Page 113 of The Eye of the Fifth
Some time later, the group dispersed, leaving behind four empty tankards on the barrel, and Kyra found herself at the bow of the ship again, silently squinting up at the infinite stars that peppered the night sky, though tonight they were a little blurry.
Or was that her eyes?
She snorted. Of course it was her eyes. Stars didn’t blur.
Kawai came up behind her. ‘I haven’t seen Jak that drunk before.’ He pulled a face. ‘Seeing ale after it's been in someone’s stomach isn’t a pleasant sight.’
Kyra grimaced. ‘Do you think we should have stopped him?’
‘Ah, he’ll be alright. It’s a rite of passage on this ship,’ Kawai said, leaning his elbows on the rail next to her.
There was about a millimetre between their arms.
She may have been drunk, but this she noticed absolutely. ‘You never told us who it was you killed,’ she prompted gently.
He gave a grim smile. ‘That’s because it’s not a nice story.’
‘Is death ever a nice story?’
‘Fair point. But… it’s not something I like to talk about.’
Shifting ever so slightly, Kyra closed the miniscule gap between them, letting her arm touch his. ‘You didn’t judge me. I won’t judge you.’
He smiled at that, but it was tinged with sadness. So unlike the brash grins she was used to. ‘I know you won’t. But I judge myself for it, daily. Something like that doesn’t just go away.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Kyra said quietly. ‘I see their faces sometimes. Even though I know they would have killedmegiven the chance, I still see them. They never fade. I don’t even remember their names.’ Kawai was quiet. ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly, berating her drunk mouth for not knowing when to shut the fuck up. ‘We don’t have to talk about it.’
‘Maybe… maybe it’s time I did,’ Kawai said. ‘I’ve never spoken to anyone about it. Kano is the only one who knows and that’s just because he was there when it happened.’
Kyra waited. He took a deep breath. ‘When I got Kano out of the city, for the most part, it was easy. Like I told you before, I’m a salir. I leapt us from home right to the rocks you clambered over to get to the ship. I’d known Damar for a while. I’d been thinking of leaving the capital to join the raiders anyway, and he agreed to help. Despite being a grumpy bastard, he’s surprisingly compassionate. Anyway, that’s not-’ He cleared his throat. ‘I hadn’t told anyone but Damar what I planned to do. Not even Kano knew. He was sort of tranced when we salired out, but as we climbed over the rocks, he began to wake up.
‘He started screaming. Screaming and screaming in terror, like he was afraid of me. I don’t think he even knew who I was at that moment.’ Kawai stared right ahead, his eyes glassed over as though he were right there in the memory. ‘I had to knock him out to stop himfrom screaming. I knew the kingsguard patrolled the beach at night, and though we hadn’t encountered one yet, the noise was bound to draw attention.
‘I thought we’d gotten away with it. I had Kano hauled over my shoulder and I was getting closer to the ship by the second. But then a kingsguard showed up behind us, sword drawn. I knew I’d never outrun him, not over the rocks with Kano on my back. So I put Kano down and drew my own sword. I knew as soon as the guard charged at me that he was bewitched, probably in the same way Kano was. He… he was relentless. And so fucking strong. During the fight, he cut my leg open. But I knew that if I died, Kano would go back to being the king’s slave. I couldn’t…wouldn’tlet that happen. One of us was going to die. And though the odds were stacked against me, I knew it couldn’t be me.
‘I was on the rocks by Kano when he came at me again, and with whatever strength I had left, I managed to kick his sword out of his hand with my good leg, then plunged my own into his chest.’ His eyes squeezed shut. ‘I remember him looking at me then, as though he’d just realised who I was and what he was doing. But it was too late. I laid him onto his back, his blood coating the both of us and… he was dead within a minute.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Kyra whispered. ‘He would have killed you.’
‘His name was Garin. We’d known each other since we were boys. Grew up together. I think the king used our friendship as a way to spy on me. As though he knew all along that I would try to break Kano out.’
Kyra said darkly, ‘The king is a cunt.’
He gave a soft laugh. ‘You have a wonderful way with words, did you know that?’
‘It’s been mentioned before.’
They fell quiet, and Kyra listened to the soft crashing waves as theThilenesliced through the water. His arm was still pressed against hers, the warmth of him seeping into her own skin.
After a moment, Kawai straightened and turned to her. A slow moving hand rose to gently brush the flyaway curls from her face, tucking them behind her ear. ‘I didn’t expect this,’ Kawai muttered.
Pulse fluttering in a way it had never done before, Kyra whispered, ‘Expect what?’
‘That I would end up liking you.’
His heartbeat had spiked too. A steady rhythm in the off-beats of her own. The combined thumping sent her mind dizzying. ‘That’s the ale talking,’ she said a little breathlessly.
‘No,’ he murmured. ‘You caught my eye the first time you came on board, Kyra. Then you were a pain in the ass for a bit. Still are.’ She scowled. He smirked. ‘But now… well, let’s just say I’m not eager for you to leave.’
