The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,57

trust me."

"How do you know?"

"The ocean can be a lonely place." She winked. "And the woman does have electric hands."

Rafe stumbled on the steps, nearly falling over as the image of the two of them entwined in bed smothered the rest of his thoughts. Brighty's laughter followed him up the stairs as he fought to recover his footing.

She was impossible.

Still, when he reached the main deck, he raced after her fleeting form as it disappeared down the gangplank. In Captain Rokaro's absence, Patch had been given control of the ship. Rafe waited for him to call them back, but no such order came.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave, anyway?" he asked as soon as he reached her.

They stepped onto the floating wooden docks and into the strange city. The fog created a dismal atmosphere, leaving everything wet and dreary. With each step, the ground rose and fell in gentle swells, so it still felt as though he were on a ship. Men and women pushed carts along the planks, the creaking only adding to the eerie air. Their cheeks were hollow, their eyes focused and hard. The only vibrant parts of the city were the grandiose ships sitting along its edge, magic painting the skies above them. Some of them were hunting ships, like The Wanderer, but he'd been told even the trading ships were manned by mages. No one ventured into these misty, dragon-infested seas without magic.

"I want to see her," Brighty said, slipping around a bend and weaving her way through the crowds.

"Who?"

"The queen of prophecy. She's here."

"Who?"

Brighty stopped so short he nearly barreled into her.

"The queen of prophecy?" She studied his face for a reaction. "The Queen Bred of Snow?" He remained blank. "The person we've been waiting hundreds of years for?"

Rafe shrugged. "Never heard of her."

"What did they teach you up there? Aside from how to brood?" She scowled. "Magic alive, you're like a newborn babe. You know nothing."

"What's so great about her?"

"She and the king are going to save the world."

"I didn’t realize it was in peril."

She made a disgusted sound and snatched his hand. "Just come with me."

Rafe let her pull him along, his attention wandering to his surroundings. The city was divided into various floating segments, with streets and homes and shops, all connected by an elaborate system of canals and bridges. Small boats floated along the waterways, transporting people and goods. Every so often, magic flashed in his peripheral vision—a man kneeling by a bed of plants, a woman ushering the waters of a fountain, a man casting toward a glowing lantern, a woman bending metal to patch a hole in a building. The children they passed were thin, but happy the way children were, playing with small wooden toys or chasing each other down the streets. The adults seemed…tense, weary even. Though he supposed that wasn't so unusual. Still, it irked him, like an itch at the back of his neck prompted by something he couldn't quite place.

"Do you even know where we're going?" he asked after a while, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling. "I want to be back before the captain, just in case she calls on me."

"I know these streets like the back of my hand," Brighty scoffed. "We're almost there."

"Where? How do you know where to go? How do you know this queen is even here? We’ve only been docked for a few hours, and you never even left the ship."

"A thief always has her ways." She yanked on his arm so that he stumbled through the narrow opening at the end of the alley and onto a new street. With a smug look on her face, she said, "We're here."

Rafe spun to find a courtyard filled to the brim with people, voices a hushed whisper, all their faces turned in the same direction.

"Let's find a good spot."

Brighty swerved through the throng as seamlessly as a bird through the open sky. Rafe followed boorishly after, his larger size forcing him to elbow people out of the way to keep up, leaving grumbles and hastily whispered apologies in his wake. Buildings surrounded the open space on three sides, but the fourth was edged by a wall made of stone, behind which the spires of a castle peeked through the mist. Built straight into the cliffs, the castle was imposing and imperial. A massive wooden door closed off the entrance to the public. Men and women stood along the wall, not in any uniform he could