Page 159 of Blood of the Stars

“The people are riled up, including our men. A few of them had family in Islara.”

Memories flooded Gaeren’s mind—memories that didn’t belong to him. Memories that belonged to mothers and fathers racing their infants to the hope of safety. Children screaming in the streets. Fire burning at their backs. He shuddered, opening his eyes to refocus on the present. The bottle of wine in his hand. The sturdy chair beneath him. The trustworthy man before him.

“Why did you come, Larkos?”

“Unless someone proves it was Mayvus, there’s a good chance your father will take the fall. War could be at your doorstep far sooner than you expected.”

“Which would turn into a blood bath for my family.” Gaeren set down the bottle and scrubbed his palms over his face.

Larkos leaned in. “Did you figure out why your girl is the key to exposing Mayvus?”

Gaeren shoved down the warmth rising at the sound of “your girl.” He swallowed hard, reliving Daisy’s words about her magic and her blood. She wasn’t the key to exposing Mayvus, but she could be the key to Mayvus securing more power. The band of Recreants he’d found had a defensive mission, but Larkos was looking for the upper hand.

“It’s not my secret to share.”

Larkos grunted, but Gaeren had no idea if it was in irritation or approval.

“I’m not sure you need to share it anyway,” the older man confessed. “Riveran brought twenty of your men to Starspeed. They’re ready to follow you across any sea for their revenge. Through any barrier, to the Deep and back.”

A glimmer of hope stirred in Gaeren’s chest. “I thought you said they blamed my father.”

“The people blame your father because it’s easy. He’s right here in front of them. Your men know different. They want to get revenge on the right person. Even if they don’t want a monarch, they’ve learned to trust their captain.”

Gaeren blinked and looked away as his hope grew. He envisioned the ropes Enla spoke of tethering him to his men growing thicker, holding taut under the tension of impending war.

“I’ve been a fool, Larkos. I wanted to trust the people I loved, the people I thought loved me.”

Larkos hummed. “In a better world, you could. You can’t help who you love, but you can choose who to trust. Doesn’t make you a fool for wanting someone to be both things.”

“I’d rather have the trust of our men than the love of my family.” The words sounded harsh to Gaeren’s ears, but there was a freeing sensation in speaking that truth.

Larkos’ grin grew slowly, and he leaned forward once more, his voice low. “You wanted to go to the old fortress in the Myndren Mountains?”

Gaeren’s heart sped up. “Yes.”

“If we sail east past Ahmranan’s Viewpoint, that would get you a five day’s journey from the edge of the valley. Shorter if we can find horses. It would be safer to wait a moon. Those waters are best traveled on the Sun’s longest days. Too soon and it’s treacherous.”

Gaeren shook his head. “I can’t wait that long.”

Larkos’ eyes took on a mischievous gleam. “I never said you had to. I simply said it’d be safer. If you can be out on the veranda tomorrow night at the moon’s peak, we can get you to Starspeed.”

Gaeren eyed him warily even as his chest swelled with his hope. “We’d likely be helping the Recreants start a war.”

“Don’t you see? You’re finally following through. You’re an official Recreant.” Larkos clapped his hand on Gaeren’s shoulder. “War is what these boys have been waiting for. They just needed to know their captain would lead them into it.”

CHAPTER 65

Aeliana slid off her horse’s saddle, her boots sinking in the sand. The others did the same, setting up camp the same way they had for the past few weeks every night with the Sun’s sleep. The Pass had taken them through a portion of the mountain range, then deposited them into an eternal marshland that hinted at the ocean to come. They’d finally made it through to Northpoint to stock up once more, and everyone was eager to have the swamp at their back and the beach by their side.

A speck in the water grew larger, the form more human as it drew closer. A second silvery shape shadowed the first. As a wave crested, Velden’s familiar frame rode it in, the grin on his face contagious. A middle-aged Felk followed, his smile just as big with twice the number of teeth. They each held a net full of fish—the supposed reason for their daily swim. As Velden laughed and shot sprays of water at the others, it was clear the water was where he belonged.

Aeliana took the fish, wrinkling her nose over the smell. “I thought you were unbearably cheery most days, but now you make Velden of the Forest seem positively depressed.”

Somehow Velden’s grin widened as he squeezed the excess water from his trousers, his webbed fingers absorbing the drops before they fell. He grabbed a vest from his saddle bag and pulled it on as if that tiny bit of fabric suddenly changed him from fish to human.

“I don’t hear you complaining when you pick the flaky white flesh off those cod.”

“It was an observation, not a complaint.”

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