In deeper waters, p.4
In Deeper Waters, page 4
Athlen raised his hands. “Don’t worry. I traded for it. And Tal helped.” Athlen gestured to Tal in the doorway, and Dara’s gaze cut to him.
Tal endured her assessing stare, pulling back his shoulders, lifting his chin. Her gaze flickered to where Athlen gripped his hand, and the corners of her lips ticked down. Calmly she grabbed a fistful of Athlen’s large shirt and pulled him toward her. Athlen stumbled forward, and she slid smoothly between them, staking a claim. Tal immediately missed the comfort of Athlen’s hand in his own.
“Who are you?”
Athlen, who was oblivious, waved in Tal’s general direction. “He’s a prince. Oh, and he’s the one who saved me from the bad people.”
Dara’s expression flashed through myriad emotions before settling on a mix of gratitude and exasperation. Tal was certain the exasperation was meant for Athlen. Though Tal noted she didn’t appear shocked at all, as if Athlen brought home princes every day and didn’t follow rules of propriety with anyone.
“Your Highness,” Dara said with a bow. “Welcome to our humble home.”
Athlen rolled his eyes.
“That’s not necessary. He’s not that kind of prince.”
Tal raised an eyebrow. “What kind of prince am I?” It was the first thing he had said since they arrived.
“Not a fussy one.”
Dara smiled warmly and reached over to ruffle Athlen’s hair.
“Thank you for returning him to us. We were worried. We thought he was gone when he didn’t come back for weeks.”
Athlen batted her hand away, his cheeks flushed.
“I was happy to help,” Tal said politely. “And I was happy to help him again at the market.”
“Speaking of,” Athlen said, “will the items help her? Will they make your mother well?”
Tal heard a cough and a groan from the room behind the curtain. He shifted in his spot near the door and in the low light he could make out a figure on a cot along the far wall. The smell of fever sweat and sickness emanated from the area. Noting his inspection, Dara pulled the curtains closed.
“I think so,” she said, turning to a small kitchen table with a low bench seat. “I can burn the root in her room and make a tea. The salve for her chest will take me some time, but.…” She shrugged. “I hope so.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Tal asked.
Dara huffed. “There’s a sickness in this part of town.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“If you truly are a prince, I wouldn’t expect you to.” She didn’t face him, focused on her task at hand. “Or even care,” she added under her breath.
Tal stiffened but kept his composure. His mother would be glad to know that all the royal etiquette lessons had stuck. “Is there any way I can help? Any other medicine I might be able to procure for you?”
Dara wrinkled her nose. “We appreciate your assistance, Your Highness, but we’re fine. Please don’t tarry here on our account.”
“Are you certain?”
Dara leveled an intense glare at him. “You do understand how condescending that sounds, right?”
Tal raised his hands. “I only want to help.”
“Because of him,” she said, jerking her head toward Athlen. “But if not for whatever relationship you have with Athlen, you wouldn’t care about our situation. We’d only be a pair of peasants in your eyes.”
Tal crossed his arms, prickly at how correct Dara was in her assessment. “I care,” he said, defensive. “And I would like to help. That’s why I’m on this trip.”
Dara frowned. “Right. You just turned sixteen. It’s your coming-of-age tour of the kingdom. Just like your brothers and sister before you. I’m sure all the taverns and brothels they visited gave them a real sense of the people.” She slammed a kettle on the table. “You don’t look sickly, like the rumors claim. Maybe it’s because the whispers about magic are the truth. Are you going to be like your great-grandfather? Is our kingdom going to be paying recompense for the next several generations because of your actions as well? Are you going to burn the land with fire from your fingertips and salt the earth?”
Tal reeled. His face lost all color and he stumbled back, the heel of his boot catching on an uneven floorboard.
“Enough!” Athlen moved between them and faced Dara. “I know you’re worried about your mother, but that doesn’t mean you get to be rude to my friend.”
Face red, Dara pointed a finger into Athlen’s chest. “It’s not like it concerns you, either.”
“What does that mean?” Tal asked.
