The Salamander Prince

by S R Nulton

  Yew looked me right in the eye and finished the thought. “But she has had to hold the entire ship together and hasn’t slept more than a few hours in days.”

  “Exactly! And I’ve told her she can’t use her powers, but now I worry that I’m hurting her, and us, more if I keep making her deny them. Something is wrong, about this whole situation.”

  I blinked, ignoring the rest of the conversation. I’d been so worried about surviving that I hadn’t approached the problem properly. I always told my nieces to circle the issue and find another area to consider, but I had ignored my own advice!

  I rushed back down to the hold and grabbed an odd looking compass with three different needles and a lever before heading back out into the storm.

  “Grace? What’s wrong?” Jeshu asked as I dashed past him. “Grace!”

  He wasn’t going to be happy with me, but I had to get up high for the device to work properly. I put the device in my coat pocket and scrambled up the rigging, glad I’d had so much practice that I could do it while it was soaking wet and my hands were growing numb. I heard my name from below, but I was already in the crow’s nest and had more important things to worry about. Like not falling as a wave made the ship lurch violently.

  When things settled a bit, I tied myself in (I always kept a rope up there just for that purpose) and pulled out the compass.

  I breathed on it, pulled the lever and spoke in ancient Fey. It sounded really pretty, but it just meant ‘show me’, something I’d always found amusing. What I didn’t find amusing was what the device revealed.

  “If you know how to use words like that, we’ve been sailing too long, love,” Jeshu told me as he appeared. It took me a minute to realize what he’d meant. Apparently I’d been cursing like a sailor without realizing it.

  “Mother’s vocabulary could be colorful at times.”

  “So, what has my pregnant wife scrambling up here in the middle of a violent storm, at night, and then making her so angry she uses words picked up from her mother, hmmm?”

  I waved a device in front of him. “This. I heard you guys talking and it made me wonder if this wasn’t quite natural.”

  That gave him pause. “And?”

  “It isn’t. The storms formed naturally enough, but they were fed power and pushed closer together. Oh, and given a target.”

  My dark tone mirrored my husband’s look. “Us? Someone knew we would be here and sent a storm at us?”

  I shook my head. “Not a storm. Not even a dozen. Try hundreds. That’s why we never get a break. They were all tiny originally. Some rain here or there, but nothing spectacular. This is a catastrophe on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “Besides with us dying a slow and watery death?”

  “Worse.” I stood and paced the small area as best I could. One step, turn. One step, turn. It didn’t help. “They will keep coming ‘til they kill us. Then, and only then, will they dissipate. The only problem is none of the power was shaped to put things back where they belong. The currents will continue to flow the wrong direction. The storms that were meant for elsewhere won’t reach those places, meaning no rainfall when it’s needed. The weather patterns are an absolute mess and it affects the entire world! All because someone decided not to listen to their mentor when they said ‘No weather magic until you’re 150’.”

  Jeshu’s face looked like carved granite and I could hear his teeth grinding. He seemed to understand perfectly what I was upset about. That was a plus.

  “What do we do?” he asked, eyes glowing faintly from his own fire magic.

  I sighed and rested my head against his shoulder. “I have to fix it. They already know where we are, so hiding does no good. I have to fix it and fast.” I didn’t want to be weak, but I was so worried, overwhelmed and overstuffed that there was no other way but to use magic.

  He stroked my hair. “I know. You need to get rid of the power you’re holding as well.”

  “You knew?” My voice was desolate and hurt.

  “Yes, but not until I got up here, not really. I hadn’t realized that my daily changes burned off the excess until Stone mentioned it in passing, but seeing you here, I hadn’t realized that you gained so much magic and didn’t have an outlet. Add in all the extra you are gaining from these storms and I’m surprised that you haven’t blown sky high.”

  “It’s been close. I feel like I ate too much and then kept eating. I’m so full that I have to stop myself from doing anything.”

  He stood and pulled me up as well. “Come on, let’s get back down to the deck and take care of this. The sooner it’s over, the sooner Thyme will stop losing her meals.”

  I nodded and followed him down, then moved to the bow of the ship. I looked over my shoulder at my husband and shouted, “Don’t let me fall!” before plunging my power into the storms and pushing them back. I smoothed the lines of power out and used them to redirect everything to where it was supposed to be. The currents slowed and started moving the correct direction. The winds died down to a gentle breeze and the stars appeared for the first time in forever.

  Everything was moving along except for my power. It hadn’t taken much for me to grab hold of everything. Once I’d taken the other person’s magic and made it reverse everything, I was left with a glut and nothing to do with it. Then I thought of a fantastic use for my power. At least some of it.

  I formed a cloud. It was small and would stay that way (which, ironically, was the most power intensive portion of the process). It would only absorb enough water to sustain itself and fulfill its purpose. For the same amount of time we were in the storms, it would rain on whoever created them. Then, I sealed it so it couldn’t be dispersed or changed and sent it on its way. They would get the message and their master’s would drive it home quickly. Whoever had attacked them had hired an apprentice to do so and that person was going to be in a lot of trouble very shortly.

