by Megan Derr
Even as the scales frustrated him, he could feel his teeth alter. Dragons' balls! What was wrong with him? Rapidly climbing the steps to the top deck, Kyo barked out, "Samé!"
"Aye, Captain?" Samé asked, breaking off his conversation with another sailor. His eyes widened when he saw the scales and fangs. "Are we going to be attacked so soon?"
Kin shook his head. "I don't think so—on such a clear day, I should be able to feel them easily. I don't feel anything, though, and nothing else would set it off."
Samé frowned at him. "What of his Highness?"
The words drew Kin up short, and he whipped around to stare down where Kyo still stood, annoyed that Kyo was staring right back. "I didn't think of that," he replied, realizing it made perfect sense, and that he should have anticipated it himself.
As a royal prince, Kyo had dragon magic in his blood. He was a living embodiment of the sea itself—of course his presence would bring out Kin's merman nature. It had not been a problem at the temple, but then, on land it was much easier to act like a land-walker. Kin turned back around, scowling. "This is going to be a very long journey."
Samé laughed, but wisely did not reply, merely bid him farewell again when Kin stomped off. Returning to his quarters, he was not at all surprised to see Raiden standing entirely too close to a flushed-looking Takara. Raiden glanced toward him—and his brows shot up in surprise. "You're looking toothy."
"Dragons eat you," Kin retorted. "His Highness is problematic."
Raiden laughed. "Indeed."
Kin gestured crudely and replied, "Seduce your secretary somewhere else and get out of here so I can get some real work done."
Takara jerked away and brushed by him to go out on deck. Raiden glared at him. "Just because you are having a bad morning does not mean you have to ruin mine."
"Yes, it does."
"Why must you get so hostile whenever you turn mermaid?"
Kin glared at him. "I am not a maiden, in either form, in any way. Do not call me one, or I shall render the subject of your masculinity questionable at best. I'm a merman. According to everyone, that, in itself, makes me hostile by nature."
Raiden just laughed again. "Mermaids are no more inclined toward hostility than anyone. They are hostile because they believe they have reason to be."
"I could understand that if not for the fact they've been killing and feasting upon their brethren for nine hundred years. Even I do not stay in a snit that long."
Smirking, Raiden replied, "I'll be certain to bring this conversation up in nine hundred years." Kin shot him a scathing look and said nothing as he settled behind his desk. "How is the weather?" Raiden asked into the silence.
"Perfect," Kin said. "The wind is strong and in our favor, and there are no problematic clouds as far as the eye can see. If this holds, we'll make excellent time that should make up for the inevitable storms and attacks."
Raiden nodded. "I am less concerned with the elements and the mermaids and more with whoever may be coming after us in due course."
Kin looked up at that, frowning. "You're referring to the announcement that Kyo was undertaking a journey on behalf of his father."
"Yes," Raiden said. "The ships that were going to serve as his escort will likely be sent to find him."
"Let them try," Kin said. "Out here, they hold no sway, not against me. If they are sailors of any remote worth, they will be certain not to find us."
Raiden smiled. "So fiercely protective and calling him 'Kyo'. Attached already, Kin?"
"Dragons eat you," Kin replied without heat. "I want no part of this, but I am a part of it, and I will not be accused of failing to uphold my end. If his Highness wants to go to Sanhoshi, then to Sanhoshi he will go, and nothing and no one will stop me—not the mermaids, not the royal navy, not the storms. You know that."
"It's why I wanted you to do it."
"I still do not see why you care."
Raiden shrugged. "It's important."
"You and your odd feelings," Kin groused. "Go away. Find my cabin boy and tell him I want more coffee."
Laughing, Raiden obeyed, leaving Kin mercifully alone. He let out a long sigh and leaned back in his seat, wondering what would attack them first. He wondered what it said about him and his life that the threat of a noose around his neck was laughable at best.
