Chapter 26

26

CASSANDRA

" D oes it move much?" Livvy asks as she sits next to me, looking down at the dragon egg in my arms. I lean back against the cold wood of the ship, feeling the cold wind whipping my hair to the side. The last two weeks on the ship have been normal, well, as normal as they can be. The pirates have been busy planning and running the ship. I've seen them the most when I've been sleeping in each of their beds. When I stayed in Ryland's room, I looked for that book I read and couldn't find it. I asked Ryland, and he wasn't sure what book I was speaking of. I'll have to find a moment alone with Laura to ask where it is. I have a feeling she has it. The old woman seems to disappear in the day when I go to look for her. The weather is a lot colder today, and the water is harsher and rocking the ship more. Every time I breathe, a cloud appears from the cold. Thankfully, it isn't raining, but the dark skies suggest it's not far away. I look to the left, where I can see the distant island of Foten. It's nerve-racking being this close to the king. The man that's hunting me. The pirates never speak of the king, and anytime I bring up the clear fact that he will be after us, they tell me not to worry. Livvy clears her throat, reminding me that I've not replied in a while.

"Sometimes, but come here and put your hand on the egg," I say, and she does.

"Can you feel the heartbeat?" I ask, and she nods, a big smile spreading across her face. I run my hand over the top of the egg. The heartbeat is a new thing that's happened in the last few days. I wonder how long we have left before the egg hatches.

"I'm going to stay out here a little longer. Would you take the egg inside?" I ask her. She smiles widely and picks the egg up off my lap. It's getting heavier with each day, and I see her struggle to hold it. I laugh when she quickly walks off with it. I'm guessing it's so she can put it down quickly. I stand up, smoothing down my dress and pulling Dante's coat around me tighter. I walk over to the wheel, seeing that it's locked in place by some rope. I haven't seen it closely before, and I can see the silver handles now. They look like solid silver, and I wonder how expensive that was to have done.

"Do you want to steer?" Ryland asks as he comes up the steps, his eyes watching my hand on the wheel. I don't know why, but I almost feel guilty for touching it.

"Yes," I say, knowing that it would be a strange but brilliant thing to do. Ryland comes over and unhooks the rope holding the wheel in place. He waves a hand towards the wheel in front of him, and I walk over. I place my hands over two handles, and Ryland moves behind me, his hands covering mine, and his large body pressing mine against the wheel. The wheel is lighter in pressure than I would have expected it to be. The cold wind whips my hair into my face, and I try to blow it out of the way.

"Just gently move the wheel, we still need to stay straight," he says, his words making my cheeks feel warm as he steps closer to me. Ryland's whole body is pressed against mine, feeling so warm, and I rest my head back without thinking about it.

"Sure," I say and tilt the wheel until Ryland stops me. The ship moves slightly to the left, and I move it back again.

"Those clouds don't look nice," I comment, pointing to the left. The ship isn't aimed in that direction, but they look black.

"That's the Storm Sea. No ship survives the journey other than the guards', and we don't go that way. We go around the top of the island of Fiaten and dock on the other side, in the Cold Sea," he tells me. I guess that makes sense. I don't know much about the Storm Sea, but my books suggested it's impossible to cross. The Storm Sea is in the middle of Foten and Fiaten. In one of my books, there's a drawing of the king's castle. It's on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Storm Sea, and the sea was drawn with whirlwinds and massive tornados. I wonder if his castle is actually like that. I hope I never find out . It's the last place I would ever want to be.

"Isn't the Cold Sea full of icebergs?" I ask after a while. Ryland's hand lets go of the wheel and slides down my side. He leaves his warm hand on my waist.

"Yes, but they are easier to avoid than a tornado and whirlpools," he says, a smile in his words that I don't need to look at him to see. I look back at the dark skies, lightning flashing through them. The sea is so dark, too, like it's angry with the world.

"What is that?" I ask, pointing to the dark shadow moving through the water, coming straight out of the Storm Sea. Ryland looks over and gently pushes me out of the way, spinning the wheel sharply to the left, in the opposite direction to the ship.

"The guards' ship! Get the cannons ready!" Ryland shouts down the ship, and his voice echoes as fear fills me. I look down just in time to see Hunter nod at us before shouting his own demands. I look back to see the other ship is sharply turning towards us; the dark green sails can now be seen. The ship is all black, with large, silver cannons on its sides. At the front is a silver dragon statue that almost looks like it's cutting through the water. Its massive mouth is wide open.

