“My thoughts will always be with you,” Lavinia whispered into Darag’s ear as he loosened his arms.
His eyes never left hers, but he said nothing in reply. Instead he lightly touched a necklace she now wore. Ria had not noticed it before, a simple chain with a smooth wooden pendent. It was unadorned except for the glint of a green stone set to one side.
Lavinia held the necklace in her fingers as she stood on the deck of the boat, her eyes on Darag. Niri untied the last of the ropes while Ty raised the sail. Lavinia did not move, her blue eyes bright with tears watching the lone figure on the dock until the boat rounded the edge of the small harbor of Drufforth. She swallowed hard as the forest closed off her view. With a quick swipe of her eyes, Lavinia bent to pick up the bundle Niri had placed on deck.
“I see you have a new necklace from your boyfriend.” Ty’s voice was caustic.
Lavinia stiffened, glancing towards her brother from the corner of her narrowed eye.
“He isn’t my boyfriend. He is my husband.”
Lavinia walked down into the cabin without looking back. Ty stood dumbly, rooted to the deck like a misplaced figurehead. Ria watched him warily, as the tiller pole pivoted freely. Niri barely hid a smile, her eyes flaring to aqua blue as she summoned her power. The boat turned true, no longer floundering in the confused water.
The empty and nameless dread that had disappeared during her time in Drufforth washed over Ria once again. Ty sat slowly onto a bench, unseeing of the world around them. Niri stood with one foot on the ship’s rail, her gaze south as if she was trying to see all the way to the Temple of Dust. Ria shivered and followed Lavinia below.
Lavinia stood in the center of the main cabin staring around in confusion. Her bundle of clothes dangled from her limp arm, nearly scraping the floor. Ria giggled.
“Darag didn’t tell you then? It was his idea. The Kith grew the ship bigger. Darag didn’t think such a small boat would be safe for the southern crossing. Look, we each have our own cabin now!”
Ria gave Lavinia the tour. Four doors now opened off the main cabin instead of two as well as larger windows, a skylight where the mast and listlessly swinging sail were framed, and a more organized galley. Ty no longer had to sleep on the Captain’s bench in the main cabin, but had a small room next to Niri’s in the bow of the boat. Two identical cabins with small beds, wider portholes, and a skylight to the boat’s deck filled the aft of the interior. A door connected them, so that Ria and Lavinia could get to each other’s rooms without going into the main one.
Lavinia sat on her bed, shaking her head slightly. A bemused smile lingered on her lips. “I can’t believe Darag didn’t tell me.”
Ria bit her lip as Lavinia finally unbelted her sword, placing it within easy reach on a shelf. Lavinia glanced at her and then up through the skylight. The boom swung erratically across the view of the sky.
“I suppose I’ve overwhelmed my brother enough for one day. Why don’t we sail?”
When they climbed the steps to the deck, Ria and Lavinia found Ty still sitting numbly on the rear bench. The boom creaked as the wind caught the sail and then spilled with a sputter of the fabric. Lavinia glanced to the bow of the ship, Ria’s eyes following her. The jib wasn’t even raised.
Lavinia stepped in front of her brother, hands on hips. “Ria and I will sail today. You and Niri can take over tonight. That seemed to work before.”
Ty’s expression was unreadable to Ria. His eyes slowly focused on his sister without any recognition.
“Go rest or something,” Lavinia nudged his shoulder not unkindly.
He stood but stopped after a pace. Without turning to face her, Ty said to Lavinia, “You didn’t need to come then as you so obviously prefer him to us. I can take care of Ria on my own.”
Lavinia’s brows pulled together. She pursed her lips to respond. Ria’s anger outpaced Lavinia’s annoyance.
“I don’t need you to take care of me, Ty. You make me sound like a pet, a chore! Stop using me as an excuse if you don’t want to be here. You just make everyone miserable.”
Ty rounded on Ria, his fists clenched but held stiffly at his side. His gaze slid across his sister’s face and something there arrested his boiling anger. He never fully looked at Ria, simply froze. A look like pain washed across him. Ty turned without a word and walked below.
