She moved her focus to the trade ship’s prow,which was carved into the shape of a screaming eagle’s head.Shefocused on the deck, where a tall man with white-blond hair stoodbeside a woman whose golden-brown hair was blowing around afamiliar oval face.
“Captain Wallis,” she yelled, laughing andpointing.“It’s theSea Eagle, my father’s ship.”And herfather and her mother were on it.
Alina was off the small boat and climbing therope ladder onto theSea Eaglebefore Captain Wallis hadtied the small boat off to the ship’s side.When she reached thetop rung, her father’s face was beaming down at her.He held outhis hand and helped pull her up and over the rail.
“Oh, Father,” she cried as he pulled her intohis arms.“I thought I might never see you or Mother again.”Shelaughed through her tears as her mother joined their embrace, andit was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from hershoulders.She kissed her mother’s cheek, which was as wet withtears as her own, and grinned as her father ruffled her hair andtook in her tunic and breeches.
“It’s a long story,” Alina said.
“One I look forward to hearing,” her fathersaid, and then pulled her and her mother into his arms oncemore.
“We were so afraid we’d lost you,” her motherwhispered.“Oh, Alina, my beautiful girl.Are you, you’ve notbeen…?”
“I’m well, Mother, truly.”
Her mother sniffed and nodded, and held tightto Alina’s hand as the crew shouted out greetings to her.
“Uncle Han,” she cried as the slim,black-haired Far Easterner bristling with blades stepped up andhugged her.“I’m so glad to see you.”
“Not as glad as I to see you, missy,” hesaid, grinning from ear to ear.He nodded toward the longboatpulling up beside the ship from which Bors stood glaring up atthem.“Bors’s gonna be so jealous I get hug you first.”
Alina laughed.As scary-looking as he was,her Uncle Bors was a big old softy.“He’ll get over it,” shesaid.
The captain and the first mate from theTrade Windclimbed aboard and Alina introduced them.
“Father, Mother, this is Captain Wallis andhis first mate, Brady.They were taking me back to Sea Ridge.”
“Captain.”Her father held out his hand toWallis.“Thank you.We owe you a great debt for bringing ourdaughter to us.”
“It’s my honor, King Jerrik,” Wallis said,shaking his hand.He reached into his tunic pocket and pulled outAlina’s pearl necklace and held it out to her.“Seeing as how Ididn’t take you all the way to Sea Ridge, I’d feel wrong keepingthis.”
“It’s yours,” Alina told him.“You got meback to my parents.You’ve fulfilled your part of the bargain.”
“I tell you what, Captain,” her father said,taking the necklace from Wallis and looping it over Alina’s head.“I’ll make sure you’re paid what the necklace is worth, either incoin or trade.”He glanced at theTrade Wind.“You’ve tradedin Sea Ridge before.I never forget a face or a ship.”
“Aye, King Jerrik, three times.This trip’llbe our fourth, which is one of the reasons I agreed to take yourdaughter onboard.”
Her father cocked his head, his blue eyespiercing.“Why would you not?”
Wallis looked to Alina.
“As I said, it’s a long story,” she told herfather.“One I will explain in detail once we’re on our way to theGreen Isles.”
“To Silver Water Keep?”her mother said.
“No.”Alina shook her head, curious hermother asked about the keep by name.In all the tales of the Lionand the Swan she’d heard, it had only ever been told that Oona theSwan had come from the Green Isles.The name of her family home hadnever been mentioned.She wanted to ask her mother how she knew ofSilver Water Keep, but like many other things, the explanationwould have to wait.“We need to sail to North Shore Keep, on theLong Firth,” she said.“The home of Laird Roger MacKinnon, Roark’spatron, the man he and Leif abducted me for.The sooner we getthere, the better.”
TheTrade Windwould continue on toSea Ridge, where her father made arrangements with Captain Wallisto have the wool and whisky and other trade goods taken directly tothe palace warehouse to be traded for furs and worm weave, and forthe captain to receive a bolt of his choice as payment for lettingAlina sail on his ship.
Alina said her farewells to the captain andBrady, and as soon as they’d oared their small boat away, Borsbrought his longboat alongside theSea Eagleand boundedonto the deck.Alina flew into his arms, laughing as he gave her abig bear hug.
“Don’t you go scaring us like that again,missy,” he mock scolded.“You left grown men in tears thinking youwere dead.Not me, of course, but others,” he said with a sniff anda wink.“And poor Beast, the hound sat at the end of the dock andwouldn’t leave for three days after you disappeared.He must’vefollowed your scent to where it ended.”He snuffled and wiped hisnose on his sleeve.“We followed the blood trail and searched theforests and mountains for a fortnight, looking for any trace ofyou.”
“I know what Leif and his men did with mygown and cloak, and the pig’s blood to make you all think I’d beendragged off into the woods by some wild beast,” she said, and sawthe deep shadows of grief flit across her uncles’ and parents’faces.“I’ll tell you everything that’s happened to me, I promise,but first, I have to ask, how did you know where to come lookingfor me?”
“It was your mother,” her father said,wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her to him.“Whenwe couldn’t find any signs of you…” His voice, always so strong andsure, broke.“Once the shock and grief of your supposed death hadebbed enough to think and function again, she looked into thescrying bowl.”
As far as Alina knew, her mother had onlylooked into the scrying bowl once before, on the night before sheand her father were to have been married.What she’d seen there hadscarred her so deeply she’d never looked again.
