Page 2 of Sonnets and Serpents
“You’re lucky this was just a baby storm—barely any legs at all.”
At her horrified expression, he laughed. Though he must have been exhausted from holding the ship steady against a storm,he never lifted a finger from the helm while the rest of the crew reset the ship.
It was a ten-day voyage from Loegria to Pravusat, and they’d already traveled most of the distance. Eliza prayed the next two days would not bring further storms.
Suddenly remembering, she gave a little cry of despair and fished a damp, sad book from her pocket. The cover’s red fabric was threadbare at every corner, and the ridges of the spine had grown mushy, no longer sharply defined as they’d been when her sister, Aria, had gifted the book to her for her fourteenth birthday. Three years of constant reading wore out even the sturdiest books. But reading was one thing; she’d never subjected the book to salt water before.
With great care, she peeled the pages, relieved to find them dry except for the wrinkling edges. The words of familiar sonnets swirled before her eyes, comforting her heart in the wake of the storm.
And on the page of her favorite sonnet, a dried flower remained nestled and safe, tucked against the binding. A white snowdrop blossom.
Henry’s voice echoed in her mind, his nervous smile fixed in her memory.I just picked these along the path. Next time, I’ll get you real flowers.
No, she’d told him.They’re perfect. Just like you.
In two days, she would see him again. That thought was like the sunbeams breaking through the clouds.
A strange hush fell over the ship, lifting Eliza’s attention from her book. Though the sailors continued their work, they did so stiffly, and even the helmsman stood rigid, his jaw clenched. She followed his gaze to a crew member who seemed out of place with the rest.
Then she tensed as well.
The man moved like a ghost—silent and without touchinganother sailor—but the true eeriness came from the brand on his neck, an elongated S that warned what he was capable of.
Anywhere water had gathered on the deck, he made it vanish with a mere touch and a dim flash of light.
A Fluid Caster.
He disappeared belowdecks, and Eliza found the helmsman looking at her.
“You ever seen a Caster at work?” he asked grimly. “Most haven’t.”
Eliza shook her head. She closed her sonnet book with the instinct to protect it, and she resisted pulling it to her chest, since her shirt was still drenched from the storm.
“Handy to have a Fluid Caster out on the ocean, I’ll say that, and Ed’s never given us any trouble.” The helmsman’s expression grew dark, and his gaze fixed on the horizon. “But with all that Morton business, feels like we’d be better off if no one had ever heard of magic.”
Eliza’s mouth had grown dry, and though she struggled to keep a neutral expression, she couldn’t help but wince.
“That Morton business” that most people danced around was a curse laid on Eliza’s family by the Fluid Caster Clarissa Morton. It had started with Eliza’s older sister, Aria. For months, Aria had been unable to sleep at night, her strength sapping away. Then the same effect had passed to Eliza.
The exhaustion from the curse was bad enough, but her father’s response was worse. His need for control and his refusal to look weak drove him to turn the curse into a challenge. Whatever man of court was able to break it would be given the privilege of marrying Crown Princess Aria.
And then, presenting it as aprizefor winning a royal tournament, he’d forced Henry to be the first challenger.
The shock still vibrated in Eliza’s chest. Her father hadknownshe wanted to court Henry, but he didn’t care. He addressed her feelings in one clipped, dismissive answer:
“Eliza’s romantic whims are such that she’ll find a new boy within the week.”
Gripping the sonnet book, her hands trembled. The gray clouds still pressed too heavy and low for comfort, as if threatening to unleash another storm at any moment. She longed to see the sun.
“Do you know where you’re going, girl?” the helmsman asked.
Eliza tensed. The sailor’s tone wasn’t threatening, but her senses prickled with danger all the same. He sounded too ... interested. She’d given a false name while booking passage, and the last thing she wanted was anyone looking too closely at “Jenny,” who was the same age and height as a certain runaway princess.
She should have stayed belowdecks.
The helmsman didn’t wait for her answer. “If you’re that pale after seeing one Fluid Caster, you’ll have a hard time in Pravusat. Whole country’s infested with magic. No laws, no restrictions.”
Magic.That was still his focus. Eliza held back a sigh of relief.
