Page 54 of Found at Sea
All of a sudden the ground was rising up toward my face. That was the last thing I remembered.
***
Men were talking nearby. I focused on the soft bedding beneath me and wondered how I got there. Hadn’t I just been outside? Vague recollections of being warm and comforted flashed through my mind. And feeling weightless. As if I’d been soaring through the air.
When I finally opened my eyes, a sharp pain went through my temple, and I rubbed at it. After blinking a few more times, I slowly sat up and looked around. I was in the captain’s bed.
No one else was in the room; however, the door leading to the study was slightly ajar. That’s where the voices came from.
“Why did you keep it from me?” I heard Dax hiss. “The boy is a bloody mage?”
“I do not have to answer to you nor to any other man,” Kellan shot back. “Not that I need to justify my actions, but I chose not to tell you about Alek for his own safety.”
“Hissafety?” Dax yelled before I heard a bang, as if he’d hit the table. “What about ours? All of the crew is in jeopardy because you got a wild hair up your ass and decided to feel sorry for the scum.”
There was a pause before Kellan said, “Watch yourself. Alek is not a danger to anyone. If you tell a soul what you’ve learned, I’ll make sure those are the last words you ever say. Understood?”
I didn’t hear a response. A door slammed and then there was silence.
I was still disoriented and trying to recall the events leading up to me waking up in that bed. We’d been outside near the shore. Alek had been on edge about something; Kellan had been the same. All I could remember was being terrified. But of what?
Wait.
A cave. And inside the cave there’d been a woman.
I gasped as her decomposing face flashed through my head, and I buried my face in my hands as tears stung my eyes. I wished I could return to my blissful ignorance from moments ago.
The bed dipped right before warm arms came around me. Kellan. And even though I was still angry with him, I returned his hold and buried my face in the crease of his neck.
“You’re safe, boy,” he said, holding me to his chest and running his fingers through my hair. “I regret taking you to that place.”
“Why did you?” I asked with a shaking voice. I was relieved to be away from the woman, but fear still had its claws dug deep into me.
“I didn’t want you out of my sight,” Kellan answered in the kind of soft tone that didn’t match the evil man I viewed him as.
“Because I’m your servant and you didn’t want me to run away?”
“No,” he said, holding me a little tighter. “Because…I…”
When he didn’t say anything else, I peered up at him. His brow was creased and his eyes were hesitant.
“Because why?” I pressed further, knowing I should probably put distance between us, but being in his arms felt too incredible.
“You need to eat,” he said, gently untangling himself from me and standing up. “I’ll also have the physician come take a look at you. You hit your head hard when you fainted.”
“We have a physician on theCrimson?” I asked. In my months aboard, I’d never realized it.
Kellan smiled, and the sight did something strange to me. I had to keep telling myself that Ididn’tlike him.
“Ian,” he answered. “He’s both the master carpenter and acts as the physician. No worries. He will take care of you.”
“Lovely,” I said with a sigh and leaned my head against the headboard.
The captain left, and minutes later, Ian entered the room. He’d always been quiet, which was maybe why I hadn’t known much about him. He had reddish-brown hair, a beard that was divided into three braids, and was of an average height. With gentle hands, he prodded my head with his fingers.
I winced a little, and he took note of it.
“Just a bump,” he said, surprising me with the lighter tenor of his voice. “After a day’s rest you will be fine.”
