Chapter 26
We stepped out and found ourselves in the cool air of early evening. The sun would disappear behind the broad, blue horizon in two hours. Marty stepped out after us and waved goodbye. “I’ll send out the deckle tomorrow morning. You should hear something from them within two days.”
“I’ll watch for them,” Torvus promised as we strolled down the meadow path.
I lifted an eyebrow at my companion. “How will the birds find us if we’re out at sea?”
“The deckle have a temporary magical connection with the person who hand-wrote the note,” the captain explained as he flexed his fingers. “They could find them, even if they were halfway around the world.”
A teasing smile slipped onto my lips as I looked over the captain. “Speaking of around the world, how many women have you been around with?”
He grinned back at me. “I try my best to make time to admire nature’s beauty.”
“Marty made it sound like you always have a woman on one arm.”
“Sometimes two. I don’t like the other arm to think it’s being left out.”
I snorted. “I guess all pirates are alike, even in a different world.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Do you know any pirates where you’re from?”
“They’re a rare breed unless they’re stealing movies or music.” He had a blank look on the first stolen item, and I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Either way, I don’t know any pirates like you.”
His eye sparkled as he gestured down at me. “There’s no one else quite like me.”
“Modesty is one of your most admirable traits.”
“I try.”
I held up the bird and studied the plumage. “This guy doesn’t have a lot to be modest about. I’ve seen people fold paper into birds, but this is really complicated.”
“The Carters used to fold their birds by hand, but one of Marty’s great-grandmothers was from a family of tailors. She crafted the scissors you saw him use. The magic in them allows the user’s imagination to create a bird from a mere piece of paper.”
My eyes lit up. “Is that why he had all those books about birds? So they get ideas?”
“Rynek doesn’t have as much variety as the world,” he pointed out.
I smiled at the little bird on my arm. “Where did they dream you up, Pen?”
“Pen is local,” Torvus told me as he nodded at the branches of one of the scrag trees. “Look up there.”
I lifted my eyes to the branches and beheld a dozen small birds. They were shaped like Pen, with plumage of bright green and orange. Pen flapped his wings and paper cawed. The birds answered with their own chorus.
My eyes widened. “They can talk with real birds?”
“I just hope this one doesn’t talk too much,” he mused as he eyed his new passenger. “The crew might get it into their heads that the cold nights need a fire starter.”
Pen ruffled his feathers and screeched at him.
Torvus grinned. “You might not know how to speak human, but you understand us well enough, don’t you?”
“Should I really be taking him?” I wondered as I bit my lower lip. “He is a family heirloom.”
“There’s no problem with Marty.”
Something in the way he phrased that caught my attention. “But someone else might have a problem with it?”
“You might make Ramaro jealous.”
“That’s something about him I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I mused as we continued toward the beach. “Ramaro doesn’t usually like humans, but he does seem to have attached himself to you.”
“No.”
I pressed my hand against my pocket where I’d placed the package of scales. “He doesn’t usually give out gifts, either.”
A crooked smile slipped onto his lips. “Not if he can help it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be a good pirate.”
I smiled at him. “Your crew isn’t the bloodthirsty type, are they?”
His good humor faltered a little. “That would depend.”
My blood ran a little cold. “On what?”
“On what they’re fighting for,” he told me as he stared ahead of us. “A man fighting for his life can be quite brutal. A man fighting for his crewmates can be a monster.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I. . .I see.”
He stopped and turned to face me. There was a dark look in his eye that made me shrink away.
His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, arresting my retreat.
“I don’t think you do. There’s darkness in the seas, darker and deeper than any of those waters.
Men do terrible things in that emptiness.
Civilization only tolerates them because it doesn’t know the terrible deeds that lurk in their shadows. ”
I could barely get any words past my dried lips. “A-and you do?”
He opened his hand and drew his arm back.
“You can’t sail for as long as I have without seeing the worst of humanity.
Ramaro’s seen it, too. I don’t want you to get a fanciful idea that sailing on my ship will be sea spray and sunshine.
You’ll see blood and worse, so that it stains more than just the decks and the seas. ”
I wrapped my arms around myself, making the bird on my limb squawk and flutter onto my shoulder. “I. . .I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so stupid.”
His tense shoulders relaxed, and he lifted his chin. “There’s no sense in your apologizing. You did nothing wrong, you’re only naive.”
I frowned and turned away. “You don’t have to scare me like that. You could just say I’m stupid and get it over with.”
I felt him step closer to me. “I didn’t say you were stupid, just naive.”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s the same thing.”
