Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Harper
G uilt is something I’m intimately familiar with. I felt guilty for living when my father died, and guilty for not falling to pieces like Mom. When she got sick, I felt guilty for being helpless. Now, I’ve chased away the parents of these poor children, and there’s no way to give them back.
Though, watching them eat a full meal does give me some satisfaction. It’s a miracle any of these seven lived. Six boys under the age of eight and one girl of perhaps eleven. However, they are so malnourished that they might be older than they look.
Cara and a young man of perhaps sixteen whose name is Jarol set up a crate and some boxes on the deck with berries, edible leaves, and enough deer meat to feed the children, but not so much that they would overeat and become sick.
All the while, Bert commands the checking of sails and inspection of the keel. He’s in his element. Nainsi helps, occasionally looking proudly at her man. Aaran and Jax are deep in a discussion that likely involves the fate of the children.
I honestly have no idea if bringing them across the sea is a good idea, but how can we leave them behind to starve or worse? They were barely cared for by their people before my magic. We don’t even know if those who ran remember having children.
The girl looks up and wipes her hands on her tattered clothes. She points to her chest. “Tal.”
“Harper.” I can’t help feeling a little honored that she chose to tell me her name. It might have just been because I’m the one still sitting here while the rest argue and work.
She points to Aaran and Jax. “They kill us?”
I’m shocked by her use of English. “No.” My heart breaks. “They don’t know what to do with you, but they won’t kill you.”
“Why?”
I shrug. “They are good.” I touch my mouth “How did you learn to speak this way?”
Cocking her head, she points to her ear. “Queen people talk.”
I assume this means she listened and learned. It also means at some point Venora had her followers here. Where are they now? I shake away all my questions to pay attention to Tal.
On the other side of the dune, the bodies of the Aracan who were killed on the dock are being burned.
Tal points. “No.”
There’s no good way to explain the funeral taking place. I call to Jarnol, “Will you watch the boys don’t get hurt?”
He nods and takes my seat as I rise and offer Tal my hand. “Come and see.” I know she’s young, but suspect she’s been witness to more death than most.
Rather than take my hand, she crosses her arms but follows me off the ship and across the dock. We climb the rough stone steps that go over the dune near the building where Aaran said the shipping business used to take place.
As soon as we reach the crest, the heat and horrid smell hits me. I take Tal’s arm and pull her to the side where we are not in the direct line of the smoke.
The fire towers twenty feet above the ground. Ten elves kneel in a wide circle around the pyre, singing a dirge-sounding song and rocking with hands clasped in prayer. “We did what we had to do, Tal, but no one dismisses your loss.”
She stares dry-eyed while I cry. She turns away and descends back to the port. “Queen killed.”
Following, I jog to catch up. “Why didn’t the queen kill you?”
She stares at the ground as if searching. “Too young to make dark. I girl.”
I point at the ship. “What about the boys?”
“New.” Rage burns in her dark brown eyes. “I hide. Too small before, but…” She runs up the ramp to the deck.
I cannot imagine what that girl has been through, and I’m positive I don’t want to. My gut knots as she storms away with shoulders back and chin up. Swallowing down my emotions, I board the ship and find Aaran and Jax still arguing, only now they are joined by Fancor, Cara, and Dorian.
I step into the center of the circle, effectively stopping the conversation. “The children will come with us. You can’t leave them here even if you know where their parents are. They’ve been through enough. Venora killed all the boys because they were too young to turn. She couldn’t control them. She left Tal alive because she’s a girl. Tal hid the younger ones once she was old enough to understand they’d be killed. We’re not leaving them here.” Without waiting for a response, I walk back to the lower deck where the children are fascinated by Jarnol and his bucket of clean water.
Each one takes a turn approaching the water before darting away and laughing.
Smiling, Jarnol waits for the next one to let him try.
Tal walks to the bucket and cups the water. She rubs it on her cheeks and neck.
