Chapter eleven
Shi'chen
Thenextfewdayspassed without incident, but Shi’chen still felt himself jump whenever someone approached him too quickly. The weather was calm, and Shi’chen did not think he had ever been so grateful for it not to rain. Captain Harrana, the red-haired elf Shi’chen had seen the first day, was a very competent leader and directed the crew on catching the wind that gusted over the water. “If she gets her ship into port early, everyone gets a bonus,” Lai explained one afternoon as he and Shi’chen sat side by side mending a ripped sail. Lai had a pair of dark glasses on over his eyes, which Shi’chen had seen some crew members, mainly elves, wear when it was extremely bright out. “Since the continents rely so heavily on trade, the faster the better.”
That much he understood. There had been stories floating around the scholars about new inventions that were starting to show up that sailed in the sky using some sort of gas combined with the wind to move, but almost all of it was still experimental. Even A’bbni had never actually seen one in person. Shi’chen realized with a start that that was the first time today he had thought about his brother, and a pang of homesickness and longing made his chest tighten. “Would you sail back to the human lands?” he asked to take his mind off thoughts of his twin.
Lai shook his head. “There’s nothing for me there. Maybe if trade happened more there, I would, but just as a job, not to stay.”
“Is it hard to not have a place to call home?” Shi’chen asked.
Lai shook his head. “Not really. When you’re always moving, it’s easier to not get attached to places or people.”
“I think that would be hard for me,” Shi’chen mused, then winced as he accidentally jabbed the heavy needle into his thumb. “I like having familiar things around me.”
Lai blinked at that. “I don’t understand.”
“I like… knowing where I am.”
Lai nodded thoughtfully. “Your world must be much smaller than mine.”
“What do you mean?” Shi’chen asked, examining his thumb and glad to not find any blood.
“You live in a palace,” Lai said, dropping his voice so only Shi’chen could hear him. “Do you leave it very often?”
Shi’chen blinked. He had never really thought about it that way. “No…”
Lai gave him a pointed look. “So, your world is small. I have no home, but I’ve seen much more of the world.”
Shi’chen mused on that for several moments. “You’re right,” he said at last.
“I know,” Lai said with his usual bright grin. “It’s not a bad thing. You like having a home. I like seeing the world.”
“Would you ever stay in one place?”
Lai shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe one day. If I had a reason to stay.”
“You and Talen didn’t stay in one place?” Lai jerked slightly at the sudden name, and Shi’chen flinched. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have brought him up.”
Lai shook his head, his blond ponytail swinging. “It’s all right. I just wasn’t ready for that question.”
“You don’t have to answer it,” Shi’chen replied, feeling guilty he had caused his friend any sort of distress.
Lai shook his head again. “I can. Talen was a sailor, too. After we met, we worked on ships together. If I had wanted to stay some place, I think he would have been fine with that. We talked about giving up sailing.”
“May I ask how he died?” Shi’chen asked softly.
“There was a bad storm,” Lai said, his eyes on the horizon behind his dark glasses, his hands gone still. “He was swept overboard.”
Shi’chen felt his stomach drop. He couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying than hitting the black water of the roiling ocean, especially as he did not know how to swim. “Fuck,” he murmured softly. “I’m sorry.”
Lai shrugged, turning his eyes down to the sail in his hands. “Hazard of a life at sea.”
“That’s terrifying. I never wanted to be on a ship,” Shi’chen admitted.
Lai let out a soft chuckle. “I could tell. First time I saw you, I knew you were not meant to be a sailor.”
“Yeah? What did you think I was meant to be?” Shi’chen asked, raising a brow.
