Kestrel reached her hands up to the sienna-colored stones. They were smoother than the ones used to construct her tower; those had likely been worn down by the salt in the ocean air.But these were still rough enough that she could find a nice, firm grip. She began to climb.
“Wait!” Leighton shouted. “You don’t have to do this. We’ll find another…”
Although his words had been booming at first, as Kestrel made her ascension with alarming celerity, he quieted. Even from where she was, already halfway up the chalky wall, Kestrel could hear the enthrallment in his voice. It made her feel all fluttery with pride and it was all the incentive she needed to climb higher. Because this proved that she wasn’t as useless as she thought. Even someone like her, someone with no real experience out here, had a valuable skillset to offer—and maybe she had others too. She just had to believe in herself and find the right opportunities—and the right people to appreciate them.
When Kestrel reached the top of the wall, she spun around to give Leighton and Micah a satisfied wave, but they weren’t the only ones watching. She had attracted a small audience that now included both of the guards she’d spoken to earlier on her way into Mutiny Bay.
Micah’s arms were folded as he smirked up at her, more than impressed. The cursed woman and her male guard counterpart, too, watched her with a reverent tilt to their smiles.
But it was Leighton’s beaming grin that sent Kestrel’s head floating into the clouds.
“Alright, you’ve proven your point, you show-off!” Micah shouted out. “Now come back down here so we can get you to the real thing.”
Chapter 10
Adventuring Starts Here
KESTREL
The two princes led Kestrel and the fox back into the open desert.
As Mutiny Bay was becoming hardly more than a ripple of heat behind them, she asked, “What about your other brother? Is he staying behind?”
“Other brother?” Micah said, frowning playfully. “Hmm. Sorry, not ringing any bells.”
A small smirk tugged on Leighton’s mouth, but he kept his focus on the desert before them. “He’s probably already with the rest of our convoy up ahead.”
“You have a convoy?”
Micah angled an eyebrow at her. “Oh, little bird, you didn’t think the most handsome princes in all the lands would travel alone, did you?”
“I guess I’ll let you know when I meet them,” Kestrel quipped back, starting to get the hang of Micah’s inflated ego and sense of humor. The nickname he had so easily given her was growing on her as well. There was something so familiar and endearing about it that it made warmth bloom across her chest.
Leighton burst into a barking fit of laughter, a robust and joyous sound that Kestrel would cherish for the rest of her days.
“Ooo, she’s got teeth,” sang Micah. And then wriggling his brow at her again, he added, “It’s a good thing I don’t mind a little bite.”
Kestrel rolled her eyes, but that was about as much of a retort as she could think of in the moment. Her stamina for witty banter still needed some exercising, but she was pretty sure that the more time she spent with Micah, the stronger it would become.
Fortunately, she didn’t need to think of a response though, for beyond the princes’ heads, she could just start to make out a collection of objects in the distance.
“Your convoy?”
Leighton nodded. “Not much farther now.”
And he wasn’t wrong.
Within no time at all, the four of them were close enough that she could count seventeen vessels in total, a variety of strange-looking contraptions of thrown together wooden planks, pipes, and in some cases, sails. It seemed there were a few different types of caravans awaiting them. Some were small enough that only one or two people could fit inside, and there were pedals that appeared to be connected to the wheels underneath it. Others were massive, like they held enough cargo and supplies to feed the entire entourage—of which, she had seen at least a few dozen in the distance. They meandered between the contraptions, checking the nuts and bolts, securing different wires and unfastening them.
Kestrel’s eye caught on one contraption in particular. It was dingier than all the others, but somehow more fortified as well. Whereas most of the vessels were open-aired or had ample windows, this one was bolted tight without a single way to view inside. Unlike the others, it was so large that it didn’t looklike the wind or humans would be able to drag the weight of it across the sand. That was when she noticed the beast at the front end of it, a giant scorpion harnessed at the helm.
Kestrel gasped, her steps faltering.
“The scourge,” she breathed.
Leighton, who had been walking a few paces ahead, doubled back for her. He placed a hand on her lower back, jolting her back to her senses. “Don’t worry about them. They’re harmless now. Once their stingers and pincers were dealt with, they became relatively docile and obedient.”
Kestrel noticed now that the creature’s pincers were, in fact, bound in iron cages. The sharp tip of its tail was missing too, as if it had been shorn off. Something about the sight of it made her stomach queasy, but she supposed at least the creature would no longer be a threat to them or to anyone.
