Pieces of Jade (Pirates of Orea) (25 page)

I did my best not to think about the captain’s ever-darkening mood. My back was mending nicely and my strength was returning as well. I felt especially cheerful at my return to health, not having appreciated it until it had been taken away. Everything seemed more vibrant to me, as if I could see things sharper and with finer detail than ever before.

I sat one evening by the window, enjoying a particularly beautiful sunset when the door burst open and the captain stormed in. “Your time has come, witch.”

My heart stopped and I imagined another whipping. My mouth went dry. “To do what?”

“We acquired the medallion, used the key to unlock the map—”

“Key? What key?”

He glared at my interruption. “We followed the map and it brought us here. Based on its information, we knew where to drop anchor to avoid the protective magical wall. Now it is up to you to get us through.”

My mouth went dry. I stared hard out the window, my pulse racing. He expected me to perform magic on command. “I’m not sure I can help you.”

The captain frowned. “I wasn’t asking.”

I cared nothing for their treasure and I wanted no part of it. But I knew I had to help them accomplish their goal in any way I could. If I didn’t, we could be out here forever, and I needed them to return to
Castleport soon so I could take the medallion to the kingdom before my deadline.

I shuddered to help them but knew I had no real choice. Pearl needed me. “I will try,” I said, spinning away from the window and looking the captain squarely in the face. “I make no promises as to how effective I will be.”

“That's the best I could hope for, I suppose.” He grudgingly held out his hand for me to shake. “Since you agreed of your own free will, feel free to return to your quarters, but be on deck with the rest of the crew at first light. You are no longer a prisoner. Not that you really had a choice in the first place.” With that he swung the door open, gesturing for me to step out freely. He didn't wait for me to walk through it; he simply turned on his heel and walked away. Lafe stayed behind and smiled at me.

“Just like old times,” he joked, and I smiled too.

We walked through the corridors until I reached William's room. Yellow-toothed Joshua stood guard. My cheek twitched halfheartedly in an attempt to smile. William lay on his bed, reading a book, and when I met his eyes I had no trouble smiling for real.

“Another escape, or were you pardoned?” William asked, closing his book.

“I think it’s more of a parole. I’m glad to be free. Sickbay was starting to feel more like a true prison.” I sat next to him on the bed. My eyes wandered towards his window and something green and brown caught my eye. Intrigued, I stepped to the window to get a better look.

The water surrounding the ship had turned a pale and lustrous green, extending to a breathtakingly beautiful island in the distance.

I had seen illustrations of tropical islands in books at the palace, but it was nothing compared to the sight of one actually before my eyes. Old legends said the Emmías came from islands like this, and seeing it was like looking at a distant memory, something forgotten yet dancing tantalizingly on the edge of my mind. Its lush trees swayed in the tropical breeze, calling to me, and despite William’s watching eye, I couldn’t help but stare in undisguised delight.

Could it really be the Isle of Grey? Had the captain actually found it? Did the cure for the soil reside there?

I tore my gaze from the window to question William. “Do you believe as your brother does, that this is actually the Isle of Grey?”

“I have no doubt about it.”

“The Isle of Grey,” I repeated. “The birthplace of the first Emmía.”

“The very one.”

I grinned before I turned back and stared at the island. So many stories I’d heard over my life were about this magical island, yet I never once imagined I would be able to see it for myself. I squinted into the fading light as I continued to stare at it. The island looked exactly as I had pictured it, and as we sailed nearer, I could make out a faint lilac blur surrounding it.

The magical barrier.
I glanced away from the island and looked at the rest of the sea. I rubbed my eyes. We were in a ship graveyard. The tops of masts rose from the depths of the seas, the stern of one ship bobbed on top the water. Some broken ships were blown to bits. Others were gutted with huge holes. Many still flew the kingdom’s colors. Is that what had happened to all of the vessels? Is this why none had returned? But if the kingdom knew where it was then why not keep trying?

“The kingdom must have had a fairly good idea of where the island lay,” I said.

William nodded. “It appears that way. And yet no ships returned. It looks like the barrier crippled them.”

“It protected the island.” I’m not sure where the word protected came from. I had meant to say surrounded, but somehow protected sounded right.

I looked back at the island. Even from this distance, I could make out individual trees blowing in the wind. It seemed so peaceful, but apparently the barrier destroyed any ship that tried to breach it. Had my medallion really brought us here?

I confronted William. “The medallion’s map . . . really led us here?”

“Yes.”

I pursed my lips. “How?”

“We used a key, one the Manacle doesn’t know exists. It was worn by Princess Dawn’s bodyguard and worked in conjunction with the medallion so she would always be able to find her way home.”

“And you found this key?”

“It found us.”

“So what happened when you used this key?”

“The medallion started glowing.”

“Glowing?”

“It scared Clay.” William chuckled. “He dropped it on the table and the map just sort of rose out of it. We managed to transcribe the image before it disappeared again.”

I frowned. “Did a piece of paper come out of it?”

“The map was made of light.” I shook my head, unable to picture it, and William smiled. “I know; I don't understand it either. But it worked.” He gestured to the window. “And unlike those other unlucky souls, we knew about the barrier and where to stop.”

I stared at the island again and my hand drifted towards where my medallion had hung. The whereabouts to this beautiful place had been hanging around my neck for years, concealed in my medallion, and I never knew it. Suddenly the stories James shared with me took on new meaning. If this was the Isle of Grey—and something inside me screamed that it was—then I had returned to the place of my ancestors, the
Mylean people.

