“Let’s find out!” Nibs suddenly grabbed a fistful of Happy’s hair and yanked.
Bins, who sat behind Nibs, gasped. “Stop, Nibs!” he shouted and tugged on the back of Nibs’s shirt.
Grumpy sprinted the short distance to the horse and tackled Nibs to the ground, landing blow after furious blow until James jumped down and scooped up the boy, still clawing and growling to get after Nibs, who was now crying in hysterics.
“That’ll show you to mess with my brother!” Grumpy yelled.
James plopped Grumpy onto his saddle and looked down at him. “You pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll lock you in the brig the entire voyage at sea and you won’t be able to see any part of it.”
“What’s a brig?” Grumpy scowled.
“It’s a dungeon on a ship.”
Grumpy’s shoulders lifted, and he lowered his head.
I sucked my lips into my mouth, trying not to break into a smile. I failed when James got back on the horse and made eye contact with me. The corner of his lip tugged in a smile while he rolled his eyes.
I smiled and chuckled in response.
Sky was wiping off Nibs’s face with a handkerchief and got him back on the horse. “Don’t worry. You’ll fit right in with the pirates.” He patted the boy on the head. “You quite all right?”
Nibs sniffled dramatically one more time and nodded.
“Good. Now can we leave? No more distractions?” He looked at each of the seven small fairies. He nodded with finality and we were on our way.
Even with the enchanted horseshoes and guidance from Lord Wilfred—who met us in the courtyard—the journey to the ship still took us the rest of the day. Lord Wilfred even took us down a road he said was designed for such fast travel.
The sun had begun to sink into the sea by the time we reached the outpost at the top of the cliff’s face we’d climbed only two days before. Down below, standing starkly as a shadow in midday, sat The Sea Devil with her lanterns aglow.
And the familiar peace of the sea enveloped me.
James let out an audible breath of relief and looked over at me. “I can’t wait to get back on the sea. It’s more predictable.”
I laughed. “Not when we try and provoke it with the summer stone.”
“Ah. Yes, I’d nearly forgotten . . .” His eyes shifted to Ulrich.
Ulrich reached a hand up and rubbed his eye. “Don’t worry. Though, I am positively exhausted.”
“We should have made you sleep the ride down,” I said.
“Hm.” He shrugged.
“I’m hungry,” Slightly said softly from behind Tootles.
“Hopefully Louis will have some dinner ready when we arrive,” James said.
We began the descent down the winding pathway and were greeted down below by the soldiers who had helped us on our way.
Ulrich was the second to dismount, behind Gerard. “Prince Mathias wanted us to leave the horses here. He said the royal guard should be down in a day or so to collect those horses that should return to the castle. Thank you, Lord Tomblin.”
Lord Tomblin smiled. “Good to see you again.”
“I’ll be on my way with my men,” Lord Wilfred nodded. “Good evening.”
I helped Sky get the boys from the horses. It was rather amusing watching Sky with the children, and I imagined it was due to his own childish ways.
Tootles reached out and touched Sky’s cheek, brows pinched in question.
“I got it from a sword,” Sky explained, pointing to the sword on his hip and making an action across his cheek with his finger. “Protecting Odette.” He pointed to me.
Tootles widened his eyes and stepped away from me.
“No, no.” Curly hurried over. He stepped in front of me, pointed to himself and then Sky, and pretended to hold a sword and fight in the air. He finally pointed to his cheek and made a hissing noise of pain.
Tootles relaxed.
“He thought you meant Odette had given it to you,” Curly explained to Sky.
“Ah.” Sky nodded.
James heaved one of the horse’s saddlebags over his shoulder, then walked to the next horse to retrieve that one as well. Sky also had a saddlebag laden with supplies on his shoulders, and he handed one to Gerard to carry. Ulrich retrieved the last one.
“Wow, that is what you sail on?” Slightly gasped. He then remembered he was supposed to be shy, clamped his mouth shut, and darted behind one of the twins.
“It’s pretty amazing,” I answered, bending over at the waist to smile at him. “Just wait until you get on board.”
“I won’t have you running about tonight,” James quickly added. “We’re getting on board and going right to sleep. Do you understand?”
“James, they may look like children, but—” I started.
“Oy, we’re older than you,” Grumpy snapped, using James’s attention-grabbing exclamation himself. “Don’t treat us like we’re stupid.”
James narrowed his dark eyes. “As long as you obey my orders, there won’t be a problem. Got it? There are a lot of dangerous things aboard my ship, and I won’t have any of you getting hurt because you refuse to listen to me. Remember?”
Grumpy rolled his eyes and took his brother by the arm.
Happy started to skip. “Look at that ship! It’s bigger than any boat I’ve seen! Maybe tomorrow we can go swimming too. I haven’t been swimming in ages!”
One of the boys yawned loudly.
“This is going to be just . . . great,” James muttered.
I slid my hand into his. “We’re almost to the ship. One step closer to everything being righted.”
“What else haven’t told us?” he asked.
“Apparently you remind her of my father,” I revealed. “Handsome and cunning.”
He looked down at me.
