A chuckle rumbled in his chest as his hand caught the rag and his eyes lifted to meet hers again. “You are standing in my sleeping quarters with no clothes. I’m no shy princeling who doesn’t appreciate what’s in front of him.”
With a scoff, she averted her gaze to the wall. “Cassius treats women with respect.
Something I don’t expect a pirate to know anything about.”
Suddenly Nikolas crossed the room, startling her with the quickness as she backed into the dresser behind her. “Not all pirates are monsters, Lady Emberlyn. Some of us do have hearts and know how to respect a woman. Respect and knowing how to make a beautiful woman weak in the knees are two different things entirely, I assure you. Do not insult my morals by insinuating I treat women like Ari or Ana any different from the rest of the crew. They earned my respect, not everyone, men or women, do.” He said, his tone dangerous as he stood much too closely for her comfort.
His eyes gave her another once over. His scowl did not give away what thoughts were hidden behind his glare.
She didn’t dare breathe, let alone blink with him so close. She could smell the scent of the sea, rum, and a hint of something else she couldn’t place on him. Being this close, she realized his cheeks were not smooth, but instead covered in scruff. Scruff that wasn’t there the day they met on the beach.
“I’m not weak in the knees, but ... I am sorry.” Her voice had lowered, nothing short of a whisper as she finished speaking, but she knew he’d heard her.
He reached up and brushed a loose lock of hair behind her ears, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She hated how her body betrayed her around this man. “I know you’re scared. I can assure you that I’m not the bad guy here. It may not seem like it now, but I am trying to do some good. Forgive me for not babbling on about my entire plan to a complete and utter stranger. You’ll know more when I believe I can trust you with it.” He confessed, his anger from before gone.
She couldn’t help the shaking that had taken over her body. Either by the coldness of the room and the lack of clothing or her fear of him, she didn’t know nor did it matter. He’d noticed and the moment he did, he put some space between them. Grabbing the dress off his dresser, he tossed it to her without warning.
“Finish getting dressed. We make port in an hour.” He ordered, his gaze not shifting toward her again before he stalked out of the room with the door slamming shut behind him.
“You’re still a bastard,” She muttered under her breath as she adjusted the dress in her arms. Her ears perked at what she knew had to be his laughter. How he’d heard her, she didn’t want to know, but it didn’t change what she’d said.
Nikolas Barrelwalker was an awful pirate, but maybe he wasn’t an awful person.
That was still to be determined.
Chapter 10
Like Nikolas had said, they were docking in the Owl Head’s port in just over an hour. Ember hadn’t left his sleeping quarters yet and no one would come to retrieve her until it was time to go. Hours went by before she saw anyone. One of the twins, she couldn’t remember which, had mentioned they’d be spending the day preparing for the next leg of the trip.
So, it didn’t surprise her that the sky was turning a golden color when the door finally opened behind her. She turned from the window to see Nikolas standing in the doorway with his arms crossed as he leaned against the entryway. “Time to go, pretty girl. I’ve got a tight schedule to keep.” He said, motioning for her to get on with it.
“Wouldn’t want you to miss your date. That’d be terrible.” She mocked him as she picked up her skirts and headed through the open doorway.
“Given the fact we’re trying to break your curse, I’d think for you it would be.” He shot back, knowing it was going to get under her skin.
It did.
Whether he had a point or not, she didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. Choosing to not respond, she held her head up and continued out of the room. Apparently, her choosing not to say anything said more than enough if his chuckling was any indicator.
As she came to the railing that overlooked the entire ship, she was surprised to see how nice the ship’s exterior appeared to be. His crew size was nothing compared to the fleet of men her father commanded. For a ship this size, it was still a decent amount. For a moment, she briefly wondered how many members he’d lost in the attack on her home. She recognized a few crew members she’d met momentarily since coming aboard the Obsidian, but so many more were strangers to her.
The crew members were bringing crates of supplies back and forth onto the ship, some choosing to instead just toss them up before going back for more. She spotted Ana helping another man test the ropes for the sails. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship Ari was having a conversation with two crew members, one of them she had not yet met.
The other was the man who she vividly remembered dragging her away from Cassius and helped Nikolas get away with Asher’s sailing boat from that night. That made her wonder if the other pirate was here as well. The cloaked one who’d not only shot Cassius with their arrows, but then held him hostage with their sword. She had no way of identifying the pirate other than knowing they’d have a wounded hand from when Malia hit them with the dagger, which in truth was not much to go off.
A lot of the crew wore fabric around their hands, probably to keep their palms from burning when pulling on the ropes.
She did notice the boy who’d been bringing her food to her. He was currently tasked with mopping the floor a few feet away from the group, minding his own business to keep out of trouble no doubt. She was correct about him being so young, she realized now that she had a clear mind and could see better thanks to the daylight.
“Who’s the boy? He can’t be more than ten, thirteen at most.” She said as she watched him for another moment before turning to Nikolas.
