Namesake (Fable, #2)

by Adrienne Young

The first thing I saw when my eyes focused was my father peering over the portside of the Lark, leaning onto the rail with his elbows. He was wearing one of his rare smiles. One that made his blue eyes flash like the strike of flint.

Saint was waiting at the top, sweeping me into his arms

My mother looked at me then, with something in her eyes I’d never seen before. A reverence. As if something marvelous and at the same time harrowing had just happened. She blinked, pulling me between her and Saint, and I burrowed in, their warmth instantly making me feel like a child again.

But he wouldn’t look at me, and I didn’t know if that meant he was still the Clove I remembered or if he’d become something different. The distance between the two could mean my life.

The storm of everything I wanted to say burned on my tongue and I swallowed down the desperate urge to scream.

crewing for the person my father hated more than anything.

Ok we didnt super establish that

The Clove I knew would have cut Zola’s throat for putting his hands on me.

I wasn’t just some Jevali dredger or a pawn in Zola’s feud with West. I was Saint’s daughter. And before I left the Luna, every bastard on this crew was going to know it.

The entire scene was a poor man’s attempt at majesty, though Zola didn’t seem embarrassed by it. That was the Narrows blood in his veins, his pride so thick he’d sooner choke on it than admit to his masquerade.

“I know who you are, Fable.” The words were faint. Only an echo in the ocean of panic that writhed in my gut.

Not only was Zola headed into the Unnamed Sea, he was going in empty-handed.

Not if hes got youu

I had been a stranger in that place, but I’d come to belong there. And now everything within me ached for it.

“I see.” He reached into the pocket of his vest, pulling a small purse free. “What’ll it cost me?” “Four years,” I answered heavily.

The worst mistake I could make with Zola was letting him shake me. I had to get back to my ship. It was all that mattered. I blinked. When had I begun thinking of the Marigold as mine? My home.

I’d never admit it, but the most honest part of me knew what he meant. Getting back into the dark water after an entire day of diving was insane. It was something a Jevali would do. That’s why I’d known that Koy would come with me.

Whether I liked it or not, there were pieces of me that had been carved by those years on Jeval. It had changed me. In a way, it had made me.

I took a chance in saying it. “You know Isolde would hate you, right?” I took a step toward him.

It was one of many purses I’d seen him and Zola pull from their pockets, and I was beginning to wonder if Zola had wagered his entire fortune on this venture. He was clearly in a hurry, and he was willing to take chances. What required a two-day dive and a rush turnover in Sagsay Holm? He’d risen a fake crest over the Luna and whatever documents he used to make port had to be forgeries. What could possibly be worth losing his trade license?

You, girl

“You better not be bringing any of that trouble here,” he grunted. “What trouble?” I asked, but Clove gave me a sharp look as if to silence me. “That business with the burning ships,” the man said. “Was all I heard about yesterday at the merchant’s house.” Clove’s eyes drifted back to me. “Some trader in the Narrows is going port to port, setting fire to ships. Looking for a vessel called the Luna.” I froze, my heart jumping up into my throat. Saint. Or West. It had to be.

But ships burning at every port in the Narrows … that was something my father would do. I let out a shaking breath. A timid smile lifted on my trembling lips, and I turned toward the window to brush a tear from the corner of my eye before Clove caught sight of me. He couldn’t be surprised. He knew my father better than even I did. I hadn’t even let myself hope for it, but somehow I’d known deep down that he would come for me.

“I thought that meant you were dead.” The words fell heavy in the silent room. “Well, I’m not.” I picked up the cup, following the vine of hand-painted flowers along the rim with the tip of my finger. “Can’t help but think,” I said, bringing it to my lips and meeting his eyes through the wisp of steam curling into the air between us, “you might as well be.”

We were farther from the Narrows than I’d ever been. The Unnamed Sea was a thing painted in my mind by the bright colors of my mother’s stories, but like the Narrows, it was filled with cutthroat traders, devious merchants, and powerful guilds. By the time Zola finished what he was doing, he’d probably be dead. And when the price for his sins was called in, I didn’t want to be anywhere near the Luna.

“Word reached Sagsay Holm yesterday that someone’s going port to port in the Narrows.” He paused. “Burning ships.” Zola paled, and I wasn’t sure why. He had to know it wasn’t safe to leave his fleet behind in the Narrows. Whatever had brought him to the Unnamed Sea had to have been worth it to him. His hand shook just enough to spill a little of the rye on the desk, but he didn’t look up. “Your ships, I suspect,” Clove added. My fingers clamped down harder on the sill of the window. “Saint?” “West,” Clove breathed.

He’d finally found a way to make good with her, but how? Three hundred carats of gemstone was nothing to the most powerful gem trader in the Unnamed Sea.

Youuu baby girl

If I was quick enough, I could strike first. Drive the blade of my knife up into his gut before he could get his hands on me. But the thought made my stomach roil, a single tear rolling from the corner of my eye. He was a bastard and he was a traitor. But he was still Clove.

