Chapter 10
Gaeren debated running across the center of Bamboo Island.
They’d have enough of a head start to lose the ship’s crew, but eventually they’d hit the other coastline, and without a ship of their own, they’d be trapped by the open water.
Their best bet was to face the crew head-on and find some other way to get the upper hand.
“They still have to row in. Let’s find a better vantage point.” He led Riveran, Cyrus, and Rildan down the slope to the rocky beach, exchanging dark soil for brown sand and swapping moss and bamboo for seashells and seaweed. They crouched behind several large boulders to assess the possible enemy.
The black ship loomed over them from where it had dropped anchor a few hundred feet away, and a small boat rode inland. Voices drifted across the water with a confident carelessness that left Gaeren on edge. He made a mental note never to travel without his spyglass again.
“Can we get to the cave?” Cyrus asked.
“What cave?” Gaeren wracked his brain for all the times he’d stopped on Bamboo Island, but there had never been a cave.
“There’s a cave hidden down the shore.” Cyrus pointed north, but Riveran slapped his hand back down behind the boulders.
They all shrank back as laughter rose from the beach.
“Sorry,” Cyrus whispered, “but it’s where Sylmar took Aeliana and me. There’s an underground passage that leads to the mainland.”
“Impossible,” Riveran muttered.
“No, he’s right,” Rildan said. “It’s how I first crossed over from Lorvandas to Vendaras and met Emeris. Sylmar must have hidden the passage years ago, then waited in it for my return.”
“There were only four of them,” Gaeren said. “They probably assume we headed inland. We have the element of surprise.”
He peered around the boulders. Two of the boat’s passengers nocked arrows and pointed them in the men’s direction.
“Or not,” Gaeren muttered.
“Don’t make this difficult!” The familiar voice made Gaeren go still.
He squinted, scanning the men at the water’s edge until a bald head full of tattoos gleamed in the Sun’s light.
“Larkos? Sun’s fire, it’s Larkos!” Gaeren stepped out, hands raised.
The older man stood and waved, but the other sailors didn’t lower their weapons.
“Who’s that with you?” Larkos called out.
“All friends,” Gaeren said.
The sailors set down their weapons and hopped from the boat, dragging it in until the hull scraped against sand.
Gaeren went to meet them, looking beyond the small boat to the ship bobbing in the sea.
Familiar parts stood out to him: the curve of the bow, the height of the stern.
The main mast was the right height, but the sail looked far too worn and weathered.
The ominous black made his heart sink, but the practical side of him won out.
It had to be done. His ship could never be Starspeed again.
“How do you like the look of To the Deep and Back?” Larkos asked.
A grin tugged at Gaeren’s lips at the name, but the sight of the changes was still too fresh, his pain too raw. “She’ll do.”
“She’ll do?” Larkos snorted as he approached. “You’d better have something nicer to say when you board, both for the sailors, who spent hours disguising her, and for her own pride. She’s been testy ever since we traded down her sails.”
“I can’t blame her,” Gaeren said. “It’s like giving a princess rags to wear. You could’ve chosen something a little less threadbare.”
Riveran greeted the other men with slaps and punches, and Gullet squawked from his shoulder, flapping his wings now and then.
It was anyone’s guess if he was happy to see the sailors or irritated at all the commotion.
Gaeren introduced Cyrus and Rildan, and before long they were all squished aboard the tiny rowboat.
“We weren’t expecting so many,” Larkos said.
“Why not?” Gaeren asked. “You knew we went looking for Rildan.”
Larkos gave a sheepish shrug, his tattoos rolling as his muscles bunched with each row. “No one seemed confident you’d be successful. And we thought the other Lorvandan would stay behind.”
Rildan grimaced. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Larkos’ chuckle came from deep in his belly.
“How’s Fay like the eye patch?” Gaeren nudged Thallahan, who sat in front of him, as he picked up an oar to aid in the rowing. Riveran grabbed a second, and they each matched the strokes of the sailor in front of them.
“She likes it more than I do.” Thallahan turned back with a sly grin.
