The dancing transitioned to acting out scenes from plays. I had to threaten a stake to the heart to end the vampire’s attempts to get me to join a scene where the brave rogue fights an army of hunchbacked skeletons to save the overwhelmed treasure hunters. Ghevont, with his talent for memorizing lines after hearing or reading them only once, took my place. And though his acting left something to be desired, the point of the play was comedy, so it proved a fitting choice.
If my shivering stopped or more food filled my stomach I might have humored the girls with something akin to revelry, but I slipped away to find sleep when neither of those things came to pass.
Chapter Twenty-One
I awoke in the first mate’s hammock, which hung behind the large ladder leading to the top deck. A dim moonbeam filtered through the ladder’s worn steps, and an old swinging lantern with an even weaker light guided my body out of the suspended cot. Sitting by the lower steps was Clarissa. With only a low murmur of the sea to muffle any noise, the vampire easily heard someone walking up behind her.
Standing up, she asked, “Sleep well?”
“Like a rolling log. Is everyone else getting their rest?”
“Uh, Odet and Ghevont are. The sick captain has the only cabin, so they’re sleeping out somewhere in the back of the deck. Gerard is keeping watch over them. Ghevont watched over you before I took over.”
“Then it’s your turn.”
She nodded and headed for the unburdened hammock. Before climbing on, she said, “Oh, keep an eye out for a couple of the troupe girls. They wanted to woo you, to put it lightly. Odet had to tell them you already had the attention of a noble girl, which they assumed meant the princess herself. I could tell Gerard got annoyed by that! Anyway, those girls might still try testing your decency.”
“My decency? As far as I know, I’m not restricted in where I point my decency.”
“What? Are you serious? Beatrice proposed to you!”
“We’re not engaged, and we barely know each other. I may never even see her again. Why would I confine my, uh, decency when knowing all that?”
She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, especially with Odet around. No, you’re not engaged, but you didn’t refuse her either. So don’t you think Odet will tell her sister that you slept around with other girls while she waits for your answer? Odet wouldn’t have told those girls anything if she believed you were free to do what you wanted.”
“First of all, I’m not… Forget it. You’re not the one I should be discussing this with. Get some sleep.”
Frowning, she asked, “You’re not going to find those girls, are you?”
“Aye. We’ll join you in the hammock soon, so make room.”
“Very funny. I just don’t want you making any dumb mistakes out of spite.”
“Do you and Odet think I’m a lecher or something?”
“No, but we know a man’s ‘decency’ can only repel the advances of so many women for so long.”
Giving up, I sighed and said, “Good night, Clarissa. I’ll be nearby.”
I went to sit in the same spot the vampire had been watching over me. From this rut I wondered why the girls looking out for my virtue bothered me. Was it their lack of trust in me? Or was it none of their business who I bedded? What were Odet’s expectations when it came between me and her sister? As stupid and pointless as it sounded, I probably did have to clear this up with her. I wished to avoid creating needless friction with Beatrice and Odet if, gods bless me, I spent an extempore, lust-filled night with an indiscriminate lass.
I did not have to wait long for my opportunity. Around an hour after speaking with Clarissa, the pitter-patter of boots had me turning around to see a yawning Odet ambling up to me. She held the staff like a walking stick in her right hand.
As I stood up, she asked, “Awake already?”
“We didn’t train much, so I didn’t need much sleep. You get enough?”
“I’m not the one pushing myself to the limit every day.”
“Then you didn’t get enough?”
“I’m fine, Mercer.”
I crossed my arms and looked at my feet for a moment. Braced for the expected vexation, I said, “I’d rather avoid this topic, but I don’t want there to be an awkward misunderstanding later.”
“What topic can cause a misunderstanding?”
“Clarissa said a couple of the troupe girls were being blunt about their plans for me.”
Her eyes glanced up for a blink to recall the memory. “Oh, yes, that’s right. What about it?”
“What did you tell them?”
“I informed them a noblewoman was already in serious pursuit of you, more or less. Why?”
“Did Beatrice ask you to keep other women away from me?”
Her head tilted a few degrees. “Are you interested in one of the girls?”
“I can’t even remember how they looked like.”
“Then what’s this about?”
“I’m wondering what the rules are, or what you think they are.”
“Rules? What rules? What are you talking about, Mercer?”
“Would Beatrice rescind her proposal if she learned I did more than look at a nice lass or two during our journey?”
She took a small step back. “Wait… I’m not sure where to start.”
“Let’s start with my last question.”
“Well, I can assume Beatrice would be a tad upset if she learned the man she proposed to went on bedding other women.”
“Even if he hasn’t accepted her offer? When no words of promise have been exchanged?”
“I assured Beatrice of your honor, Mercer, and honorable men do not take advantage of a technicality to justify their philandering. But no one is stopping you. If you wish to bed other women, do so. Beatrice will simply be informed of it and respond accordingly.” She spun on her heels to storm away from me.
Well, shit. Almost yelling the words that came to mind, I said, “Stop and I’ll forget the staff incident ever happened.”
