Page 42 of Salt in the Seas
She laughed as he passed by, knowing he would bring back word if he saw any confirmation of the ship. Soldiers parted for her as she ran to the stables, and no one questioned when she saddled an extra horse. She would bring twenty if she could, knowing the sailors would be exhausted from their travels, but at least this way she could get Gaeren back quickly to give a report to Sylmar.
At least, that was the reason she gave herself for readying a second horse.
Felk ran beside her, still not interested in riding horses when he was so much faster on his own. With the Sun high in the sky, they would reach the beach and return long before the Sun’s sleep. Hopefully Sylmar would think to tell Iris to prepare more food.
She rode her horse hard even though the wind chilled her to the bone. Summer this far north was short, and the leaves were already starting to change colors. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her, fastening it high at her neck. For a moment, she let herself hope that her father would be with Gaeren, that he would be the one needing the extra horse.
After so long without him—after Arvid and Vera had claimed they’d killed him—it was unlikely.
As they rounded a bend, the Sun glinted off the water, giving her an initial peek at the black ship anchored in the bay. Her heart soared at its polished beauty, the gleaming onyx more like obsidian glass. The sails had been lowered to keep it moored, and small figures could be seen milling at the base of the mast. She squinted, but it was impossible to make out any individuals.
“Come on, let’s get closer,” she said.
Felk didn’t need to be told twice. He took off, eager to meet the man she’d told him about. They hadn’t always been friends in Felk’s past lives, but Gaeren was the only one who could restore Felk’s past memories, and Aeliana wanted that for him. Selfishly, she wanted it for herself. She wanted Felk to remember the ways he’d protected her like she now protected him.
Still, as they reached the forest’s edge, she called him back. “Not allof those men had good experiences with winex on Summer Solstice. Let me go out first and tell them you’re with me.”
His face fell. She hadn’t told him the details of that night, the way he’d brought an army of winex to fight and how halfway through they’d gone rogue, attacking friend and foe alike. He wasn’t responsible for choices made by the other winex, and he didn’t need that guilt hanging over him.
“What if they aren’t your friends?” His voice came out in a protective growl.
Aeliana smiled. “Then I’ll scream, and you’ll be welcome to come out and attack.”
“I’m slow these days. It might take me too long,” he grumbled as she dismounted, but he stayed with the horses anyway.
As she approached the beach, several men pulled a boat ashore, their chatter seeming friendly enough. It wasn’t until she caught glimpse of a shaved head with an X on its forehead that she knew for certain she had the right group. She ran forward, her boots slipping in the sand and her skirt and hair getting tangled in the wind. A laugh bred from disbelief and relief bubbled to the surface.
The closer she got, the more she recognized the men—Thallahan with his new eye patch and Larkos with his pirate tattoos. She found their rough exteriors amusing after seeing their loyal hearts. At the head of a rowboat, a man remained bent at the waist, tying a rope around a rock, his Sun-streaked brown hair falling in his eyes.
Aeliana’s chest constricted, making her aware of just how much she’d feared for their safety. When he stood, his gaze caught hers, and a smile split his face.
“Daisy!”
Something inside her warmed at the sound of the word on his lips. She’d once hated the nickname, finding it too familiar for a stranger, but now it was like a soft blanket enveloping her.
He closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a bear hug that was tight enough to be painful, but she squeezed him back. When he stepped away to study her, a strange look crossed his face. At first there was a sadness that made her think he had hard news to share, but then his lips tilted into his mischievous smile, and she knew.
“You found him,” she breathed the words out and peered past Gaeren, unsure of what her father might look like but eager to recognize him among the crew.
“It’s more like he found us,” he said.
Three other boats still rode in from the larger ship, too far away for her to identify the men, though one held a man with long red hair tied back. Cyrus. He’d come back, too. She should be frustrated that he hadn’t stayed where it was safe, but instead her heart leaped, and she raised an arm in greeting. She grinned as he stood to wave back, knocking the boat off-balance and getting yanked back down by the crew.
Several of the men came to greet her, quickly separating her from Gaeren and their brief reunion. Riveran gave her an equally exuberant hug, making Gullet squawk and take flight, but she was distracted by her single-minded purpose as she scanned the men disembarking each of the boats.
Which one was her father?
A hand gripped her arm, and suddenly Gaeren was back at her side. “Look who I found.”
She looked past him but only saw Cyrus, who nearly tackled her now that he was free of his boat. “You’ll never believe all the things we’ve seen.” The intensity on his freckled face reminded her of how much she loved his zeal for life.
But then his face shifted as her vision swam. She reached to grip him back, to steady herself, but it was like everything around her disappeared, even the ground beneath her feet. Panic overtook her, as the sensation was reminiscent of traveling across the barrier. Had Cyrus or Gaeren been holding the golden arrow? Had they somehow activated it?
But when her feet found solid ground and her vision settled, there was still a lack of clarity. Was this one of Gaeren’s memories? It was almost like the person controlling it was slowing it down and speeding it up without rhyme or reason. She watched as a stranger approached, introducing himself as Rildan. Then the memory flowed through different areas of Gahldric’s Stargazer and through their travel across the barrier, where they’d met up with Larkos and the sailors. Thememories were disjointed and uncomfortable, carrying a sense of frightening eternality. Like she might never escape.
She spent weeks sailing: working the rigging, searching for seashells, cooking down in the galley. She spoke and dined with men she knew by name when moments ago, on the beach, they had all been strangers.
Was that moments ago? Or weeks ago?
