Page 4 of The Ocean's Heart
Ruddily handsome with a mop of dark curls, Tomas was a heartbreaker, but he hadn’t succeeded in breaking mine.
I took the seat; it would be rude not to. Someone plonked a plate of grub in front of me.
Fish. Again.
We’d run out of meat last week. But this was our last supper before we set foot on land, so it hardly mattered.
“How is our princess?” Berand asked from across the table.
“The sea is not kind to her.”
“Let us hope the sea fae are.”
Low murmurs of agreement drifted around the room. Bryony was well loved by all, and although we needed this match, we worried for her happiness.
“Alliance or not, if they harm a single hair on her head…” Berand left the threat unfinished so that we could each complete it as we wished in our minds.
One of the oldest in the guard, Berand held sway over the men, and I’d made sure to make a friend of him when promoted to chief over him. I’d since learned he’d had no yearning for the role anyway. He’d become my mentor over the past year. But he was due to retire. This was his last voyage, and I’d miss the old man.
Someone filled my cup with ale. Sweet and refreshing. I allowed the knots in my belly to slacken. Knots that had formed a day ago, a foreboding that should be satisfied by the arrival of the storm but remained like a stubborn itch at the back of my mind.
I shook it off and tucked into my meal as the conversation started up around me once more, less boisterous now, but lively, nonetheless. As much as we loved being at sea, we loved coming home to land more because it was only there that we could crave the waves once again.
Someone pulled out a pack of playing cards, and a game began at the end of the table.
“Have you considered my offer?” Tomas said softly from beside me.
Ah, his offer. “I have.”
“And?”
“The answer is still no.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t give you what you want. You’d be wasting your time.”
“Isn’t that for me to decide?”
I chewed my mouthful and swallowed. “No.”
“Dammit, Thalia?—”
“Chief. You will address me as Chief.” I fixed a glare his way, and his jaw ticked.
I hated that he was in love with me. Hated myself for the moment of weakness a year ago when I’d succumbed to desire. I’d been promoted to chief since then. I’d kept my distance, kept the boundary, but Tomas was insistent.
“Nobody cares if we’re together,” he whispered.
I glanced across the table to find Berand’s eyes on us. Oh, he knew. The old man knew everything.
The mess hall door slammed open, and Pippen, one of the deck crew, burst in. “Black sail! Coming in fast.”
Ice rushed through my veins, panic making a fist around my throat, but I held my calm. “How long before they’re on us?”
“Less than an hour, maybe forty minutes, if that.”
“We have no valuables on board,” Tomas said. “No jewels or coin.”
