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  “You want to know? Ask her,” Ty tossed a hand in Niri’s direction. She blinked and sat back in the bench.

  “I don’t know what you are referring to . . . ,” Niri replied, her brow wrinkled with confusion.

  “Don’t you? Maybe it is just Air Elementals and not every member of the Church then,” Ty spat the words at her, his anger venomous.

  “Ty . . . .” Lavinia was apologetically embarrassed.

  “Fine, if you want to help so much, Vin, then you can sail until it gets dark. Head south east and try not to hit anything.”

  Ty turned and stormed across the deck letting the sail go loose. He was down the stairs to the cabin before Lavinia had managed to grab the line and correct their uncontrolled course.

  Chapter 6

  RUNNING

  “I’ll need your help docking,” Lavinia said by way of a warning to Ria. Ria nodded absently, her eyes opening wide with awe as Kyrron came into view. They were rounding the head of the harbor formed by Mount Eyrt. The size of the city only further intensified Lavinia’s fear.

  Leagues, Lavinia thought, the city extends for leagues. How will I ever find the right dock?

  The city spread out along the wide harbor from Mount Eyrt to the rolling terraced hills on the far eastern side of the bay. Buildings towered over the harbor rising four to six stories. They thrust from the hills like a sun bleached coral reef, jagged and dangerous. Lavinia sucked in her breath. Ria, on her feet to see the city better, did not notice.

  After Ty’s unexplained outburst the day before, Lavinia had sailed alone, trying to show a reluctant Ria how to steer. Seeing Lavinia managing the boat, Niri had taken the opportunity to sleep as well until the sun set.

  When she’d woken Ty to take over, he had looked embarrassed and mumbled about being tired. But he hadn’t apologized. Lavinia had watched him climb the stairs to the deck as if he were a stranger. She was beginning to think he was.

  Lavinia didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed anything when he first came home unexpectedly before the solstice ceremony. He had seemed tired, but apprenticeships were meant to be hard. She had chalked up the dark lines under his eyes to too many nights sailing.

  Now she noticed he was thin, lankier beyond anything she remembered. And angry, she couldn’t remember ever having seen him so disagreeable. Lavinia had tossed and turned trying to imagine what had happened to her brother. Ria slept on the large bed in the aft cabin next to her, unaffected by Ty’s tantrum or too exhausted to care. Finally, Ria’s rhythmic breathing had lulled Lavinia to sleep as well.

  Niri’s soft knock the next morning had brought Lavinia to the door filled with a nameless fear for her brother. But it was only dawn. Niri was almost too tired to stay on her feet. On deck, Ty slumped over the rudder post, the sail loose and barely full. The sea breeze smelled of morning: the sea warming and fish rising. Sea birds were beginning to call as they left their nests high on the cliffs. Even this far from shore, the smell of oranges and soil were carried on the wind. Without a word, Ty gave over the rudder and sail to his sister and followed Niri below.

  The only instruction Lavinia had was that their goal was Kyrron. Ty was exhausted and sleeping like the dead below in the rear cabin they had vacated. Niri was in the same state as well in the front. Somehow, arriving and docking had fallen to Lavinia.

  One day, if I’d had just one day on a real merchant boat. My apprenticeship was only four months off! If I had, then I’d be able to do this. It was a futile wish cast on desperate wings as Lavinia’s fingers tightened further on the rudder pole.

  The boat was reaching the outer edges of the harbor. Ships six times the size of their sailboat bobbed at anchor in the deeper water near the sea. With the sun now up, traffic in the shipping lanes of the busy harbor kept Lavinia’s full attention.

  Ria’s face was turned toward the city. Above the congested harbor, the buildings caught the morning sun light, blazing them luminescent shades of pink, coral, and gold. Long violet and blue shadows slanted away towards Mount Eyrt.

  “I think I’ve been here before?” Ria said in a dreamy tone.

  “Really?” Lavinia’s voice was sharp by contrast as she tried to navigate the harbor. Three shipping channels opened up before her heading towards different sections of the city.

  “Yes, we came to sell wine, I think, at a new market that had opened.”

  “Do you remember where you docked?”

  The time to decide which channel to choose was quickly approaching. Lavinia felt like she had eaten a stone anchor, her doubt weighed so heavily.

