Page 139 of Spar of Hearts

What are you, compared to a prince?

Gut-wrenching visions of Anya being chained to the Winter Prince flooded his mind. What misery she was ready to endure, what heartbreak and pain, all out of love for her people.

He clenched the letter in his fist and sprinted up the steps to the main deck, bursting into the cool dawn air so heavy with mist he couldn’t see a foot beyond the baluster.

Rod? Yomira grumbled sleepily. The stern creaked and dipped as the wyvern stood, joints crackling. Isen was nowhere to be found. Anya had been so determined to do this, she’d flown away on a dragon she hardly knew. Roderick’s mind clung to every detail of her. How scared she must have been, up in the sky without him to hold fast to?

No.

He’d been the one holding onto her, even as she shook with fear. Somehow, down in the depths of his heart, he’d known his time with her was fleeting. But he never thought she would vanish like morning dew, or a sailor’s mirage.

“She’s gone. She’s gone,” he said shakily. Tears pressed at the backs of his eyes. They were past the Gates of Hav, far beyond the glacial wall and its enchantments. Anya had thought of everything, anticipated his every move like the strategist she was. But even now, he fought the urge to dive into the sea and try to swim back.

Rod? Yomira prodded him with her warm snout.

When he didn’t reply, Yomira simply curled around him and let him cry. Though the wyvern did her best to block out the tortures in his head with a gentle rumble, they still broke through. Anya being forced to mate with the Prince, to bear his royal heirs, her beautiful mind suffocated and her adventurous paws bound day after day until she became a shell of her true self.

It made him sick.

One by one, the crew awoke around him, filtering topside from the belly of the ship: Ornella rubbing her head with her children each holding a hand. Octavio carrying a very disoriented Lady Rowan, Bernard and Annette wiping magical slumber from their eyes while Olivia whined softly.

Gail’s voice carried from below, “What in the damn hells happened? Ah’ got sailor’s breath for days!”

Roderick watched as Captain Verden followed Ornella up to the stern. It took Ornella a moment to notice him concealed in the circle of Yomira’s tail, much like the way he’d hidden in the curtain of his mother’s hair as a child. But the world still found him.

It always did.

“Roderick!” Ornella exclaimed. “You are alive!” She hoisted him to his feet in a powerful Lycanian hug, then pulled back and surveyed him head to toe in a motherly manner. She squeezed his shoulders, his arms, and counted his fingers until she was satisfied he wasn’t missing any pieces.

Terror fell onto Ornella’s normally calm face as she whirled her head, surveying the deck. “Where is Her Highness?”

The reality of Ornella noticing Anya’s absence made the pit crack like a canyon. A part of him was still clinging to the hope that this was just a nightmare, and she was still wrapped in his arms—but the crunch of the parchment in his hand proved otherwise.

He silently handed the note to Ornella. Her golden eyes flicked back and forth, reading in a frenzy.

“Mother Moon,” Ornella said, horrified. Sudden fire lit in her eyes. She whipped to Captain Verden. “Captain! Turn this ship around!”

Roderick couldn’t even bring himself to tell her it was useless.

The captain tried to wrestle the helm, but it stayed firmly fixed in its course.

“No can do, Ornella! We’ve got a ghost sailin’ her!”

“It’s no ghost, Captain,” Roderick said. Defeat marred his tone. “It’s kelpie.”

“KELPIE?” The captain’s bushy brows and beard shot up. He darted over to the baluster, leaning dangerously far to catch a glimpse of the seaweedy creatures. “Great guppies above, they’re real! I told you! I told you I saw ‘em, Ornella!”

Roderick hadn’t considered the rarity of kelpie, especially after his time in Aquillas. He’d been in a magical storm, met two Lycanians who could shift, talking Kobolds, and a thriving kingdom he’d once thought an icy wasteland. Nothing surprised him anymore.

Ornella went to peer over the edge as well. “So you did,” she said. “But why are they pulling us?”

The rest of the crew gathered around as Roderick told them everything that happened since the storm. Octavio sat beside him with Lady Rowan, who sobbed uncontrollably as she read the letter. Having them near to share in his sorrows helped, if only a little.

“M-maybe she has a plan,” Annette said, wiping tears on her sleeve.

Bernard shook his head. “I don’t want to be the negative voice here, but if there was any other way to help the children, I think she would’ve done it already.”

“Now, Bernard,” Annette scolded.