Chapter 23
As To the Deep and Back came into view, Aeliana couldn’t help the thrill that ran through her.
Something about the salty scent of the sea and the wind in her hair felt like home.
She supposed it was because she’d grown up in the Sungazer by the sea with her parents, but she’d been taken from them at too young of an age to hold on to any of those memories.
She would just have to make new ones.
Thallahan and Riveran helped get Aeliana and the other newcomers settled aboard the ship.
Gaeren directed his sailors in their final preparations, and Aeliana couldn’t help admiring this new glimpse of him.
She’d sensed his strong leadership skills in their time together, but because he’d always been under Sylmar’s watchful eye, he’d never had a need or opportunity to display it.
A few of the men grumbled and made comments about the women on board as Aeliana, Iris, and Kendalyhn were given Gaeren’s cabin. But Thallahan was quick to remind them that Orra had brought them luck. And then they kept their mouths shut.
“What luck did Orra bring?” Aeliana asked.
Thallahan chuckled. “I don’t know if it’s actually luck, but everyone loved her all the same. It doesn’t hurt that Gaeren landed squarely on the side of the Recreants after her influence.”
“I heard he was back in his parents’ favor,” she said, unsure if she should mention his parents had been branded.
Thallahan bobbed his head back and forth with a roguish grin that fit perfectly with his eye patch.
“Yes, but then he had the nerve to tell them they were horrible rulers and they should step down. So it’s anyone’s guess if he can return without fear for his life.
You’ll have to ask him for more details. That’s all I’ve got.”
A young boy on the crest of adolescence ran up to Thallahan. “Master Gaeren needs you at the helm. He’s asked me to see to the ladies’ needs.” His face took on a pink hue, whether because the idea gave him pride or embarrassment, Aeliana wasn’t sure.
“Aeliana, meet Erech,” Thallahan said. “Erech, this is Aeliana.”
She held out a hand. “It would be an honor to have your help. I’ve never sailed on a ship before, and I need someone with your experience to make sure I don’t make a fool of myself.”
Erech took her hand and ducked his head. “This is only my third voyage, but I might have some tips, especially if you get seasick or homesick.” When he finally looked up at her, his eager grin made her think of Felk, even though this boy had half as many teeth and no feral instincts.
It wasn’t long before the motion of the ship shifted and they headed out to open waters. Aeliana left the cabin to take in the coastline, marveling at the speed with which they would be able to make it to Andel.
“We should have sailed here from Bamboo Island in the first place,” she muttered as she leaned over to let the sea spray her face.
Sylmar’s unexpected response startled her more than the water. “Even if we’d had a ship, it would have been much harder to arrive undetected, and we would have beaten the army by moons.”
She turned to face him, then sighed at the determined tilt of his chin. “I don’t suppose we can put this off until tomorrow and simply enjoy being on the water?”
His beard shifted into one of his rare smiles. “No, we can’t.”
Gaeren approached, his face more relaxed than Aeliana had ever seen it, his eyes practically sparkling with the joy of being back on his ship. “Did Erech and Thallahan get you settled?”
“Yes.” Aeliana glanced at the overeager boy climbing the rigging. “Erech even promised he’d share his secret stash of sweets if I kept it between him and me. I’m not sure if you suggested he show me the ropes for his sake or mine.”
Gaeren shrugged. “Can’t it be both?”
“I’ll take one of those sweets,” Velden said with a grin as he joined them.
“Sorry,” Aeliana said. “He said he’d only share them with me.”
Velden’s overdramatic pout didn’t concern her.
“I’ve asked Kendalyhn to make sure no one disturbs us.” As always, Sylmar got straight to the point. He led them toward the captain’s cabin, where Kendalyhn leaned against the door, looking beyond bored.
“Wait.” Gaeren rushed to catch up. “What are you doing?”
Aeliana glanced around, but those who were above deck were too far away and too busy to pay attention to her words. “It’s possible we got my spoke wrong when we first tested it.”
Gaeren’s eyebrows rose. “I saw your light shield. There’s no mistaking that.”
She tamped down the warmth rising at his admiration. “Maybe, but it’s been dimming. And when you arrived, I saw memories of your time in Lorvandas. The memories were from Cyrus.”
Gaeren’s brow pinched in confusion.
“We need to test it again,” Sylmar said, confirming Aeliana’s fear.
“In your cabin,” Velden added, then raised his brows.
