Stars of Ice and Shadow
Page 33
“So how many birds roosted on your tree?” Logun asked, to general laughter.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking of merrier things, drinking wine from Unduyo, and not thinking about the task that lay ahead of them. After a time Godwin rose to walk along the cold shoreline and watch the stars come out. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps behind him.
“Company?” Yaura asked.
Godwin nodded. The strolled together in silence. He knew what was on her mind, and he was grateful she was allowing him to pick the moment to bring it up. “He was the closest thing I had to a brother, you know.”
“I know. But just like with real brothers, you can’t always pick your family.”
“I suppose not. But I can’t help but wonder…”
Yaura frowned. “I don’t like that face at all,” she said. “Just what are you thinking?”
“Yaura…someone said something to me once. Do you think that Torin was always a Serpent? Do you think he might have truly been Forsaken once and somehow lifted the curse? What if the Forsaken aren’t really born under a sky without constellations? What if it’s something else entirely, and we just don’t understand exactly what it is?”
“Godwin,” Yaura’s face was a picture of serenity. He took shelter in it. She placed her hand on his. “Don’t think of such things. It will bring you no happiness.” She lifted his hand to her mouth and gently kissed it. Then she walked back along the shore, leaving him in the darkness.
Try as he might, he could not let it go. My damn fate, everything that I am. It’s been written in the black starless void of night since my birth. What if it doesn’t have to be this way? What if that masked fighter was right?
He had to know for sure. He had to find Torin or the masked fighter, and ask them about it. It was the only way he could truly put the matter behind him once and for all. The only way he could be at peace.
“I won’t! He shouted at the nothingness of the Dark Sea. “I won’t be defined by this anymore. I won’t be Star-cursed.” He felt silly and relieved at the same time. But he knew his promise to himself, to the universe, was sincere.
It was enough to give his mind some rest.
When he wandered back to his companions they were all staring at something in the sea. “Hey!” Robert shouted. “There’s something coming towards us in the water.”
“A ship?” Godwin asked, squinting into the blackness.
There was no true ship, but a small boat weaving and bobbing in the water. A makeshift mast has been constructed out of a wooden pole and a large canvass. Atop it a lantern burned away like a fallen star.
“Trouble?” Yaura asked.
“I doubt it,” Logun said. “They look worse than we do.”
“Maybe they’re Imperials who deserted, or were tossed from their ships,” Robert suggested.
Logun shrugged. “All the ships in the bay were burned up, but who’s to say they didn’t have some others around the coast?”
“Let them come,” Godwin decided. “I think three Shigata and a whore can handle whatever comes for us in that little boat.”
“Gigolo, you oaf,” Robert said indignantly. “Honestly, you people wonder why I never talked about my past work.”
They waited curiously as the small ship came towards them. The stars were out in full, and Godwin was glad that there were no constellations in the sky. Somehow he felt that they would only add more turbulence. Eventually the little boat came to the beach and two shadowy figures leapt knee-deep into water to steer it in. As they approached Godwin saw that one was male. A giant bulking figure, and the other female.
“Hello!” the woman cried. Godwin immediately recognized her accent as coming from Coldclaw. So they weren’t Imperials.
“From where do you hail?” Logun asked. “And why do you come here?”
“We’re searching for Castle Unduyo,” the man called back. “Our ally is injured and we seek rest.”
“There is no Castle Unduyo,” Logun replied. “Sun warriors burned it down in the night.”
The woman fell to her knees as surely as if she had been struck in the belly by a great blow. Even in the darkness of night Godwin could see the hopeless look on the man’s face by the light of the moon. From inside the boat he heard a strange croaking sound. He realized there must have been someone inside, and that they were laughing.
The woman, a half-elf Godwin now saw, slowly approached. “You don’t jest?” she asked. “Castle Unduyo is no more?”
“I wouldn’t joke about that lass,” Logun said. “It was my home.”
“Then…you are Shigata?”
Godwin nodded. “All of us but him,” he said pointing to Robert. “Don’t ask what he is.”
“Please, can you help us?” the woman asked. “Our friend is grievously hurt.”
Godwin shrugged. “So are we. Bring him over. We’ll see what we can do.”
The bulking man went to the boat and carefully lifted their companion over to the shore.
“I might be able to make something for him,” Godwin said. “But no promises.”
The woman nodded. “I was charged to give this to you. It’s yours, if you’re truly Shigata.” Godwin’s jaw dropped. The woman held a silver thrygta in her hand.
“Where did you get this?” he demanded.
“Please, we’ll explain everything. But see to our friend first. Please.”
Godwin nodded. “My apologies. I wasn’t thinking. You clearly have a story to tell. But tonight isn’t a night for stories.”
“Agreed,” their male companion said. “Some stories one should only whisper in the light of day.”
* * *
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