‘She’s your wife?’
‘Not yet. She’s running from her family. They don’t approve of me.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘How do I know you didn’t do this?’ It’s all too clear Raoul wants to make someone pay for hurting Lilah, and though I suspect she’d be dead without me I’m hardly an innocent in what’s happened to her.
‘She saved me,’ Lilah says, her voice soft but firm. ‘I wouldn’t be here without her. And she’s the only person I know.’
The look Raoul gives Lilah almost breaks my heart. It would destroy me too if Bronn looked at me like that, like he had no idea who I was, like all that bound us together was lost.
The thought of Bronn is unwelcome. I don’t want to be distracted by him right now. Did he locate the stranger from the wedding? Does he know I’m alive? Is he searching for me? Or has he been seduced by the role of Viper as I was seduced by magic?
One of Raoul’s men has been staring at me a little too closely, and now he leans down and whispers into Raoul’s ear.
His gaze lifts sharply towards me, his eyes narrowing. I think he’s about to ask me something when the tavern door opens once more, only this time it’s half a dozen of the King’s Guard. I lower my head and Raoul smiles.
‘So it’s true then? You’re our treasonous princess?’
I shrug. ‘Something like that.’
‘You looking for a way off this island?’
‘Honestly? If it wasn’t for Lilah, I’d already be gone.’
Raoul clenches his jaw. ‘You put yourself at risk for her?’
‘Look, I know no one believes me, but I became the Viper for a reason. I wanted to help people. And though that plan is going spectacularly wrong, I couldn’t leave her and the baby for dead.’
The guards are getting closer now, searching every table, and my instinct to flee intensifies.
‘Say nothing.’ Raoul has apparently made a decision about me, because he turns his chair so that he more or less blocks me and I lower my head down away from prying eyes.
‘Good evening.’ Raoul greets the guards as long-lost friends. ‘To what do we owe the pleasure?’
‘Looking for someone,’ the tallest guard says and thrusts a piece of paper with my likeness scrawled on it towards Raoul. ‘Seen her in these parts?’
Raoul blows air out of his mouth and makes a display of thinking. ‘Can’t say as I have.’ He turns to his crew. ‘Any of you seen her?’
The men follow Raoul’s lead and shake their heads.
‘You sure?’ The guard is insistent. ‘There’s a price on her head.’
Raoul tilts his chin up. ‘How much?’
I hold my breath, wondering what sum he’ll sell me out for, furtively looking around for an escape route in case it comes to that.
‘Enough crystal to keep a man like you happy,’ the guard says.
Raoul’s eyes narrow slightly and his pretence of friendliness is gone. Perhaps he doesn’t like the guard telling him what kind of man he is. ‘Afraid I can’t help you.’
‘We’ll be posted here for a few days,’ the guard says, realising this is a lost cause. ‘Find us if you see anything.’
Raoul tips his head but as they leave he spits on the floor. He turns to his men. ‘Think we’re ready to leave, don’t you?’
Lilah looks scared as everyone gets to their feet. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘I’m going to take you home,’ he says to her, and I see her eyes flick over to me. ‘She can come too,’ he adds before looking at me. ‘If you want.’
I consider him closely. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Does it matter? It’s not here.’
He has a point, but I’m not going to go blindly with these people.
‘It matters.’
‘Fine.’ And he flashes a wicked grin at me. ‘Ever been to the Third Isle?’
The Black Nightshade is a stunning ship. Made entirely from the same nightheart wood as the Maiden’s figurehead, she truly is a daughter of the Black Island.
Though she’s a relatively small trading vessel, a two-masted brig, our journey is quick and smooth, and I wonder how I’ve never seen her like before.
When I ask Raoul what waters he favours, he gives me a sly smile. Like he knows what I’m really asking.
‘She’s special, isn’t she?’ He’s clearly very proud of his ship. ‘Built her myself. With the help of my brothers.’
I’m impressed, but not surprised. I’m fast realising Raoul is a man of mystery.
We slipped unnoticed from the tavern to the harbour, and once we boarded the Nightshade, which was camouflaged so well as to be almost invisible against the black water, we were soon underway. Lilah and I were taken to the hold, which was serving as makeshift quarters, but, not one to trust easily, Raoul had men positioned on the other side of the spare sail strung up for privacy. ‘To show you around,’ he’d said, but we both knew it was a precaution. I was, after all, on the run for attempted murder and treason.
But despite the distance growing between me and the King, the mass of worries crushing my chest isn’t easing.
I continue to feel sick with fear for Torin. And guilt for leaving him behind at the mercy of his power-hungry father. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the castle without trying harder to help him. Was I selfish to run? The fact is, though, it’s too late to go back now, and so I can only hope the healer is gifted enough to keep Torin alive, and the King is smart enough to let him.
My other problem remains the same. The Eastern Isles are no closer to peace than before, and the King is a far greater threat than either Torin or myself had anticipated. The trial demonstrated one very important thing to me. He has strong allies throughout the Six Isles. With Torin out of the picture the Fleet will once more answer to the King, and I no longer command anyone. The war has never seemed bigger and my army never smaller.
I’m going to need more help.
If I’d hoped that might come from Raoul and his men, the thought is quickly extinguished when he invites me to his cabin for dinner. I expect that Lilah will be there, but apart from his guard positioned at the door, we’re alone.
When I ask why the privacy, he hands me a mug of rum. ‘Because I think we need to have a chat, and I don’t particularly want anyone else privy to that.’
I take a long swig of the golden liquid, and nod my head. ‘I see. So what can I do for you?’
‘I want you to fix Lilah.’
I suddenly feel so tired. Rubbing my face, as if somehow that can wipe away all the responsibility, I say, ‘And what makes you think I can do that?’
Raoul gets to his feet and starts to pace the room. ‘Do you think I don’t hear things? Whispers of what you once did?’
I’m not entirely sure what he’s referring to, so say nothing.
‘Is it true that you summoned water raptors? That magic flows in your veins?’
How the hell does he know that? No one on my ship would have betrayed me. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for my face, which gives Raoul his answer.
‘So it is true.’