Page 44 of Found at Sea
There was no harm in enjoying his body in the meantime.
Although it was tempting to snuggle back into him, I gently moved him aside and slid out of bed. I washed myself using the small basin of water in the adjoining room before getting dressed and going out on the main deck.
Some of the crew had started on their daily work and greeted me as I passed. Alek stood near the stern, looking at the water, and I went toward him.
I might’ve been hard on him at times, and yes, somewhat cruel by reminding him of the one thing that could get him killed if anyone else knew, but he and I had a special bond.
“Mornin’, Captain,” he said with a nod. “Have you seen Fletch? He wasn’t in his quarters.”
“Aye, that’s because he’s in mine,” I answered, seeing the way his eyebrows rose a little. “You two are close.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered anyway. “Yes.”
“Does he know?”
Alek’s eyes met mine, and for a split second, there was a flash of silver in his irises.
A knot formed in my gut. I’d found Alek before he reached maturity, and he hadn’t yet learned how to use his magic. However, magic could not be suppressed for long, especially in one as young as Alek, and it’d eventually make itself known, whether he wished it to or not.
“I tried to tell him days ago,” he responded in a softer voice. “We were interrupted before I could say all of it.”
“You think it wise to tell him?”
Thatwasa question, and he did not answer. Instead, he focused on something in the distance.
Far off, a speck of land could be seen, which told me we were getting closer to our destination: an island where the men could rest for a few days and give me time to decide where to travel next. There was another reason for visiting the island, too, one that filled me with dread.
“He is my friend,” Alek finally spoke. “I do not wish to keep it from him. And he doesn’t seem familiar with the dark mages. When I was telling him the story, he stared with interest but not knowingness.”
“So it appears thereisa story he is not well-versed in,” I said with an amused scoff.
I wondered how that was possible, seeing as to how Fletcher could recite myths about almost everything: mermaids, lost treasure, and nymphs. But Helmfirth was far from Black Hallows and the legends that surrounded it.
The war between mages and humans had affected all the realms, but it’d been decades ago, nearly a century. Some people refused to speak of it all these years later, for fear of dark magic rising again, so maybe that’s why he wasn’t familiar with the tale.
“Captain Flynn?” Alek said, still looking at the endless sea. “I feel a change in me. One that’s dark.” His blue eyes flickered to mine, and within the depths…shadows. “I know nothing of my family. I never learned the basic skills all mages are taught when young. Now the change is upon me, and I feel it in everything I do. Like a surge of energy is right beneath my skin, traveling through my veins and searching for a way to be released.” His face paled. “And I fear it.”
Remembering the silver I’d seen in his eyes moments ago, I believed him. I did not know much about mages, but the little I gathered said a mage’s eyes glowed when they were battling a strong emotion and it was seen as a warning to those who witnessed it. The color also changed depending on what the emotion was.
When the day came for Alek to fully embrace his powers…I worried for him.
“The island we travel toward is not only to give the men a rest from sea,” I told him. “There’s also a woman there…one that will know more about you.”
“She can help?” he asked, and in that moment, he looked younger than his seventeen years.
“Possibly.”
The woman I sought was a seer. She was different than a mage, because unlike a mage who was born with the magic inside them, a seer was given her gifts through mystical means, usually through sacrifices to certain deities and selling her soul to the darkness.
When I’d brought Alek aboard theCrimsonNightyears ago,I told myself it’d been to find a way to harness his abilities and have himbe an asset to my crew someday. Even though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone—and not even to myself most days—when I’d laid eyes on him six years ago, I’d also just seen a young boy; dirty, hungry, and afraid.
And I’d wanted to help him.
I still wish to help him.
The sudden softheartedness made me scowl, and I placed the blame on the still sleeping beauty in my bed. Fletcher’s kind heart was rubbing off on me. He really was a curse unlike any other. Once we found Triton’s shell, I’d send him on his way. Even if my heart screamed in protest at the thought.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a splashing in the water, and right as I looked, I saw a green and blue fin.
“He’s been following us,” Alek said, focusing on the spot the merman had been. “I’m not sure why. I first saw him shortly after we left Helmfirth, and then again when we were in Stonebridge. Do you think he’s after Fletch?”
Alek didn’t know of my curse, but he’d witnessed the slaughtering of dozens of mermaids. I’d tried to shield him from it by ordering him to stay below deck during the killings, but being a curious boy, he’d disobeyed my command. He hadn’t jumped to that conclusion, though, that the creature could be after me. The possibility that it couldbe after Fletcher never even crossed my mind.
But now that the idea was brought to the forefront, the pieces fit together a little too well.