“Absolutely not.” Gaeren crossed his arms over his chest.
Velden steepled his hands under his chin and glanced back and forth between Sylmar and Gaeren, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
“It’s where the women are staying anyway. Where else can we do it without prying eyes?” Sylmar asked as Kendalyhn opened the door and shooed them all in.
“Which test will you be using?” Gaeren asked. “At the academy, they almost always ended in fire or with something broken. I’m not exactly eager for you to destroy my ship or endanger my crew.”
Lukai hurried across the deck, stepping in just before Sylmar shut the door behind him.
Aeliana twisted her hands. Velden was still amused, but now she had only fear. “I agree. We should wait until we’re on land where it’s safer.”
Her first test had been terrible. It had come on the heels of her years with Arvid and Vera, who had taken her blood to do terrible things.
Sylmar hadn’t meant to prod at that painful past, but the test he’d given her had been an illusion, showing Sylmar taking blood from Cyrus.
It had been meant to push her to heal his wound, recall the memory, or identify it as a falsehood, depending on which spoke was her strength.
If she was a somatic progeny, she would have tried healing him, which is what she had done and why they’d suspected that was her primary spoke.
But she’d also seen the vision of Cyrus being cut, and she’d recognized it as a lie.
At the time, her body had been so bloated with magic, it had been impossible for them to obtain a definitive result.
“It can’t wait.” Sylmar began clearing Gaeren’s desk, placing instruments and papers on shelves.
Gaeren came behind him, rearranging them all with a scowl.
“We’ve already put it off for too long,” Sylmar continued.
“Your magic was muddled by its sheer capacity. We meant to test it again, but then your affinity for healing seemed to make it pointless. Especially once you were able to make light shields. But perhaps that’s your secondary spoke, and we’ve been developing the wrong one.
Now that you’re fully weaned, your magic is settling.
You may not be able to develop that constructive somatic spoke any further, which means we need to identify your primary spoke and develop that. ”
He patted the chair at the desk, and Aeliana reluctantly sat. “Wouldn’t this skill have shown earlier if it were my primary spoke?”
A strange cross between a grunt and a laugh escaped Sylmar’s lips.
“I’m beginning to wonder if it did show earlier and we simply missed it.
I always thought it was odd that you saw Cyrus wounded in your initial test. Even if constructive somatic is your secondary spoke, that leaves constructive noetic or destructive pneumatic as your primary spoke, because they have to be adjacent.
Receiving memories is found on the destructive noetic spoke. So it still doesn’t quite fit.”
“Unless she’s a constructive noetic and she was tapping into her opposite spoke,” Gaeren mused. “It’s far easier for me to take memories, but I can still give them if I’m touching someone. They’re just not as clear.”
Aeliana’s head swam, and she wished she had a copy of the Wheel of Magic in front of her so she could line up their words with a picture of the spokes on the Wheel. “Your memories were clearer than my own when you shared them with me.”
The whole room went still, her words confirming their suspicions.
Sylmar stroked his beard thoughtfully. “It’s possible the combination of you each giving and receiving the memories made them stronger.”
“So I helped draw Gaeren’s memories out?” she asked, “and then I took the memories from Cyrus? How is that possible when I’m not a noetic?”
Even Sylmar seemed stumped.
“So much for magic not changing,” Aeliana mumbled.
“Just because our understanding shifts doesn’t mean the magic has changed.” Sylmar continued studying her, like she was a bug he needed to identify. “Have you received memories any other time?”
She shook her head. “Even the images from Durriken have been more like what’s happening in the moment rather than a memory.”
Velden and Sylmar exchanged a glance. “You see what Durriken sees through your brand?”
“Of course. Isn’t that just because of the brand?
” Even as she asked the question, she knew it was more than the brand.
She hadn’t seen things when she’d been branded to Mayvus and Gaeren.
Unless—had they seen things from her? A new thought occurred to her that left her insides cold.
“I think I actually saw Durriken’s memories when we trapped him in Islara. ”
Sylmar straightened. “You never said anything.”
“There was a lot going on. I thought it was Durriken’s magic, not mine.”
Sylmar rubbed his hands over his face.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
He waved away her apology. “If it is his magic, I suppose you could be tapping into that through the brand. Anything else we should know?”
“I also saw visions in my Awakening.” Aeliana let the words tumble out. Now that she was confessing one thing, it seemed she would confess it all.