Page 7 of Virelai's Hoard
Riley glanced at Calla. The captain’s lips were pressed together as if she was holding in a laugh. Thorian’s glare only seemed to amuse her more.
The satisfaction flooding through Riley at the sight was immediate and intense. And a bad,badsign. She would not board a pirate ship because she was intrigued by the captain, and her treasure, and her ship… Would she?
“What do you thinkhe’sgonna do?”
“Huh?”
Maren shot her an amused glance. “The old man. He’s last.”
That he was.
He walked, unsteady, right up to Thorian. The silence was deafening, only his scuffing footsteps echoing around them. Even the sea was silent. When the old man reached him, he craned his neck up. His voice was almost too quiet to make out. “Would you kindly do this old man a favor and jump in the water for me? I hope it’s not too much bother, as you are already quite drenched.”
Riley just stared. She didn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’tthat.
Thorian looked down at the man, looked at Calla, narrowed his eyes, and then shrugged. He threw himself off the wharf.
Thistime Calla wasn’t amused anymore.
But she was a woman of her word.
“Welcome into the crew,” she told the five winners.
Riley stood rooted in place as the surrounding people dissipated, either toward the ship or back to Saltmere. She looked at the dying town, with its crumbled, washed-out buildings, Maren’s first words to her replaying in her head.Rock bottom. Could someone reach rock bottom without ever realizing it? She didn’t even have anyone to say goodbye to if she left. Nothing to pack, either. She had Patch, and herself, and the clothes on her back. With a rapidly increasing pulse, she set her sights on the Moonshadow, dark and imposing and intriguing. Promising something… different.
“Are you coming?”
Riley turned her head toward the voice, and suddenly those startling blue eyes were on her. Looking straight at her. Waiting where the plank connected the Moonshadow to Saltmere’s docks. Even from a distance, Calla’s gaze felt intense. Like she knew Riley was on the verge of a life-changing decision.
“Yeah,” she said in a breath.
There was no more glancing back. There was nothing left for her in Saltmere. There never had been.
3. Whispers Before the Wind
Calla
Calla pulled Nyxen aside as soon as she stepped foot on deck. “Lead the new recruits below and let them stew for a bit. Tell the officers to be there in a bell,” she said. “We’re setting sail at second sunrise.”
Nyxen straightened his back. “Aye, captain.” Not wasting any time, he faced the others and raised his voice over the ruckus of departure preparations. “You lot, with me. Keep up and don’t get lost.”
She watched them depart, noticing how the woman hung back from the rest of the group, her curious, sharp eyes darting around in a quick study of the deck and the crew. Calla could already tell she was going to be trouble, but she’d have time for that later. Right now, a shadow hung over her, and she turned to face her quartermaster with a sigh.
“Let me guess,” she said before he got started. “You disapprove?”
It was all the invitation he needed. Thorian flung his arm to where the recruits disappeared below decks, hiding his wince with a scowl. How he’d hurt his shoulder remained a mystery yet to be solved. “She cheated! She should’ve been disqualified!”
Calla pressed her lips together in an effort to take him seriously. “Cheating is basically a requirement for piracy, Thorian,” she said mildly. Then she raised a single eyebrow at him. “I thought you’d agree, seeing as you delegated a task I’d clearly meant foryouto do. Should I just leave you in Saltmere because you cheated?”
He had the grace to look sheepish. “That’s not the same at all, captain, and you know it. It’s not like I was dilly-dallying all day. I had to see to the supplies,” he said, then lowered his voice to a faint rumble, “and to that other thing you told me to do.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and pressed a pointed finger into his shoulder. He couldn’t keep the wince off his face this time. “Doesthishave something to do with that other thing?”
He mumbled something incoherent in response.
“And what’s your excuse for letting that old man onto the ship?”
Thorian shrugged, smirking at her. “He asked nicely?”
