Princess Elodi's Arc

Chapter 38 of 55

The next week passed in salt and rope. Each morning Damon climbed to the crow's nest and watched the sea for danger. Elodi stayed below, splicing lines until her hands hardened, then climbing the rigging to test them. They passed like ships in a narrow strait, brushing close only at night when they shared a bed. She missed him. But she knew they both had to work, or the long voyage would break their minds. On the seventh morning, Blackwell called Elodi to the base of the mast. The captain gave nothing away, as always. She pointed straight up. "Today you go to the top. No stopping halfway. A splicer who fears the height is no use to me." Elodi looked up the swaying mast. The crow's nest seemed impossibly small against the sky. Her otter sat on a coiled line nearby, its jeweled collar catching the sun. The little creature watched her with dark, trusting eyes. She drew a breath and set her boot on the first ratline. The climb burned her arms. The ship rolled, and the mast swung her out over open water, then back over the deck. She did not look down. She thought only of the next rung, then the next. The wind pulled at her braided hair. Halfway up, her foot slipped. She clung to the rope, heart slamming, until her boot found the line again. "Keep going," Damon called from above. His voice steadied her. She had not known he was watching. She climbed the last stretch and hauled herself over the rim of the nest, gasping, beside him. Damon caught her arm and pulled her in. He grinned, dark curls whipping in the wind. "You made it." For a moment they stood together, high above the crew. The sea stretched wide and empty in every direction. Elodi laughed, breathless. This was the freedom she had run for, earned with her own hands and her own courage. The sea was beautiful and seemed to go on forever. Then over the ridge line Damon spoke loudly “Land, and island of some sort” Blackwell climbed fast and looked “Land Ho, we anchor there and rest”