The Tempest Sea

by Robin D. Mahle

  Chapter Five

  CLARK

  Perfect might have been an overstatement. The boat was spacious for its size, but there was a decided shortage of sleeping quarters. Nell, being both female and recovering from impalement, rightfully called the only actual bed. That left two pull-out single-sized beds, and not much of anything else.

  As warm as Central Island was, my distant memories of Gyomatsu were of scorching winds and a broiling sun. We would need the shelter of being below decks, which meant we would be sleeping like sardines in a can.

  It was, however, as well-stocked as I had predicted. Barrels of water sat freshly loaded in the storage compartment, and the small bar had an abundance of liquor and coffee. I would likely need copious amounts of both to survive this trip.

  Commandeering the boat had been laughably easy. Either they thought no one was reckless enough to take this boat, or Prince Perry had deliberately left it less guarded in the event Addie would need to use it again.

  “Usually, I’m the optimistic one, but you don’t seem concerned at all about our prospects of getting caught with the Prince’s boat,” Gunther said, his mop of curls blowing in the breeze. We had been at sea for a few hours now.

  The ocean was an incredible clear blue. It brought back memories of my brothers and me identifying sea creatures for hours on my father’s naval ship. A dolphin jumped in front of us, vying for our attention, as if it had heard my thoughts. Further out, I spotted a huge gray shape that could only be a whale. I pulled my attention from the sea to focus on my brother.

  “We’re only borrowing it. I doubt he’ll mind when it’s to save his fiancée.” I spat the last word out unintentionally. I didn’t like Prince Perry, but his affection for Adelaide had been clear. Either she truly didn’t realize the depth of his feelings for her, or it was just another card she played close to her chest.

  I remembered her saying to him, “Don’t pretend it’s like that with us.” Addie didn’t strike me as cruel, but if they had been engaged, that was an odd thing to say.

  Why am I even thinking about this?

  It’s not like there was a future for Addie and me. Maybe the crazy part was that, for a moment, I had wished there could be. I let the useless thoughts scatter with the breeze and turned back to my brother. I pulled the photograph of Xavier out of my pocket and handed it to him.

  “Do you think it could have been altered?” I asked. I held my breath while he deliberated, not realizing until this moment how much his answer meant to me.

  “I’d need to examine it more closely, but honestly? I doubt it. I looked for him after you were taken by the Director. In the unlikely event that someone went through the trouble to mess with that photograph, and I don’t know why they would, then where is he? Why wasn’t he fighting at your side? None of it makes any sense.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” I said, somewhat surprised. I had underestimated Gunther’s ability to read a situation, sure his eternal optimism would skew his outlook. He wasn’t finished, though.

  “But he’s our brother, and a good man. I know his choices have sometimes been questionable, but I also know, whatever he did, he must have had his reasons.”

  I nodded slowly, absorbing the points he was making.

  Locke’s voice startled me. “And what about Ms. Kensington?”

  How many years of training does it take to move as stealthily as he does? I thought as I made a concerted effort to hide my surprise.

  The man continued, his voice deep. “Where does she fit into your brother’s reasoning?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I can’t honestly believe Xav would let any harm come to Addie.”

  “Addie,” he scoffed. “So familiar with a girl you barely know. This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve been wrong about someone you love.”

  My fingers tightened their hold on the steel railing. He was talking about my father being accused of mass murder, of setting an explosion that claimed countless innocent lives, including Addie’s mother and sister. I wanted to argue with him on both points, but I really didn’t know anything right now.

  I thought I had gotten to know something real from Addie, though our time together had been brief. Then I had found out she was engaged to the man in line to be Emperor, a fact she had casually forgotten to mention.

  And my father. I had staunchly defended him when he was accused of the very explosion that took his life, until I found out it hadn’t. He was alive but hadn’t come back to my brothers and me.

  And now Xav. My pulse quickened, and my muscles quivered.

  “There’s that anger. You need to come to terms with your emotions before you get Ms. Kensington killed with your hotheadedness.”

  His words reminded me uncomfortably of my father’s counsel. I decided that now was a good time to change the subject. Mostly because he was right, but I didn’t feel like thinking about that right now.

  “Did you leave Nell alone with Jayce?” I asked, eyes wide.

  “Ms. Silbeque is behind a locked door, and Jayce has been restrained to his sleeping area. She assured me she felt quite comfortable with the situation.” His voice managed to convey annoyance at being questioned without changing tone.

  I could see how he had been leader of our empire’s most elite private forces. What I couldn’t understand was what Kensington had offered him to give that up to guard one girl. Locke didn’t seem the type to be motivated by money, but nothing else made sense.

  I still wasn’t happy with anyone trusting Jayce enough to leave him down there unsupervised, but “restrained” sounded promising.

  Locke went back to the helm without saying anything else, and Gunther went below decks. I stared back out at the sea, trying not to think about anything Locke had said. Finally, I got tired of my thoughts and headed for the cabin.

