Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

T he fairy hovered in the air near the mast of Stormbreaker . The waters were churning, but what bothered her the most was the scent lingering in the air.

That of smoke.

And fire.

"If they used cannons against the mermaids…" Harald mumbled to himself.

She didn't know how to help the others. Occasionally, Harald would ask Dover, Maggie, or Elton to do what was necessary, and they would immediately jump to it. There were so many ropes and different knots, and Karalyn could scarcely make heads or wings of it. Rosella, it turned out, had gone out with Bernal, just the two of them.

"Only two to crew an entire longship," Harald said, shaking his head.

"They'll be fine," Maggie said.

Harald scowled at her.

Karalyn didn't want to interfere, but she thought Harald was friends with them all. Why did Maggie seem not to care about Bernal?

Or was it that she cared a bit too much?

They crested over a wave, and the other longship was finally in sight. At least a dozen heads bobbed in the water with tridents and spears. Several weapons were embedded into the side of the ship. Was that the hull? She really should learn more about ships if she was to be the Queen Consort of the Sea Raiders.

Although she already was the queen consort.

Harald smiled at Karalyn, nodded to her, lifted his staff aloft, and then walked right off the longship into the water. He didn't stand on the water. No, he sank entirely, and Karalyn suppressed a scream.

The other sea raiders on both longships did not seem concerned, so Karalyn left Harald to his plan as she landed beside Maggie.

"What should I do?" she asked.

Maggie grinned grimly. "Now, we fight and save Bernal's sorry?—"

"The sea's large enough for all of us, you lousy…" Rosella continued to say terrible things to the mermaids, and Karalyn almost smiled. It was far too serious a matter for jokes.

The scent of fire, was that from the cannons? Or were the mermaids?—

Black smoke started to lift into the air from the backend of Bernal's longship. Karalyn barely saw it before Maggie rolled her eyes.

"I'll handle that," she said, lifting her own staff into the air.

One of the mermaids cocked back her arm and launched a trident through the air. Karalyn had wrapped some vines around her arms before she ventured down to Tridor, and she snapped a vine into the air, coiling it around the trident and snapping it straight to her hand.

"Do you want me to use your own weapon against you?" she called, flying closer to the edge of the longship.

"I would like to see you come into the water and try," the mermaid hissed.

"They're going after the rudder," Dover called out, but none of the sea raiders seemed too overly concerned about that.

With her limited ship knowledge, Karalyn thought the rudder might be involved in steering the longship, but with their staves, the sea raiders should be able to have no issue traveling on the water, rudder or no rudder.

Perhaps the mermaids had come to that conclusion because next, they started to stab their harpoons and tridents as well as harp shells against the hull, trying to cause holes.

Karalyn used the trident to force the closest mermaids to keep their distance from the longship, and Maggie used her staff to force the waves to wash the mermaids even farther back. Between the second longship and the additional sea raiders, the mermaids soon swam off, the battle finished.

Karalyn landed on Bernal's ship, where Harald stood before his friend.

"Do you know why they attacked?" Harald asked.

Bernal grimaced. "It was unprovoked. They claim that they and the sirens have divided up the sea, and…"

"You were swimming in their territory?" Harald assumed.

"Worse." Rosella gritted her teeth.

Bernal hung his head. "They saw that we have the island of Tridor but none of the sea."

"None of the sea?" Karalyn parroted in disbelief. "But you are sea raiders! You can control the sea?—"

"And that's not all." Rosella lifted her staff.

The two pieces of it.

"One of them tried to take it," she said, her eyes flashing. "They want to control the sea." She crossed her arms, the tails of her trench coat billowing in the breeze.

"This is so serious," Karalyn murmured.

"We need to stay down here for the time being," Harald whispered to Karalyn.

"Yes, one of us should," she agreed.

"One?" He narrowed his eyes. "We'll discuss this later."

Karalyn sighed inwardly. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

Harald remained on Bernal's ship, which surprised Karalyn, given that the other longship was his own.

Karalyn opted to return to Stormbreaker . She kept her feet on the ship, trying to stay out of the way. They needed to return to the island before more mermaids came after them or sirens if they ended up in "their" part of the sea.

All of this was a mess of royal proportions. Epic proportions.

Turmoil in Tridor did not spell well for the sea raiders, not at all, and if those in the other southern continent were still trying to mobile and were potentially joining forces together for as of yet unknown means but most likely ones that would spell doom for the fairies and now the sea raiders since they were united…

Plus, there was no reason to believe that the other flyers would remain in Skyemoor.

There was none of the frantic energy that had been on Stormbreaker when they first set sail to reach Bernal, and Karalyn headed over to Maggie

"Can you tell me why Bernal took to the sea with only one other crew member?" Karalyn asked.

Maggie pursed her lips. "He wanted to see what the elves were up to. I told him that the sirens attacking recently meant that was unwise, but he has protection against their voices, so he figured he was safe. As if they don't have teeth to chomp through his arm! He was asking for trouble, and I could not bear to see the ship go down."

"Rosella went with him…"

"Rosella has always liked a challenge. To be sure, Bernal tried to do a noble thing. He does not wish for there to be war, but without information and if they are crafting their own ships…"

Karalyn winced. "Are they?"

"We do not know, but they have been cutting down lots of trees as of late."

"But it would take for them to craft even one shift, let alone an entire fleet," Karalyn mused. "Plus, they are not typically seafaring. Their ships will not be as swift as yours."

"But if they are crafted for battle, the speed might not help us unless we seek to flee," Maggie said grimly.