  “Over toward those pink buildings, I think. The merchant square was over on the small hill there.”

  Ria sounded certain to Lavinia and that was enough. “Keep an eye out and let me know if you see the dock.”

  Lavinia winched the boom in tight over the deck and turned the brace on the rudder pole. The boat shifted port, squeezing between an anchored boat and one exiting the channel she had chosen. The shipping lane cutting through the moored boats was wide and it gave her hope that it was the correct direction.

  If that sudden turn didn’t roll Ty out of bed, Lavinia thought with a wince. Random thoughts of wishing for and dreading her brother’s appearance disappeared. The spaces between the anchored and moored boats became tighter as they neared the first of the docks reaching far out into the bay.

  The air was filled with gulls crying and wheeling amid the boats. Men shouted as ships passed within feet of each other in the channel, nearly colliding as winds shifted and the boats were tossed on the waves. More than once Lavinia saw the yellow of an Air Elemental on a ship’s deck, but everyone seemed distracted in the chaos of the harbor. No one noticed their little boat or Ria. It was all Lavinia could do to keep the unfamiliar sailboat moving forward while Ria scanned for the wharf she remembered.

  “There! Just beyond the dock with the blue house. Do you see?”

  Lavinia narrowed her eyes to see where Ria pointed. An inlet to an inner harbor opened to the left behind a small dock jutting from a blue house. What looked like shops full of supplies and wares for sale lined the street above the small harbor. It felt right to Lavinia. With a relieved sigh, she turned the boat to dart across the shipping lanes into the more organized, if not quieter, trader’s harbor.

  The merchant docks were well organized in their bawdy and busy chaos. A harbor master balanced on a skiff floated just inside the entrance to the inner harbor. He barely glanced up to take in the size of their ship to judge the goods they may carry before pointing them to a set of docks.

  “Fourth dowk to the left, thi’d slip on the r’ght.”

  His trade was accented heavily so that Lavinia barely caught what he said. She nodded to the instructions out of habit as if it were her father relaying a test. It was easier for her to think of it that way. The harbor master looked up, brows pulled together. He glared at her as she sailed closer.

  “Aye,” Lavinia said loudly, hoping it sounded confident as they moved past.

  The slip she was sent to was one of the few open. Lavinia dropped nearly all the sail to creep the boat forward far slower than necessary.

  After all that, I will not wake my brother by accidentally bumping the boat into the dock. Lavinia swore to herself that she would not.

  The boat brushed the wooden boards with a whisper as she tossed a line to a waiting attendant and dropped the last of the sail. Boat firmly fixed to the floating dock, Lavinia looked at Ria with wide eyed relief and sat hard on a bench. Her knees would no longer support her.

  By the time afternoon shadows from the two story buildings were crossing the piazza, most of the goods Ty, Niri, Lavinia, and Ria had carried to the market had been sold. Fabric and rugs, silvery jewelry and ivory ornaments, boxes of dragons fire and the ever present spice whose sent filled the boat’s cabin, had been bartered off for a tidy pile of coins. Ty took the last sack of goods, a silver horn, and an ornamental kettle across the market to sell to other merchants while L
avinia, Ria, and Niri packed up. The constant assault of a hundred voices mixed with musicians rebounding from the colonnaded buildings which ringed the piazza was dimming as the market emptied. Single voices now threaded through the swell, recognizable if not understandable.

  Ty appeared before they were done, the tenseness of his eyes indicating something had happened. Lavinia remembered the men who had come after her brother in Mirocyne as her heart flipped in her chest. The men with their the connection to the boat they had stolen which Ty refused to explain. The thought wriggled in her mind.

  “Ria’s family is here,” Ty said without preamble. Lavinia blinked. It was the last possibility she had been considering.

  “How?” Ria said, confusion wrinkling her forehead.

  “When you disappeared along with the two of us,” Ty answered in a low voice. “Your family came to Mirocyne to look for you only to find the city inundated with members of the Church.”

  Ria rocked back on her heels, paling at the news. “That would not have been good,” Ria choked in response after a moment. Lavinia bit her lip and put an arm around Ria’s stiff form.