Dara’s gaze flickered between them, and Athlen quickly raised his hands.
“He doesn’t know?” she asked. “I thought he saved you from those people.”
Athlen licked his lips. “He did. And no, he doesn’t.”
“Ah,” she said with a knowing smirk. “You don’t trust him either. And you’d be stupid to. He’ll use you like those others did.”
Tal clenched his fists. His magic roared within him, licking up his spine in hot tendrils. “I would never hurt him. I made a promise.”
She barked a laugh. “And we know how steadfast the promises of royalty are.”
Athlen frowned, his expression crumpling into disappointment. “Dara… I don’t understand why you’re being unfair to me and Tal.”
“You wouldn’t. But trust me when I tell you that the ruling family of Harth cares little about their people.”
“That’s not true!” Tal’s voice rose in indignation. “My sister is about to marry to form an alliance with another kingdom to help our people. My brother sails most of the year, protecting the merchant ships, to ensure our kingdom’s prosperity. My mother has done everything she can to repair our relationships with other kingdoms to keep us from war.”
Dara pursed her lips. “Fair enough. But when was the last time any of your family talked with a farmer about his struggles? Or a merchant about taxes? Or a tradesman? Your family is so worried about our relationships with other kingdoms, you’ve forgotten your own people in the process.”
Tal clenched his jaw. “My mother and siblings are doing the best they can.”
“Maybe they are. But what about you?”
That brought Tal up short.
A wet, rattling cough from the other room broke the gathering tension. Dara returned to making tea and turned her back on the pair of them.
“As much as I would love to continue this lively debate, Your Highness, I do have to attend to my mother.”
Tal knew a social cue when he heard one, despite what Garrett said. He gave a small bow. “I’m glad Athlen was able to get what she needed. I’ll be on my way.” Far bolder than he felt, he reached for Athlen’s hand. “Come along, Athlen.”
Athlen brushed away his outstretched hand and stepped into Tal’s space without a thought. Tal’s breath caught at the invasion. He cast a glance over Athlen’s shoulder, and Dara pretended to be busy behind him, but Tal didn’t believe for a moment she wasn’t listening.
“I can’t leave.”
“You said you’d answer my brother’s questions.”
“I never said that. You just assumed I agreed.”
Tal furrowed his brow, and hurt lanced through him like an open wound. “I thought you died. I thought I freed you by mistake and that…” He swallowed around a tight throat. “I owe my brother.”
“Oh, Tal,” Athlen said, dipping his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t come with you now.”
“But—”
Athlen leaned in close. He smiled, impish and beautiful, eyes sparkling. “Thank you, my prince, for everything. I will repay you.”
There was but a scant inch between them, and Tal’s magic shuddered. His skin prickled with the want to be touched, straining toward Athlen’s heat in a way he’d not experienced before. This close, he smelled the sea on Athlen’s skin and could trace the constellation of freckles on Athlen’s nose and cheeks.
“That’s not necessary,” he said, voice rough and strained.
“I know, but I will.” Athlen’s voice took on a deeper tone, and there was substance to his words, a physical quality Tal could compare only to an incantation, like the one Tal had made on the derelict.
Tal’s heart thumped hard when Athlen met his gaze, the playfulness gone, replaced with a somber appreciation. He nodded, and a shiver raced down Tal’s spine, as if a cold wave had splashed over him while he stood on the warm, sun-bleached shore. The weight of the moment meant something. Tal didn’t know what, but red and gold rippled over Athlen’s skin.
It was a pact, a promise, a declaration of intent, as if Tal had been folded into Athlen’s inner circle. He likened it to the feeling of his family, when they all were together and happy, but that didn’t make sense. He’d met Athlen only twice, and each time Tal had been inexplicably drawn to him. Maybe it had to do with the secret he obviously kept. A secret that only Dara and a missing captain of a ghostly derelict knew. And one of them had hurt him.
Tal took an unsteady step backward, and Athlen reached out and tugged on the cuff of Tal’s sleeve.
