by Deirdra Eden
I contemplated his words. In this fight, I had been able to do things with my powers I never thought possible. Through trial by fire, I controlled the great flames with precision both defensively and offensively. Perhaps he knew what he was doing after all.
Alamar came forward and snatched my hand then spun me uncomfortably close. “You have demanded much of me.” He laughed at the way I stiffened in his arms. “Now it is my turn. I will go to the druids, if…” His smile grew, his grip tightened. I pushed against his chest to force some distance between us, but was unsuccessful without using my immortal strength. He bent his head over mine, his lips brushing my ear and making me squirm for distance more, but Alamar was strong. I couldn’t escape without revealing too much—or hurting him. “If you kiss me,” he whispered.
Finally, using more strength than I should have, I removed myself from the trap his arms had made around me. I started to shake my head and stopped. This would guarantee the completion of my mission so I could return to Azrael. I swallowed hard and turned away from him. What was the harm in a kiss? Just one little kiss and he would come with me to the druids. One brush of our lips.
Alamar stepped behind me, resting his hands gently on my shoulders and guiding me around. The wood of the ship melted away. Alamar faded, and the Neviahan sanctuary bloomed to life in front of me.
“Have you had a bad dream, Auriella?” a voice asked, sweet and sugary. I recognized it in an instant.
“Eva,” I whispered as I took in the greenery around me and the white and gold banners waving in the distance. I longed to feel one of her comforting hugs and have her reassure me that all was not lost. Perhaps Zacaris could help me find a way to convince Alamar to come here to the sanctuary. The soft, rich earth massaged my bare feet as I started for the high druid’s tower. It was as though my test with Alamar was only a dream and I was really awake now.
“Auriella!” Another voice stopped me in my path. Azrael. He appeared amid the foliage and rushed to greet me. The sun glistened in his dark hair and stars sparkled in his bright eyes. He caught me by the waist, lifted me off the ground, and spun me around.
“Oh, Azrael,” I gasped. Moisture flooded my eyes as I realized this happy ending. I blinked hard, trying to awaken myself if I was only dreaming. It seemed only a moment ago I had been standing aboard Alamar’s ship. But as I blinked and shook my head the image didn’t fade and Azrael felt warm in my arms. “It’s been fifty years since we last touched!”
Azrael paused and shook confusion from his eyes. “And you still look just as beautiful.” Azrael leaned forward, his lips inches from mine. I waited for the electric sparks that flew wildly when we embraced, but nothing happened.
I inhaled, craving Azrael’s scent of leather and spruce, but instead he smelled of seaweed and salt. This wasn’t right. He had called me Auriella, but Azrael always called me Aura.
I slapped him and lunged away.
The illusion broke and Alamar stood there like a fool holding his jaw. “Ouch,” he complained.
“You deserved it,” I snapped. How could he deceive me like that? My heart broke all over again.
“I simply want to make you happy,” he defended, his tone disappointed. “I thought you wanted me to go with you to the sanctuary. I was simply making my terms easier for you.”
“I never agreed to those terms.” Angry tears flooded my eyes. The dream, my sanctuary, home, Azrael—all of it one of his silly illusions. A lie.
The tears flew off my face and into Alamar’s hand. He examined my tears and said, “You cry fresh water tears.” He reached to brush a few more from my cheek, but I jerked away. Of course I knew that. It was part of being an Immortal, but I couldn’t tell him. I stood there, a scowling statue.
Alamar’s shoulders dropped as he stepped past me, toward the wardrobe. “I better go break the news to my men.” He motioned for me to move the wardrobe.
“News?” I asked.
“That I’m no longer a pirate.”
My anger and hurt almost dissipated. He was actually going to do what he agreed to do. I stepped toward the wardrobe. If he truly were giving up piracy, I would help him find the man who killed his mother. It seemed like a fair trade. I slid the wardrobe from the shattered door.
He strutted out the door, turned, and flashed a stunningly sly smile.
