*Daphne*
Eva didn’t even give a chance to answer before she pulled along with her. Carissa’s n paid us no mind, and just continued about their business as we hurried past them. Eva took below deck to where the little dwellings were.
She pushed open a small door, and I could only assu it was the living quarters she had been inhabiting. It was well-furnished considering that it was on a boat. It had a larger cot with a thick blanket and a dark-colored clothing trunk.
Eva shut the tiny door behind her before she turned to face .
It was at that mont that I rembered that this young woman had nearly killed , and I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that she wouldn’t do that now. I had obviously been with her brother at the ti that he was poisoned, and I was sure that in her eyes, that did not bode well for .
I swallowed thickly, slowly backing away from the dangerous daughter of the Dark Witch. She wasn’t perturbed in the slightest, just took a step toward each ti I took one back. Eventually, I reached the other side of the small room, pressing my back against the hard wood.
I started to curse myself inwardly, realizing that I had been a fool to put myself in this situation. Of course, Eva was going to view as a helpless punching bag that she could take her anger and frustration out on. She couldn’t fight against Carissa and Kyle, but she could probably kill without much consequence.
I squeezed my eyes shut as Eva stepped right up to , saying goodbye to my family. I prayed that Rion would sohow be saved.
My eyes flew open as I rembered the little one depending on from inside of my stomach. No, even if I lost Rion, I had to go on, for our child.
I put my hands up and out, toward Eva, whose eyes had narrowed. “Please stop! Before you kill , you have to know–”
“Shut up, Princess,” Eva spat with a heavy eye-roll. “I’m not going to kill your sorry self.”
I blinked at her, still trying to process the thing she said about not planning on killing . I let out a huge breath and nodded. “Of course. I’ll do whatever it takes to save Rion.”
Eva glared at . “I will be the one saving Rion,” she spat in my face, causing to flinch. “You’re going to help get my powers back. That pirate slut did sothing to tamper with them.”
I nodded, having realized that that had to be the case as well. Carissa hadn’t been surprised at all when Eva couldn’t use her abilities.
“We should search the ship,” I said with a sharp nod.
I started to pace as I thought back to the conversation I had listened in on, and everything that Kyle had said during my ti on his ship. He knew an awful lot about Carissa. I overheard him talking about her to his crew.
Carissa had run-ins with magic in the past, and was unafraid to tamper with potions and other things she didn’t understand. She sohow had access to a poison that was powerful enough to knock a young shifter into prolonged unconsciousness. It wasn’t that farfetched to believe that she had access to sothing that could disable Eva’s powers.
Eva crossed her arms. “I can only assu that whatever that pirate slut is using on , it has to be kept close to her.”
“In the captain’s quarters,” I said gravely, my eyes widening. I looked down at the scratchy floorboards beneath my boots. “But, how are we going to get in without Carissa noticing us?”
“Oh, we aren’t going to break into the captain’s quarters, Princess,” she said with a sneer. She shook her head at like I was an idiotic child. “You are.”
My jaw dropped. “Why ?” I demanded. “You still have so of your powers. You should at least co with ! We’ll have a better shot at this together.”
“Hardly,” Eva said, rolling her eyes once again. “Why do you think they had one asly pirate holding onto you, spoiled princess? They don’t deem you as a threat. You are a weak, pathetic princess who is hardly threatening enough to take seriously. As was demonstrated, I still have at least so fraction of my magic. Therefore, they will be more dead set on keeping an eye on if I go snooping around.”
I felt my face flush with anger at the weak princess comnt, but I had to admit she had a point. I was definitely more unassuming than Eva was. I could probably get close to Carissa’s quarters without raising too much suspicion.
“Alright,” I said to Eva with a nod. “I’ll do it.”
Eva scoffed at . “You say that as if you had a choice in the matter.”
***
It was a couple of hours before dawn when we put our crazy, dangerous plan into action. Eva had told to sneak into the captain’s quarters at this ti because Carissa tended to spend the longest stretch of ti away from her quarters then.
I casually made my way to the front of the ship, confirming that Carissa was indeed there around the steering wheel. Since the captain was currently giving the morning briefing, the vast majority of the crew was gathered around her as well.
Sneaking into her quarters should be simple, I thought. There was likely only one or two pirates stationed around the boat, keeping watch.
Captain Carissa’s quarters were raised above the main deck. My heart pounded as I approached the small, unassuming wooden door to the captain’s room. It felt a little too easy as I slowly pushed it open and slipped inside. Thankfully, there was a tiny window looking out toward the rest of the boat, so I could check often to ensure no one was approaching.
The small, but still most extravagant and largest room on the ship by far, was pretty normal at first glance. There was an actual bed, as opposed to a cot, with soft blue blankets. There was a tiny table tucked into a corner with navigational items like maps and compasses.