  My powers were still too high, so I put my attention on my ship and began to fix it back up again. Broken railings, cracked boards, drained enchantments, and even Thyme’s healing tonics were amplified and fixed before I had finally drained enough off.

  Breathing in deeply, I sighed and turned to face Jeshu.

  “That feels better.” And then I collapsed

  ~

  “Did she just–?”

  Yew nodded. “Yep.”

  Stone watched his brother lift Grace and carry her back to their cabin.

  “Do you think we have anything to worry about?” he asked the bodyguard.

  “From her? No. If we were threatening someone she loved? I’d be terrified. That woman could probably have taken over our country before the ceremony. Now? Now it’s going to be interesting to see how she reacts once she finds out the truth.”

  Stone finally turned away from watching the cabin. “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t think we can keep it from her much longer, do you? Ha! She’ll have figured it out within a week of arriving and probably have a plan in place within a night.”

  They looked around to view clear sky and calm sea. “Thank the ancestors that she’s on our side.”

  ~

  I woke up before dawn and stretched a bit before snuggling back into Jeshu’s arms.

  “Morning,” he said, his voice muffled by my hair.

  “Morning.”

  He kissed my neck. “You did good, love. You saved us all.”

  I smiled and practically purring I was so happy. I hadn’t received much in the way of praise growing up and it meant a lot more from my husband. I thought back to the night before and began giggling.

  “What? What’s so funny?”

  I snorted. “I may have done a bit more than just fixed the mess of storms.”

  Jeshu rolled me onto my back and looked at me carefully. “Is that why you passed out? Because you did too much?”

  “No, I passed out because I was tired. Exhausted really. I could barely sleep, even when I had a chance to, becau
se I was so worried about everyone. We were finally safe, so I didn’t need to be awake any longer.”

  “So what did you do then,” he prompted.

  “I made a rain cloud.” I blinked innocently. “Then I sent it back to the mage who set up the storms and made sure that when it finds him, it’ll rain on him. Constantly. For as long as we were rained on.”

  With lips flattened to fight laughter, Jeshu shook his head. “And probably showed the poor fool up by not disturbing nature while you were at it.”

  I nodded vigorously. “And it’s probably going to land him in a heap of trouble when his master finds out. Especially since it won’t dissipate until the time has elapsed.”

  That did it. My husband’s beard split in half and he began to chuckle. When he’d calmed down a bit, he kissed me and whispered, “Only you, love. Only you would devise such a thing. I would hate to be that apprentice when his master discovers what he’s done.”

  The sun rose then.

  I don’t think I can describe the agony of only having your husband for half the day. It isn’t like he’s away working. He’s still there. He can still talk to you and be with you, but he can’t hold you. He can’t comfort you or help you carry something heavy. He is trapped in another form and you begin to worry that you will only ever have him for half the day. That he will only be yours while you sleep and one day even that might be gone.

  I pushed those thoughts away and readied myself for another day at sea. When I reached the galley, Yew and Thyme were just putting breakfast on the table.

  “Good morning! Whatever you did, thank you. I was worried we were going to sink if we had to go through that much longer,” Thyme said. Then she ran over and gave me a giant hug.

  “You’re welcome. And you’re looking much better this morning.” The magic I’d dropped into the healing herbs had done a lot to fix what had gone wrong. She was still gaunt, but she was no longer grey. The flush to her cheeks and sparkle in her eyes had been missing for long enough that they were startling to see.

  I sat down and began to eat as Yew read me in about the night watch.

  “No storms on the horizon and everything was quiet last night. The waters were glassy for a bit, but then the natural currents returned and we were able to pick up speed again. Between that, the sail being raised and your convertor charms pumping energy into the ship, we made up for lost time. We should be docking within the hour.”

  “Perim’s the trade capital of Mindep, right?” I asked, dodging the praise. I didn’t need it. We’d all done our best; I just had a larger advantage.

  “I thought Jep was the capital,” Thyme said.

  This time it was Jeshu who answered. “Right, but Jep is more inland so it doesn’t see as much in the way of trade. They are fairly close to a large river, making it easier on merchants, but most goods go through Perim first. Perim is larger and has a natural bay, making it perfect for shipping.”

  “Plus it makes sure that Crechel doesn’t get their grubby hands on things first,” Stone added.

  Crechel was the epitome of hedonism, at least among the nobles. They wanted what they wanted and were notorious for straining trade relations because of it. If something had gone through Rallin then the price was about five times higher by the time it reached Jep because of all the ‘taxes’ the merchants were required to pay. Of course they also had restrictions on how much could be charged for each item. As a result, most merchants had begun to avoid the country entirely if they could help it.

  “That’s what happens when the king is obsessed with gold,” I commented offhandedly.

  “What do you mean?” my sister-in-law asked.

  I blinked. “That’s right, I forget that lake peoples don’t end up hearing most of the gossip. Basically, the Crechelan king is so obsessed that he had himself cursed to turn whatever he touched into gold.”

  Thyme frowned. “That’s silly. Gold isn’t all that useful. Besides, how would he eat?”

