Page 31 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

Caspian practically growled in frustration. “Convinced you that you should be ashamed for your illness. That it somehow makes you less.”

“No one,” I lied, clearing my throat as my body finally adjusted to the temperature change. I wasn’t used to going in and out of warm shops, and clearly my lungs didn’t like it. “I told you, I’m fine.”

“Yes, you sound the picture of health,” Caspian replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as I pursed my lips. “And a ‘thank you’ would be polite, Urchin.”

“Should I thank you for presuming?” I sneered indignantly. “You didn’t even ask before assuming that you knew what I needed more than I did.” Just like every other male in my life. I didn’t add the last thought aloud, but I thought it, and it stung.

“You’re right,” Caspian said after a moment, his lips twisting into a frown. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would tell me if I asked.”

I didn’t reply, knowing he was completely right. I wouldn’t have told him. I didn’t like to tell anyone about my lungs, and my parents had always warned me against it anyway.

Caspian sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward as if seeking patience. “I need a drink.” He pulled me behind him, striding with purpose down the lane and toward the docks, where several taverns had been situated.

“It’s barely noon,” I protested, checking the sky to see if I was correct. The fog was thinner, but it was impossible to tell the exact position of the sun.

“And you’re driving me to the bottle already,” he drawled, pulling me after him.

“But—”

“If I let you go,” he asked suddenly, whirling to pin me with a sharp glare. “Will you swearnotto run off and try and swim back to your father?”

“I…you’d let me go?” I asked, bewildered about this change of tune.

“Make no mistake, Princess, you won’t escape,” he warned, his golden eyes seeming to pierce me with their intensity. “You can try, but Iwillfind you.You are mine.”

My heart gave a heavy thump as something warm coiled through me. Desire? What in the name of the Great Mother was wrong with me?

Caspian smirked as if he knew exactly what effect he had on me, adding, “For now, at least. So promise me you won’t do something foolish, and I’ll leave you to explore.”

“Yes,” I breathed, excitement coursing through me at the idea of being left to explore on my own, quickly pushing the desire aside. I wasneverleft alone anywhere, and I could practically taste the freedom.

“Be at the Rose and Pearl by sunset,” Caspian said, dropping my hand and turning with an indolent wave. “It’s the tavern closest to the docks.”

“What will I do if I can’t find it?” I shouted, realizing I had no money and no real knowledge of the city’s layout.

Caspian turned, walking backwards down the path with a wry grin. “I’ll send Astraios to find you, Urchin.”

“That’s not my name!” I shouted.

“Whatever you say, Princess!” he shouted back, his grin even wider. He turned with another little wave before I could even grimace at his impertinence.

I bit my lip, watching Caspian’s retreating form. His wings truly looked better, although the fact that he wasn’t flying made me think they were still not fully healed.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the image of golden skin and white feathers. Caspian confused me. He had taken me prisoner, but offered me freedom. He knew about my cough, or he suspected, but he didn’t judge it as a weakness. He was my enemy, and yet…

Yet I worried that I might be able to think of him as a friend. I certainly felt like I knew him better than my own betrothed, even though I’d known him for days, rather than the years I had spent with Vitulus.

My gut twisted at the thought of the betrothal I’d be returning to. Of what my father and Vitulus might say if I asked them to listen to Caspian. What they mightdo.

Without realizing, I had already begun to wander away from the apothecary and back toward the bookshop we had passed earlier. There were a few other patrons inside, two dwarves, a siren, and maybe a fae, although it was hard to be sure. None seemed to bat an eye at me as I entered, despite my teal hair and what I thought of as obvious foreignness.

I perused the shelves, occasionally flipping through tomes of fairy tales and ponderous histories and stories with beautifully painted images. Several books spoke of the different magical races of the lands, and others told the histories of warring factions, like the Seelie and Unseelie fae to the south and the witches and demons in the north.

I sighed wistfully at the titles, wishing I had the money and freedom to buy as many books as I wanted. But even if I could afford them, I’d probably have to hide them beneath my bed for fear of them being discovered. Some day, I vowed, I’d have a library where I could keep all of the books my heart desired. And Vitulus would just have to put up with it.

There didn’t appear to be any books on siren or selkie history, and I scowled at the books, as if this shortcoming were their fault. I was intensely curious to hear the whole story of the sirens and the Great Betrayal, and Caspian had been smart to let Marella tell me something. I was always more likely to trust my own kind than his.

I mentally started devising questions I would ask to get the whole truth from him as I wandered out of the bookshop and through the streets of Nordhavn. I explored stalls and shops as I fancied, weaving between sirens and dwarves and fae, all who ignored my presence completely. It was nice to be anonymous for a change, and I explored several shops of curiosities and pastries and sweets and clothes, wishing I was visiting this town under different circumstances.