Page 30 of Salt in the Seas
“Never free…” he moaned again, but this time his shuddering ceased.
“Please, Brogdon. I know it’s a lot, but I need you to tell me what you know.”
“She’s alive.”
The words were cold, absent of feeling, and they stirred up all sorts of terror in Aeliana’s chest.
“What more do you need to know? Mayvus is alive, and she’ll come for us all.”
Footsteps pounded from the hall, and Aeliana stood, more than willing to let Sylmar finish the interrogation. Because Brogdon was right. What else mattered besides the terrifying truth that Mayvus was alive?
CHAPTER 13
As they pulledTo the Deep and Backinto Elanesse’s harbor, Gaeren grew more antsy. He no longer feared Enla’s invitation was a trap. Too many of the sailors had confirmed Larkos’ theory. Even Erech, from his time as a stableboy, had said the royal family had publicly declared they were no longer tied with Mayvus.
If anything, that only gave Gaeren more questions for Enla.
“I think that boy’s already a better cook than Breeve.” Riveran patted his belly as they weaved their way through the docks.
“I’d rather have Breeve’s burned food curdling in my stomach.” They’d stopped to see Breeve’s family on their way north. It’d been one of the hardest visits, telling a mother firsthand how her son had braved death and lost. She’d already heard the details from Larkos but seemed to want them again. Gaeren hadn’t been there for the boy’s last moments, so instead he told her all the ways the young man had faithfully served on his ship. The way he’d been a solid fourth-generation sailor who would have made his father proud.
“I can take Erech off cooking duties and make him swab decks again,” Riveran said. “Maybe stick Thallahan behind the stove?”
Gaeren snorted. “If you want to be poisoned.”
Their banter faded the farther they got into town. Despite being welcome at the palace, Gaeren and Riveran opted to quietly take horses to his family’s sprawling estate. They could have announcedtheir arrival in advance with Gullet and had Enla and maybe even his parents out to parade their heartfelt reunion. But Gaeren still saw the hatred in Enla’s eyes from when they’d last said goodbye. A heartfelt reunion was more likely to turn into a yelling match that fed the kind of rumors his parents despised.
So Gullet stayed back with Cyrus, Rildan, and Larkos, while the other sailors were given two days leave. Rather than pass the horses over to the palace stableboys and effectively announce their arrival, they stopped a mile or so outside the palace walls. Riveran tied their horses to a tree near a stream and promised them he’d return soon. Thanks to Riveran’s strange connection to animals, they stood eerily still, ducking their heads to accept his nose rubs.
“Come on,” Gaeren urged. “You’ve already said goodbye ten times, and they’re not even our horses.”
“I don’t know if I should be present for this,” Riveran admitted, glancing toward the towers rising in the distance.
“I need you there as a buffer,” Gaeren said. “My sister won’t kill me if you’re here.”
Riveran’s laugh came out uneasy. “She might just kill us both instead.”
Instead of walking through the main entrance and halls, they snuck through a gap in the hedge Gaeren had made years before, which placed them in the family gardens. Gaeren gave his mocking bow to the statue of the first Queen of Elanesse, then paused and frowned, trying to figure out what seemed different about her. He gave up, then led Riveran through a side door, questioning the guards about which meeting room Enla might be in. Before they could reach it, she rushed out, her cheeks flushed and the chain holding her heart-shaped starlock on her forehead knocked askew.
“Gaeren.” Tears filled her blue eyes as she breathed out his name, and suddenly she was throwing her arms around his neck, her short blonde hair tickling his cheek. She squeezed him tight like she’d done when they were children, and a memory flooded his mind of a time he’d forced her to swing with him across the hay in the barn. It held a mix of fear and elation, with a strange sense of protection: the first time he’d instinctively understood his role as a throne warden. When therope had snapped and they’d fallen, he’d twisted to make sure she landed on him instead of the other way around, breaking his ankle instead of hers. His starlock heated against his skin, drawing him back to the present, making the images dissipate into reality.
That same ankle twinged as he squeezed Enla back.
“I take it you don’t completely hate me,” he said.
She pulled back and smacked his shoulder. “I hate you with every fiber of my being.” But the words were counteracted by her smile. She turned to Riveran and grew flustered, wiping the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. “It’s good to see you too, Riveran.”
Gaeren warred between frustration with his old friend and his sister. For the last two years, he’d hated Riveran because his parents had led him to believe the other man had slighted his sister—breaking their bond and marrying another woman. But after learning it had all been a farce to cover up the fact that Riveran had never received a starlock or developed magic, Gaeren’s anger had shifted to his sister. Somehow the conflicting feelings canceled each other out and a sadness swept over him instead.
“I wish you’d told me about Riveran from the start.”
Enla nodded, glancing between both men. “I wish I had, too.”
“But that’s not what we came to talk about.”
Enla nodded again, then glanced over her shoulder at the bodyguards who’d followed her into the hall. “Cancel the rest of my meetings for today. And schedule a dinner with our parents.”
“Change the dinner to breakfast,” Gaeren said. “Or maybe mid-morning tea. Or even dinner tomorrow.”
