Page 59 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
“No. No . . . there’s no one. I’ve told you before, they forbid against forming relationships in the armada.”
“Rules are meant to be broken.”
Bree giggled on her seat. Her intrigue and enthusiasm made Kora’s breathing hitch as thoughts of Blake continued washing over her, followed by a wave of discomfort. Her headache speared through her mind, the pain increasing. Her chest ached, and she rubbed the spot above where the talisman rested.
“Tell me.” Bree leaned forward. “Who has captured your heart?” She clasped Kora’s free hand, her nails biting her skin. Bree’s face had smoothed out, her smile vanishing as her grasp tightened with each passing second. “Tell me!” she demanded.
Kora paused, hesitation sweeping over her, and she was surprised by her own reluctance to divulge her best friend with all the details of her and Blake. It wasforbidden, so the more secret it was, the better off they’d be. Even the heiress of the House of Hydrafort wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret, friendship aside. Nobles were gossips through and through.Anything to throw their peers to the jaws of judgement and advance into the spotlight of desire.
She couldn’t risk her relationship with Blake, or her chance at becoming admiral. Bree may be her best friend, but she was a noble. A different class. They were an entirely different species to the remaining island dwellers.
Yet something else . . . something unfamiliar niggled at Kora, and a lance of pain flashed from her throbbing temple. She hissed, tearing her hand from Bree’s crippling grip, and grasped the side of her head as she bowed over. The pain relentlessly washed over her, and a small crack in her mind split open.
“Remember, remember, remember, remember.”
The voice chanted repeatedly. A familiar, deep, sweeping tone, growing louder and louder until the fountain in the courtyard to their left spluttered before turning off with eerie silence. Water cascaded over the stoned edges, spilling out onto the mosaic tiles and flooding the courtyard, spearing straight towards the western garden. The scent of rain clouds and steel stuffed up her senses, and Kora hacked a cough, rubbing at her nose from the invading smell.
A small droplet of blood stained her hand, and she quickly wiped it away on her trousers.
“What on earth . . .” Bree placed a comforting hand on Kora’s back. “Kora, can you get up? Something’s wrong with your fountain.”
Bree’s faint voice cried for help from the servants, who rapidly filed out into the courtyard, inspecting the fountain, and mopping the water in unified formation. Something within Kora lurched with a sudden urge to reach out and touch the water. To cover herself with it—to stop them from wiping it away.
“My head . . .” Kora moaned.
The mental crack slowly sealed up as she fought to wrestle control, one hand clasping at the talisman under her tunic.
This is my body. My mind. Get out.
“I’ll call for a healer!” Bree’s hands fluttered near her friend’s face, her eyes full of concern.
“No, I’ll be fine.” Kora gritted her teeth and straightened. “It’s starting to ease already.”
“You don’t look fine,” Bree snapped.
“Stop.” With the pain ebbing away, she twirled in front of Bree. “See? As I said, I’ve not been sleeping well.”
Bree’s bright, insightful eyes took a grand sweep of Kora, briefly hovering at her pink curling scar. “I’ve decided what your remedy is.”
Kora raised a brow in curiosity.
With a sweet smile, Bree said, “A glass of ale.”
Kora laughed, already feeling the crunching pain fade. She held out her arm. “If my lady would walk with me? I know just the place.”
“I shall, kind sir.” Bree curtseyed, fluttering her fan exaggeratively.
Kora pinched at thesir.She would never admit her lack of femininity was a sore spot, especially in Bree’s overflowingly feminine presence. Several servant’s eyes bulged at Bree bowing before Kora, and she rolled her eyes at the remark.
But the sting taunted her in the back of her mind, seeding doubt. Was her masculinity the issue barricading the intimacy between her and Blake? Why didn’t he want to lose control? Was she not enough for him?
25
Together they walked arm in arm, down the lush hill from the mid-district manors and towards the edge of the port town, with Bree’s guards silently in tow. Beams of sunlight glinted off the glittering turquoise ocean sprawling behind the town, and Kora drank the sight in, ambling along.
Wood and stone buildings painted varying shades of green, blue, purple, and red breathed vibrancy into the town. To their right, the pale stone of the towering fortress reflected the light of the sun before greeting sloping hills leading to the lower district on their left.
A tall thick wall of stone separated the paths to the districts and fortress from the port town—a third line of defence. Soldiers guarding the wall gate dipped their heads, their eyes widening at Bree Hydrafort gliding through the tall, iron-enforced archway in her floating white dress. Their gazes glazed over Kora before acknowledging the guards trailing them, grunting to each other about the heat.
