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The salty aroma of the sea. The ripple of waves across the water as fish danced through, their silver backs gleaming as they raced toward the blue horizon. Ethelind found it all so beautiful—enchanting, even. She stood at the bow of the ship with her long red hair flying in the icy breeze of the oncoming winter, her hands caressing the smooth and well-made wooden bow. A figure of a siren hung on the bowsprit before her, painted in various shades of blue, green, and gold, and behind her more ships fanned out in a triangle shape. The scene was surreal, and Ethelind wanted it to last forever. She knew that in the next few days she could be dead, and she didn't want to think about that. She had turned one-and-twenty that day, and the reality of her young age hit her.

And I lost two years in a dungeon, she thought miserably.

"You didn't tell me that today you turned one-and-twenty," a voice said behind her, startling her. She turned to see Jax, his hands clasped behind him awkwardly.

"How—" He had caught her off-guard, something that rarely happened, and she tried to cover it up with her usual smirk. They had been sailing for two days now, and he had not spoken to her much.

"I asked around before we left and some record-keeper knew. Here, I got you something," Jax said, holding out a small wooden box.

Ethelind peered at it curiously, trying to contain her childish delight. "What is it?"

She was surprised by the slight flush on Jax's usually stoic face. "Just... a family heirloom. My sister gave it to me years ago—my family used to be blacksmiths, before we lost our fortune and became farmers," Jax said. "And if anyone is going to leave the West alive, it's you and—"

Ethelind leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, stunning him into silence to her amusement. Jax's purple eyes widened slightly before he shook his head to himself and bowed stiffly, leaving Ethelind alone at the prow with the small box in her hands.

She opened it to find a small dagger lying in it. With a small smile, she took it out and ran a finger down the intricate design. The hilt was made of nephrite jade and the metal was carved perfectly, an engraving of old runes adorning it above the hilt. Ethelind stared at it for a moment before sheathing it next to her infantry sword and pulling her shawl around her shoulders. She inferred that Jax's family had been well off before they became farmers, and talented at what they did, if the dagger was any indication.

It had been so long since anyone had brought her a gift, even her own parents. She would have wept with emotion if she had been a more sentimental woman. Instead, she focused on hiding the flush that wanted to creep across her cheeks. Jax had given her something that must have meant a lot to him, that had a lot of value, and she felt a warm feeling stir...

No, that was stupid. By Riella, she wasn't some lovesick, sentimental fool.

It was getting colder as the day wore on and she could tell that there was a possibility of snow, although the chance of ice was growing slimmer as the oars rowed them further away from the North. Overhead, the clouds were suspiciously dark, but she ignored them, her mood lifted by the gesture. Ethelind turned and walked inside, into the cabin she shared with the quiet man named Chege. Typical that Ethelind had to end up with him, of all people.

She put the empty wooden box on her bedside table and turned to Chege. He was poring over pages of illustrations that seemed to look a lot like diagrams, but he hid it when she tried to look closer.

"You work for Jax, right?" Ethelind asked Chege as she sat in her hammock. The boat was approaching rougher territory and had started to rock back and forth. Outside, the first of the rain had arrived, and she could see it through the porthole as it eagerly rushed to the sea.

"No, miss. I work for Jasper," Chege replied. "I used to work with Theo but have been reassigned to infantry."

"And Landon let you go after Audrey escaped?" Ethelind asked with slight bewilderment. She had expected Landon to tear him apart, but he seemed physically unharmed.

"No. I paid a price, miss, but he spared me."

"Do me a favour and call me Ethelind."

"I would rather not, my lady. That would suggest we are more than mere acquaintances." Chege shifted uncomfortably.

"Are we not fellow soldiers?" Ethelind asked with a small smirk, looking up at him.

Chege knew he was trapped in Ethelind's web and steadied his eyes on her. He had pretty eyes, but that was it. Just pretty eyes set in a normal face.

"We have never met before," Chege finally responded.

"We have now." Ethelind stood. "I know you don't like me, and to be honest, I don't enjoy sharing a bedroom, unless something else is involved." Chege went pink, but Ethelind ignored it. "How about this? You fight me on the open deck. If I win, you will leave and sleep in the privies if you must. If you win, I will move to a smaller cabin elsewhere."

How predictable and amusing people were. She loved making them uncomfortable, seeing them squirm and frown. Only Jax replied evenly to her and didn't fall for her jests. And Landon, but Landon hardly counted as a person in Ethelind's eyes.

"Deal or no deal?" Ethelind asked.

"I've heard about your fighting before." Chege narrowed his eyes at her. "You never lose."

