Page 99 of Salt in the Seas
Gaeren’s mind raced through their options. All Velden’s antics had done was bring on more witnesses and more obstacles. Several men and women covered their children’s eyes, backing away. It wouldn’t be long before local soldiers were sent to intervene.
He stepped forward, and for a moment, Velden’s wild eyes seemed to forget that he was a friend. The watery shackles tightened, making Dreyfus cry out, and the dagger shifted toward Gaeren. But then Velden pivoted the dagger back to Dreyfus once more.
“How shall we do it, oh mighty prince? Drown him at sea? String him up from his own mast? I still favor gutting him like he did my mother.” The last option was said on a growl.
Gaeren stepped around Velden, placing his hands on Dreyfus’shoulders and pulling the two men apart a half step. The shackles loosened a hair but remained in place.
“I’m not sure we should do any of those things with this number of witnesses.”
Dreyfus nodded quickly. “I knew you had the most common sense out of all the royals.”
Gaeren grimaced, finding it hard to maintain objectivity when the man was proving to be as obnoxious as his reputation. “Do you have the fish?” he whispered to Aeliana.
She nodded.
Despite their impossible situation, Gaeren felt light. It didn’t matter that they were attempting to steal something from a murderer in broad daylight. They’d found the starbridge. If they could cross that hurdle, escaping this was nothing.
“Tell them what you did when you saw the wounded Sayhleen in your nets,” Velden continued, drawing more eyes. He was an even better performer than Dreyfus, since he used his free webbed hand to spray waves of water to draw attention.
“He’s like the green-eyed goddess,” one of the closest observers told his friend, distracting Gaeren with the memory of an old lead he’d chased when looking for Aeliana—a green-eyed goddess rumored to control the seas.
“She was dying.” Dreyfus interrupted Gaeren’s thoughts, his voice turning into a whine as Velden lost more control. “When animals are dying, you put them out of their misery.”
His final word ended on a screech as Velden’s shackles rose him half a foot off the deck, tugging his shoulders at an awkward angle and pulling him out from Gaeren’s grip. Gaeren placed his hands on the man’s back, unsure if supporting him would prolong his misery or save his life. Surely Velden knew they couldn’t kill him with this many witnesses.
“And what about the young naval student you saw swimming with her?” Velden asked.
“She was alone,” the man said. Gaeren sensed the lie through the man’s back with his underused pneumatic spoke. He frowned, butinstead of testing it further, he dove into the man’s memories, feeling no remorse over the invasion of privacy.
The memory was already at the tip of Dreyfus’ mind, giving Gaeren quick and easy access. From within Dreyfus’ memory, Gaeren drew the net closer, heaving it out of the water and into his boat. The body dropped with a heavy smack, blood splashing across his thigh.
The beautiful woman’s eyes stared back at him, glassy and sorrowful.
“If you hadn’t fought back,” Dreyfus muttered, shaking his head. “I might have been able to let you live. Imagine how much people would pay to see a live Sayhleen.”
Gaeren wanted to retch, but Dreyfus kept cutting the net from around the Sayhleen.
“Except you would have talked. Maybe even escaped. This is the safest way to cash in on a prize.” Gaeren felt a grin stretch across his lips—until a man’s cries reached his ears.
Dreyfus squinted out over the water, giving Gaeren a glimpse of a much younger Velden swimming through the water unreasonably fast. Dreyfus grabbed his harpoon once more but seemed aware that the man coming his way was in fact just a man. Hardly something he could harpoon.
“Did the siren reel you in?” he called out good-naturedly. “Don’t worry; I’ve taken care of her. She won’t bother you anymore.” Velden’s approach didn’t slow, making Dreyfus hesitate. Gaeren sensed the calculated decision over the risk Velden brought to Dreyfus’ prize. Decision made, he swapped out the harpoon for a dart. The poison wouldn’t kill the man, but he’d likely drown before he regained consciousness.
“Can’t have any witnesses,” Dreyfus muttered.
His aim was true, but at first Velden’s stride hardly slowed. As he neared the boat, his face grew slack with understanding. “I’ll kill you,” he said slowly before his head sank below the waves.
“Not if I kill you first.” Dreyfus turned back to the Sayhleen, pulling a hatchet from his belt.
Gaeren cut the memory off in a panic, horrified at what likely came next, disgusted by what he’d already seen. He pulled his handsoff the man’s back as if touching him made his evil methods contractable.
“I won’t blame you if you end him in whatever way you wish,” Gaeren ground out.
“Gaeren,” Aeliana hissed. “That’s not helping.”
“I saw what he did.” Gaeren’s voice rose. Now the eyes of the bystanders turned his way. “He harpooned her so he could make money. Dead slaves can’t complain or escape. Then he shot the only witness with a poison dart, assuming he would drown, not knowing the man was her son and fully able to breathe underwater.”
The crowd gasped, but Gaeren wasn’t sure if their reaction was over Dreyfus’ depravity or the shock of Velden’s ancestry.
