A wave hit the ship, causing a few maps to slip off the table. She grabbed them up before they fell to the floor. I turned to her, recalling why I’d come to speak with her, intent on finding out whether she’d stolen my enchanted scarf.
“Princess,” I said, “it seems I’ve lost my gray scarf. Have you seen it?”
She eyed me. “A scarf?”
I nodded.
“Do you believe that someone stole it?”
“Yes.”
She clutched her necklace. “I found my Illumina crystals in the galley. You might check there.”
I studied her necklace. “You found it in the galley?”
“Yes, in the kitchens. I’m still perplexed as to how they got there—or who put them there.”
“Yes, I’m also confused.” Could she have taken the enchanted scarf? At this point, I wasn’t sure.
“This scarf,” she said, “was it the item you spellcasted?”
“You knew about that?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I felt its magic in our room and realized you must have spellcasted something, though I wasn’t sure what item you’d chosen. If someone has taken the spellcasted scarf, then this is troubling indeed. Someone is actively seeking the orb. For what reason, I cannot be sure.”
“Do you have any idea who would’ve taken it?”
“No,” she answered, “but you might check in the galley.” She focused on her maps. “I am sorry, but I really must get back to working on this.”
“Of course.” As I left the room, I glanced back at her before exiting through the door. The light from her crystals combined to cast her face in an odd pallor of alternating colors. To me, it seemed that the dark overpowered the light.
Chapter 25
I left the wheelhouse with a brief good-bye to the princess and made my way inside the ship. At this early hour, the hallways were quiet. My footsteps thudded over the wooden floorboards as waves crashed with violence against the hull. The swaying ship made the flames flicker behind the sconces lining the walls.
I found the galley and made my way inside. Only a few people lingered at the tables. I recognized Firro sitting in a corner, his face downcast as he stared into his tankard. A lamp sat on his table, casting shadows over his scarred, burned skin. Ket sat at another table. With her back turned to me, I wasn’t sure if she noticed as I approached her. I wasn’t sure what I was doing in the galley. Euralysia had seemed to think I would find some clue here, but where?
The Wult looked up as I sat beside her. “Hello, Ket,” I said.
“Olive.” She gave me a curt nod.
I peered around the galley at each person, each table, and every corner. What was I supposed to find?
“Are you looking for something?” she asked me.
I wasn’t sure how much to tell her. “My gray scarf. I know it sounds silly, but I was pretty fond of it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And you think it’s in here?”
“I’m not sure.”
She peered at me a moment longer than necessary, and for the first time since I’d met her, I felt uncomfortable under her gaze. “Have you asked Kull where it might be?”
“Kull?”
“Yes. You two are together, aren’t you?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer. Technically, we weren’t together—at least, not according to his father. “He’s a very good friend,” I finally settled on.
“I was with Kull once. It seems like a lifetime ago now, when life was simpler.” Her voice drifted. She looked away from me. I noticed the tremor in her hands as she held her cup.
We hadn’t known each other for long, but the psychologist in me noticed when something was off—and something was definitely off with Ket.
“Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, well, I guess… but it’s silly, really.”
“Is it? Remember, you’re talking to the girl who’s obsessed with finding a scarf.”
She gave me a small smile.
“So what’s going on?”
She hesitated. “It happened last night,” she finally answered. “After we put out the fire above deck, I returned to my bunk and went to sleep. I must’ve slept a few hours before I woke again, and I… I noticed someone—or something—sitting on the foot of my bed.”
“What was it?”
She shook her head. “At first, I tried to convince myself it was only an object—a chest or trunk, or perhaps a discarded cloak. But as time passed by, I saw its eyes.”
“Its?”
“Yes.” She looked at her hands. “My people call them drøgelse. Ghost.”
“You saw a ghost?”
“Yes, and it looked like my grandmother—though I know it was not her. The eyes were not right. My real grandmother made her way to Valhalla many years ago, when I was just a child. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that the drøgelse is still watching me. It feels like it is watching me now.” She sipped her drink. “I’m fine, by the way,” she added with a smile. “You’re not worrying about me, are you?”
Just like that, the old Ket was back.
“Of course not.”
“Good. Please don’t. I’ll feel better after we get off this ship. Being closed in for so long makes me uncomfortable.”
“You and me both.”
“Have you searched the kitchens?” she asked.
“Kitchens?” The abrupt change in subject threw me off.
“Yes. You are looking for your scarf, aren’t you? You might try looking in the kitchens. I think that’s where they put lost items.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
I stood but didn’t leave the table. The story of the drøgelse troubled me. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. At least, I will be once I’m off this boat.”
I gave her one last glance before leaving the table. With her neatly braided hair, glowing tanned skin, and casual smile, she seemed perfectly healthy. I should worry more about my own sanity than hers.
The door to the kitchens stood at the back of the galley, so I maneuvered around the tables and made my way to the opposite end of the room. I pushed the kitchen doors open and entered the busy room. Crewmembers dressed in soiled