Gaping, Jarnol hands her the rag.
She snatches it and scrubs her face, revealing pink cheeks.
When she hands him back the rag, Jarnol grins, his white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. As all the boys follow Tal’s lead and come to wash their faces, Jarnol helps them wipe the grime away.
Bert steps next to me. “Well done, Harper.” He lifts his chin toward the dispersing group on the upper deck.
My cheeks heat.
B y the time provisions and people are loaded and the ropes released from the moorings, we barely make the next tide as it pulls us out to sea. Who knows what terrible fate awaits us in the depths of the ocean? I stare over the railing, my stomach lurching with the rocking of the ship.
Even though I have little idea of the position of things, somehow pulling away from shore feels as if I’m moving farther away from my life, my mother, and any sense or memory of normalcy.
“I will do whatever I can to get you back to your mother and the life you had before.” Aaran wraps his arms around me from behind. His magic hums around me.
My stomach immediately settles. I press my hand over his. “Thank you, but I thought you weren’t going to linger in my thoughts anymore.”
He never said so, but he’s been closing off his mind more and more.
He kisses my neck where it meets my shoulder. “It’s difficult to do what must be done when I feel every emotion you experience. Even when you’re brave, and you always are, I worry that you will put yourself in danger.”
“My father once told me that I’m a survivor.” I lean back into Aaran’s hard chest. “I was eight, and we went to Bunker Hill to go sleigh riding after the first big snow of the winter. I’d been down a few times and couldn’t get enough. It’s as clear as if it happened yesterday. I ran up the hill, my legs burning from the effort, but I didn’t care. I reached the top, put my sleigh in the snow, and down I went. But with all the other riders, the snow started to melt and turn slushy. I hit a rut, and the sleigh stopped short. I went flying ass-over-head and landed twenty feet down the hill. The next thing I knew, my father was lifting me out of a drift. His eyes were filled with worry, but I laughed. It had been like really flying. He checked my arms and legs for damage and my head for bumps and declared me a survivor.”
“You’ve managed to dodge death several times since I’ve met you.” His thumb slowly rubs just under my breasts.
“But if I die, you’ll return to Earth and find some other woman.” It’s not fair to be jealous of that woman or to feel betrayed by the idea of her, but there it is. My truth. I’m expendable.
He pulls in a sharp breath as if I’d hit him in the gut. “I didn’t make the prophecy, and I don’t know if it’s true. I didn’t even know if you would be real when I went through the oracle’s portal. All I knew was I had to hold the magic in place and get you to come back with me in a short period.”
I’m not sure why the idea of being replaced bothers me so much. If I could be swapped out for another human woman, I could go home and leave the problems of good versus evil behind. Would Aaran tell that replacement that he loved her too? Will he forget me as soon as I’m no longer part of his prophetic destiny?
Two of the boys run across the deck.
Aaran kneels and gently takes each by the arm. He says something in their language, and they nod with wide eyes, then walk back to where the other children sit watching the land grow smaller.
I’m sure he told them not to run on deck. “Did you tell them there are monsters in the sea?”
A sad smile touches his eyes. “They’ve had enough monsters in their lives. I told them we didn’t want to have to all jump in after them so they shouldn’t run and promised them a place where they can run for miles at this journey’s end.”
“That must sound like heaven to children who’ve likely been prisoners their entire lives.” Did they even know who their parents were within the group of Aracan who ran away or were killed at the docks? Tired and sad, I step away from the rail and go below, where I’ve been given the smallest of three cabins.
The captain’s suite is quite large and has been given to the children. Cara and Dorian will stay with them and keep them safe.
Bert and Nainsi said they would stay on deck, but Jax insisted they take a cabin as it’s the captain’s prerogative.
I’m happy with a quiet place, even if my stomach doesn’t really love being below deck. With Aaran’s magic, I step inside, and the nausea is gone.
