Page 79 of Salt in the Seas
“I’m not sure I’ll be welcomed back after the way I left, but I’m determined to go back for Winter Solstice. Thallahan is getting married, so it’s as good a reason to return as any.” He stared down at his bond mark, and the sadness and confusion on his face reflected everything Aeliana felt about her own bond.
“If she gave you permission to break it, why haven’t you?”
A rueful smile crossed Gaeren’s face. “Because I’m a coward?”
Aeliana scoffed. “I don’t think anyone could say that about you.”
“I thought Riveran broke his bond with my sister. I found out later, very recently, that it was my parents who forced them to break their bond. Riveran wasn’t good enough for them because he hadn’t earned a starlock.”
Aeliana glanced at Riveran, who sat repairing a net on the other side of the ship. He’d begun growing out his hair, and while it still had a long way to go to hide the X on his forehead, the thick darkness across his scalp made it stand out a bit less, drawing more attention to his gentle smile. “Riveran would make an excellent queen’s consort. What would it matter if he had a starlock or not?”
“In some ways the royal family is as power-hungry as Mayvus. They might not seek it out with blood magic, but they are determined to keep high concentrations of starblood in the royal line. Enla’s descendants wouldn’t be guaranteed to be progenies if their father wasn’t one. At least, that was the thinking. No one’s guaranteedto be a progeny regardless of their starblood concentration. Not anymore.”
Aeliana’s hand drifted to her starlock, which she kept tucked under her shirt and out of sight. It warmed against her skin in a reassuring way. “I take it you didn’t enjoy seeing their bond get broken?”
Gaeren’s frown deepened, and Aeliana regretted her question. “My sister’s pain was excruciating. There was physical pain, but it was more that she was emotionally broken. Riveran had been the center of her life. They’d grown up loving each other in a way that Lenda and I never experienced. I don’t know if it was the bond or if they would have loved each other anyway.
“I tried taking the pain from her by removing the memories and almost broke both of our minds. My mentor at the time was able to rein in my magic. But I’ve been cautious ever since about how much I use my ability to take memories. It’s one thing to receive them willingly, and it’s another to take them by force. And removing them completely? Even if I had been ready at that point in my life, that level of magic would have done permanent damage.”
Aeliana couldn’t help thinking of Marnok. Had someone done the same to him? And yet he’d gotten some of his memories back from her mother. What secrets did he still hold? If he wasn’t an enemy, why hadn’t he shared who he was?
“Your bond doesn’t seem to be taking any better than mine.” Gaeren grinned, enjoying pointing that out far too much.
Before she could respond, Velden leaped onto the helm and dragged Aeliana across the deck. “There’s the Naval Yard where I trained.” He pointed out a shipyard that kept its cargo sealed off by stone walls. “Ludo and Barny still work there, and I have three good guesses of where to find them tonight.”
Aeliana welcomed the distraction. “Barny?”
He grinned. “Short for barnacle. When you see him, you’ll understand why.”
“Who are they?”
“My old naval buddies.” His excitement was contagious.
“I never understood why the navy trained down here to protect the king and queen up north.”
Velden nodded. “It’s become a bit of a farce. Several Loyalists come down here, expecting to hold on to their ways, but out here the hatred for the royal family runs deep enough that most are converted to Recreants. It wasn’t as bad when I was a recruit thirty years ago, but Ludo says it’s pretty impossible to support the crown in Andel. Fewer people are getting starlocks, and the ones who do stay north with the nobility. It’s widening the economic disparity between the regions and the people enough that it’s a hard split.”
Aeliana glanced back at Gaeren, her concern for his safety heightening. Larkos had joined him, and they pointed at various docks, arguing over where to berth. “Do we need to encourage him to wear a disguise?”
“In some ways it might be better for him to get his identity out in the open and deal with it as it comes.” Velden leaned over the edge, letting his webbed hands pull in the water’s spray. “It could be a rough transition, but in the end word will spread faster that he’s a Recreant supporter if he doesn’t hide himself.”
They continued passing ships at docks, drawing closer to the large buildings that likely made up the center of the city. The ships they passed in the bay area all held fisherman and lay workers, their tanned skin making even Gaeren look pale. Most of them stared with narrowed eyes at Cyrus, probably equally confused by his long red hair as they were by his pale and freckled flesh.
The Sun sank lower in the sky, partially blocked by the other half of the city they hadn’t even sailed by yet.
“When did you last visit?” Aeliana asked.
Velden’s gaze hardened. “I don’t visit. I haven’t been here since my mother was killed twenty-five years ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Velden.”
“I stuck around for a few moons to take care of my father, but a lot of him died with her.” He hesitated. “He never really knew what to make of me. He always wanted a son, but he didn’t know how to share me with the people around him when I was so different. I think without my mother, there was very little we had in common.”
“Are you going to see him now?”
“He died a long time ago. But I’ll visit my old naval friends. I’vekept in touch with them over the years, and they’ll share anything with me that they think can help our search.”
“Twenty-five years is a long time to go without seeing people you call friends,” Aeliana mused. “You and Sylmar met up fourteen years ago when he left Mayvus, right? So what did you do all those years before that?”
