Chapter 20 Rada #2
I shrugged. “Maybe not a huge one, then. A small tuna, the length of my arm. That’s all I’d need for me, and I’d have scrap for more bait—oh, I’ve got something!
” My line had gone taut as I chattered, and the pole almost slipped out of my hands.
I shouted with excitement as the thing struggled on the line, then shouted again ten minutes later, when the fish gave up fighting me, and I’d pulled it over to the side.
I laid it at my feet, grinning so wide, my cheeks hurt. “Isn’t it perfect?”
“Yes,” Alexios murmured, looking out at the sea for some reason.
“A tuna exactly the size of your arm.” I ignored him and pulled out my dagger, dispatching the fish quickly, then carving into the side of it, marveling at the red meat.
It practically melted in my mouth, and the salt from the seawater was all the seasoning it needed.
“I would’ve done a lot of things for a meal this good back in Rimholt. You don’t know what you’re missing,” I teased. He didn’t answer, and I wondered if I’d offended him. “Lex?”
He was still staring out at the water. After a moment, he shook his head. “I thought I saw something.”
“The ice dragon?” I asked, pulling my dagger out again. The sea was still calm, but I trusted his intuition.
“No. Something else.”
An hour later, when nothing had happened, both of us relaxed a bit, though I kept my blade handy.
It was my turn to steer, and Alexios went under the tarp to rest. The sun was warm on my shoulders, so I took off my cloak, feeling lazier by the minute.
Alexios mumbled something about me needing water.
“Not yet. Should’ve picked up some wine from the village, though. That would make this trip perfect.”
Alexios chuckled drowsily, then went silent.
I steered us east, humming a sea shanty I couldn’t remember learning, until I saw something bobbing in the waves.
I thought it might be driftwood until it floated right next to the boat.
I set the rudder, then leaned over the side, my pendant dipping into a wave and soaking my front as I grabbed what turned out to be a bottle, stoppered with cork and wax, with a net of thin, braided ropes wrapped around it.
My top had gotten drenched, and my trousers were halfway there, so I stripped and laid my clothes over a water barrel to dry, then examined the bottle.
Grabbing my dagger, I pried off the wax seal, pulled the cork free, and sniffed.
I’d grown to like wine over the years, though I was more partial to potato whiskey, or sharp apple cider.
But I’d had some of the best wines in the world at the tables of my friends and family.
I knew what I was smelling, and when I let a drop hit my tongue, I also knew something wasn’t right.
There was nothing else out on the sea. No selkie heads bobbing, no weird ice dragons. Nothing suspicious at all, except the excellent wine that had come to the boat as if I’d ordered it from an invisible servant.
The wind was cool on my skin, but the bumps that rose there weren’t from the cold. “Lex,” I called out. “I think we’re being watched.”
He was by my side in an instant, his eyes going wide at my naked state before he blinked. He noted the bottle I’d pulled aboard, then glared at the sea. “Where?”
“I didn’t see anything, or anyone,” I said slowly.
“But… this is weird, right? I said I’d like wine, and then this shows up?
Could it be from Kellin?” Maybe he’d followed me.
I half-stood, searching for him in the water.
“Hope it’s not from Lachlan.” I was almost certain it wasn’t.
I could feel him, like a splinter under the surface of my mind, and he felt far away.
“Throw it overboard,” he suggested.
“Taste it,” I threw back. “I’ve stolen diamonds worth less than the wine in this.”
He didn’t drink, of course. He stood to get a better view of the waves, and I realized he’d taken his shirt as well as his robes off and had put them all away somewhere before sleeping.
His smooth, hairless chest, the tight, perfect muscles flexing as he held onto the single mast and examined the water, made my head spin faster than the wine would have.
“I really do need a drink,” I muttered and lifted the bottle to my mouth.
“Accepting gifts from strangers?” Alexios grumbled, looking up for some reason, his scowl deepening.
“From strange oceans, sure,” I shot back. “I suppose it could be from a merman or something.” I cupped a hand to my mouth and called out, “You have fabulous taste in wine, fish boy!”
No one answered, and I took another drink. It really was the best wine I’d ever had.
“Are you planning to sail naked today, Mina… ah, mistress?” Alexios asked, an odd tone in his voice.
“My clothes got wet,” I replied, ignoring the sweet, minty scent that rose as his eyes moved over my skin.
“Don’t fall asleep and get burned.” He dropped to a seated position, closing his eyes in meditation. “A merfolk mate?” he said softly. To himself, I thought.
I ignored him and drank some more, keeping an eye on the waves. “The only thing that might make this an even better trip would be—” I hiccupped. My twenty-eight orgasms, I had been about to say, but then I wondered. What if this wine wasn’t from Kellin?
What if there was a merman around? I wouldn’t want to give him any ideas.
“Don’t get any ideas, fish boy,” I grumbled, then took another small sip, looking up as an albatross flew high overhead, its wings locked in place. “But if you want to send more wine, or a tin full of honeyed cakes, it’s a free ocean. I won’t stop ya.”