Stepping in behind me, Aaran fills the space.
My pulse thrums fast and hard as I turn to face him.
With one hand around my back and the other cupping my cheek, he stares into my eyes. “You are not replaceable. Whatever Venora or the oracle might think, if you die, I die. Even if I lived, it would be a life of torment.”
There are no words to fill the silence after his declaration. I want to believe him, and I know he believes what he says. “Thank you.”
A short angry laugh pushes from his beautiful lips, and he shakes his head. “I love you, Harper. Maybe that’s prophesied, and maybe not. Maybe I’d be forced to carry out my duty and find another human in your absence. I don’t know. I’m no oracle. I’m an elven man, and I have lost my heart to you, a human woman. It wasn’t smart or planned. This would be easier if I didn’t care for you.”
All I can do is blink up at him. It takes me a few beats to gather enough breath to respond. “I love you too, and probably wouldn’t have come here to help your people if I hadn’t already been in love with you.”
Magic shimmers in the air between us like fairy dust. His eyes shine with so much emotion that I can’t look away or even move. I’m mesmerized by how much he loves me.
I rise on my toes, cupping the back of his neck, and suck his bottom lip between mine. I kiss his top lip, then tilt my head and cover his mouth, exploring with my tongue along his teeth, and when they part, I touch his tongue.
On a growl, he hugs me tight and devours my mouth. Plundering with abandon.
Pressing my breasts to his chest, I can’t get close enough. I wish our clothes weren’t in the way. My clit pulses, needing more than kisses. I wrap a leg around his and pull tighter.
Cupping my ass, he presses his thick cock between my denim-covered legs.
The boat rocks hard to the left, throwing us off-balance and onto the soft mattress.
Aaran breaks the kiss and lands on his forearms in time to ensure his weight doesn’t crush me. Smiling down at me, he cups my cheek. “As much as I want you”—he grinds his hips forward —“and I’m sure you can feel how much I do, there are over a hundred people above and below decks.”
Of course, he’s right. The timing is not good for a morning tryst. Still, it’s hard to release him. With a long breath, I let go. “You’re right. Maybe someday, we won’t have a world to save.” My heart breaks a little. Without a world needing us, will we even be together?
My hands glow rainbow colors. “Aaran?”
Aaran grips my hands, and his loving expression is replaced by a frown. He rises, then helps me to stand, and we rush to the deck.
Beran’s voice rises above the sounds of the sea. “On the port side!”
On deck, we run to the left side of the ship. The rocking of the ocean has increased since we set sail. It’s all I can do to keep my feet and move with the rocking to reach the railing.
Several elves are at the rail, and others hold the children away from danger.
Beran points to the water a few hundred yards away.
Something long and large with scales slips through the waves. It reminds me of all those fake photos of the Loch Ness Monster. “What is that?”
Jax looks a bit green, but nocks an arrow and waits for the thing to rise up again. “Sea dragon. More slug than lizard. They shouldn’t be this far south. The witch queen is gaining her strength back, and she knows we’ve freed her disciples.”
“You don’t know that,” Nainsi argues.
Jax lowers his bow and his jaw ticks. “There have never been sea dragons this far south. You don’t think that fancy rainbow light magic went unnoticed by Venora, do you? Don’t be a fool. It was a kindness to free them, but it gave her our location.” He turns a vicious frown on me, and his eyes burn with accusation.
Dorian takes a bow from a soldier and nocks an arrow, his eyes focused on the water. “It’s not as if there were that many options for her to choose from. Stop blaming Harper for everything you think has gone wrong.”
While I appreciate the solidarity, I can’t help but agree with Jax. I don’t know what I’m doing with my magic. I’m reckless with it and have yet to think through the consequences of my actions.
At the moment, the sea monster churning up the ocean seems like a more immediate issue than how we got here or whose fault it is. “What do they do besides make the ocean rough?”
