“Be careful, Kembriana,” Elsin said sternly. “I know you're already battle-proven and you're in the best possible company, but the road north is dangerous. Your mother may never forgive me for bringing home Juna instead of you.”
“She'll understand once she knows I'm personally escorting the Veil Spellkeeper,” Kemi said. She indicated toward Iefyr. “Besides, have you seen these two fight? I have, and I feel safer with them than anyone else in Bacra. And if Mordegan Vale is coming with us, we have even less to worry about. Safe travels, Captain Sylleth. I envy the haste of your journey compared to ours, but I can't fly Lenna and leave the others behind.”
“If it comes to that, you must. Remember your importance in this world. You are the next Moonlight Guardian, and you are not replaceable,” Elsin said, his eyes darkening for an instant. He grimaced and shook his head at Tessen. “Didn't mean to make that sound so dire. You're not replaceable, either. My sister's wrath will be even greater than the Guardian's if you don't make it home.” He embraced Tessen and whispered, “Don't worry. I won't tell anyone your secret.”
Tessen startled and his heart jumped from accelerated to frantic. “Secret?”
“Yeah. Rin doesn't need to know you ran off, and no one needs to know Kembriana followed you. Whatever it was you did out there, keep doing it because it's helping you. I am confident that you'll have your ability completely under control by the time we see each other again.”
“Your belief in me means a lot,” Tessen said, his heart calming. “Fly safely, Uncle. I'm looking forward to learning more about my father in a couple months.”
Elsin pressed his palm against Tessen's cheek, then let it trail down his jaw. “Rohir wanted to be a good man, but you already are one. Keep being you, Tessen. I love you.”
“Love you, too,” Tessen said. He squeezed Elsin tightly, then released him. “Yeah, don't tell my mom about that. I've given her enough to worry about.”
Elsin stretched his arms, then bowed into a lunge to stretch his legs. “All right, Juna. Time to go.”
“Sarding sardmuffins,” Juna muttered.
Kemi laughed. “Did you get that one from me?”
Juna shrugged. “People on the surface have more varied words than people below. I'm a surface person now. Might as well learn to speak like one.” He shook his head in dismay as he stared at Ectran. “Sarding damned bat-thing. This is not the freedom I imagined.”
“I won't let you fall, my little friend.” Elsin patted Ectran's side, then tugged on one of the loose straps. “That's what these are for. Bolt yourself down and enjoy the ride.”
“Shitballs.” Juna sighed, than accepted Elsin's help onto Ectran's back. He nodded at Urzal and said, “I already said my goodbyes to Mordegan and Benny, but would you tell Radamar something for me? Tell him he's not as bad as I thought he was, but if he falls back into his Jarrah habits he'll have me to answer to.”
Urzal's nose wrinkled as she put her hands on her hips. “Put the fear of Juna into him. Got it. Good luck, strange, coppery little man.”
“Same to you, whatever you are.”
BREZVA'S GRACE rocked beneath the light of the waxing winter moon. Tessen stood at the stern and stared across the water at the faint glow of Auberline. He hadn't expected Berra to take the ship out to sea, but according to her it was the only way to conduct a wedding without having to file paperwork with the realm clerks.
“Last chance to decide this is a bad idea,” he whispered as Kemi joined him. “I mean, I don't think it is, but you might.”
She linked her arm through his and a nervous giggle slipped from her lips. “Not a bad idea. I'm only jittery because I have no idea what a pirate wedding entails.”
“Privateer, remember. Not pirate.”
“She can call herself whatever she wants. She's still a pirate.” She sighed and watched a pod of dolphins leap through the waves. “And I think she's amazing.”
“You're not thinking about going into piracy, are you?” Tessen asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Not at this moment,” Kemi said. She raised a hand to touch her hair and said, “Look at me, will you?”
