Page 40 of Broken Hearted
“My momma has the best needlework in all of Soleum,” the little girl said seriously.
The woman blushed, ducking her head to try to cover the coloring of her cheeks. “Thank you, my lord,” she said, finally accepting Adrien’s money.
Gently taking the fabric from my hands, he draped it over my shoulders. From behind me, Adrien leaned forward and spoke in my ear. “It can get chilly at night on the ship,” he said. His breath brushed against my neck as he spoke, sending delicious shivers to dance down my spine.
I smiled up at him. “Thank you for the gift,” I said.
His gaze locked with my own and then dipped to my mouth. Feeling suddenly dry, I swiped my tongue over my bottom lip to wet it, and Adrien’s teal eyes darkened. “Entirely my pleasure,” he said, his voice husky.
“Don’t you want a skirt to go with it?” the little girl said, breaking what felt like a spell that had come over me. An Adrien spell. One that needed no daily dosing of tea because it was naturally occurring.
Startled, I began to laugh as the woman scolded her daughter for pushing too hard for a sale, but Adrien wholeheartedly agreed with the little girl. Fifteen minutes later we walked away from the stall with a new skirt, dress, and another thicker shawl. Adrien insisted on buying it all for me and I wanted to protest, but I could also see how excited the woman and her daughter were to makethe sales, so I kept my mouth shut. Between Adrien and Zane’s generosity I’d never have to shop for clothes again.
We walked through the rest of the market before I thought to ask Adrien about the sailor. As soon as I did, his lighthearted attitude changed.
“A pirate sighting,” he said, a sour note in his voice.
“Pirates?” I asked him.
He nodded as he led me over to where a small boat was tied to the side of the dock.
“Huge problem for me right now. They’ll take your cargo and your ship, and then leave you for dead.”
I cleared my throat, scanning the horizon for a pirate flag like in one of my novels. But of course, there was nothing there except the ships moored in the harbor.
He laughed. “They look like any old sailor, until you get close,” he warned.
Yikes. I swallowed hard. I double-and then triple-checked that I had the Shadow Heart in the satchel attached to my waist, as Adrien helped me into the dinghy that would take us to his larger ship.
After untying the boat from the dock, he pushed us off and then settled onto the bench seat to start rowing. Holding a hand up to my forehead to block the sunlight, I asked which ship we were going to. There were a few bobbing in the harbor in front of us. He paused rowing to point to the largest one, a three-masted ship with square sails. The hull was painted white and there was a carving of a female attached to the bow. As we neared, I read the name along the stern.Beatrice.
“She’s beautiful,” I told him.
“My pride and joy,” Adrien replied with a grin.
I fanned myself. I’d already taken off the shawl Adrien had wrapped around me and was grateful that one of Adrien’s maids had provided me with a linen shirt that was tight around my torso, but loose in the sleeves, with matching pants that were more breathable than what I’d worn up in the Western and Northern Kingdoms. The sun was relentless here, something I wasn’t used to.
“You must not get much warm weather in the Winter Court,” he said, noticing that I scowled at the giant orange ball in the sky. I’m not surprised that was obvious. My skin was so pale it was practically glowing.
“I do not. And I like it that way,” I told him.
He chuckled and kept rowing.
We reached the ship quickly after that and before I knew it, I was scaling a rope ladder and climbing over the railing. It was a flurry of activity up on the deck. Men rushing around, adjusting the sails, pulling ropes, moving around supplies. Honestly, I had no idea what they were doing, but it was obvious they were busy. So much so that hardly anyone took note of Adrien and me arriving.
I glanced over at Adrien next to me and he was beaming. He filled his lungs up with the briny sea air and then let it out slowly, closing his eyes as if he was savoring the moment. It would be clear to anyone with two eyes that Adrien loved being on this ship.
“Come on,” he said, looking down at me. “I’ll show you to your quarters for the duration of our trip.”
I nodded and followed him past some men who gave me polite smiles and nods, and then through a doorway that led below deck.The hallways in the ship were dim and narrow. We had to angle our bodies whenever someone passed so we could both fit.
Adrien led me to a surprisingly spacious cabin positioned at the back of the ship. There was a horizontal row of windows that afforded a beautiful view of the sea. There was also a desk bolted to the floor in front of the windows, and opposite the desk was a fairly large bed.
“This is the captain’s quarters,” Adrien said. “You can stay here.”
I turned to him with a furrowed brow. I hated that I was taking someone’s room. “Then where will the captain be staying?” I asked.
“I’ll be staying in one of the smaller cabins,” Adrien said with a grin.
