Chapter Twenty-Eight
More than an hour passed before Aiva became aware of someone approaching outside the cabin door. Shaelyn had long since drifted away to sleep. Afraid of waking her, Aiva rose to her feet, tiptoeing quickly to the door, her hands moving slowly toward the knob. She pulled it open to see who was on the other side, finger pressed firmly against her lips to keep whoever it was from saying anything too loud. To her surprise it was her father, his eyes wide at her sudden appearance in the doorway. He held something in his right hand. Curious, Aiva let her gaze fall on the objects, recognizing them immediately as the same ones used in Targas when her sutures were first applied.
“The General said your wound needed to be tended. Is your sister sleeping?”
“She is,” Aiva replied, quietly slipping outside the door to close it behind her. “She could use her rest. It has been a stressful time for her.”
“I fear it is not over yet,” Thade frowned. Calmly he motioned her to come with him, already moving toward the stairs leading below deck. “Let us get your injuries tended and then we will determine what to do with you from there.”
What to do with her? The phrase discouraged her. She already knew what he implied. There was concern of an attack. He no doubt hoped to convince her to remain hidden away with her sister and out of harm’s reach. Saying nothing, she followed behind him. She didn’t know what to say which would get her feelings across without also crossing the boundaries of respect for her father. Family or not, he was still the King.
At the bottom of the stairs he moved aside, allowing Aiva to lead them into the room she and Callum had taken as their own. She brushed passed him, her eyes never meeting his. Thade was an observant man. If he had an opportunity to look at her face, he would see all the things she wanted to say, and it would do nothing to help her argument. Stepping into the room she held the door for him to enter, closing it firmly behind her. “Where is Callum?” she asked, hoping to detract from whatever her father intended to say. If she didn’t give him a chance to command her out of battle then he would have no choice than to let her fight. “I was expecting him and his father to come tend the sutures. They set out to get the supplies a good while ago.”
“I requested they leave the job to me so you and I could have a moment to speak in private,” he replied calmly. His silver eyes sparkled in the dim light of the room, their glow bright, like shimmering diamonds. He stood erect, confident in his stance. Despite his outward calm, Aiva sensed he was hiding something. The lines on his face were too prominent. Creased from the constant strain of keeping himself focused. “Have a seat,” he gestured to the bed near the wall, “we can talk while I examine the wound.”
Begrudgingly she did as he instructed. The laceration had begun to sting worse than before. Although she despised the idea of what he would say, she needed him to fix the damage caused to the sutures. Her knowledge of medical practices was minimal. She couldn’t tend the injury on her own. A loud sigh escaped her as she lay down, hands at her side, dreading the pain she knew would come once Thade started to remove the old thread. “I already know what you are going to say, Father,” she stated quietly. It would be easier for him to get straight to the point if he knew there was no need to dance around it for the sake of her feelings.
His brow rose, quizzical, the corners of his mouth twitching upward, though the expression never fully matured to reveal if he intended a smile or something else. Gently he lifted the bottom of her shirt to expose the reddened skin. With practiced ease he began to tug the old stitches free from the area, pausing every so often to look at her curiously. “What makes you think you know what I intend to say?”
“It’s the same I have been hearing since the moment I was discovered among Callum’s men,” she sighed miserably. “Over and over I’m told how I shouldn’t fight because I lack experience. I’m too important. Our enemies are too dangerous. I am but a silly princess. How could I ever be of any use in combat? I don’t need to hear again how you prefer I stay out from underfoot while the soldiers fight against the pirates.”
Thade continued his diligent work, saying nothing in response until the last of the thread had been pulled away, the wound aggravated further by the procedure. He dabbed at the skin with a handkerchief to wipe the stray droplets of blood that had come with the removal of the sutures. “You fancy yourself a mind reader?” he asked, seemingly amused by the question. His hands began to unwind the new thread, carefully arranging it around the needle held firmly between his fingers. “This may come as a surprise, but if that is what you truly believe I sought you out to say, then you are mistaken.”