"Those mermaids… are you certain they were all mermaids?"

"As opposed to…" Maggie's eyes widened. "As far as I could tell, they were mermaids through and through, but for them to attack us… for them to claim they split the sea among them and the sirens… The mermaids were never allies with us, but they left us be. It was the sirens they would bump waves against from time to time."

"They live beneath the waves, so they feel as if they have a greater claim to the sea."

"Just because we ride the tides does not mean the sea is any less ours." Maggie scowled. "We can control the waves. They cannot."

"If the two have joined together and seek to have at least one staff among them…"

"That cannot be allowed to happen," Maggie said grimly. "It will not happen. We won't allow it."

"But if you cannot set sail for the time being because it is too treacherous…"

"We might need the fairies to fly closer to spy for us," Maggie mumbles, "but to do that without being seen, you would need to fly up high, and that will put the fairies in danger of being seen by Skyemoor."

Karalyn winced. "I suppose that Fae Falls being above Tridor isle is a boon, but that everyone to the east might seek to oppose us…"

"None of us want war, but if war seeks us…" Maggie shakes her head ruefully. "I told Bernal to wait for Harald. I thought he should not attempt such a venture without permission. I should have gone with him anyhow, or else I should have argued more fiercely, but…"

Karalyn placed a hand on the sea raider's shoulder. "You do not need to feel guilty."

"But—"

"We must work together, and perhaps…" She glanced over at the other vessel. There were some scorch marks, but on the whole, the longship sailed smoothly, nonetheless for wear after the battle.

Harald was looking her way. She now wished they were on the same ship, and certainly she could fly over, but she had a feeling that their separation would prove to be much longer than either of them would prefer.

He could not leave Tridor, not now, not with things so chaotic down here, but she had to ensure the fairies were safe. A shapeshifter had already taken on the form of a sylph to try to infiltrate Fae Falls. What if one took on the guise of a fairy? What if her being in Tridor caused a shapeshifter to be bold enough to assume her face?

Surely that was merely a thought conjured by fear and would never become reality, but she did not have it in her to see if the shapeshifters would attempt such a venture.

Fear might well cause their undoing if they were not prudent.

Once the longships were docked, Karalyn waited as patiently as she could for Harald to give his orders to the sea raiders.

Which means to say not patiently at her. Her wings ached, and she felt positively ill to be grounded. The feeling of sand beneath her toes nearly disgusted her. She missed the breeze, and at this time of day, Fae Falls cast long shadows upon the isle.

Finally, her husband approached. "I think it best that we sent the mermaids back to their sand castle beneath the waves. If any had been killed, their king and queen would have certainly sent every mermaid after us. If they have an accord with the sirens, it might have been mermaids and sirens against us."

"I would not have your isle under siege," Karalyn said slowly. "I will send some fairies willing to fight down here."

"An aerial vantage point would be greatly appreciated," he said. "You'll return with the fairies?"

"Actually…"

He scowled at her. "I don't like that tone," he said, his own a little harsh.

"I want to go out on a scouting expedition."

"By yourself? Where?"

"Harald, I'm not asking permission."

His dark hair billowed in the breeze, and he looked very kingly, strong and fierce and unwilling to compromise. "You shouldn't go anywhere alone."

"The point of being a scout is to be invisible. The more fairies, the greater the chance of being seen. Even one single other fairy would increase the chances of our being spotted."

He gritted his teeth, and a muscle jumped in his neck. "Where? Over Ashelin and Theriana?"

"No."

Harald's expression darkened. "Kingdom of the Skies? After what just happened, you truly think that is wise?"

"I wouldn't be doing it if I did not think it was."

He rubbed a hand down his face. "I am not about to tell you what you can and cannot do, but I urge you to reconsider."

"Harald, you need to stay here and watch over your people."

"Did we not just say that we should not separate? That we would rule together in certain kingdoms at certain times?"

"And that can and will be the plan… in times of peace. This is not over, I'm afraid, and when it comes to worry, knowledge is everything."

"True, but another fairy?—"

"I am not the queen. I can go."

"Another—"

"No. I would not send another in my place. I am not afraid."

She did not voice aloud the sudden thought that if she should be caught and killed, then there would be, without a doubt, no means possible for her curse to come to pass.

Harald embraced her so swiftly and fiercely that she was shocked by the power of it.

"You do not need to be afraid," she assured him, cupping his face. "I will return safely."

"You will be vulnerable. The Kingdom of the Skies is directly above Ashelin and Theriana."

She laughed. "I know that."

"I know you do, but…" He stroked his beard. "I will go on my own scouting expedition."

"Harald, you can't!" She gasped. "The mermaids and the sirens will not allow another ship to set sail?—"

"I will not embark on the venture on a longship."

"Your staff, if it should fall into their hands… Harald, I was able to use it, and I am a being of the air. They live in the waves. The water is their home, and if they gain control of the sea?—"

"If you are asking me to believe and entrust that you will return unharmed, then you will have to do the same with me."

Fury and fear warred within her. "You mean to prevent me from doing what I must! Naturally, I would rather you not brave the waters when the sirens and mermaids both would chew you up and spit you out if given the chance, and if you seek to go all the way to the continent, you will be in even graver danger!"

"No. Perhaps I agreed that scouting is necessary, both above and below to the east, and if we can accomplish both at the same time…"

"Why must you still be maddening?" she grumbled.

He kissed her forehead. "I could say the same about you, you know."

Like it or not, she supposed she could not argue with him on that point.