"Go and hide, Cassandra. It's you they want, and we are not letting them take you," he says, and my eyes narrow on his.

"Where?" I ask him, just as he straightens the ship out and rain starts pouring from the skies. The speed of our ship is not good compared to the speed of the guards' ship, which is catching up. I stand watching him, my clothes being soaked by the heavy rain, but nothing matters other than the way he looks at me.

"My room. Now, go!" he commands me, and I force myself to turn and walk away from him. I gasp when he grabs my arm before I can leave. Ryland gently pulls me to him and kisses me.

A deep, demanding kiss that shocks me as much as it sends warmth throughout my body. The kiss is brief, but powerful, making me want to never stop kissing him. Ryland lets me go and his hand goes behind my head, pulling our foreheads together.

"Cassandra," he says as our foreheads meet, and a bright green light appears before my eyes. I feel a warmth from my mark that fills me slowly, and I can hear nothing. I can only see the bright green light until it disappears, and everything comes back in a rush: the loud sound of the ship cutting through the sea, the sails being pushed by the wind, and the cold rain as it pours down on us. When I can open my eyes, Ryland is still close to me, and he pulls away slightly with a parted mouth. Ryland stands staring at me, his eyes wide in wonder, and then I see it.

A mark is on the middle of his forehead, just like mine. The same place, the same black colour, and I stumble back. What the hell was that? I try to think if anyone has ever touched my mark before, and I can't remember. I don't think anyone ever has .

"I knew it," Ryland says with a big smile as he tries to reach for me, but I move backwards, holding up my hands. I don't understand why he is happy about this. I've just given him a life of being hunted by the king, and the guards are on their way to us now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't–" I get out as I take big steps backwards.

"Cassandra, it's not–" he starts to say when something loud bangs into the side of the ship, and I lose my footing. I slide across the wet floor, and my back smacks into the wooden wall. My whole side hurts, but I pull myself to my feet, seeing that the guard ship is right next to ours. I lean up over the wooden side of the ship, and I can see they have landed a big plank of wood between our boats. The guards are rushing on to the ship.

"Here, take this, and then we need to talk when we get out of this," Ryland says after he runs over to me and hands me a small dagger. The dagger is bright green with a black handle .

"Stay behind me," he says, pulling out a large sword from behind the wheel. The sword is silver, and it glows a faint green when Ryland lifts it up. The guards run up the steps, and Ryland meets them before they can even step on to the bridge. His sword meets theirs, and he kills the first man without even trying. I pull my gaze away from the fighting just in time to see a guard picking Livvy up and dragging her by her hair across the deck as she holds on to my egg for dear life. I can see Hunter holding a big sword and he swings it down over the head of a guard running on to the ship. I look away to see Dante on the side of the ship, daggers in his hands, and he is throwing them at the guards on the plank. They fall into the ocean as he hits them. The ship rattles again when a cannon fires loud and hits the lower part of the ship. Livvy's scream shakes me from just looking, and I know I have to help her. My pirates all have their hands full and can't help her. Her screams are begging me to help as she looks up at me. I flash a look over at Ryland, surprised to see him handling his own with at least ten guards circling him.

I climb over the wooden wall and jump down onto the main part of the ship, running with my dagger in my hand over to the guard who is dragging Livvy towards the plank of wood.

An arm wraps around my waist suddenly, the force knocking me off my feet, and I fall to the ground, the dagger slipping out of my hand and sliding across the ship .

"No!" I shout, feeling my mark going warm, and I struggle against the guard.

"Time to go," a man says from behind me, and I turn my head to see a middle-aged guard looking down at me. The guard is dressed in all dark green, with a sinister grin, and he picks me up like I weigh nothing. I kick at him and struggle to get out his grip as he throws me over his shoulder and walks over to the edge of the ship. I scream, feeling my hands burning and look down to see my hands dripping with water. What in the seas? I struggle more, kicking and screaming for him to let me go. The guard picks me up by the back of my coat and holds me in front of him. My feet are hovering above the ground, and water is falling from my fingers, mixing with the pouring rain. My eyes catch Hunter's on the other end of the ship over the guard's shoulder, seconds before something hard is smacked into my head.

There's a look of fury in his eyes, a look of promise, and a look that tells me all I need to know.

My pirates will save me.