She stared at him, unsure of how to respond. What else could he possibly desire to speak with her about at a time like this? They were preparing for battle. It was only logical for him to be considering the ways he could keep her from seeing the violence. “Did you not come to talk about the pirates?”
“Oh, I did,” he nodded, bent forward over her stomach to begin sewing the skin together. Aiva inhaled sharply, the pain of the initial prick from the needle causing her to wince, unprepared for the sensation. She was too distracted.
“If you didn’t come to demand I stay hidden, then what is it you wanted to talk about?”
With a quiet chuckle Thade focused on the sutures, each stroke of the needle performed with expert care. Aiva found herself impressed by the skill he possessed in the art, though she wasn’t sure why. She knew her father had been a soldier for years prior to his ascension to the throne. War was no stranger to him. He’d seen and sustained far worse injuries than those upon her body now. It was easy to forget. Since she was a child he had always been the King. The stories of his time in battle, while entertaining, always felt more like fables than events that actually occurred.
He chose not to speak again until the sutures were in place, a final swipe of the handkerchief across the skin erasing any evidence of the procedure. Staring down at the cloth in his hands, he looked far away in his head. Reticent. She could see the thought he put into each word he spoke, taking great effort to force them from his lips. “Aiva, I’m not the best when it comes to situations like this. My natural reaction when faced with the possibility of danger is to protect those who matter most to me, sometimes more than I should. It is a flaw I have come to accept about myself. There is no shame in admitting it. I suppose there are worse flaws a man could have.” He straightened his back proudly. “You are an adult, Aiva. I try to pretend that you are still my little girl, and in many ways you are, but every time I look at you, I am reminded of how much you have grown. You remind me of your mother. I see the same fire in your eyes the way I did in hers when I tried to convince her not to do something for sake of her safety. She was stubborn. Adamant that she would not hide and let others fight the battles for her. In a way, it frightens me just how much alike you two are.”
Aiva grimaced at the sensation of the new thread as she sat up, her hand lightly resting on her father’s. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. It wasn’t like him to look so sad. Troubled by whatever thoughts continued to churn inside his head. His past was shrouded in painful memories, many of which neither of her parents spoke of, even to this day. Her curiosity made her want to urge him to keep speaking while concern prevented her from saying anything.
They sat in silence for a moment while Thade gathered his composure, his regal features tensed. “Callum has caught sight of a ship in the distance which travels at significant speed from the docks of North Pointe,” he sighed. “Confrontation is inevitable with these pirates. They are not going to accept defeat. My natural instinct is to protect you and your sister at all costs, but I realize the injustice I would do to you in denying you participation in the fight. I feel a similar desire to strike at them, as you must experience, though you have more reason than I. Your journey here has been filled with more trouble than my own.”
She stared at him in stunned silence. Her voice caught in her throat to think of what he implie
d. “You are going to allow me to fight?”
“Is it what you want? Do you desire to involve yourself in this battle?”
“More than anything,” she exhaled in disbelief. Of everything she expected her father to say, this was the furthest from them all. She wasn’t convinced that her mind didn’t play tricks on her. Imagining the entire conversation. “Father, these people kidnapped my sister. They killed Kaemin. The slights they caused to Callum and I are trivial in comparison to those crimes. I cannot sit idly by and let them attack again. Enough lives have already been lost. If Ireni rises to power, she will torment our people. This needs to end now, before she has a chance to establish a foothold.”
“I know, Aiva,” Thade nodded, taking her hand in his to stare deeply into her eyes. “When you were born, I never thought a day would come when I would be forced to make this decision. I never wanted it to be necessary. My own mother dealt with the perpetual torture of seeing her children constantly placed in danger and I swore to myself it would not be the same for your mother and I. Now I have come to realize that as King, I don’t have that luxury. There will always be something. Someone out there who wishes us harm. Regrettably, you will suffer the same as I when you have children of your own. Perhaps it will make more sense to you then. For that very reason, I must allow you to fight your own battles. I cannot protect you forever. All I can do is beg you to be careful. If the pirates attack, and I am confident they will, please try to keep close to Callum or myself. I have no right to ask you to do anything else.”