Ria looked over at Lavinia, wondering what had struck Ty so hard. Lavinia’s face was pale, mouth open in a small ‘O’ and brows drawn over her nose. She looked nothing more than deeply startled at Ty’s outburst.
Ria took a breath, pointing her chin airily in the direction of Ty’s departure. She sat on the port bench, across from where Niri sat blinking, eyebrows raised and her gaze lost to a point above the deck. Niri looked up slowly, her sight focusing on Ria. She looked away quickly, expression suddenly troubled. Ria sighed, thinking Niri should know not to mind Ty’s anger by this point. It no longer embarrassed her.
Lavinia moved with a start as a gust pushed the boom across the boat. The boat heeled onto its side a moment, before Lavinia could grab the rope and spill some wind. For a few minutes Lavinia was all business, fixing the lines to the sail and changing the setting on the tiller pole. She eyed the horizon as the boat began to slice through the rolling waves, the bow pointed firmly south.
Niri stood as the boat settled down, sailing smoothly. She put one hand gently on Lavinia’s upper arm and spoke quietly into her ear. Lavinia shook her head answering in a quiet tone as well. Niri nodded. She turned and smiled, her gaze encompassing both Ria and Lavinia.
“Well if I am to sail all night, I had best get some sleep.” Niri disappeared below.
“Hold the tiller for a moment, would you Ria? I want to raise the jib.”
Ria was startled into helping, finding the large boat much different from Skree’s skiff and her lesson with Beite in Drufforth’s harbor. With the jib raised and set, the boat nearly flew through the waves. Ria could feel the pull of the sail in the whole of the boat.
For the time it took the sun to move a finger’s span, the only sound on the ship was the waves against the hull, the creak of the boom, and the thrumming of the rigging lines. Lavinia’s face was troubled. A line was still between her brows. She bit absently at her lower lip.
There was silence in Ria, an emptiness like the vast ocean around them. Something troubled her, but it was a speck over the horizon. She could forget about it if she didn’t look for it. So she didn’t look or think, avoiding the parts of her mind that caused her chest to constrict and her breath to feel short. She sat instead, wishing Lavinia didn’t worry so much about her brother. She tried to think of a way to distract Lavinia or ease her mind, but nothing nice to say about Ty surfaced.
“You know,” Lavinia said her gaze still focused at the sea ahead of them. “Ty risked just as much as Niri to come and help you.”
Ria’s mouth dropped open. Frigid water slid down her back. “I . . . I don’t know what you mean.”
Lavinia glanced at her with the same expression Lavinia held as she looked at the horizon, distant and thoughtful. Lavinia had never looked at her that way before. Tears stung Ria’s eyes. She looked down at the boards below her feet.
“I heard about the fights you and Ty had in Drufforth.”
“I didn’t fight with him! He was impossible. He would yell about every little thing. Nothing made him happy. He kept storming off every time I tried to talk to him. You saw him.”
Ria flung her arm to emphasize Ty’s abrupt disappearances. Her chest hurt as if she were suffocating. Lavinia’s expression had not changed.
“I didn’t do anything to him.”
Lavinia looked away and frowned. She ran a hand through her hair just as Ty did when he was frustrated. Only Ria could not imagine why Lavinia was frustrated with her.
“It takes two to fight, Ria. I’m not saying he isn’t impossible,” Lavinia looked over at Ria with slight humor to the lift of her lips. “But if you talked to him the same
way you just did on the boat, well I’m guessing he didn’t take to it too well.”
Ria opened her mouth to defend herself, but choked. No words came. She leapt to her feet, ready to walk away, but stopped. There was really no where to go on the ship. This wasn’t Drufforth where she could walk to the young grape vines or along the shore. All she could do was pace the deck or go to her small cabin. Ria began to cry.
The sobs dropped her to her knees. Instantly, Lavinia’s arms were around her. Lavinia held her close until the well of emotions Ria had done all she could to ignore flooded out of her in spasms of tears. “We are all here for you Ria. It is going to be okay. You aren’t alone.” Lavinia brushed Ria’s hair from her face.
