Page 9 of Dark as the Cursed Abyss

Rolling her eyes, Chloe clicked her tongue. “If it were that simple, my father would have simply sent a letter requesting her assistance. Avra is a complicated woman—except you know that already. So why act so lackadaisical about the situation?”

“Because I half expect Avra to cut my head off the second I arrive. A compensation of sorts for what my father did. Take away the thing he loves…or the thing she thinks he loves. Kohl would have been much better suited for her revenge.” Skin prickled at the nape of her neck and Farah glanced back toward the helm where the blue-haired woman had her eyes locked on their conversation.

“My aunt is bitter and vindictive, but she is also fair. She adheres strictly to the laws of the Grechi, the Binding Law and the others most choose to ignore. My uncle is a completely different story, but Avra holds the final say in Hespalian court.”

“That isn’t exactly reassuring, little wolf.” Farah’s stomach turned once more before that same tickling returned along her skin, washing away whatever unease had lingered. When Farah’s gaze returned to the helm, the woman’s eyes were no longer the crystalline color of these shores, but the deep gray of a tumultuous storm.

“Who is that?” Farah finally asked, muttering the question under her breath.

Chloe turned to follow Farah’s gaze. “That is our captain. She hails from the eastern lands of Anatole and formerly led a band of pieratis on the Saron Sea.” Chloe smiled wickedly, flashing her wolven canines. “She’s the most deadly woman I know. Some say the beads she wears are crafted from the bones of her victims dipped in silver.”

A gods-damned pirate was taking them to Hespali? Just when Farah thought her situation could not get any worse. The pirates from the shores of Anatole were vicious, worse than her father and King Edmund Briarre from Harrenfort in the north. “And you trust her? This pirate?”

“Do you trust my brother? Leighton? Thalia?” Chloe questioned.

“Of course.”

“Well, our captain is one and the same. Kirke is loyal to her crew, and you are now part of that crew.”

“Kirke? Like the ancient sea goddess?” The name suited the woman. She was terrifyingly captivating, as was the witch from Farah’s childhood myths.

“Never heard of her,” a melodious voice said from beside Farah, the woman’s eyes back to their normal color. Gods—had she just aervaded over? Kirke reached out her hand and Farah took it in a firm shake. “You can just call me Kire.”

Chapter Seven

Farah

The sun had shifted to near the center of the sky, signaling that around five hours had passed since the Parataxis left port. Wandering over to a barrel by the stern of the ship, Farah fiddled with her embroidery kit. The wooden hoop was supposed to be in the shape of a circle, though it had warped over time. The pattern on the ivory fabric was marked in charcoal, a scene of a ship like this very one with the moon illuminating the sky above. She settled onto the barrel letting her legs swing back and forth slightly as she worked.

Using a thin needle and some aqua-colored thread, Farah began to stitch a pattern into the cloth, starting with the waves of the sea. It helped to calm her nerves and pass the time aboard the ship. Calm waters and steady wind meant there was not much else she needed to do, especially aboard such a well-staffed vessel.

Quite honestly, she did not think the ship needed the majority of the crew it carried. The captain wove them along the charted course with ease, never shouting orders for the sails’ trim, nor using a single spyglass or consulting her compass to determine they were in fact going the correct direction. Distances that should have taken at least a day appeared to take them mere hours. At this rate, they would enter the Hespali port in three days’ time. It was as if Kire and the sea were one. And it was a beautiful sight to behold, even if the woman’s unusual demeanor terrified Farah.

“What are you making?” Kire’s voice came out of nowhere and Farah jumped up from her seat. The captain was just at the helm, she swore it, but now Kire stood beside her. “Apologies, Princess, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“How do you move so quickly?” Farah asked, gathering the materials she had accidentally flung into the air.

“Ah, that’s just the tricks of the sea. When you are out here with nothing but the vast unknown surrounding you, time can seem to move differently.” Her voice was still as melodic as when she first introduced herself. Captivating as a siren’s call.

“Tricks of the sea…right.” Farah bit her lower lip, wondering if she should pry further, but was distracted by a scene out of the corner of her eye.

On the opposing side of the ship, two of Kire’s crew were taking on a silver-haired wolf with a black stripe across its eyes. The creature moved with preternatural speed, weaving in between the two men with ease. It wasn’t much of a fight, if she were to be honest. There were no cuts along the wolf’s lean body, but there were several claw marks gauged into the men’s leathers and one had a slash across his eye.

“Does she do this often?” Farah turned toward the captain. “When you are out at sea.”

It reminded her of the time they sailed on The Nostos, coming back from rescuing Chloe’s brother from the dungeons of Alentus. She was injured only a day before and yet still practiced fighting on the ship. At the time it was infuriating. Farah had just braced her broken bones, and even though Chloe was a Grechi and healed quickly, it was not at the same rate as the elemental gods.

“It is her favorite thing to pass the time. Personally, I wouldn’t challenge her.” Kire laughed. “She’s never lost a match, not even to my toughest of men. They hate it, which is why they entertain her challenges so often. In hopes they will eventually win.”

For such an otherwise proper lady, Chloe had the skill of an elite soldier. Something compared to Commander Ajax of the former Spartanis. She could easily fight side by side with them all, yet chose to indulge in court politics instead.

“Do you think she would accept a challenge from me?”

Kire raised her brows and scratched the air in front of her. “You wish to be clawed?”

“I wish for her to speak to me. It seems like a perfectly good way to force that.”

“You two don’t speak, generally?” Kire questioned.