I pointed out at the great open ocean ahead of us. “Respect it, first. Fear it, second.”
“And never think that it cares one whit about you,” Aiko said softly from my other side. “It certainly didn’t on our trip around the Scar.”
Belshazzar glanced at me, then up to his brother at the bow and back to me. “If their last name was Raven, how are you Lady Stormbreaker? It’s been a long fucking time since I’ve been here, but I know that name.”
“My natural mother. Celine Stormbreaker.”
“Celine…” he whispered. “Savion wanted her in the worst ways.”
I snapped my eyes to his. “Well, he got her in the worst way. And got her with me.”
He turned and looked further south, then back to me. “You know how your family got that name?”
“I know exactly nothing about my natural mother’s family,” I said. “It was a miracle I even got her name.”
“Your great-grandfather, Jaikor,” he said. “Damn fucking strong druid. Tons of magic. He loved the water, like your adoptive father. His fleet was caught up in a massive storm, and a huge rogue wave came up on them. He used his magic to cleave it in half, and the magic went up and up, and pulled the storm apart, leaving the fleet sitting in the sunset in a calm sea. They didn’t lose a single soul. He was Stormbreaker ever after that.”
The king looked over at his brother. “He didn’t tell you that?”
“He doesn’t tell me much,” I answered over the shush of the boat through the water and the whisper of the wind through the sails.
“Why do you stay?”
I stared out to where Dorian stood on the bowsprit. “For a while, he was a challenge. The only person I knew who could keep up with my sword work. And then for a while I really enjoyed… hisothersword work. Now… he’s just being an asshole. Or reverted to it.”
After another quiet moment as the xebec cut through the water, Aiko spoke softly. “It’s the vampire in him, isn’t it?” He glanced at Belshazzar. “Even though you are vampire and he is druid, you still have parts of the other. He’s being possessive and cruel because of me, because I am here.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said. “We share a bed with Rilen and Roran.”
“But we were there before you,” Rilen said, quietly. He appeared between Aiko and me at that moment. “He sharesuswithyou. That’s the way he looks at it. You are his to keep or share. And now, Aiko would be intruding, and that’s the part that Dorian gets jumbled up.”
“He’s a selfish prick,” Belshazzar said. He smirked. “I am, too. Family trait.”
“Are you all done talking about me?” Dorian called from the bow.
“Fuck off, brother,” Belshazzar called back.
“And no, we’re not!” Rilen yelled. He glanced at Aiko and me. “How long do we think this trip is going to be?”
“Four days because we’re in a pretty large ship that can really cut through the water,” I answered.
“Four long days of that miserable shit brooding on the bow of the ship.” Rilen shook his head slowly. “This is going to be fun.”
Dorian turned around and stared at us. “You can all swim.”
“You can’t pilot a boat,” I snapped back.
“I can figure it out,” he barked.
“No, you can’t, not one this big!”
“If I recall,” he said, walking along the deck toward us, “you have never complained about my being able to handle large things before.”
“Sex jokes, Dorian?” Rilen asked, rolling his eyes.
“You can handle one large one,” I answered, “but I can handle three at the same time.”
Rilen, Aiko, and Belshazzar all dropped their jaws. Once again, the king started laughing and had to walk away. Rilen grabbed Aiko and spirited him toward the galley. “Time to start dinner!”