I explained how she felt wronged by him. Ulrich listened eagerly about how my mother said they met, how he took everything from her, and all with a dashing smile and sly words.
James frowned. “Is that why she left me in the boathouse?”
“Apparently.” I heaved a breath and looked up at the crystal-clear sky, relieved to be back in the warmth. “And your father is alive, Ulrich. Sort of, I suppose. He’s the figurehead of my mother’s ship. The wooden statue on the front.”
He sighed. “At least we know where he is.”
“I would love the chance to meet my father.”
“That’s unusual to think about,” Ulrich said with a chuckle.
I looked back at him. “Tell me about it.” I smiled. “Good thing I didn’t sweep you off your feet with my dashing looks.”
Ulrich chuckled. “No love at first sight for us, huh?”
He waited for me to climb into the rowboat we’d left on the shore when we arrived before he stepped in, followed by the “lost boys.” They stacked on top of one another, scrambling to get a seat where they could peer into the dark water. James climbed in next, and Sky and Gerard were kind enough to wade into the water, pushing us past the break of the waves before they climbed in and helped row us to the ship.
Ulrich’s fingers went to the necklace resting on his chest. “I admit, I’m frightened to try and use this. If it is as powerful as the stories state, I could do something irreversible.”
“We have to try.” I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving him a comforting smile. “Besides, if you’re going to be the king, shouldn’t you practice using it? Your father did.”
His smile faltered. “If your mother is telling the truth, it was very dangerous for him to do something like that. As for being the king . . . you’re the eldest. The birthright falls to you now.”
I shook my head quickly. “No way. I’m not taking that from you. You’ve worked your entire life for it.”
“You’re honestly a princess?” James asked, pinching
his brows tightly together.
“Relax, I’m not leaving this life of piracy for frilly dresses, gilded dishes, or proper manners any time soon.” I smiled and kissed his jaw.
“No, but you could change the law.”
“And make pirates legal? We steal and plunder. It’s not exactly honest work.”
He frowned. “You mean you want me to become a proper merchant captain?”
I grinned. “With a triangle hat and everything.”
James rolled his eyes, but a smile played on his full lips.
“While we’re sharing truths,” I turned to Gerard. “Whose side are you on?”
“I stay on whatever side I need to get what I want,” he replied flatly. “You needed Queen Grimhilde on your side, so I tried to volunteer something she might want. The summer stone. I still need the stone myself, but we need to get Delphi from the sea first.”
“Why are you helping?” Ulrich pried. “You could have taken it.”
Gerard sighed. “I’m not as coldhearted as I seem.”
My eyes widened. “And why didn’t we get James his hand back while we were there?”
“He hasn’t fulfilled his bargain,” Gerard replied simply.
I frowned. “How did you end up with his hand?”
“I couldn’t get down,” James answered, his eyes focused on the nearing ship. “You left the dagger with me, and I . . . couldn’t reach to get down. The only option I saw was to try and tear the hook through my hand . . .” His jaw flexed.
“You cut off your own hand?” Nibs gasped in morbid fascination.
“No. His grandmother did.” He looked back at Gerard. “She showed up out of nowhere. She used magic and seared it off right at the wrist.” He pulled the hook off to reveal the nub. “She took my hand and said she would return it if I helped her procure a certain magical stone. If I failed . . .”
“If you failed, what?” I pressed.
Gerard answered. “With magic, you can manipulate someone if you have a piece of them. A hair, nail, blood—”
“Hand,” I concluded. “So you showed up, threatening James, and—”
“I didn’t threaten him.” Gerard held his hands up. “I came to get the summer stone. That is all.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“No one does.” He shrugged matter-of-factly.
“Cap’n is back!” Sebastian hollered from the deck. “Get the ladder and the ropes! We need to hoist the boat back up here after we get them all on board.”
I found that I had grossly misjudged Gerard. He’d been on board James’s ship for over a week, right alongside me, and I hadn’t asked much about him. It was likely Gerard trusted us as much as I trusted him. He was, after all, the foreigner on our ship.
The fairies climbed up the ladder one at a time. I followed right after them and grinned when Sebastian gave me a worried look.
“We have . . . guests?” he asked.
“Yes,” I chuckled. “Don’t worry. They’re curious, but they’re going to be good. Has Chef Louis made food?”
“Down below.”
I turned. “Lost boys, come on. This way. We’re going below deck to get some food.” I motioned for them to follow me. I then turned to Sky, James, Ulrich, and Gerard who had made it on board. “Gerard, why don’t you join us?”
He arched his eyebrow in sudden surprise.
“Maybe we can talk about less serious things?”
Gerard looked at James—for permission or help, I couldn’t decide. He nodded once and followed me down to the galley.
“Why the sudden interest?” Gerard asked, caution written all over his face.
“Because I . . . might have realized I’ve been so consumed by my own problems that I haven’t stopped to look at anyone else’s.” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “For example, not even knowing what you like to eat.” I heard Louis squeal and rolled my eyes. “Boys! Go sit down now!”