“I don’t want this. I just wanted to be normal. I just wanted to have a future I could decide on. I’m so tired of being afraid, so tired.” Ria rested her head on Lavinia’s shoulder.
Lavinia kept an arm around Ria, holding her snug.
“I know, but it isn’t Ty’s fault or Niri’s, or even yours. No one is to blame. Either you are going to have to be mad at everyone, even your parents, or you are going to have to let it go and trust us to help you.”
Ria snorted. “I’ll be mad at everyone then. Take after Ty.”
Lavinia chuckled. Ria gave a shaky smile, taking what felt like the first breath in days. Without the ignored ball of emotions lurking inside of her, she felt lighter and less closed in.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do. I have nothing I know how to do. This is all beyond me. The whole focus of my life was just that one stupid solstice ceremony.”
Ria sat on the deck and stared unseeing at the distant shoreline. Lavinia stood and pulled Ria to her feet. The wind that had been blocked by the cabin, swept around her and dried her face.
“Well the good news is that I don’t think it can get much worse.”
“Don’t be so sure. Maybe my best skill is messing everything up.”
Surprisingly, Lavinia hugged her tightly. Laughter bubbled out of Lavinia so that she couldn’t speak, but her eyes danced with joy. Ria looked at her like she had lost her senses.
Lavinia shook her head, finally finding her voice. “Don’t you see. This has been the best thing that ever happened to me, coming to Drufforth. I never would have dreamed . . . .” Lavinia sighed. “Actually all of my old dreams seem so shallow now, so much less than this. I know we don’t know what is going to happen, but I’m so glad you have magic and we had to leave Mirocyne.”
Ria stared at her. “You are absolutely crazy.”
Lavinia grinned at her. A breath of laughter escaped Ria’s lips. She smiled back at her best friend.
CHAPTER 26
THE SOUTHERN CROSSING
Niri woke before dusk. Slanting light flooded her room through the skylight, moving as the ship rode the sea waves. There was no sound other than water surrounding her. Niri had forgotten during her time in Drufforth and Lus na Sithchaine the joys of being on a boat. All she had remembered was the tension of the run north. Now her spirit rose as the bow plummeted down a trough.
The wind wrapped around Niri as soon as she cleared the cabin stairs, her dark brown hair buffeting around her in a sudden torrent. As she cleared her vision, Niri saw to her surprise Thornastal hovering on the horizon. The setting sun illuminated the crags and vertical rock cliffs of the rugged island. It looked painted or like mirage especially as it was in sight at the end of the first day.
“This boat sails like a dream. We’ve had good wind all day.” Lavinia’s voice rose just over the noise of the sea and breeze.
“I think it will be tough to outdistance the two of you tonight.”
Lavinia grinned. Ria smiled faintly, just a lift of one side of her mouth. Niri glanced at Lavinia who gave a bashful look. Niri and Lavinia had spoken briefly about Ria’s outburst and Ty’s anger. Lavinia had volunteered to talk to Ria, but Niri hadn’t thought she’d depress the girl. Niri slid onto the bench next to Ria.
“Are you alright?”
Ria sighed. “No, not really, but I’m trying not to let that get to me too much.” There was a brief spark in Ria’s eyes. Niri patted Ria’s hand and left it. If anything, Ria looked tired. A rehash of the morning was probably not the best use of their time. Plus, Niri had to save her strength. She still the long night ahead with Ty.
Ty came up as the sun plunged below the horizon, his appearance bringing the night. Ria bit her lip but Ty’s gaze did not even notice her. He took in their location and heading without comment then stepped in front of his sister to adjust the sail without comment. He nudged the ship’s courses to skirt the eastern side of Thornastal.
Lavinia sucked in a breath, her fist closing in an effort to keep control of the flash of anger that crossed her face. She glared at Ty’s back and then sighed. Lavinia cast Niri a mournful look as she headed below without having said a word.
Ria hesitated a moment. Her eyes lingered on Ty. With a sigh, Ria’s shoulders dropped and she stood and followed Lavinia below. Ty stood next to the tiller post alone, abandoned by both his sister and Ria. He didn’t appeared to have noticed.
