The Pirate's Wish

When the Tanarau took to the water, the Nadir was right behind her. But not the queen’s ship. Mama must’ve had somebody send word to Marjani. I wondered if she still thought we were in parley.

A pirate ship is outfitted to go faster than even the Empire’s little sloops, but Papa had us sail out past sunset, to be sure. They stuck me and Naji up in the captain’s quarters, like I was still five years old and liable to get underfoot. Though in truth I was grateful for it, cause I was tired, even though it hadn’t been much of a battle.

Naji and me sat side by side on the little trundle bed. We didn’t say much. I didn’t even feel him inside my head. I think it was more under his control than he’d let me believe. Or maybe he’d just put it under his control.

Once we seemed clear of an attack, Mama and Papa came back into the cabin.

“I think you got a story to tell us, girl,” Papa said. He pulled a jar of sugar-wine out of his cabinet and slid down in his big brass chair. Mama leaned against the wall. Both of them looked worn out.

The boat tipped back and forth from the winds and the speed on the water.

“I guess I do,” I said.

Papa drank the sugar-wine straight from the bottle and slammed it down on the navigation table.

“Why’d you run off?” Mama asked.

“I didn’t want to get married.”

She frowned at me, but I could see Papa get a hint of a smile.

“Heard you killed the Hariri boy,” he said.

“He was go

“She was saving her own life and mine,” he told Papa. “They attacked us with… machines… out in the desert–”

“Sandships,” Papa said. “Heard about ’em. Never seen ’em.” He took another swig of wine and handed the bottle to Naji, who shook his head. I grabbed it instead, which made Papa laugh.

“So why didn’t you kill her?” Mama asked Naji. She pulled her pipe out of her jacket pocket and a pouch of grayweed and took to packing it in tight.

Naji blinked.

“You’re an assassin, yeah? That’s what she said up on deck.” She snapped her fingers and flames danced on top of her fingertips, and she lit her pipe. Another snap and they were gone. The sort of thing she used to call “courtier’s tricks” back when I was trying to learn magic.

The scent of her smoke made me dizzy with homesickness, even though I was home.

“I am a member of the Jadorr’a,” Naji said. “And yes, Captain Hariri hired me to…” His voice trailed off, and I almost took his hand in mine. Stopped myself just as my fingers grazed across his knuckles.

Mama must’ve seen cause she arched an eyebrow and said, “Didn’t think you had it in you, Nana.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, scowling. And then before she could answer I blurted out the whole story about the snake and the curse and the Wizard Eirnin and the Isles of the Sky and the Nadir and the starstones. The whole time Mama and Papa listened, and the only time either of them moved was when Mama puffed on her pipe.

“Starstones,” Mama said when I’d finished.

“Yeah,” I said. “We gotta go find the sons of whores who stole ’em, but Marjani doesn’t want to leave Jokja.”

Papa squinted. “Well. That is a conundrum.”

“You ought to just take her boat,” Mama said.

“I ain’t no mutineer.”

They both laughed at that.

“It ain’t fu

“Well, she promised you starstones and then didn’t deliver,” Mama said. “I think that’s reason enough to take her boat.”

I could feel myself getting hot with anger, and I balled my hand up into a fist and thought about hitting somebody. The truth was my distaste with mutiny had nothing to do with it. I owed Marjani my loyalty for the rest of my life. After all, she came back to the Isles of the Sky for me.

Papa drained the last of the sugar-wine.

“Or we could stop screwing around with you,” he said.

“What?” The anger flared up. Maybe it was mine, maybe it was Naji’s. The blood-co

Papa chuckled and stood up. “Come down to the holding bay, I’ll show you.”

Mama smiled at me through the cloud of smoke.

And I got this thought in my head, like maybe they’d aligned themselves with the Hariris after all, and this was all a trap.

“Naji, come with me.”

“Of course.” When I stood up, he stood up. Mama shook her head.

“Never seen a pirate with a bodyguard,” she said. “Thought I taught you to do your own fighting.”

“He ain’t my bodyguard!”

“Enough.” Papa’s voice boomed out in full-on captain’s mode. “Sela, I know you’re still sore about the marriage, but it’s over with now. Ana

Mama huffed in the corner.

“I’m just a daughter,” I said.

“You’re my daughter, sure. Ain’t no just about it.”

I looked at him, unsure of what to say.

He clapped me on the back. “I’ll let you follow, if it’ll make you and your assassin feel better. Sela! Up here.”

“Don’t boss me,” she said, but she joined him, and together we wound through the belly of the Tanarau to the holding bay. Some idiot part of me wanted to press close to Naji, but instead I clutched the hilt of my sword and kept my eyes out for an attack.

When we got to the holding bay, Papa undid the lock and kicked the door open. “Have a look,” he said.

I could smell Empire spices and the faint briny seaweed scent of the charm Mama used to stop bugs from eating holes in the silks. It reminded me of sleeping down here, pretending I was a child of the desert and not the water.

I stepped inside.

“What am I looking for?” I asked, folding my hands over my chest. “It’s just treas–”

Naji’s sword clattered to the floorboards.

“Ah,” Papa said. “He knows.”

“The starstones,” Naji said.

I felt like all the air’d been let out of me. Naji rushed forward, pushing me aside. He knelt down in front of a pile of Jokja cotton – and a trio of smooth white pebbles. I hadn’t paid them any mind. I figured they were there to keep the cotton from sliding around. I was more concerned with the box sitting beside them, carved and jeweled in the Jokja style.

Naji reached out one hand. Stopped. He was trembling.

“I wouldn’t touch ’em,” Mama said.

“I know that.” It came out in a hiss. I knelt beside him. The stones didn’t look like nothing special. Just river rocks that’d been worn smooth by the water.

“You sure this is them?” I asked.

Mama snorted. “You shoulda seen ’em when Kel took ’em out of their box. Lit up all of down below, they did.” There was something in her voice that sounded sad, and I knew Kel, whoever he was, was gone. I wondered if Mama and Papa had known what the starstones were when they brought them aboard.

“Can’t you feel it?” Naji’s eyes glowed. “The magic in them?”

“No.”

Naji grabbed my hand and squeezed it between both of his palms. I jolted at his touch, and at first I thought it was just me being moony – but then I realized it was something else, some power coursing through him, seeping out of his skin. Not his blood magic, which was like death curling her cold soft hands around your heart. This was ancient. This was the towering trees growing out of the cold damp ground of the ice-islands. This was the darkness of caves and the richness of desert sand. This was the emptiness of the night sky.

“They aren’t actually weapons, you know.” Naji said, his voice soft. “People want them to be, because of their strength…” His hands trembled against mine.

“They’re the source of all magic,” Naji went on, so soft I was pretty sure only I could hear him.

“What?” I stared at him. Behind us, Mama took a few steps closer, leaning in like she wanted to hear.