Golden Age (The Shifting Tides Book 1)

by James Maxwell

  ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ She scowled.

  Dion frowned. He didn’t take his hand away from hers, but now the contact felt ice cold. ‘I was wondering when you were going to tell me why you saved that villain’s life in the abandoned arena. You almost got me killed.’

  ‘He wasn’t a villain,’ she bit off the words. ‘He was—’

  ‘Watch out!’ Dion cried. He shoved her hand, held in his; they’d been about to angle over a curling crest. There was silence for a time.

  ‘He was what?’

  ‘He was my friend,’ Chloe said. ‘I couldn’t let you kill him.’ She looked away. ‘He taught me how to fight, and that’s how I escaped. I killed four men, perhaps five, to get free of the palace.’

  Dion looked at her with renewed respect. ‘I tried to help,’ he murmured. ‘I came for you at the arena.’

  ‘Why you?’ she asked.

  Dion explained about the Assembly’s hesitation and her father’s request. ‘He will be anxious to have you back.’

  ‘You sailed all the way to Lamara, alone?’

  ‘No,’ Dion said sadly. He thought about Cob, his old friend, who had taught him everything he knew about sailing. ‘Not alone. We got into trouble. Wildren. The Oracle at Athos gave me this boat.’

  When he mentioned the Oracle, a shadow passed over Chloe’s face. She changed the subject. ‘What did you do after you got to Lamara?’

  ‘I enlisted as a marine. I learned about the sun king’s ships.’ Dion explained about Roxana. ‘I looked for you.’ He turned away. ‘I set fire to the sun king’s fleet.’

  Chloe’s eyes widened. ‘That was you?’

  Dion nodded. ‘It wasn’t enough, though. An eldran helped them put out the flames.’

  ‘Triton,’ Chloe said. ‘He says he is their king, although I’ve never heard of him, and Zachary never mentioned him.’ She told him about Triton’s bargain with the sun king. Triton believed there was something inside the ark that was his by right. ‘There’s something else.’ She hesitated. ‘The reason they are sailing for Xanthos . . . Dion, there is a traitor in your father’s court. He told Solon about a safe route through the Shards.’

  Now it was Dion’s turn to be shocked. ‘Only the royal family knows about it. And a few old fishermen.’

  ‘Anyone else?’

  Dion felt a cold grip clutch hold of his chest. ‘There is another. My father’s first adviser. But he has always been loyal.’ He didn’t mention the enduring conflict between Peithon and his mother.

  ‘It’s true then? About the safe passage?’

  He nodded grimly. ‘It’s true. If they get there before we do, Xanthos will fall.’

  The two worked in silence for a time. Dion kept his hand over hers, but relaxed his pressure, letting her do all the work. He decided she was learning the knack of it.

  ‘So how did you let yourself get captured?’

  She was suddenly furious. ‘Let myself?’ She wriggled her hand until he let her go. ‘I can manage now.’ He removed his hand as if he’d burned it. ‘I didn’t let myself get captured, whatever you think,’ she said. ‘I was prepared to die. They questioned me time and again, and I never gave away anything that might endanger my people. I saw my only friend impaled, in front of my eyes. I was thrown into a cell. I—’

  Dion held up his hand. ‘Bad choice of words.’ He yawned so wide that his jaw cracked. ‘I’m tired.’ He looked over the Calypso, checking that all the lines were secure and seeing that Chloe was managing with the tiller. ‘I need to rest. Are you sure—?’

  ‘I can manage,’ she said coldly. ‘I rescued myself. Don’t forget that. Look at yourself, second son of a warrior king. You don’t even carry a sword.’

  Dion gritted his teeth and shuffled up higher in the boat. He glanced back at her. ‘The waves are getting bigger. There are two blankets. I recommend covering yourself.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

  At that moment the bow smashed into the peak of an oncoming wave, sending a torrent of water over the entire vessel. Looking back at the tiller, Dion saw that Chloe was completely soaked through.

  She was wearing only a thin chiton. The water made the material transparent, and he could see through to the body underneath. The wet yellow fabric clung to her breasts.

