Victor goes sheepish.
“But I’m not home.” I say it so he doesn’t have to. “It’s okay.” I spare one last glance into town, hearing the chatter echoing from the docks.
“You’ll come back to visit, though?” he asks. “We have plenty of tourist activities, after all.”
I laugh. “I’ll come back, but only for the tourist activities.”
Victor’s lip curves, then he pulls me into a hug. “John would have been happy. To see you so happy, I mean.”
Tears well in my eyes, but I hold them back. I can’t bring myself to cry. Victor means well, but I’m not sure I’m happy yet. I’m not sure I’ll ever know that sensation for more than a few fleeting moments at a time.
After our goodbyes are said, Nolan leads me by the hand to the rope ladder the crew let down for us at the edge of the ship. When I hop onto the ladder, Nolan grins at me.
“What?”
“I just like watching you climb. That’s all.”
My lips twitch into a guilt-ridden smile. Nolan must catch it, because his eyes narrow slightly and he tilts his head to the side, but I dart up the ladder before he can question me.
Once I’m up top, I’m met by Michael, singing a song that only could have been taught to him by one of the members of the crew—a rather violent tune definitely not appropriate for children,though now that Michael has it memorized, I imagine I’ll be hearing it for months on end.
Evans comes running up behind my brother, huffing. “Finally, you’re back,” he says, eyes pinning me as if he’s trying to make me feel guilty for my absence.
“Did he give you trouble?” I ask, rubbing the top of Michael’s head.
“Trouble?” asks Evans. “He found one of my navigation books, then wouldn’t let me rest until I’d recited every single coordinate on every single map. I tried to explain to him that coordinates are for locating things, but he would not be dissuaded.”
I laugh, which only seems to perturb Evans more. “Michael likes some things just for the existence of them. Their purpose doesn’t matter so much.”
Evans mutters something incoherent, then scurries off.
It’s not long before Nolan, Maddox, and Charlie follow me on the rope ladder, Maddox bickering with Charlie about how he didn’t need help climbing over, him slipping, and her giving him an I told you so look.
Nolan opens his mouth, and before he can ask me what’s wrong again, I grab him by the hand and lead him to the center of the deck, which the crew has made into a dance floor by pushing the barrels out of the way.
Thankfully for my purposes, the current dance is one that’s predicated on switching partners, so Nolan hardly gets the chance to get his next word out before another crew member takes my hand and whirls me around the ship, passing me off to the next.
Nolan glares at me, though not unkindly. Every time we pass in the dance, I feel his searing gaze upon me. My next partner is Vor, one of the guards who used to guard the faerie dust room.Now that there’s none on board and we’ve grown used to using the sails alone, there’s no need.
“What are you doing now?” I ask Vor, who gives me a toothy grin.
“Working in the kitchens,” he says.
“Do you miss guarding the storeroom?” I ask.
“You mean, do I miss standing there doing nothing all day for the three minutes you’d walk by trying to get in?”
I suppose that was a stupid question, but I grin all the same. “But surely you found my company so pleasing, my conversation so stimulating, that those three minutes a day were worth all the rest.”
Vor grins. “Of course, lady.”
I laugh and he spins me around. Strong arms catch me, pulling me into a firm chest.
I smell him before I look up to see him.
“Darling,” Nolan drawls, looking down at me with mingled displeasure and amusement.
“Husband,” I say.
