Assassin's Curse 02 - The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Author:Cassandra Rose Clarke [Clarke, Cassandra Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Assassins, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Young Adult, pirates, curses, ships, high fantasy, epic fantasy, deserts
ISBN: 9781908844286
Amazon: B00D60SFNU
Barnesnoble: B00D60SFNU
Goodreads: 17162382
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Published: 2013-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The manticore came to see me before we set sail the next day. I was up on the boat, screwing around with the rigging cause half the crew was too hungover to be of much use. One of the manticore’s servants crept across the deck, and I damn near tossed a pile of ropes on her.

“Mistress,” she whispered, keeping her eyes downcast. “Ongraygeeomryn would like to speak with you.”

I’d kinda been hoping I wouldn’t have to see the manticore before we left, cause I was still sore on account of what happened with Naji, even though I was trying real hard not to moon over him.

But I figured this was my chance to prove that I was strong and that I didn’t need him, the way I’d proved it last night, underneath the thin rough blankets of my bed.

“Tell her she can come talk to me when she’s ready,” I said.

The servant trembled. “Mistress,” she said. “The manticore doesn’t wish to come aboard…”

“Oh, hell.” Figures. “She on the beach, at least?”

“Yes, mistress.” The servant pointed a trembling finger off to the side. “My rowboat is in the water. She doesn’t wish to be kept waiting–”

“Of course she doesn’t.”

I rowed me and the servant back in to the beach, and sure enough, the manticore was stretched out on a quilted silk blanket on the sand, another servant standing beside her with a palm leaf.

“Girl-human!” she cried. “Did you enjoy your boon last night?”

“You mean Naji?”

“Of course! Such an easy one to enchant. Almost no convincing necessary at all.” She looked closer at me. “You did want him still, yes? He is your true love.”

Never mind the curse, I thought. But I didn’t say nothing. The manticore looked so damned pleased with herself.

“He was very…” I glanced off in the direction of the palace, hoping he wouldn’t show up while I was talking. “Skillful.”

The manticore looked puzzled for a moment. “Is that a good thing?”

“Uh, yeah.”

She beamed at me. “That is excellent news! We do not describe our matings as skillful; I shall remember that.”

Part of me wanted to ask her how she did it, if it really had been the ahiial, or some other manticore spell, maybe drawn out of the red desert sand. The sandcharmers in Lisirra could do that; I remembered from my trips to the night market. But what would be the point? It had happened, and not cause he wanted it.

Something else was bothering me, though.

“So he isn’t… he isn’t gonna keep bugging me after this?” I asked. “I’ve heard about love spells, and they always… persist, if you know what I mean.”

“Persist?” The manticore frowned. “No, girl-human. Love does not persist! It is allotted to us once a life-cycle.”

Oh. Like cats.

“The boon was only for one love-period,” the manticore said. Her eyes dimmed. “I could ask my father to recast it in perpetuity–”

“No!” I held out my hands. “No, it’s fine. Once was… once was enough.”

“Spoken like a manticore!” She smiled big and bright at me.

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