Page 20 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“I do,” he said. “Happened to me. It’s scary as hell, though I’ll admit, Marek didn’t handle it well.”
“Handle what well?” Mev asked.
He leaned down, kissed her on the nose, and said, “Falling in love.”
I stared out at sea, avoiding looking at Kael. Or Marek. Refusing to let his words take root, I denied them silently, knowing he was wrong.
Marek could not have fallen in love with me. I knew it as well as I knew that Ihadfallen in love with him for one simple reason.
“Marek doesn’t believe in love,” I said quietly.
“How do you know?” Mev asked.
“Because he told me.”
9
MAREK
As the first rays of light hit the horizon, the Veiled Sea’s shades of amber and pale pink reflected off the calm water like a polished mirror. It was the kind of sea a human would curse, but I was no human and our ship sailed smoothly along the current I’d created.
Without realizing it, I’d slipped my hand into my pocket, pulling on a leather string. Tugging, the string uncoiled, its treasure was revealed. A noise below caught my attention as long shadows loomed across the deck where Isolde had been standing the night before with Mev and Kael. Laughing in a way I’d only seen her do years ago.
Would she ever laugh again that way with me?
Mist began to rise from the water as the night’s chill started to lift. The air was crisp, carrying the promise of warmth. I watched as Kael climbed upward, toward me.
“Did you sleep up here?”
I tightened my fingers, fisting the artifact within.
“Without a crew? Aye.”
Kael leaned against the rail, looking out to sea. “I know you’re reluctant to bring a crew into the Depths, but wouldn’t having one be easier on the journey there?”
Shrugging, I swept away the melancholy that threatened to pull me under as sure as the Depths themselves. Planting a smile on my face, I sighed. “Perhaps. But there is not one on my crew who would agree to remain on land asTidechaserenters the Depths. I would not put their lives at risk for…”
“For the good of Elydor? It seems enough of an incentive for you.”
I didn’t respond. My reasons for accepting this mission were many.
“She told us. How you met.”
I sighed again. “You are ruining an otherwise pleasurable sunrise. I have a rule. No speaking on the quarterdeck until the sun is fully risen.”
“That isn’t a rule, Marek. We’ve spoken nearly every morning on the voyage to Thalassaria and since returning north.”
“It is a new rule,” I countered, flicking my wrist and veering the ship slightly east. Standing straighter, I peered over the starboard side of the ship. Kael joined me.
“I don’t see anything.”
“You’d make a terrible Thalassari sailor.”
“Perhaps because I’m not one? Nor do I wish to be.”
“Gyorians,” I muttered, pointing. “Do you see that blue glow? Beneath the waves? Look closely.”
Kael squinted. Knowing he couldn’t see it, with another flick of my wrist, I calmed the waters, temporarily, in that area. The telltale blue was easier to spot. Even so, Kael appeared confused.