He'd crossed paths with the royal navy before, and none of those exchanges had been pleasant. He did not relish actually engaging them in combat. It would not be a fair fight. Whatever the navy had faced, it was not equal to the violence Kin faced every time he left port. He knew piracy had once been a problem, but it had been nearly a hundred years since the last pirate had been executed. No one disputed Kundou's mastery of the sea any longer, and even if they did, the other countries were not as equipped to handle the mermaids and the storms.
Kin grimaced. He could not believe he was going to make of himself a criminal for a prince he did not even necessarily like.
Except he could not shake that single, heart-stopping moment when he had thought that Nankyokukai might be Koori.
He shook his head, tried to banish the thought, and went through the paperwork that he preferred to neglect. His only other options, however, were to nag the men who did not yet need nagging or try to socialize with his passengers.
Kin stared at his hands, the scars and healing cuts and callouses on them. His entire body was a legacy of fights won and lost, both on land and at sea. He remembered Kyo's hand, warm and soft and smooth, pale but not white like his own. He sincerely doubted there was a single scar, not even a scratch, on Kyo's body.
Annoyed with himself, Kin once more banished all the idiotic thoughts and focused on his paperwork. If they were going to Pozhar, he had manifests and permits and itineraries to file because dragons forbid that anyone do something constructive with his time rather than generate mountains of needless paperwork.
Not for the first time, he wished Raiden would give him a supercargo. Dragons forbid that Raiden ever go easy on him in anyway, or stop being so suspicious. Kin fervently hoped the whole 'seduce the royal secretary' thing actually worked because if Takara was just half as efficient as his lot were supposed to be, he would waste no time in hiring supercargoes to handle the goods, and Kin could better focus on just getting from port to port.
He hated handling the cargo.
Grimacing, Kin nevertheless buried himself in his work, pausing only a couple of times to check in with his crew and order food brought. Whatever the others were doing, they had decided bothering him was not necessary. Kin ignored his disappointment because he wasn't disappointed. He wasn't a noble or a merchant or a secretary to fritter his day away chatting and laughing and having nothing better to do. He had to work.
When he finally ran out of work, the watch was signaling sunset. Kin stood up and stretched, yawning so hard he was surprised his jaw did not actually crack. He worked out the kinks in his neck briefly, then set about tidying his desk—and nearly dropped a stack of papers to the floor when the emergency signal rang across the ship.
He bolted outside as the watch began to cry, "Man Overboard!"
In the rapidly fading light, Kin could see it was a great deal worse than that—an entire ship had been destroyed. The wreckage was everywhere; the mermaids had been particularly vicious in tearing it apart. Kin looked for the bodies, though even with the cry he did not expect to find—
There. He could just see two, a slight distance apart. "I'll get them," he said. "Stand ready for attack." He quickly pulled off his clothes, swearing softly at the annoyance his boots always proved to be in such situations, then climbed up and dove into the water, heading for the nearest of the two bodies he had seen.
Reaching the man, Kin grabbed him and began to swim back to the ship. In the dying light, he could just see the man's hair was the color of blood. A child of Pozhar, then. But he swore he had seen the remnants of black sails …
Shaking the thought off, Kin reached the ship and handed him of
f to the sailors waiting to haul him up to the ship. Turning around, Kin swam back to the wreckage, cautious of any lingering mermaids though he had not sensed them. He reached the second man and hauled him back to the ship as well. He waited until the two survivors were safely aboard, then finally let his men haul him back up.
He flopped onto the deck and endured the change, then quickly snatched up his clothes and pulled them on, not looking in the direction of Kyo, Raiden, and Takara as they came on deck, though he could feel eyes upon him. "How are they?" he asked as his surgeon looked the two men over.
"Alive, if barely. They've sustained minor wounds … it looks like this one had severe wounds already though …" the surgeon trailed off, reaching for the bandages wrapped around the one man's eyes.
"Don't!" Kyo said, rushing forward dropping down beside the surgeon, and pulling his hand away. "Do you not realize who this is?" he demanded and lifted the man up, cradling him against his chest. "Taka."
Taka moved forward, eyes wide as he looked at the other man. "Prince Culebra and Lord Krasny."