She stopped. Without looking back, she asked, “Okay, now what?”
“Just listen, all right? I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring this up in the first place because I knew would make me sound stupid, but I had to try and find out what was bothering me.”
She turned back around, though her face remained in a rigid state of umbrage. “What does that mean?”
“It bugged me when I learned what you did, I just didn’t understand why. I haven’t even had time to look at another woman since your sister proposed, but I suppose it’s only dawning on me now what her regal offer truly demands. I’d like to imagine its full meaning would have hit me if one of the entertainers got to me. Maybe it bothered me that you didn’t trust I’d defend my own honor. I don’t know. Maybe I do need more sleep.”
Odet’s sigh softened her annoyance. “I do trust you, Mercer, and it’s not as though I thought all this out when they enlightened me of their desires. I simply reacted as your friend and possible sister-in-law.” She glanced at her feet and cracked a smile. “Well, perhaps I didn’t entirely react on sound instinct. The brief vision of you choosing the troupe girls over my sister may have entered my mind. I laughed at it at first, but then hearing you say it’s possible-”
“I never went that far.”
“No, but every girl outside of my sister is a faceless troupe girl to me.” The last tinge of irritation disappeared. “I understand why you haven’t accepted her hand, but, to be honest, I also don’t. My mother is partly to blame for that. To her, it was an unthinkable feat for a man of an Astor woman’s choosing to reject us. While her words overflowed with conceit, they encouraged me to act on my growing love for Gerard all the same… I apologize for getting upset. I still don’t like everything you said, but still.”
“Even discounting the fact she’s your sister, your anger is understandable. I took a selfish risk, though I did find something of an answer.”
&n
bsp; “For what it’s worth, I’ve also realized something selfish. I do want you as my brother-in-law. I believe you can make Beatrice a stronger queen and, more importantly, a happy one. The same goes for the kingdom you each would rule. It’s a tiny bit feasible hearing that future being threatened by a strumpet prompted me to discourage the girls from getting to you.”
“I can guarantee it will take more than two forgettable strumpets to erase that future.”
“What about three?”
“Now you’re pushing it.”
“Still, I should let you handle such advances on your own. In fact, it’s in my best interests to let them test you. If you break like a twig, then you are not worthy of my sister and I can forget about lauding you to her. And you never know, maybe one such strumpet will become your true love. Who am I to prevent that from happening?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Aye, it is. Now, will you really forget the staff thing or was that just to stop me?”
“Unless I get corrupted again, I can’t forget it, but I can place all the blame on a certain vampire.”
“It isn’t fair to said vampire, but I can live with your ruling. Do you have any more provoking questions for me?”
“Yes, but they can wait.”
“Good, I don’t think either of us have the energy for another right now. I wanted to get a few minutes of fresh air. Care to join me?”
“The smell doesn’t bother me. Besides, someone has to watch over our unconscious companions.”
“Suit yourself. I shall return.”
As I watched Odet ascend the stairs, I realized exactly what had been bothering me, why I wanted to prod her. I didn’t want to find out whether she deterred those girls because of an obligation to her sister or lack of trust in me. I wanted to see if a twitch in her imperishable expressions or crack in her unsullied voice betrayed any unconscious feeling of jealousy. She had given me none. Everything she said seemed to match what she really felt. Just another day where I wished I brought her father.
Knowing a vampire slept lightly under a moon, I said, “Go back to sleep, Clarissa.”
She moaned and I went back to sitting by the steps. I made the mistake of leaning against the stairs, for that was all it took for me to fall asleep on guard duty.
The hard wood pressing against my head did not make for a comfortable rest, so I awoke a little while later with a tender left temple. In another hour the infant morning glow triggered a swap of those who dozed and those who sailed. In spite of their drowsiness, many sailors elected to stay awake awhile longer to get another chance to witness a dragon.
Before the dragon made his appearance, the sailors killed a couple of their chickens and cracked a number of their eggs as a parting breakfast gift to my group. Clarissa gave me her portion, which I avidly enjoyed given my privation of meals the day before. We ate on the top deck, giving the group of sailors and travelers the necessary space to converse with us a little more before we left.
Purely to amuse myself, I did not bother to announce the fact I was going to summon Aranath. I finished my food, gave my plate to Ghevont, and made sure no one else in my group needed more time to eat. Half of the seafarers impulsively cowered at the sound of a growling dragon swooping over the ship.
With a wooden tone of surprise meant for the girls, I said, “Oh damn. I did not mean to do that. I suppose we have no choice but to leave now.”
Odet scowled at me as she started her forced farewells to our hosts. For his part, the dragon aligned his glide to the port side of the vessel, plopping on to the surface fifty yards away. Seeing the dragon in the salt water from my new vantage point reminded me of the large crocodilians swimming in the Sethos rivers, excluding the wings, of course.
Moments later and my group sat on the saddle. Aranath accelerated away from the boat to prevent himself from sinking. Once he achieved a good rhythm using wing and tail, and with the sea cooperating, riding a swimming dragon became rather enjoyable. While not as fast as flying, he still propelled himself faster than any breeze could propel the sails of a ship. Plowing through water spent more prana than flying, so I was surprised Aranath continued swimming even after getting well ahead of the ship.
