Page 83 of Salt in the Seas
His gaze swept over the hundreds of boats in the harbor before he slipped below deck, and the deeper he went into the belly of his ship, the more his hope sank with him. Even if he told them what the sprites had said, searching that many boats would be impossible.
He stepped around several sailors already passed out for the night in their overstuffed quarters. Just as Gaeren reached to remove his trousers, Larkos elbowed his side.
“Ready to head out?”
Gaeren started. “Now? Where would you want to go at this time of night?”
Thallahan rose from his bed, fully dressed, and gave Gaeren a wink while adjusting his eye patch. Erech joined them, practically bouncing from foot to foot in his excitement.
“There’s something we want to show you.” Without any moreexplanation, Larkos headed back toward the stairs to the upper deck, Thallahan and Erech in tow.
Gaeren swore under his breath. Those cryptic words might have been the only thing that could convince him to keep his pants on and head back to land.
Instead of answering Gaeren’s questions, Larkos gave him mundane updates about the ship and sailors while they wove their way through the docks, and Erech peppered them with questions about the various ships. Gaeren sensed his first mate growing more tense and wary, but Thallahan seemed to loosen up the farther they got from the ship. Before they made it very far into town, Larkos pulled out a strip of cloth, regret on his face.
“It’s not thatIdon’t trust you…” He let the words hang until Gaeren grasped their meaning.
“You’re taking me to meet with southern Recreants.”
Larkos winced and nodded. “They gave me permission for a meeting only if you were willing to be blindfolded. Their regular meetings are constantly changing locations, but they want to be extra cautious because of who you are.”
Gaeren sighed and glanced at Erech. “And what if things go badly? You’re willing to put Erech in harm’s way?”
“He brought me because he thinks I’ll keep the others from taking things too far.” Erech’s grin was positively cheeky. “No one wants an innocent to accidentally get hurt because of a misunderstanding.” His grin dropped and his face melted into the expression of a forlorn puppy.
Bringing the boy was probably a brilliant idea.
“I could say the same thing about you.” Gaeren turned to Larkos. “It’s not that I don’t trustyou…”He left the sentence unfinished like Larkos had, and the other man chuckled.
“It could go a long way for them to hear from you directly instead of through an old man like me, who they think cares a little too much for the prince he was told to convert.”
“They suspect you of being loyal to the crown because of me?”
Larkos shrugged. “Some of them are stupid, right?”
Gaeren shook his head and turned his back to Larkos, waiting forhis first mate to conceal his vision. In many ways, it was a wasted effort. He could take the memory of approaching the meeting from Larkos or any other of the people there. But hopefully they all knew of his respect for privacy with his magic just like they knew of his evolving politics.
“Not as roguishly handsome as my eye patch,” Thallahan said from his left, “but it’ll do.”
Gaeren reached out to punch him, but the other man must have moved, because his fist met air.
An awkward half a bell later, Gaeren was led up steps and through a door, where the blindfold was removed. It took his eyes a frustrating amount of time to adjust considering it was almost as dark in the room as it had been under the blindfold. Nearly a dozen men and women eyed him nervously, and Gaeren realized he was probably looking at the core members of the Recreant rebellion.
Unlike Sylmar and Velden’s group, these people wanted a full democracy instead of even a spiritual leader. They would kill his parents and sister without question. They might still kill him if he didn’t give them the right answers.
He glanced at Larkos, wondering if he’d made the right decision to come.
“He’s just as pretty in person as he is on his posters,” an old woman from the back yelled.
The tension dissolved with chuckles around the room. When Thallahan shoved Gaeren into a chair, a drink was passed his way, and Gaeren couldn’t help wondering if it was laced with poison. As if reading his mind, Larkos traded mugs with him.
“I’m not sure I trust them any more than you do,” he muttered.
The tension in his first mate’s shoulders had only increased since they’d left the ship, and his hand strayed awfully close to his sword’s pommel. Erech had already taken to his role of deflecting tension by asking a few of the attendees to watch the magic tricks Thallahan and Riveran had taught him. Even Thallahan greeted several people by name, leaving Gaeren feeling strangely out of place. Despite the relaxed chatter, Gaeren knew he needed to maintain vigilance just like Larkos had.
He barely had time to let the thought register before the interrogation began.
“Larkos tells us you left your family because you don’t want to rule with them.” A middle-aged man with squinty eyes said the words like an accusation.