  Dion swiftly looked away, but not before she saw his glance and gave him a horrified stare. He passed her a blanket, keeping his eyes to the front as he handed it back to her.

  ‘I’ll rest now,’ he said gruffly. ‘Wake me if you need me.’

  ‘Dion!’

  He woke groggily and his instant impression was of rolling movement, fiercer than before. Black clouds were gathering over the sun, bringing shadow to the world. Glancing at the approaching storm, Dion knew he was looking at terrible danger.

  But when he turned back to Chloe, a blanket now wrapped around her, she wasn’t looking at the storm.

  She met his eyes with a terrified stare and then once more looked up at the sky.

  A dark bird wheeled in the distance. Its immense wings flapped up and down with slow, leisurely movements. It grew closer with every passing second, and Dion realized that no bird was this big.

  He reached for his bow and quiver, tucked into the storage compartment at the vessel’s front. As he nocked an arrow he didn’t take his eyes off the creature. The wings stopped moving as it coasted for a time, high in the sky, the triangular head on its sinuous neck craning as it scanned the sea.

  Its purposeful movements told Dion that this was no wildran. The reptilian creature with shining silver scales wheeled as it lost height. The veins in its bony wings throbbed. Clawed talons grasped at the air.

  ‘Take us into the storm,’ Dion said quietly.

  ‘But the waves—’

  ‘You’ve got the feel for it by now. Just make sure we don’t roll over. There’s a greater danger in the sky.’

  The dragon suddenly plummeted, like a falcon making a strike at a smaller bird. In this case the prey was the small boat and its two occupants. All the eldran had to do was see the Calypso sunk and they would never make it out of the open sea alive.

  ‘Triton’s acting for Solon. The dragon has two eyes, but he must have sent it,’ Chloe said, white-faced.

  Dion judged his moment as he watched the dragon grow ever closer in his vision. He could now make out the crests that swept back to form horn-like protuberances behind its head. Eyes glared balefully. Incisors the size of knives were visible in its parted jaw. Its body was entirely muscular, but at the same time it was all bone and sinew, a creature of nightmare.

  As day turned swiftly to the darkness of night, though it was still midday, he risked a glance over his shoulder and saw that the storm was on them. He heard the crack of thunder and forked lightning shot down to strike the sea.

  Fighting the motion of the ship as Chloe turned into the storm’s heart, Dion stood with both feet far apart and thanked the gods that the motion was as natural as riding to a horseman.

  He held the bow high and drew the arrow to his ear, his arms straining with effort. The dragon came on swiftly, shrieking as it descended, closer with every heartbeat. At fifty paces, Dion loosed.

  The arrow plunged into a near-transparent black wing and went through the other side, opening a hole with its passage. The dragon’s jaws opened wide as it screamed, but it didn’t halt its swooping trajectory.

  Dion drew and sighted, immediately firing a second arrow. With the dragon now twenty paces away he couldn’t miss. The shaft sprouted from the back of its open maw, and this time it roared in agony, wheeling away before he could loose another.

  He had to remind himself that it was an eldran as it rolled to the side. This gave him an advantage. If it remained too long in changed form it would risk turning wild. If they could hold out for long enough, it would be forced to leave.

  Dion cried out as he pointed at the darkest clouds. ‘Take us right in!’

  Chloe nodded, showing him a fa
ce full of terror.

  He watched and held onto the mast with one hand as the dragon wheeled around. But the storm appeared to be causing it problems: The creature was being tossed around in the unpredictable gusts and flurries.

  It turned its back to them and fled.

  But the danger was far from over. They now had to survive the storm.

  ‘Face us into the waves!’ Dion roared.

  The waves towered over the small boat, and unless they kept a direct line to the crests they would be rolled in a heartbeat. Dion rushed to the mast and unhitched the rope holding the sail aloft. He hauled hard, yanking the sail down with both hands as his arms groaned with effort. He could no longer worry about their course, or wonder which way was north and which south. He dashed to the tiller and sat across from Chloe. Once more he placed his hand over hers as it shuddered in their combined grip.

