Chapter 2 A Breakfast Bombardment
Oddly Not Outrageous Odds
Tam craned his neck to peer over the crowds filling the dock. He knew it was a matter of time before imperial soldiers would be sent to find them.
They needed to leave quickly.
“Kraken, do you happen to see or smell where we should be going?” Tam glanced down at his side, where Kraken sat watching the dock activity.
The fluffy cat’s eyes kept being drawn to the barrels of fish that were currently being unloaded from a nearby fishing vessel while Annika the chicken clucked quietly at his side.
Sighing, Tam resumed his search. Kraken was too preoccupied to help.
“Hello again, friends!”
Whirling around, Tam found Bong standing a short way down the dock wearing a deep-blue coat and white pants, his hands clasped behind his back as he smiled handsomely at them.
“Bong!” Luca burst out and darted over to the elder Ryu son, throwing his arms about his waist.
Bong wrapped an arm around Luca’s back. “Goodness, Luca! I think you’ve grown two whole inches since our time together in Junya!”
Luca beamed as he released the Zinferan and turned to Penelope. “This is my friend Bong that I told you about! He’s really nice! Are you coming home with us?” Luca asked as Tam moved forward with Penelope and Eli following behind.
Bong raised an eyebrow at Penelope, who was holding Eli’s hand. This was to ensure she didn’t get lost in the throng of sailors and merchants flooding the docks—and no other reason, of course (she had been quite adamant on that point).
“Penelope?” Bong lifted a questioning look to Tam, who took in a long breath.
“We found her on Captain Woo’s ship shortly after we left Eusa,” Tam explained while gently clasping Luca’s shoulder to stop him from getting swept away by the crowd.
“Ah.” Bong nodded slowly. “I must confess, as much as I am dying of curiosity to know just what all has happened since we last met, I’m afraid that there isn’t much time to spare. Your boat is ready to launch. You all simply need to board the vessel located at the end of the dock.”
Tam smiled appreciatively as they all moved as quickly as possible, with Bong leading the way.
“It’s good you were able to get home safely to Haeson,” Tam said conversationally.
“It was an exceptionally easy journey, thank the Goddess. Jeong had a tougher time, I’m afraid to say, what with the imperial soldiers becoming desperate. However, we received notice that he is home a few days ago,” Bong assured as they moved.
“Thank Gods.” Tam breathed in relief. “Are you and your father alright after last night, by the way?”
“I confess it was a lot more terrifying than I could have imagined. But I must thank you again for saving us. We had thought we were prepared, given that we already knew that there would be a poisoning attempt.”
Tam shot him a serious glance. “I’m glad we got there in time as well.”
The two shared a meaningful look as the weight of what had nearly happened settled over them.
Tam and Eli had interrupted their would-be execution the night before at the orders of the corrupt concubine Soo Hebin, who had also managed to poison a number of guests attending her son’s birthday celebration.
“Will your father be in trouble with the emperor for helping us?” Eli interrupted as they neared the end of the dock.
“Maybe a little. Truthfully, the emperor has always had a bit of a soft spot for my father, so we are not worried. Not to mention I’ve no doubt your sister the queen did something to help you escape that would earn a significant portion of the emperor’s attention and frustration.”
Tam chuckled. “You’re not wrong.”
Grinning, Bong at last drew to a stop, faced them, then gestured elegantly to the last ship at the dock. Distracted by their conversation, Tam hadn’t paid much attention to the boats they had passed, and so he was more than a little taken aback by the ship that sat bobbing in the water.
It was massive. And there were odd hatches lining both sides.
“Erm… This isn’t exactly a discreet ship,” he ventured as he gaped.
“That is true, but its defensive prowess is incomparable. It carries weapons my father has been a key figure in developing.” Bong added the last part in a discreet whisper before continuing.
“In part, we’re sending this ship with you to show your father and the Daxarian king.
We must see to more being built, to help with the beast that troubles Zinfera and the terrible pirate problem.
To do so, however, we will need more investment. ”
Tam nodded slowly. “Alright. Are the designs and details on board?”
Bong gave a slight bow in acknowledgment, then procured a silver key from his pocket. “They are. I have set them in the chest in your quarters.”
Tam accepted the key and stowed it away in his own pocket. “I’ll pass this along to my father and the king. Hopefully we can figure out what to do about the covens soon.”
Bong released a long breath. “It would be good if we could find out a way to settle it all without a war, but I confess that I do not believe we can.”
