by C. L. Stone
“I never saw him.”
“He wouldn’t have let you see him. But please trust me, it was for your protection.”
He pressed his lips together, looking away from me. “I messed up, didn’t I?”
I put my hand over his, holding the ring he kept fiddling with. “Klaus,” I said softly. “I messed up. We should have done this together. I should have told you what was happening. About Shaytan…”
We were interrupted by Wilhelm coming back. His cheeks paled. His eyes wide. “He only told me after I offered to pay him for information. Seems like they’ve got a room here. Second floor. We should check it out.”
We shuffled through the building, finding the second floor. The room we wanted was at the end of a long hallway. As we walked, a door down the hall inched open. An eye looked out at us, checking who we were. I supposed we seemed uninteresting, because it closed quickly after.
At the end of the hall, Wilhelm motioned to us to get back. “Let me talk to them first.”
Klaus and I pulled back. Klaus stood behind me, masking himself. We pretended to wait at another door.
Wilhelm knocked. With no answer, he knocked again and spoke. “Hello? Are you inside?”
Silence.
I had a sinking feeling. I went back to Wilhelm and touched his shoulder. “Step back,” I said.
With a heavy boot, I kicked hard next to the lock, breaking it with a single strike of my heel. The door flew open.
I entered first, my sword drawn and ready, just in case.
The room was empty of people. The space had two beds, one on either side of the room. Both were unmade. There was a pair of pants in the corner, crumpled and left behind. The desk had a few sheets of torn paper and a pen dripping ink off onto the wood floor.
The whole place looked like it had been vacated in a hurry.
Wilhelm went to the beds, checking out the area around them. “It’s like I thought. They ran off.”
“It might explain where Shaytan is,” I said. “He probably thought to go after them.”
Klaus spoke behind us, looking over our shoulders. “They said we were to meet them next week.”
“They lied,” I said. “They thought to give themselves a head start.” I sheathed my sword and turned to him. “We don’t have much time. How many routes are there out of the city?”
“A few,” he said. “And who is to say they left via the road? They could have taken a ship.”
Very true. If either were the case, we needed to figure out where they were going.
Wilhelm stayed in the room, inspecting the contents. He checked the beds and then underneath them.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m trying to find a hint to where they could have gone. Help me search the room.”
“For what?” Klaus asked.
“Anything that looks interesting,” he said.
I hated to spend time looking for something that might not be there. I didn’t want to wait too long and let them get further away from us.
I dug around in the beds, shaking out the linens. Wilhelm checked underneath.
Klaus checked the pants, finding a pocket. He pulled out some notes and checked them. “There’s a list,” he said. “It looks like names. My father’s name is on it.”
We went to him. It was a list with various names. Most of them were crossed out, Heinrich Roth included.
There was one near the bottom that startled me.
Thorne.
Wilhelm breathed out the name. “Thorne? I can’t believe it.”
“Isn’t that the dwarf you told me about?” Klaus said. “The one that stole from you?”
“It can’t be the same,” Wilhelm said.
I flinched. It was possible it wasn’t him, but a second person. Too much of a coincidence if it was. “I don’t know how common the name is among dwarves,” I said. “But the name itself is of dwarf origin, right?”
Even as I said it, I realized that there was still a chance it was the same. How many dwarves named Thorne ventured out this far from where the dwarves lived?
Wilhelm tapped his fingers against the table we were next to. “At least we’ve got some sort of clue who they might be after next. The name wasn’t crossed out. They aren’t done with him.”
“If we find Thorne, it’s likely we can find these people,” Klaus said. “They’re looking for him.”
I checked the other names, all unfamiliar to me, but then crumpled the paper in my hand.
Maybe I should back off. If it had anything to do with Thorne, I didn’t want anything to do with it.
This could be why Shaytan had followed them and not come back. It was possible he knew that they were after Thorne next and went after them.
However, if that was true, I needed to follow him. I needed to let Shaytan know to let it go.
At least, that’s what I told myself I was doing.
“Let’s go downstairs,” I said. “Talk to people. Ask anyone you can if they’ve seen these people.”
I couldn’t do the same. I figured people wouldn’t talk to me if I was wearing the mask, and they were less likely to if they saw my real face.
I only hoped Shaytan was okay. I shouldn’t have worried about the demon so much, but the longer he was gone, the more I did.
The Return of an Old Friend
When we were back on the first floor, Wilhelm went to the owners, asking questions. Klaus went outside, scouting the area for anyone who might have seen where they’d gone.
The pub on the ground floor didn’t show any sign of Shaytan. Just in case. I didn’t dare approach anyone. Instead I looked around, checking out faces from a distance. All of them were unfamiliar. Most were drunk already, and hardly of any interest.
The room looked to have been abandoned in a hurry so I’d doubted they’d be hanging around the pub.
When I turned to leave, I bumped into someone heading into the pub. He’d been walking briskly, and we collided, my face to his chest. It jarred the mask I was wearing so it fell away.
