1 The Heartwalker The Ever King was going to die. A slow, hopefully rather painful death. My queen would need to forgive me for slaughtering her mate. "King says there''s no need to respond," said Swordeater, a curious sea fae who could literally devour steel. He cupped an herb smoke as he lit the tip, utterly oblivious to my scowl. When he pulled in a long draw, Swordeater finally met my glare. "Merely said to send word when we set sail." "I can read, you ass.
" One fist curled around the rough parchment Erik bleeding Bloodsinger had sent from the Ever, the home to which I very much desired to return. In my other hand, I kept flicking open the face cover of a battered pocket watch. A gift from Lady Narza, the strongest sea witch within the House of Mists. The watch was curious, a normal time-teller in most cases. But if the risk of danger rose, then the hands spun more swiftly, hinting time for safety was running short. If a true threat to the Ever King''s life rose-or to the one I gave my fiercest loyalty-the hands would point straight. Mere months ago, we battled for the throne of the Ever Kingdom against Larsson Bonekeeper, Erik''s unknown half brother. Throughout the fighting, the hands on the clock face ticked to wherever my cousin stood in proximity to me, not spinning wildly, merely aiming at the one whose life was at the greatest risk.
Only after Erik landed the killing blow did the hands tick normally again. No doubt, the Lady of Witches gifted me the watch since Narza knew my loyalty to my cousin-her grandson-would never falter, never belong to anyone else. Until today. No mistake, if Erik stood beside me, the hands of the small watch would be stiff and aimed directly at the Ever King, just as they had during battle, signaling his demise was imminent. The hands ticked gently, telling the chime as though nothing was amiss. Seemed the magic of the sea witches believed Erik was safe. For now. This was not what I agreed to after leaving the celebration of new vows in the alver kingdom.
Sea and earth fae alike had gone to witness a bond ceremony between Jonas Eriksson, a prince of the earth realms, and Skadi, the new elven queen. Strange how much had changed in the months since tentative peace built between the Ever and earth realms. Never did I think I''d be drinking ale with earth folk. Certainly not at vows where blades were nowhere to be seen. By order of the Ever King, after the celebration I was directed to continue being the escort to an infuriating creature. Not only did I sail the woman from the alver vows to her kingdom, now I was to wait and bring her to my queen for another damn visit, unharmed and unbothered. Once the task was complete, I would be free to return to my own self-imposed seclusion. I was not meant to remain more than a damn day and night in the earth realms, particularly not in the knolls of the glamour fae.
But Erik changed everything. Sweat slickened my palms. Tension knotted in my chest. Unbidden, I rolled one of my numerous silver rings around one finger. "You ought to know, there be something-" I held up a hand, silencing Swordeater until I soothed the tumult in my skull. When plans shifted, my aggravating mind careened a little out of control and it took moments, at times days, to feel right again. A weakness I mentioned to no one. How would it suit the crew if they thought me so spineless that a simple change in itinerary sent my thoughts spinning? Like the thick stitches keeping their captain so neatly knitted had come undone.
I opened my eyes in time to realize Swordeater was reaching a hand out to strike my shoulder. The haze of instinct filled my skull and spurred my next moves. I had the knife I kept sheathed across my chest leveled at the man''s throat in the next breath. "I would think twice before laying a hand on me." The sea gray of Swordeater''s eyes darkened, but he raised both palms in a show of goodwill. "I just be wanting to finish making me report." I pulled back the edge of the knife. "Then you will wait until I am ready to hear it.
" I thought Swordeater might''ve muttered something like "Be a dead bastard" in my silence. I hardly cared. Pricks of phantom pain from a potential strike already coated my skin and left me wanting to retch. I''d learned to mask my fierce urge to recoil from the touches of others over the turns. With the knife sheathed again, I shook out my palms, cracking my neck side to side. My cousin''s order kept me here in the glamour kingdom for a duration of time that currently had no end. No doubt, Erik found it amusing, keeping me here as long as my royal charge desired. My fingers curled into fists at my sides, thoughts of her spinning behind my eyes.
