Page 2 of The King's Sword
Her foot kept getting caught on the hem of her dress, making it difficult to climb the steps with the ship’s constant movement.
When she stepped onto the deck, crisp air greeted her along with another wave of nausea. She ran to the rail and vomited over the side. When she finished, she slid down and wrapped her arms around her legs. Thankfully, it was night and she didn’t have to deal with the bright light of the sun. If only the ship would stop moving so much.
“Do you get seasick often?” the man asked, squatting beside her.
Sabine didn’t know why he acted like he cared. “I have no idea.” She’d never been on a ship before. But if this was what it felt like to sail, she’d never step foot on one again. She rubbed her tired face and looked about. The boat was smaller than she expected. And then she remembered him saying the cabin below was the only one. “Where is the rest of the Avoni delegation?” And what about the crew? Not only did she not see another person, but there was no way a dozen people could even fit on this ship.
“I presume back at the Lynk palace.” His brows pulled together. “The Avoni delegation has nothing to do with you being here. I acted on my own, independently of them.”
When she had snuck into the suite the delegation was staying in, she recalled seeing their bags packed as if they were ready to leave directly after the masquerade. “Wait,” she said, “I’m alone on this ship with you?”
“Yes.”
Another bout of nausea hit her and she groaned, leaning her cheek against her knees, trying to soothe her shaking body to no avail. As the large sail whipped in the wind, a metal piece attached to a rope kept clinking against the mast. She had no idea how one person could sail this ship without having someone else help. Maybe this man was more pirate than assassin. But she remembered him jumping from the roof above her bedchamber onto her balcony. Then when he’d left, he’d scaled the side of the palace. It seemed this assassin-pirate had many talents.
The ship hit a larger swell. Perhaps it would be better to look at her surroundings rather than be curled up on the deck. Reaching above her, she gripped the railing and pulled herself up. She couldn’t afford to be vulnerable or ill right now. Not when water surrounded the ship in every direction for as far as she could see in the moonlight. “Where are you taking me?”
“To meet your brother, Otto.”
She eyed this strange man, trying to determine if he was lying to her or not. “Why?”
“Because he wants to make sure you’re okay.”
“But whyyou?”
“He asked me to.”
“You’re from Avoni.” And her brother lived in Bakley. She had no idea how this man knew her brother. Maybe he was going to demand her brother pay for her safe return. Or maybe her brother had hired him, especially since there was an Avoni assassin after her.
He shrugged. “Your brother asked. I agreed. It’s as simple as that.”
Sabine assumed there had to be more to it.
“It’s late. Do you want to sleep below deck in the bed?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I feel better up here, out in the open.”
He stood and turned toward the stairwell.
“What’s your name?” Sabine asked.
“Evander.” He descended the steps without another word.
* * *
Sabine barely slept from not only the rocking of the ship, but trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on. Her family had been trying to get letters to her, but it seemed they were being intercepted. And now she was on a boat on her way to see her brother. She’d never been kidnapped before, and so far, the ordeal wasn’t what she had expected.
When morning came and the assassin-pirate finally decided to make an appearance, Sabine watched him carefully.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he adjusted the sail.
“Better,” she said.
He opened a box off to the side, pulling out two loaves of bread and handing one of them to her.
Her stomach growled. She had no idea when she’d eaten last. Lifting the bread, she tore off a bite. “I’m not sure what you find so amusing,” she grumbled, irritated that he was watching her eat. She wasn’t a barn animal.
“It’s not often I have a butterfly on my ship,” he said with a wink.