“How long are we sticking to the sea?” I asked him.
“I am focusing my prana, boy. Or do you wish for us to crash back into the ocean?”
I looked back at the shrinking ship. “Or are you worried other people might see you crashing into the ocean?”
The miffed dragon sped up again. “When I say so, everyone hold their breaths. I’m going to dive.”
“Dive?” said Clarissa. “That’s sort of the opposite direction we want to go.”
“I’ll need more speed to quit the water, or else I’ll have to expend more prana thrashing against the surface. Be ready to lend me prana from the crystals, boy. I’ll have to cast water, wind, and strength spells to gain the speed.”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” I said.
“I’ll make the dive as short as I can make it… Hold your breath… now!”
The dragon sunk into the ocean, and as fast as the fastest galloping horse, he dove straight down for what must have been over a hundred feet before he inclined upward. The change in pressure and light happened so quickly that I breathed out and almost filled my lungs with seawater. Another change of pressure came when my face met the rushing air. This time I let my chest inflate. The day’s new sun and the cutting airflow dried us in no time. Even the salt clinging to our clothes blew away.
Before leaving the ship, Ghevont had asked to see the maps on the Biki Dog, hoping they turned out to be more detailed than our own. They were. Their map of the Osahar Ocean was so current that it pinpointed the volcanic island with accuracy. It also presented us with a couple of possible options for Aranath to perch on. The best option meant going more north than east, but it would not cause us to go too out of our way.
Our next destination lied at the end of a small island chain Ghevont’s older map marked as ending over two hundred miles farther northward. When we came upon the island, we discovered why none of Ghevont’s maps told of it. A grand total of two palm trees grew on a bundle of coarse rocks barely twice as long as the dragon himself. Aranath had to snap one of the palms in two so he could fit.
With the mainland now only two days away, and with the end of another day of flight promising better mapped stops, my little assembly of allies discussed more in detail where in Efios we wanted to go and investigate. Efios contained two major forests—the Eperwist Woods and Pukam Forest. Pukam lied southeast of the almost landlocked Wregor Sea. Eight hundred miles north of the same body of water germinated the trees of the Eperwist Woods. The expanse of these timberlands made it inevitable that different nations claimed ownership of them.
Most of the Wregor Sea belonged to the Wregor Empire, with the sea being named first. The empire was considered by many to be the most advanced and cultured in the world. Only a handful of nations like Alslana and Dracera could claim to equal or surpass Wregor when it came to clout and governance.
According to the history tomes I read while sailing to Uthosis, I learned the empire had been warring for hundreds of years to take control of trade in and around its namesake. This included the Quill Strait and Hemomm Bay extending farther south. At a thousand miles long north to south and five hundred miles wide, all of Hetrana could fit inside the bay alone.
Owning so many continental water routes gave Wregor unmatched clout in the lands a few hundred miles west of the bay, a thousand miles north of the sea, and most islands within the coastline. The lands directly east of the aquatic entities were possessed by three kingdoms that sometimes gave resistance to Wregor’s growing stature, though Biki Dog’s first mate claimed Wregor’s latest interests lied in the western lands they did not yet dominate. The semi-nomadic and plentiful Chiszir people roamed these rich grasslands and patchwork of forests.
Due to the unpredictable nature of the Chiszi
r, terrestrial trade from Nikno to Wregor was often untenable, so the bulk of it was done by Nikno ships hugging the southern coastline until they reached Hemomm Bay. This relative separation from the powerful empire indicated that Nikno did not likely suffer from hidden Advent influence. I imagined the cult either worked with Wregor to give them more power, or allied themselves with enemies who envied or resented the empire’s haughty status. Probably both.
If it was both, then finding trustworthy allies would prove difficult. I remember Ghevont telling me the Advent had their origins in Efios nearly two thousand years ago. Even if they hadn’t been active for every one of those years, Lady Vealora and the Ecrin attack showed how well the Advent and their supporters could ensconce themselves within an unsuspecting kingdom. I thus had to assume Wregor and its surrounding rivals also had cultists in important positions.
I was inclined to ignore ally gathering until we found evidence of nismerdon presence in the forests, but the girls knew me well enough to predict that I would then attack the Advent on my own rather than wait for a dishonest military commander or noble to betray us. Of course, I recognized going in alone was destined to end in failure. My point to them was that we had no encouraging options. On the horns of a dilemma indeed.
We could buy the services of the Warriors Guild, but they didn’t evade my misgivings either. I had told Odet to spread the message that a dragon knight planned to visit their guild houses, but I said it more out of strategy than anything. I wanted the Advent to hear the message so that they wasted manpower sending their infiltrators to observe the guilds, at least if they cared about trying to ascertain my whereabouts and intentions. Getting their help was not out of the question, but a question it remained.
Depending on the hour, I would flip my focus from finding allies to searching the forests. This late evening hour, as we sat round the fire fed from the broken palm, had me leaning toward the latter.
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