"I was defeated by King Lucian." Ethelind smiled even as the memory prodded at the walls she kept up, trying to slither in, and she unconsciously touched the scar on her shoulder.

"Lucian was one of the greatest swordsmen to exist. That is hardly surprising."

"And I lost to Jax. I am not undefeatable." Ethelind threw her hands in the air innocently.

"I don't play games. Ask someone else."

Ethelind smiled. "And Alika, your sister?"

"What about her?" Ethelind noticed Chege tensing, although he tried to conceal it.

"Just duel with me. It will be fun. Not as fun as my visit to your sister will be, though." Ethelind winked.

Chege's eyes widened.

"Don't go near my sister," Chege pleaded. "Please. I'll... okay, yes. I mean, I can move out now..."

"No, I want to earn it." Ethelind grinned. "I don't want to feel like I was undeserving of it."

Chege seemed ready to punch her, but he nodded.

"Good. Some fun on this ship for once," Ethelind grinned, standing.

She didn't seem fazed by the death stare that Chege gave her.

She was climbing the stairs to the top deck with Chege when the ship suddenly jolted to the side, violently tossing them both to the floor. Chege fell on top of Ethelind and instantly jumped up, only to be flung against the wall like a rag doll as the ship tilted again. A shriek sounded from further up as someone was flung from the ship, their calls cut off by the rumbling storm as they fell into the open mouth of a hungry sea.

"Get down!" someone yelled from above, and a group of sodden men ran to shelter, pushing straight past Chege and Ethelind as if they weren't there.

"It's a sign!" someone wailed. "The gods have cursed us!"

"Next time," Ethelind said, glancing at Chege. "And if you die in this storm, that cabin is mine."

She could feel desperation clutching at her and tried to hide it. Stupid storms. She would die in battle, no other way. She began to run up the staircase, and Chege grabbed her sleeve.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"To do what most men can't," Ethelind said, passing him her sword belt with the dagger, which he took. "Face Xaedra, look her in the eyes without flinching, and laugh."

Ethelind had always liked that the god of death was a female.

She left him and hurried up the stairs, falling to her knees as soon as she was in open air and crawling over to the side. She clung to it before inching her way slowly towards the back of the boat where the unmanned wheel was, her stomach lurching inside her. She held on as tightly as she could with the surface slippery with rain, her pale fingers gripping anything that was available as she dragged herself across the deck. Her fingers cramped in the cold, and she felt the cold bite at the bare skin, the chilly rain sloshing over the side of the ship and soaking her boots. Shouts of men and women resounded under the ship motivated her to continue, her skirts dragging behind in her vain attempt to make it across a tilting ship.

Save it. I'm not dying today, she had said to Katana years ago. And she would not die that day either, even with the storm battering the ship back and forth. Ethelind gritted her teeth and pressed forwards, to the helm of the ship. It had been deserted, the people previously near it probably dead. Ethelind grabbed the wheel and pulled it left, almost falling over as she did so.

"What are you doing?!?" a voice yelled behind her.

She looked up to see Jax holding tight to the rigging. That was the loudest she had ever heard him. His blonde hair was soaked to his scalp, and he was stumbling blindly towards her, trying to stay balanced on a tilting ship intent on throwing him off.

Her heart stopped in terror, imagining him being swallowed by the watery depths beneath them.

"Go back!" Ethelind called back, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. "This is dangerous!"

She focused on the wheel, blocking out something that Jax was yelling at her. She jerked it from side to side, trying to move it so the wind was pushing the boat and they weren't sailing straight at it.

Finally, Jax's voice became impossible to ignore. He was getting closer, grasping the rigging as he pulled himself over.

"What?" she screamed at him.

"Move!" his return came back. She had never heard such urgency from him before. And it was laced with... desperation. His voice was hoarse from shouting, shaky with terror. "Now! Ethelind, please, move!"

Confused, Ethelind finally allowed herself to look away from the wheel. Jax was watching her with wide eyes, unable to move closer from where he stood.

Ethelind turned to see the crow's nest teetering behind her, threatening to fall at any moment.

She looked back at Jax, and her mouth opened to scream.

No words came out.

Jax and Ethelind stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity but was just a few seconds, neither moving nor talking.

Until the crow's nest fell, hitting the young woman and crushing all the breath out of her.

Her sight went black, but not before she saw Jax's wide, terrified purple eyes cutting into hers from afar.

tHe SiNk Is ShIpPiNg

I can't believe that I am still getting views even this far into the book, you're all so amazing

Love you all,
Shelly M x