He turned toward her and gasped. A crown of tiny shells and sparkling glass beads sat upon her shimmering black hair. She wore a long and flowing dress stitched from silk and gauzy blue-green fabrics, and an aquamarine jewel set in a silver shell hung around her neck. The night sky reflected upon her skin as an opalescent glow. He smiled as his heart danced. “You are so beautiful.”
Suddenly bashful, she blushed. “You're quite ravishing yourself. Where did you get that suit?”
Tessen regarded the indigo fabric of his sleeves. “Urzal insisted I wear it. I'm not sure if it's hers or just something she found. I was surprised it fit.”
“You've lost some weight since Mountain Home. Don't lose any more. I like you a little chubby.”
“I'm not . . . you should've seen me when I was a kid. I tend to eat more when I'm stressed, and childhood was particularly stressful. At least I thought it was at the time. Ask Benny sometime about what I used to look like.”
“Are you two idiot kids ready?” Mordegan asked, one hand on his hip and the other clutching what appeared to be a silver chain.
“Yes...” Tessen said, staring at the chain. “What's that for?”
Mordegan shrugged. “I have no sarding idea. Bladestorm handed it to me and said to hold onto it.” He tilted his head toward the prow. “Come on. I've got mead to drink. You're not getting any, Princess.”
“Fine with me.” Kemi held Tessen's hand and looked up. Auna and Serida stared down at them from a yard, their tails swishing. Lenna soared nearby and occasionally dipped to inspect the dolphins.
They passed a small number of the Grace's all-female crew on their way to the front of the ship. Urzal had assured Tessen that the sailors were all loyal to Berra and could be trusted never to reveal what happened on the ship, but they still made him nervous. He needed to move past that anxiety, though, because they were going to Berra's haven with them, some of them permanently.
Something heavy landed on his head and shoulders. As the fishing net reached the boards at his feet, several sailors grabbed his sides and spun him into Kemi, who was trapped beneath a different section of the same net. He barely had a chance to yelp before they spun him again to press his back against hers. Mordegan's chain wrapped around their waists and a click sounded as a lock was secured to the ends.
Panicking, Tessen flung his arms to the sides, but the motion only tangled him further. This was a trap. They were going to throw them in the sea and laugh as they drowned.
A pair of strong hands settled on his shoulders. Urzal sought out his eyes within the net and said, “Calm yourself, boy. This is part of the ceremony.”
“Being trapped in a fishing net is part of a ship wedding?” Tessen asked, his voice strident.
Urzal's dark eyes glittered as she laughed. “We've got our own traditions out here.”
“Just go along with it, Tessen,” Kemi mumbled. Her voice sounded mildly irritated, but the air around her was amused.
Urzal left them at the center of the sailor circle and stood next to Berra. Benny and her family were next to Berra. Mordegan, who now held a dozing Radella in his arms, stood directly in front of Tessen and grinned.
“You ask for a ship wedding, you get a ship wedding,” Mordegan said. “Don't worry, nothing they do to you will leave any permanent damage.”
“What?” Tessen gasped, and Mordegan laughed.
“He's joking,” Kemi whispered.
“So there will be damage?”
“No.”
Berra clapped once to gain the attention of the giggling crew, then held her hands up. As Urzal translated, she said, «Tessen Sylleth Lim and Kembriana Nyrialor Andaria Zephyrain Lightborn, you have chosen to bind yourselves together. But first, you must find each other. You must free yourselves from the tangles of the greater world and join each other beneath the starlight. »
&nb
sp; Tessen wiggled the net along his sides so he could untwist the ropes enough to face Kemi. “So I guess we...”
“Escape from the net.” Kemi pushed her arms to the sides to test the limits of the net. “It's twisted and tied. I think I need to turn it to the left, then step over you to get out of the chain.”
“Should've worn your dagger.”
“We don't want to start this out by cheating, do we?” Kemi turned around, then shook the net off her right arm.
“No.”
“Untwist the knot under your left arm,” she said, smiling. “Come on, this is fun. It's a puzzle and you know I love puzzles. Give me your right hand and step through this way.”
