Don’t even think about it, Dev had said. Hard not to when he was so very fascinating. The last Priestlord ofLindurithainnow sailing for the king. I didn’t dare look away.
I’d have to be very, very careful.
I glanced over to see Smoke at the wheels. His neckerchief was tied around his forehead, catching the sweat that rolled down his face. He nodded at me, so I ambled over and fell in at his side.
“Sailsquids,” he said. “A whole school of them.”
My eyes lit up.
“I’ve never seen one,” I said.
“Good eating,” said Smoke. “ARhi’Ahrdelicacy, in fact.”
“Rhi’Ahrdelicacies?” I grinned. “Nan?”
“Thanavar taught him a few,” he said. “Mostly kelp and sea pearls and green ocean shite, but sometimes the sea sends a good fishy steak our way.”
I moved to the bulwark and leaned on my elbows over the rail. The Dreadsky rolled all green and yellow, and heat rippled in the distance, but truthfully, the Silence was close enough to be a threat if we veered to either side. I shuddered to think of being trapped in its becalmed embrace, no wind for the sails, no relief from the heat.
I couldn’t imagine what the Silence might do to my runescars were I ever to venture in…
I heard a cheer from the rigging and looked up again. Thanavar was climbing down the shrouds, and he leaped the last bolt, his bare feet slapping hard on the deck.
“Mr. Buck!” he cried. “Fetch your harpoons!”
“Aye, Captain!” called Buck, and another cheer went up from the crew on the main.
“Full sail, Mr. Oakum,” the captain called, and he swung around. “Oh, Ensign Renn.”
He strode over to us at the wheels. His sleeves were rolled up in the heat, and his waistcoat fluttered unbuttoned and free. His linen tunic was damp and clung to his lean body like a second skin. He had loosed his collar, his gold-laced skin glistened with sweat, and once again, I could see the pendant stark across the hard lines of his chest.
It had to be a hawk.
I could be a hawk, I thought to myself. If I was ever a mirrormage, I would be a hawk.
“Good to see you back on deck,” he said. “Have you ever seen a school of sailsquids?”
I swallowed and forced my eyes up to his face.
“No, sir. I have not.”
“You told me you like animals, yes?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, not stopping the smile now. “I do.”
He held out his hand.
Damn me to hels and back again. What had I just told myself? Something about being careful?
With a deep breath, I took it, and his fingers closed over mine. He spun on his heel and all but dragged me toward the prow. Forge, he was stronger than most swabs, and I wondered if it were aRhi’Ahrtrait or just his. The crew parted for him as he sliced a path through to the very cat, drawing me up beside him at the rail. I tore my gaze away and sent it to the ocean. What I saw took my breath away.
An ocean of colors from Mother the Sea, sang theTouchstonein my head.
A host of colorful creatures raced at the headwaters, keeping pace with theTouchstoneand leaping beneath her prow. Red, purple, blue, and green, they burst out of the sea and skimmed across the waves before plunging back in with a splash. They were larger than sharks, and their long heads had pointed beaks that looked like they could stab a whale. Their fins were widelike stinging rays, but razor-thin, and they caught the air like sails when they leaped from the waters. Instead of tails, they had tentacles and two long barbs that whipped in the waves.
There were dozens of them fanned out before the prow as if leading us through the gap and toward the Dreadwall.
The ocean is mother with teeth in her waves.
