Chapter 137: Quarry

Book 3, Chapter 36 - Quarry

“ Drifting endlessly through sand and soil

Lost

The weary traveller toils,

Not shackle bound, yet silver hands coil

An iron vein

Cold mud and red rain

Sinking farther into the deepening flood, sinking farther inside a thickening mud

Silver hands stained

Drifting endlessly through wind and water

Lost

The weary traveller listens

Silver hands cleaned

Ringing against an iron vein, made clear by blue rain

Lost. But not

Are the howls of pain. ”

Viper filled his lungs with the salty air and let it out in an elongated sigh. “Gentle waves sloshed against a maiden vessel. Dawn crept over the horizon, fiery, its sound that of creaking wood, and its smell, an unforgettable tartness unlike any citrus, vibrant and…”

A breath was sucked in.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you're terrible at sneaking, Captain?” Viper asked.

Eksa clicked her tongue and approached the ship's ledge. She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of an iron bolt loaded onto a ballista. “Wasn't sneaking. I just didn’t want to bother you. So, and what? What comes next?”

“And did anyone ever tell you that you're terrible at sneaking,” Viper repeated.

Eksa frowned. “I thought you were diving into another poem. You were describing the dawn so well.”

Viper smirked. He'd been describing her, not the dawn that hadn't yet arrived. “I'm not a story teller. Nor a singer, if this harsh voice of mine was any indication. Entertaining is more Jackrin's specialty.” Several days had passed since they'd set out to patrol open waters. Eksa proved herself adept at reading winds and the flow of waves, as well as being an expert navigator, utilising even the thinnest of rock shards protruding out of the water here and there as landmarks, as was noted in her highly detailed hand drawn maps.

“That poem you recited. It was beautiful, is what I would say. If I'm being honest, half of it blew over my head.”

“Yes, I saw,” Viper said. “They're caught up there, in the sails.” To his surprise, Eksa actually looked up. “You have to squint really hard,” he added.

She glared at him.

Viper wanted to laugh but found himself sighing again. “That poem wasn't meant to be heard. Nor do I plan to write it down.” It wasn't his first attempt at something longer. Nor was it his best.

“Do you not sleep?” she asked.

“I do. I just enjoy walking about in the scraping moments before sunrise and getting some air. Your deckhands can hardly see me and mistake me for another.”

“Do you sleep in the Umbra?”

“Flames no! It's cold in there.”

Eksa's eyes went wide. She gasped, seeming genuinely shocked by this revelation. “Then… I didn’t give you a cabin. Viper, I'm so sorry. The ship's office room can be cleared. I thought to put my maps there but—”

Viper began walking away. “Your concern is appreciated, Eksa, but I don't need it. Really.” A bed and room would be nice. But he had a thick pile of sheets in Aaron's cabin to sleep on. Any more luxury was not needed for a weapon. Viper did his best to slowly kill all selfish desires. All save for the pursuit of knowledge, from which even Aaron would benefit.

Except I still write poems. Vi'An's body and mind had been killed, but a fragment of his soul still remained. A fragment that had been nailed in place by Eksa's gifting of a journal.

Paper. An amusing creation of man. Viper still found it hard to believe that entire buildings were dedicated to holding shelves of books several times thicker than his journal. The need to see a library was a desire born of that fragment of Vi'An, and each time Viper opened his journal, that need gripped him like an addiction stronger than hunger. He smiled Eksa's way. “Thank you. For the journal I mean.”

He'd thanked her before, but it never felt enough. Dawn crept up behind her, lighting her hair into a vibrant blaze. Viper fell forward and disappeared into the Umbra, returning to Aaron's cabin where the young prince had already awoken and was slipping on his dark coat.

“Viper, are you there?” Aaron asked.

“I am now.”

“You check the wardroom?”

“Yeah. Rice sludge for breakfast. Same as dinner. Some left over salted jerky too.” Meals had become a hand down from when the two of them had been stealing fresh food from street vendors in Katur. The ship didn't have a dedicated cook, and didn't carry luxurious provisions. There seemed no need, seeing as how any point in the Basin was only a nine day cycle or so away from land at the worst.

Aaron grunted. “And our quarry?”

Viper rose to the material world. “No sign that I could see through a monocular,” he shrugged. “Was dark out though.” They'd come across several small fishing boats that claimed to have had their catch robbed under threat of death. Xenarian boats that returned to Kovar empty handed for fear of again encountering a corsair ship lurking in the area. “I'd have stayed past dawn but the captain's awake. If anyone can find the ship, it's her.”

