I pulled the strand of leather from my hair.
Between heaves, Trevor glanced at me. “Don’t,” he choked.
“What? Why?”
“Don’t cut it. It might not grow back, and then you’ll regret doing it.”
The sailor shifted his weight on his feet, anxious to be on his way, and I handed his knife back with a murmured, “Thank you.” He turned and left us alone.
Trevor wiped his mouth with the cloth I’d used on his head earlier. “You aren’t on the island now, Raya. If you cut your hair, it might not grow back tomorrow. The enchantment might be broken.”
“Maybe not,” I challenged.
“But maybe so,” he chided softly. “You said yourself that it can’t last forever.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I also realized it was possible it was broken the moment I stepped foot on the skiff and left the tower and sand behind.
The boat rocked over the waves. With white knuckles, Trevor clung to the side, smiling and laughing when Cap and the crew teased him about growing sea legs. Or when they joked that a tiny lass like me could hold down my food better than the brawny Prince, and told him how I’d make a fine sailor, indeed.
I couldn’t help but picture myself as one of the crew, climbing the masts or learning to tie the ropes in coils and knots, or even swabbing the deck.
In secret that night, as Trevor’s body finally had enough and gave in to sleep, I snuck a blade from beneath the pillow in the bunk of the sailor next to us and used it to cut a slice of my hair, underneath--where no one would see if it didn’t grow back. I had to know if he was right.
When the morning came, that short sliver of hair hadn’t lengthened; proof that the witch’s enchantment was broken the moment I left the island and lighthouse tower behind. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but then again, I wasn’t sure how I felt about anything but him.
Trevor was my friend, and he promised to stand beside me as I navigated new waters. I just prayed that when our ship docked, he remembered to keep his word. His father would be overjoyed with the return of his son, and his people would rejoice to see their Prince. Eventually, life would settle and he would be covered in a mantle of expectations and responsibilities – ones that had nothing to do with me or his promise.
I needed to find my own way and figure out who I was now, whether it be in Galder or elsewhere. He’d opened the cage for me, but I was the one who needed to learn to fly.
Soon after I woke, one of the sailors, a young man named Gill, came below decks and found us. Trevor stirred at the sound of his footsteps. “Pardon me, Prince Trevor. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Trevor blinked awake. Even in the dim light, I could see his eyes were red. He sat up and put his feet on the floor. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”
“We should arrive at port tomorrow evening by sunset, Sire. Cap wanted me to let you know.”
Trevor thanked Gill. I tried to smile, and pretended not to notice when Gill hovered for a moment before finally sticking his hands in his pockets and inclining his head before leaving us alone again.
I didn’t realize we were so close to Galder. Had it already been a fortnight? With Trevor being sick night and day, I’d lost all sense of time.
In truth, I hadn’t had a sense of time since Trevor washed up onto the beach. Before he came, I was meticulous about counting the days. But after, I drank him in and didn’t care whether the sun or moon was up or what day it was. For the first time in ten years, I wasn’t alone. That was the only thing that mattered. Only that. Only him.
During his stay, the winter season blurred into spring, and the ice melted into warmer breezes. That was all I knew or cared about, because he was there. Then I realized how amazing he was. Despite all he’d been through, he was determined not to let go of hope, even if he was a little bit broken like me. Even if he was sad at times. Even if his heart had been split in two and hadn’t fully healed. Maybe the cracks that made him who he was met the ones that streaked across my surface, and we recognized one another as kindred imperfections. We were flawed people who used to be whole, but were made stronger by the things deep within that knitted our broken pieces together. The thing of it was, I didn’t notice my brokenness as much when he was around. In a complementary fashion, it seemed that as time passed, some of his wounds healed.
He didn’t talk about Ella as much, though I knew he hadn’t forgotten her. He would never forget her, just like he would never forget the loss of the sailors who still haunted him. But maybe he could live a full life, even if the ghosts and memories lived with him. Maybe we were meant to experience such loss so we could become better people in the end, people who learned lessons that only tragedy could teach.
“You’re thinking way too hard about something, Ray.”
“I was thinking I need some fresh air. I’m going above deck.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m going to lay back down while I can. I can’t wait to get off this God forsaken boat.” He sprawled across the bunk and pulled the blanket over his shoulders.
Above deck, Gill was there, tugging on one of the ropes and expertly twisting it around a piece of metal attached to the ship. “Hey there,” he chirped.
“Hey. Thanks for letting us know how close we are to Galder. Prince Trevor’s been so sick, but he’s relieved to hear he’s almost home.”
“You’re welcome.”
Gill didn’t have the accent of most of the sailors on board, and he was about my age with shaggy, dark hair and a lop-sided smile.
“I didn’t realize we’d been on the boat for a fortnight,” I admitted sheepishly.
“You haven’t. We’ve had the southerly winds in our sails. They’re warm and fast, which makes us much faster traveling south than if we’d been going north.”
“Ahh.”
“So, is Galder your home?” Gill asked. “The men have been gossiping like old hens about you. They can’t figure you out. They say the Prince didn’t take a lady friend with him on his voyage north, but that he was going to Roane to look for a wife. The Prince mentioned you saved him after the ship went down. You weren’t on the ship with him, were you?” he asked shrewdly.