I huffed at him. “Your new room is in the hold,” I called after him, wanting the last word. “I’ve already cleaned it.”
His smart smirk fell. I slid the wardrobe over the broken door before he changed his mind about our deal.
Chapter Seventeen
Auriella Takes Charge
First things first: the gloomy décor of Alamar’s cabin had to go. I pulled the black curtains from the windows and tossed them into a pile on the floor. Sunlight beamed into the room, and I bathed in its perfect glory.
To my surprise there wasn’t much fire or water damage, but the floor glistened with dry salt and seaweed hung from the ceiling. At least it wasn’t cobwebs or the oily, greasy muck I’d had to scrub from the floor of the hold.
I stripped the linens from the bed and piled them on the floor with the curtains. I rolled up the smoky grey rugs and stacked them in the corner of the room. What I needed now was a bucket of hot soapy water, a bristle brush, and a washboard. I slid the wardrobe just far enough from the doorway to stick my head through and see Alamar. His back was to me as he spoke to his men. The pirates whispered amongst each other, and most faced him with scowls and furrowed eyebrows.
“Alamar!” I shouted.
He spun to face me. Though his skin was colourless and he looked agonized, he forced a smile on his face. “Yes, my lo—I mean Auriella?”
I eyed him the way a mother would eye a misbehaving child then asked, “Would you be so kind as to fetch me a bucket of water, a brush, and lots of soap. My new cabin is filthy.”
He hesitated. The pirates all held their breath. I had to admit I enjoyed this change in hierarchy, though by the slight narrowing to Alamar’s eyes and the way his shoulders tensed, he did not. I didn’t feel guilty about it either.
He nodded in agreement.
The pirate crew burst into laughter.
“Why don’t ya do the laundry while you’re at it, Cap’n.” Red Beard said specifically to me. He laughed with a gaping mouth of missing teeth. The pirates roared with mirth at Red Beard’s joke.
“Takin’ orders from a wench!” another man shouted. My gaze flickered to Alamar, who stared at the sky, eyes closed and his fists clenched as though it took a great deal of effort for him to control his temper.
“Go fetch what she asked for,” Alamar barked at one of the men.
I heard the man scoff back as I slid the makeshift door shut. A moment later the boat jolted to one side. Obviously Alamar was settling things with the crew in his own way. I gathered his clothes from the wardrobe and strung the garments over my arm. A tap came on the back of the closet. I slid the wardrobe aside to see Alamar standing next to several of the crewmen with full buckets and a bristle brush. The man glared at me fiercely, his cheeks red with anger for being at the bidding of a wench. He dropped the things at my feet, sloshing water from the bucket everywhere, and scuttled away.
I piled Alamar’s clothes into his arms.
He gathered them up and eyed them with a sigh. “You really are kicking me out of the captain’s quarters?”
“Yes.” I dropped his boots on top of the heap of clothes in his arms.
Alamar clenched his jaw. “I expect to see you on deck this evening to begin our training,” he ordered in the same tone he’d used to command his pirates.
I gave him a mocking curtsey. “I haven’t forgotten, Captain.”
His composure relaxed. “And we are going to find the Dead Man,” he added, his voice still stern.
I lifted my chin into the air in my best dignified-lady pose. “That’s what I promised,” I said coolly and pushed the wardrobe in front of him as if slamming the door shut, leaving him standing j
ust outside.
I worked until the light from the windows faded into soft, warm colours of the sunset. Using the rest of the canvas sail, I created new curtains. I rifled through the various trunks in the room—at least the ones I could open. Several were locked and most likely contained valuable pillage, but a few had clothing in them, all made from thick, expensive fabrics. I grinned when I found exactly what I was looking for and sat down to fit the new ensemble to my tastes, a pleased grin spreading with every stitch I made.
That evening, when I emerged for my training session, Alamar was on deck waiting for me. His jaw dropped when I stepped from the room.
