Page 8 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

The ship stretched in both directions, with two tall masts rising into the sky, dark sails hanging loose. Ropes ran everywhere in patterns I couldn’t follow. The wood beneath my hands was rough and swollen with seawater, black in the grain.

Dozens of men lined the deck on both sides, their eyes tracking our every move. Some watched with open curiosity. Some with hunger. Some with a flat disinterest.

A face with dark, curly hair replaced my view. That satisfied gaze, the kind a predator gave prey after the capture, sent adrenaline surging through my blood. I jolted up and slammed back down.

Damn rope! I had forgotten about the rope.

Minha set her jaw, eyes sweeping the deck for anything she could use as a weapon. Jina had gone still and pale, her lips moving. She always counted when she was afraid.

I felt for my dagger and the pearls and sighed with relief.

“Look what I’ve caught.”

The same man looming over us was broad through the chest and shoulders, arms straining the fabric of his shirt, belly round and hard as a barrel. A strip of worn leather covered his right eye. When he grinned, the gap where a canine should have been made the smile worse, the remaining teeth dark with rot.

“We belong to the king.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “We’re his servants.”

A voluptuous woman with long red curls marched down the stairs from the upper deck. She swung sideways when the ship rocked hard, then approached me.

“You’re mine now.” She smirked. “And I do with you as I please.”

I loathed those words. We had just escaped one prison. I would burn this ship before I let someone put us in another. For now, I had to keep us safe, so I’d see how our time here played out.

“Mac betrayed us.” Jina shoulders slumped, her head lowering.

“I’m going to kill him.” Minha dug her nails into the wood.

The woman crouched to examine us. “You’re a fighter.” The corner of her mouth lifted. “I like that.” Then she peered up over her shoulder. “Brando, tell Kit to reel the net.”

“Will do, Captain Resse.” He cupped his mouth, tilted his head back, and bellowed, “Kit, reel the net!”

Resse rolled her eyes, groaning. “Go to him next time.” She narrowed her eyes at Minha. “Actually, I betrayed Mac. He paid me with pearls to rescue you.” She juggled a cloth sack in front of us, the contents clinking. “But he didn’t say I couldn’t sell you.”

Mac had no idea. Somewhere back in the castle, he believed he had saved us. And Nam too.

Brando chuckled, a sound caught between a snort and a gag.

My nostrils flared. Not if I could help it. But what did it mean to be sold? I had no experience from outside the cavern. Perhaps that was a good thing.

“Thank you,” Jina said, wiping her tears. “Perhaps you can help my sisters if I gave you some per—”

I covered Jina’s mouth. She must have hid some pearls in her pants too. Until I knew what the deal was with them, I would not spill our secrets.

Brando and Resse shared a glance and laughed. What was so funny?

Whatever passed between them, it didn’t look good for us.

“Kit! The net.” Resse hollered, stomping toward the stairs. “Now!”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” came a deep voice from the upper deck.

The net lifted and we jolted to our feet. I gripped the railing to keep from pitching over the side, Jina and Minha doing the same beside me.

“Don’t just cling to the boat.” Brando tossed us rags. “Clean the floor, then head to the kitchen and help the cook. You’ll earn your stay on this ship.”

Before we could lift a finger, a lean, shorter young man dropped from the upper deck, sliding down a rope with the ease of someone who had done it a thousand times, and landed beside Brando without a sound.

“Looks like a rough ride to Juno.” He squinted at the horizon, reading something in the sky I couldn’t see.