Waters of Salt and Sin: Uncommon World Book One

by Alisha Klapheke

  “Well done, kaptan!”

  “I didn’t doubt you’d be the one, Kaptan Kinneret.”

  “Thank you.” I showed my palm to each in turn and handed out smiles like gold dumplings at an Age Day celebration.

  The fighters parted for Calev and me.

  “Do you want me to talk to her?” Calev asked. “Because I don’t think you do. She is a vicious woman, but she respects you. She doesn’t seem to care that you used Salt Magic. You got us through with only a few losses.”

  “No. I’ll talk to her. I-I can’t believe what she did to Ifran.”

  My mind speared me with images of Ifran, of the woman who’d admired Calev, and the handful of other sailors we’d lost. Their faces, pale, bloodied, shocked by Death’s arrival, would never dissolve from my memory. I pressed a fist to my throat, making my own throat-blood oath.

  “I will never forget those we lost,” I said. “I will say a prayer for them every day I sail the Pass.”

  Calev blinked and made the Fire’s sign on his forehead, his thumb circling the center of his headtie.

  It was the very least I could do for them. How was I going to face the woman who’d kicked Ifran into the water before he was even dead?

  I could barely stand to look at her proud gait and the back of her red leather vest. I wanted to make her pay for what she’d done, but she was also Avi’s savior. I couldn’t take the amir down without also destroying Avi’s chance to escape the quarry. My stomach curdled and I gritted my teeth. There wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

  For now.

  The amir walked, back straight and head held high, about ten knocks up the foothill. My feet began to complain. Then my head. My stomach. The excitement of everything was fading in my fatigue. I didn’t want to waste sun eating and sleeping. But soon, I’d have to listen to my body, or it would shut down.

  At last I was at the amir's elbow. Berker walked right beside her.

  “My lady.” My throat was dry and I could barely talk. I needed rest and water. “The silver is just there.”

  I pointed as she stopped and looked at me, disdain clear as the sky in her eyes.

  “What do you know about silver mines, sailor?” Berker wrinkled his nose.

  The amir faced him. “You will call her kaptan, Kaptan Berker Deniz.”

  “But, my lady, that was only a position for our journey here. That time is over. She should know her place. She is—”

  “Enough,” the amir said, her bell voice cutting instead of pleasing.

  Berker’s throat bobbed. “Yes, my lady.”

  Calev and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. I fought a mean grin, then decided to let it loose. Forget Berker. He deserved the treatment he received.

  Pointing the way we’d come, Calev squinted against the sun. “Do you see the outcropping on that far slope, below the mountain with the waterfall, my lady?”

  “I see it, Calev ben Y’hoshua.” Lines formed around the amir's mouth as she frowned. She took a very deliberate breath. “Did you spot the metal yourselves?”

  Nodding, I said, “In one opening, raw silver sits in calcite. It’s an easy site for a mine, my lady, and one that’ll make the both of us very rich.” My voice sounded hollow on that last word.

  Calev whispered in my ear. “Are you unwell?”

  I smiled, my mind whirring. “No, I’m fine.”

  Calev spoke to the amir about traditional mining methods, and my thoughts turned inward.

  Though I was more tired than I’d ever been and desperate for food and water, I actually felt as though I’d been healed of some horrible sickness. The gnawing need for silver, wealth, power and status, it was silent inside me. I had Calev, at least as a friend, and Oron, and with the silver and the amir's help, Avi’s safety. Once I had my own quick and sturdy boat under my feet again, I’d be complete.

  I studied my hands. They still looked like my own. My hair was still red-brown and unruly. A strand bounced back after I tugged on it. I appeared the same on the outside, but inside I had changed completely. I was no longer a ravenous fire, needing kindling and something to devour. I was the steel made in the fire, hard and strong, but quiet until the sharp edge was needed.

