“I have no idea what you are speaking of.” He reached out for more hair, winding it around his hand to reel me back down to lie atop him.
“Yes, of course, that would be your reply. And what of the ravens?”
I dropped a kiss on his smooth chin. “I do enjoy birds. Many of the castle ravens come to my balcony daily for treats andtricks. I have taught one to fetch me coins from the gutters that I then donate to the orphanage. Clever birds, those ravens.”
“Yes, clever indeed.” I placed my lips to his brow as I let that topic go. I knew. He knew I knew. That was enough.
“Much like you, Coelum. Clever, untamed, bound to nothing and no one.”
I pressed a kiss to his mouth, drawing back slightly afterward to stare into warm brown pools. “I’d not say no one. Some have bound me in invisible bonds of love and affection.”
Neither of us spoke further. What more could we say? I was to leave shortly with the queen.
“I will miss you when I leave this port,” I whispered as his prick began to swell beside mine. He yanked me down to plaster his mouth to mine, cocks growing stiff, we moved around the bed until he was under me on his belly, ass stuffed to bursting with my cock. I rode him slowly to drag the pleasure out, for this may be the last time for us. The temple for the sisters was just a floor, and a hastily laid one at that. Talk of journeys in the future may be just wishful thinking if the sea witches sank Melowynn. Tomorrow would tell. Perhaps that was why I was so compelled to whisper tender things into his ear as I moved in and out of him. Mayhap he felt the same. Our world may end at dawn on the morrow so best to say what could be said now. “You have won me over as no other man ever has.”
He cried out as he spent, my words hanging in the calm evening air as I rocked into him once more, my pinnacle striking with a ferocity that bowed my back. Tumbling over the precipice with him writhing under me, I let myself freefall. This man was more than a casual fling or dalliance. He’d captured my heart so damn quickly. I loathed to leave him, but we had agreed on a brief affair. His life was at the king’s side, and mine was on the sea. But this night…this night, I longed for more. Only this once. I eased from his body to lie beside him, lost in a typhoon ofemotion as my skin cooled. I moved to my side to place a hand on the small of his back.
Just for this night, I would openly love him.
“I love you,” I mouthed beside his ear.
He struggled back from a light doze.
“Pardon, I fell asleep.”
“Old elves do that,” I teased and got a wry smile. “I said that I’ll miss you.”
“Is this our farewell, then?” I nodded. “Perhaps we should speak more about parting words in the morn.” His eyes fought to stay open.
“Perhaps,” I whispered and got a tender smile before he slipped into a restful sleep.
Wound around each other, goodbyes said, I held him through the night, my sleep fractured. My mind plagued by doubts, pain, and fear, I kissed his shoulder softly as dawn touched the sky and then left him for the sea. As Caderes had done for countless generations. We left. That was what sailors did. We sailed.
Standing at the door, a leather bag filled with clothes and personal items, I ran my eyes over his resting form. One strong leg out of the covers, his flaccid cock on display, the knowledge that I was skipping out on someone that I lo…had strong feelings for made me no better than my father. Yet I left just the same.
Truly, the Cadere line was naught but scared boys masquerading as fearsome pirates.
THE SKY WAS THE SOFTEST BLUE WITH FEATHERSof pink when I knelt on the hastily built temple floor by the sea. Overnight, the fisherfolk of Renedith had come out to leave offerings to the three sisters. Copper coins, flowers, wreaths of grapevines with small bits of greenery woven amid the dark brown canes. Stubby candles—not many, for they were costly—rested amid nuts, homemade wine in terracotta jugs, small bags of flour and grains. Small birds—ducks and quail—plucked cleanly by nimble fingers. Tiny urns of incense. A raggedy doll with one button eye. Simple offerings from simple people, but far more heartfelt than the gold coins tossed into the tithe at the temple of Ihdos, I was sure.
The large, flat stones were dry, but the tide was creeping closer. I sat back on my heels, my bag several feet behind me resting in the sand, and closed my eyes. The lucent thrummed softly in the pouch dangling from my belt. The wind played with my hair as the grunt of a mottled gray pelican floating past on the waves reached my ears. It had been ages since I had prayed to the ones who had blessed my line. I would have to do better or risk their wrath again. Tasting their displeasure once was enough for me. Whatever boon they had granted my kin so many seasons ago remained a mystery, but did it matter truly? Perhaps the reason had faded from memory over time. Perhaps it was a dark deal, which none spoke of due to shame.
