Page 175 of Sword & Sacrifice

Koen stood, chin tilted and back straight, glowering at the pirates as if he could scare them off with a single look.

Before anyone could react—to leave as asked or knock the boy down a few pegs—Echo shouted, “Out of my way, out of my way.” She pushed her way through the crowd and plunked down two plates, one for herself and one for Emmaline. “Gods, I leave her alone for one minute, and you’re already hounding her!”

“What do you expect?” one of the crew asked, a large woman with a golden smile that reminded Emmaline of Griselda. “After spending half the night telling us stories about her!”

“What sort of stories?” Emmaline asked warily as she accepted the plate of food.

Koen’s shoulders slumped as everyone ignored him, but he didn’t give up. He squeezed between two crew members, jabbing them with his pointy elbows until they gave him space, and sat immediately across from Emmaline. “She told everyone that your mother is a witch, your father is an evil pirate captain, and you’re in a love triangle with two kings.”

“Echo!” Emmaline exclaimed, glaring at the pirate, who shrugged unrepentantly. Turning to the crew, Emmaline said, “I’ve already explained multiple times that I’m not romantically involved with either king.”

“But you do know them?” one man asked. He had a white glass eye and a gold ring pierced through his dark eyebrow. “The kings, I mean. Obviously, you know your parents.”

Emmaline’s heart sank at his last statement, but before she could explain the situation with her father, someone else said, “Not so obviously. Half of us don’t know ours.”

“Plenty of people haven’t met their family,” Koen piped up. “It’s not unusual.”

The man sputtered and grumbled before finally saying, “You all know what I meant!”

Once they finished scolding their companion, everyone’s attention returned to Emmaline. Although the energy reminded her of the times she’d shared stories around a campfire, her audience was much larger and more intimidating than usual. Smiling past her trepidation, Emmaline asked, “Would you all like me to tell the story of how I became friends with the King of Bellacosta?”

Eager cries of encouragement rose around the table, so she told them about her trip to Litus, what it was like in the capital, and taking the king with them to her mother’s cottage. People interrupted to ask questions, to exclaim in surprise, or laugh at absurd situations.

During the whole recitation, one person remained utterly silent, but his honey-brown eyes never left Emmaline.

The moment breakfast ended, Echo whisked Emmaline away to the captain’s cabin with the excuse that she needed to finish altering her new wardrobe before they made landfall. Captain Moira wasn’t in the cabin, but Braden was. He glanced up from his book, eyes crinkled in a smile as he greeted them, “Well, hello again.”

“Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” Echo demanded, glowering at the older man.

“Not particularly. Moira requested that Koen and I stay out of the crew’s way. Though I listen more than he does,” he explained, glancing behind Echo and Emmaline.

They both looked over their shoulders to find Koen only a few steps behind them. Echo yelped and dramatically leapt away as if the boy really was a rat scurrying across her path.

Koen glowered at her. “It’s quiet in here,” he said, sidling over to a chair. Standing this close to Braden, Emmaline could see the similarities in their hair color, the shape of their faces. But Koen was smaller, softer, still growing into himself. There was something else familiar about both men, though Emmaline couldn’t put her finger on what

“Oh, sure, and it’s just a coincidence you’re everywhere we happen to be,” Echo said, hazel eyes narrowing in suspicion. “You’re practicing your spy skills, aren’t you? Trying to nose out some secrets. Well, let me tell you, young man: that is my job.”

Koen rolled his eyes and settled firmly into the seat, pulling his knees up and wriggling to get cozy. He all but stuck his tongue out at Echo, a silent challenge: you can leave if you want, but I’m staying here.

Emmaline placed her hand on Echo’s arm and murmured, “The light is better in here.” The back wall of the captain’s quarters had a full set of windows to let in the sun, while her own little cabin only had a single porthole.

Echo rolled her eyes and dragged her half-made wardrobe over to another chair. “You’re right, I’m certainly not going to allow myself to be chased out by one tiny rodent.”

Koen scowled at the description. He opened his mouth to say something, but then a book cut off his view.

“Focus on your studies,” his father reminded him, looking down at his own paperwork. “You want to be prepared, don’t you?”

Koen grudgingly accepted the book, though reading its contents only seemed to deepen his scowl.

Emmaline accepted part of Echo’s new wardrobe—a waistcoat this time—and carefully followed the instructions for the symbol she needed to sew into it. The thread between her fingers thrummed with potential, and she settled in for a long, quiet day.

Chapter Fifteen

“You’ve done enough work today,” Echo declared. Wearing the simple brown waistcoat Emmaline had sewn a glamour into, he appeared as a handsome young man with wheat-colored hair, a neatly trimmed mustache and slightly overgrown beard, and broad shoulders perfectly sculpted to carry heavy bags of flour. He hadn’t named the persona yet, simply referring to himself as a ‘farm boy.’ “Come dance with me?”

“Dance with you?” Emmaline sputtered, flabbergasted by the request. “We’re on a ship.”

“Do you think ships can’t have music?” he asked, raising a brow in challenge. He grabbed one of her hands and tugged her up from the chair she’d claimed as her own. Ignoring all further protests, he dragged her out of the room.