Berra continued while they helped each other through the knots and chains. «By Brezva's will you have found each other and by Brezva's grace you will be bound. By starlight and water, depths and storms, you have chosen to share a single life from this night onward. You live and breathe as one—one heart, one soul, one love, which no sky can crush and no sea can drown.»
Kemi knelt and ducked free of the net. She turned around and pulled the remaining tangles over Tessen's head.
“They're faster than we were,” Urzal mumbled. She reached behind a crate and produced a metal bucket.
Berra held her hand to her mouth to hide a laugh. «Kemi and Tessen, you have fought your way through chaos and confusion, and now you stand together before these witnesses, who have found no reason to object to your union. They must be held accountable for this. Reach into the bucket, choose a fish, and use it to strike your greatest friend present, who failed in their responsibility to warn you against the ill-advised path you're undertaking.»
“I . . . what?” Tessen's eyes darted between Berra and Urzal's bucket. “You want us to do what?”
“Oh, this is my favorite part,” Mordegan said, laughing. Radella stirred in his arms, but didn't wake beyond a groggy glance at her father.
Urzal held the bucket forward. “Slap your best friend with a fish.”
“I'm not slapping Tessen with a fish,” Kemi objected. She was near tears, but they were strictly born of amusement.
Urzal huffed and shook her head. “No, no, girl. You can't slap your spouse with the fish. Pick someone else. Each of you grab a fish, smack someone, and then toss the fish overboard to be reclaimed by the sea.”
“Um...” Tessen stepped forward and leaned over the bucket. The dead eyes of five pink and orange fish stared back at him. “This has to be the strangest...”
Kemi yanked a fish out of the bucket, spun around, and struck unsuspecting Iefyr across the face. She cringed and said, “Sorry. Sorry. You're the closest I have here...”
Iefyr rubbed his jaw. “You hit me. With a fish.”
Tessen grabbed the tail end of a second fish and struck the other side of Iefyr's face. Iefyr stumbled into Radamar, then righted himself and shook away the force of the impact.
“Sard! Gods damn it all, Tessen,” Iefyr gasped, leaning forward over his knees. “You didn't have to hit me so hard. She only tapped me with it.”
«It seems Iefyr Sealash is well-loved. And well-blamed for this atrocity,» Berra said, laughing. She gestured toward the water. «Now let the sea reclaim the fish.»
“Eww, eww, eww,” Kemi muttered as she and Tessen dropped the fish over the side. Before the dead fish could hit the water, Lenna swooped down and caught them.
“Give them to the sea, dragon,” the sailors moaned.
Lenna looked up at the deck, then regretfully dropped the fish and soared onward.
Without thinking, Tessen scratched at his cheek. “Great. Now I smell of fish.”
Urzal offered them a second bucket, this one half-filled with water and washcloths. Tessen and Kemi washed the fish from their skin, then passed the bucket to Iefyr before returning to the center of the circle.
Berra held forth a golden chain with dangling sea glass charms. She wrapped it in figure eights around Tessen and Kemi's wrists, then stood back and nodded. «Through tangled chaos, with all blame and inhibitions released, by the will of Brezva, I now bind you together. From this night forward and onward to your deaths, you belong to each other. I invoke the reflection of starlight upon the waves and declare you wed.» She nodded toward Urzal, who held up an open leather-bound book and a peacock feather-tipped gold pen. «Kemi, I understand you have chosen to forsake the surname of your birth and instead take on your husband's, so for the purpose of this document you must sign both. Tessen and Kemi Lim, sign your names in this book to forge your union in the blood of the sea.»
Kemi took the pen and signed Kemi Lim, formerly Kembriana Nyrialor Andaria Zephyrain Lightborn. A relaxed smile rose on her face as she passed the pen to Tessen. “I always had too many names, too many letters. I don't want them anymore.”
