Chapter 62
“You’re going to stay in Elanesse?” Aeliana tried to hide her shock. It felt petty after the last several weeks. But it also felt warranted after she’d all but told Gaeren she loved him. They’d set sail two days ago, and now they finally had a chance to talk alone again, only this was his news.
He tugged on her hand and led her to the stern of the ship where words carried on the wind would get tossed to the sea instead of into sailors’ ears. “It’s not an easy decision, but I have to see things through with my sister. Then I’ll rejoin you in your hunt for the curse and the starbridges.”
He made it sound like each activity would take a month or two at most. “You’re offering to take on your role as throne warden,” she said. “Isn’t that a lifelong commitment?”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, but the wind just flung it right back in his face. “Larkos and I are working with the Recreants. Not just these Recreants”—he gestured at their friends on the ship—“but the ones who want to take down the throne for a democracy.”
“My mother wants a democracy too,” Aeliana pointed out. “Some of the Recreants may want her to lead, but it would be more of a figurehead as a high priestess. The power would remain with the people.”
He considered her words. “That might actually be a good way to explain it to the southern Recreants. It would help unify them.” He shook his head.
“The point is, I’ll be working from the inside to help take down the throne.
The idea is that there won’t be a need for a throne warden in the near future. ”
Aeliana gnawed on her lip before answering. “That sounds dangerous. How do you know they won’t take you down along with your role?”
“It’s far less dangerous than you all taking on the icebergs in the Northern Sea this time of year. I can’t believe Larkos even agreed to it.” He wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. “You’re risking getting there just to have to turn around and take the Southern Horn.”
“I’ll ask Durriken to check on the icebergs if it makes you feel better.” She leaned into him, relishing the way she felt no guilt or twinge on her palm. “But you’re avoiding my question.”
“I guess my safety isn’t a guarantee,” he admitted. “But I can’t just let them kill my family. I’ll protect my sister the same way you want to protect your mother.”
She nodded against his chest, mostly because she didn’t want to pull away to say anything more.
He was right even if she didn’t want to admit it.
Finding Mayvus and figuring out how to destroy her power while protecting Emeris was her priority.
Everything else was trivial. Most especially any feelings she’d developed for a prince who was supposed to be some sworn enemy.
“Sylmar doesn’t trust you,” he added, finally making her pull away to squint at him.
“What do you mean?”
He glanced back at the others. “When we were still sick, Sylmar asked me to gain your trust—to figure out your real motives. He’s worried you’re branded.”
She laughed. “I’m not—” She held up her hands, studying all the scars. “Would I know if I was branded and she’d disguised it?”
“Probably. But I don’t think you’d tell me.” He took her hands in his. “My point is that he’s watching you—he might even ask someone else to spy on you once he hears I’m staying in Elanesse. I admire his diligence, but…”
Aeliana tried to smile, but she couldn’t help thinking about the way her scars seemed to form new cuts. “What if he’s right, except I don’t know it? I’ve had cuts I can’t explain, all the way back since I came to Vendaras. What if she’s doing blood magic through me?”
Gaeren hesitated, running his fingers along her scars.
“I don’t see how that’s possible. The blood she had that night was her only vial.
I’m more worried my parents could be branded again than you.
Maybe the cuts are something you’ve done in your sleep, or maybe they come back because they’re infected.
Or just accidents. You’re not the most graceful woman—”
His words cut off with a grunt as she jabbed him in the stomach. “I’ll have Lukai take a look at my hands, I guess.”
“Trying to drum up jealousy?” He grinned at her. “It won’t work when he’s smitten with Kendalyhn.”
She smiled and wrapped her arms around Gaeren once more.
“Gaeren Elanesse!” Larkos’ voice carried on the wind. “This ship won’t sail itself and my shift is over!”
Over the next several days, Aeliana threw herself into training with Sylmar and Lukai, striving to get her constructive somatic skills back while neglecting the noetic skills she’d gained from Durriken.
The harder she worked, the more progress she made, but deep down she knew it was nothing like she’d been able to do before they’d reached the Myndren Mountains.
Durriken reported that the Myndren Mountains seemed undisturbed, with soldiers still fortifying walls and additional ramparts being built.
She was tempted to ask him to get close enough to check on her mother, but even if the soldiers let him, she didn’t want to put him in that dangerous position—especially since he’d expressed interest in tearing the place down.
Before she knew it, the week it took to sail to Elanesse had passed. Saying goodbye to Gaeren was as hard as Aeliana had expected, and watching him voluntarily walk away and weave through the ranks for final farewells was even harder.
Across the ship, Gaeren ruffled Erech’s hair, then gave Larkos a light punch, pointing at the wheel with a stern glance and probably a warning for the ship’s safety. Then he hopped from the ship’s plank to the dock with Thallahan and Riveran in tow.
Several of the sailors’ demeanors shifted as Larkos gave the orders to set sail again.
For some of them, it was a stop at home.
One they weren’t allowed to disembark for since no one was entirely certain how well this group of Recreants would be received regardless of the prince’s presence aboard their ship.
For others, it was enemy territory, and tension seemed to rise equally across the board.
As they pulled out of harbor, two fishermen stood in their boats, eyes on Aeliana as they touched three fingers to their foreheads and bowed their heads. She shrank away from the bulkhead of the ship and tugged the hood of her cloak over her hair, which had finally grown past her shoulders.
“Remember,” Sylmar said from beside her, “it’s an honor to receive their salute of tribute. They recognize you as Emeris’ daughter. You shouldn’t shy away from it.”