He moved to stand beside her, resting his elbows on the railing as he scanned the ocean around them. “He’s Reid’s younger cousin. His name’s James, but most of the crew call him Mouse seeing ashe’s so small for his age. Reid’s the only family he knows. I couldn’t split them up. I told the kid if he agreed to help around the ship and earn his keep that he could stay. He’s much cleaner than half my crew, I’ll give him that.” He explained.
She couldn’t help but note this was probably the first time he’d been happy to give her
information that wasn’t vague. “He’s a timid thing. Doesn’t talk much.” She made a note of.
He reminded her of Malia.
It didn’t escape her notice the way Nikolas had tensed beside her, or that his attention went to his own scarred hands and lingered probably longer than he’d meant for it to. “That would be because he can’t. His crazy mother burnt his throat with hot coals when he was a toddler. He cried more than he laughed and it drove her mad. He can talk, but you can tell it pains him to try. He covers the scars with that purple scarf of his, never takes the thing off.” He confessed. His voice was low, as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear them.
“That’s awful. The poor child.”
She couldn’t imagine a mother doing that to their own child.
Maybe not all monsters were pirates after all.
Nikolas’s grin returned as he watched something going on with the crew. Ember shifted her attention and was surprised to see a monkey swinging down from the crow’s nest before landing happily on the boy’s shoulder. “It’s not all bad. Ari brought back a friend for him when she returned from the islands off Saint Malley. They named the monkey Ace.” He said, chuckling as he watched how the monkey seemed to cheer up James.
What surprised her more was that Ari, the woman who didn’t seem to have a heart, was the one who retrieved the boy’s companion as an act of kindness. “That was very kind of her.” She said, sharing a glance with the pirate captain who simply nodded in agreement.
“It was. You know, my crew might be rough around the edges, but they’re not bad people. They have good hearts.
That’s why I chose them.” He said, sparing her another glance before he pushed off the railing and started heading down onto the main deck with the others.
She studied him for a second longer, watching as he ruffled James’ hair before meeting Ari and the other two men she was talking to. The four talked privately, her guess being about their upcoming trip onto dry land and what their plan was. She was too far away to even try to hear what they were saying.
Her attention turned to the water on the side of the ship, toward the horizon that seemed to taunt her. She was still a pawn in someone else’s game and leaving home did nothing to change that. Only now she had neither of her friends by her side. One or both of them could be dead, yet here she was at a pirate port about to do god knows what.
She really hoped they were safe back in Iron Kress and weren’t worrying about her too much. Though, she knew that was a fool’s wish given how she left.
“You coming or not, pretty girl?” Nikolas’ call caught her attention.
His question made it appear she had a choice when they both knew she didn’t.
With a small nod, she pushed off the railing and went to join him. As she descended the stairs, she was quick to realize almost all eyes had turned to her, most of them narrowed in a glare. The crew didn’t like her being here, that much was clear.
Ignoring the glares and curious glances, she just remembered to hold her head high as she made her way over to Nikolas.
As she approached, she noticed him taking in just how many of his crew were glaring at her before his eyes settled on her. “Ignore them. They’re just jealous of my attention being entirely on you.” He whispered into her ear as she took his offered arm.
Immediately, her eyes drifted back to Ari, who was staring her down.
Ember couldn’t help but wonder if there was another reason for Ari’s hate towards her. If maybe in this tangled web of people, feelings were being hurt. Ember was only being introduced to the characters aboard this ship and had yet to make any connections in regards to who was who to each other.
“Let’s just get this over with.” She muttered, returning her attention to the captain.
“Ari, Tomas, and Reid are joining us. Just in case we walk into any issues.” He said as he motioned for the small group to start moving.
One of the boys climbed up onto the side of the boat and jumped over the small space between the ship and the dock. Her eyes followed him curiously, knowing this had to be the mysterious Reid. She could see peeks of brown hair, no doubt a similar coloring to his younger cousin, slipping out of the hat he wore.
With his back to her she couldn’t get a good look at his face, but she could see he was tall and lanky in build. His shirt was oversized, meaning it was probably borrowed from someone bulkier than him. His pants fell to his ankles, the left knee covered in some patchwork. She found herself wondering what other features he shared with little James.
Nikolas took her hand as he helped her up onto the side of the boat. “Reid will help you get across.”
Her question was answered as he turned around to help her across, his dark brown eyes meeting hers. If she didn’t know any better, she might have thought the brown, almost hazel, in his eyes were swirling with emotions shecouldn’t read. Across his cheeks she noticed a similar set of freckles spread out. Though, because of the sun, she couldn’t see them as well as she could James’. It was another trait they shared, she noted.
Reid kept his hand outstretched for her to take, but she waved it off as she took the leap across. They’d learn quickly enough that they wouldn’t need to baby her. While she was a
pampered royal in their eyes, it didn’t mean she had never been on a boat before. Asher took her and Cassius out sailing a few times a week and had taught them both enough so that on the off chance they were on a boat without him they knew what to do.
Nikolas merely chuckled as he joined them on the dock, Ari and Tomas following behind him. “You sure showed me, darling.” He taunted as he passed by.
