“Admiral Ethan,” Shadow said. “He never governed the colonies.”
“Have you been keeping watch on the rulers of New Salaria as well?”
I examined the notes on Admiral Ethan.
“He was appointed, but never actually held the office,” I said. “Some council members wanted to exclude him from the elevation to Duke because of this.”
“Admiral Ethan was Estrella’s father,” Shadow said.
I flipped to the next page and read the rest of the information about Admiral Ethan.
“Admiral Ethan was nicknamed the Red Star Admiral because his ship had a figurehead of a Castanian star and was made of red wood instead of the usual Navy gold.”
I stopped. Shadow and I stared at each other.
“Red wood,” he said.
“Surely not.”
I turned back to the paper.
“Admiral Ethan disappeared one week before he was to become governor of the colonies. Witnesses said he had expressed concern about being tied to land when his true passion was sailing. Some speculated he had finally turned to piracy. He had long been affiliated with the pirate known only as Captain. His wife Lady Rosa denied all claims of piracy, but was herself rumored to be a Castanian spy.”
“Impossible,” Shadow said.
“Estrella’s father is the Dragon.”
“Impossible.”
Chapter 23
“Estrella is a duchess now,” I said, skimming the rest of the report. “There wasn’t enough evidence against her father to justify keeping him from receiving the title.”
“We should look for her,” Shadow said. “She’s been gone a long time.”
I nodded. We walked through the mines. I carried Seda so he would not slow us down. We passed the lake and the river. There was no sign of Estrella. The caves looked ominous in the cold, flickering candlelight.
“She might be scouting out our rendezvous point,” Shadow said. “We’ve never met Captain this close to the mountains before.”
“Let’s check.”
The further we walked without a sign of Estrella, the more worried I got.
“Surely he wouldn’t work as a pirate all these years without contacting her?” I said. “At least he would have told Captain.”
“They thought he was dead. Her mother went back to Castana.”
“Maybe she kept it a secret. Why would she stay behind to become a bandit instead of going with her mother?”
Shadow shook his head.
“She didn’t become a bandit. Not at first. She healed sailors at the docks.”
And acted as an agent for the Dragon?
The path sloped uphill. We were getting nearer and nearer to the surface. Seda squirmed in my arms. I put him down, and he darted through the tunnel.
“Where are we meeting Captain?” I asked.
“You’ll see it when we round this bend.”
“What if it is daylight outside? Your eyes-”
“We won’t need to go outside. Captain won’t be there yet. We’re just checking the location.”
And looking for Estrella.
The tunnel turned to the right. We had to climb over a ledge to continue. The path ended at a narrow cliff at the top of an enormous cave. The front opened to the sea. Water and faint red light flooded through the opening. It was sunset, then. Or sunrise? Even that dim light was blinding after so much time underground. The cavern was big enough to fit a sea faring ship, and tall enough that the mast would not scrape the stalactites above it.
At least, the ship docked below seemed to have plenty of room.
“Captain’s early,” I said, still blinking in the bright light.
Shadow blew out the miner’s candle and put it in his pack. I gasped as my eyes adjusted.
The ship’s figurehead was a Castanian star. The red light wasn’t tinting the ship. It was made of red wood.
“The Dragon?” I whispered.
Shadow and I remained silent for a moment, staring at the ship.
“Why is the Dragon here?” I whispered.
“Storage?”
A crew of men dressed as Navy sailors unloaded crates from the ship and carried them into tunnels.
“We’ll need a new rendezvous point with Captain,” I said.
Seda yowled. The sound echoed through the cave. I caught him and pulled him close.
“We need to find Estrella,” Shadow said.
“You don’t think she’s here?”
“If she thinks her father is on that ship, yes.”
“So what? We sneak aboard? Ask one of the crew?”
A woman’s scream rang out. Seda jumped out of my arms and climbed over the ledge. I watched as he jumped down the rocks and disappeared into the hoard of pirates.
“What’s the plan?”
“Be very careful.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and he winked. The gesture caught me off guard. I tripped on a rock and had to grab the wall for balance.
We were in plain sight. Any pirate who looked up would see us creeping along the ledge, working our way down to the cavern floor. But they were focused on loading and unloading cargo. We made it to the shore and crawled under the dock.
There was less to hold onto than there had been at Castlemont harbor, but we made it to the ship dry and undetected. I put my hand against the red wood, searching for something to climb.
There was nothing. The sides of the boat were smooth. Shadow moved farther across the docks, looking for a ladder.
Seda darted between the legs of a pirate. I froze. The pirate kicked at the kitten and kept working. Calling to him was not an option. How could I get his attention?
The sun rose above the horizon. It shone directly into the cave now. Seda darted along the floor, chasing light reflected off the pirates’ swords.
I dug into my apron and pulled out the Rosas Rojas. It sparkled in the light, but it wasn’t enough. I reached deeper and found the silver opera bracelets. The light gleamed off them. I put the rose away and moved myself under the dock to get the right angle. I pushed my arm through a space between the boards and found a sunbeam. Twisting the bracelet, I caught Seda’s attention with the light and led him towards me. When he reached the edge, I grabbed him and pulled him under the dock.