Aaron nodded, agreeing. He stepped out of the cabin, allowing Viper some free time with his journal. Viper unstoppered a jar of ink from his own trunk and sat down cross legged on the floor. With a deep breath, he recorded his new poem within the journal's final page, hoping he never filled the book up to reach it. And remember it again.

***

Aaron grunted, annoyed, as he tried prying a piece of rice husk stuck between his teeth with his tongue. He yielded no results as he stepped out into the open air on deck, squinting at the sunrise. Sails flapped overhead. A number of deckhands descended after him to switch places with the morning shift only now entering the wardroom for their breakfast gruel.

Eksa was at the front, shirt sleeves fluttering with a strong tailwind. She was doing that thing again, standing with her eyes closed and testing the strength of the winds or some such. She flicked open a compass shortly after, gave a self-satisfied nod, then slipped it into her pocket.

All sails were opened, Aaron realized, and the ship was moving incredibly fast. “Are we hot on their trail?” he asked, biting into a thick slab of jerky. Chewing it pushed out the rice husk stuck from earlier. He stopped just behind the captain, their two shadows nearly layered

“Not exactly,” Eksa said. “Assuming they're returning to Ostirin with their slimy loot. Our current route takes us somewhat toward Qalydon.”

Aaron flinched at the name. A Xenarian city. He held his breath and grit his teeth as more memories resurfaced. Fleeing pursuit. Two young brothers in tattered clothes begging a captain for passage. Arguments ensued. One brother was thrown overboard. The other was caught and executed by the pursuers. One survivor. They were memories from some handful of generations ago.

Aaron snapped out of his thoughts as something heavy and hard pressed against one shoulder. He blinked, finding the captain leaning against him with her eyes shut. Dark circles gave an unbecoming highlight, staining her pale skin like smudges of charcoal. She smelled nice, as usual.

“This strong wind will carry us far,” Eksa continued. “I think it will carry on for about two hours. Then we can turn southwest and hopefully catch them on their way. Assuming they're cruising and not trying to make haste. They shouldn't know we're after them.”

“That would take us dangerously close to Ostirin, no?”

“Not much of a choice. We're flying Euralite colors. Nearby vessels shouldn't have reason to attack us.”

Except that there were constant pirates coming out of those ports. They had every reason to target a vessel if they assumed they could win. Aaron found himself glancing at the new artillery weapons. Those weapons were large for a merchant ship like this, but they'd be handy if it came to a side by side battle. “You didn't sleep well?” he asked.

“I'm afraid of failing. I have to show results.”

Aaron brushed away red threads from Eksa's face. She nudged his fingers as if wanting them to linger a little longer.

“I could fall asleep like this,” she breathed.

Aaron stopped himself from sighing. He didn't feel much for her. She was a window to a happier past. Nothing more. “Your neck would go stiff if you did.”

“You wouldn't massage it for me?” she asked, lips curling into a smile.

Aaron closed his own eyes. He'd massaged Mely's bruises if she'd ever acquired any during their baths together. Bruises she would acquire on her wrist from too harsh a grip. Or nail marks that'd nearly drawn blood imprinted on her upper thighs or waist. He would lather them with a bar of soap and gently wash those spots as she hummed and spoke of Estraea, her home. Aaron opened his eyes again, wondering if it would be okay to relive something like that with Eksa.

It would mislead her .

But what did he care about that?

Eksa actually seemed at peace, resting against his shoulder. “Did you eat?” Aaron asked.

“No.”

“Did you drink?”

“I had a few mouthfuls of northern red,” she said.

“That isn't a good habit, Eksa. Your breath will smell and you'll run your body into an early grave.”

She wheeled around and stepped away, pressing her hand to her mouth. Her face flushed. “My breath doesn't smell now, does it?”

Aaron couldn't hold his laughter. He shook his head and offered her the slab of jerky, stealing the monocular hanging from her hip to scout the horizon. He noticed her gingerly nibble at the part of jerky he'd already bitten off. She was too innocent. Innocent like…

Lera when she was our age, and travelling with grandfather . Aaron's grip around the monocular tightened. He meant to break it, but it was too solid. He dropped it instead and stalked off.