Crossing her arms, her eyes narrowed on the back of his head as she followed him and the others.
As they wandered into town, she was surprised to see how run down the buildings all were. There were more homes that had broken porches and ruined roofs, more empty shops than she expected to see, and the roads were a wreck. How could people live like this? Everything was a mess.
She noticed a family of three huddled together against the side of the building. The mother sat between them, her sad smile a mask from the torment and fear behind her eyes as she held her children in her arms.
The sight alone broke Ember’s heart.
“What happened to this place?” She found herself asking quietly.
It wasn’t Nikolas who answered her, but instead Reid as he walked beside her. “There was a bad hurricane two years ago. The town never recovered thanks to King Ivan. He sent no aid for these people. No funds to help rebuild. I believe his words were ‘piracy is a dying race, the storm just sped up that process. Why should I prolong fate from taking its course?’ He’s a real mensch, that man.”
Ari raised a brow. “Mensch? Are we proper palace people now? You pretended to be a fancy Lord for one night and now you speak like them?”
She was mocking him, something Ember came to realize didn’t even bother Reid. She wondered if he was just used to her taunting or if he was good at hiding his embarrassment.
“You were at the party too?” Ember asked, her curiousness getting the best of her.
Reid waved her off. “It’s not important.”
Trying not to think too much of his dismissal, Ember realized she did remember the hurricane Reid mentioned. It was bad. It wiped out a few islands, but King Ivan had sent out ships of refuge for the affected towns. He helped them all recover and rebuild and now they were fully functioning again.
Looking around at the destruction still plaguing these people, she felt sick to know her people had not thought to help. Nikolas’s words from earlier played in her head. Not every person in this town was evil. They didn’t deserve to have this fate. No one did.
“When Cassius finds out about this, he’ll-”
Nikolas suddenly stopped and turned to face her, his eyes flashing with anger. “Your princeling won’t help. You don’t think he knows? He will do the same as his father before him and do nothing to help these people.”
“That’s not true. I can tell him, I’ll-”
“You’ll do what? Make him? You’re a fool if you think you’ll be anything more than a pretty face that stands beside him at parties. That’s if they don’t sacrifice you first, or have you forgotten why you were running from your home in the first place?” He snarled lowly so no one outside of their small group could hear him.
To her surprise, it was Ari who stood between them. “That’s enough, Captain. Leave her be before you say something you can’t take back.”
It bothered her how much of her curse he seemed to know, seeing as she just found out herself only nights ago. She knew for a fact that he hadn’t learned about the curse from her. Someone told him though, or he’d done his own research. Either option left an uneasy pit in her stomach, but she knew now was not the time for questions.
As she watched them stand face to face, neither backing down as their glares rivaled each other’s. Ember realized if anyone could challenge Nikolas it was Ari. The three around them stood tensely, waiting to see who caved first.
To her shock, it was Nikolas who broke the stare first as he grumbled and started to lead them to wherever it was that they were going. A breath Ember hadn’t realized she was holding slipped out from between her lips. She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but that certainly wasn’t it.
Tomas and Reid were quick to follow their captain, but Ari took a moment to compose herself. Ember understood better than anyone that
sometimes you just need that few seconds to breathe and relax. How many times had Asher or Cassius pushed her buttons until she nearly r
eached her limit? Far too many to remember. “Thank you for doing that.” Ember said softly, not knowing what more she could have said.
Ari simply scoffed, rolling her eyes, before turning to face her. “Don’t thank me. I agree with every word he said, but he was drawing attention that we don’t need right now. Now hurry up before we fall too far behind.”
Swallowing her pride, Ember nodded and followed the pirate as they caught up with the others. The more of this town that she saw though, the more her heart broke for these poor people. How could any king sit back and watch an entire town suffer solely because the people that inhabited that port were viewed as unworthy?
Probably the same king who sacrificed her mother for whatever reason, and who would gladly use her as a sacrifice for his soon to be crowned son. Was Nikolas right about Cassius? Would he be any different than his father? She wanted to believe he would be, but wanting and knowing for sure were two different things entirely.
After walking in silence for a few minutes, they began to head into the local tavern. It seemed to be the only building that had recovered from the hurricane, which didn’t surprise her. This was an island known as the pirate’s safe haven after all.
The building didn’t seem too large from the outside, but upon coming inside she noticed just how much space this tavern had and how many people could fill it. The air was stale, smelling of body odor, sex, and beer. Her nose crinkled in disgust as she took in the people around her. Some were laughing over alcohol. Others were in their own world as they kissed heavily.
As she let her eyes roam, she tried not to let her gaze linger too long on the man with his head buried in between a woman’s breasts. Continuing her inspection, she noticed a game of darts happening in the corner of the room, a loud group of men arguing over the said game.
“See anything that fancies your interest, pretty girl?” Nikolas teased, standing much too close for her comfort.
The Black Moon's Curse (The Stellara Trilogy Book 1) Page 9