I may never know. What I did know was that the ocean was a part of me, sure as my lungs, my legs, my cock, my heart. I could never be far from it, and that, sadly, was the bane of a seafarer’s existence. I could feel the pull to return to Le’ral and live my life with him on land, but that whisper of want was, and would always be, drowned out by the song of the sea.
I shifted slightly to touch the coral crown atop my head as I cleared all thoughts of Le’ral from my mind to focus on the sisters three.
“O three who dwell beneath the tides, sisters of brine, storm, and shadow, hear the prayer of one who walks the shifting line between moonlit shore and the hungry deep. Tidebound Prince, I may be, but my soul belongs to the dark deep seas. Guide my keel through waters unseen, fill my sails with your breath. Turn your watchful eyes from my frail bones so that the deep may claim other prey on our journeys.” I dug into the pouch on my hip, my fingers brushing the deep blue lucent, and pulled out my offering. “I offer salt, silver, and song to your names. Mark my vessel as one in your favored sight. Guide my hand, sharpen my sight, power my resolve as I captain my crew into unknown waters. Return me to the shore when my journey is done, to the arms of loved ones, who you have cradled in your embrace. By moon, by tide, by the stars that guide us, and by the endless sea, so I ask most humbly, and so it may be.”
I sprinkled the coarse salt over the stones, dropped ten silvers into a clay pot, and then lifted my voice to song. An old shanty my father would sing on dark nights when he was plagued with memories of love lost. A lady left behind who had won his heart, yet he had sailed away just the same. A song about pale moons in a witch’s sky, of three old sisters of foam and storm, dark waves, salt and coin, and laughing seas.
When the song ended, my eyes opened to find the sea lapping at the temple, just a narrow section of blue-green waterrolling over the stones to pull the offerings back into the brine. The lucent throbbed strongly as the waves began to wash the homespun oblations back into the depths. A streak of blue flew past my face, scaly tail slapping my cheek, startling me from my reverent state. Jaculi landed with a tumble on the temple floor, wet stones sending him skidding into the water momentarily.
“What the hells are you doing?” I barked at the wyrmling as he righted himself. With a shake that sent saltwater flying, he raced at the silver coins I’d left. “No! Those are for the goddesses!” We both lunged at the tiny red pot. His teeth latched onto one of my fingers, sharp teeth going to the bone by the feels. He tugged. I tugged. “Miserable thieving…lizard pustule these…ow be damned…are for the goddesses!”
He sniffed as if that mattered to him. The druids considered him a divine being, a god with scales and wings, as it were. Cold air blew over my bloody finger. He cracked me across the nose with a wing. Seeing stars, I released the pot. Off he went into the air, flapping madly, his prize in his mouth.
“Fucking shitful nuisance,” I snarled, rubbing at my cheek with a mangled finger. Using my other hand, I dropped more silver into the sea. The waves swept it back into the deep as I rose to my boots, my gaze raking over the docks, stalling when the sight of crisp, new sails filled with the gusts of the new day grabbed my attention. I’d deal with the dragonling later. A new belt sounded dandy. “I assume you are happy with the offerings granted, sisters three?” A porpoise leapt from the water, arcing gracefully into the air before diving back into the depths. “I take that as a yes. The good people of Renedith will see that your temple is completed with all due haste and that tithes will be offered. I have laid out laws to be written in my absence to ensure overfishing of larger vessels is kept to a minimum. Keep the lands dry and those I love safe. I, my ladies, have a ship to catch.”
Cutting a fine bow while holding my stinky crown on my head, I straightened, gathered my personal bag, and hoisted it over my shoulder. The ship was a new sloop, a gorgeous she devil cut from dark woods that glistened in the morning sun. The blue and white flags of Melowynn snapped in the burgeoning winds. My heart sped up as I made my way to the docks, my sight never leaving the ship as she put into port. God, what a glorious thing she was, virginal and untried. I would guide her gently on her maiden voyage to Light’s Keep and beyond. As she was tied off and planks laid out, I paused to study her name.
