Page 18 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
Mev made a face. “Won’t let you? I was under the impression Gyorians and sailing weren’t exactly like peanut butter and jelly.”
“Peanut… what?”
Mev rolled her eyes as we pitched forward. “I don’t know how that didn’t make its way here. It’s not like peanut butter is a recent invention.”
“Ooh!” I ducked my head, as if willing Marek to do the same, thinking for a moment he’d come close to being beheaded by the swinging boom as the wind caught the sail. But, of course, this was Marek. Quick as a tide change, he pivoted, ducking smoothly without missing a beat.
“You don’t have to worry about him,” Kael said gruffly. “He may run his mouth more than any Thalassarian I’ve ever met, but Marek certainly knows how to navigate in the open seas.”
Marek’s hands were extended toward the horizon, and though I couldn’t see his expression from here, it was clear he was focused intently.
“So he’s controlling the current?” I asked as the ship groaned while we moved, her creak of wood joining the ocean’s whispers.
“In a different way than before, but yes,” Kael answered, which is when I saw Mev’s sly smile. We crept along, sailing further and further away from shore.
Mev lifted her hand toward the sail.
It was subtle, at first. But as we picked up speed, her manipulation of the air to create enough wind to bolsterTidechaser’s sails became more obvious.
“Much appreciated,” Marek yelled down from his position above us.
Mev smiled up to him, the same way I might have when we first met. Marek was easy to like.
“You’ve been training?” I asked, unable to look away from Marek. The moonlight caught him just right, making his expression easier to see. With one hand now resting on the ship’s wheel, fingers curled around the wood, a slow smile tugged at his lips as he looked our way.
I gave my attention to Mev, too late. She’d caught me staring.
“All day, every day,” she said. “Between my father and Lyra, I’ve little time for much else.”
“Not entirely true,” Kael muttered, his tone teasing.
“I’m lucky she even agreed to train me,” Mev said as we glided through the water, the lights of Valewood Bay long gone. “Being that Kael once tried to kill her.”
“I didnot.” He emphasized the last word. “Try to kill her.” Kael turned toward us, sighing. “We served on the Aetherian Gate Council together. When I escorted Mev?—”
“Kidnapped.”
I pursed my lips together to keep from laughing.
“After we left Hawthorne Manor, Lyra discovered us,” he said.
“Can’t wait to hear this revisionist story.” Mev crossed her arms, also close to laughing.
“Would you like to tell it, my love?”
Mev’s smile broadened.
“She began to train her and has been doing so since,” Kael finished.
I inadvertently looked up to the quarterdeck. Marek wasn’t even pretending to steer the ship now. Instead, he leaned on a nearby railing, flicking his wrist toward the bow of the ship, presumably controlling the water in some way.
Except, he wasn’t looking at the water.
Marek was looking at me. Always me.
I spun back to Mev and Kael.
“Lyra has advised my father for many years.” Mev cleared her throat, turning serious. “And has been an ally to us in many ways.”
