“Claire?” I shrieked.
A silver gloom surrounded the contours of her skin, hair, and eyes. Her iris was translucent instead of pearly lilac, and she struggled to focus on me as if she was blind. She tied her arms around the grimoire and I wondered how long she had waited for me.
Meanwhile, I didn’t dare to move since I couldn’t explain myself.
Claire walked towards me calmly, her gown swayed around her knees, and I noticed how she wasn’t wearing any gloves or stockings. Pushing the grimoire back into my bag, she handed it over. “Excuse me, but you didn’t plan to leave me behind, did you?”
Her stance was stable, she appeared healthier than before. I fulfilled my promise.
With wandering eyes she scanned me. She wasn’t blind but something else. Otherwise, how did she climb the stairs and find the book? It was like she saw right through me instead.
“No,” I stuttered, “well, yes, but not here. Evrett would send you to The Eye. You’re safe there, no more medication or marriage.”
“Let me decide.”
“Yes, and you can. There’s something I found out about you–,” I said hastily since I was running out of time, but she waved her hand and stopped me.
“I see,” she said, “In fact, I see very clearly now. Just like I watched you pack this bag and what will follow if you go through with it.”
“Is this why you’re here? To hold me back?”
“I’m here because you will take me with you.”
“Oh, no, no no,” I mumbled while pressing my palms into my eye sockets. “Claire you’re not thinking straight.”
She tapped on her bag. “I am. You want to catch that ship. I’m coming with you. Now, run.”
If I missed the ship because of this ambush, I would regret it. I exhaled and grabbed her by the hand, obeying her, even though her status lost its worth to me. There was no other choice than taking her with me if I wanted to save myself.
While we sprinted, I discovered that only I had footsteps. I threw a glimpse behind me and found Claire levitating, scraping the stone with the tips of her boots. She had transformed into a being out of this world. Perhaps the rules of the Upperworld didn’t apply to her anymore.
Instead of taking the usual path on the East, we followed the main road that led to the shipyard.
“Forgive me,” I said out of breath.
“Don’t mention it. You redeemed yourself by cleansing me,” she said. “I met Frya. There’s much more you don’t know yet.”
The workers in town turned their heads to us with shock written all over their faces. Their chins and tools dropped upon seeing Claire, some threw themselves onto their knees and bowed until their noses touched the ground.
In our sight, the ship appeared, and I recognised Deg on board, tying knots as usual.
Behind us, in the distance, a horse neighed. The clanking of its ironed hooves and the gasps of an upset crowd followed.
I looked back at Claire, whose eyebrows arched and formed rims in the middle.
She nodded at me. They were searching for her.
Deg spotted us sprinting downhill and opened a door that led under the deck, to hide us until we took sail—which the pirates were about to do any moment. But before I took my first step onto the wooden dock, a horse appeared beside me and blocked the way. On it sat a man in a red uniform, holding a spear. Without a word, he slammed the staff on my head, knocking me out.
Instead of the dock’s relieving creek, the last thing I heard was Claire’s scream.
24. Consequences
My head pounded, and I threw up when I awoke on an icy stone floor. The whistle in my ears tortured my senses, everything in front of me swirled.
After fighting for consciousness and fainting repeatedly, I stayed awake and realised that I was lying in a dungeon, inside a prison cell.
“She’s awake,” a guard yelled through the hall after I pulled myself to the iron bars.
The guards paid no attention to me, even if I addressed them directly, and I had to wait until Tonio appeared on the other side. He kept the door closed and shouted at me, piercing my ears.
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
I covered my head. “What?” I asked, perplexed since we had been holding hands when they found us. There was no place I’d taken her.
“Your filthy pirates don’t have her. So, where is she?”
“I don’t know,” I cried. “Tonio, aren’t you here to get me out? The pirates have nothing to do with it. I have a serious wound and need help.” I touched my pulsating forehead and showed him the blood on my fingers.
“Was this your plan all along? Pretend to be a Volkov and gain my trust? I should’ve known by your looks but Gerogy’s letters were very convincing, I must confess.” He raged through the bars and shook them with both hands while he yelled at me.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You befriended my sister in a day, set up a way into our family through her and arranged a wedding between us. It was you, who bewitched us all. You, who opened her eye and stole her away, just like Elvora said.”
“What? No. I didn’t want any of this. Please, help me.”
On the muddy floor, memories of the night I almost died reappeared. I was a monstrosity. A nasty creature, below the dignity of an animal.
“I see through your innocent act, imposter. Now, tell me where she is, or else… ,” he threatened.
“No, please, I–,” stuttering, my words found no way out.
“Then you will burn at the stake for treason.” Before he left, he kicked the bars and the vibration of the iron swayed my senses into dizziness.
An imposter? That was what he believed, and I had missed every chance to change or avoid it—though it didn’t explain Claire’s disappearance.