Niri stretched out her mind, finding the tide and currents of the ocean. Power flooded through her. The seas before the ship changed, smoothing in the lavender light of the greater moon. The ship raced ahead on a following sea.
Ty’s form was silhouetted by the last of the fading light to the west. He had not sat but stayed by the tiller post, one hand resting on it. He could have been alone he was so walled off in his thoughts. A solitary sense settled on the ship. Niri tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.
She and Ty had not really spoken to each other since he had told them of his apprenticeship, since he had accused her of being something untrustworthy and manipulative as well. An ache brushed her chest and tickled her throat. There were no words to break the barrier between them. She had made a promise to Lavinia, but it seemed impossible to fulfill.
Ria and Ty could barely be in the same room it seemed without an argument. Ty made it clear he was not going to speak to his sister. He had accused Niri of vile intentions. It wasn’t true, but Ty believed it. Or she thought he still did. Their brief words when she had let the Curse free left things uncertain in her mind. No matter how she looked at it though there was no one else to help them. Niri took a deep breath.
Niri started to talk about what she knew of the Kith. Ty never moved so she wasn’t sure if he was listening, but she spoke anyway. She doubted any mention of the Church or her role would be well received. But Niri hoped that at least some of her words would settle in Ty. Maybe he would understand a little something of what his sister had chosen. It was all Niri could hope and the best she could do for Lavinia.
The greater moon set while she spoke, the smallest sliver less to its round face than had been visible the week hence, its color a tad more rosy as it slid away from their sky. Only starlight dimly illuminated the sails when she fell silent. To their west, Niri could feel the archipelago slipping by. In the morning, they would have begun the crossing to the southern shore.
Ty shifted in the quiet, stubbornly still on his feet. The wind and waves filled the stretching silence between them.
“Did you know she married him?” His voice was flat, unreadable as the night.
“I know the Kith only choose once, one love, for all their life. I knew Darag cared for your sister from that first day. I didn’t know she would fall in love as well and accept their ways.” Niri paused thinking of Lavinia’s angst before the dance, the pleasure on her face when Darag arrived. “But she still came with us. She left that behind to see this through.”
“I didn’t ask her to leave,” Ty repeated what he had said that morning, a brush of anger in his voice.
Niri exhaled disapproval before she could stop herself. She froze, afraid to say anything else lest she unleash Ty’s anger. Her own sense of injustice boiled up, overwhelming caution.
“Oh no, you only
looked ready to kidnap her every time you saw her. I’m amazed she came as you made it perfectly clear you would make her returning to Lus na Sithchaine difficult at best.”
Ty spun at her. She could hear his feet against the boards of the deck though she could not see him before her.
“Why do you do that? Be nice one minute and so cruel the next.”
Niri stared at where she thought he stood. “Me? Do you know impossible you’ve been? How much you’ve upset your sister? She asked about you every day in Lus na Sithchaine. She worried about where you were, what you were doing. Do you even care?”
It was like there was empty air next to her. Ty was so still and silent she doubted he even breathed. This sudden absence of him frightened her, erasing the momentary anger that had ignited in her breast. If he had jumped in the water, Niri would have felt him. If the air were more humid, she could have sensed where he stood. Instead, it was like his existence had suddenly ceased to be.
Panic filled her. Niri reached out blindly and brushed his hand, twisting her fingers to grasp his. She heard him exhale at her touch as if it caused him pain. She held on.
He sat heavily next to her, a choked sob escaping from his lips. Like he had held her in Tiero, Niri wrapped her arms around him. Silent sobs shook his frame. She rested her forehead against his shoulder blade, feeling the force of his emotions contort his body. After a time, his breathing slowed. His shoulders no longer strained to hold back racking sobs.
Niri loosened her arms, sitting back. Ty shifted slightly. He did not pull away. She felt him turn his head towards her.
It took him a few tries to find a steady breath, but eventually he asked, “What do you know of Darag?”
Born of Water Page 20