Page 37 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
Kora nodded again, unsure whether she was capable of speaking. She worried if she opened her mouth, the ocean would pour out of her, so she squeezed Blake’s hand, before hurrying out of the med bay and back to her quarters.
The talisman hummed against her chest the whole way.
Part TWO
The ROYAL HOUND
17
Narrowfen Pass was as deadly as it was beautiful.
A lethal sea stack of razor-sharp towering rocks denizened the entrance of the pass leading to the bay of Stormkeep Fortress. Only natives of Aldara could navigate the rapidly shallowing waters and, even then, many ships risked being wrecked upon the geode-crusted formations if they were a metre off course.
Samuel stood at the helm, his large hands firmly gripping the wheel as Kora peered through her brass spyglass. Sparkling hues of amethyst, rose quartz, and white crystal dazzled her vision as she carefully navigated Samuel around the dark sea stacks, interspersed with magnificent colour.
It was the perfect defence.
Stormkeep Fortress was impossible to attack from the northern sea, and to the north-west they were protected by the noble Blackstone family, who possessed an abundance of naval military, guards, and soldiers at their disposal.
To the north-east of Aldara laid the ancient and mighty Ebonmoor Mountains, too steep to scale or cross withoutplummeting to death. To the south was the vast, torturingly hot Silent Tundra desert, filled with raiders and convicts, with little hope of survival from either threat.
Even if assailants survived navigating the shallow waters of Narrowfen Passthey’d soon learn the fortress had formidable defences of their own. Two watch towers made of thick limestone, their bases encased in warped steel, protected either side of the pass. Sunlight glinted off the silvery bases, and the Talmon Empire flag was hoisted at the top of a pole, flapping in the coastal breeze.
Between them, a thick, spiked, iron chain secretly lurked below the surface of the water, with the capability of shredding ships in two. As they neared the pass, both towers aimed destructive harpoons atHell’s Serpent.
Samuel raised his tattooed arm, signalling to Aryn, who was perched in the foremast’s nest. He replicated the covert signal to the guards at the watch towers, who promptly lowered the blockade chain and swivelled their harpoons to the horizon beyond the sea stacks.
“They like to make a fuss,” Samuel muttered.
Hell’s Serpentsailed through Narrowfen Pass, the edges of the sails mere feet from colliding with the watch towers. Kora nodded to the stone-faced guards, lances and longbows gripped in their beefy hands.
“Can’t take any chances,” she murmured quietly to Samuel as he cruised the ship across the crystal-clear waters of the bay. “Pirates are stirring in the oceans. They’ve obtained our ships.We can’t let them raid Stormkeep as well.”
“That’ll never happen, Captain. This isthe unbreakable fortress.”
As they approached the port, Kora’s body pinched, her pores tightening at the encroaching land whilst the glittering ocean faded behind them.Goodbye, sweet ocean.
“We never found the informant who helped the twins.” Disappointment crushed her shoulders.
“Aye. My guess is one of the dead pit guards.Theyalwaysate in Cook’s kitchen. One of them could’ve seen the chests from theDemonand planned to use the twins to get more of his share. Only for the Flint twin to kill him. It’s a pirate’s style to double-cross. Cover their tracks.”
An insightful guess from Samuel. He wasn’t just a pretty face. His gaze shifted to the hatch entrance to Hell’s Pit on the main deck, and Kora bit her lip, refraining from admitting about the forged letter. If the twins weren’t involved in that, then there was another party at play. Another piece of the puzzle she couldn’t see.
Maybe a guardcouldhave forged the letter? They’d been on this ship long enough to know what her and Blake’s handwriting looked like,andthe empire’s seal. Had she been chasing a ghost this whole time?
Kora mulled the thought over as they docked at the busy, mighty port. Wide enough to fit up to thirty capital ships within the concave bay, it bustled with life.
Her crew cheered asHell’s Serpentanchored, and descended the walkway planks to the docks with a spring in their steps. Some sprinted to their gleeful families and wives waiting with open arms—or to the local brothels.
Samuel reunited with Aryn, clapping his slender shoulders, and Kora hovered at the edge of the ship as they disappeared into the fortified port town, joining crew members beelining towards the nearest grog establishment.
Samuel’s vouch for Aryn settled in her gut. They’d always been joined at the hip, yet Aryn had kept a wide berth around her, until now. His name was no longer stained in inky, dark tendrils in her mind, but shone at the forefront like a beacon, breaking through her broken memory.
“Well done, girl.” Kora stroked the railing, her fingers dipping into the grooves of the wood.
In one solid movement, she joisted over the railing, landing on the dock with athump, her legs absorbing the impact of solid ground. She clutched her brown satchel bag strapped over her shoulder, peering round to make sure no one noticed she’d leapt off a ship without breaking her legs.
It was something she’d discovered in early spring, when she’d leapt from the mast, desperate to evade death by a pirate’s sword, and landed on the deck unscathed. It’d been near the Dead Islands, during a convict shipment to the prison. She must’ve inherited sturdy bones from her family.