“Do you like it?” I asked, not caring if he liked the outfit I had sewn or not. “You don’t mind that I made use of the clothes gathering dust in your old cabin.” I arched an eyebrow at him.
“Trousers?” he gasped looking at my new outfit.
“Yes,” my tone hardened. “I almost ruined my dress in our negotiations. If I’m going to help you find the Dead Man, then I will need something that will allow me to jump and climb.” I glanced down at the trousers I’d hemmed and taken in. They were comfortable and quite freeing. The white shirt and the doublet were so elaborate, I actually felt quite feminine and courtly in them.
“You look as striking as ever.” If anything, Alamar’s appreciative grin widened, which was not the reaction I had expected. I had hoped that my more manly clothing would lessen his ogling at me. However, I looked the part of an adventurer, something I had longed for my whole life.
I placed my hands on my hips, fingering the leather of the scabbard I had found for the sword Alamar had given me. My heart thumped joyfully at having the weapon right at my fingertips. “All right, teacher, shall we begin? I’m interested to see how a man who only knows how to control water will teach me how to control fire.
Alamar walked in a circle around me, stroking his chin in a business like way before he came to stop in front of me and crossed his arms over his chest. “Actually, fire and water are not that different.”
“They are different. Very different. In fact, I would say they are opposite,” I countered. Our powers were just as opposite as our personalities.
“That’s because you only see how they oppose each other. Not how they move, flow, spread, and evolve similarly. How large of a flame can you create?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Try,” Alamar suggested and took several steps back.
I held out my palms and forced a flame the size of a grapefruit to spring into the air. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment. I’d hoped for something more elaborate, but it was always hard to get the power to start flowing without me being overly emotional. The problem was, once it started, it was hard to stop.
“This is good,” Alamar encouraged. “Now watch.” An orb of water, the same size, floated from the ocean into his hand. Alamar twisted the water until it spread into a shield like hard glass. “It’s the same amount of water, it simply looks bigger.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “What are you suggesting?”
Alamar’s jaw tightened. “I’ve seen you do this. This morning you did the exact same thing. You made a little fire and fueled it until you created a fire shield.” He paused and closed his water shield back into a round transparent orb. “You are thinking about it too much. Don’t think about anything, just do!”
It was easier said than done. I was always thinking about something.
Alamar lifted the rotating orb of water. “I’m going to throw this at you, Auriella, and I want you to block it.”
I stood squarely and held out my hands, preparing myself for his attack and reminding myself it was only a ball of water. “All right.” My voice sounded weak anyway, and I chided myself for being such a coward.
“Show me your shield,” he instructed.
I created the flame and before I could try to remember how I had made it into a shield that morning, Alamar hurled the water ball at me. It hit me across the face, shattering into a thousand droplets that pelted across my warm skin. I stumbled back from the force of his blow.
“Auriella!” Alamar actually sounded worried about me.
My flame had gone out. I wiped my face dry on the shoulder of my new doublet. “I’m fine.”
“Did you even try?” He sounded irritated, though his face remained concerned. “I threw harder punches than that at you earlier and they evaporated before they got near you.”
I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. “I guess I just didn’t get enough sun today.” At least my new cabin was clean, and the cost of sun was worth the luxury of having sanitation aboard a pirate ship.
Alamar grinned. “Ahhh, I see. I believe I drank a dozen liters of water just so I wouldn’t shrivel up after our fight.”
“I did that to you?” I asked in amazement, squinting at him and trying to discern if he was lying simply to build up my confidence.
“Come with me.” He motioned for me to follow him onto the upper deck. “There is only a little day light left, and you had better take what you can get.”
I followed him to the upper deck and let the glow of the setting sun hit my face and flow through me. Though it wasn’t as strong as the mid-day sun, it tingled inside me and energy radiated through my body.
Alamar leaned against the railing and watched me consume the red sunlight for a moment. I swallowed and turned away, embarrassed by his gaze. It wasn’t his usual, arrogant stare. He was contemplative and admiring—but in a gentle way.
