The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, Book 1: Embers

by Abigail Hilton

  Chapter 28. A Picnic

  Foxlings seem to have originated mostly on Maijha Major—at least, that’s where their largest populations are located. Quite a few can also be found in the pleasure districts of Sern, and although it is supposedly illegal to hunt them, they are occasionally kidnapped and turned loose on Maijha Minor for sport. Their cleverness, small size, and adaptability make them interesting quarry.

  —Gwain, The Non-grishnards of Wefrivain

  It was late morning when they got back to the ship. Silveo paused before climbing up the side. “How many holdings does Holovarus have?”

  “Technically nine,” said Gerard, “but only four of them are inhabited year-round.”

  “And which did Thessalyn come from? Is it within sailing distance in the Meerkat?”

  “Number two.” Gerard thought about the wind and weather. “It’s not far. The Meerkat could be there in a half watch. Thess’s parents aren’t on the island, though. Her mother died when she was in school, and her father lived just long enough to see her installed on Holovarus as court minstrel. She does have some siblings living there.”

  “Would she like to see them?”

  Gerard shrugged. “Ask her.”

  As Gerard had suspected, Thessalyn was reticent about going to Holovarus-2. She’d had little contact with her siblings after leaving at a young age for school, and her education and lifestyle had put even more distance into the relationships. Her abduction, as they saw it, of the crown prince had lowered their opinion of her rather than raised it. Gerard had been a favorite with many of the peasants. He spent more time around them than Jaleel did, and they resented Thessalyn for disturbing the succession.

  “You’d like to walk on the beach, though,” said Silveo. “Lots of shells on the beach. Come, we’ll bring food—get off the Fang for a while.”

  Thessalyn smiled slyly. “I’ll come…if you tell me why you don’t like griffins.”

  All the playfulness went out of Silveo’s expression. He crossed his arms and drummed his fingers against his shoulder. “I don’t know why you want to hear about that. It’s just a sad story.”

  “Some sad stories are important,” said Thessalyn.

  For a moment, Gerard thought Silveo would tell her to have a good day aboard ship, but then he shrugged. “I’ll think about it. Are you coming or not?”

  Gerard had assumed they would take several of the sailors and make a small tour of Holovarus’s holdings, perhaps buy provisions. He was surprised when he realized that Silveo did not intend to take anyone but Gerard and Thessalyn. Silveo didn’t even comment when Alsair dropped lightly into his accustomed place in the rear of the boat.

  The day was splendid, and Gerard was glad to be out of Port Holovarus. They skimmed along in a warm wind over a gently rolling sea. The water was a striking blue. Normally, they would have been able to see all the way to the bottom, but the storm had stirred things up. Still, they could see a good bit of the reef and the brilliantly colored fish and coral. Flying fish skimmed along the surface, sometimes whirring over the boat. Alsair sat up and batted at them until Gerard told him to either fly or sit down before he capsized the vessel. It was an old argument and made them both smile. Thessalyn trailed a hand in the water, her face in the wind.

  Silveo made no attempt to tell Gerard where to go or what to do. He sat in the bow, taking readings with a couple of small instruments. When they’d almost reached the island, Alsair half stood and carefully made his way to the front of the boat. “Gerard wants me to apologize for what I did on Sern,” he said, laying his head on the bench beside Silveo.

  Silveo glanced at him with distaste. “Gerard knows I don’t value apologies. What you did on Sern was vicious and effective. It was exactly what I would have done.” He gave a small, bitter smile. “But I’ll kill you if you ever do anything like it again.”

  Alsair couldn’t seem to decide whether he’d been complimented, insulted, or threatened. Finally he said, “I still don’t trust you—”

  “You hear that, Gerard?” called Silveo. “The griffin is smarter than you!”

  “—but,” continued Alsair, “I appreciate what you did on Holovarus, so thank you for that.”

  Silveo shook his head. “Your first idea was better.”

  Gerard had decided to take them to Holovarus-4, an uninhabited little gem of an island that could be crossed in a quarter watch on foot. It had a tiny cove where he’d loved to fish, as well as some small game that Alsair had used to hunt. They landed on the beach opposite the cove and hiked up into the dunes along a little ridge of cliff that gave a decent view of Holovarus-2, 5, 8, and 9. Silveo asked questions about everything he saw, but he still made no attempt to lead them. Gerard had spotted a nautilus shell on the beach and given it to Thessalyn. She was exploring its surfaces like a child admiring a beautiful new trinket. Alsair flew off to look for rabbits and mice in the dunes.

  “So this is where you should be,” commented Silveo, after Gerard had pointed out the distant spike of Holvarus-9 and explained its political relationship to the other holdings.

  “Pardon?”

  “I mean, this is where you fit and what you were trained to do, as opposed to wandering around Wefrivain taking orders from a foxling who dresses like ‘a flamboyantly.’”

  Gerard shrugged. He glanced at Thessalyn a little way down the slope, who was alternatively examining her nautilus and unpacking their lunch. “She’s worth it.” He sighed. “No matter how I try to speak to you, I seem to say things that in retrospect appear ungracious and unkind.”

  Silveo laughed. He seemed truly amused. “‘Ungracious.’ Gerard, you are so very far from the right job.”

  He started down the hill. “Did you hear what happened at the castle last night, Thess?”

  She raised her head from the nautilus shell and gave a hesitant smile. “I heard you made Lord Holovar extremely uncomfortable.”

  “Oh, yes,” purred Silveo. “He’d never had to be polite to something like me before.”

  Thessalyn frowned. “You’re not a something, Silveo.”

  “Oh, I am a something,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve gotten along very well as a something.”

  “You haven’t,” said Thessalyn. “You’ve survived.”

  “That’s getting along well, at least where I come from. What was Holovarus-2 like when you lived there? I hope you didn’t have any siblings as charming as Jaleel.”

  So Thessalyn talked about her girlhood while they ate roasted fish brought from the Fang and nibbled on pastries left over from last night’s feast. Gerard felt a mixture of strangeness at Silveo’s presence and profound peace. He was with Thessalyn and Alsair on islands that he knew and loved with his own boat on the sandy beach. When the meal was finished, he stretched out in the sun in a nest of sea grass with Thessalyn absently running her fingers through his hair. He never knew quite when he drifted off to sleep.