  “Oh, another magician was brought in to create a workaround. The trouble was that he accidentally touched his daughter and she ended up solid gold like everything else. She’s fine now,” I reassured her. “It’s rumored he had to betroth her to a river god from the fabled land Brenlew, of all places, to make her human again, but she is. And he’s only slightly repented. He’s just more cautious about things now.”

  “That poor girl! I’m glad she’s alright!”

  Jeshu laughed bitingly. “Oh, she’s safe. Safest person on the continent, actually. She was turned back human again, but the coloring stuck. She is a bunch of different shades of gold and her father refuses to let her leave the palace but is almost religious about avoiding her. I hope her fiancé comes for her soon, or I expect that she’ll go crazy from being alone and cosseted all the time.”

  We all sat and thought about that, but said nothing. It was a sad fate, but there was nothing we could do. I imagined that as the princes of Shessat, Stone and Jeshu had met her at least once, so I knew that everything they’d said was true.

  I’ll worry about her after I figure out how to break the spell on my husband. No point in splitting attention from the real dangers.

  As soon as breakfast was finished, I moved to the helm. Just in time too. It was time to dock in Perim.

  Chapter 10: Old Friends and New Worries

  Perim was a busy place. Very, very busy.

  Having grown up in Alenia, I’d seen large cities. Aurism was huge and sprawling. Crysallia was cramped and always full of people. Both were eclipsed by the sheer volume of people at the Port of Perim.

  Perim was one of the main trading cities on the continent. As Stone and Jeshu had pointed out before, Rallin was getting too expensive for most of the merchants. That meant that Mindip’s economy was exploding and the beautiful architecture made sure that no one would forget it. It had connections to all the major trade routes, both overland and by sea. Perim had even become the main trade city between the northern and southern continents. There were even rumors that the royals of Mindep and the Great Plains might form a marriage union. Nothing was confirmed, but it was enough to make Crechel’s king a bit snippy. Then again, pretty much everything was.

  “How are we going to find your friend in this mess?” I asked my necklace. I always found it funny that wives were referred to as a ‘ball and chain’, but it was my husband who acted like a collar most of the time. Oh, irony.

  “He should find us. We just need to head to the right dock. It will be the green one at the end.”

  I blinked at him. “How would he know we were here? It’s not like he knew you were coming, right?” Jeshu didn’t respond, so I turned to look at him. “Right?”

  He cleared his little throat. “I may have sent a note through Yew while we were in Stonesford.”

  “And you weren’t worried about it being intercepted?” I asked, trying to think logically. It was hard to do considering I felt like things were about to spin out of control and I didn’t know why. Those feelings were what led to my next question. “Also, why not just send it with me? I could have mailed it just as easily.”

  When he didn’t say anything for a moment, Yew stepped forward. “I needed to stretch my legs and he’d only thought of it after you left. No need to get upset.”

  But I was upset. I was right. Everything was spiraling and I couldn’t keep the world right side up anymore. Their story didn’t make sense. I’d grown up with a compulsive liar for a mother, making it easy to see their words were full of half-truths and lies. Yew would never leave the brothers while guarding them. He’d made that clear in Mouth. Not only that, but my husband had been too careful in his wording. It was all strictly true, I knew that because he couldn’t lie to me, but he still felt dishonest. It made me feel sick.

  I knew there were things they couldn’t tell me. We’d covered that very early on but I’d already told him I’d rather be made aware that he couldn’t tell me something then have it hidden from me. The fact that Jeshu understood that
made this situation worse. This was something he could have told me at any time. It hadn’t slipped his mind, or he would have said so. He just didn’t want me to know.

  And then it hit me. He hadn’t let me take care of things in Stonesford because he trusted me. He did it so he could send off the note without my seeing it. And he had probably planned that for days leading up, which would explain why he’d been so quiet about things.

  It wasn’t the time or place to deal with it though. Instead of saying anymore about it, I asked, “Which dock?”

  Yew eyed me cautiously, clearly expecting that I would have reacted in anger. Even Jeshu seemed surprised by my lack of response.

  “Well? We need to dock soon. Which one?”

  “I’ll handle it,” Yew said. Then he escaped as fast as he could. The man may have been easily amused, but he didn’t seem to find the current situation funny.

  “I’m going to help Thyme. Do you want to stay out here?” I asked, careful to keep my feelings in line.

  “That would be fine. Have fun.”

  I lowered him to the deck and moved back inside. I didn’t want to cause a problem, but I would if I was out there with him at that moment.

  Thyme looked up as I entered the galley. She cocked her head to the side and studied my face carefully before nodding. “You’re mad. You’re husband was an idiot about something and you’re mad about it. Your face is too blank. You usually have a weird expression on it before something absurd comes out of your mouth.”

  I laughed, surprised for a moment by her bluntness. “Honest as always. You’re so quiet that I sometimes forget you’re from Lettelach. It’s refreshing.”

  “What did he do?”

  Pursing my lips, I sat down and began to help her shell peas for dinner. “It’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t tell me something and then let Yew lie about the reasons he didn’t tell me.”

  A croak echoed from the chair beside Thyme and Stone leapt onto the table.