The Reckless Reign (Book 3, The Culled Crown Series)

Chapter 51

Gazda, Erydia.
Voyage – Day 19

We arrived in Erydia just as night was setting in. Gazda was a hazy line of lights against the horizon as we approached. The city seemed like a sleeping giant, clothed in mist. At some point, the captain had dimmed the ship lights, casting us into near darkness. I stood on the deck sandwiched between Jaxon and Heidi.

No one had said anything to Darragh about my being here. When his ships had split from ours nearly five days ago, he hadn't known I was with the group heading into Erydia. I wondered who would take the blame for it—my being here. I hadn't explained to anyone how I'd done it and I wasn't going to let the guilt fall on my new friend.

To everyone else, Jaxon was merely my running partner and our link to these new rebels. As we stood together, our hands wrapped around the cool metal railing, our backs to the scurrying soldiers, I wondered if he was nervous. Jaxon wasn't the sort to show his anxiety on his face, but every few minutes he would rub at the growing scruff on his chin self-consciously.

This, I knew, wasn't about our impending mission.

"Did you have a beard the last time you saw Harper?" I asked him.

His brown eyes slid to me and he sighed, leaning down so his weight was on his forearms. The cold wind pushed his hood back and he tugged it into place with enough force to tell me I'd probably hit close to home.

"She's always liked it better when I was clean shaven. But I ran out of time this morning and...it hasn't exactly been my priority."

I smiled. "I doubt she'll care."

He rubbed at his face again and winced. "It doesn't bother her when it's longer. But she says it's like kissing sandpaper when it's short like this."

Heidi turned and leaned her hip against the railing. The ship had come to a somewhat stop a good deal away from the shoreline. Now the sailors were preparing small boats. The plan was to take those to shore and then head into the city on foot—hopefully avoiding any detection from the ports or the Erydian guards posted in the water.

It was a risk.

But then, all of this was a risk.

I could tell Heidi was ready to get this over with and I empathized. The idea of climbing down the ship's side and into those boats wasn't exactly appealing. Watching the shadows dance across her face, I wondered what she saw when she looked in the mirror. Was her own fear something she could see? Did it change from day to day, minute to minute?

I turned my attention back to Jaxon, who was chewing his bottom lip. I nudged his shoulder with my own and asked, "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"Eight months."

"Eight months?"

He nodded. "I left Erydia when Britta did. So, it's been a while."

"That's a long time to be apart. Have—Have you spoken to her?"

He smiled. "She plants messages for me in her articles sometimes. It takes a while for them to make it this far and Britta almost always reads the paper first, but she lets me have it afterward."

I smiled at that, imagining Jaxon waiting outside Britta's little war room for her to finish with the newspaper. "What sort of messages does she send you?"

"Harper is smart and she's always liked puzzles, so it changes all the time. Sometimes, it's some code made of words that all come together to say something. Sometimes it'll be the first letter of every sentence combined to create a message just for me." He shrugged. "It's always silly things—'I miss you' or 'I love you.' 'I'm waiting for you.' Stuff like that. Nothing earth shattering, I guess. But when you haven't seen the person you love in weeks—months, really—you take anything you can get."