The man backed up and at first, but grasped one of my arms as if to steady me. “What’s this! Watch where you’re going!”
I covered my face with a hand, not wanting to be looked at too closely. “Many apologies,” I said, willing to pass by quietly, even if he had been the one walking fast enough to trample anyone in his way.
“What? Adelina? What are you doing here?”
When I lifted my head, the Captain looked down at me. His gray hair had finally turned a pale white over the last year and some odd months. His beard was the only thing left with blots of gray. He wore dark, weathered leather clothes.
In my surprise, my voice caught in my throat. He recognized me so quickly, despite the way I looked?
He reached out and shook me by the shoulders. “What’s going on with you? How did you end up in this place? Are you still chasing him?”
“What…”
“Thorne,” he said. “Ever since you left the camp, I’ve kept some feelers out. I heard you were looking for him. Ivan said he saw you a few weeks ago, still searching. But if you’ve the same luck as I’ve had…” He grumbled. He looked over my shoulders and then down at me. He squinted. We were in the doorway, the light not as good here, but it was obvious just how dirty I was. “What in the world happened to you?”
I glanced over my shoulder into the pub and then tugged him away by the elbow. “I was actually looking for someone else, but…” I pulled out the slip of paper with Thorne’s name on a list. In the hallway, away from other people, I told him quickly about running into a family swindled of their fortune and that I was chasing them down. It just happened Thorne’s name came up, and it could be they were after him for some reason.
Captain laughed and shook his head. “That’s our Adelina. Running into danger instead of away from it.”
“You were looking for him, too?”
“Actually, I was in town when I came across word he was taking a boat. The Fa
ded. A ship heading to some island where another ship went down. I just missed him.”
It hadn’t occurred to me why Thorne might be on such a list until that moment. I realized they were crossing out names of people they’d reached to tell them the ship went down. If Thorne had invested… “Wait,” I said. “This doesn’t make sense. Heinrich Roth said it was a ship of spices that went down. Is he going after a sunken spice ship? Wouldn’t all the cargo be ruined?”
“Spices?” Captain laughed, his broad chest shaking as he did so. “No. Why would any man risk so much money over spices?”
I pressed a forefinger to my brow. What could have been in the ship? And why would Heinrich lie about it?
Why didn’t Shaytan tell me he was lying? Or was that why he was suspicious and wanted me to find out?
As I was thinking, Klaus’s voice broke out behind me. “Please step back from her.”
We turned, finding Klaus coming down the hall. He seemed wary and stepped in front of me to face off Captain. “Please, don’t mind us. We’ll go.”
Captain looked to him and then me and then laughed. “Who’s this boy, Adelina? Why does he look like he’ll bite me if I try anything with you?”
“Klaus, don’t worry,” I said. “This is an old friend. He’s okay.”
Klaus didn’t seem pleased still. He shot a suspicious look at Captain but then he turned to me. “We need to get going. Someone outside said they saw the very people I was telling you about leaving via horse on the northern road. We should go after them.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Something came up. I…”
Wilhelm returned, took a look at Captain with us and then seemed concerned. “What’s going on?”
I explained to them what Captain said. “So, Thorne took a boat. It’s the opposite direction.”
“Which way do you think Shaytan went?” Wilhelm asked. “He’s still missing. Shouldn’t we be looking for him first?”
It touched me he was concerned. However, we did come to a problem. Two sets of people going in different directions. Shaytan could have followed either one for my sake. I was torn as to what to do.
Captain stood beside me. “Look, I’ve a boat. It’s small. But if we row quickly, we could catch up to the Faded. Sneak aboard. See if Thorne is there. But it only fits two. That’ll be the fastest. And we’ll need every second to catch up.”
I looked to Wilhelm. I had a sinking feeling as to what we would decide, and I didn’t like it. “I have to try. I have to go…”
Wilhelm swallowed visibly and nodded. “Adelina…we should take the north road and catch up to the men that ran off.”
“What do you mean?” Klaus said, sounding annoyed. “Going two different directions?”
I pulled handfuls of coin out of the pocket of the cloak, giving as much as I could to fill the pockets of Wilhelm and Klaus. “You might need to split up as well,” I said.
“But you can’t just go,” Klaus said. “And what do I have to do? Why can’t I stay with you?”
I was still pulling coins from my pockets as I spoke to him, giving him the most of it. He just didn’t understand. Shaytan was right. He’d follow like a puppy everywhere. And I liked that about him. My heart went to him, for what Wilhelm going north and I going south had to do would be far more dangerous. And who knew how long it would take?
If I got on this ship, how would I find them again?
I captured his face between my hands and made him look at me. “I’ll be back,” I said. “But you have to make the investments needed to help your family. And you should wait at your house in the capital so we can find you again. We can’t help you if we’re running after all these people. You need to stay and make sure your family is taken care of.”
He stared at me with those big blue eyes but he nodded slow. It was up to him now to make investments where his father had failed. “When will you get back?”
I had no answer for him. There was no way to know. “If I’m not back in three years, you’ll know I’m dead. Don’t wait for me after that.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Wilhelm said.
