Port of Thieves by C. E. Olson

Author:C. E. Olson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: pirates, legends, mythology, sirens, selkies, kraken, lusca, mutiny
Publisher: Emily Wilson
Published: 2021-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

“JUST HANG IN THERE, Henny. We’re almost there.” Kenz adjusts her weight and tries hard to keep a brave face. She’s losing a lot of blood. He can feel it dripping down his arms, and with each and every step he takes into the woods, he knows he’s making the right decision. The apothecary couldn’t help her here; she’s beyond their help, and seeing as this isn’t some ordinary wound, Kenz knows going there would be a waste of time. No, Henley needs a wise woman’s touch. Pogue would keelhaul him if he knew he was even considering a witch’s help, but Kenz isn’t concerned with his brother’s approval right now. This is for Hen, and if the price he has to pay is his life, then so be it. As long as she makes it out of here alive.

Henley’s head rolls as she attempts to take in their surroundings. “Kenz... where... a mage?”

Shaking his head, Kenz’s jaw flexes as he prepares to get slapped. “Nah... yeh need someone stronger.”

“St— Kenz... a White?” Surprisingly, she doesn’t attempt to beat sense into him — whether that’s because she knows he’s right or she’s just too weak, he isn’t sure.

He huffs at her choice of label. “Haven’t heard them called that since me ma was around. Suppose she had brown hair, would yeh still call ‘er a White?” When she doesn’t respond, Kenz knows it’s the latter. Henley would rip him a new one if she had the strength.

When the quaint old house comes into view, he doesn’t doubt they’re in the correct place. It looks like the setting of every spooky story he was told as a lad, like the stories Weasel and Rat love to hear. Smoke rises from the chimney to let him know someone is home, and the dingy shutters hanging on by bent nails allow him to see the flickering of candles inside and the shadow of someone walking by.

Tensing, Kenz lays Henley by a nearby tree and kisses her forehead as he draws his cutlass. Doubt seeps from deep inside his bones, and everything inside him tells him to leave. Under any other circumstance, he would — but he doesn’t see another option to save the only woman he’s ever loved. “I know yeh can hear me... I know yeh know I’m here. I mean yeh no harm.”

His voice may be low, but when the front door swings open, he knows he was correct. “No harm, huh?” A short hunched over woman walks out onto the creaking porch, and when her bright, white hair comes into view, he almost laughs. “You just want my help and have nothing to give in return.”

“What could someone like yeh want? I reckon it’s not gold and riches?”

“So you’re smarter than you look.” The wise woman sneers, and Kenz can’t even find it inside him to be offended. He’s too distracted trying to figure out how she’s still alive. Her skin looks tougher than leather, her hair falling out as she stands, and if he had to guess, he’d say she’s at least two-hundred years old.

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