you. Although I’m sure you know that as well as I.” Sigursson stroked his blond, plaited beard. “Or did you think I’d not notice?”
Mia raised an eyebrow. “Notice?”
“My shadow, Majesty,” the man said, glancing down at his boots. “It seems a touch blacker of late. I’d heard all manner of myths about darkin in my travels. Glad to see that not all of them turned out to be horseshit.”
Mia leaned back in her chair and smiled.
“He’s a clever one, Eclipse.”
“… YES…,” came the reply from the man’s shadow. “… I LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM…”
“I like it, too.” She looked the handsome Vaanian over. “I like you, Ulfr.”
“Would that I could say the same, Majesty,” he said with a handsome scowl.
“Well, you need only tolerate me a few more turns, and then you can be rid of me once and for all.” Mia smiled wider, breathed smoke into the air between them. “But should you consider getting rid of me earlier than that, I can think of a few other myths about darkin to confirm for you.”
By way of demonstration, she
Stepped
over to
the window
and watched the waves roll into the shore, crashing upon the rocks as the gulls circled in pale gray skies above. Putting her cigarillo to her lips, she breathed deep, let the shadows around the room have their head, writhing and reaching out toward her, gentle as old lovers.
“You can go,” she told her first mate, not looking at him. “I’ll let Eclipse know if I need you. Inform the captains of the Obelisk and Cinnamon Girl you plan to murder me at sea if you think it will quiet them. If it doesn’t, I can fashion another way to silence their tongues. It’s rather more permanent, though.”
Sigursson turned to face her, green eyes sparkling. “Aye, aye, Majesty.”
“Blue above and below, Ulfr.”
The brigand gave a small, curt bow and stalked from the room. Eclipse followed without a sound. Mia remained by the window, forehead pressed against the glass and staring out at the sea. Thinking about Ashlinn’s lips. Jonnen’s eyes. Mercurio’s scowl. Feeling the cat-shaped hole like a bleeding wound in her chest.
I wonder where he is?
If he’s all right?
… Goddess, I miss him.
“I’m cold,” she sighed.
“YOU COULD ALWAYS PUT A SHIRT ON,” Tric said.
She turned to smile at the pale Dweymeri boy standing quiet by the fire.
“It’d ruin my Murderous Bitch aesthetic.” She winced and adjusted herself beneath the coat. “But aye, perhaps. This old leather is like sandpaper on my donas.”
A smile twisted the boy’s lips, and he glanced at the door Sigursson had left by. “DO YOU TRUST HIM?”
“Not as far as I could carry him. But Eclipse is keeping watch on him. And he seems to be keeping a leash on the wulfguard. He only needs to hold things together for a handful of turns, and then he gets a free ship and a free throne. I think we can count on his greed to see us through. And if not that, his fear.”
“YOU ARE A LITTLE FRIGHTENING SOMETIMES, PALE DAUGHTER,” Tric said, sharing their old joke. “AND OTHER TIMES, YOU’RE JUST PLAIN TERRIFYING.”
The small smile fell from his face.
“I’M SORRY,” he said. “I KNOW YOU DON’T LIKE IT WHEN I CALL YOU THAT.”
She turned from the window to look at him. Leaning back on the sill, hands clasped behind her back.
“I do like it,” she admitted softly. “That’s why it hurts.”
He stood there silently. Just watching her. That new, dark beauty, edged by the warm glow of the fire. He was still pale, his skin smooth and hard, but with truedark only weeks away, he no longer looked like a statue carved of alabaster. She fancied she could see a pulse at his neck now, beneath the curve of his jaw, the strong lines of his throat, the hint of muscle through the open neck of his shirt …
Mia looked away. Sucked her lip.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“O, DEAR.”
She smiled with him, dragged a lock of hair behind her ear. “When we reach the Mountain, getting Mercurio back is obviously our first priority. But the Blades who hit us at the tower aren’t the last assassins the Red Church has to throw. They’re just going to keep coming until we cut the head off the snake.”
Tric turned from the fire to face her. “DRUSILLA.”
“Aye,” Mia nodded. “And the Ministry, too.”
“STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER.”
“No,” she said. “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will follow.”