“This is a long journey we’re looking at,” Captain said. “But don’t worry. I’ll go with her.” He looked at me. “It’ll be like old times. Except now we conquer the seas.”
Klaus took the ring off of his finger, and with a quick motion, he broke it in two. He gave a piece of it to me. “Adelina,” he said. “Take this with you.”
I took the piece of ring and looked at the silver metal. It was fractured but it matched the other half exactly.
“Take care of it and come back soon,” he said.
My heart warmed at this. After all the trouble I’d put him through, he still wanted me to return to him.
I kissed them both, and hugged them one at a time.
“I’ll be back,” I said, although I couldn’t promise them directly that I would.
There was no telling when I’d return, if at all.
I couldn’t pray, but in that moment, I wanted to. It burned me inside and out that I couldn’t do so for their sakes.
I hoped I was making the right decision.
I tried to put them out of my mind to focus. It’d be dangerous enough not to be distracted.
I hoped the thunder in my heart would settle, and allow me to see clearly if I was chasing Shaytan or Thorne more.
THE FADED
One day in the luxury of a nice house, and before midnight of the same day, I was in a boat, sloshed around by the wind and waves.
I rowed as hard as I could against the spray, and with Captain behind me, shouting when to row. We found it easier this way with me rowing both oars while he looked on, trying to see the ship in the night. He told me which oar to rest and which one to use to turn. If we were both rowing, it was too easy to lose sight of what direction we were going.
It didn’t take us long before there was an outline of a ship in the distance, with a couple of lights hanging from the front of the hull and from port windows. The schooner’s head sail had the emblem of an ancient rune across it.
“That’s the one,” he said. “I’m sure of it. The Faded.”
Because it was smaller than other boats, it was also faster. But it seemed to have lost the wind for the moment, which allowed us to catch up to it.
My arms burned by the time we got close enough to slip underneath its shadow. We pulled up beside it, attaching Captain’s small boat to the rear of the schooner.
He stabbed the wood of the ship with a small anchor to keep us tied to the back end of the large ship, bringing us in close. With the larger ship moving slow, we were only bounced around by a small wake it was creating behind it.
He whispered to me when I put the oars down. “Maybe I should go in first.”
I was shaking with the effort I’d put into rowing. I was going to suggest I go, but I didn’t think I could climb just yet. I nodded to him instead, breathless. I massaged my arms, trying to get them to stop cramping. It had been a long time since I’d used them in such a way.
I watched as the Captain used the corner of the boat to climb. His body had gotten heavier in the last couple of years from what I remembered, but he climbed with efficiency. There was a balcony off the back, and he went over the rail and disappeared from view.
I kept a hand on the large ship, constantly bringing the small boat closer.
I hoped this was the right one.
But what would I do when I saw Thorne again?
What was he doing on this boat?
I lowered my head, closing my eyes.
What was I doing chasing him for so long? One word he was nearby and I abandoned both Wilhelm and Klaus…and possibly Shaytan.
Here I was, looking for Thorne. In my heart, I knew that to be the case.
Now that I was here, what was I going to do?
I was unclean.
I was as ugly as I thought I’d been when he looked at me so long ago.
Thorne might take one lo
ok at me and demand I be returned to the sea. What a crazy woman to follow a dwarf when she wasn’t wanted.
I wished I had Shaytan.
Or Wilhelm. Or Klaus.
Maybe they could talk some sense into me.
But maybe this was good. I was going in alone. I’d face him, figure out if Shaytan was here, and then escape if he wasn’t. Leaving Thorne to always wonder what was going on. If he ever thought of me after at all.
I couldn’t tell the time, but many moments passed after Captain had disappeared into the ship. I became worried when he didn’t return.
I waited for as long as I could.
To balance myself, I took hold of the ship above me and waited until I was sure before leaving the small boat.
The little boat wobbled more without weight to hold against the wake of the larger ship. If it were going any faster, it would be lost, and we wouldn’t have a way to return.
I left the boat, climbing the corner. The wood was slippery on my fingers, but I used the same spots the Captain had found on his way up.
The cloak hung from my neck, threatening to send me back down, into the water. I resisted it, dragging it up with me. I was sweating when I finally reached the edge of the balcony and hauled myself up and over the rail.
A ship this size could have a lot of people on board. I kept my head low.
The balcony area was empty, with two doors that opened up into the ship. I avoided those and went to the window, sinking down, looking out to sea.
The town we were leaving, the glow of lights…My heart pounded looking out at it.
Klaus was out there.
As was Wilhelm.
Perhaps this was stupid.
A hand reached out of the window, grabbing at my shoulder. Before I could tear away, I was pulled inside.
Reunited
The hood of the cloak was around my face when I was dragged into the ship. I kicked out wildly, but more hands joined in, holding me down.
“Careful with her,” a voice said. “Get her sword before she kills someone.”
With my arms twisted behind my back, my sword was pulled from me as was anything else besides the cloak and my clothing.