Page 14 of Salt in the Seas
CHAPTER 7
Gaeren,Cyrus, and Riveran spent more than a week writing and sending out more letters. When they had only a single batch of letters left, Gaeren woke with his stomach as nauseous as that of a landlubber at sea. After delivering them, it would be time to return to Vendaras.
After they ate porridge cooked and sweetened by Cyrus’ admirer, they gathered up the last of the letters and bound them in burlap sacks. Before the second bell, they had their horses loaded.
“Who’s that?” Riveran asked. Gullet squawked from his shoulder as Cyrus and Gaeren turned to take in a lone figure crossing over the gate’s threshold.
“I’m not sure,” Cyrus said. “Probably just a worshiper if the guards let them in.”
Gaeren huffed. “Your priests and priestesses let anyone in if they say they’re there to worship the Stars. Which makes no sense this time of day.” He gestured toward the clear blue sky, void of Stars.
“What would you rather we did?” Cyrus asked.
Gaeren didn’t bother answering. The humans in Lorvandas weren’t under the same stresses of politics and war. They weren’t as wary of strangers, which was both refreshing and dangerous. Gaeren turned back to their horses, checking over their hooves and tack.
“Stars’ greetings!” a voice called out.
They turned once more and found the stranger headed their way.
“Stars’ blessings in return,” Cyrus said. “Can we help you with something?”
“I was told there were some men here looking for me.”
Gaeren started, then took in the familiar eyes and nose on the unfamiliar face. A scar pocked the man’s forehead and another ran down his cheek. Long dark hair grew to his shoulders, and weathered skin spoke of a hard life.
“Rildan?” Gaeren whispered.
The man’s lips twisted in a scowl, but before anyone could guess what might have upset him, he pulled out a dagger and lunged at Gaeren.
Despite the surprise attack, Gaeren dodged the stranger easily, and with help from Riveran and Cyrus, he quickly got the older man on the ground, smothering his face in the grass. Riveran gripped the man’s wrists so tightly they turned red and puffy, and the stranger sputtered out a mouth full of soil.
“Who are you?” Cyrus asked.
“A fool,” the man muttered.
“Why did you attack me?” Gaeren asked.
“I was told you were looking for me. And that you had my daughter.” He spat the last word out while attempting to jerk his hands from Riveran’s grip.
Gaeren stilled. “We’re looking for you on behalf of your daughter, but we aren’t holding her.”
All the tension eased from the stranger’s limbs. “Then where is she?”
“Across the barrier,” Gaeren said.
“How?”
“She found the golden arrow,” Cyrus said. “It was held here in the Stargazer for years, just like you asked.”
Rildan sighed, letting his cheek rest against the grass. Riveran tentatively released his grip, but Rildan made no move to attack.
“When Aeliana came for the arrow, her kidnappers were with her,” Cyrus continued. “They took her across the barrier. I went, too, and that’s where we met up with Sylmar and Velden.”
Rildan turned over and sat up, grass stains covering his clothes anddirt smudged on his cheeks. But the lost expression on his face was far more pitiful.
“I take it Sylmar’s conversion was genuine?” Rildan asked.
Gaeren frowned. “He’s been leading a faction of Recreants for years, but I suppose he’d just left Mayvus when you last saw him.”