Daddy! Daddy please! Don’t leave me. I-I need you! Breath caught. Endless tears. Daddy please… Sniffles. Father! Father, I'm sorry! I-I'll do better. I p-promise I'll do better. Please. Please. Please come back. Hand outstretched. Teary eyes.

Remember what I taught you, Balihann says as he disappears into a sea of people, leaving Lera alone, tied and in a dark alley.

Daddy . Lera whimpers. She struggles against her bonds. I remember. I've always remembered. But I love you. I always have. She breaks free of her bonds and runs out into the crowded street. Balihann is gone.

Balihann Barcid Zz'tai. Aaron's grandfather. Aaron walked to one edge of the ship. He clawed on the ledge and seethed, staring at the blurs of his passing reflection in the deep. He tugged his hair hard, hoping it would tear. He abandoned her. He abandoned his own daughter. And for what?

Aaron recalled the cruel words his mother had been forced to write in her diary. What lies on the opposite end of love, father asks me. Betrayal, I say. She loved him, and he betrayed her. Aaron had no memories of his grandfather that he could recall. There were many memories that he suspected hadn't surfaced, but his own grandfather was too close in generations for him to not have seen a glimpse. Unless…

Someone else had rekindled the Flame when mother and I went to the shrine.

Aaron stopped tugging on his hair. He stared long and hard at the passing blue regal, at its endless depth and calling majesty. And he considered, for an endless second, about answering that call. About falling in and closing his eyes to the embrace of the abyss.

“Aaron? Is everything alright?” Eksa's voice.

He pushed past her. “I need to think.”

***

“Aaron, I'm sorry? Did I do something wrong?” Eksa frowned. He wasn't turning around. “Um, do you want the jerky back?”

Still no answer.

What had happened? He was laughing just a moment ago. She was sure of it. Had it been a mocking laugh? Or was it his pride? Did he not like the part about being asked to massage her neck? Eksa felt a dull throb in her chest. An insomnia induced migraine also plagued her. She'd been worried about failure, hoping he would comfort her. She began nibbling on the remainder of the jerky again. He'd bitten it. His mouth had been on it. She clasped her lips on the jerky and imagined what his feel was like.

Eksa groaned and stomped. It wasn't working. Her head was too filled with negative thoughts. She needed a drink for a boost of confidence. And to wash down the Flaming hard as rocks jerky. She paused before having taken two steps. He doesn't like it if I drink.

Eksa felt heat in her face again. Had it been her breath that'd driven him away. She tested it but smelt nothing. The morning shift of her crew began making their way above deck. Eksa hastily wiped the corners of her eyes and took her place at the helm.

“Is everything alright?” Aki asked, coming to stand beside her. She was armed with her spear now, likely expecting conflict.

Eksa wondered which weapon the barkeep preferred more; the spear at her back or the shamshir at her waist. “Yesh,” she replied, mouth stuffed full hard meat. Her jaw began to hurt from incessant chewing.

Aki grunted. “You sure? The black haired boy was brooding more than usual.” She took out a small flask from within her robe like garments. “Here, wash whatever that is down before you choke.”

Eksa took it and downed a few gulps, both pleased and displeased to find that it was room temperature ale.

“Are we on the right course?”

Eksa nodded, hoping that her plan panned out. She couldn't return to Eurale without showing something for it. For her who Dhorjun regarded a talent, she needed to show results. Aki left her and Eksa stood at the helm all morning, making sure The Scarlet Reaver didn't veer off course. She wanted to go down and check on Aaron, but feared angering him further.

The strong tailwind inevitably died. Eksa scouted with her monocular which now had a hairline crack on the lens thanks to Aaron dropping it. She saw nothing of note, which was about correct given her maps. If she was estimating correctly, their current position would not have any sharp rocks sticking out like icebergs to use as landmarks. Still, though, it would have been reassuring to have a landmark to judge her exact position in the Basin.

She began turning the helm to the right to turn the ship southwest. Fortune was on her side. Sitting upon the horizon was a mound of dark clouds like grey mountains. With the ship turned, the clouds were behind her. They didn't seem dark enough to be storm clouds, but their presence meant a drop in air pressure and, hopefully, another tailwind to help them cut off where Eksa estimated the corsair ship to be, if the fishermen's reports had had any inklings of truth.

True to her thoughts, midway through the afternoon, the sight of her quarry was spotted leisurely sailing on the open waters.