“It’s not the symbolism of the salute that bothers me,” she said, surprised to find her words were true. “Not anymore. It’s that strangers know who I am. With Mayvus loose, it can’t be good to make my whereabouts known.”
“That’s wise.” Pride leaked from his tone even as his eyes narrowed.
“We should consider disguising you at future ports.” He continued droning on about safety measures, but Aeliana grew distracted as Velden approached one of the younger sailors, gesturing with his normal emphatic flair by pointing to his eyes and then over to the water.
The sailor he spoke to frowned, his words making Velden let out a frustrated sigh.
When the sailor sent a nervous glance at one of his comrades, Velden gave his back a good-natured slap, leaving a wet stain that made the younger man shudder.
Velden turned to catch Aeliana’s gaze, and he gave her a sheepish grin before heading her way.
“Can I steal Aeliana away for some training?” he interrupted Sylmar. “I could use some sparring.”
Sylmar initially grumbled, but he was never one to turn down efforts to train her. “Hand-to-hand or dagger-to-sword?”
Velden grimaced at Aeliana. “It never feels fair when she just has a dagger.”
“It’s all I can carry at this point,” Aeliana said. “Especially when I have my bow and arrow.”
“Maybe you should start carrying a sword. You’ll never get used to the weight unless you start sometime.” He passed over his own, and while it was lighter than most of Sylmar’s training swords, it still felt awkward in her hands.
“How about hand-to-hand,” she said, passing it back. Sylmar stepped away and leaned against the bulkhead, folding his arms across his chest and pressing his lips together until they disappeared within his facial hair as he settled in to observe.
Velden muttered under his breath as he tucked the sword away.
“What’s got you so riled up?” she asked. “What did that sailor tell you?”
At first, his face clouded over with irritation, a rare look for his normal jovial demeanor. But then his lip lifted and his head cocked to the left. “Best me and I’ll tell you.”
She snorted her disbelief, but her curiosity was piqued.
So instead of starting with her normal defensive stance, she moved in with a jab at his ribs.
He barely dodged her and briefly lost his balance before laughing and making his own swipe.
They weren’t evenly matched on Aeliana’s best day, but Velden’s distraction seemed to lengthen his response times.
Perhaps it was cheating, but Aeliana let her magic flood through her, desperate to win a chance at hearing whatever had upset him.
He’d been understandably moody ever since Andel.
But that moodiness had shifted to something more calculating.
She’d thought releasing his mother to the sea in Paelen’s waters would lighten his load, but now he almost seemed more distracted than before.
“It was Lady Merinnia, wasn’t it?” Aeliana asked between lunges. Her words came out in a pant, but his eyes still widened in surprise, and she made another lunge for his legs. This time she caught one, and he toppled over, rolling away from her grasp and popping up with unnatural grace.
“You’re using magic,” she accused.
He laughed again. “And you aren’t?”
Her face heated, and they eyed each other once more.
A few of the sailors had stopped working to watch, egged on by Erech’s and Cyrus’ excitement over the sparring.
She couldn’t spare a glance back at Sylmar, but he was probably proud she’d used the magic since she rarely did in hand-to-hand combat.
Lukai had always taught her to fight as if her magic had been drained because that should be the only time she was fighting in the first place.
Thinking of him made her think of Gaeren, which left her distracted and vulnerable. Too late, she sensed Velden dropping for a kick to her knee. She was even slower to catch that it was a feint so he could trip her up instead when she dodged.
She toppled to the deck, where he placed his hands at her throat, calling for the win.
“It’s not a guaranteed win,” she grumbled. “I could get out of your choke hold.”
Velden shrugged and stood, holding out a hand to help her up. “Probably true.”
After taking a long swig, he passed her his flask of water, and the tiny crowd of sailors dispersed when Larkos yelled at them. Sylmar still watched them, frowning, but he didn’t come any closer.
“You’ve improved a lot since we left Bayla’s house,” Velden said.
The compliment warmed Aeliana. “I feel like I’m nearly back to normal, except for my magic.” She glanced at the scar on her palm, the faint reminder of the choice she and Gaeren had made.
Velden held out his own palm, his mysterious broken bond drawing her gaze. “You were right about Lady Merinnia,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t win.”
He chuckled, then let his gaze stray out over the water. “Maybe not. But there is value in sharing one’s burdens with another. And Sylmar isn’t exactly looking to swap secrets late at night.”
Aeliana smiled at the image. “It wasn’t difficult to guess that much.
You’re the only one who hasn’t talked about what you saw in the Seer’s Sanctuary.
I thought you would have been at peace after putting your mother to rest. But if anything, you’re more agitated.
” She pulled out the clamshell and flicked it open, eyeing the gemstone with its myriad colors.
It remained both a mystery and a reminder that she couldn’t possibly save everyone.
“None of us came away from that encounter with the Seer unchanged.”
“No, we did not.” He leaned over and ran a finger over the gemstone. “My mother had one of these around her neck. I never saw her without it, but I never knew its significance.”
“It was a gift from the Sayhleens—before we went to Lady Merinnia. Gellen kept it from me, but when he gave me the starbridges, he also gave this back. He didn’t have time to explain it.”
“Don’t lose it, then. I can’t imagine we’ll go back, but if we do…” He snapped the shell shut and closed her fingers around it before letting his moody gaze settle on something distant across the waves.
“What did the Seer show you?” she probed.
“A bit of my past. I hope some of my future.” His smile turned wistful. “Come to the stern with me and I’ll tell you. Let’s see what you make of it.”