The Firebrand Legacy Read Online Free PDF

You cannot.”
    He didn’t understand.
    She choked on the waves.
    With her free hand, Carine grabbed the bottom
rung of the ladder just before it rose out of reach. She coughed,
blinking back seawater. Her eyes stung as she looked to the top of
the ship. Her loose hair floated out around her shoulders.
    “You must let go, madam. I need to draw up
the ladder,” the servant said.
    Not on her life. She held the rope with one
hand—now two—and gripped so hard that she lost feeling of her
palms.
    “Madam!” he called again.
    Carine glanced back to the shore, a poor
decision because it only made her tremble. She couldn’t wait
anymore. She had to leave. Gripping the bottom rung with her left
hand, she reached with her right. She caught the next rung and
kicked her slippery, ruined boots onto the ladder.
    “Madam,” the servant called, “you can’t come
up!”
    Water poured off her clothes in sheets. Her
dress felt like an anchor, her shoes like bricks.
    The wind rocked the ship. Her ladder leaned
away from the hull. The ship and the servant nearly toppled over
her. Carine clung to the ladder as the boat rocked the other way.
Her body slammed into the hull, knocking her elbow, knee, and
forehead.
    “Don’t come any closer,” warned the servant
as her injuries pounded. With that, he disappeared into the
boat.
    Carine disobeyed and climbed.
    The man reappeared with three additional
faces, blurred by the stinging water in her eyes.
    “Tell the captain to move,” said a clear,
young voice. “We can’t let anyone know that we’re leaving. It
doesn’t bode well for us if someone is already trying to
board.”
    The servant nodded and disappeared.
    “She’s not a Heartless One,” another young
voice said in surprise. “She can’t be any older than we are.”
    “Power is not restricted by age.” This voice
was older, and his tone suggested frowning.
    Carine clenched her jaw and reached for the
next rung—success. When she moved her foot, however, it slipped off
the rung. She fell, but grabbed the vertical rope of the ladder so
fiercely that her palms burned, and she managed to keep herself
up.
    “If she was a Heartless One,” said the second
boy, “she would use magic to come up.”
    “If she were ,” corrected the first
boy. “Don’t you ever pay attention to your lessons, David?”
    David? Carine looked up. The formality
and youth of the speakers suddenly made sense. David was the name
of one of the young twin princes. If these were Princes David and
Giles, then she was boarding a royal ship.
    One glance back to shore reminded her that it
didn’t matter. Even if princes were on board, this was the ship
that was leaving Esten. Carine had to be on it.
    “Hello down there!” shouted the second boy,
maybe Prince David.
    Carine wince-smiled and bowed her head in due
reverence. Then she reached for the next rung and the next. Just
because he was royalty didn’t mean she would stop climbing.
    “Should I shoot her down, Your Majesties?”
the older one asked.
    “What? No, Alviar!” said Prince David. “Go
check on Limly.”
    Alviar grunted and turned. When he moved
away, his feet clopped like hooves.
    Carine reached for the next rung, her heart
racing as she approached royalty for the first time.
    The ship was already in motion, not just
laterally, but moving away from shore. If she fell off the ladder
now, she would have to swim back to that horrible place, the place
that used to be home but now meant death.
    “Hey,” Prince David said, near enough now so
he didn’t have to raise his voice. “Have you fed your heart to a
dragon at any point?”
    Carine looked up, surprised to find that with
this last rung she and the prince were face to face. Prince David
had oversized ears that stuck out under dark, unkempt hair. His
smile was immediately warm, and even though they were eons apart in
status, he looked her straight in the eyes.
    She swallowed back nerves, but had no time to
answer. Two long fingers