  And though things seemed to be trotting along the path I’d forged, I had a distinct feeling I’d call out for that cutting blade inside me very soon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Growing pink, the sun fell out of the blue sky and hid shyly behind the jagged mountain peaks of Ayarazi. I rubbed my sleep-crusted eyes and sat up from the carpet of grass near the silver outcropping. The amir had insisted on seeing the silver herself before she would believe our story, so while the crew repaired the damage the ship had sustained during our trip, Calev and I led her around. Satisfied, the amir had called us together to eat. Finally. Most had fallen to sleep soon after.

  For a part of our meal, Oron had crafted a salad of greens he claimed were safe to consume. Said they were the same ones we had at home, only smaller, tougher. I’d enjoyed the fresh food, a contrast to the hard bread and slightly sour wine. None of the others, except Calev, had munched on Oron’s creation. Calev had gone so far as to add a plant his Savta had once described in her stories as having a healing power to it. After the others had their fill of food and of laughing at our green-eating habits, everyone fell asleep, exhausted from the journey.

  I smiled at Calev’s sleeping form. He argued sometimes with Oron, but he was kind to the man, backing him up around the others. And though Oron claimed to love pity and the shower of undeserved attention it reaped for him, I knew he wanted true friendship. I hoped he saw that he’d found it in Avi, me, and now, in Calev.

  Snores rose into the air around the camp, and I was glad of it. As soon as that sun came up, we’d be on the water, headed toward Quarry Isle and Avi. If the amir kept her promise.

  I popped my knuckles and patted the salt pouch on my belt. I was ready for a fight with the oramiral. Maybe I’d get the chance to take a hand from the man. He needed something to remind him he wasn’t the only power in the world.

  My whole body was jittery. No way I could go back to sleep.

  As the last of the sun’s blush faded, an odd glimmer lighted the foothills and the spray in the distant waterfall.

  I shrugged it off. The island was full of things I’d never seen before. Instead of the tiny, violet nightwingers we had at home, Ayarazi’s evening air was colored by floating silver moths, big as my hand. The ocean crashed magnificently against the barrier surrounding the island, a louder sound than the Pass’s constant grating against Jakobden’s Broken Coast. And no night insects seemed to be coming out to sing. The nightwingers at home zipped near ears, a familiar sound. But here, there was only the occasional pounding of horses’ hooves, the waterfall’s rush, and the sea hammering the rocks.

  The inland light glimmered again, and I found my feet walking toward its inconsistent illumination.

  It was strange to be alone on land. I’d been alone on the Pass many times. But on land, I’d always had Avi, Oron, or Calev. I stretched my arms wide, inhaled the clean air, and said a silent prayer for my sister into the moonlight. The moon actually looked lovely when you didn’t have to worry about Salt Wraiths. That was land’s only advantage over water. The earth didn’t talk to me like the sea did. It wasn’t an extension of my own body and spirit and heart. Ayarazi was beautiful. Awe-inspiring. But I was ready to get back out on the water.

  The land dipped down before coming to the waterfall, and as if it’d heard my thoughts on land versus sea, the thick grass tripped me. With both hands, I caught myself and cursed my stupidity for walking into the night with only the moon, enormous insects, and a mysterious light to keep me company. I’d walked a good forty knocks from where we’d camped. If I hurt myself way out here, it’d take Oron and Calev a long while to find me.

  Nearing the waterfall, I tugged everything off, except my underclothes, and made my way through a heaped circle of moss-covered, round stones to the pool
. The cold air brushed over my exposed skin and I shivered. Beside my sash with its compass, salt pouch, and dagger, I knelt on the rocks to wash dirt, salt, and sand from just the edges of my skirt, shawl, and shirt. I didn’t want to get them too wet or I’d be shivering all night. As the spray found my cheek and neck, I gasped. I’d expected the water to be cold like the air here, but it was warm as sunshine. I rubbed my gritty clothes, scrubbing the journey off the ruddy fabric. My face was rough with salt and sand too. I needed a bath.

  I slipped into the cloudy pool. Goosebumps exploded up my arms and a heavy sigh left me. Perfect.

  A dark shape came out of the darkness and my heartbeat shot into my ears.

  Lunging for my dagger, I held it up. “Who is it?”

  Calev’s dark laugh rumbled from the shadows.

  My eyes closed in relief. “You scared the life out of me.”