  What the Prince’s boat lacked in size, it made up for in amenities. A shower was more tempting than rest right now, so I headed toward the back. Gunther worked on one of his projects at the bar. He didn’t look up when I came down, too immersed in the bronze bracelet he was hunched over.

  I laughed out loud when I saw Jayce. He was, indeed, restrained. Locke had secured him to the steel handrails near the couch with a bit of rope. I remembered the first time I saw Addie sleeping, how she looked almost approachable in that moment. Even sleeping, Jayce looked like someone I wanted to punch in the face.

  I resisted the urge, striding past him to the boat’s lavatory. Memories of the last time I had been on that couch assaulted me. My companion then had been markedly more attractive than the weaselly man there now. And also, apparently, she’d been engaged.

  Merde. I needed to take a shower and stop thinking about all of this.

  I was turning my hand around the knob when Nell came sauntering out of the bedroom, nearly colliding with me in her quest to get to Gunther. I slid out of the way, and she gracefully sidestepped me, heading for my brother with a determined look on her face.

  She snatched his project from under him. “I’ll be taking that back now.” Her voice was airy, but her features were pinched.

  “Sorry,” Gunther said sheepishly. “I was trying to fix it for you.”

  “Which I appreciate, especially seeing as your misuse broke it. But the wrong kind of manipulation could lead my uncle right to us.” Her face had gone pale again, though she was clearly striving for nonchalance. “I fixed it once. When I get my energy back, I should be able to fix it again.” She pocketed the item, the folds of her flowing pants hiding the bracelet sufficiently.

  If Gunther was offended by the idea that he could do more harm than good to one of his projects, he didn’t let on. I nearly laughed again.

  “Did she say uncle?” He looked to me for clarification.

  I nodded, my eyes not leaving Nell’s face.

  “Who is your uncle?” I asked.

  She opened her mouth, then looked at Jayce and stopped herself. “No one whose attention we want to draw.”

&nbs
p; I exchanged a look with my brother, who shrugged.

  I turned back to Nell to ask for an explanation when a sound pulled my attention away. The noise was distinctive enough, but it took me a moment to identify, because it was so out of place on the Prince’s boat. It was a meow.

  Sure enough, a fluffy white cat I had only seen once before strode from Nell’s open door into the narrow hallway.

  “What is that?” I asked Nell, though I knew the answer.

  She bent to scoop the cat up. “I couldn’t just leave Shensi. Addie would never forgive me.” She cooed at the cat, who purred in response. “Besides, she can help with ship rats.”

  I cast a dubious look at the overweight feline. Somehow, I doubted hunting for anything was in her repertoire of skills.

  “You seriously brought a cat on a rescue mission?”

  “I brought my best friend’s cat to comfort her upon her rescue, and so she would have one less thing to worry about, and I have zero regrets.” She looked down to the side before mumbling, “Even if my bracelet did quit working after that.”

  “That’s what you went to retrieve from Addie’s Penthouse before bothering to come get us?”

  “She,” Nell corrected. “I told you, I heard the Director mention the cameras, so we were waiting for Gunther to disable them. It was only supposed to take a second. And I didn’t know Locke was there.”

  The implication that she would have come sooner if she had known was not lost on me.

  “Besides, it’s not like I knew the teleport would just quit working after someone’s gross misuse of it.” Nell glared at Gunther.

  “I was saving your life,” he responded mildly. “I still don’t understand that, though. The crystals are intact,” Gunther speculated.

  Nell heaved a long-suffering sigh. “The crystal is only the source of energy. It’s the encasing that harnesses it, directs it.”

  “So, the crystal is like a glorified battery?” Gunther asked.

  “That’s an oversimplification, but not a terrible comparison.”

  “Regardless,” I pulled the conversation back around. “We can’t just be expected to tote a cat across the world when we have no idea what we’ll be running into.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about the toting part. I’ve brought her a bag.”

  I sighed, looking to my brother for assistance.

  “Well, would you want to be left with only the Director for company?” Gunther asked, nodding to the cat.

  I raised my eyes skyward, fighting for patience.

  Still, between the mysterious girl, the serious bodyguard, and the man I was coming to hate most in the world, I was absurdly grateful for Gunther’s easygoing presence.

  All we’re missing is…

  My face fell, thinking about my oldest brother.

  Gunther put a gloved hand on my shoulder. “He’s going to be okay. We’re going to catch up to them.”

  I only nodded, hoping some of Gunther’s optimism might soak into me and chase away the more somber thoughts running through my brain. Including the thought that we didn’t know if Xav wanted us to catch up with him at all.

  And that we didn’t know if he and Addie would both still be alive when we did.

  But for now, I could take comfort in the brother I still had left.

  Jayce’s annoying voice broke through my thoughts. “Hate to break up this love fest, but is someone planning on feeding me dinner?”

  My hand went automatically to my sword, but Gunther gently placed his hand over mine.

  “We need him, Clark. Remember that.” He shot a small glare in Jayce’s direction.

  I chuckled softly and held my hand up and away from my sword.

  We need him. The thought galled me, but it was true enough for the time being. We won’t need him forever, though.

