“Yes?” I raise my brows in question as I approach her, motioning for her to turn around so I can help with her buttons, and to keep her from looking at me too closely.
“It seems… lighter?” she casually observes, glancing over her shoulder. “I don’t know why I thought it was black when I saw you in the House of Starlight, but it isn’t at all.”
The look she gives me would normally make me run my lips over the sensitive side of her neck that’s bared to me, but as it stands I need to get out of the room and away from her curious glances.
“Ah, well, a trick of the light I’m sure.” I clear my throat and answer quickly as I fasten the last button at the top of her dress. Grabbing a hat from a peg, I cover my hair with the tricorn and head toward the door.
“You can let yourself out whenever you wish,” I bow to her and exit.
Fuck.
My footsteps pound on the wood as I descend to the hold, leaving her in my cabin without a backward glance. Pike and Erik share a smug, knowing look as I pass where they stand to oversee the cargo that’s carried down into the hold. I probably should have made sure there wasn’t anything of interest lying about on my desk, but I needed to get away from her questioning. She is proving to be far more inquisitive than I expected. Talking about my mother and my time in the navy is already a raw wound; I am not ready to divulge any other secrets yet.
Instead, I need to see Lyra.
Chapter 14
The door swings shut behind Lennox, but, I linger in his cabin, reflecting on the intimacy forming between the Captain and myself. The items from the apothecary are somehow still in the pocket of my dress, even after being tipped upside down and carried up the gangplank. Pulling them from my pocket, I separate the items specifically for him and place them on his desk.
Lying on top of several maps is the book I noticed beside him after my ordeal with Crewes. I turn the cover towards me, running my fingers across the title of an old play about star-crossed lovers. I can’t fight the smile that immediately comes to my lips – the dear Captain: vicious pirate or heartsick lover? The discovery lightens my heart after the treachery of the city, and I nearly float to my surgery to organize my new herbs.
The next few hours pass quickly while I busy myself in the surgery. I’m unsure if my good mood is the result of a proper bedding or the new connection I feel to Lennox. It still feels unnatural to think of him as Billy, as if he is some village boy I’ve taken up with, even if I find the nickname endearing.
Once I’ve organized my new supplies, I retreat to my shared cabin to visit and dine with Lyra. The door swings open, and I open my mouth to greet her, but she is not there. We have already weighed anchor, so I know she isn’t on shore, but I’ve been so preoccupied that I haven’t kept track of her today. Panic forms a tight ball that grows in my chest the longer I search.
There is no sign of her, or Charlie, anywhere in the darkened hold, so I mount the stairs to ascend to the deck to find her. A quick glance around the main deck also reveals nothing — crewmembers at their tasks, but no cheerful youths. Finally, after wandering forward to the bow and turning back to walk toward the stern, I spot Charlie fluttering in the space leading to the Captain’s cabin. When she sees me, her face grows uneasy, her steps hurried as she moves to intercept me.
“Good evening, Missus. Do you need something?” Charlie fumbles with her hat as she looks at her feet.
“Hello, Charlie. I’m looking for Lyra. Have you seen her?” My panic fully takes root with each nervous movement Charlie makes, warring with jealousy, as I scan the deck.
“Oh, uh, well, she’s in with the Cap’n, Missus. He requested her a little while ago, and told me to make sure no one… interrupts.” Charlie refuses to meet my eyes, but I can see that she shares my sense of unease at the order.
“Is that so?” I ask rhetorically, continuing my march as Charlie grasps at my hand. She grips my forearm as I move past, fingers slipping to circle my wrist, the same one wrapped by Lennox’s bangle. “Please, Missus… I’m sure she’s all right.”
“Remove your hand from me right now, Charlie,” I order, using a tone I haven’t sought out since my days as a priestess. The girl drops my wrist as if it is made from molten lead, but scurries behind me nonetheless. I don’t know if she is more afraid of the Captain, me, or what is happening to her lover behind the closed door that looms in front of us.
“Stay here,” I command, hand on the knob. As the cool metal turns in my hand, dread settles in my stomach. I push the door open, anger coursing through my veins both for my own foolish mistakes and at the repulsive behavior of this man I was beginning to trust.
“What do you think you are doing to — ” I stop short.
The Captain sits in one of the chairs from his dining table, stripped to the waist with a towel draped over his shoulders. Standing behind him is Lyra, wearing her shift, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She has a small dish in one hand and a comb in the other. Both wear shocked expressions as I plow through the door, slamming it behind me.
My eyes dart around the room, trying to make sense of this scene.
“What is happening here?” I look between the two of them and, if I wasn’t so taken aback, I might even laugh at their sheepish expressions. The worries that plagued me as I marched up to the cabin have vanished, replaced with sheer curiosity and confusion.
“Hello, Andromeda!” Lyra greets me brightly, an uneasy smile breaking across her pretty face. “The Captain, well, he asked me to assist him. I only undressed because I didn’t want my dress to be stained if the water became rougher.”
She has nothing to explain — if the Captain had ordered her to lay naked on his dining table, she would be expected to do so. No matter how kind and polite he is to her at breakfast, or how convincing he is with his affections and shared secrets with me, we are still his property until the end of this voyage.
“Are you…” I tilt my head questioningly at Lennox, “coloring your hair?” I gasp as understanding settles in. “The black walnut hulls! You are dying it!”
It was black at the House of Starlight and has faded the more time we’ve been away from shore.
“But, why?”
“Lyra, please help me wash this off,” Lennox orders, exasperation tinting his deep voice. Lyra muffles a derisive snort and grabs a bucket of water to sluice the paste off his hair.