  Working together, they straightened the Calypso’s angle until Dion was satisfied. Then the bow plunged through the top of a wave and emerged out the other side as water poured into the interior.

  ‘Bail!’ Dion shouted. ‘I’ll take the tiller!’

  Chloe threw herself into her task and, working together, they struggled to stay alive.

  48

  ‘We’re heading north,’ Chloe said.

  ‘Yes, but just because we’re heading north now doesn’t mean we have been the whole time.’

  ‘Which way would you have us go, then?’

  ‘North,’ Dion said. ‘We’ll come to Galea eventually.’

  Chloe scowled, but rather than reply, she scooped another bucket of water out of the bottom and threw it over the side. She filled bucket after bucket, working ceaselessly even though her shoulders and back ached.

  She saw that Dion appeared comfortable enough, holding the tiller with one hand while shielding his eyes with the other as he scanned the horizon. He seemed to think she was only good for bailing out the rapidly filling vessel, even though it was her hand at the tiller that first guided them through the worst of the storm.

  As her eyes narrowed he suddenly called out. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Come and take the tiller. You’ve worked hard enough. You deserve a rest.’

  For some reason his words only made her angrier. How was it that he was the one who decided when she could rest? She rose to her feet and stumbled as she passed him but he grabbed her around the waist and steadied her. Chloe muttered her thanks and got out of his way while she made her way to the stern and Dion went to the place she’d just vacated. Settling herself at the tiller, she felt relieved that the waves had now subsided, though the wind still occasionally sent heavy gusts that made the boat list to the side alarmingly. She watched Dion work, and had to admit that he was managing to get more water out of the bottom than she had, but she frowned when she saw more water well up to take its place.

  Dion looked back at her and spoke gravely. ‘There’s a leak somewhere, and it’s getting worse.’

  Chloe could see concern written in the lines of his forehead, along with the fatigue she felt gnawing at her own senses, dulling her wits and blurring her vision. They’d been sleeping in shifts, but with water in the bottom of the boat they were both needed at the same time more often than not.

  Dion glanced back at her as he bailed, and suddenly spoke to fill the silence. ‘Tell me something about yourself.’

  ‘Ever the curious sailor?’

  He gave a slight smile at the reference to his secret message. ‘What do you miss most about home?’

  ‘My family,’ Chloe said, staring out to sea. The sun sparkled off the blue water, but all she could think about was how deep it was, how much water there was between the hull and the ocean floor far below. ‘My sister and my father.’

  ‘How old is your sister? Sophia, isn’t it?’

  She nodded. ‘She’s eleven. I’ve taken care of her since . . .’ She trailed off.

  ‘Since?’

  ‘Since my mother died of fever. It was three years ago. She just . . . wasted away. I learned healing arts at the temple, and I took care of her. But even the priestess said that sometimes there’s nothing you can do.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Dion said. ‘I . . . I didn’t mean to bring up old wounds.’

  ‘Not so old,’ said Chloe, still watching the waves. ‘I still think about her.’

  Another silence grew, broken only by the splash of the bucket, the snap of wind in the sail, the groaning of the vessel’s planking, and the waves pounding at the Calypso’s hull.

  Chloe glanced at Dion when he wasn’t looking. The constant wind had blown his sandy brown hair into complete disarray and his time on the sea had tanned the skin of his face a deep brown. His lips were burned and there was stubble on his chin, but it was a square jaw, and his body was lean and toned. He didn’t have the build of a swordsman but he looked strong. He wasn’t a warrior, but he was a fighter.

  He moved tirelessly as he bent down, filled the bucket with water, and tossed it over the side. He looked like he would keep going for hours, and she knew he could.

  When she had been captured, taken from her home, Dion was the only one who had come looking for her. He had sailed across the great expanse of the Maltherean Sea, to a place he had never been to, for her.

  ‘And you?’ Chloe asked. ‘Do you miss your family?’

  He turned to her as if surprised she’d asked him a direct question. ‘I do. My older brother, Nikolas, was always good to me. He gave me that bow, and without it I’d be dead many times over. He tried to teach me to fight with a sword, but’—Dion shrugged—‘I never could master it. So he introduced me to the bow.’

