Page 46 of Lightningborn

“Hey, you never told me.” Remy faced her head-on. “Why is it you want to talk to Bart so badly?” he asked. “I know he was a sky knight, but that was a long time ago. There are plenty of knights in the capital if you want advice from one of them. Why him?”

Mary went very still. Her voice, when it came out, was flat. “He has information I need,” she said evasively.

Remy narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t tell me anything,” he said. “What secret does Bart have that you need so badly? You’re a noble, and he’s a washed-up knight; you wouldn’t have come all this way if it wasn’t important.” When Mary hesitated, he said, “I know I’m just a thief, but I can keep a secret. Who’s going to believe me, anyway?”

“Remy…” Mary sighed. “I want to tell you, but…”

“But you don’t trust me.” Remy crossed his arms. “Even after everything. Because I’m a thief, and a street kid.”

“No, that’s not true—”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged, even managing to give a twisted little smile, as if it were no big deal. “I get it. I probably wouldn’t understand, anyway.…”

“Stop,” Mary said. “Youdon’tunderstand. This is something I haven’t shared with anyone, not even the captain.” She gestured to the ceiling, where footsteps could be heard thumping above their heads. “Even Cutlass doesn’t know why I want to talk to Bart.”

Okay, he could accept that. She had her secrets, just as he had his. Maybe she was embarrassed. Maybe Bart was a long-lost uncle or something, and she didn’t want anyone to know she was related to him. But still, they would be going on a really dangerous mission soon. If he couldn’t trust her, or vice versa, that would make things even harder.

He turned and hopped up to sit on a barrel, swinging his legs against the wooden sides. “So is there something you’ve told the captain that you haven’t told me?” he wondered.

Mary closed her eyes. “Yes,” she admitted, and sighed heavily. “All right,” she said, opening her eyes to glare at him. “Fine. But if I tell you this, you have to swear that you won’t share it with anyone. Nobody here knows this about me except the captain. So if any of the crew find out, I’ll know who told them.”

Remy nodded. “I promise,” he said. “I won’t tell anyone. Thief’s honor.” She gave him a dubious look, as if doubting that thieves had any honor, and he hurried on. “So what’s this big secret?” he pressed.

Mary took a breath. “Mary Featherbottom…isn’t my real name.”

“Oh.” Disappointment bloomed. That was it? Traveling under an alias was not so uncommon, especially for nobles who went “slumming” in the Fringe. He was hoping her secret would be a little more…interesting. Looking down, he picked at a splinter in the wood, then flicked it away. “What’s your real name, then?” he asked.

“Princess Gemillia Sunwind Gallecia the fourteenth.”

Remy fell off the barrel. Cloud gave an alarmed squawk as he hit the floor. For a second, he just sat there, his mouth gaping open. “You’re…the princess?” he stammered at last. “The princess of Gallecia. The king’s daughter?”

She nodded. “But you can’t tell anyone,” she reminded him. “You promised. Only the captain knows who I am. You can’t tell any of the crew. If word got out that the princess was traveling alone through the Fringe, people might come after us, and that would be bad for the mission. Not to mention, it would just be a hassle if they kept trying to either kidnap or ‘rescue’ me.” She used finger quotation marks for the “rescue” part, rolling her eyes. “It’s easier if no one knows who I am. So promise that you won’t tell.”

“Yes, Your…uh…” How did one address the princess of Gallecia? Could he get in trouble for not speaking to her properly? “Yes, Your Highness,” he rasped.

She sighed again. “See. That’s what I don’t want to happen,” she groaned. “Just call me Gem, unless we’re around the crew. And don’t treat me any different than you have been, okay?”

“Yes, Your—”

She glared at him, and he stopped. “Uh, yeah. Gem. Sure.”

Cloud stepped forward, shoving his nose at Remy to see if he was okay, making worried burbling sounds. He gave the dragon a reassuring pat before scrambling to his feet. “But, if you’re the princess,” he began, “why are you here? Alone? Why aren’t you traveling around with guards and knights and people to protect you?”

Gem winced. “My father…wouldn’t approve of what I’m doing,” she said, sounding faintly uncomfortable. “He probably has people out looking for me now. I left the castle on my own to go looking for Sir Bartello.” For a moment, her eyes clouded, as if thinking about home was distressing; then she shook her head with a sigh. “I’m not supposed to be here,” she admitted, “but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.”

“Bart must be really important, then,” Remy said, still feeling dazed with what he had learned. “For the princess herself to be looking for him.”

“He is.” Gem paused again, as if debating how much to reveal. “The information he carries…is integral to helping the kingdom. That’s why we have to find him. That’s why I’m here.”

Remy had about a million questions he wanted to ask, but a thump sounded overhead, and a moment later, a voice boomed into the hold. “If you kids are down here, you need to get up to the deck right now,” Jack’s voice called, making them both start. “Captain has called for you both!”

As Remy and Gem made their way up the stairs, Remy began to hear a muffled roar. It was faint at first, barely noticeable, but once they reached the deck, the sound vibrated the planks under his feet and made his teeth itch. As they walked across the deck toward the aftcastle, he noticed theQueen’s Bladehad stopped moving. It hovered in the sky, suspended in place, though the sails overhead were still unfurled. Remy wondered if the captain had ordered the stop, or if something else had happened to bring them to a halt.

The captain and the first mate were standing by the wheel, gazing out over the horizon. Both pirates looked grim. The captain’s arms were crossed, the wind tugging at her hair and coat as she looked down. Walking up the steps to the helm, Gem gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared over the railings. “What in the world…” she whispered.

Remy peered out over the helm, and his heart lodged in his throat.

Words couldn’t really describe what he was seeing. Far in the distance, stretching hundreds of yards end to end, was an enormous, gaping…hole. A whirlpool of clouds, wind, and lightning that swirled and shrieked and roared as it dropped away into nothing. The muffled roar filled his ears, and lightning crawled along the edges of the swirling clouds, making his eyes water. Wrecked ships circled the whirlpool, drifting aimlessly through space, tattered sails fluttering in the wind. Most were nothing but destroyed hulls and shattered masts, but a few still looked eerily intact. They rose and fell, careening around the edge of the Vortex, caught in an endless pull. As Remy watched, a ship that looked like it had been snapped in two collided with another, and though he couldn’t hear the impact, both vessels broke apart in a spray of wood and debris. The back of one ship tumbled away and dropped into the whirlpool while the other half, suddenly free of the extra weight, rose into the air, trailing boards and shattered planks, to sail around the edges once more.

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