I opened the window and rested against the port casing, staring at the island. “Do you think we’ll be exposed to the plague that wiped out the last of the civilization?”

William shook his head. “That happened centuries ago, right after Princess Dawn left. The deadly vapors should be gone.”

I always thought it was so sad that the
Mylean people had died so quickly after celebrating Princess Dawn’s wedding to the Orean prince, never getting to enjoy the riches they had received from Orea. It was lucky Princess Dawn left Mylea in time. If she had died with her people, our whole kingdom would have perished too.

I watched the waves breaking on the shore remembering the sad story of the fall of the Isle of Grey. “King
Henare was probably glad his daughter Dawn left the island. Otherwise she would have caught the illness that swept through the population. Her marriage to the Orean Prince saved her life.”

William suddenly coughed, his face growing red, his eyes watering. I patted him on the back, and he waved me away.

As I stared at the island, a light breeze caressed my cheek, carrying with it the lush scents of hot soil and ripe fruit. “Welcome, Jade,” it almost whispered. An inexplicable tingling shot through my arms and a new vitality seeped into my being, a sense of longing that pulled me toward the island. What was happening?

It had to be the island. I bit my lip thoughtfully and watched the swaying trees beyond the magical boundary. I’d come home.

Chapter
16

I bunched my pillow beneath my head and rolled over. Again. I angled my head so I could gaze out the porthole. There wasn’t enough moon to see the island, but with every breath I drank in its potent, exotic scent. It tickled the back of my throat and set off tingles of homesickness. Finally, I counted William’s slow and steady breaths until sleep claimed me.

Vivid dreams danced through my head. I walked on the island among its beautiful tropical flowers. Several blooms danced on the wind, calling to me, begging me to follow them, always just out of reach. Warm sand tickled my toes.

I walked up a hill, thick with vegetation, while wildlife jabbered in a chorus around me. Unlike the hypnotizing calls of the flowers, their cries grated on my eardrums.

I frowned; they were making it harder to hear the music of the flowers. Shrieking, hairy monkeys swung toward me. They twirled around me aggressively, circling closer and closer until two of them grabbed for my hands.

I spun away from them, giggling, before scooping up a handful of the intoxicating flowers. The petals rose in the air and sprouted vines that twisted into a circle, a wreath of living flowers. I grasped them and spun them. The music hit a dissonant note and I quickly turned the flowers the opposite direction, bringing back the chords of the beautiful ballad the flora hummed in my ears.

The primates pawed at my clothes and my hair. One caught my arm, twisting it hard. The music stopped and I shoved the monkey away, regaining my smile when the music started again. I slapped at another monkey who tugged at my wreath, changing the key of the music, ruining the song. I pushed back, perfecting the harmony again.

The music grew into a chest swelling crescendo. The sand beneath my feet jolted and a brisk wind assaulted me, sending my hair flying behind. A monkey grabbed at my waist, pulling my hands from the flower wheel and the music abruptly ended. I sent my elbow flying, hitting the animal and leaping for my flowers, clinging to the wreath of blossoms. The music picked up again, and reached its climax, holding out the last note to complete the beautiful finale. Then the heavens opened, beating down on me a frigid rain.

My body startled from the dream. My eyes flew open and my jaw went slack. I was standing on the deck of the Promise, not in my bed. It was the middle of the night. And I was dripping wet.

My heart ached to find myself on the ship and not on the island. The ship shuddered underneath me, in what felt like sympathy, as if it too had been unhappily awakened from the dream.

The crew, who had formed a circle around me, stared at me, their moonlit faces wearing expressions from exasperation, to anger, and even amusement.

“What?” I asked, taking a few steps backward. A set of strong hands reached out and grabbed my arms, restraining me.

My wet clothes clung to me and my hair dripped down my neck, the dribbles rippled a chill across my skin. My teeth chattered and I shook my head, trying to understand what had happened. “What am I doing here?”

I shook the crewman’s hands off of me and smoothed down my soaked nightshirt, trying to stand regally. “How did I get here?”

The captain stepped out of the group, holding a dripping bucket, which he dropped onto the deck with a scowl and a raised eyebrow. “You pranced here, giggling and dancing.”

“I—”

“Pranced.”

“Impossible. I never prance.”

“Oh, but you did,” he assured me. “She did prance, did she not, William?”

William tried unsuccessfully to smother his smile. “Yes, she did, right out of our room.”

“So you see,” the captain continued, turning to look back at me, “you pranced your way up here and in the process you knocked out several of my crew.” He motioned to a couple of men who were collapsed on the deck. “Then you took the helm and altered our course.”

“Altered course?” I asked. “But I thought we were waiting until morning.”

The captain nodded. “Yes, well, that was the plan. Until you, in record time I might add, managed to move the ship to the other side of the island.” He extended his fingers and pointed to the shore, whose coastline looked different than it had before I went to bed.

“So quickly? While I slept?” I asked slowly.

“It appears, woman, that you were sleepwalking.”

I shook my head. “Impossible. I’ve never sleepwalked in my life. And if I was so loud walking—”

“Prancing.”

I scowled. “—and giggling, why didn't you wake me?”

His eyes lit angrily. “We tried. Anyone who touched you passed out cold.”

“Oh,” I said sheepishly, crossing my arms for warmth. That explained the monkeys.

“Here,” William said placing a blanket around my body. He rubbed his hands up and down my arms, warming them.

I spun around and looked toward the island once more. From our current location I was able to see a segment of the magical barrier that was different. The magic reflected differently, a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the shield, a kind of door that could be opened.