Page 47 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
“We came across a gathering of pirates by Peril Cove,” the words rushed out of her. “They chased us, and we destroyedDemon Sea Siren.”
Erick’s eyes glinted at the mention of an empire ship. “What were you doing so far from Scarlet Bay?”
“Sightseeing,” Kora replied sardonically, and before Erick could question her further, she barrelled on. She couldn’t explain her reasoning for sailing to Peril Cove, other than lying about simple rumours of pirates gathering. But that wouldn’t be enough to appease Erick. “There were five ships. But four were fromourarmada. And not just that . . . they were commanded by pirate lords.”
“We defeated the pirate lord James Cannon, who’d stolenDemon Sea Siren.” Blake’s fingers pressed against the convex-edged lip of the table, turning deathly white, as if that small stability kept him upright.
Erick pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I should’ve known,” he muttered. “During the first week of your voyage, our scouts informed us there’d been an attack on one of the ports in Talmon—near Ironwharf Outpost. Multiple ships stolen. Supplies, weaponry, the lot.”
Blake frowned, his emerald eyes scanning the map. “That’s right by the wenches’ territory. They’d be fools to attempt to cross their borders.”
Indeed, the witches called their scraggly sectioned-off land the ‘Shannara Territory.’ They were no more than curse-hexing, wild females, who dabbled in voodoo to scare off any wanderer who breached their preciously marked borders—or so she’d been told. That, and they were skilled hunters who would skin trespassers alive if they had the chance, eating the flesh.
“Latest reports say the guards at the outpost were all knocked unconscious,” Erick continued.
Kora’s mouth went dry. “Unconscious how?” She swiped a porcelain cup, draining the coffee in one bitter gulp.
“Some kind of smoke.” Erick raised his brows at her paling face. “Why?”
“We had a similar incident onHell’s Serpent. All of our crew were unconscious from a sleep smoke in their quarters. We found out it was the Flint twins’ handiwork.”
Blake eased a step closer to her as she shuddered from the memory of that night. His fingers trailed along the convex edge, and she imagined her hand sliding down his bare arm, tracing the red scar from the battle withDemon Sea Siren, down to his hands, entwining her fingers with his.
She ached to touch him.
Erick’s mouth thinned. “So . . . the twins could’ve been there when the ships were stolen.”
“I interrogated Jack. He was insistent they joinedDemon Sea Sirenlate, just days, or a week before they encountered us at Peril Cove.”
“You’d believe the word of a pirate?”
Kora fumbled for a moment. She didn’t want to admit—deep down—that she trusted what Jack had admitted to her after Silas’ death. He’d been a broken male, with nowhere to go. He’d had nothing left to offer, other than his words at the time.
“It’s true.” Blake shuffled closer, his heat inches away.
“There’s one other possibility,” she murmured, and both males looked at her questioningly as she pointed to the scraggly section on the map. “They had help from someone else who’d have the knowledge to craft the smoke.”
Blake cursed as his eyes landed on the Shannara Territory. “Of course! Those feral wenches can concoct anything.”
Indeed, along with their hunting skills, the witches had mastered alchemy long before Admiral Darkon had united these lands. If the king could wipe them from the world he would, but the Shannara Accord Treaty between witches and Talmon forbade it, even if theywererumoured to practise magic.
Magic wasforbiddenunder Azarian law. To speak of it washeresy. An immediate death sentence. The viceroys of the Citadel had declared that the witches only practised simple potion swindling, devised to trick the human mind. With the king’s approval, they secured the treaty, allowing peace across Talmon Island.
“It’d explain the ruby chest you recovered. I’ve confirmed with a historian that the rubies are from Shannara. It’s clear the pirates cut a path through their lands to the outpost. I can’t imagine the witches allowing them in. They must have brokered a deal. The witches . . . working with the pirates,” Erick rubbed his stubbled jaw. “This isn’t good, but they haven’t violated their treaty, so we cannot interfere.”
“Not just that.” Kora’s pointed finger travelled down the map, stopping on the centre of Galen, and tapped once. “We have a strong belief the pirates are also allying with Galen.”
Erick released a long exhale as Kora collected her satchel from beside her feet, placing it on top of the map. She revealed the stolen Galen trinkets inside, stomach churning at the sparkling gems. It was confusing to see something so beautiful come from somewhere so deadly and bloodthirsty.
“We found this in the ruby chest,” Blake spoke in hushed tones. “On boardDemon Sea Siren.”
“We also saw three pirate ships retreating into the Mist,” she added.
The pirates must have something valuable to secure alliances with two formidable forces. She nibbled another ginger bite stashed in her pocket as a hot flush overcame her. Perhaps her hangover wasn’t finished with her yet.
Erick’s face grew apprehensive. “The Mist?” he croaked, and his burning brown eyes lingered on her scar. He audibly swallowed. “Did you go into it?”