Tam grimaced, his gaze dropping down to Luca, who was evidently struggling to follow the conversation.
Pushing away his anxieties about war, he tried to buffet the morale of the conversation by saying, “Who knows? Maybe my father has a trick or two still up his sleeve.”
Bong’s smile widened. “Maybe he can be the one to bake those miracle cookies Jeong was requesting.”
Tam laughed and clapped a hand on Bong’s shoulder before pulling him into an embrace. “Be safe.”
Bong gave Tam’s back a hearty thump. “You as well, friend.”
As they all continued their farewells, Tam, Eli, Penelope, and Luca approached the gangplank. A steward waited at the top. It would seem the days of keeping Tam’s identity a secret were over.
Sighing, Tam lifted a foot to move forward when he stopped abruptly.
“Something wrong?” Eli paused to look up at him.
Tam cleared his throat and reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Everyone, head on up. Eli and I will be there in a moment.”
Luca and Penelope blinked. Then, looking at each other, they shrugged and darted up the gangplank excitedly, leaving Tam and Eli behind. Kraken gave a lone meow before he, too, trotted up after the children. The duchess, having fluttered onto the cat’s back moments before, bobbed along as he went.
Once they were out of earshot, Tam turned to face Eli fully and moved both hands into his pockets.
“Eli… You wouldn’t happen to be… Erm. It’s just because of the previous times that I—”
Eli’s attention snapped over to where the children were just stepping aboard as a particularly loud giggle escaped from Penelope.
“Tam, whatever it is you are trying to say, could this not be done on board? We need to leave.”
Tam flushed. “Eli… I’m two for two. So I’m sorry if this isn’t something you want to talk about with me, but I at least have to ask…” Tam let out a long, steadying breath. “Is there any chance you’re pregnant?”
Eli’s eyes went wide, then relaxed as she opened her mouth.
Tam could see in her face that she was about to assure him that was not the case, but then she froze. “Oh… Um.” Concern filled her expression. She dropped her attention to the dock with a manic glint in her eyes.
“Are you serious?” Tam felt a wealth of emotions overtake him. Panic, excitement, disbelief—maybe just a little bit of an urge to laugh at his weird karmic bond with ships and finding out about children that would fall under his care.
“You think I would joke about this kind of thing?” Eli’s voice was already rising in volume.
“Well, it’s only been what… a few weeks? A month? Since we started doing that… that kind of—”
“I need to count, and I need to find out what moon phase we are at right now.” Eli surged up the gangplank, leaving Tam to rush behind her in an equally fretful whirl.
Completely lost in his thoughts, Tam was caught off guard when he and Eli stepped onto the ship and discovered tidy rows of sailors and their captain already bowing.
“Lord Tamlin, it is an honor to travel with you on this voyage,” the men chorused in unison.
Eli had halted right in front of Tam. She, too, was stunned by the sight.
“Ah, yes. Thank you all for… agreeing to lend us your talents for this voyage,” Tam managed awkwardly.
The crew righted themselves, and the captain strode forward.
He was a Zinferan man in his early fifties with a short salt-and-pepper goatee and a shaved head. Clad in a white coat with gold buttons and white trousers, he cut a striking figure against the brilliant-blue sky.
“I am Captain Sun, my lord. It is good to meet you.”
“Ah. Right… Right. This here is—”
“Lady Elisara Ashowan, I am told,” Captain Sun interrupted. He bowed to Eli, stunning both of them into silence.
Jiho must have repeated Harris’s announcement that they had married.
“Uh… Yeah. Yes.” Tam cast a nervous glance at Eli. He worried that she would be upset about this news, but at the moment, she was staring blindly at the ship railing as if struggling to remember something.
Presumably the date of her last courses.
Tam swallowed with difficulty.
“This is Luca, my son, and Penelope,” Tam finished introducing the children, careful to keep Penelope’s tie to them ambiguous.
“It is a delight to meet you all.” The captain smiled affably at the children who, during the introductions, had casually sidled closer to Tam and Eli.
“Now, I am given to understand that we are in a great hurry to reach Daxaria, and I assure you, my lord, I will do my utmost to see you all arrive there safely as quickly as possible. The witch named Henrietta has already been secured belowdecks as per Lord Jiho Ryu’s orders. ”
“Thank you, that is appreciated.” Tam lifted the corners of his mouth. “I’m afraid my… my wife is not feeling well. I’d love to make your acquaintance better along with the rest of the crew soon, but might we be shown to our quarters now?”
