Chapter 13
Eldric leaned out and shouted loud enough to ring down the stairs. “Gisela! Where are you? Come up here at once and show our guests to some bedrooms!”
“Coooomiiiiinnggg!” Gisela sing-songed. Her soft pair of feet danced up the stairs, and she popped up in our hall. She waved her brush at us. “I’ll show you to the nicest rooms in the whole place.”
Eldric narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t give them mine.”
She sheepishly smiled at him. “But it’s the best room in the house.”
“No.” He ducked back into the room and slammed the door shut.
Ramaro wrinkled his nose. “He’s as polite as ever.”
Gisela hugged her duster against her ample chest and squealed. “He is the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen, isn’t he? I just want to hug him to myself every waking minute, and even in bed.”
I choked on my surprise, and Ramaro flicked out his tongue. “That was an image I didn’t want to see.”
Gisela clasped her hands behind her back and batted her eyes at us. “Well, why don’t we get you to some nice rooms? I could draw you a warm bath and clean your clothes while you scrub all that nasty salt air off your skin.”
I tugged at my heavy overcoat. “I could really go for a bath.”
Theo turned to me and bowed his head. “This is where we part. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Larkin. I hope we’ll see each other very soon.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t you sleep here?”
He straightened and chuckled. “No. The professor wouldn’t have it, and I have my own practice, which requires me to be in and out at odd hours.”
“Then you’re a medical doctor?”
His eyes twinkled. “Some people call me that, and others call me other things, but if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going. I dare only leave my practice for an hour or two before my clients might come calling.”
“Well, thanks for your help with, um-” My eyes darted to the door, “-with what happened in there.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Miss Larkin. I was glad to help. Good morning.” He bowed his head once more before he slipped down the stairs. The front door opened and closed.
Gisela waved her feather duster in front of her face and sighed. “That man is so in love.”
“Is he?” I asked her.
She giggled. “Of course! The Lady Iris is his client and his unrequited desire. He’s been head over heels in love with her for years. He never misses one of her concerts.”
My eyes lit up. “She’s a performer?”
Gisela paused in her duster waving and frowned at me. “You’ve never heard of Miss Iris Dolios?”
I sheepishly smiled and shrugged. “I, um, I’m from a small island. What does Dolios do?”
“Why, she only has the loveliest voice in all the islands! She sounds like an angel, and looks like one, too. Even after all these years, she’s still as bright as a star.”
“A mound of makeup will do that. . .” Ramaro mumbled.
A yawn from me interrupted our conversation. Gisela’s smile softened, and she grasped my hand. “Come along, dear. Let’s get you to bed.”
Gisela guided me down the hall and passed many doors. We reached the end of the corridor, and she opened the portal that stood there. The open doorway revealed a small but elegant room wth an overplush bed and hearth. A dresser and rugs finished the furnishings.
Gisela stepped inside and nodded at a door to our right. “That leads to the bathroom. You’ll be sharing it with that cutey Captain Marc, but I don’t think you’ll mind.”
A faint blush accented my cheeks. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”
She winked at me. “I’m sure it will. I’ll go make up something for you to eat-”
“We’re fine,” Ramaro spoke up as he sauntered into the room. “We ate before we came here.”
Gisela puckered her lips out in a pout. “Well, foo, and I so wanted to treat you to my specialty. Well, if you change your minds, just ring the bell above the bed.” She waved her duster at my attire.
“And if you need a nightshirt, there are some spare shirts of Eldric’s in the dresser.
Good morning.” She tilted her chin back, tucked her feather duster under one arm, and stomped out, closing the door loudly behind her.
I looked down at Ramaro as he marched past me and to the bed. “What’s that about her food?”
He climbed the bed and plopped himself down on the plain but soft sheets. “Let’s just say that if everyone were forced to eat her food, many people would die of starvation.”
I took a seat on the edge of the bed beside him. “Does she burn it?”
“Nope.”
“Undercook it?”
“Nope.”
I huffed. “Then what does she do to it?”
He twitched his snout. “She overseasons it.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Surely it can’t be that bad.”
“Have you ever tried a steak with so much seasoning that you felt like you were chewing on a gravel pit?”
“Um, no.”
“Or soup that was so thick with herb leaves that you had to chew every bite?”
I held up my hand. “Alright, I get the picture.” I paused and leaned back to study my companion. “But what I don’t get is you.”
He flicked out his tongue. “What about me?”