He grasped my upper arms and turned me to face him. “It’s quite a different thing.”
I blushed under the intense gaze of a single brilliant blue eye. “Then you still want me on your ship?”
“More than ever.” He leaned forward and captured my lips in a deep, passionate kiss.
By the time we parted, I was out of breath. My cheeks felt like they were on fire, and a wonderful, warm thrill raced up and down my body. I could only cast glances at his face. “Is this how you lure all your women into getting on your ship?”
His crooked smile reappeared. “Only the ones worth luring.”
“How many has that been?”
“You’re the first.”
I whipped my head up and blinked at him. “Really? But all the women Marty mentioned-”
His chuckle interrupted me. “They were beautiful creatures, but most of them couldn’t stand the ocean. Half of them would get seasick watching the tide.”
“So I passed that low bar by being able to stand the ocean and not lose my lunch on your ship?”
“And your gift intrigues me,” he added as he jerked his head toward the shore. “Let’s go see what you can do.”
“Do?” I asked him, but he had already started walking. I hurried to catch up. “Do what?”
“With a sword, and with that voice of yours,” he revealed as his fast pace covered the ground. “Ramaro told me you sang me a song yesterday. It was a lullaby.”
I blushed and turned my face away. “So he heard that.”
“I heard it.” I whipped my head up to him. He had turned his face so his bright eye stared at me. “Ramaro just confirmed my suspicions later.”
Some of the color drained from my face. “So you were awake?”
He lifted his chin slightly and furrowed his brow. “Not exactly. I knew I was sleeping, and then your song wrapped around me. I could feel something change inside my body. Some of the weariness left me.”
My eyes widened. “And you thought my singing did that?”
“We can find out.”
We soon scooted down the rocky path and onto the smooth sandy beach. Night had nearly fallen, and the city was alive with twinkling candles and oil lamps. The busy wharf was now nearly a ghost town, and revelry drifted down from the hills that dotted the city.
Torvus turned to me and jerked his head over his shoulder at the gentle bay waters. “Sing something loud and sharp.”
I cocked my head to one side. “Why that?”
“I’ve heard you sing soft and low. Now let’s see what happens when you sing loudly.”
To say I was nervous was a lie. I was trembling as I walked past him and within a foot of the gentle rolling waves. Their constant rhythm provided me with an opener, so I took a deep breath and sang.
The song I chose was one of Tim’s favorites, not least of which because it had been one of the first ones he’d written. He loved to hear me belt it out, giving my all as I sang of treachery and vengeance.
The tune in the waves began to change with every note I sang. The gentle splash turned into a sharp crash and kept rising. I faltered and scurried back, intimidated by the rising tide as it now lapped against my toes.
Torvus came up to my side and caught my eye. “Keep singing.”
My face drooped, and I stabbed a finger at the waves. “I don’t want to drown.”
“They’re already retreating. Try again. You need to see what you can do.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean you need to see what I can do?”
He grasped my shoulders, and a teasing smile danced on his lips. “Aren’t you a little curious to know why you were brought here? What can you do?”
I slumped in his grasp. “I’m more afraid than curious. . .”
He brushed a finger over his eye patch. “If the water becomes too much, I have a way to tame it.”
My eyes flickered over his cover. “You still haven’t told me how you got that.”
“Later,” he assured me as he pointed me at the bay. “Now try again.”
I sighed, but took in a deep breath and began my song. The waves quickened again, and this time the air filled with its own frenzy. Like on the ship, little crystals formed around me. The coming starlight cast its light over the air gems, reflecting their glory like stars themselves.
I couldn’t help but smile at the glorious sight that cast its soft glow over us. Torvus held out one hand and cupped a crystal in his palm. The water twisted into a helix that floated above his hand and slowly turned, sprinkling its light across the sand like a primitive film lantern.
My joy was interrupted by a sudden exhaustion. I stumbled, and my singing ceased. The crystals crashed down around us as Torvus caught me. He lifted me into his arms and against his chest.
I cupped my forehead in my hand. “I’m. . .I’m sorry. I just suddenly felt tired.”
“You’ll get better with practice,” he assured me as he adjusted my position. “Let’s get back to the ship.”
“Did I do okay?” I wondered as he carried me along the beach.
He grinned. “You made the heavens jealous.”
I blushed, but a smile also appeared on my lips. He was warm and I was tired, so I snuggled into his hold and enjoyed the ride.
Our smiles would have been cleaned off our faces if we had seen the small circle of bubbles that popped up a quarter of a mile out at sea. With the dying of my voice, the bubbles settled, but something remained unsettled.
As we were soon to find out.