Fable (Fable #1)(56)

He pushed the spectacles back into place. “What do you mean?”

“Take me on as the Marigold’s dredger and I’ll get your sails,” I said, the words running together in a single breath.

“No.” West’s answer was heavy on his lips.

But Willa was curious. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”

“Does it matter? I can get you the sails. Take me on as your dredger, and I’ll get you enough copper to buy yourself out from under Saint in one trade.”

Auster stood up off the wall. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s the deal.” My attention was still trained on West.

“No,” he said again, this time with a flash of anger.

Willa looked between us. “Why not? If she has a way to—”

“There’s no one better for this crew. I’m a skilled dredger,” I added.

“No!”

I recoiled, stepping back. The others looked to one another, confused.

Willa gaped at him. “We don’t have a dredger. She says she’ll front the cost of sails and buy us out from Saint. And you say no?”

“That’s right. We’re not taking her on.”

“Why not?” Willa pushed.

I gave West one last chance, letting the silence fall again. The secret burned in my throat like the rye I’d drowned in only the night before. It was something I’d never said aloud. Something I swore I’d never do. But Saint had broken his promise to me. He’d left me the Lark, but he hadn’t given me what was mine. Not what he owed me.

Now, I would break my promise to him.

“Don’t,” West whispered, reading my thoughts.

“Saint is my father.”

The tension in the room pulled tighter and a chill ran over my skin. It was something I could never unsay.

“What the—” Willa gasped.

“That’s why West had the Marigold coming to Jeval every two weeks. That’s why you traded pyre with me and only me. Saint had you checking on the daughter he abandoned across the Narrows. I didn’t know you were working for him until we were in Dern.”

I could see by the looks on their faces that they knew it was true. It was too insane not to be true.

“I was part of his deal with West when he gave him the Marigold. And you were right.” I looked to Willa. “You’ve sold your soul to a man who doesn’t have one. You’ll never buy out the Marigold. He’ll always find a way to keep you owing him. That’s what he does.”

“If Saint is your father, then…” Willa’s voice trailed off.

“Isolde was my mother. That’s why I can do what I do with the gems.”

“You’re a gem sage.”

I nodded.

“You’re not dredging for the Marigold.” West spoke evenly, but he looked as if he was using every ounce of energy he had left to do so. “Saint would never allow it. And even if he did, he’d cut all our throats if something happened to you. Taking you on is a death wish.”

But beside him, Auster looked amused. “What’s in it for you?”

I shifted on my feet, swallowing down the shame of it. “I don’t have anything else. Saint doesn’t want me.”

They all stared at me.

“If you take me on, I’ll get the Marigold back on the water and fill the hull with enough coin to pay every debt you have. That’s my offer.”

“How are you going to do that?” Hamish asked, careful not to look at West.

“I have something. Something no one knows about. It’s just waiting underwater for me to come get it.”

“What is it?” Paj finally spoke.

“I’m not telling you unless you agree to the deal.”

Paj sighed. “Dredging a reef isn’t going to get us out of this mess, Fable.”

“It’s not a reef. And it’s more than enough to buy you out from Saint.”

A smile pulled at Willa’s mouth, her eyes sparkling.

“Leave us.” West turned back to the window. When the crew didn’t move, he shouted. “Leave us!”

The others filed out without another word. I clicked the latch closed and leaned into the door, watching him. The stitches snaked over his shoulder, breaking before they picked back up below his shoulder blade. Even like that, he was beautiful.

“How did it work?” I asked softly.

He looked out to the street, only half of his face catching the light. “How did what work?”

“You buy pyre from me on Jeval, sell it in Dern, and give Saint the profit?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t give him the profit. He didn’t want it.”

“So, you kept it?”

“It’s in the cache. Every copper. The coin I gave you when we got to Ceros is part of it.”

So that’s why we stopped at the coral islands on the way to Dern. “All this time, I thought I was making my own way. I thought I’d found a way to survive,” I whispered.

“You did.”

“No, I didn’t. The only reason I didn’t starve to death on that island is because of you.” The words seemed to embarrass him. His eyes dropped to the ground between us. “You could have lied to Saint about going. He would have never known.”