The Sea Siren

Chapter Thirty-Two

Vivian

"How long will you be gone?"

Bastian's weight sinks the bedding as he sits beside the bag I'm packing. Bayshore's chaotic docks became visible with the waking sun—which means time has finally run it's course.

The Vale Prince's time on our ship has come to an end.

By nightfall, we'll need to be Innisby. It's a half-inhabited shipping port, mostly due to the fact that most have been run out by plundering pirate sieges that happen once darkness settles and it becomes all too easy for criminals to cross the border between degenerate Baystone and the town. 

"Overnight, I suspect. Not long."

He nods, his silence deafening. I pretend I'm ignorant to the way his mind works, lacing up the satchel. Eventually, his hand lands over mine, in an effort to stop my movement.

"Let me bring him."

I look from his calloused, weathered fingers to his face, staring until he removes his hold.

The air shifts—it's his doing.

Before I'm able to ruminate on the way he lingered, he clears his throat. "The man is more than capable of sending for a unit of soldiers. You don't need to risk yourself like this."

I grab my cloak hanging over the end of my chair. "I know I don't."

Internally, I tried to convince myself that I was actually needed to return the prince to safety. I told myself that if a siege occurred, my presence would steer the criminals off—no one wanting to clash blades with the man-killer.

My rational mind, knowing Antony is a fearsome warrior himself, quickly wiped that reasoning.

While I laid, looking up at the stars, cheek pressed against his heart, I imagined the unlikely worst.

A typhoon. Rough waters. Denial into port entry. Water bandits.

All of those things, I knew deep down, he could navigate on his own.

In the end, the truth—the infuriating truth—was all that remained.

It's simply another day.

Another day with him.

I grab onto the door hinge, hearing boots upon the deck. Bastian's lips are tight, no doubt withholding the tongue lashing I know he could give me for being so stubborn. "As far as anyone knows on shore, I haven't left the ship," I say. "No one will try to board her knowing that."

He scoffs. "Yeah, yeah. You forget this isn't the first time you've rushed off on your own. Last time you returned with a knife wound."

The prince and I's first meeting... not easy to forget.

I smile slowly. "But I came back alive, didn't I?"

He's rolling his eyes when I leave the room, climbing the stairs to reach the crowded deck. The whole of the crew is present, surprisingly. From a distance, I watch Kenut and Xiu pass him a knife and a gun to arm himself with and soon after, Aya arrives, offering him a pack of food.

I'm sure anyone in the village upon hearing who he is would feed and house him gladly. It makes their gestures sweeter. Many of his days upon this ship were spent surrounded by hostility, but now, many of them are offering their farewells and good wishes.

As soon as I step out, my presence immediately known, they begin to disburse, returning to their jobs. Antony's chest expands when I reach him, his eyes utterly transparent.