The seven fairies stopped pulling at Louis’s clothes and ran over to the tables. Tootles hopped down from the counter and Grumpy got his nose out of the pot. They looked at me sheepishly.
“Did no one teach you manners?” I asked.
“Well, we’ve been servants of Queen Grimhilde since we can remember,” Curly answered. “We thought maybe . . .” He looked at Nibs for support.
Nibs sighed. “We thought being with you might be different. We’re sorry.”
I walked over. “It is different. We don’t plan on making you wash the ship or anything like that. But you should know better than to climb all over Chef Louis, especially when he was so kind as to make you all food without knowing you’d even be here.” I looked at Louis. “Do you have enough for all of us?”
Louis adjusted his apron. “I ’ad a feeling you vould be back tonight.”
“We bring supplies,” James announced as he stepped into the galley and dropped the saddlebags from the horses to the side of the room.
Gerard set his down in the same spot, followed by Sky and Ulrich.
We sat and just talked. It turned out Gerard wasn’t fond of our food at sea even remotely. He was smart, enjoyed his time on the ship, though he couldn’t wait to get back on land and into nature. He’d also studied magic his entire life.
“With my mother being the sea witch, I should have magic?”
He shrugged. “Not always. It can skip children. But yes, it’s possible, especially since Ulrich has magic. I’m afraid I’m no teacher.” He took his final bite. “I recommend finding someone as soon as possible.”
I leaned over and looked at Ulrich. “Hey, brother. Who teaches you magic? I want to start lessons.”
Ulrich grinned. “After everything is back to normal.”
“That will take a century,” James said under his breath.
I elbowed him and, when I made eye contact with Gerard, shrugged. “I’m a horrible friend.”
Gerard gave a little smile. “I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with friends. I haven’t had much time for friendship. But, if it helps, from what I’ve seen on board this ship, you all seem to get along for the most part.”
“Other than my abrasive personality,” I added.
He twitched his brows and took another bite of his food.
“Why don’t you have many friends?”
“Necromancers don’t exactly draw people to them,” he answered.
“Why not?”
“The whole dark magic aspect.”
“Oh, I suppose I didn’t realize . . .”
James picked up his empty plate. “Up on deck. Ulrich will use the summer stone and get us back to the bay which is supposed to be the city of Delphi. If your mother isn’t already there, we can try and figure out how to turn the spell that made all of us sirens. If she is there, you can try and talk to her one last time.”
“One last time before what?”
James didn’t answer right away.
“Before you do what? James, she’s my mother!”
“And we all know what she’s capable of.”
I stared at him, stunned. “James, she’s never murdered anyone. She turned the people of Terricina into sirens when she could have killed them.”
“If she has the ability to change Terricinians into sirens, why hasn’t she changed us back?” He gestured to the pirates. “Think about that. She told you it was King Eric who transformed everyone?”
“None of this really makes sense,” I answered softly. “I mean, if Ulrich and I are brother and sister, why lie about it?” I put my elbow on the table and rested my forehead in my palm. “There are so many questions I didn’t think to ask.”
James put his arm around me. “It doesn’t do you any good to stew over it now.”
Ulrich pushed his empty plate forward. “I’m ready. Everyone else?” He looked around at the re
st of us.
Sky got to his feet next. “I am. Come on, Odette. Let’s see what this sea witch is truly up to.” He held his hand out to me.
I reluctantly took it, and he pulled me to my feet and hugged me.
“You’re the bravest person I know, Odette. With all of us working together, we’ll be able to stop her. Just you wait.” Sky kissed my forehead.
I faced James. “You want to bolster me too?”
“Nah.” He shrugged. “I’ve got to cheer Ulrich on, though.” He winked at me and patted Ulrich on the back. “Come on, mighty prince. Let’s get you to your kingdom.”
I looked at the boys. “You can have one more plateful each, and then I want you to find hammocks and get some sleep.”
“But we want to see everything!” Grumpy objected.
“It’s nighttime. You can’t see anything on the ocean at night anyway.”
“Except the stars,” countered Happy.
I sighed. “If you come up to the top deck, you must stay out of the way.”
“Yay!” the boys cheered and scrambled up the stairs without their second helping of dinner.
When I reached the top deck, all the pirates had gathered around to watch Ulrich. The prince stood at the bow of the ship, looking down into the sea. My brother. At least, I really hoped he was my brother. I’d grown fond of Ulrich, and the thought we could truly be family made my heart jump.
I walked up to his side and nudged his shoulder with mine. “You’ve got this.”
He looked up from the stone glowing green in his hand. “Using it to recall memories is far easier than what I’m about to do. My father always warned me to be very careful with its magic.”
“What better way to use it than to help him?”
He nodded and lifted his gaze to the sea once more. “Take us home!” he called. He raised the stone in a fist high above his head.
Suddenly, the ship began to lift from the sea.
The waves had transformed into seahorses, which raised us far above the normal waves of the sea as though we were flying. An unfelt wind snagged the sails from behind and drove us forward with such speed I’d never before experienced. The green glow from the stone swelled inside the sea horses, somehow running beneath us and at our sides, keeping us moving.
The Siren Princess Page 21