Kin grimaced. He did not know the second name, but any idiot would know the first. Prince Culebra was the youngest son of the King of Piedre and the mortal reincarnation of the Basilisk, the god of death. His eyes were bandaged because anyone who looked into his eyes immediately died. "Who is Lord Krasny? He's a firechild, that much is clear."
"Lord Nikolai Krasny, Duke of Alkaev, Advisor to the Tsar," Taka said quietly.
Kin swore. "The mermaids have finally gone too far, I feel. Why attack these two so viciously, though? It is only Kundou that the mermaids hate so passionately."
"There is no telling, I suspect," Kyo said. "Take Prince Culebra to my room; I will tend him." Two sailors immediately stepped forward to obey him, and Kin was equal parts amused and annoyed his men did not even glance in his direction to confirm the order.
He did not press the matter because he would have confirmed it. "Settle his grace in Raiden's cabin. Raiden, you can have my bunk. Don't argue with me unless you really want to sleep in a hammock."
Raiden did not argue.
Kin rolled his eyes and jerked his head at Samé, silently ordering him close. When Samé reached his side, he said, "I did not see any other survivors out there, but I also did not sense any mermaids, so send out a boat to search the wreckage. We'll lose time, but we gained plenty already."
"There are no other survivors."
Turning around, Kin quirked one brow at Kyo. "You sound quite certain."
"I would know if they were there," Kyo said softly, and his eyes, for a moment, seemed to shimmer like blue moonlight. Kin felt bumps rise up on his skin, seeing those eyes. "They're all dead. I suggest you get us out of here, Captain." He did not wait for a reply, simply turned and walked off.
Beside Kin, Samé snorted with amusement. "I think it's rich he calls you 'Captain' all deferential, like. Do you think he's that sweet—"
"Do not finish that sentence if you value your life, Mr. Samé," Kin said, ready to kill him just for putting unwanted images in Kin's head. He was relatively certain it was somehow illegal to even think of such things.
"He's a priest, you know," Samé continued on blithely, that awed look on his face visible even in the wavering light of the lanterns.
Kin sneered. "All royals are priests; it's an honorific since they hold divine right to rule. Your saltwater-mad mother knows that, Samé."
Samé laughed then smirked like the veteran gossip he was. "No, Captain. I mean they say Prince Nankyokukai is a true priest, took the vows and everything. There's a few what says they've even attended the prayers he's led in the Royal Temple of the Three Storms."
"That doesn't mean anything," Kin said dismissively. "He's a prince; he can obey or flout rules as he pleases."
"All the same, I bet a king would surrender his kingdom to be the one to make him break his vows."
Kin had heard enough. "You're out of line, Mr. Samé. You want to tumble a virgin, pay for one you can afford when we reach Pozhar. One more word out of you, and you'll spend the journey tied to the mast, am I clear? You also will make certain that these discussions cease amongst the crew. His Highness is not a source of gossip, and if I catch anyone making him such a source, they will suffer worse than being tied to the mast. Am I clear, Mr. Samé?"
"Aye, Captain," Samé said and left before Kin carried out the threat.
Grimacing, more at his own behavior than Samé's, Kin headed back to his quarters, jerking his head at the surgeon to follow. "So tell me more about the patients, Mr. Aoi."
"As I first assessed, they received only minor injuries. I admit, Captain, I find that surprising, but it is not for me to fully understand the mermaids, royalty, or nobility. I am only grateful, like everyone else, that they survived."
Kin nodded in agreement, shuddering to think what Piedre would have done had they lost Prince Culebra to the mermaids. "Keep a close eye on them, Mr. Aoi, and inform me at once should anything untoward happen."
"Aye, Captain."
"You're dismissed," Kin said and sat back with a sigh as he was left alone in his cabin, stubbornly ignoring the unwanted thoughts about Kyo that Samé had planted. He rubbed at his temples and contemplated pulling out the bottle of vodka stashed in his desk.
He looked up when the door opened, annoyed that Raiden could not even bother to knock. Then again, he had as much handed over his quarters to Raiden until they reached Pozhar since there was simply nowhere else for him to go now that they had two more passengers aboard. "Do we need to change course and head for Piedre?"