  He knelt beside the pool, a grin pulling at one side of his mouth as he took in my bare shoulders.

  My cheeks burned. I tossed my dagger back onto the rocks and took a step back.

  “It’s warm. The water. I thought I’d take a bath.” I swallowed.

  “Not a bad idea.” Standing, he began to shed his tunic, pulling the long, now tattered fabric over his head.

  My heart lost its hold on any kind of rhythm, clacking wildly fast and slow and everywhere in between. It’s not that I hadn’t been in underclothes with Calev before now, but something about the moon and new environment made this…different.

  Bending at his trim waist, he slipped off his headtie, his sandals. His chest and shoulders were smooth and curved with lithe muscle and bone. He straightened, his eyes going very serious and a cocky grin tweaking his lips.

  It suddenly seemed as if there wasn’t enough air. I turned around. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, Calev…I…if we—you could become…well, I can’t stop worrying…”

  Water splashed and lapped around my crossed arms as I faced the waterfall, spray cloaking me.

  “How about we stop worrying and enjoy this hidden moment on this legendary island.”

  He was right behind me.

  Every inch of my skin caught fire, and I couldn’t breathe let alone form a response to this insane statement. His hands found my arms, and he brushed hot fingertips from my elbows to my shoulders. I shivered. My stomach dipped.

  “Kinneret…”

  His lips rubbed against the tender skin on the back of my ear. A molten heat in me twisted high, snaking into my arms and legs. I couldn’t take his chest against my back anymore or his breath in my ear. It wasn’t enough. The golden heat wanted more. I wanted more.

  We couldn’t do this. I would not do this to him.

  “Calev,” I said, gritting my teeth, “you’ll be Outcasted if anyone sees us. We were fools dancing on the amir’s boat. I won’t be your fun for one night, then left to pine for you.”

  He spun me around. “Do you really think that’s how I feel about you? That you’re one night of pleasure for me?” He swallowed, his gaze going to my lips. “Even if you weren’t a kaptan now, which will please my elders, I would still want you forever. I know that now. I could never only be your friend.”

  “I’m not really a kaptan. The amir was humoring me to get here. Until I can convince your father to take me on as Old Farm’s kaptan—”

  Calev was shaking his head, smiling. “I don’t care about all of that. All I want is you.”

  He braced my head in his hands and kissed me.

  My fingers covered his and my argument dissolved into the mist around us. I pressed into the kiss. His lips tasted salty and sweet and warm and wet from the waterfall’s spray. He drew my top lip into his hot mouth and let one hand slip around my neck, back to front. His fingers paused, moving against the pounding pulse in my throat. His stomach brushed mine and what had been a molten glow inside me became a raging storm of heat, uncontrollable, consuming. His skin dragged over mine, and storm tossed my heart into blind joy of red flames and whipping lightning strikes of pleasure. I pulled back, gasping and grinning, to see his smile, that smile I adored, and his hair, curled and dark and soaked against his beautiful, lucky head. Drops of fresh water dotted his brow and the side of his nose. He was a creature from another world, as foreign and alluring as Ayarazi itself. Before I could throw myself back into the kiss, a branch snapped beyond the pool.

  My mouth went dry and my heart stopped.

  The amir appeared out of the shadowed moonlight.

  Calev’s eyes went wide and blank.

  A fever gripped me and prickled against my temples and palms. I started to speak, to address her politely to cover our crime, but before I could utter a word, Calev dove under the water. He came up out of the pool to stand beside the amir.

  Silver flashed from his hand. It was so dark, so difficult to see. The amir grunted, an ugly sound, and fell to the grass. Her feet jerked, she moaned, then went still.

  My arms went cold. “Calev, what—”

  He turned, and a wavering light poured out of his mouth and dissolved into the night. The blankness in his features melted away, revealing his kind eyes and soft mouth. Blinking, he looked from me to what appeared to be my dagger. It dripped blood onto his shaking fingers.

  Bile rose in my throat.

  He’d stabbed the amir.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  My hand went to my mouth. “Calev.”

