Page 11 of Crossbones
Carter groans and cracks open one eye, glaring at me. “Stop yelling,” he grumbles, voice muffled by the pillow.
I chuckle, knowing exactly how he’s feeling because I’m feeling it too: hung the fuck over. Except while he gets to sleep it off in bed, I have to go sail a ship. He opens his other eye, cringing at the light.
“I wish I was coming to the wedding,” he says.
I’d told him about Lady Annika and while he was disappointed, he knew it wouldn’t change anything about us seeing each other, although it would prohibit me from sailing here as often as I currently did.
“No, you don’t,” I say dryly. “This is a royal wedding so it’ll be extra long and boring. You’re far luckier to be staying here.” I don’t even bother mentioning his exile and the small detail of him being killed on sight if he ever sets foot on De’Vero soil again.
He shoves himself up on an elbow and regards me with a clearer look in his eyes.
“Aye, but at least you’d have a friendly face in that sea of rot,” he frowns. “I hate that you’re alone there. I could come as far as Carmine?”
I shake my head and lean down, planting a kiss on his lips. Chaste and quick.
“It’s better if I do this by myself,” I say gently. “I don’t need to be worrying about you on top of everything else I have to worry about at home.”
That seems to appease him, and his cheeks flush a little—probably from my admission about worrying about him. Which is true, but not for the reasons he hopes. Those hopes are currently shining brightly in his eyes as he looks at me.
With a few last murmured promises about the next time I see him, I leave Carter to sleep off his hangover and head down to the docks. Fog hangs heavy over the bay, casting everything in a world of grey as the sun struggles to break the horizon. I leave my neighborhood, and the buildings turn into shops and merchant stalls, many just beginning to open for the morning rush.
I’m about to enter the warehouse district when a shadow steps out of a nearby alley and beckons me over. I recognize her as one of the older women I brought over this last trip. She’d been wandering around the destroyed shop stalls in a small coastal town, wringing her hands and muttering. The entire journey here I’d been concerned about her because after stepping onto the ship, she hadn’t left the foredeck. Theentiretrip. Through rain, the harsh sun through the Choke and even a small squall.
Now she’s wearing a tattered grey cloak with the hood pulled up, throwing her face into patchy shadows. As soon as I’m in reach, a gnarled hand latches onto my sleeve and pulls me further into the alley with surprising strength. I’m still racking my brain for her name, wondering if maybe she never gave it in the first place, when she speaks.
“You buy freedom for many, but chains for yourself.”
I’m caught off guard and shake my head in confusion. “I don’t know what—”
“Yes you do.” Her voice is like silk over steel. “You’re a clever fox. But how long can you fool the hounds?”
How she knows I’m a prince is concerning, but not totally a surprise. Reaching into her cloak she pulls forth a worn piece of parchment that looks a touch away from disintegrating. She hands it to me and I open it to find a map. I inhale sharply when I realize what it’s a map to.
I look up at her. “Where did you get this?
“You’re asking the wrong questions, my boy,” she scolds. “If you go after this, the cost will be steep. But the lost city can bring down empires and fuel redemption.”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
She scoffs. “You think an old woman like myself is capable of going after something like this?”
I give her a lopsided smile. “We both know you could.”
She looks me up and down begrudgingly. “I’m not the one who’s lost, fox.” She shrugs. “And it’s not whether I’m capable—it’s whether I need what’s at the end.” She tilts her head at me, almost slyly. “A single map can lead the lost to many things—including that which you may not even know you need.”
Cryptic. I decide to ignore the comment about being lost—because, yeah, maybe I am, just a little. I look down at the map in my hands. The gold at the end of this would be more than enough to destroy a kingdom, or build one—not that I want to be King. I don’t. But I certainly could fund a real revolution and for the first time, the thought holds some weight in my mind as I go over what it would take to see the House De’Vero crumble into ruin. My thoughts run wild for a moment before I come back to the present.
I look back up at her. “Thank you.”
She nods. “My advice? Memorize it. Burn it. I held on to it for too long—now I at least know why.” She pats my cheek, her hand surprisingly soft, before ambling off down the street without a backward glance.
Once on deck of thePhantom, I hurry to the Captain’s cabin and pull out the map again. I smooth it open carefully and lean heavily over the desk, tracing the lines and committing them to memory. The map is of the northernmost seas of Adrasea called the Stormwrack. Far beyond where all our current maps show. I frown, knowing few have ever sailed that far north and lived to tell about it. It’s fraught with volatile tides, frequent storms and creatures large and curious enough to bring down fleets. I’ve only sailed as far as the Straights and that was pushing it. That far north, you also have to deal with a heavier concentration ofpirates because of the proximity to their northern stronghold.
It doesn’t take me long to commit the path to memory, notating the scrawl of coordinates where the map says the city should be. I open the small door of the lantern on my desk and touch the corner of the parchment to the flame. It hurts to watch the paper blacken and dissolve—something this old and historic should be kept safe—but it’s too dangerous. If someone else were to get their hands on this map—it could, and probably would, start a war. The map is almost gone when the door opens and Van and Flynt enter.
“Captain, we are ready to sail at your order,” Van says.
I look up briefly, taking in my quartermaster who looks worried. A strand of black hair escapes its tie and falls across his face. He sweeps it aside with irritation. He’s good at his job and the men love him, and listen to him, which is the most important part, especially with what I’m about to ask of him.