He purred as if the whole thing had been his idea.
I slipped the bracelets onto my wrist so I could hold him better. Shadow climbed over to my side of the dock.
“There are no ropes,” he said. “The only way on board is up the gangplank.”
We would never make it up the gangplank. Pirates swarmed both the deck and the cave.
But maybe there was another way.
I looked at the bracelets. They had failed at the opera but worked at the Salara Museum. If they failed now it would mean disaster.
I handed Seda to Shadow and put a bracelet on each wrist.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
I held a finger to my lips and stepped backwards off the dock.
My foot landed on something invisible and solid. I set the other foot down and let go of the wooden beam.
The platform remained solid. I stood in midair.
Shadow’s eyes grew wide.
“Wait here,” I said.
How long did I have before I fell into the sea? It was impossible to know. I walked around the ship until I was out of the pirate’s view, ducking beneath port holes and openings for canons. At the front of the ship, I walked backwards up invisible stairs until I reached the deck. Then I put the bracelets in my apron and found a rope behind a barrel.
I had not considered how difficult it would be for Shadow to climb the rope while holding Seda. He tucked the kitten under his arm long enough to climb aboard. I pulled Shadow up and grabbed Seda. He squirmed, and I scratched under his chin.
Shadow motioned to a structure across the deck: the captain’s cabin. We worked our way towards it, ducking behind barrels and chests. The pirates were busy taking cargo from the hold an
d didn’t see us.
I heard two voices inside, but couldn’t make out words. The cabin had a window looking over the front of the ship. We climbed along the railing until we reached it and looked inside.
Estrella sat in a chair, her arms and legs tied down. The Dragon stooped with his back to us, rummaging through a chest. His bright red hair flickered like fire.
Not her father then. At least, he looked too young from the back.
Seda meowed when he saw Estrella. She looked at us and shook her head. The Dragon pulled something from the chest and stood. Shadow and I ducked.
“Just tell me where he is,” the Dragon said. “You’ve chosen me over him before.”
Estrella’s reply was muffled. I only caught one word.
“Father.”
The Dragon laughed.
I looked at Shadow. How were we going to get her out? He shook his head.
Something in the cabin clicked. Estrella’s voice rose as she spoke. She sounded short of breath.
“Really, the owl eyes? Are you that desperate?”
“The sun is rising. Don’t underestimate this curse.”
Estrella gasped.
I raised my head and saw a thin trail of blood along her arm. The Dragon, his back turned to me, held a sword.
“Especially if it is permanent,” he said. “You’ve never been able to heal this one, have you? Maybe it will be different if you’re trying to heal yourself.”
Shadow crawled towards the door. I followed him. The pirates remained focused on their tasks. We opened the door and rushed inside. Shadow turned the key and pulled it out of the door, locking us in.
And the pirate crew out.
“Stop,” he said.
The Dragon didn’t turn around, but he pulled the black charm back from the cut on Estrella’s arm.
“Or what?”
It wasn’t a threat. He just sounded curious.
“I’ll burn your ship down.”
Shadow pulled the candle from his pack and tapped it against the wall. It lit.
“Always so dramatic, Shadow.”
The Dragon turned to us.
My arms went limp when I saw his face. Seda wriggled free, ran to the window, and climbed the curtains.
Sir Gilbert.
It was impossible. Shadow gestured to me, but I paid no attention. I stared at the pirate.
His hair was wrong, red and flickering like fire. But everything else was just as I remembered.
Sir Gilbert was the Dragon.
He ignored me, all his attention focused on Shadow.
“Nice of you to come, Shadow. Estrella was being stubborn as usual.”
“What do you want?”
“You robbed the palace recently, yes?”
Shadow nodded. I snapped out of my stupor long enough to realize I could do some good while they chatted. I edged around the room to Estrella and started working the knots loose.
“And you stopped by Salara’s room?” the Dragon said.
“Get to the point.”
“I would have asked Estrella and saved us all some trouble, but apparently she abandoned you again for that mission. Rumor has it the Princess is not well. She hides her face. She rarely leaves her room. Darker rumors say the Princess is not there at all.”
I dropped the ropes and stared at Sir Gilbert. Estrella hissed at me, and I resumed my work.
“Of course she’s there,” Shadow said. “I saw her.”
“No offense, but your eyes aren’t-”
“Rook saw her, and her vision is perfect.”
Sir Gilbert glanced my direction and shrugged.
“Another girlfriend, Shadow?”
Another?
“My turn for questions,” Shadow said. “Why the piracy? Why steal the fairy salt?”
“Really, it should be clicking for you by now. I’m a hero for negotiating the colonial treaty. Salaria is in trouble unless the salt shipments make it to Castana. If the person who negotiated the treaty, delivered the salt, and stopped the Dragon also happened to be a favorite of Princess Salara, well, anything could happen.”
“You want to be King,” I said.
He shrugged.
“Everyone wants to be King. I want the Princess.”
“I don’t want either,” Shadow said.
“Well, you always were stupid.”
Sir Gilbert raised his sword. Shadow rummaged in his pack and found his knife.
I untied a last knot and freed Estrella’s right hand. She fumbled with the ropes on her left hand while I untied her feet.