  The Protector

  Drovel Island was freezing. Father had traipsed the boys blindfolded through the woods, tied them to a tree, and instructed them to find their way back to the ship by morning. At least he had removed their blindfolds before leaving this time.

  Xavier knew better than to be grateful for that, though. If Father was giving them any kind of advantage, they were sure as hell going to need it. They all set to work on their ropes, trying to undo the complicated knots before their fingers went numb.

  Gunther was the only one in gloves, and he had the deftest fingers. He freed himself first. Clark was moments behind, and Xavier’s larger hands took an extra few minutes. His brothers could have helped him, he thought irritably. But then, they were already casing their surroundings and gathering supplies.

  We discussed what we knew of Drovel. It was small enough that, in theory, we should be able to head in any direction and hit the coastline, then follow it around until we found the harbor. The problem with that was, we were surrounded on all sides by mountains.

  “We could pick our way through what looks like the easiest path and go from there.” Of course, the suggestion of a plan that was more like winging it would come from Clark.

  “We should walk until we find a higher ground and use the stars,” I suggested.

  The light was fading and, soon, communication would be difficult. A clearing or higher ground would give us more to work with.

  “If we spend too much time on that,” Clark debated, “we may not have time to make our way back down before morning.”

  That was true.

  “You don’t think Father would actually leave us here, do you?” asked Gunther.

  Clark and I looked at each other. That we couldn’t answer that question with a high degree of certainty was motivation enough for me. Apparently, for Gunther as well.

  “Clark’s plan is faster, but with more potential for disaster. Xavier’s should still get us there in time and is a surer bet.”

  Clark opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off with a smirk.

  “Clark, you’ve been vetoed as usual. Let’s go.”

  He glared but followed suit. Once we decided on something, even if one of us didn’t agree, we fell in line. That’s what brothers did.

  Chapter Six

  ADELAIDE

  Xav was carrying me now. My skin crawled with the contact, but he was at least the lesser of the evils. I would die before I let General Noble touch me. Of the twelve masked men who had accompanied us off the ship, one of them had to be Jethro. So, when my strength had given out entirely, I reluctantly nodded my permission for Xavier to lug me through town.

  From my angle in the middle of the island, I couldn’t see the Ever Falls. I wondered if we would be able to see them through any gaps in the wall we were headed toward. Really, looking out at the mostly abandoned town, I wondered what we were doing here at all.

  It was evident the town had once been a hub for trading. The docks were lined with stalls, and there were several large buildings, likely shops at one time, on either side of the wide streets. The remains were charred and falling apart now, and there wasn’t a soul in sight, aside from those who had come with us.

  There were no automobiles anywhere, which wasn’t surprising. The island was too small to need them, and too far out to bother transporting them. I knew the island wasn’t completely deserted, given the influx of adventurers who came to see both the ruins and the Falls.

  They must dock closer to the Falls, I thought.

  The Court of Yomi men in their black armor and white snake-like masks only added to the eerie effect of our surroundings. Xavier and his father were the exceptions, the former wearing his usual attire of pants with suspenders and a fedora, and the general in a black, high-collared coat. He must have been sweltering.

  Good. He’ll be better prepared for hell that way.

  Out in the open air, surrounded by sunlight, I was conscious of what I must smell like — sweat and bile. I raised my chin. No matter. Xavier hadn’t made a single comment when he lifted me, unlike the first time he was forced to haul me around.

  Was that really less than a month ago?


  It felt like a lifetime. That day, Xavier had held me as far away from himself as he could manage, and we had traded barbs for a solid mile of walking. Today, his hold was almost protective, and the only person with animosity rolling off them was me. That he would display any modicum of kindness when he was the reason I was in this situation only served to infuriate me.

  “Not too heavy now, am I?” I couldn’t resist the urge to reinforce whatever guilt he was feeling. It was the least he deserved. My efforts were rewarded when he looked like someone had slapped him.

  “No. Not heavy at all.” Remorse clouded his features, but I didn’t feel nearly as vindicated as I had hoped. Instead, another spike of anger surged through my veins. I looked away from his face and didn’t speak again.

  We turned down an alley. The men around us walked with eerily-silent footsteps, even on the gravel. Between them and the haunted look of the abandoned shops, the alleyway had the hair on my arms standing on end.

  “Here,” one of the men called without warning.

  The entire procession came to an abrupt halt in front of an intact, ramshackle building with a single wooden door. The general rapped on the door in a deliberate pattern.

  “Hal isn’t home,” a booming voice came from the other side of the door.

  “I’m looking for Lawrence,” the general answered.

  A code of some sort? I had paid close attention while donning my heiress face, trying to seem unobservant.

  The door swung open, and the men filed in, Xavier and me in the middle of their procession. I wanted to ask him to set me down, but I knew he would just wind up having to pick me back up.

  Sixteen people crowded this room. The man who had spoken was taller than the general, though not as tall as Xavier. He looked to be in his early forties and had shifty eyes that took in the entire room. Another man stood by a side door, hand on his sword hilt.