Page 24 of Valour

Books lined the walls, and various instruments stood on the shelves. Wooden chairs were screwed to the floor, and unlike Hester’s chart room, there was no settee. It was plain, functional.

Septimus stood over the chart table in the centre of the room, hands braced on it, eyes on the chart of the Argentinian coast before him. His breeches seemed too loose about his waist, his belt pulled tight, and the skin under his eyes was smudged grey. What on Earth had he been thinking, coming all this way, starving himself and his men?

“I invoke the Right of Parl—” she began.

“Sit,” Septimus said, his voice a rumble that set the tiny hairs on the back of Hester’s neck on end.

“Not a chance in Hell.” Hester perched her hands on her hips. “The last time I sat in your presence you tied me to the chair.”

Septimus raised his sapphire eyes to hers, and the anger in them was poorly hidden. “I told you not to accept Charlotte Bailey’s offer of employment.”

“I recall the conversation very well,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

He slammed his fist on the table so suddenly that Hester jumped. “You’re going to get yourselves killed. Turn back.”

Hester scoffed. He thought they were going to get themselves killed? Surely he only thought that because she was a woman. “No. If I were a man you wouldn’t question my actions. I am not some wilting flower, Septimus, and you would do well to remember that.”

“FINE,” he bellowed, stalking out from behind the table and towards Hester, who did not flinch this time.

“Fine?” Well, that was easy. But then why had he come all this way?

Septimus closed the gap between them, standing over her. The scent of tobacco and salt had her taking a deeper inhale.

“Yes, fine,” he growled. “So, you plan to be the first to cross the Southern Continent?”

Hester looked up into his eyes, her magic awakening under her ribs. “Yes.”

“I will beat you,” he said, in a voice so low it thrummed through her.

The air around them crackled as her power slipped out between the cracks. Hester narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“You heard me. I will get there first,” he snarled, his eyes darting to the sparks that fizzed in the air. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

Hester broke eye contact, filling in the cracks in the walls of her chest, the sparks around them fading. She could not let him get under her skin. “Preposterous. We have planned this for months. Emlyn said you were barely provisioned to cross to Argentina. Did you eat anything at all on the voyage over here? You look dreadful.” He did. Too thin, his rugged face more lined than before.

Septimus clenched his fists. “That is no concern of yours.”

“And what of you swearing on your crew to sink my ship?” Hester almost kicked herself for reminding him of this, but she was increasingly bemused by his declaration of competition.

“You played your tricks, Hester, perhaps I played my own.”

Hester shook her head, the corners of her lips turning up slowly.

“You cunning rogue,” she said, narrowing her eyes appraisingly. “So…let me get this straight. This was all because you want to be the first to make the crossing of Antarctica? And now I have forced your hand? Forced you to act quicker than you planned?”

Septimus glowered. “Yes.”

Interesting. A race could be entertaining. “Listen, I can tell by the way she’s sitting in the water that you barely have any provisions on board. Can you even get everything you need here in Argentina? If you need any help, you know where to find me,” Hester said, winking. There was a loud thud against the wall from outside, and her gaze flicked to the closed door.

“I do not need your help. Don’t be ridiculous. Provisions will be secured.”

“Alright, if you say so,” Hester said. Running footsteps echoed away down the corridor outside. “See you on the ice.”

“See you on the ice,” Septimus muttered, his eyes darkening, jaw clenched.

A shout that sounded an awful lot like Fliss came from somewhere deeper inside the ship, and Hester stilled.

“What was that?” She raced to the door and flung it open. “Fliss?” Hester’s eyes widened. Her first mate was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Septimus’s. “What have you done with my mate?” She rounded on Septimus, marching right up to him and jabbing him in the chest with her forefinger, all of her teeth bared. She would murder them all if they harmed Fliss.