Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Jai wanted to argue with Lyv, but he knew it was absolutely no use once she'd set her mind to something. Even Thia had taken her side in knowing they needed Allel with them, but at least she didn't seem to trust her any more than Jai did.

"First hostile move and you can count on me to take her out," the half-sorceress told him as they sat at the breakfast table the following morning.

From Jai's other side, Lyv heard her comment and waved a hand dismissively. Not that she wasn't going to keep an eye on the shapeshifter. She reassured Jai as soon as he asked, not only with watching her every move herself, but also keeping that binding spell on her.

Allel, it seemed, was all right with not having to shift of her own accord or Corliss's. Any time Jai saw her, she seemed at peace, though a sorrow was still evident in her every look, every move. Almost like she didn't know how to live without being in Corliss's control, though she was beginning to realize just what her freedom meant for her.

In the following day, he found her in the middle of the night lying out on the patio by the kitchen, looking up at the stars. She was still there when they all went down for breakfast, a cup of steaming hot tea secured between her palms. It took her a while to be comfortable enough at the table with them all to eat, but Kalla was more than able to make her laugh, talking about their life before in Palrion.

But it was in those quiet moments when he realized everything she had to be sorting through after what she'd endured over the last century. Lyv had told him about her breakdown whenever she and Kalla were with her when she just gained consciousness again. Told him more about Corliss and Mik, their plans with Guinevere, and the third obsidian stone he had hidden in his jacket pocket at that very moment.

Now, Jai was sitting on the steps of the Blackloch ship that led up to the quarter deck. Kalla's people were manning the ship with her calling orders as they set sail from the harbor of the pirate island with their own Ayverian ship behind. Just a few hours and they'd be in Asturia. Kalla hadn't been planning on making the trip with them, but it was Allel who made her decide to. Jai couldn't remember a time when he saw her so happy, so at ease. And she couldn't stop thanking Lyv for it all, looping her arm through hers and kissing her cheek.

It was Allel he was keeping an eye on still, though, standing on the deck below him. Her hands were pressed against the wooden railing as she looked over the water, her simple green dress and gray cloak catching in the breeze. She was looking down at her hands, gently touching the ruby and diamond ring that had appeared on her left hand that morning before they left. Jai didn't have to ask to know it was the ring Mik had given her when they married.

Allel must have felt him watching her. She turned to meet his gaze not a moment later before she slowly made her way over. Jai's eyes never left her, not even as she took a seat on the same step, but on the other side of the stairs.

"You've yet to say a word to me, Crown Prince," Allel stated, knotting her fingers together in her lap. "I would have thought you'd have something to say since your mate is the one who decided to bring me along."

"I trust her decisions and take pride in the fact she would be able to take you out almost immediately should you betray us."

A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. "I wouldn't doubt that. She's spectacular. It's no wonder you fell in love with her before you realized she was your mate."

"At least that we can agree on."

The two of them sat in silence, watching the water ahead of them as the ship continued to lurch forward.