Page 37 of Voices in the Stars
“Don’t be an idiot,” Ezryn snapped back at me. “Eris already knows you have her. He would never let you get that far.”
“What do you recommend, then?” I asked before quickly holding a hand up to him. “Besides killing her.”
“Listen, Atlas, I’m being completely serious,” Ezryn started before pacing in front of the desk. “If she knew what was happening, then there would be a way to reason with her. Get her to join our side instead and help against your father. She doesn’t even know what she is capable of. She is going to get manipulated and used. It’s going to end with Eris getting the power of the gods on his side. He will obliterate everything in Alryne with her help.”
“You don’t know that.” Even I could tell my argument was weak as I shook my head. He was simply saying what I had thought just days before.
Ezryn walked up to me, placing both hands on my shoulders.
“Killing her would be a mercy. You know what he is capable of. What he will do to her. Especially once he learns how moldable she would be.”
“I’ll think about it.” The lie twisted in my stomach as the words left my lips. They seemed to satisfy Ezryn as he let go of me.
“Sleep on it, then. You’ll see that I’m right,” he commented, laying back down in his bed.
I sat back down as our conversation ran through my mind. The gentle swaying of the ship was doing nothing do relax me. I couldn’t kill her. I knew myself well enough. Even when I thought of her as a cold-blooded murderer, I couldn’t do it. No matter what murderous tendencies I had deep within my soul, I wouldn’t be able to do this.
Movement caught my eye out of the window next to me. Cece wasstaring at the open water; the wind whipped her hair around her face. She was turned just enough that I could see the sunlight brightening her face. Her green eyes shone like the precious gemstones that men spent their entire lives looking for. Staring at her now, I could see why they’d want to. Something about her called out to me and I was getting tired of running from it.
My eyes shut as I laid back on the bed. I didn’t deserve to stare at her now after everything I’d done. There had been true fear in her eyes this entire time. It felt like someone plunged a knife into my chest as I thought about it. All this time, I believed I was doing what was right. To protect everyone. Instead, I had just been tormenting a woman who had no idea what was happening to her.
No more. I’d protect her from now on. From my father. Hell, even from myself if I needed to.
Atlas spentthe next several days avoiding me. I would see him everywhere. Mainly hanging around the captain, talking in hushed voices. Their eyes would almost always be on me, though. They’d follow my movements throughout the day, which mainly just consisted of finding new places to sit where the burning on my head wasn’t as bad. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck would stand, and every time I looked back, there they would be. Just watching me.
I did try to listen a couple of times. I would act like I headed down below to rest. Instead, I snuck around, pressing myself against the raised wall that held up the raised section of the ship. Even then I could barely hear anything they said. The sound of the crew talking and yelling around me, paired with the sounds of slapping water, blocked out everything. All I could understand was my name and Eris’ being repeated.
After spending most of the day attempting to listen in, I gave up and did my best to ignore them. Once my sickness started to fade, I found myself enjoying being out here. My favorite place to sit was where Atlas had sat with me. Watching the countless amounts of birds sailing overhead helped keep my attention elsewhere. I wanted to know what it felt like to fly about without any care like they did.
There were no similarities between here and Donnaway except this. Watching the birds, wishing I could be up there with them. Even in a completely different world, I was still a captive. Trapped as I had to watch one person dictate my entire life. At least here I got the adventure I dreamed of.
The only thing that would make it better was if I could bring Josi here to watch them with me. She wouldn’t care about the birds or fish swimming below us, but it would ease the gnawing feeling in my chest that I abandoned her. She was trapped in Donnaway, getting married to Ben because that’s all she knew. If I could just show her this world, that there was more out here. Not that any of that would be possible. The further Atlas took me, the more it felt like I would never see Josi again.
Birds danced around each other, swooping down as the others chirped and circled above it. I jumped as there was a large splash below me. It was a disruption of the normal, repetitive sound of the crashing waves.
I stood, leaning over the waist-high railing. Ripples circled out from a spot to our right. I stared down into the dark, churning water, squinting my eyes. I gasped and stumbled back as it happened again. A large fin surfaced before slamming into the water, creating a loud cracking noise before it disappeared back into the water again.
This time I could see it, though. The water wasn’t dark. There was a large body circling our ship. Large fins were moving the water, causing the constant waves clashing against us. It was larger than the boat. Much larger. I steadied myself, leaning further over the railing. It seemed so close to the surface. If I could just get a little closer, I could see more of it. Another fin reappeared this time as it stayed up. Dark blue scales sparkled against the sunlight. Water poured off them, creating a shimmer of every color imaginable. It was beautiful even as it caused a chill to run down my back as I watched it slip back under the water, the scales blending in until it was almost invisible once again.
“I would stay away from ‘im, miss.”
I jerked away from the edge, glancing back at Sal. Their face was trained to the ground, dark hair covering most of their face. Their hands were behind their back. The clothes they wore were baggy enough that I was shocked they could stay on. Their shirt had golden designs sewn along its tan edges, but it hung off one of their shoulders. It was ornate enough to make me think the people on the ship were supplied with clothing others no longer wanted. There was a slight chance it did belong to them, though, because it matched an equally gold dagger that was belted around their waist. There was a hard line separating thedarker golden color that ran along their arms and the pale patch that started halfway along their shoulder up to their neck. With the amount of time spent outside, I was certain their face matched the tan on their arms. Even my skin had taken on a more golden hue after only a few days.
“What is it?” I asked, turning back toward the water.
Sal shrugged as they moved to stand next to me. I took a sidestep away from them. This was the closest any of the crew had gotten to me. Even my meals were just slid toward me, causing me to have to rush to stop them from careening off the edge into the water. There was a flash of blue from underneath Sal’s hair as they looked up at me before quickly glancing at the water below.
“No one knows for sure,” they answered. “Some think it’s a water god that makes sure every ship makes their journey safely.”
The tension left my shoulders as I leaned back over the railing, watching its mysterious dance underneath us. Something that must be keeping other creatures far from us.
“Isn’t that a good thing, then?” I questioned the person standing next to me, wondering about their warning just moments before.
Sal shook their head. “Whatever it is, it’s no god.” Their voice deepened as they spoke, losing all timidness. “It’s just waiting for a ship small enough to fit in its mouth. Now, it just feeds on everyone’s fear as they watch it.”
“How do you know this?” I tried to keep my voice even as I kept staring at the creature. Its face was somewhere deep below us. Judging from the size of the rest of it, swallowing us whole would be no challenge to it.
Sal chuckled as they stared across the horizon, their eyes following the movements of the birds just like I had done many times now before answering, “Have you met any of the creatures here? There isn’t a single thing in this world that isn’t evil.”
