Page 15 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
Was that, possibly, regret?
“I assumed there were no words I could have uttered that would have you forgive me.”
A fair assumption, since it was true.
“Then why leave that way?”
I hated the question. Hated the way my voice quivered. Hated being reduced to the very thing I told myself I would not: a simpering fool who cared for the opinion of someone who would do such a thing.
Perhaps if I was Elydorian and lived a few more centuries, I could harden my heart enough not to have asked. I was strong in so many ways, save this one.
He turned his head enough that I could see his profile, though only briefly as a fallen branch demanded he navigate around it. At that moment, a trexan-pulled wagon appeared on the horizon. The man guiding it was an elderly farmer, his shoulders hunched beneath a patched cloak as he urged the lumbering trexan forward. Marek shifted his attention to the wagon, his posture relaxing, as though relieved to have something to draw his focus from our conversation.
I greeted the farmer as we passed.
“I’m not proud of how I handled things, Issa. The reasons for my leaving… weren’t simple. They still aren’t.”
Why had I thought breaking my own rule, talking about the very thing I told him I didn’t wish to discuss, would make things better? The sting of his unsaid words settled like a stone in my chest. We remained silent then as I deflected Marek’s later attempts at conversation. By the time we arrived in Valewood Bay, I was certain he might send me back to Hawthorne Manor. Marek hated silence and that was all I had to offer him. Instead, as Kael and Mev rode beside us, commenting on the speed of our return, he told them not to dismount.
“We head straight to the docks.”
Dusk had fallen, and I assumed, as it appeared Kael and Mev had, we would not sail until the morning. But if Marek wanted to get the voyage over with quickly, I would not argue the point. The sooner I could get back to Hawthorne Manor, despite the mundane days and nights that awaited me there, the better. For if there was one thing worse than not living an adventurous life, it was coming to the realization Marek left without warning for one reason, and one reason alone.
I meant nothing to him. Not then, or any day since. And I would do well to remember it.
7
MAREK
“I give you,Tidechaser.”
Issa stepped aboard, as silent as she’d been on the journey here. I imagined coming back into Issa’s life would not be smooth sailing, but neither had I anticipated how difficult it would truly be to earn her forgiveness.
“It feels as if I’ve been aboard her already,” Issa said, making her way through the main deck. “I know more of your ship than I do anything else about you, including your family.”
With Mev and Kael still on the hunt for supplies, and little other movement on the docks at this time of night, I could hear every creak of the ship as she swayed beneath our feet. There was no place in Elydor that felt more like home than here.
“My family are the crew that I left behind on this voyage.”
“Would it not be easier to sail with them?”
I shrugged. “Not necessarily. Most accompany me for training. All of this”—I pointed to the rigging and sails—“is to blend in with human ships. I need little to navigateTidechaserbeyond the abilities with which I was born.”
Issa remained unimpressed.
“Come,” I said, slinging Issa’s bag from one shoulder to the other. “Allow me to show her to you.” Without waiting for her to decline, I pointed to the various compartments. “Those house weapons, trade goods, provisions… and then the helm, of course. Where all the magic happens.”
I counted Issa’s rolled eyes as a win as we moved below deck.
“The crew’s quarters,” I said, opening a door to reveal a room with small, functional hammocks which could accommodate up to fifteen men. “And more storage,” I said as we passed another door. “This is the captain’s spare,” I said, opening Mev and Kael’s quarters.
Issa peeked inside.
“Where will I be staying?”
“That,” I said, closing the door, “is for Mev and Kael. You will be in the captain’s quarters.” When I opened my cabin, I was surprised not to find Issa beside me. She’d halted in the corridor.
“Issa?”