The glint of a knife shone in the darkness as Clove lifted his hands, reaching into Ryland’s hammock. I went still, watching his face from below and trying not to breathe. But Clove’s eyes were expressionless, the cool set of his mouth relaxed, his eyes soft. The hammock shook above me and something hot hit my face. I flinched, reaching up to wipe it from my cheek, and another drop fell, hitting my arm. When I held my fingers to the light, I went still. It was blood.

There was only one reason I could think of that Clove would go after Ryland, but it didn’t make any sense.

Why would he try to protect me? Tears welled and I tried to blink them away, wiping at the corner of my eye before one could fall. I was afraid to believe it.

If Clove was looking out for me, then he hadn’t turned on Saint. He hadn’t turned on me. And that could only mean one thing. Zola wasn’t the only one who was up to something. My father was, too.

“You’ve got business in Bastian.”

I muttered a curse, sliding my feet from each one and leaving them on the ground for him to pick up himself. The tick of a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth before he bent down to snatch them up.

Her days on the Luna were ones she’d never told me about, and part of me didn’t want to know anything about them. In my mind, her spirit lived on the Lark. I didn’t like the idea of any piece of her being left here.

Zola had obviously been prepared when he stepped into that alley in Dern. He’d had a very detailed plan. The thought made a tingle run up my spine.

The light from the streetlamps carved the angles of West’s face, and his voice had changed when he said my name. That was the first time I’d seen the underneath of him, if only for a moment. And I missed him so badly I could hardly breathe.

There are some things that can’t be carved from a person, no matter how far from home they’ve sailed.

I took the four steps between us, my boots hitting the cobblestones in an echo, and I threw my arms around him. The cry that had been trapped in my throat finally escaped, and I leaned into him, my fingers clutching his jacket. I didn’t care that it was weak. That it was an admission to how scared I was. I only wanted to feel like for a moment, I wasn’t alone. Clove stood rigid, watching around us warily, but after a moment his huge arms came around me, squeezing. “There now, Fay,” he said, one hand rubbing my back.

“You’re not going anywhere until we finish this.” Clove planted a kiss on the top of my head before he started up the street again, his hands finding his pockets. “Finish what?” My voice rose as I followed after him. “You haven’t told me anything.” “We’ve been working a long time for this, Fay. And we can’t finish it without you.”

“You swear it?” I took a step closer, daring him to lie to me. “I do.” I searched his face, wanting to believe him. “On my mother’s soul?” The words made him flinch and his lips pressed into a hard line before he answered. “I swear it.” He shook his head with an irritated smirk. “Same stubborn ass as her,” he muttered.

For the first time since Dern, I felt like I could exhale. He felt like home. As long as I was with Clove, he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. And the truth was, if he and my father were taking down Zola, I was in.

His mouth twisted up on one side again. “Your mother wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing that thing.”

“Zola had just established trade in Bastian when he met Isolde. She was trading at the merchant’s house, and I guess she saw a way out.” “Out of what?” “Whatever she was running from.” He clenched his jaw. “She struck a deal with Zola and took a place on his crew as one of his dredgers. But he wanted more from her than her skill with the gems. I don’t know what happened between them, but whatever it was, it was bad enough for her to pay him everything she’d saved to get off the Luna.” I cringed, trying not to imagine what it could have been. “And then she met Saint.” “Then she met Saint,” he repeated. “And everything changed.” “How did she get him to take her on?” “I don’t think he really had a choice. He was ruined for Isolde the first day she sat down beside him at Griff’s tavern.” Griff’s. I couldn’t help but grin at that.

“I don’t think he really had a choice. He was ruined for Isolde the first day she sat down beside him at Griff’s tavern.” Griff’s. I couldn’t help but grin at that.

“He’s got a lot of demons, Fay.”

“I’m here, Clove. For you and for Saint. You owe me a hell of a lot more than this.” His eyes narrowed. “Owe you?” I lifted both eyebrows, looking down my nose at him. “Saint’s not the only one who left me on that beach.”

“West does what Saint needs done. Whatever it is. And it’s usually pretty dirty work.” “Like Sowan?” I asked in a low voice. He nodded. “Like Sowan. He’s been Saint’s guy for a long time.” “That’s why Saint let him have the Marigold,” I mumbled. He’d earned it. Clove leaned forward to set his elbows onto his knees. “He’s dangerous, Fay,” he said more gently. “You need to be careful with that one.”

Don’t lie to me and I won’t lie to you. Ever. The only promise we’d made to each other West had already broken.

THIRTEEN

Ok so obviously this has to do with her moms past and possibly past family and holland and i just realized what makes that more obvious the name of this book lol

THIRTEEN

Btw obviously this is going to be about Fables connection to someone in her mom’s past, Holland, or someone else who was her family and I just realized one obvious clue to that…. The title of this book being “namesake” lol

AZIMUTH HOUSE. The first word was one I knew. It was a term used in celestial navigation to describe the bearing of the sun or moon or stars from one’s position.

A gust of air whipped around me, pulling a few strands of hair from where they were pinned, and for a moment I felt like I was up on the mast of the Lark, leaning into the heavy wind.