“Says she only has to work to look half as beautiful.” He’d lost his eye in their battle with Mayvus, when they’d been trapped in the northern keep with dozens of soldiers, but at least that was all he’d lost. Breeve had lost his life.
“Did you bring her with you?” Taking a woman on board was never any sailor’s first choice, but they’d discussed the option, knowing Thallahan’s connection to Gaeren might put Fay in danger.
Thallahan shook his head. “But we picked up Breeve’s ma and siblings, plus Erech.”
The pain from the loss of Breeve warred with Gaeren’s eagerness to see Erech. Eventually he grinned when the thought of the stableboy back on his ship won out. The boy was a hard worker, eager to please.
“Oh.” Thallahan turned to Riveran. “We picked up your wife and boy, too.”
Riveran’s hand slipped and he missed a stroke. “How’s Bayla?”
The familiar twinge of anger stirred in Gaeren’s chest, but it was a remembered response.
Now that he knew Riveran hadn’t really left his sister for the other woman, that the marriage had been a lie, it hurt less.
If anything, a new sense of righteous anger replaced the old ignorant frustration.
His parents had forced Riveran to fake a loveless arrangement just to hide the fact that the future queen had been bonded to a man with no magic.
“She’s doing well,” Thallahan said. “And Rox was starting to walk a bit last I saw. We left them with Breeve’s ma in a town just north of Rykarn. Far enough away from the seedier parts, but close enough for the amenities. The women are all set to start over and take care of each other.”
Riveran’s shoulders relaxed, and he resumed rowing.
Thallahan used his good eye to study Riveran. “That baby isn’t yours, is he?”
Riveran glanced at Gaeren as though asking permission for the admission. “Not by blood.”
“And Bayla?” Thallahan pressed.
“She’s more like a sister,” Riveran admitted.
“Why didn’t you bring Fay?” Gaeren asked Thallahan, taking the attention off his friend’s discomfort.
“With our wedding planned for Winter Solstice, her parents felt it best to continue preparations.”
Gaeren let his oar rest on his knees. “They had no problem with you sailing off on a ship bound for the Recreants?”
Larkos glanced back from his place at the bow, his scowl far too serious. “We have a lot to catch you up on.”
By the time they got settled aboard To the Deep and Back, Gaeren was anxious for Larkos to explain himself. The two of them settled in Gaeren’s old quarters, which, thankfully, remained the way he’d left them.
“It appears you’re welcome back in Elanesse.” Larkos leaned back in his chair and let his boots rest up on Gaeren’s desk.
Gaeren grimaced. The older man had gotten far too comfortable in the captain’s quarters while Gaeren had been gone.
He shoved the sailor’s boots off the desk and half sat, half leaned there instead.
“How is that possible? When I left, they knew it would be to aid the Recreants. They had just given Mayvus a crown, and I went up against her. My actions were clearly treasonous.”
“It’s not like I get to talk to the king and queen or get regular updates from your sister.”
“Then how do you know I’m welcome back?”
Larkos grinned. “Your sister sent letters to Bayla for you and Riveran. She must have sifted your future and seen you’d be coming this way.”
Gaeren rolled his eyes. “And I suppose you opened them.”
“It’s my duty to make sure your ship stays safe in your absence.”
“Well, what did they say?”
His voice deepened as he quoted the missive.
“Enla has heard of your valiant efforts to defend our nation’s honor by exposing the dark deeds of Mayvus.
Because of your heroic acts, you are both welcome to return, Gaeren as the throne warden and Riveran as his advisor.
” He opened a drawer and pulled out two letters, sliding them over in Gaeren’s direction.
Gaeren’s eyebrows rose as he grabbed them. “Riveran can return as well? And what will she do about the X on his forehead?”
Larkos shrugged. “The message wasn’t that detailed.”
Gaeren frowned, pulling out the unusually formal letter. “It feels more like a trap.”
Larkos rubbed the scruff of his beard in thought.