“Mom, you’re not feeling well?” Luca peered up at Eli fretfully.
It took a beat, but Eli eventually blinked herself back to the present. “I just need a bit of time. I’ll be fine, Luca.”
The captain gestured toward the stairs that would lead belowdecks gracefully. “Not a problem, my lord and lady. Men! Prepare to cast off!”
★ ★ ★
Eli sat scribbling at the large, heavy desk pressed under the impressive bank of windows that made up most of the back wall of her and Tam’s quarters.
“Alright, so… your last cycle was… ?” Tam paced the large expanse of the cabin, his steps cushioned by the sprawling cream carpet that covered most of the floor.
“It had finished that day in Eusa when I drank with the old couple.”
Tam swung around in alarm. “That was ages ago!”
Eli’s glare snapped up. “It was not. It just feels like ages ago.”
“Well, a few days after that your parents came, and another day or so after that was when we stole the pirate ship. That was our first night together,” Tam argued.
“Yes, but it was still too early! It shouldn’t have been a risk for another week, and we didn’t do anything for a while afterward because the children were with us and we were steering the ship in shifts.”
Eli leaned back in her chair, looking a little more confident, but not entirely at ease.
“With the time sailing and then two or three weeks in the mountains, though? You should have had it since then!”
Tam watched her eyes fall back to the page as she gnawed on her tongue.
“We were intimate quite often during the week I trained with Wixim,” she recalled warily. “But I should have been close to my—” She stopped talking and instead made an aggravated noise as she leaned her forearms against the desk.
Tam rubbed his face with both hands before driving them with great force through his hair. “There is no chance that you had it and forgot, is there? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but we have had a lot happening.” He approached the desk.
Eli’s eyes fluttered closed, and she inhaled deeply. Tam could tell that this question was trying some very sensitive nerves.
Deciding to lighten the mood, he risked speaking again. “I mean… I did warn you that my family is pretty—”
The withering stare Eli gave him when her eyes opened encouraged Tam to close his mouth in a timely manner. After a careful moment of staying perfectly still, he decided to move despite the narrow-eyed look Eli kept giving him. It was not unlike a cat debating swatting something irritating.
Tam knelt at Eli’s side, prompting her to turn toward him, and gently clasped the hand that remained curled into a fist on her lap.
“We’re going to be fine.”
She didn’t say anything.
Tam forced himself to come up with perfectly reasonable reasons for her missed cycle. “It’s possible you aren’t… expecting… and it’s just the stress of everything.”
“Even when I was starving and enslaved, I never fully skipped one,” Eli muttered, her gaze homed in on the page of notes she had made.
“Do you even feel as though something is different, though? Maybe it’s just a bit late.”
Eli didn’t look convinced.
“What if the hard training in your beast form with Wixim changed things?”
At this, Eli’s eyebrows rose, and her expression lightened. “That would explain it!”
Tam smiled. “See? No need to stress.”
Sighing, Eli at last relaxed back into her chair.
Tam, still holding her hand, raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.
“You seem more terrified of pregnancy than you did fighting a dragon,” he observed softly.
Eli tensed at the reference of the battle she’d almost engaged in with the golden dragon named Wixim. They hadn’t wanted to fight, but his loyalties remained with the first witch at the time of their last confrontation.
Tam could see that she wanted to snap at him, but when she locked eyes with him the combativeness ebbed away.
“Tam, now is really not the time for me to be in any kind of altered condition.”
“I know. But just as you wisely said that first night we had together, we can handle it if that happens.”
Eli arched a wry eyebrow at him. “Are you pretending that you weren’t about to faint moments ago?”
Tam continued smiling, though he forced a good deal of innocence into it. “While I’m good with children, I’m… admittedly… quite nervous when it comes to pregnancy.”
“It does kill a lot of women,” Eli agreed somberly.
Rising back up, Tam pulled Eli into his arms and gently rubbed her back.
“Let’s not assume anything. I know there is a physician aboard, so if you really need to know, we can go to him.”
Eli said nothing in response, but her arms gripped him a little tighter.
Tam hoped she couldn’t feel his heart hammering in his chest. The truth was, he hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with his suspicions. Between his family’s history and his odd fate with boats, an overwhelming sense of inescapable destiny nipped at the back of his mind.
But Eli didn’t need to hear that. So he bit his tongue and made the silent decision to start paying close attention to Eli’s well-being for the voyage.