“No, I was already on the island you found us on. His ship went down in a storm and I found him on the sand. Well, my albatross did.”
Gill looked to the sky. “So he’s yours, huh? I’ve been feeding him what bread I could spare, and that of the Prince’s, since he couldn’t eat it.”
“Thank you. I’ve been sneaking him food, too. He’s always hungry.”
“Albatrosses are good luck to sailors. As long as they’re with you, the seas will be smooth.”
The wind gusted and Tross called out to me, landing on the deck at my side. I gave him kisses and smoothed his feathers. “You must be tired, big guy.”
He snapped his beak playfully.
Gill was smiling at the two of us when his smile quickly fell away. Two heavy footfalls came from behind and I turned to find Trevor standing there. “Hey!” I chirped. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“No, I couldn’t,” he snapped. He sounded like Tross when he was cross.
“Are you sick again?”
“I am not,” he growled.
Gill shifted his weight on his feet. “I’ll be getting back to my duties now. Thank you for the chat.”
“Thank you,” I called, standing up and crossing my arms. I turned to Trevor. “Why are you in such a bad mood?”
“I came up to get fresh air, and saw that sailor boy mooning over you. If the sea hadn’t turned my stomach, the sight of you two would have.”
“What are you talking about? We were talking about Tross, and he explained how the southerly winds are strong, which is why we’re going to reach Galder sooner than expected.”
His lips thinned. “Whatever you say.” He turned and stomped across the deck, bracing his hand on the railing.
I followed him, curious as to his sudden shift in m
ood. “Have I ever lied to you?”
Trevor swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His throat and jaw were scruffy again.
It was my turn to swallow and look away. “He was just being nice,” I mumbled.
“He’s done nothing but stare at you since you boarded this ship.”
“It doesn’t mean anything. I’m sure it’s just because I’m from the north and I look different from what he’s used to.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure why it mattered. Did my actions somehow embarrass him? “I’m sorry if I did something to shame or embarrass you. That wasn’t my intention,” I added uncomfortably. “I guess I’ve been alone so long, I don’t know how to act properly anymore. I was just trying to be nice to him, nothing more.”
“I could never be ashamed of you, Ray,” he conceded. “I just—I’m just grumpy. I’m starving to death.”
I opened my mouth with an offer to find him something to eat, but he put his hand out, knowing what I was about to say.
“I can’t keep it down, and it’s not worth getting sick to try. We’re almost home.”
He was almost home. I was almost to Galder.
Chapter thirteen
TREVOR
A wave hit the boat, rocking it sideways and taking my breath away. I froze, memories of the night the ship sank clouding my mind as I held tight to the rail, even though I saw Raya lose her footing. When she fell onto the deck, I finally snapped out of it. The wave didn’t knock the boat over. We’re fine. Raya winced, inhaling a sharp breath. I knelt beside her, my heart pounding. “What hurts?”
“My knee,” she grimaced.
One leg was still twisted underneath her, but she was able to straighten them both out in front of her. The fabric over her left knee was torn and the flesh beneath raw and bloody. I picked her up.
“I can walk!” she snapped.
“Not until we clean it up.”
Suddenly, Gill the friendly sailor was there. “Is she okay?” he panted.
I glared up at him. “I need clean cloth and fresh water.”
“I’ll get them and meet you below deck,” he promised, rushing away.
RAYA
Maybe Trevor was right about Gill. Or maybe he was stubborn as a mule.
“I can walk. Can you please put me down?” I scolded, exasperated.
“You’re dripping blood all over the boat. You aren’t walking on it until we clean it up.”
It did hurt. A lot. And I was bleeding. But despite the searing pain, it felt good being in his arms. I could think of worse places to be.
He carried me down the steps and into the darkness below the deck. Our eyes adjusted as he walked toward our tiny area and set me on his bunk. I usually lay in the hammock beside him, stretched loosely between the beams holding up the deck above. But sitting on his bunk, I was surrounded by his scent. The clean, crisp masculine smell made me sit up straight.
He reached for my leg and I swatted his hand. “I’m not a child,” I interjected. “I can clean my own knee.”
Trevor’s lips thinned, his eyes pinning me in place. “I am going to clean it properly. You aren’t invincible anymore, and infection is a distinct possibility in this place, if not a certainty. Infected wounds can be fatal.”
“It’s just a scraped knee, Trevor,” I argued.
“It’s sliced to ribbons! It wouldn’t surprise me if you could see your bloody kneecap,” he growled.
“Why are you so angry at me?”
“I’m not. I—”
“I got what you asked for,” Gill announced as he charged in. “Fresh water and clean strips of linen.” He hovered after handing the bowl and cloth to Trevor. Trevor’s jaw ticked. He locked eyes with me before turning to Gill.
Gill was staring at my knee, wincing. “That looks bad. Can I help in any way? I can get Murdock. He’s the one who patches the crew up when we need it.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Trevor responded politely, the slightest bit of irritation leaking into his voice.