"No, I don't think so," Raiden replied. "We can confirm that with Kyo, but Pozhar is closer and less turbulent. We will let the Tsar deal with the problem of getting Prince Culebra home again."
Kin nodded. "There are entirely too many royals and nobles aboard."
Raiden smiled. "We will endeavor to keep out of your way, Kin. I hope this attack means they will not launch another any time soon."
"I would not be too certain of that," Kin replied. "Winning a fight always gets their blood up. We will see them in a matter of days, I am almost certain." He gestured toward his bunk and his quarters in general. "Make yourself at home."
"I appreciate it," Raiden said. "You do not actually have to surrender your quarters, Kin. I have and will make do."
Kin shrugged. "It's not like I sleep much, anyway, and I've run out of work to do. Given recent events, I will not be sleeping tonight. I will not be confident the mermaids who did that are gone until I see Pozhar in my glass. Even then, no one is truly safe until they step foot on land. I am going to speak with the watch. I'll have dinner brought, if anyone is inclined to eat."
He walked off before Raiden could reply, hoping that the beginning of the journey did not foretell the whole of the journey.
Chapter Seven: Alone
Kyo held Culebra tightly as he sobbed, stroking his back gently and wishing there was more that he could do, hating there was nothing. He might bemoan his own life and dread the end of his three month journey, but the burden Culebra carried was so much worse. He did not deserve to be so brutally attacked, to listen to the screams as his friends died around him.
Grief washed over him for those who had been lost, for he knew Prince Culebra and his bodyguards well. The civil unrest in Piedre centered around Culebra, and for protection Culebra was often sent abroad, always accompanied by at least one of his two bodyguards.
He wondered if it was some small mercy that only Granito had accompanied Culebra on his latest voyage and his brother had stayed behind. Kyo doubted Culebra saw anything as a mercy right then. He shifted slightly when he heard the door open and shook his head at the questioning look Taka sent him. The door closed again, leaving him and Culebra alone once more.
Eventually the tears subsided, and Culebra's breaths evened out as he fell asleep. Kyo settle him more comfortably on the bunk, and then checked him over more thoroughly for any wounds, using magic to feel for things that c
ould not be seen.
The door opened again, and Kyo turned to snarl at whoever had dared interrupt him again, but stopped short at the look on Taka's face. "What's wrong?"
"There is something wrong with his grace," Taka said. "I fear he will not live if we cannot figure it out, but his words make no sense to me."
Kyo quirked a brow at that. He looked over Culebra one last time then stood and followed Taka to the cabin where they had put Krasny. His frown deepened when he saw how pale and weak Krasny was. Going to the bunk, he let his magic wash over Krasny, feeling him and not liking what he felt. "There's something wrong with him, though I can't place exactly what. Krasny, what's wrong?"
Opening his eyes, which glowed a brilliant amber that stunned Kyo, for he had not realized that Krasny possessed so much magic, Krasny spoke in strange, sing-song words that Kyo did not understand. Though the dialects and accents varied wildly between countries, the words were not usually so incomprehensible. Even he could usually parse the most remote mountain accent of Piedre, and that was a notoriously difficult dialect to learn.
And yet ... the more he listened, the more the words seemed familiar. Then it struck him. He'd never heard them, but he had read them any number of times. It was the ancient tongue in which only old books, like the Book of Storms, were written. Language had evolved much in nine hundred years, and precious few could read those old books.
Kyo read it exceptionally well, but he could not speak it. Why in the Storms had Krasny lapsed into Ancient when he was delirious? That spoke of a very complicated, or at least interesting, upbringing. Kyo suddenly wished he had bothered to get closer to Krasny.
Then he remembered how pointless it was for a sacrifice to build relationships. Bending close to better hear every word, he closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment, he drew back. "I think he is saying something about his boot?" Kyo twisted around—and barely kept himself from jumping when he saw that, at some point, Kin had entered. Kyo tried to make his heart stop beating so fast, but he may as well have wished for the sky. He had thought he would be able to handle being in such close proximity to Kin.