeling a sense of loss as he gave up contact with both the starbridge and his friend. Then he pulled his parents over to Riveran and Enla, instructing them all to hold each other tightly.
“Try not to throw up on my sister when you land.” He grinned at Riveran, who couldn’t seem to return the smile as he swallowed hard and nodded.
Riveran would take care of Enla no matter what happened toGaeren. He knew that, and not just because Lady Merinnia had seen a path where things played out that way. It was just who Riveran was.
Gaeren stepped back, but before Riveran could recite the words, the doors flew open hard enough to hit the walls and pop off their hinges, sending dust and debris flying through the room. Riveran ducked while bracing himself over Enla, but Gaeren’s parents fell back to the stone floor with groans, a cut blooming blood on the king’s face. Gaeren tugged on their arms, attempting to pull them back to Riveran and Enla, but his mother cried out, favoring her left wrist and ankle.
The winex snarled, forming a protective ring, but boots stomped on the floor as the strange people with darker skin, golden tattoos, and piercings at their collar bones surrounded them, making the dust pick up even more.
“Gaeren?” Riveran called out before coughing. “Do I wait?”
“You need to go,” Gaeren hissed at his mother as the room filled with Ahmranans. “Now!”
Her cries turned to sobs and she reached for her husband, who cradled her in his arms, where Gaeren noticed another cut bleeding heavily.
“I don’t want to hide anymore.” His father’s voice held regal pride despite his humble position. “I would rather she killed me than made me her brand again.”
Gaeren swore and pulled on his father harder. “She’ll do exactly that. I’m the throne warden. My role is to protect the throne. There’s no throne without you in it.” But the stubborn man stayed put with his wife, their strangely calm acceptance of their fate making Gaeren more panicked.
But then his father smiled and placed a hand on Gaeren, feeding him energy he didn’t know the old man had in his reserves. “You’re Enla’s throne warden, not mine.” His voice grew ragged. “Protect her.”
Gaeren hesitated for a breath to let the peace on his parents’ faces drill into his memory, then he turned his back on them.
“Take her, Riveran! Now!”
Riveran recited the words on the arrow, and bright white light enveloped the two of them just as Mayvus entered the room.
CHAPTER 80
Orra stoodin the courtyard as hordes of Ahmranans ran past her. A few paused occasionally as if debating whether they should engage her. But after being in the presence of Stars for several moons, it seemed they’d developed a recognition for what she was or what she’d been. They passed her by, clearly deciding it wasn’t worth the risk.
Their high cheekbones and golden tattoos brought back memories of life before the Great Divide. The Ahmranans were a prideful people, but not without reason. They held more starblood than most half-lights, partly because they’d intentionally bred themselves that way, the same way the royal family verified starblood concentration before bonding their children.
But the Ahmranans had taken it to a different level, often turning those without magic into slaves. Perhaps they’d changed in the last thousand years, but if her experience with Lance and Victor during her days as Pirate Redwood was any indication, they were just as harsh as they’d always been.
“Have you seen Reyna?” she asked a few people passing by.
One woman side-eyed her. “She’s with the other Stars,” she said noncommittally before continuing on.
Orra scanned the people, looking for someone who might have more authority. The crowd grew thicker, forcing everyone’s progress to slow, which worked in Orra’s favor.
A tall lanky man stood out with twice as many tattoos as the others, his chest strapped with dozens of daggers and his starlock held in place at his collarbone with a bright red piercing meant to draw the eye to his power. She placed her hand on his arm to stop him, then sucked in a gasp as a familiar darkness welled in him.
“Victor,” she murmured. He shared blood with the despicable Ahmranan pirate from her past, whether he was a direct descendant or some distant offshoot, she couldn’t say. But it left her troubled. Why had Reyna and the others chosen to commune with these people?
The man’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”
She shook her head and pulled her hand away, her fingertips feeling seared. “I didn’t—you share his name?”
He pulled a dagger from his chest straps and angled it up toward her chin. “Who are you?”