  ‘You use that bow as if you were born to it,’ Chloe said.

  ‘Plenty of practice.’ Dion grinned. He hauled another bucket of water over the side. ‘But my father doesn’t think archery is a fitting skill for the son of a king. So I searched for something else to do. Once again, it was Nikolas who gave me into the care of someone, an old sailor. I found I liked the sea. No’—he shook his head—‘I love the sea.’

  Chloe thought again about the vast open space they were in, at the mercy of the remorseless weather, waves, and wind. ‘Even when there’s a storm bearing down and a dragon on your tail?’

  He laughed. ‘Even then. We made it, didn’t we? And despite what you may think, we wouldn’t have made it without the both of us.’

  Chloe felt color come to her cheeks. ‘Tell me about your mother,’ she said.

  ‘Her name is Thea and she’s a strong woman, as strong as you. At first she and my father were strangers, but that was long ago. Now it’s clear how close they are.’ Dion hesitated. ‘Her story’s quite sad.’

  ‘Go on.’

  He continued in between scoops of water. ‘Nikolas’s mother died in childbirth and with just the one heir, the king needed a new queen. For a long time a suitable bride couldn’t be found, and the search continued far from Xanthos. Finally, a marriage was arranged with a minor king’s daughter from a distant place called Azeros.’

  ‘Azeros,’ Chloe mused. ‘I’ve heard of it, I think.’

  ‘It lives on in no memory but my mother’s,’ Dion said. ‘The day she left her home a band of wildren descended on the town. Giants. They slaughtered everyone.’ Chloe turned her wide eyes on him, but he wasn’t looking at her as he continued to bail. ‘Then, as they hunted down any stragglers, the giants came across my mother and her escort. The soldiers hid her and drew off the wildren. She somehow made her way, alone, to Xanthos.’

  Dion finally looked across at her. His eyes were sorrowful, but it wasn’t for himself; he was thinking of his mother.

  ‘She told me it was difficult, settling in among a new people. She hadn’t even met my father. But like I said, she’s strong. He wanted to send out the army, to hunt down every eldran and wildran within a thousand miles of Xanthos. But my mother’s also compassionate. She protected the eldren from his wrath. Though we don’t have quite the relationship between our two races as you do in Phalesia
, we no longer kill each other.’

  Chloe let out a breath. ‘She sounds like quite a woman. I’d like to meet her.’ She thought about the raging debates at the Assembly. ‘A lot of Phalesians despise the eldren, but I’ve known Zachary since I was a girl, when my father took me into the Wilds to introduce me to him.’ She paused as she remembered Zachary emerging from the trees, frightening her with his ancient eyes and silver hair until he’d crouched in front of her and opened his palm to reveal a shiny green frog. ‘He’s always been kind to me, and he saved my sister’s life.’

  Dion nodded. ‘If there was only something we could do about the wildren, perhaps our two races could be at peace.’

  ‘Even Zachary says that when they’re too far gone to bring back, they must be hunted down. He says they’re dead to him as soon as they pass the point of no return.’

  ‘Yet now they have a king,’ Dion murmured.

  ‘Yes . . .’ Chloe trailed off. She gazed into the water and thought about serpents, giants, and dragons. ‘Now they have a king.’

  Chloe watched as they approached the dark blur on the horizon, seeing it rise out of the sea like an immense black wave. She made sure it was definitely land before she woke Dion.

  Despite lying in a growing pool of water, Dion was asleep. His chest rose and fell with every breath and he twitched now and then as he dreamed.

  ‘Dion,’ Chloe said softly. ‘Wake.’

  He spluttered as he shot up, seeing that his body was half submerged. Immediately, he began to bail. ‘Why didn’t you wake me sooner?’ He scowled.

  Chloe felt her ire rise. ‘I was letting you sleep.’

  ‘We could have sunk!’

  She gestured to the open sea as her eyes narrowed. ‘The water is calm. I was judging my moment, trying to let you rest as much as possible.’

  Furiously, he tossed bucketful after bucketful over the side as he tried to evacuate the water. ‘Don’t do that again.’