Tessen signed Tessen Sylleth Lim, then passed the book to Berra so she could scrawl her name on the line marked Officiant.
«Congratulations. You two are now married,» Berra said, smiling.
“Well, that was thoroughly bizarre,” Tessen mumbled. He embraced Kemi and kissed her.
“I think it was fun,” Kemi said. Her giddiness was intoxicating and he couldn't help but relax against her.
Berra cleared her throat, then clapped. «Stand aside, Lims. I have another ceremony to conduct.»
“Huh?” Tessen said, then allowed himself to be pulled to the edge of the circle. He was in a daze now as the joy and amusement of everyone on the ship surrounded him. Kemi's euphoria landed light kisses upon his nerves as it spun him through the spraying foam and roaring waves.
Berra waved him off. «You two are done now.» She turned toward Benny and smiled. «Your turn.»
“She's already married,” Mordegan said. He propped his foot on a small crate and adjusted Radella's weight.
Berra shrugged. «If polygamy is good enough for the High King, it's good enough for our daughter. I've been asked to renew her vows to Radamar while adding Iefyr to their union. We're free from the ridiculous constraints of Azure Realm laws right now, so I'm happy to oblige.»
“All right, then,” Mordegan said, an eyebrow raised. “None of you had better hit me with any gods-damned fish.”
“Oh, but it's such an honor, Dad,” Benny said, laughing. She held out her hands to draw both Radamar and Iefyr into the center of the circle.
Iefyr looked back to give Tessen a playful glare. Elation sparkled in the air between them as he said, “Looks like I'll have my revenge.”
Berra scanned the faces of her sailors. «Ladies, the net. And see if you can make it a little harder for them this time. The first two were practice.»
23
Hael
Itrek finished wrapping Hael's wrist, then folded all four of his hands in his lap and looked at Ragan for reassurance. “Is it satisfactory?”
Ragan leaned across him to examine Hael. “It looks fine. Hael, it's not too tight, is it?”
Hael flexed her wrist. “No. It doesn't hurt anymore. It hasn't for a while.”
“I know, but your muscles are weak so you still need a little soft support there. Gives Itrek a good opportunity to practice on a person, too.” Ragan sat back and nodded at Itrek. “You're good at this. It's a damned shame Ashala won't take you on. My field medic skills will only get you so far. You need to apprentice to a real physician.”
Itrek stared down at his hands. “Ashala is afraid of me. Everyone is, except the two of you. It took many nights for me to find the courage to ask Ashala if she would teach me, and she looked at me in disgust and called me an abomination.” His silvery eyes flashed toward Hael, then returned to his hands. “She said you shouldn't have freed me, that I should have been left to die in the dungeon. Maybe she's right.”
“She's not right.” Ragan patted Itrek's arm and sighed. “You're more than a little alarming to look at, I'll give you that. I see you though, the real you and not what everyone else thinks they see. You're just a kid, and you've got a good mind and a good heart.”
“You are not alone,” Hael said. She shifted her chair closer to him, but stopped short of touching his arms. “I'm sorry.”
“Yes I am, but don't blame yourself for that. You brought me to loneliness but gave me a sense of self and a measure of peace. That is the most I can hope for.”
Ragan's tail flicked at the shadows behind him. “I know what it's like to be called abomination. Heard it most of my life. Half-Fae are anomalies and most are killed at birth, if not before. Some people are afraid of me, some want to kill me, but they don't matter. The ones who matter are the ones who treat me like any other person, even if it's just to quarrel. There aren't many of them, but it's enough.”
“Thank you for that. For regarding me as a person.” Itrek's tentacles rattled and his eyes darted to the door. “Someone is here.”
A knock sounded and Itrek jumped to his feet. Before Hael could tell him to stay, he dashed around the table and shut himself in the cellar.
“Will he be okay?” Hael asked as she approached the door.
Ragan sighed. “Dunno. He's got us watching out for him, but that might not be enough. I dunno how his mind works.”
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