A princess whose people likely despised me the most. The king and queen of this land were, after all, the voices who once banished me after the war between our folk. Perhaps I could not entirely blame the Ever King for altering his directive. I hadn''t even let on to my cousin how desperately I clung to routine. Controlled plans meant controlled outcomes. No surprises. No pain. Control meant no one would get the drop on me.
Never again. A difficult way to live since the seas of the Ever were never without shifts in agendas. Tides could change. Storms would arrive. And the crew would be forced to alter course. Such things I could handle fine enough; it was the way of the untamed sea. Idleness and unknowns, those were the moments when darkness thickened in my thoughts. "Heartwalker, you might be wanting to know-" "Gods, man.
" I spun on Swordeater. "Our king has changed our agenda. Give me a bleeding moment to see his commands are able to be met. Supplies must be counted, unless you''d prefer to eat thistles instead of hardtack and rum." Before he could respond, I set to pacing and promptly lit my own paper smoke. With a long pull on the end, my breathing slowed. My mind felt a bit calmer. Sea wind brushed across the deck of the Sea Void, warm and heavy with rich scents of blossoms and sweets sold at the shoreline market.
The vessel was smaller than the king''s ship, but it still towered over the longships and sloops docked beside us. I peered over the rail as though studying the landscape might proffer a threat we could not ignore, one that would force us to meet the winds whether the glamour princess desired to stay or not. Trees towered over paths with roots that broke the soil like great serpents, mosses of all shades-yellow, red, and brilliant green-speckled every boulder, every bit of bark, every stone. Here, narrow creeks cut through knolls and forests like dozens of blades had carved through the kingdom, bleeding out the water. Glamour fae lands were whimsical, coated in lavender and velvet blooms, gilded pests with iridescent wings that glimmered in the night, and a constant flow of a honeysuckle breeze. I missed the Ever Seas. But I''d take the tangles of trees and glossy leaves of the glamour fae kingdom over the chilled lands of the Night Folk fae of my queen, or the gloomy realms of the thieving alver clans. I''d never admit to her that I didn''t despise her kingdom.
Mira of House Sekundär. Where the princess laughed and caroused, I preferred solitude and silence. The woman tolerated Sea Folk. No mistake, she played a convincing game of befriending a few souls from the Ever, but there was a memory I could not shake. A violence, a viciousness lived in the soul of the playful princess. Damn her and her false comradery. Damn her for taking up any space in my thoughts at all. Not only was her house responsible for banishing me, but the king and queen of the glamour fae were the ones to land the killing blow that ended the war.
My father stirred the vitriol and rage against the earth fae, enough to convince many in the Ever that war was inevitable. But there had also been a dark earth fae who lived in the Ever for turns. A man who manipulated and inspired the worst pieces of folk to bleed through. Harald Songtaker, my father, joined with the dark fae and brought battles to these shores. Only when the dark fae lost his head beneath the sword of the glamour fae did fighting cease. Both Harald and the dark fae were haunts of my past. Likely, they were haunts of Mira''s too. Why the killing blow came from her house, I didn''t know.
But it left me suspicious that out of any earth fae realm, the glamour folk likely despised sea fae the most. I did not trust the princess. I did not care for her. And I despised how much all my disinterest somehow drew her to my mind, a slow-burning ember that stung just behind my eyes. "Dammit, yer not even countin'' our supplies!" Swordeater stepped in front of me, halting my steps. "So, you''ll stop sulkin'' and you''ll listen to me, you bastard." Tension pulsed in my jaw. "Bleeding gods, fine.
Speak what you must speak!" Swordeater was a burly sort but still jolted a bit when my lips curled, flashing the two slightly elongated points of my teeth, a trait most common in royal bloodlines of the Ever, much like the red in my eyes. "I just be thinking you ought to know the royal lovey you''ve been commanded to oversee, well, there be reports Filib be huntin'' her h.