Princess Elodi's Arc

Chapter 33 of 55

The griffin's wings beat slower now. Elodi felt it in the saddle, each stroke heavier than the last. Damon looked back, his face tight. "We have to land, Elodi. I'm sorry. She can't hold us any longer." Below them stretched the dark fleet, four great ships anchored across the water. There was nowhere else. Elodi scooped her otter close to her chest and held it tight. "Then we land," she said, though her voice shook. Damon pulled the blue reins toward the nearest ship. Its black sails towered above a prow carved into a snarling sea serpent, gold teeth bared at the waves. The griffin dropped fast, wings trembling. It struck the deck hard and stumbled. Elodi gripped the saddle, then slid down onto the boards. Sailors circled at once, hands on their blades. The otter pressed its wet nose against her neck. A woman stepped through the ring of sailors. She wore a dark captain's coat with a white ruffled collar, her black hair cut short and straight. She moved without hurry, as if the tired griffin and two strangers were no threat at all. Her eyes swept over Elodi's orange gown, then Damon's blue tunic, weighing them like cargo. "You board my ship with no permission," the captain said. Her voice was flat and cold. The sailors tightened their circle. Elodi's heart hammered, but she made herself stand straight. She had faced her mother in the open. She could face this. "Our griffin was failing over open water," she said. "We had no choice. We came down or we drowned. I am sorry for it." The captain studied her. "Sorry does not buy a landing on the Serpent Corsair. Who are you, and what do two royals want in these waters?" "My name is Elodi. I search for my father." She lifted her chin. "King Erik of Avalonia. He sailed this way eleven years ago and never returned. His own words led me here." Something shifted in the captain's face. The coldness cracked for just a moment. Her eyes narrowed, not with anger now, but with recognition. "Erik," she said slowly. "That is a name I have not heard spoken aloud in a long time." The sailors glanced at one another. The captain raised a hand, and their blades lowered. "Captain Blackwell," she said, tapping her chest. "And you are lucky, girl. Another ship in this fleet would have thrown you over the side and kept the griffin." She turned toward the cabin, then looked back. "Bring your beast below before it collapses. We have things to speak of. Your father's name opens my door. It may also close it, depending on what you say next." Elodi let out a breath she had not known she held. She was not free of the fleet. She was inside it now, standing on a stranger's deck with no way back to the sky. But she had a name, a captain who knew her father, and one narrow chance to learn the truth.