“I will,” he said again. “I will find you and answer all your questions. But not today.”
Then he cocked his head to the side and smiled, wide and happy. His brown eyes caught the high sunlight, sparking amber, and he let Tal go.
“Good-bye, Tal.”
Tal nodded, turned on his heel, and walked out. As Athlen closed the door, Dara instructed him to burn the root while she made the tea. Their voices faded behind him as Tal fumbled his way to the main street, Athlen’s declaration echoing in the hollow of his chest.
He had no doubt he’d see Athlen again.
3
Tally spent the afternoon with a boy?” Garrett asked, grinning widely. “Alone?”
“I was in the market,” Tal grumbled. “There were hundreds of people around.”
Shay laughed, her head thrown back, brown eyes creased shut. She nudged Tal with her shoulder. “Nice try. You sneaked away and shook me.” She punched his arm. “I can’t believe you had it in you.”
Tal rubbed his arm and mouthed an expletive. Shay chuckled, then took a bite of bread.
After leaving Athlen with Dara, Tal had followed the sound of the sea back to the market, where Shay was waiting for him. Her relief at finding him outweighed her anger, and when Tal explained where he’d been, her relief gave away to amusement. Escorting him back to the ship, Shay teased him the entire way and wouldn’t listen to Tal’s pleas not to tell Garrett. She spilled the whole story as soon as they stepped into Garrett’s captain’s quarters.
Garrett looked entirely too pleased about everything, and Tal buried his face in his hands, elbows propped up on the roughhewn table in front of them. The ship rocked gently at the dock, Tal’s soup rippling with the waves.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Garrett leered. “Do we need to have a talk about it?”
“No!” Tal wanted to sink into the floor. No. He’d had that talk. His tutor had given it to him, and then Kest had expounded on it and… it was mortifying. “Nothing happened, anyway.”
Garrett’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you want something to happen?”
“Oh my gods, can you not?”
Shay ruffled his hair. “Aw, little Tally. Your first crush on your coming-of-age. Cute! I remember my first crush.”
“Everyone knows your first crush,” Garrett said, pointing his spoon at her. “You still have it.”
Shay winked and brushed her straight brown hair over her shoulder. “You’re right, and I’m going to make my move someday. Just you wait.”
Garrett grinned, but before he could say whatever tawdry joke was on his tongue, Tal shot to his feet. “I need air.” Stepping around the table, Tal abandoned his dinner and left Garrett’s quarters.
He didn’t go far. He crossed the deck and leaned on the railing, staring out over the water and at the port city spread in front of them. The seaside market had been packed away, the shore empty where it had been teeming hours before. Lanterns hung lit in the windows of the buildings. On the cobblestone streets Tal spied the start of fires for the night, and music and laughter from a tavern wafted on the breeze.
What was Athlen doing? Was he still with Dara and her mother? Or had he sneaked off to wherever he called home? Would he keep his promise and find Tal and tell him everything? Or would he disappear on the morning tide?
Athlen was a mystery, one that Tal couldn’t figure out. It bothered him that he hadn’t demanded Athlen come with him back to the ship, instead allowing him potentially to wander away. Garrett wanted that information. Tal wasn’t quite sure why, but a chest of gold and a ship filled with untested sailors surely had a story behind it.
Lost in thought, Tal didn’t notice the brown hunting bird that settled on the railing until it chirped at him. Tal jumped and staggered backward, while the bird chirped again and bobbed its head as if laughing. Tal smiled when he saw the familiar black eyes rimmed with gold and the brown spotted feathers along its back.
“Kest!”
The bird ruffled its feathers and fluffed its wings.
“I’ll get Garrett.”
“No need, I heard you.” Garrett tromped out of his quarters, a robe in hand. The bird hopped down onto the deck, and Garrett tossed the garment on its head. “Hello, brother.”
The bird squawked a complaint. The fabric squirmed and lumped and grew taller, and within a few moments a man stood where the bird once was. He slid his arms through the robe and tied it at the waist.
“Kest!” Tal said again, throwing his arms around his brother in a hug. “What are you doing here?”
