Page 26 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Leela craned her neck all the way to the railing of the hovering wooden ship which blocked out the moons above. If she was quick enough, she could get there before the light cast her shadows. She reached for the rope, her pinkie finger brushing against his.

Her breath hitched.

She was fervently glad for the dimness so he couldn’t see the obvious heat on her cheeks. Quickly, she shifted the ladder away from him and scurried up but stopped when her stomach lurched, and she looked down.

Shit.

Scared of heights?

Maybe.

Oh mortal… What am I to do with you?

Leave me alone? Find someone else who is a better fighter and not scared to fall to her death?

Cannot do now, unless you wish to die.

Leela froze. What did you just say?

You are stuck with me until you die, and by getting rid of me, well, sadly, it does not end well for you.

How do I kill you, then?

The Viper hissed. You don’t. I can find another Vessel if I really must.

Then do it. Leave me alone.

Not until you we both get what we want. I waited too long for you.

Fear choked her, blanketing her mind with an endless void. She shut her eyes and told herself to breathe, and to just get off the ladder and get somewhere safe. Then, she could fathom exactly how much shit she was in.

Leela kept her eyes forward, too scared to look down and imagine falling. She scrambled over the railing and landed on the deck. A flag flapped in the wind. At the base of the mast, a woman with long black curls spread her hands before her as if she were pushing the sails forward. Her shadows bled into the shape of a peacock, and Leela’s eyes widened.

Rajesh landed with a gentle thud by her side. “Come.”

Leela glanced at the woman whose eyes were darkened by a tinge of emerald sparkling within. The woman furrowed her brows, eyes narrowing with a flash of warning before shifting to Rajesh. For a second, their eyes connected, and a silent conversation sparked between them, leaving Leela feeling like she was intruding on something private.

Leela caught up to Rajesh, trying to hide in the shadows as the captain’s quarters loomed ahead. She had never seen a sandship so big and grand. Most sandships scoured the dunes with Vessels to keep trade routes open across the three kingdoms. While there was tension among the kingdoms over how they provided for their own, they were still reliant on each other to access valuable resources.

Although some sandships belonged to devious pirates.

A faint slice of terror cut through her. What if Rajesh was a pirate? What if he was acting the hero by saving those who were attacked, only to pilfer them later?

No. Even though it had been six years, Leela knew Rajesh, and he wasn’t a callous person.

Six years is a long time.

Ignoring the Viperess and getting lost in her thoughts, Leela barely registered that they were inside the captain’s quarters until the door clicked. She jumped. Despite the outside being small, the room was as grand as one of the rooms in the palace. As if she had walked through a doorway into another place, instead of a ship.

Long, arched windows stood against the wall, cut with silken curtains tied with a golden thread at each side. A four-poster bed with detailed edging stood across from her, with too many pillows to count. Scattered papers sat on a desk in the center, the moonslight glinting off the splotchy ink. Floral designs and circular finishes decorated the ceiling. There were too many finer things for this to be a pirate ship.

She was thankful for the minimal light and shuffled over to the darkest corner of the room, acting as if she were interested in the maps strewn across the table.

Rajesh wandered over to a wardrobe and plucked out a black coat. He shuffled it onto himself, the collar poking upright and the hem ending at his knees. It hugged his figure, now more muscular, and his broader shoulders.

Realizing she was staring, Leela turned to the unlit fireplace.

“Do you wish to sit?” he asked. “Or stand there like a gawking Flame?”