“Maybe, but I have to admit it seems genuine. Even before we arrived with our black ship, there were rumors that the king and queen had denounced their connection with Mayvus. I don’t think they’d go so far as to align with the Recreants, but it was still a surprising move. ”
“So a genuine attempt to save face, but not exactly a real desire to do the right thing.” Gaeren had thought he couldn’t be more disappointed in his parents, but they still managed to find ways.
For most of his childhood, Enla had shielded him from the depth of their oppression, but now that he’d fought alongside the Recreants and seen the ways his parents chose their own safety and comfort over the needs of the Vendarans, he couldn’t go back to being ignorant.
Larkos leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “You seem even more bitter toward your family than the last time I saw you.”
Gaeren sighed. “I’m not sure I can go back to Elanesse. I don’t trust my family to look out for the best interests of the people.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. It was the response Larkos had likely wanted for the last five years while he needled Gaeren with talk of Recreants wanting a democracy, but now that Larkos was getting it, he didn’t seem as satisfied as Gaeren had anticipated.
“You can still love your family, even if you don’t love their choices.” The older man’s voice sounded foreign with its softness.
“It makes it harder though,” Gaeren admitted.
And he wasn’t even factoring in all the ways his parents had favored Enla over the years, or how his father had used his destructive somatic skills as disciplinary measures on both him and Enla.
His parents might not want to align themselves with Mayvus, but that didn’t suddenly make them benevolent rulers.
“That it does.” Larkos gave him a sad smile, one more reminiscent of Calia, his wife and bondmate. She would have patted Gaeren on the head and offered him some sweets to go with the sympathy, and his throat tightened with the thought. He was more homesick for Larkos and Calia’s home than his own.
But it was the palace he was being summoned to.
“Is it a command?” Gaeren murmured as he reread the letter. “Or an offer?”
“Probably a little of both,” Larkos said. “We weren’t planning on staying long anyway, but we hightailed it out of there because we didn’t want anyone to connect To the Deep and Back with you. Thought we should wait and see if you wanted the connection or if you wanted to remain anonymous.”
“What was it Aeliana called me?” Gaeren asked. “Braggart Brownbeard?”
Larkos snorted. “I’m sure these men could come up with more formidable names if you’re looking to go the pirate route.”
Gaeren picked up the second letter, but it was sealed. “Riveran’s message was too private to read, but mine was fair game?”
Larkos’ grin turned sly. “I’m not acting captain over Riveran’s ship.”
Gaeren clenched his jaw, staring out the porthole at Bamboo Island’s shoreline. He’d thought they’d need to sail around the southern tip of Vendaras to avoid Elanesse. The trip would have taken at least a moon, but they could shave off more than a week if they went by Elanesse instead.
Except his sister would try to change everything.
He’d told Cyrus he didn’t know what his purpose was anymore, and while that was true, he’d come to terms with the idea that his purpose no longer included being a prince or throne warden. He didn’t want to take those titles on again. Not after experiencing freedom from them.
But what if being welcomed back was the only way he could save Enla?
He still wasn’t sure which deal the sprite had taken back at Lovers’ Falls.
The conniving creature initially agreed to help Gaeren get across the barriers in order to protect Aeliana, but when it suggested Enla would be the one to pay the price for his deal, Gaeren had tried to make another, trading his own life for hers.
Riveran had then killed the sprite, so who knew which deal, if any, had been made?
Guilt swirled through him as he weighed his options.
“We’ll make for Elanesse. Make a point of accepting Enla’s forgiveness, but then take Rildan home. I can’t avoid my sister forever, but I can’t serve her anymore, either.”
“Denying allegiance to the family of Elanesse could lose you more than your title,” Larkos warned him.
Losing his title sounded more like a win, but Gaeren took the older man’s words to heart, thinking of the sister he still loved, the people he still desired to do right by, the palace he’d grown up in with all its safety and security.
Gaeren nodded. “I’ll tread carefully. Hopefully she won’t make me choose.
” He wanted to protect Enla, but there were others he’d made promises to as well.
He pictured Aeliana, the light billowing off her skin like she was a Star herself, then the people they’d traveled with and the purpose he’d felt when fighting alongside them.
“The cost could be high, but the reward will be far greater.”