Page 20 of Unrivaled
I could’ve left that little tube with him and avoided the unpleasant building, but instead I followed along, watching as he did his work, making small talk as he prepared the bird.The cheddar he’d eaten this morning had been good and sharp.The wind was, too.The thaw might be soon.
My father hadn’t needed a response.That was the thing with orders.
The stairs up to the top of the coop made my thighs burn.I ignored the discomfort, following unnecessarily along.If I turned around, I was going to need to figure out the next thing.There were so many next things.Instead, I could follow through this one.
I was making him nervous, or Chay and Thomas were, and he talked too much.“It feels like such a long time since we heard from anyone,” I told him, to put him at ease.“I can’t wait for another.”
He smiled at this, clucking at the pigeon in his hands.
Finally, we crested the stairs and onto the big, open roof.The air was fresher, and the sun held some precious warmth.
I could go riding.We’d take bows and return with game.We’d guide parties to gather apples, or visit close by villages in search of wheat.
My eyes sought and found the nearest edge of the orchard to the east, then followed the lines of the gently rolling hills.Would I need to stage a tourney this autumn?
Who else would?
The idea of having Chay compete, of having him face a fair fight, made my heart sit lighter.It had been important to him.Mayhap it was an extravagant gift I was attempting to give, but the tourney happened every year.It wasn’t like I was planning an eventonlyfor him.
If I offered a larger purse than usual for the joust to see what he’d learned from the heavy infantry, well, what would it hurt?
The bird was in the sky with that precious spelled message.I have him, Darrius.I drew in a deep breath.I’ll do what I can to keep him safe.
Isolde made a noise of interest.I glanced over, shading my eyes against the afternoon sun and following her gaze across the sea, north of the bird’s path.
My heart turned over in my chest at the sight that met my eyes.
A ship.
A single, brave ship in an otherwise lifeless bay.
* * *
Waiting wasn’t something I considered myself bad at, but as I stood beside a silent Brian on the battlements while he fastidiously adjusted the looking-glass, I felt impatience clawing at me.That brown blot on the blue was growing bigger, but I couldn’t see much more than the shape of it.
Who was coming?
And why?
Would we all still be alive in a year?
“They’re pirates,” Brian said, finally.
I shouldered the worry that came along with his words with ease born of practice.“What’s the difference between pirates and merchants?The amount of blood they’ll spill?”
Brian snorted.“You haven’t had many dealings with merchants, have you, my lady?”
Ignoring the reflex to defend against that barb, I admitted, “No, I haven’t.I’m less concerned with being swindled than overrun, though.”
He glanced over, and his expression was sheepish as he passed me the glass.“I’m sorry, that wasn’t kind.You’ll see they’re flying no banners you’d recognize from any of the trading companies.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said, soothing away his guilt out of habit.Isolde, beside me, shifted a little.I didn’t need to glance over to know she was unhappy with me for that reflexive nicety, so instead I lifted the long copper-and-clockwork machine to my eye.
The waves jumped into view, the colors rippling across their surface.The blue of the water was so deep it was almost black compared to the sun so low in the sky.I adjusted my angle, slowly scanning until the vessel came into sharp relief.
Not only could I see people, but those people had faces.With the motion of the ship on the water they moved in and out of my sight, but impressions of dirty shirts and the scabbards at their waist left me feeling uneasy.The deck itself looked like any other ship deck I’d seen.
Until I came across the glint of glass, and the enlarged eye of a pirate staring directly at me.