“Some say they can sink a ship, and some say they can seduce the crew into jumping off the deck.” Nainsi shrugs.
A triangular head rises from the deep, and the sea dragon roars, showing three rows of sharp teeth. Its roar is like a combination of a lion and a gorilla. I have watched too many nature documentaries.
In the distance, another hump cuts through the waves.
I point. “Is that another one, or is it that big?” I’m not sure which would be worse.
“Another, I think.” Aaran stares out at the horizon. “I think more are coming.”
The ocean looks like river rapids, and the bubbling is getting closer.
The sea dragon leaps from the water and shoots its body across the bow, tearing the rigging holding the forward sail. Eight feet long, with spines along its underbelly and scales, it’s a monster out of a nightmare. Glowing red eyes are deeply set into its triangular head. It looks like a snake, and it glares right at me.
It shatters a piece of railing as it crashes against the ship and falls back into the sea.
More are coming fast.
Bert shouts, “Lower the sails!”
Beran replies, “We can’t outrun them without the sails.”
Aaran’s arrow lodges in the head of the monster before it hits the water. “Turn south. Hopefully, they can’t bear the warmer water.”
Jax and the other soldiers shoot arrows at every scale that breaches the surface as our ship turns left and cuts through the waves. Water crashes over the sides as we spear the next towering wave and then another.
The archers stumble aft and continue firing.
I rush to the children who are sloshing from one side of the deck to the other with every wave. “Hold on to each other. We’re going below.” I grab the youngest, named Fort, and pull him to the stairs.
He grips Bor’s leg, the oldest boy, who has hold of two more sprawled across the deck.
I keep pulling until I have Tal’s hands in mine and all seven children are below. I grab the door to their room and the ship tips hard, sending them down the narrow hall. I grip the doorknob and hang for a moment before we’re righted, and I come down hard on my knees. “Hurry. Before the next one.”
They scramble back to me, and I lock us inside the room.
We get to the center of the large bed and huddle together. I put myriad dusty pillows along the walls, hoping it will cushion our fall should we climb another wave or be tossed over.
A sea dragon flies past the window, its sharp teeth bared and its roar shaking the glass. The children scream. It’s all I can do not to join them. Instead, I hug them tight in a group hug, my arms aching with the effort to keep them safe.
The children yell something in their native language.
I don’t know what they’re saying, and can only coo to them softly, telling them everything is going to be okay. It might be a lie. I have no idea if we’re going to survive this. However, I have to believe that if we die here, we go someplace good. Surely the babies will go to heaven or someplace like that. Will I go to heaven if I die in this other world? I shake away the ridiculous thought and renew my grip as another wave sends us all flying to one side of the bed. Another flings us toward the windows. I grip the wooden frame with my ass pressed against the glass and pray the pane holds my weight long enough for the ship to correct itself.
The ship sounds as if it’s breaking in two.
All their hands grip at me from different angles. I’m pretty sure this is exactly like some nightmares I’ve had about hell, but I scream, “Hold on.” As if they know what I’m saying.
We flop back to the mattress in a jumble of arms and legs. Lem’s foot smacks into my eye, and someone’s elbow catches me in the ribs. Everything moves from side to side like water in a bathtub when you stand out of it.
The swaying becomes gentle, and the only noise is from crying children and my own breathing. Kissing the forehead of a little one named Gnal, I dislodge myself from the pile and listen for signs of danger.
Standing with my back to the bed, I grab a broken leg from the shattered desk and hold it in one hand, then pull my knife from the sheath at my side. I wait.
The crying becomes sniffling behind me.
The door bursts open.
I stand ready to defend these babies with my last breath.
Aaran’s welcome form fills the doorway. Blood stains his shirt at the shoulder, and a long scratch blooms red on his cheek. He lets out a breath, as if he’d been holding it for a long time. “Thank the old gods.” He pulls me into his arms.
I drop the wood and hug him.
Little hands wrap around our legs and waists.