A Game Of Changing Tides

Chapter Twenty-Nine

1868,  the Dawrey Ocean

Adelyn woke to sun rays shining through the porthole and onto her eyelids. Her limbs were a mess of tangles between those of Nina and Harlem's; the three of them had fallen asleep sipping at rum and stuffing their mouths full of muffins. All around them, a chorus of snoring men made Adelyn wonder how she'd gotten any sleep at all.

Stifling a yawn, Adelyn slid her foot out from underneath Harlem's arm and her hand out from behind Nina's neck. Even as she hopped off of the hammock and onto the ground, neither of them so much as stirred. Adelyn couldn't blame them-- they'd been up until nearly sunrise, late enough that even the roudiest of the crew's men had gone to bed and cursed at them to be quiet.

Adelyn shuffled her feet down the hallway into the kitchen, not surprised to find Nikolai seated at the table in the middle of the room. A cup of tea was steaming in front of him, the smell of it making Adelyn wish for a cup of her own.

"Good morning," Nik said. "You look tired."

"I feel tired," she said, shrugging. "Not so much that it's unmanageable, though."

He snorted, "Good. I'm putting you to work today."

"Are you?" Adelyn said, one eyebrow cocked. "And what is it that I'll be doing?"

He smiled, "My floors are looking a little dirty up on the deck."

"Mopping?" Adelyn said with a frown. She held back a groan. "I'd rather wash the crews laundry."

"Would you now?"

Adelyn's frown deepened, and she thought of the blood splattered and sweat soaked shirts that the men had been wearing on the island. Her nose crinkled, "Mopping it is."

He laughed, sipping at his tea. As he set it back down on the table, Adelyn reached across and pulled it towards her, giving him a look that dared him to take it back as she brought it to her lips. It was cool enough that it didn't burn her, but barely so.

Nikolai cleared his throat, "I have something serious to talk to you about."

Adelyn set the mug back on the table, between them rather than in front of just one of them, and shrugged, "Something serious? I didn't know you knew the meaning of the words."

He chuckled, but Adelyn felt it was forced. Suddenly she didn't feel so funny anymore.

Nik wet his lips, "I'd understand if you want to go back to Fraysner's. And I want to make sure you're aware that, really, in order to get to the second witches island, I only need one witch, and--"

"Now you have Ri?" Adelyn finished for him. Something about it stung, despite the fact she knew he meant nothing close to what she thought in that moment. She swallowed, shaking her head. "I don't want to go back to Fraysner's Harbour. There's nothing for me there."

"It's safe," he said, and then laughed. "Well, safer than it is at sea. Greywell was just one of many, Adelyn."

"I know," she said, eyeing his hands, clamped together on the table in front of himself. His knuckles were white with strain. "Do you want me to go back, Nik? Is that what you're trying to say? That you don't want me here?"

"We both know that's not what I meant." He said, sighing. "Bloody barnacles, Adelyn, I don't know how to say this without sounding like a twat."

"You already sound like a twat, so say it anyways."

He snorted, and then let out a heavy breath, almost as if in defeat. "The idea of having you there and me here doesn't make me happy in the least, but... I'd rather have you a hundred miles away then risk your life for you to be nearer."

Adelyn swallowed, ignoring the flutter in her chest. "But this is my decision, correct?"

"I'm not going to force you off the ship, if that's what you mean."

"Then I'm staying."

"And what about Harlem?" Nik said, his eyebrow raised. He knew which cord to strike, and he hit it hard. Adelyn flinched. "I don't know much about the lad but I know he won't go back without you. You'd be committing him to this life just as well as yourself."

"I..." Adelyn stuttered. She thought of the men of the Siren, and pictured Harlem among them. She had no quarrels with any of the crew, but still, something about the image in her mind was unsettling. Harlem was far from innocent or passive, but a pirate? "Why are you trying to hard to convince me to go?"

Nikolai unclenched his hands, reaching across the table, past the hot mug between them, and grabbing Adelyn's wrist. Through one small movement at a time, he laced his fingers between hers, his eyes on their interlocked hands, just as well as her own. Adelyn heart skipped a beat, and she hated that he could do that to her even amidst a conversation such as this.

"I just don't want to see you hurt," he said. His eyes looked up then, not meeting Adelyn's face but instead settling on her neck. Adelyn knew what he was looking at-- the jagged scar that ran along her skin was something she was all to aware of. It was close to healed, though the memory was still fresh. The blade digging into her flesh was a feeling she would not soon forget. "Again."

"Nik," Adelyn said, pulling her hands back and onto her lap. Nikolai made a face, but said nothing. "I'm staying."

He sighed, "You're sure?"

Adelyn looked up, into the sea blue eyes that had mesmerized her time and time before. She smiled, "Yeah, I'm sure."

The ship leaned to the left, and Adelyn's body shifted. Across the table, only Nik's head moved, and barely, a sign he'd become accustomed to the small shifts and jolts of the life at sea.

Nik nodded, softly, almost solemnly, "I guess I ought to add you to the paygrade, then."

"I guess so," Adelyn said, a smile hinting at her lips.

Nik looked up at her from across the table again, reaching for the mug that sat between them. He clicked his tongue, "I'm scared for you."

"Don't be," Adelyn said, shaking her head. "I can take care of myself."

"I know, just..." He frowned, "the sea can change a person."

Adelyn opened her mouth to comment, something about calling him a madman, but stopped short of the words. He looked lost in thought, his blue eyes glazed over. It was the look of a man who'd seen too much in his lifetime, lived through too many things. She didn't want to describe him as wise or knowing, those were words she'd more or less reserved for old men with canes, but Nik was definitely somewhere along those lines. How could you see what Nik had seen, and suffered what he had suffered, and not be like he was?

Maybe the sea had changed him, Adelyn thought.

Maybe it'd already changed her.