The Navigator's Touch
(The Seafarer's Kiss #2)
by Julia Ember
Publication Date: Sept 13, 2018
Publisher: Duet Books,
the YA imprint of Interlude Press
Tour Schedule: http://bit.ly/2oIoujY
After invaders destroyed her village, murdered her family, and took her prisoner, shield-maiden Ragna is hungry for revenge. A trained warrior, she is ready to fight for her home, but with only a mermaid and a crew of disloyal mercenaries to aid her, Ragna knows she needs new allies. Guided by the magical maps on her skin, battling storms and mutiny, Ragna sets sail across the Northern Sea.
She petitions the Jarl in Skjordal for aid, but despite Ragna’s rank and fighting ability, the Jarl sees only a young girl, too inexperienced to lead, unworthy of help. To prove herself to the Jarl and win her crew’s respect, Ragna undertakes a dangerous expedition. But when forced to decide between her own freedom and the fate of her crew, what will she sacrifice to save what’s left of her home?
Inspired by Norse mythology and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, this companion novel to The Seafarer’s Kiss is a tale of vengeance, valor, honor, and redemption.
The men clustered around us, enclosing us in a ring of bodies. I danced sideways as Torstein lunged at me. Despite his experience, I was much faster on my feet. But the crew weren’t giving me room to maneuver. My war-axe had a long handle. I risked hitting one of them if I swung too wide. They were forcing us to fight at close distance, which would favor Torstein’s weapon and his brute strength. Maybe they had planned it this way all along.
“Move back!” I shouted.
None of the men took even a step, but then, two long aquamarine tentacles shot forth and swept them aside like toys. Ersel winked at me and drew her tentacles against her body. I grinned as the self-indulgent smirk slipped from Torstein’s face.
We circled each other. I slashed my axe through open air. Torstein pivoted, and his outstretched dagger grazed my thigh.
The cut was shallow but salty ocean spray made it burn. Snarling, I lunged for Torstein again. He jumped back, but his foot caught on a discarded oar. He stumbled and I was on him, pressing the sharp edge of the axe to the back of his neck.
“Kneel!” I screamed, my voice harsh and wild.
It was within my rights as captain to execute him. Our law dictated that sea, I had absolute rule over them, though I wasn’t exactly sure how that law applied to stolen ships.
As he sank to his knees, I weighed the merits of killing him against the risks of keeping him alive. Unlike Elvyrn, Torstein was popular. Many of the crew looked to him for instruction and approval. As long as he drew breath, he would endanger my position. But would they all consider him a martyr if I killed him? What stories would they whisper of him? Would he be remembered as a valiant warrior who stood up to a tyrant captain and had lost his life fighting after an unnatural creature intervened?
He needed to be humbled. I needed him to beg. The crew had to see weakness in him before I delivered him to the gods. Torstein looked up at me from his knees. His expression was heavy with resignation, but that was not the same as fear. Keeping my axe poised over his neck, I crouched beside him. Brandishing my hook in front of his eyes, I asked, “Do you know how sharks feed?”
“They come in groups. We call them shivers for the terror they inspire. They tear at you on piece at a time. One bite, then another. They taste you. By the end, there’s so little left of your body that even the guards at Valhalla couldn’t put you together.”
Beneath my axe, I felt him tremble. Glee surged through me. As a girl, practicing my fighting stances and thrusts on the beach, I had dreamed of moments like this, when battle would thrum through my veins and my enemies would kneel in surrender.
“If you ever again utter so much as one syllable without my leave, I’ll put my hook through your eye socket and dangle you from the stern. We will let the sharks eat you from the feet up.” I smacked his back with the handle of my axe. “Get up and go back to your oar.”
Face ablaze, Torstein stumbled to his bench.
Julia Ember is the author of The Seafarer's Kiss and The Navigator's Touch, as well as several novellas and short stories for young adults. Originally from Chicago, Julia now resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her hobbies include riding horses, starting far too many craft projects, and looking after her city-based menagerie of pets with names from Harry Potter. She regularly takes part in events for queer teens. A world traveler since childhood, she has now visited more than sixty countries.
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