  Dropping the dagger, he stammered, saying my name, then hers, making incoherent noises. “I didn’t do this. Kinneret. The amir is dead. I didn’t…what happened?”

  I was cold all over and not only because of the temperature.

  “You killed her. Did you plan this?” I couldn’t think. My thoughts whirled, dark and slippery as eels.

  Calev ran a hand over his wet, chilled head. “No. Of course not. But I don’t even remember having that dagger. Why would I…”

  With her dead, I had no one to send fighters to get Avi. Berker would take charge now and Avi would be left to die. He’d, at the very least, Outcast me for the magic and take a hand for good measure. Calev would be put to death for murder. Old Zayn would blame himself, even though it wasn’t his fault. It was mine. And Calev’s. But why?

  My lungs fought for a breath that wouldn’t come. “Why did you do it?”

  “I’m telling you. I don’t know what happened.”

  A black knowledge swept over me.

  He’d been Infused.

  The light that had left his mouth was a wraith’s Infusion—the evil will that possessed those touched by a wraith’s shadow.

  Ever since that night on my boat, he’d been Infused.

  “It all makes sense now.”

  “What? Talk to me, Kinneret!”

  The occasional darkness in his eyes, unblinking. The times he’d stared like Death itself at the amir.

  I swam to the side and climbed out, careful to avoid the bloody dagger in the grass. Shivering, I picked up my skirt and used it to clean his hands, looking into his face.

  He was pale. Too pale.

  “Calev. Listen to me. You were Infused. Remember the night in my boat? When the wraith flew over us? Since then, I’ve seen odd looks in your eyes. You acted strangely toward the amir. I didn’t know…it was always something quick, gone before I could realize…”

  “Infused?” He swallowed, allowing me to keep holding his hands. “But it’s been so long. Can it work that way? And why would I wish to hurt one person?”

  I pulled away from him and lifted his tunic. Helping him pull it over his head, I said, “I’ve never seen it happen that way before, but I’ve heard of it. The wraith felt different that night too. Do you remember?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t.” His gaze flicked to me, his eyes widening. “I don’t remember feeling the wraith at all.”

  “That’s not uncommon. Lapses in memory. No recollection of being Infused. The wraith, this one felt…intelligent. Sharp, focused.” I dressed quickly, my pulse like a frightened
rabbit leaping and screaming in my head.

  Calev put his hands over his face. “Do you think it meant for me to specifically murder the amir?”

  “I just don’t know. But it seems that way.”

  “If Berker and the amir's fighters see this, if they find me here…”

  “You’re dead. Old Farm or not. We’ll find another way to help Avi. Somehow. Some way.” Moonlight draped like death shrouds over the sloping hill leading to the camp near the silver outcropping. “We have to get off this island before they wake up or they’ll take you to Jakobden for a trial and you’ll be sentenced to death. First, we’ll hide the…body.”

  Calev looked to the sky and heaved a shuddering breath, nodding.

  We put hands under the amir’s arms and shifted her into a clutch of thickly leaved brush past the waterfall.

  “They’ll see that someone dragged something through here. Look at the mud,” Calev said.

  “We don’t have the sun to worry about it. We have to go. Now.”

  His gaze followed my own over the meadow. That strange glistening, silver light undulated around a boulder near the first rise and over the camp.

  “They’ll never believe I was Infused,” he said. “I wouldn’t believe it. I would never believe the Infusion could be aimed at one person.” He rubbed his face. “Fire, help me.” Making the sign on his forehead, he trembled.

  “We’ll sneak into camp, wake Oron, and take one of the small boats from the beach.”

  Running alongside me through the damp grass, Calev took heavy breaths between his words. “One of the small boats? On the Pass? But they’re even smaller than yours and they don’t have sails.”

  “It’s not as if you, me, and Oron can run the amir’s ship. It takes twenty to do that. The small boat is our only choice. And I have Salt Magic.” We’d probably die. But I had to give it a go. There was nothing else to do.

  “What about a Wraith Lantern?” Calev asked.

  I’d never been so cold. My fingers were ice, my feet frosted. “We’ll steal one from the ship.”