Kest returned the hug warmly, his shoulder-length brown hair brushing against Tal’s cheek. Kest was taller by several inches, and fine boned, with a large hooked nose and a small mouth outlined with a trim dark beard. His black eyes rimmed in yellow caught the sinking sun and crinkled at the corners when he grinned. He was closer in age to Garrett, but he’d always had time for Tal, and if Tal were forced to choose which one of his siblings he was closest to, it would be him. It helped that Kest possessed a kind of magic as well.
Kest ruffled Tal’s hair. “Mother received your letter and sent me to check in.”
Rolling his eyes, Garrett slapped Kest hard on the back. “He’s fine. It was nothing.”
“It was something,” Shay said, stepping forward, blush high on her cheeks. “Hello, Prince Kesterell.”
“Shay,” he replied.
Disentangling from Tal, Kest straightened his robe and tightened the knot. A love-sick blush spread across the bridge of his nose.
“You didn’t need to travel all this way. I have Tally under control.”
Tal huffed.
Kest grinned. “It wasn’t far for me.”
“Well, you can have a brief rest and fly home.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me, Garrett?”
Garrett crossed his arms. “No, but I don’t appreciate the implication that I cannot look after the queen’s precious youngest son.”
Kest laughed. He gripped Garrett’s shoulder. “There’s no doubt that you can. I made the suggestion to come, and Mother approved it. To be honest, Isa’s betrothed and his retinue have arrived at the castle, and I needed a break from the pretentiousness.”
Garrett shrugged off Kest’s hand, but his smile was genuine. “Pompous ass, is he?”
“You have no idea.”
“Come along, then.” Garrett gestured for Kest and Tal to follow him to the captain’s quarters. “Have some soup and tell us all about it.”
Shay lingered at the door and bowed out. “I’ll leave you to your brothers for the night.”
“Good night, Shay,” Tal called, waving from the edge of Garrett’s bed.
She smiled and closed the door behind her.
Garrett rubbed his hands together. “Tell us all the gossip, Kest.”
Kest settled at the table and ladled out a bowl of soup. Forgoing a spoon, he brought it to his lips and sipped. After a slurp he dabbed at his mouth with the edge of his sleeve.
“Well, they arrived in a string of six gilded carriages surrounded by half their kingdom’s knights, in an obvious show of wealth and power. The prince and his older sister rode separately, and not to speak badly of other royals, but I now know why. She’s about as warm as a snow-fed lake.”
Princess Vanessa. Tal’s tutor talked about her. She was renowned for her beauty, her paintings, and her singing voice, but not much else. As the second child of Ossetia, she’d have no claim to their throne, even if something happened to her older brother. Ossetia didn’t hold their women in as high regard as Harth.
“Is she nice to look at?” Garrett asked.
Tal heaved a sigh but said nothing.
“She’s beautiful, but she’s made it quite clear that she has no interest in our court. She said as much, to my face, right after we met.”
Garrett snickered. “That sounds about right.”
“With the number of jewels on her hands and the silver in her hair, it’s no wonder Ossetia is fighting with Mysten over the mines along the border. They need the material and the wealth for her wardrobe alone, not to mention the rest of the Ossetian retinue.”
“They don’t sound as desperate as they make out to be.”
Brushing back a lock of hair from his cheek, Kest took another gulp of soup, completely ignoring Garrett. “I don’t know how Isa is going to suffer Prince Emerick. He has all the bearings of royalty but with none of the tact or aptitude.”
“She cultivated the match herself. She knows what she’s getting into.”
Kest huffed. “He thinks of my gift as a parlor trick, despite Isa educating him otherwise.”
“What do you expect from a kingdom with no magic at all?” Garrett said with a shrug. “He’s bound to be curious.”
“He tries to feed me treats.”
Garrett barked a laugh, and Tal hid a smile behind his hand.
“Well,” Garrett said with every ounce of diplomacy he had, “it is rather amusing to watch, especially when you’re grumpy and your feathers puff out.”
