The knob on the galley door turned with a click and she bolted upright. Asterious sat up, facing the door.
“Brenn,” she muttered at the sight of him in the door frame.
“I heard some commotion and thought I’d check to make sure everyone was all right.” Brenn’s gaze snapped from her to Asterious as he shifted a step backward, seemingly uncomfortable at the sight of them on the floor together, Asterious shirtless and damp with sweat. “I can see that you are.”
Caramyn stood to her feet. “Thank you for your concern. We’re fine.”
His expression didn’t soften. He walked away, leaving the door open, but not without calling back. “We’ll be docking at Magoth in an hour or less. We hit a current that moved us along faster than expected. The queen has posted soldiers in all port cities to search boats and watch for rebels—especially magic ones. You’ll need to be ready to sneak off quickly.”
Caramyn gestured towards her room. “I should go get my things together.”
The prince nodded.
She rolled up her blankets, packed away her flask, and slung her bow and quiver around her shoulder so they would be ready to take up to the deck when it was time. And then she decided to watch the stars fade with the sunrise during her last morning on the water.
As she climbed up, she was grateful that she didn’t need her thick fur hood around her face, as the air was already noticeably warmer than the frozen coastlines of the Spires. The chill of winter creeping in was still very much present, but it felt like a furnace compared to the frigidness of the mountain fjords.
She noticed Brenn watching the sky, seated at the stern with his arm propped up on his knee against a barrel. “You didn’t have to leave him, you know. I meant what I said. I came tomake sure he didn’t kill you or something. I wasn’t trying to…interrupt.”
“It…that wasn’t what you think.” Caramyn breathed. “I understand why you’re cautious with Asterious. I know his father is the reason our families are dead. But he is nothing like his father was. And he would never hurt me. You must try to understand.”
“What must I understand? Your willingness to help this prince of nothing doom us all? You could run away once we make port. Think of it. You—we—could start a new life somewhere, in a place where we’re not just pieces left behind of a dying breed. We could travel to Gahmea, where magic is not just tolerated, but revered.” He spoke lowly, through bared teeth so as not to allow anyone but her to hear. “But if you help get that man on the throne, what makes you think he won’t do exactly what his father did? He’ll finish off those of us left.”
Caramyn shifted uneasily. “I once considered that possibility, too,” she uttered, taming the frustration in her voice with a low growl. “Because I, of all people, donotblindly trust. But I have seen what he has faced. What he has overcome. I have seen the way he cares for his people—even ones with magic.” She turned to look back at the hatch entrance. “He is selfless, and he only wants to heal this land.”
“Emotions can easily tangle with our judgments. But if that’s what you wish…I suppose that when we dock, we’ll go our separate ways.” Brenn shook his head, his locks of cinnamon brown brushing his forehead. He glanced around, as though checking the deck of any previously unnoticed presence. “But if you ever decide to change your mind—or if you ever desperately need help—use this. I will come.”
He must’ve noticed her puzzled expression as he pressed a talisman on a leather string into her hand. It bore the image of a falcon with open wings. “It’s a summoner. Enchanted so that ifyou simply hold it completely and whisper my name into it, I’ll hear.”
“Why have you done so much to help me?’’ Caramyn was lost for words as she traced the intricate carvings in the small wooden totem with her fingers. “You hardly know me.”
“Because, like I told you before. We are one and the same.”
Caramyn had no further words, fearful of deepening the connection if she asked him anything more. Instead, she resigned herself to watching the sky as the dark expanse of stars overhead slowly transformed into a palette of gold, white and heavenly hues of pink and lavender. Leaning against the hull, she stared up into the place where the gods of old were said to reside, and for once she thought maybe they might’ve been real.
Veylan’s gruff voice calling out to announce their arrival tore her gaze away and back to the misty cliffs of Evylere coming into view ahead. Brenn stood up, belongings slung across his back. “Goodbye, Caramyn. I’ll be off this ship before you can notice I’m gone. I'd like to avoid another interaction with your dear prince. And if it’s what you wish, you’ll never have to see me again.” He waved at her and then gestured at the talisman in her hand. “Unless you decide to use that.”
As she studied him for what she knew might be the last time, she looked into his eyes and nodded in a way to thank him from the sincerest part of her. Looking down at the talisman, she stood with his words still swirling around in her mind. Asterious appeared on the deck, and she hurried to tuck the charm away in her pocket.
Veylan navigated the ship through the rocky waters, and the familiar scent of the forgotten Lightborn lands swept Caramyn into a dream. The smell of apple blossoms, cedars, and the edge of the sea, and the crisp wind of autumn's end that cloaked itself around her.
Brenn huddled beneath his cloak as Asterious neared, distancing himself by heading to the masts to lower the sails. Veylan docked the ship, working it between the tight-spaced piers of the Magoth docks. Once the vessel was moored, he stomped over to the edge of the boat and dropped the gangplank with a slam. “A favor repaid for a favor granted. Now get off my boat.”
“You have our gratitude, Captain Veylan.” The prince nodded and handed him some coins Zera had given them. “Stay here a few days so that I can send someone with further payment.”
“No need,” Veylan coughed. “I think the sailing did me more good than any gold. And I’d rather get back to the fjords than linger around this noisy place another minute.”
Caramyn thought she saw the old seaman smile again.
Brenn whisked past them across the deck and down the gangplank into the commotion of the docks where sailors were preoccupied with loading and unloading their vessels. He spoke with a Felhold soldier, directing his attention to the water as Caramyn and Asterious snuck past with their cloaks shielding their eyes.
Nocthar flew far ahead of them, beating his wings as though he’d just been released from bondage. Once their feet were on dry land once more and they were far enough away from the patrols, Caramyn surveyed the busy port to tell Brenn goodbye, but he was gone.
Marching through the harbor, she and Asterious set their sights toward the south. Caramyn shed her outer coat, finding it too bulky and unnecessary for the temperate late autumn chill. Her cloak over her long-sleeved wool dress would suffice on its own.
“I’d thought you would’ve learned by now not to hold onto mysterious relics.” Asterious said suddenly.
“What?” Caramyn stopped in her tracks.
