Page 45 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

“Are you?”

She rose from her throne again, unhurried, descending the steps toward us. Each footstep made no sound, the gown moving as silent as water.

“Because it seems to me you’ve brought me a boarox only. What about the leonhawk?”

“The boarox took months to track. As far as the leonhawk, it would be much easier to catch one if I had wings.”

He’d tried to make light of the situation, I assumed—but wait, was he being serious? The queen answered my question by baring her teeth. Each one tapered to a point like the tip of a dagger, nothing like any teeth I’d seen on a person, more like a wild animal. The sight of them, paired with that otherwise serene face, sent cold chills through my chest.

I wondered if the princes had teeth like that too, hidden behind those composed expressions. I didn’t want to find out.

Jina grabbed my arm.

“Steady,” Fraya murmured. “Do not show any dislikes.”

“I thought—” Theron began.

“You thought.” The queen crossed the distance to Theron in a few steps, stopping close enough that she had to tilt her chin to meet his eyes. “I don’t pay you to think, Theron. I pay you to deliver. There’s a difference.”

The room had gone quiet. Even the soldiers, who’d looked relaxed moments ago, stiffened, knuckles white around the spears. Even Theron, who owned the sea and commanded his crew, seemed smaller here. Not cowering but careful.

I thought of Fraya’s words from that morning. He doesn’t forgive easily. I wondered, watching this exchange, if that went both ways.

“He did deliver, Mother.” Lucian descended from the dais.

Theron went rigid beside Fraya.

The queen scoffed and turned away.

Lucian stopped directly in front of me. Up close, his features were sharper than his mother’s—pointed ears, a narrow nose, and eyes the color of amethyst, gleaming like one of the gemstones in his mother’s crown. He studied me the way you’d study a rare object.

Could he tell I was Seaborn?

Then he moved to Jina.

Jina closed her eyes and whimpered, then opened them, her lips twitching into an attempted smile.

“Wait.” Lucian glanced back toward the dais. “These girls are new.”

Theron’s fingers curled into fists at his sides. “I was told every new member of my crew is to be presented. I brought them on to work in the kitchen.”

“Is that so?” Lucian took a strand of my hair between two fingers and brought it to his nose, breathing in. “She smells like the sea.” His eyes flicked to Theron. “You can leave them here with me.”

“I told you this would happen.” Fraya gritted the words through her teeth.

So that’s what Theron and Fraya had been arguing about. I have no choice. She knows everyone on this ship.

Jina squeezed my hand. Fraya took a step forward, then caught herself and stepped back into position.

Theron shifted his weight. “They need training. They’re a good fit for the queen’s kitchen.”

“Who said anything about cooking?” His tone made it clear exactly what he meant.

Fraya bowed her head. “Please, Crown Prince. They know nothing of such things.”

Lucian’s finger trailed across Jina’s mouth, his eyes lit with lust. “I can teach them a thing or two.” His eyes slid back to me. “Especially this one. The Seaborn.”

The queen had stopped halfway up the dais. She turned and crossed the floor toward me, her gown gliding behind her. Something small and silver slipped from her sleeve and flashed across my cheek before I could react.