It was bittersweet to hear her father talk. He offered what she wanted. The freedom to stand up to the pirates. At the same time she could feel the pain it caused him to concede. She was his daughter. Although Edric was the first of his children, he doted on them equally. For him to now be placed in a position where he had to send them both into battle at risk of death; it broke her heart to think on. Having no children of her own, she doubted whether or not she truly understood the emotions he felt, but she could imagine the torment. It didn’t take much to see it when the suffering was so clear in his eyes. “I will be careful, Father. I promise,” she said quietly, arms outstretched to wrap around his shoulders, drawing him into a tight hug. He returned the gesture, almost seeming to cling to her, unwilling to let her go. “Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“I will hold you to it,” Thade whispered, gently pressing her against his chest. “You know if anything happens to you, your mother will run me through. I’m quite sure of it.”
“Mother would never think to harm you,” Aiva laughed through the tightness in her throat. Tears threatened to fall against her wishes. She couldn’t cry. Her father needed her to be strong. How could she reassure him that she could handle herself if she allowed her emotions to leave her weeping like a child in his arms? “I’m sure she is beside herself in wait of your return. I cannot recall the last time you both were apart for so long.”
“We try to avoid lengthy trips without the other,” Thade smiled. Slowly he pulled away to take one long final look at Aiva before letting his arms lower. “I shouldn’t keep you from Callum, however. He will no doubt want to enjoy a few moments with you before he no longer has a chance.”
Overcome with emotions she let her hand reach out to her father’s face, cupped lightly against his cheek. No words could express what she felt in that instant. A newfound love and respect for her father that went beyond anything she’d experienced before. It was no wonder her mother loved him the way she did. His heart was one of the purest of all men in Tanispa. “I love you, Father,” she said softly. Of all the things in her head, those words were the most important. They said everything that needed to be said.
“I love you as well, Aiva.” With a gentle kiss on the forehead Thade rose to his feet. Aiva hurried to stand at his side as they moved toward the door, anxious to find Callum and tell him of her father’s blessing to fight in the coming battle. Fear and excitement mingled together to create a foreign sensation, both confident of her intentions to exact revenge upon Ireni for everything she’d done while yet uncertain of how the war would end. There were skilled fighters on either side. The scales were tipped in favor of the pirates while at sea, but the Vor’shai weren’t known for letting anything hold them back. Their numbers against the Ven’shal had been limited and still victory had been theirs. They had the gift of indomitable spirit. That couldn’t be defeated so easily.
The ropes around the main mast created a ladder for Aiva to climb, eyes focused on the rail surrounding the crow’s nest at the peak. From below she could make out very few details of the two men standing within, though she held no doubt that one of them was Callum. She couldn’t mistake his figure. He had a definitive way about him. His stature and the way he carried himself; every movement fluid and precise, calm and calculated.
Wind made her task more difficult. With every gust she felt herself rocked, nearly losing her footing and crashing to the deck below. Gadiel and Callum had made the climb look so simple when on the ship from Palinon. She wanted to be frustrated. It was easy to forget the number of years the two men had spent at sea. The ship was a second home to them. In time she could only believe it would become less difficult for her as well, though she hoped they would reach the shore of Siscal before she had the chance to become so comfortable. Once there, she had no intention of ever setting foot on a ship again.