“Why are you in here?”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “I just thought maybe you’d want to sleep with Marc. He is your captain, after all, and you two know each other. Why are you always wanting to be around me?”
Ramaro curled himself into a ball and shut his eyes. “Don’t you have some sleep to catch up on?”
I snorted, but leaned back on my hands and stared up at the ceiling. My heart grew heavy. “I haven’t heard anything from up there.”
Ramaro’s tail twitched. “Of course you haven’t. Nobody can hear anything through the magic barrier around the attic, or didn’t you wonder why that bubbly woman didn’t go rushing in on us during your storms?”
I bit my lower lip. “Do you think Marc’s alright?”
My companion sighed and lifted his head to look at me. “You worry too much. He’s been through worse things than that.”
I cocked my head to one side and examined my friend. “Like when he got that Draconis Veil?”
His tongue flicked out. “That’s not something you should be asking about.”
That only piqued my interest more, and I leaned toward him. “Why not? What’s so secretive about that magic?”
“It’s not a good idea to have your enemies know about your strengths, so it’s not a good idea to go blabbing about it.”
“So is that why Jaeger didn’t know what was underneath the patch?” I guessed as I thought back to that confrontation. “Does the Admiralty even know that’s what pushes his ship along?”
His tail thwapped against the bed sheets. “They have their suspicions, and that’s the way the captain wants to keep it. Let them do their guessing while he floats rings around them.”
I winced. “He’d still be doing that if I weren’t here.”
“He went after you, knowing the risks,” Ramaro insisted as he sat up.
“Just being a pirate is a risk, and messing with the Mercanaries and the Admiralty is part of that risk.” He wrinkled his snout.
“Besides, if it didn’t have a risk, it wouldn’t be worth it.
No treasure easily gained has ever been worth snatching. ”
I studied my friend’s scaly features. “Am I worth it?”
Ramaro cleared his throat. “Yes, well, that fool thinks so, and he’s the captain. What he says is what we obey.”
I dropped backward onto the bed, and the mattress bounced a little under my weight.
My eyes stared up at the ceiling, but they didn’t take in any of the sights.
I was too busy thinking about all the adventures I’d had since I’d found myself in this strange world.
Wondering about my future. Curious and terrified about the people who were searching for me.
And listening for the footsteps out in the hall. Always listening.
I shot up when I heard two sets of feet stroll down the hall. One shuffled more than the other. Ramaro whipped his head toward the door.
I leaped out of bed and across the room, but I was too late to open the door. Marc stood in the doorway, a faint smile on his lips. “You should be asleep.”
I choked on a laugh. “So should you.” I looked him up and down. “You look pale. Did everything go alright?”
He patted his eye patch. “Perfectly, thanks to you.”
Someone cleared their throat behind him, and Eldric stepped into view. “And more than a little bit of my brilliance.”
I smiled at the modest fellow. “Thank you. We really appreciate the help.”
Eldric’s eyes rolled up to Marc. “I wonder.”
Marc half-turned to him and grinned. “I’ll make sure to capture twice the supplies you need next time I go trawling.”
“And see that it doesn’t spoil on your way back,” Eldric added before he turned his attention to me. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long night, no thanks to my ungrateful nephew. Goodnight.” He inclined his head and disappeared into one of the rooms down the hall.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Marc mused as he stretched his arms above his head. “I think I’ll hit the hammock, too.”
“You’re sure you’re alright?” I asked him. He did look deathly pale, and the flesh around his patched eye had a purplish tinge to it.
He dropped his arms to his side and smiled at me. “I guess I’d be lying if I said the spell is easy on me, but nothing happened that hasn’t happened before.” He brushed a finger against the bruised flesh. “Including this. Just give me a few hours of good rest and it’ll go away.”
“So let the captain get to it,” Ramaro chimed in from the bed. “I’d like some myself.”
My shoulders slumped a little, but I grasped the side of the door. “Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded at a window behind me. “I’ll see you later today.”
I half-turned and noticed a faint glow on the horizon. The sun was coming up. A small smile slipped onto my lips as I turned back to him. “I guess you’re-” The doorway was empty. I leaned out and beheld an empty hall.
My face drooped and I ducked back in, where I closed the door. “Does he always have to be so mysterious?”
“He does that with all the ladies,” Ramaro commented as he curled himself into a ball and closed his eyes.
I took the chance to privately slip into a nightshirt from the dresser before dipping into bed. A faint chill teased my nose, and I burrowed beneath the covers. Sleep soon came to me.