She put her hand on her cocked hip. He shrugged, lacking the energy for a fight.
"Getting back to my point before you so rudely interrupted, these are the ropes." She shoved the bundle into his hands, nearly punching his gut in the process. In truth, he wasn't sure if she missed on purpose, or if a lucky undulation of the ship sent him stepping backward for balance just in time. "A sailor who can't tie a knot might as well be a stowaway, and Captain's never been fond of useless baggage, so I suggest you pay attention."
Rafe sighed. There would be plenty of time to ruminate later. For now, it might do him some good to get his mind off things. Hours in the practice yards had always alleviated his burdens. His swords were below deck and there wasn't a target in sight, but any physical task would work.
He took the ropes. "Just tell me what to do."
7
Cassi
Sinking into her mother's dreams always felt like a falling into warm embrace. Not that Captain Rokaro was particularly affectionate, but she was familiar and trustworthy, which mattered far more to Cassi. As though she sensed her daughter's spirit, the chaos of the captain's mind slowed. It took hardly more than a thought to spin the racing colors into a scene mirroring Cassi's mood.
They stood at the highest peak of a jagged mountain range, the wind nipping their cheeks as snow battered their eyes. The sun was shrouded by gloomy clouds, and howling storms echoed from the valleys below. Toes sticking over the edge of a steep cliff, Cassi couldn't help but notice she'd forgotten to give herself wings. Or maybe that had been on purpose, her body like her mind, teetering and precarious, one wrong move from falling.
"How's Rafe?"
Her mother turned toward her, arching a brow in question. "Where have you been?"
"How's Rafe?"
"He's…" The captain paused, expression heavy as she looked back toward the blistering view. "Surviving."
"What does that mean?"
"What do you think?"
Her mother had an uncanny ability to say everything yet nothing at the same time. Cassi snarled and cast her gaze onto the rocks below. What did she think? That he was broken. That she'd destroyed him. That to be a bird without the sky was a fate almost worse than death—a fate from which the man she'd once called a friend would never recover.
What had she expected her mother to say?
He's fine? He'll be all right? He likes it better down here?
Those were just the lies she told herself to keep the guilt at bay, to prevent it from eating her alive from the inside out. Cassi was rotted to the core, and she wasn't sure how long she could keep everyone else from seeing it too.
"He had a better day today," the captain murmured softly. Sympathy churned in her frosty eyes, though Cassi was certain she didn't deserve it.
"Why?"
"I gave him something to live for, something to fight for. I think it helped."
"What?" Her brows twitched. "What did you give him?"
"Hope."
A nauseous feeling stirred in Cassi's gut, as real as if she were in her own body. The taste of bile ate at her tongue. "What kind?"
"I told him I could grant him an audience with the king."
"Mother!" The word spilled out sharp with disbelief and accusation. She knew instantly what the captain had promised. It was a cruel trick, not as brutal as the one her daughter had played, but close. "Malek will never give him back his wings."
"I don't know that."
"I do."
He would never. Not this king. Not Malek. Not the man who ordered the death of an innocent prince in the name of keeping his world a secret. Rafe had only seen a small glimpse of what the lands within the mist had to offer, but it was enough.
"Do you know what he's planning then?"
"No." An angry puff of air escaped her lips. "I wasn't privy to that information. I was just told what to do."
"Then neither of us knows what the king will or won't agree to. It's possible he just wanted to give the boy time to learn about our world and to appreciate it before recruiting him to our cause. The only way to do that with an invinci is to remove the wings entirely—otherwise Rafe would've already healed and flown away. I don't see much use for his magic aside from using him as a fighter, and a warrior with wings is always better than one without, especially in a war against dragons."
"It's possible," Cassi conceded. Though I doubt it.
Malek wasn't kindhearted. For better or worse, he was single-mindedly focused and ruthless in his pursuit of saving the world. Oh, he had a plan for Rafe, she was certain. But it wouldn't be the pretty picture her mother painted.
"Don't lose your hope, Kasiandra." The captain brushed her caramel feathers against Cassi's arm. "Don't lose your ability to believe in people."
She looked at her hands, for a moment seeing Rafe's blood still upon them, sticky maroon spotted with ebony fuzz. One blink and the image was gone, but it was always there, lurking in the far corners of her mind. How can I believe in people, Mother, when I don't even believe in myself?
The captain studied her, though Cassi refused to meet her gaze. After a few moments, she finally said, "I don't usually hear you call the king by name."
Cassi folded her fingers into fists, heart racing with the memory of her king. His golden hair, streaked with highlights from the sun. The soft brown freckles scattered across his nose. His dark blue eyes, so bottomless she couldn’t find a soul within them. And the grip of his magic, holding her down, stealing her sky, breaking her heart even after he'd disappeared. Seeing him in real life had made clear something her dreams had naively brushed over—Malek was not the boy she remembered. He was a man and a king, and he cared little for the Kasiandra he'd once known.
"Things change."
"Hmm." Her mother paused. The heavy silence pierced like a blade. "Is that why you haven't gone to see him?"
Cassi sucked in a breath. "How do you know that?"
"He sent another man into my dreams to ask if I'd heard from you. When I told him no, the man gave me a message from the king. He's looking for you. He wants to talk to you. And eventually he will, one way or another."
She snorted at the unveiled threat in the words. "He knows where to find me if he wants to talk, but I don't see him venturing up to my world anytime soon. So I guess he'll just have to wait."
"Kasiandra." Her mother sighed. "It's not wise to go against his wishes."
"What about my wishes?" Cassi snapped, her anger ripe and raring. Did anyone care what she thought? She didn’t want to be a killer. She didn't want to be a monster. She didn’t want to keep leading a double life. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her best friend. She wanted to be a normal girl, whatever that meant.
"Do you hold the fate of the world on your shoulders?"
She mumbled a gruff, "No."
"Then for now, I don't think your wishes matter."
Cassi opened her mouth to argue, but her mother held up a hand to stop her.