Fossegrim
Page 18
“Then shut up about it. I’m not hurting anyone. Go to bed. You’re starting to get crabby all over again. Don’t make me call Mace up here to strip that curse off you again.”
Foss stomped back down the stairs, resurfacing minutes later with a biscuit and bit of beef leather. Delish. He shoved the food scraps at me. “Here. Eat.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I took the food and eyed him with the signature skepticism we regarded each other with. “Why are you being nice?”
“I’m not allowed to be nice?”
“I don’t trust it.” I sniffed the biscuit for signs of poisoning. He rolled his eyes at my skepticism as he sat down a few feet from me. I took in his less than aggressive demeanor and shifted my attitude accordingly. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Exhausted,” he admitted, surprising both of us with his honesty. “I’m not looking forward to the trek back to Elvage. Circhos roams the forest. He’s more of a pain than you, if you can imagine. I’m not sure how Alrik’s planning on getting close enough to the portal to destroy it. Security was pretty heavy when we left.”
I thought back on our failed attempt. “I never really worry about the plan when Uncle Rick’s on it. I don’t really need to see how the rabbit comes out of the hat. I just enjoy the show and clap when I’m told.”
Foss gave a companionable snort. “You know, I think I’m around you too much. I actually understood that.” He leaned against the side of the boat and folded his hands behind his head. “He’s fine, you know.”
My fingers slipped on the knot I was retying. “Yup.”
“You should get some sleep. Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to catch fish with the nets. You’ll like it, but you’ll need your strength.”
I nodded, taking in his big brotherly words curiously. I took a bite of the biscuit and swore off disgusting sand bread as soon as proper food reentered our lives. “Look. This whole you being nice thing is great, but I keep expecting an anvil to fall on my head or something. Why the sudden change?”
Foss did not look at me as he spoke, but cast his eyes up to the stars that were sparkling next to the giant moon I knew I would never get used to. He sighed. “It’s my ring around your neck.”
I looked down at the heavy gold ring and giant ruby stone with his crest emblazoned on the sides. “Oh. I told you that you could have it back. I don’t have to wear it if it bothers you.”
“No. Keep it. It’s one of the few things I’ve done that I’m actually a little proud of.”
“Huh. I thought you hated me.”
Foss grinned, scratching his bare chest. “Oh, make no mistake. I wish you were anyone else.”
I pointed to his heart. “That’s my darling husband.”
“But you were in a tough spot. I’m glad I stepped up and paid Jens back by speaking for you.”
“I really hate that term.”
“Why do you think I keep using it?” He aimed his smile at me, and I could tell there was a tease behind the mean words. Foss was actually being playful. Huh.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
He eyed the ring with a faraway expression. “I swore if I ever did marry, I’d treat my wife like a queen.”
I scoffed. “You hate women. You hate me. What makes you think a ring would magically change all that?”
“It’s just not how I pictured it. I don’t really know what to do with you.”
“Nothing. Do nothing with me. I don’t need to be handled. You’re being fine. Teach me how to work our boat.”
“My boat.”
“Technically, it’s mine, but I’ll let you think it’s still half yours.”
“And we’re back to hate,” he joked. “You need to sleep.”
“I had a dad, and he stopped telling me when to go to sleep at like, seven. I have a boyfriend who treats me like an adult most of the time. Who do you suppose you are that you get to tell me what to do?”
With a solemn face, he answered, “I’m your husband.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. He was just so sincere. My hand tapped my heart to let him know that he touched something tender and cute. “Oh, darling husband, you’re in for such a surprise when we get to my world.”
“You need to sleep,” he repeated, gently taking the net away from me. “Jens will come back. Punishing yourself like this isn’t going to bring him home any sooner.”
I had nothing to say to this. He was right, and what was more confusing, he decided to be a decent guy for once. That, coupled with malnutrition and sleeplessness, made for a lapse in my smart retorts. “I, um, I guess you’re right.” I muscled my way through the rest of my biscuit. “Thanks. You know, you’re not a complete tool every now and then.”
“Thank you?” he said with half a smirk. He tilted his head back and pointed to the charcoal sky. “Sleeping under the stars again?”
Since he was attempting polite conversation, I decided to take a chance and ride that train. The worst he could do was push me off it. Again. “Yeah. Doesn’t feel right sleeping in the hammock without Jens or Henry Mancini.”
Foss slid down so he was lying supine on the floor. He jerked his chin to the empty spot next to him. “Come take a break.”
I eyed the spot warily, checking it for booby traps before settling down next to him. “You know, Jamie’ll feel it if you dump my body overboard. Built-in security detail.”
He chuckled and pointed to a cluster of stars overhead. “That’s Orwandil. It means bad fortune, and it settled right in the middle of the sea. It’s usually closer to Bedra.” He pulled me closer so our sides were touching. “I should’ve looked at that before we shoved off. Might have given us a decent warning.”
