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“Niridia!”
“Riden!” she shouts.
He looks down, his eyes roving until they spot her. “Aye?”
“Come down for a moment, please.”
He leaps for the netting and begins to crawl his way down.
“Niridia, he already said no. Leave him alone.”
“Just let me try something. You do trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Then let me do my job on this ship.”
Riden drops into a crouch as his bare feet hit the deck. He straightens, notices me next to Niridia, but focuses on her.
“Do you consider yourself a selfish person, Riden?” she asks brazenly.
If he’s at all uncomfortable with the question, he doesn’t show it. “I can be,” he says.
“I’m the first mate of this ship, which means I see everything that happens. I see you comforting Deshel, see you softening every time Roslyn is around, see you laughing with Wallov and Deros. You’ve grown fond of us, haven’t you?”
“Aye.”
“Good. Now the captain tells me you could be invaluable in helping her control her abilities, thereby helping us survive the pirate king. Do you think she’s right about that?”
He closes himself off, his face turning away slightly.
I’m shocked when a weak “Yes” comes out of him.
“You risked your life for Roslyn once already. You very nearly died for her. Tell me, if the pirate king catches up to us, do you think he will spare her because she is a child?”
His head whips back around. “No,” he says, stronger.
“No one is ordering you to do anything. I just think it’s important for you to see things exactly as they are. You could tilt the odds in our favor, Riden. Remember that when you’re trying to sleep at night.”
And then she just walks off. Leaving me to deal with Riden.
With shirtless Riden.
“I swear I didn’t put her up to that,” I say. “I told her to leave you alone. I was just venting to her, and she got it into her head—”
“It’s all right.”
“Is it?”
“You will recall I was once a first mate. We can be a stubborn bunch.”
He scratches a spot on his arm, and I focus on that instead of his abdomen.
“She’s right,” he says suddenly, drawing my gaze to his face. “I don’t like it, and I can’t promise that I won’t lash out afterward—but we need to do this.”
“If there were any other way for me to do this, I wouldn’t have asked. I’ve tried my whole life to control this. My father put me through all kinds of—never mind. That’s not important. I’m just saying that if the pirate king ruled it out as a lost cause, then I know you really are my last option.”
“Hmm” is all he says.
