her if he thought she was being a fool. But he’d never gone against her like this before. Never acted so contrary to what he knew she wanted.
“I’ve never been sorrier to have met you than I am at this moment.”
“… a burden i will gladly bear, to keep you breathing…”
She glowered down at him, shaking her head. “If anything happens to them, I fucking swear I’ll not forgive you for it.”
The shadowcat peered at her with his not-eyes, tail twitching.
“… i am a part of you, mia. before i met you, i was a formless nothing, looking for a meaning. the shape i wear is born of you, the thing i became is because of you. and if i must do what you will not, so be it. at least you will be alive to hate me…”
She looked into the sky, the suns falling slow toward the horizon.
Another might have been afraid, then, to consider what was coming.
Turned around and run back.
But ever and always, Mia Corvere walked on.
CHAPTER 15
FINESSE
“Benino,” Mia said.
“No,” Cloud replied.
“Bertino, then. You look like a Bertino.”
“No.” Cloud frowned. “And what the ’byss does a Bertino look like, anyways?”
“Tell me the first letter,” Mia demanded. “It’s B, I’m right about that, aye?”
“No clues, Dona Mia. I told you.”
“You must give me something,” she wheedled.
“I must give you nothing,” the captain said, raising an eyebrow. “I bet my bloody ship you’d not be able to guess my name, why in Trelene’s name would I help you?”
“You’re sick of the sea and want to settle somewhere green?”
“Pig’s arse,” the privateer scoffed. “You cut these wrists, I bleed blue.”
They were three turns out of Whitekeep and sailing on swift waves. Their destination lay through the Sea of Swords on the coast of Ashkah—the town of Last Hope. From that decrepit seaport, it’d be a trek across the Whisperwastes to the Quiet Mountain. Mia had no idea how Mercurio might be faring in the keeping of the Red Church, or how she might save him from their clutches. But though she’d not admit it to many, she’d loved that man more than any since her father. And now, more than any man at all. She’d be damned if she left him to rot.
The snaggletooth coastline of Liis stretched off to the south, the white cliffs of Itreya to the north, the Maid riding low on the rolling blue. The former Falcons of Remus kept themselves mostly to the bow, reveling in the feel of the sea upon their faces.
Sidonius struck quite a sight, his bronze skin gleaming in the sunslight, hair shaved to dark fuzz, eyes of bright baby blue. The big Itreyan always kept Mia in his eyeline if he could help it—his loyalty to Darius Corvere had seen him take Mia under his wing when they were both Falcons, and hadn’t diminished one drop since. With him aboard, it felt like she had another rock to set her back against. Her little brother might be an intolerable shit. But if Mia could’ve had a big brother, she’d have chosen Sid.
Wavewaker wasn’t shy about lending a hand on deck—like most Dweymeri islanders, he’d grown up around ships and knew the ocean like his own reflection. The former thespian towered over the crew as he worked, treating Corleone’s salts to endless songs in his booming baritone. He had a voice that could make a silkling weep, and Mia still felt guilt that she’d dragged him away from his lifelong dream of owning a theater. She silently vowed to see him return to it when this was done.
Bladesinger likewise knew her way around the Maid, but she kept to the bow, looking out at the rolling blue with dark eyes. All Dweymeri were marked with facial tattoos when they came of age, but every inch of ’Singer’s mahogany skin was covered in intricate designs—a legacy of her time studying as a priestess. Mia still found it odd to think of the woman praying in a temple somewhere. ’Singer was one of the collegium’s finest warriors, a marvel on the sands. Though the forearm wound Bladesinger had earned battling the silkling still seemed to be troubling her …
Bryn likewise seemed troubled, and Mia knew the source—the girl’s brother Byern had died on the sands but a few months back. The girl stuck close to Wavewaker, chatting and watching him work, and his presence seemed to keep the worst of her cares away. Bryn was Vaanian like Ash, hard as nails, the finest