Across the room, Sir Gilbert lunged. Shadow deflected the sword with his knife and jumped backwards. Shadow was faster, but Sir Gilbert had a longer blade and more training. He sliced Shadow’s shoulder, and blood seeped into his shirt. Shadow pushed him off balance and cut across his chest. Sir Gilbert laughed and pulled off his jacket. The blade had not pierced his skin. He tossed the jacket away and continued to fight in a loose shirt with a deep neckline.
I looked closer at his shirt and gasped. Around his neck hung a familiar teardrop shaped charm, although it was red and mine was blue. I gripped the chain around my neck.
Sir Gilbert swung for Shadow’s head. Shadow dodged, but the blade cut his cheek.
“Stop!” I yelled.
They ignored me. Shadow dove under the sword and sliced Sir Gilbert’s leg.
“This fight has been a long time coming,” Estrella said. “You won’t stop it that easily.”
Well, there were other ways.
I took a deep breath and sang. The music echoed through the room.
“Stop that!” Sir Gilbert cried.
Their blows slowed. They blinked often, trying to stay focused on each other.
I filled my voice with enchantment, singing of peace and stillness.
“What are you doing?” Estrella hissed. “For someone who insists she doesn’t know magic, you’ve got a lot of tricks up your sleeve.”
Both men stared at me. They stood across the cabin from each other, dripping sweat and blood.
“This has gone on long enough, Sir Gilbert,” I said.
“Hush, wench.”
“We’ve met before, Sir Gilbert. Don’t you recognize me?”
He stared at me. Something crossed his face. Recognition? Fear?
Shadow prepared to lunge at the pirate while he was distracted.
“Help Estrella,” I said. “I’ll handle this.”
Shadow’s gaze moved from me to Sir Gilbert and back again.
“Trust me,” I whispered, as much to Sir Gilbert as to Shadow.
Shadow ran to Estrella and cut through the last of the ropes.
Sir Gilbert lowered his sword and took a step towards me. I walked to him, hands outstretched.
The Dragon. Sir Gilbert. Which one was real? I couldn’t even answer that question about Rook and Salara. Maybe a combination of both. Our eyes met. I heard his sharp intake of breath. We stared at each other, our eyes darting around to note every detail before meeting in the middle.
With the snarl gone from his face, he looked handsome again. His cheeks were smooth, and his eyes dark as if he had not slept well for weeks.
“You,” he whispered finally.
I offered him my hand. He took it and kissed it.
“I’ve been looking for you,” I said.
He pulled me close. I reached around his neck, standing on my tiptoes to reach. His arms wrapped around my waist. I ran my fingers through his hair, down his neck, searching.
“You cut your hair,” he said.
“It will grow back.”
If this didn’t work, I was really in trouble.
I found the chain and snapped it open. I pulled his hair charm off and threw it across the room. Estrella caught it and stuffed it in her bag. Sir Gilbert’s grip on me tightened.
Hair exploded from his head, making up for years of growth in a few moments. The mass of beard shooting from his chin tangled around me.
The be
ard grew heavier and heavier until Sir Gilbert lost his grip on my waist. I fell and crawled through the mass of hair towards the door. The Dragon roared with rage. Shadow unlocked the door and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward. We stood for a moment, watching the cabin fill with hair. Shadow cut the hair tangled around my legs with his dagger, pulled me out the door and slammed it shut before the hair could follow.
The pirates, still dressed as naval officers, stopped their chores and stared at us. Their knives gleamed in the now-risen sun. Shadow brushed his hair over his eyes.
At some point, we had set sail. The open sea surrounded us, and the Weeping Mountains grew smaller and smaller on the horizon. Waves churned beneath us.
Sir Gilbert's muffled voice emerged from the cabin. The pirates scowled and moved towards us. They formed a line of knives and leers, trapping us against the ship’s railing.
Chapter 24
“Grab my hands,” I said.
“What?” Shadow and Estrella said together.
“Just do it!”
I slipped a bracelet onto each wrist. Shadow understood and pushed Estrella’s hand into mine. He grabbed my other hand and squeezed it.
“Step backwards.”
“What are you doing?” Estrella asked.
The pirates lunged towards us. I took several steps backwards. Shadow and Estrella walked with me. We floated above the ocean.
A pirate threw his knife at us. It sliced Shadow’s calf near his ankle.
“Faster,” he hissed.
We turned and ran forward. Shadow leaned on me, limping more and more. His injury slowed us, but at least the Dragon’s ship was sailing towards the open sea. The pirates scrambled to reverse course, but it would take time to turn the ship. Blood dripped from Shadow’s wound and pooled on an invisible platform in the air.
We hobbled towards the shore.
Boom! Something flew past our heads. The splash drenched us.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Cannonball!” Estrella said.
Behind us, the ship turned.
We could not run. We couldn’t even walk fast.
Shadow closed his eyes. The sun shone bright in the sky, making us easy targets.
“They’re sailing against the tide, but they’ll be faster than us,” Shadow said. “If you let me drop into the ocean, you can-”
Rook and Shadow (Salarian Chronicles Book 1) Page 20