I took in a breath of cool evening air as the sun sank below the waves in the distance. “Were your men upset when you told them you renounced piracy?” I asked.
He laughed dryly. “Well, they were less than thrilled about having to find new employment. They decided since they would not be under my command much longer, they would spend the next couple of days below deck, drinking.”
“Better than mutiny?” I suggested.
He shrugged. “In a few days we reach Drakeland.”
“Drakeland?”
“Sì, it’s an island off the coast of Africa. That’s where I found my crew and that’s where they asked to return to find new employment. There is no military nor established government. It’s a popular place for pirates and anyone else running from the law.” His eyes flickered to mine. “When we are there, you had better stay on board the ship. We are going to make this a quick drop off. Being on land makes me nervous.”
I bit my lip. I briefly thought about running from Alamar when we docked. He would never be able to outrun me. But Drakeland was an island. How far could I get? And not only was it an island, but a refuge for criminals.
Besides, I had made a promise to Alamar, and as much as I despised him, I would hate for my word to be so cheap as that. A realization hit me that Drakeland was the perfect place to start scouting for the man with the snake tattoo.
“Thinking about running away?” he asked, scowling.
“Of course not,” I said, but I’d spoken too quickly and the guilt was probably evident in my face. I rushed on to reassure him. “We had a deal and I’m holding to my end of the bargain.”
Alamar nodded, surprisingly serious for once and he gazed back out at the ocean. I saw vulnerability in his expression. I recognized that this was one of our few moments of peace, so I reached out and touched his arm.
“Alamar?”
He sighed, the pensive expression spreading into his eyes and worry settling there. “I’ve been a pirate for so long it’s hard to think of myself as anything else.”
“You can always take up fishing,” I suggested, hoping to make him smile and worry less about his future. In time, perhaps, he would see that the sanctuary was the best place for him. “You wouldn’t even need fishing nets,” I teased.
He patted the top of my hand and let his hand linger over mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I turned to the deck and discreetly pulled away from his touch.
“Do you want to try practic
ing again?”
“All right,” I agreed. “But perhaps we should make it quick. I might actually sleep soundly tonight in my secure cabin.”
Alamar took a sword-fighting stance, but with no weapon other than water. I followed suit and turned my palms up. Sparks of fire blazed in both my hands, but I could already hear the waves growing wild as they slapped against the ship and sprayed the wood planks with salt water. Steam rose from the planks in a circumference around my body.
“It seems like you already know how to use your powers. You simply need the right motivation,” Alamar spoke half to himself and half to me. “Maybe if I make you angry, you’ll find that motivation.”
Though the air grew damp with thick humidity, I fueled the flames and let it cover my body like armour, the fire flowing around me. Alamar attacked. The water took the form of silver arrows and struck from every direction. My fire armour held true.
Alamar smiled darkly. This was only the beginning. Geysers exploded from the sea and raged toward me. The flames whipped fluidly around my body, and the blasts evaporated into steam. Alamar shoved a wall of water in my direction. The rogue wave tipped the ship so deep that the railing on the lower right side of the deck touched the surface of the sea.
I held onto the upper railing as the ship toppled on its side. The wood smoldered under my flaming fingers while Alamar unleashed his storm. The ship bobbled upright again and a layer of water flooded from the deck into the ocean.
Alamar nodded. “Now it is your turn to attack.”
I gathered my bearings while Alamar prepared a reflective aqua shield around his body to protect himself from my flames. I smiled at the trap he had made for himself. All I had to do was heat the water around his skin and boil him out of the liquid shell. But then he summoned a thick wall of water to arise between us.
I dropped my arms. “How am I supposed to get through that?” At least I didn’t have to worry about hurting him.
“Come on, Auriella,” Alamar encouraged. “I know you can do it.” His voice echoed from behind the water shield.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” I could barely see his blurry silhouette through the water, and we had to shout just to hear each other.