His skin was cool to the touch, so I rubbed his stomach to warm it, smiling a little when I could tell I’d hit a ticklish spot. “It just looks like a mess of lights to me. How can you tell what’s what?”
“Years of practice. That one’s my star.” He was singling one out in the sky, but I couldn’t separate the lights. “Everyone in Undra has a star that tells their story. It moves with them.”
“Seriously? Are you just making this up to see how gullible I am? Because I’m pretty tired and would believe almost anything at this point.”
He glanced at me as if I was an idiot. “Of course it’s true. There I am, right above us.” He moved his eyes back up to the heavens. “And if you’re tired, you should go to sleep.”
“Then why would Olaf believe you’re dead? He can just look up and see which star’s yours.”
Foss cracked a modest smile as he spoke. One of his arms reached over his torso and brushed against my fingers, touching the tips like little kisses as he directed our hands to his navel. “Stars aren’t something educated people put a lot of hope in. Most write it all off as myth, but my mother knew better. She taught me how to find people’s stars and use them for tracking. I can predict the weather, hunting trends, tide flow – lots of things just by looking up at the stars. It’s not always clear, but sometimes the sky speaks to me.”
“You’re totally serious right now.” I was amazed that he indulged in something so poetic. “You know, if we get over to the Other Side, you have to try this out on a girl. It’s a pretty good line. Very romantic.”
“It’s not a line. It’s the truth.” He motioned up to a tiny star that kept sparking from dull to super bright. “That one’s you. I noticed the change in the sky the night you crossed over. See how it flickers? The more violent the swing, the worse your state is. It’s how I knew you weren’t doing so well tonight.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? That one there? That’s me?” My voice quieted, and I could hear the ocean gently lapping at the boat. “I have my very own star?”
“You do. No matter where you go, I can always find you using your star.” His other hand wound through my hair, twirling around the curls as if we had no cares in the world at all.
“That’s… that’s pretty cool, Foss.”
“Watch that one there.
The bright one to the left.”
I rolled onto my side, and snuggled up next to the meanest man I’d ever been forced to work with, marveling at both the star and the oddity of life’s wild waves. “It’s pretty,” I commented. No sooner had the words escaped me did the star blink and shoot across the sky. “Whoa! Did you see that? How did you know it was going to do that?”
“Lots of nights on this boat. I told you. My mother taught me well. I’m the only one of the four powers that started off as a slave. The others dismiss the stars, but it’s how I was able to build up my kingdom.”
“Hey,” I said, changing the subject. “I bought you something when you sent me shopping before we left.”
“Did you buy me a real wife?” he teased, picking up my fingers that were tangled through his so he could examine them.
“Ha. No, I bought you a fiddle. I know you don’t play anymore, but in case you wanted the option, I wanted you to have it. Went overboard, though.”
Foss was quiet for an entire minute before speaking. “I don’t play anymore.” His words and tone were finite, so I knew not to push him.
I was familiar with the loss of a desire to play. I recall being a lot more fun before Linus died. I took a chance and leaned up, pressing a light kiss to Foss’s temple to acknowledge whatever pain he’d gone through to get him to the point in life where play was not an option anymore.
Foss turned his head and pushed his lips to my forehead, holding me there a few beats as he breathed into my skin with his eyes closed. “For what it’s worth, you’re not the worst wife a man could have.”
I don’t know why I took his bitter words as a sincere compliment, but I draped my arm around his chest, holding him as strangely as he held me. I didn’t understand our dynamic, but I was too tired to run from it anymore that night.
Though my shoulder was uncomfortable on the flat hard surface, my body relaxed at the first promise that I’d decided to stop working it to death. Exhaustion flooded my senses, and I yawned into his neck as Foss told me stories about different adventures he’d had on this very ship. He sounded like a pirate as he talked about searching out different islands for various resources, and which ones had the easiest locals to trade with.
I’m pretty sure I muttered “goodnight” or something to that affect before I succumbed to my body’s wailing for a night of rest. Whatever strange twist of fate landed me under the stars lying with my temple pressed to Foss’s neck, I decided not to question it. I welcomed the small amounts of peace I could grasp at and fell into a deep sleep as the waves rocked us with their gentle caress.
Read Elvage,
the next book in the series
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Other books by Mary E. Twomey
The Saga of the Spheres
The Silence of Lir
Secrets
The Sword
Sacrifice
The Volumes of the Vemreaux
The Way
The Truth
The Lie
Jack and Yani Love Harry Potter
Undraland
Undraland
Nøkken
Fossegrim
Elvage
The Other Side
Undraland: Blood Novels
Lucy at Peace
Lucy at War
Lucy at Last
Linus at Large
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newsletter at www.maryetwomey.com