“I’m not bad with bandaging people either,” Gill added.
“You know what you can do, Gill?” Gill’s eyes widened. Trevor smiled up at him before dismissing him entirely. “You can leave.”
Gill’s face crumpled, along with his shoulders. He turned and walked away slowly.
I swatted Trevor, irritated by his behavior. “Do you enjoy being mean to him?”
He gave me the lop-sided, ornery grin I loved and replied, “Yes, I do.”
I shifted on the bunk and what fabric was left of my breeches scratched over my knee. I hissed in response.
Trevor’s smile quickly fell away. “I’ll need to cut your pant leg off.”
“I love these breeches!”
“The alternative is that you remove them. I know which I would prefer, but I’ll let you make the final decision,” he smiled roguishly.
“These sailors are wearing off on you.”
He chuckled, earning a growl from me. “Cut it off,” I decided.
Trevor removed a blade from his scabbard and gently guided my leg into a straighter position. He knelt before me and bent his own knee, stretching my leg over it. His thigh was muscular and warm, and I shouldn’t have felt the way I did about having him so close, but I couldn’t help it. We were so close and the position was… intimate.
He’s only helping you because you’re a bloody mess, Raya.
He took my boot off and then my sock. It was soaked with blood, as was my pant leg. He eased the tip of the knife under the hem next to the seam and began slicing the fabric.
“Your knife is sharp,” I breathed, gripping the wooden edge of the bunk.
“I won’t hurt you,” he declared softly.
“I know.”
He cut the seam on the inner part of my leg to match the outer seam, stopping a few inches above my knee. “I have to cut across, but to do that, I need to peel the fabric up. There are a few pieces sticking to the cuts. I’ll have to pull them out of the wound. This is going to hurt, and it’ll bleed more.”
I swallowed, biting my bottom lip. My uninjured leg bounced.
“Hold onto me.”
“What?” I asked.
“Hold on to my shoulders and squeeze me if it hurts, okay? You won’t hurt me.”
“Maybe you underestimate my strength,” I tried to tease.
He shook his head. “That’s something I’ve learned never to do when it comes to you, Ray.”
He laid the blade down beside me, took my hands, and put them on his shoulders.
“Squeeze if it hurts.”
“Okay,” I agreed, squeezing him. It already hurt. He quirked a brow. “What?” I defended myself sheepishly. “It does hurt.”
“I mean if it hurts more than it does now.”
He took the fabric and pulled it up until he got to the place where flesh and pant were intermingled, and then he peeled. Now I knew how the land felt when wildfire tore over the forests. I squeezed and cried out, but it was over with quickly.
He swiftly but carefully sliced the bloodied fabric away from the front of my leg. “Scoot toward me,” he instructed.
I did. He sliced through the back panel and removed it, leaving me with half a pant leg and too much flesh exposed. Flesh he was openly inspecting; because of my injury, but still. Trevor was touching my skin. His thumbs were on either side of my knee. “Doesn’t look like there are any splinters, but the lighting isn’t great down here.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
He dipped a piece of cloth in the basin of water. “Time to clean it. This is going to sting a little.”
I held tight to his shoulders. It stung, but not badly.
“It sounds crazy, but I’ve gone so long without feeling pain, I almost forgot what a skinned knee feels like.”
“It’s not just skinned, Raya.”
“Nor does it require amputation, Prince Trevor.”
He pursed his lips and butterflies tickled my stomach from the inside.
&nb
sp; Once it was clean enough to suit him and the water in the white bowl was tinted pink from my blood, he wrapped it with efficiency. “You’ve done this before,” I guessed.
“I’ve fought in battles and patched up my men.”
Gone was the playfulness. A dark shadow fell over him, and his shoulders tensed as he looked up at me. “Sorry,” I whispered, pulling my hands away from him. He stood and muttered that he’d be right back and then strode away, his feet heavy on the steps.
In all the time we were at the tower together, he never mentioned that he’d been in a battle, or that he led men into war who likely didn’t make it home, or that others were injured because of it, possibly maimed. Men he respected. Men he loved and felt responsible for.
He helped Ella take her kingdom back, but at what cost to himself and his people?
TREVOR
We were within hours of the port of Galder. Raya’s knee was stiff and tender this morning, and she’d been limping around the deck all day. I told her to stay below and rest, but the stubborn woman was having no part of it. She claimed she wanted fresh air, but I knew she really wanted to be on deck when we pulled into the Galderian port.
I felt fine. I hadn’t eaten in a day and therefore wasn’t sick. She, however, looked positively green. As green as I felt every time Gill brought her something. It started with a glass of water. Then he brought a blanket for her to sit on so she could rest. He was always there. Hovering. Waiting for some way to jump in and save the day, to get her to notice him.
She did look at him once in a while.
I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind. Did she like his attention? Or did she find him as annoying as I did?
“You’re unusually quiet,” I told her.
She nudged my arm with hers. “So are you.”
“I’ll be with you the whole way, Ray.”
She faked a smile. “I know.”
“I promise to do everything in my power to make you feel at home in Galder. And like I told you before, if you want to travel north to Paruth, I’ll take you.”
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