“We could,” Maeli admitted. “But they would find that suspect. No doubt word is out now. Aengus will be looking for you. If the passing ship thinks we’re hiding you…”
“But if I’m nowhere to be seen, might they not realize I am just below decks? How has this not been a problem until now?” She was almost shouting her words, but she realized she was not truly angry at Maeli. Nor should she be. Her anger should be directed at someone far more deserving. The Grand Alderman of the Air Court.
“We have passed no other ships thus far, Princess,” Maeli said with a small bow. “Now, please. They will be upon us soon.”
“Yes, alright. I’m sorry.” Heart hammering, she twisted on her heels and rushed toward the stairwell. Vreis followed quickly behind, after murmuring a few words to the fae. Down and down they went, hurrying into the hold beneath the cabins. It was a dark and dreary place and crammed with barrels, wooden boxes, and dust. A rat scurried by her feet, and she bit back a scream.
The boat creaked as it slowed to a stop. Eislyn could feel the shudder, even if she could not see it for herself.
“What are they doing?” she whispered to Vreis.
“The other ship likely asked them to stop,” he murmured. “They’ll have agreed to avoid arising suspicion.”
“But why would a merchant ship ask another to stop?” she hissed.
He frowned. “They wouldn’t.”
“What are you saying? It’s one of Aengus’s ships?”
“Unlikely. The ship was seen approaching from the north. It could be one of your father’s few ships.”
“Well, if it’s one of my father’s ships, then why in the name of the Dagda am I hiding in the dust?” She turned toward the ladder, but Vreis caught her hand. His palm was warm and rough and strong.
“I said it was unlikely one of Aengus’s. Not that it was impossible. The Air Court could have been keeping a few ships in the northern waters all this time, waiting for the precise moment they would be needed.” His smile was grim. “I could see Imogen using this tactic. She might have believed the alliance with the Ice Court would turn sour. Or, more likely, the former High King himself. He never wanted an alliance. He yearned for an empire instead.”
Eislyn’s heart pounded. “And Aengus might have known of these hidden ships. He could have sent a bird ahead, alerting them of my escape.”
“Perhaps.”
“So, then they will search this ship for me,” she hissed, her heart pounding so hard she could scarcely stand the overwhelming beat of it. “We’re not safe, not down here.”
Vreis nodded, glancing around. “We’ll need to hide you in the hatch.”
The warrior stepped aside and tugged open a compartment hidden in the floor. Eislyn had not even known it was there. The door had been carefully obscured by the floorboards, so that a seam could not even be seen.
“This ship is a smuggler’s ship,” she announced. It was clear as day now. She should have seen it before. The ragtag crew. Their wild and reckless nights. Their knowledge of how best to avoid being spotted by other ships. They had done this before. She could not help but wonder who else they had stolen across the Mag Mell Sea.
Vreis nodded. “They carry as much as they can across kingdom lines. Some lords are willing to pay a pretty airgead for certain things that cannot be obtained inside their own court.”
“And they were in Tairngire because they were dropping off smuggled goods. Weren’t they, Vreis?”
He shrugged. “Unless the ice fae alliance doesn’t fall through, the Air Court doesn’t have a trade route with the Empire of Fomor or with any other kingdom within Tir Na Nog. Smugglers are inevitable.”
“They’re criminals,” she hissed, heart hammering. “They could sell me to the highest bidder.”
“They won’t.” He motioned toward the open hatch. “Now climb inside before you get found out. They’re willing to smuggle you. I doubt they’re willing to fight for you.”
With a frustrated harrumph, Eislyn climbed into the hatch and settled onto the rough wooden floor. There was nothing inside but darkness and empty shelves. They had likely cleared out their coffers at the Air Court. Eislyn did not know how to feel about being stolen across the seas by smugglers. She’d heard the tales of them. They often killed for their bounties. Coin was far more important to them than life.
But she supposed she didn’t have much of a choice now. She was on the ship, and the only way off would be jumping the plank.
Vreis shut the lid of the hatch, and the tiny room plunged into a darkness so pure that Eislyn could not even see her own hand as she wiggled it in front of her face. A familiar fear clawed up her throat and tightened sharp fingernails on her heart. Eislyn did not like the darkness. It was like an unseen rope wrapped too tightly around her neck. Dark things lurked in the shadows. They always had.
Her breathing became shallow as she struggled to retain control of her panic. It would be fine. There was nothing to worry about. She was only down in a hatch on a smuggler’s ship. Vreis was on the other side of that door...the door she couldn’t see.
What if he left her down here? What if she never got out?
A low scream of panic built in her throat, desperate to shoot out for all the ship to hear. The darkness pushed closer. It plucked at her skin. It shivered down her spine. She swore she could feel rough fingers slither up her arms and then rest dangerously in the center of her chest, at her hammering heart.
Suddenly, Vreis let out a muffled curse, lifted the lid, and dropped down into the hatch beside her. Light momentarily speared the small space, and Eislyn gasped at the illuminated emptiness. There had been nothing there. It had all been in her mind. The darkness had not been ready to kill her. She’d only imagined it.
Again.
“What are you doing?” Eislyn gasped.
“I recognized their voices. Air Court warriors. They’ll know who I am and that I disappeared along with you.”
Her heartbeat thrummed in her neck. “They’re from the Air Court?”
He nodded. Or at least she thought he nodded. She couldn’t see his face. “When they realize the ship is full of smugglers, they’ll likely let them go. Rumor has it that Aengus was once part of a smuggler’s ring.”
“That would explain where he came from,” she said quietly, hoping her voice did not give away the panic that had almost made her scream bloody murder a second ago.
“Are you all right, princess?” Vreis asked.
She sighed. She should have known he wouldn’t miss a thing. He never did. “I...”
How did she explain it to him? Regardless of how kind he had been to her, he wouldn’t understand. No one did. No one except for Reyna. Even her own father had looked at her as though she were a strange animal he couldn’t quite tame. It was why he’d allowed her to spend so many hours holed up in the library out of his way.
She’d never even told Thane about the depths of her torment.
“Eislyn, I hope you know you can trust me with anything,” he said gently. “If you’re afraid, I won’t judge you.”
“It’s more than being afraid,” she said in a rush of words, plowing forward before she lost the nerve. “I have...terrors, I guess you could call them. Nightmarish thoughts creep into my mind. Sometimes I see things or even hear things. Horrible things. None of it is ever real. I’m just...not quite right. I never have been. Not since I saw...” She ground her teeth together and blinked back the tears.