Page 102 of Found at Sea
I wasn’t fully prepared for what awaited me outside the Inn. Winter. Not the type of winters I was familiar with in Helmfirth, but a true winter. The winter solstice had arrived nearly a week ago, but being so far north was a whole new experience.
“You’re smiling,” Kellan said, grabbing my hand.
“Winters in Helmfirth are mild,” I spoke before breathing in the crisp air. So many smells were in the air; smoke from nearby fires, desserts and bread cooking in the bakery, and ones of nature, like the cold ground beneath my feet and dead leaves. “It was cold, but never like this. And it never snowed.”
White flakes fell from the sky, and I caught one in the palm of my hand. It melted as soon as it touched my skin.
“I don’t favor the cold,” Kellan said as we walked farther down the road. Shops lined both sides of it, and up ahead was a market. He took us down a path between the blacksmith’s shop and a large willow tree. “Standing at the helm of my ship with blue skies above me, the sun warming my skin, the wind in my hair, and clear blue water as far as the eye can see? Now that is paradise, boy.”
“Then why are you giving up?” I asked, pressing the issue again.
I’d press it as many times as needed for him to see reason. To know his life was worth fighting for.
He sighed. “Because fighting won’t change a thing, Fletcher. There’s no goddess with a magic shell that will lift my curse and redeem my cold heart. We set sail on a fool’s errand, and in the process, I was nearly killed, the ship was attacked, and we lost Alek. Enough is enough.”
I stopped walking and faced him. “That’s exactly why youshouldkeep searching. Don’t let it all be in vain.”
“You still believe Ran is real? That if we sail deep into uncharted waters we will find her?” His question sounded more rhetorical, so I held my tongue and let him finish. He grabbed my face with both his hands and rested his forehead to mine. “You sweet, foolish boy. I do not want to spend the last of my days chasing down some fable.”
“The sea witch wouldn’t have given you a riddle to lift your curse, if there was no way to do such a thing,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. I’d done it for comfort, but it helped keep me warm as well, and I snuggled closer. “She would’ve just cursed you with no hope for redemption.”
“And you have another answer?” he asked with a scoff.
“Well, no…but we can read the riddle again,” I suggested, sounding hopeful. “The answer is within the words. Somewhere. Triton is the key. I just don’t know how. Yet.”
“I spent three years trying to decipher it.” He ran a hand through his hair and looked upward at the tops of the gently swaying trees. “Perhaps that’s why I clung on so tightly to your solution aboutRan’s road.”
“What about the lady in black?” I asked, shuddering at the memory of her rotten flesh and milky, black hollowed eyes. “You asked her about the curse and she said the answer rested in the place where all is lost. She wouldn’t have given you an answer if there wasn’t one. Maybe Iwaswrong aboutRan’s road, but I still believe the heart is here in the north.”
“Fletcher…”
“There’s still time,” I pleaded, staring up into his mismatched eyes. We were within an enclosing of evergreen trees, but a snowflake found its way to us anyway, landing in his hair. A moment of beauty before it was gone. Just like him. “Kellan, I can’t lose you. Don’t give up. Please.”
“Respect my wishes and let this matter drop.” His tone was firm and irritation seethed in his gaze. “Just this once, Fletcher, do not challenge me.”
Loving someone meant putting their needs above your own. Their desires. Maybe I was being selfish by wanting Kellan to keep fighting, to keep searching. If he truly wanted to give up, was it wrong of me to hold on?
I faced ahead and studied the trees, seeing how some of the branches weighed with freshly fallen snow. Green peeked out from areas of the white, and I found it beautiful that even when the world bears its weight on you, you can still shine.
“I have a theory,” I said as I continued farther on the path. “Before you issue complaint, no, it’s not about the curse.”
Kellan exuded a small laugh and walked at my side, linking his fingers through mine again. “What is your theory, boy?”
“Eva, my physician,” I said, shifting closer to him. He released my hand and slid his arm around my waist, which I preferred to hand holding, wanting to be as close to him as I could.While I still can.I checked our surroundings, ensuring no one else was around before adding, “I think…maybe…she might be a mage. Her accent reminds me of Alek. And I shouldn’t feel this well days after being stabbed in the gut.”
Kellan was quiet a moment. “You’re more perceptive than I’ve given you credit for.”
“You knew?” I asked, somehow not surprised.
“Aye.” His fingers slid into my coat pocket and he pulled me closer to his side. There was safety in being in his embrace that way. As if no harm could ever come to me as long as he was near. “Much like you, I made the same assumption when we first made port, and I asked her to help you. She did so without fuss and it didn’t seem like she did it out of fear of me revealing her identity, but rather that she truly wished to help.”
I swirled the words around in my head as we walked down the cold-hardened path. With the light gray sky, snow covering the ground in a stunning blanket of white, and hints of green and brown bark on the trees, it was like a new world. An icy wonderland.
“Do you think people are different here?” I asked. “That maybe they don’t fear mages, but live alongside them? In peace.”
“I do not believe in peace,” Kellan said, furrowing his brow. “In my experience, men have only looked after themselves. But if I did believe in such a thing as peace…I’d say Silver Falls was as close to it as I’ve seen. Magic and non-magic folk. Both do-gooders and pirates. Eva doesn’t carry fear on her shoulders because there’s no need for her to.”
My eyes watered. Alek could’ve lived there happily, with no fear of being captured. If only we would’ve had one more day. The tears momentarily warmed my chilled cheeks before they turned cold as well, leaving behind an icy sensation on my skin.