At the top, Aiva smiled to see Callum’s face more clearly in the afternoon sun. Much of the tan acquired in the heat of the Palinoen desert had begun to fade, his pale complexion once again creating a sharp contrast next to his dark hair which now sat, tousled by the wind, tangled atop his head. Seeing him there brought back memories of their childhood together. So many times she had seen him standing in a similar stance, prepared for whatever might come his way, courageous in his boyish charm. The years had done nothing to change that about him. She couldn’t be sure if it was her newly rediscovered feelings for him or the sheer thought of this being the last time she might look upon him which made her suddenly aware of how handsome he truly was. It was disheartening to think how often she had chance to appreciate the elegant curve of his sharp features and had taken them for granted.
She didn’t realize her progress to the top had halted until she saw Callum lean over the rail, arm outstretched toward her, beckoning her to make the final few steps to the small opening which allowed entrance into the box-like structure of the lookout. Once within reach he took her hand in his, effortlessly lifting her onto the platform. “Are you sure you want to be up here?” he asked with a soft laugh. “If you get sick easily from the motion of the ship, this is the worst place for you to be.”
“I do not get sick easily,” she stated calmly. A smirk played at the edges of Callum’s lips to hear her proclamation, the umber glow of his eyes almost teasing her with their gentle light. Her cheeks flushed with warmth to see him look at her the way he did. Memories flooded her head of all the times he had seen her in the worst states of health throughout their journey. She shuddered to think on their first night in Vailetta. The ale! It made her want to retch just to remember the awful taste of that disgusting drink. “You know what I mean,” she waved dismissively, hoping he wouldn’t press the matter. “A little rocking motion has never bothered me. Ah, Gadiel!” Her discomfort ebbed away to see him standing at the rail, spyglass raised to the distance, the scope turning with his body, smiling at her approach.
“Princess,” he nodded in greeting, lowering the spyglass from his eye to reveal his face. Aiva was concerned to notice the paleness of his complexion. He looked sick. Unsettled by something.
“Gadiel, what is the matter?” she asked, stepping toward him, worried. They were in a dire situation. It wouldn’t do them any good if one of their best fighters fell ill.
He laughed at the question, shifting his weight to continue his watchful gaze of the distance. “Nothing is the matter,” he shrugged. “This blasted basket of a lookout is the worst place f
or anyone to be, regardless of how easily they find themselves affected by the sway of the ship. I could use a few moments on the less tumultuous floor of the deck below. Perhaps if the Captain would permit me a brief leave? There is no need for three of us to stand here and suffer.”
There was no smile on Callum’s face despite the lightheartedness of Gadiel’s request. He didn’t have to speak for Aiva to sense the tension that arose at the reminder of their position. Taking the spyglass from Gadiel’s hand he nodded to him, motioning him toward the rope where Aiva had just come. “I don’t foresee you having need to return here,” Callum stated with an almost morbid sense of calm. Aiva shivered to hear his voice. It was serious. Dour. He made no attempt to hide the severity of his words. “Take only a moment to regain yourself and then see Princess Shaelyn escorted to a room somewhere deep within the barracks. Order a sufficient guard placed at her side and have the men start to prepare.”
“Yes, Captain,” Gadiel saluted him, the respect in his tone genuine. Aiva watched the two men in silent appreciation for their friendship. The bond between them went beyond a soldier and his superior officer yet when faced with impending danger, it did nothing to interfere with their duties. She wasn’t convinced that she would be capable of putting aside her personal feelings for Callum if placed in a position where he was required to give her commands.
Gadiel paused at the step leading to the rope, his hand reaching out for Aiva’s to clasp it gently in his own, bringing it to his lips in reverence. She stared at him, taken aback by his strange behavior. The possibility of attack was getting to everyone. It made her uneasy. “It has been an honor, Aiva,” he said quietly, the light of his green eyes flashing brightly, a hint of sadness detected in their depths. “Should this voyage take a turn for the worst, I want you to know that I will always be your most humble of servants. To fight by the side of my Princess, the promised Queen – I am proud to have served you.”
The Myatheira Chronicles: Volume Two: Beyond the Veil Page 84