What imdiately caught my attention was the wooden wardrobe against the far wall. I ran my hand against the reddish wood. It was obvious that it had cost a pretty penny. I pulled one of the smooth doors open, my eyes scanning the clothes that hung innocently in front of .
I frowned with disappointnt. I had thought for sure there would be sothing interesting in there. My eyes caught sight of sothing shiny, hidden behind the clothes. I pushed the fabric aside, revealing a tiny gold-colored door against the back of the wardrobe. It obviously held sothing of great importance to Carissa since there was a keyhole beneath the tiny doorknob.
I desperately tried to turn the knob, unsurprised when it didn’t budge. I looked around, hoping that so kind of key would just fall from the ceiling, but obviously, no such luck was bestowed upon .
I poked around the rest of the room, even going so far as to run my fingers along so of the floorboards, searching for a secret compartnt.
My head shot up when I heard the soft but distinct sound of muffled voices. I sucked in a breath before making my way to the tiny window overlooking the rest of the ship. A couple of n were heading in my direction.
Thankfully, they appeared to be on their way to conduct so kind of business and were hurrying along. I ducked my head as they passed by, my paranoia growing. It was possible that the morning briefing was over and the crew was starting to disperse to different parts of the ship.
After sliding the clothes back over the tiny door, I shut the wardrobe and looked around the small room, ensuring that my previous presence there wouldn’t be detectable. I peeked through the window one more ti, making sure the coast was clear before I slipped out of the room, shutting the door tightly behind .
I kept my head held high as I casually crossed the ship. A couple of pirates glanced at briefly, but just as Eva predicted, didn’t seem to consider a threat at all. I was able to easily make it back to Eva’s room.
“Finally,” Eva said when I slipped back into her room. “I thought for sure you got your sorry self caught and captured.”
I gritted my teeth together, biting back the urge to say that I hadn’t even been gone for that long.
“Well?” Eva pressed, crossing her arms. “Did you find anything?”
I shook my head in the negative. “There was a hidden door in the back of her wardrobe, but it was locked up.”
Eva cursed. “And there was nothing else suspicious, nothing was hidden beneath her mattress or in the floorboards?”
I blew out a slightly frustrated breath. “No, I looked everywhere. I even crawled around and felt the floor. She really doesn’t have anything else.”
Eva pursed her thin lips. “That door in her wardrobe could honestly just be hiding treasure, like gold and precious jewels. Whatever she’s using to dampen my powers might be elsewhere on the ship, along with whatever strong poison she’s used on Rion.”
I winced at the reminder that so dark poison was swimming through Rion’s bloodstream as we spoke. “So, what now? Where is your mother’s treasure anyway?”
Eva looked away, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t know.”
I looked at her in shock, my jaw dropping. “You don’t know?” I screeched in disbelief.
Eva turned sharply to glare at . “Shut up, you spoiled princess. No, I don’t know where Mother’s legendary, hidden treasure is. I don’t even rember her. And there is a good chance that treasure doesn’t even exist.”
“Then...” I sputtered. “Why did you tell Kyle and Carissa that you did?”
“What was I to do?” Eva demanded, her eyes flashing.
It caused to step back nervously, wondering if I had gone too far.
She just closed the space between us again, getting right in my face. “You think I was going to admit to not knowing? What would Rion’s fate have been then?”
I recoiled as if she had slapped , realizing that she was right. Rion would have likely been killed on the spot if Kyle and Carissa found out Eva didn’t know the whereabouts of the treasure.
“I understand why you lied,” I said apologetically. I nodded, finally understanding Eva’s plan. “So, we’re going to try find the treasure on our own.”
“Or pretend to until we can find a way to wake up Rion,” Eva said tersely.
I ignored her and started to pace around the small room. “There may be a way to stall for ti if we can convince them to go back to the palace.”
“Your palace?” Eva demanded, imdiately suspicious.
“Yes,” I answered, leveling Eva with a serious look. “I helped my mother log artifacts and items being moved from the palace vault. I rember your mother’s grimoire being among them.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised when Eva’s eyes flashed angrily at the fact that my parents had her mother’s book. “Very well,” she finally said in a flat voice. “Whether or not it has useful information, it is a good way to stall for ti. We’ll see if they agree to deliver you to the palace to find Mother’s grimoire, but I warn you, Princess–”
“Don’t you worry,” I snapped, cutting her off. “I want to save Rion as well. I won’t say a word to my parents about you.”
Eva held my gaze for a long mont, her cold eyes chilling , but I resisted the strong urge to shiver, keeping my expression firm.
Finally, she nodded. “Then, let’s get you back to your comfy castle, Princess.”
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