  “No,” Ty continued. “They borrowed all the boats our parents had in harbor and came to look for us.” Ty and Lavinia exchanged a quick look, full of the sober understanding of what their parents would do to find them.

  Niri appeared more thoughtful than worried with both brows raised slightly, tracing the faintest line across her forehead. “You said all the ships, so they don’t which way we’ve gone?”

  Ty shook his head. “No, but it won’t matter if they see us before we get out of the city. It won’t matter if they ask someone who saw us today. We’ve been in the open market for hours. They’ll find out we were here!” Ty’s voice rose as the words rushed out of him. He balled his hands and pressed them against his thighs, but not before Lavinia saw them shaking.

  “How did they get here so quickly?” Ria asked, her eyes focused on the few roof tiles still illuminated by the setting sun high on the two story buildings surrounding the open air market. “We’ve struggled to get his far in two days.”

  “They haven’t stopped as we have. They get to a port, ask questions. If they hear nothing, they sail on. They’ve sailed with a crew night and day.”

  “We have to get back to the ship. They can’t find you,” Lavinia said looking at her friend. Ria’s head bent forward, bright strands of hair sliding in front of her face.

  “I know.”

  The trip through the market was rushed. Crowds had thinned. Niri handed Ria a scarf to drape over her head and hide her characteristic golden hair. Ty led the way back to the docks, cutting through back alleys with a familiar assurance. Lavinia watched him, once again seeing him as if he were someone she had just met with a past she didn’t know.

  Ty’s face was nearly transparent he was so pale. The dark smudges under his eyes gave him a haunted look. The devilish gaiety he’d always had that attracted trouble but landed him on his feet was gone. To Lavinia, Ty looked more tired than their grandfather. He moved through the city like someone born to its streets, not its docks. Lavinia wasn’t certain why, but tears stung her eyes as they emerged on the road ringing the inner harbor almost opposite from where she had docked the boat.

  Ty had the Grey Dawn cast off before the dock attendant had made it a quarter of the way from a larger vessel he was helping depart. As the attendant opened his mouth to shout, Ty tossed a small purse of money at his feet. He grinned, gave a two fingered sailor’s salute and scooped up the coins. Lavinia watched her brother with wide, sky blue eyes.

  The late afternoon sun shimmered off the waves, reflecting lines up against the hulls of the boats. Every ship appeared to float on liquid light. Out of the merchant harbor and into the main shipping lane, they were close to being free. Looking at the last of the anchored ships, Lavinia sucked in her breath.

  Everyone swung their gaze to follow Lavinia’s stare. A tall and sleek ship, its hull dark from years of use plying the oceans sat at anchor near the edge of the mooring field. It was large enough that it could not enter the inner harbor or shipping channels. Vibrant navy blue pennants flew from the rigging above the tightly folded and secured sails.

  Filled with a sudden longing, Lavinia scanned the decks for any sign of her family. Ty glanced at it once, than turned his face away. He opened their sail to full and swung the boom to catch the wind. The fleet boat pulled quickly away from Kyrron and the familiar ship.

  “Where are we going to go?” Ria’s voice was empty. She sat with the head scarf now wrapped around her shoulders over her crossed arms as she held onto her sides.

  “We never bought supplies today. We still need to stop somewhere before we cross to the Southern Shore,” Niri answered.

  Ty frowned, not looking at either woman. “We don’t have enough money to buy everything we need yet. I was hoping to spend a few days in Kyrron.”

  The wind whistled through the rigging, fluttering the edge of the sail. Lavinia pulled her eyes away from the fading glow of Kyrron with the side of Mount Eyrt etched in russet light against the darkening sky. Ria’s thoughtful eyes were on her.

  “We could go back to Kyrron. Lavinia could go home and tell them we are fine.”

  “What?” Lavinia stared open mouthed at her best friend.

  “You don’t need to be here, Vin. Niri is running just like me. We need Ty to sail us to Karakastad, but you could go home.”

  “I don’t want to,” Lavinia floundered. Ty watched Ria and Lavinia with a thoughtful expression.

  “Yes you do. I saw it in your face when you saw your parent’s ship. Your apprenticeship is in a few months. I know how much that means to you. It is all you’ve talked about for years.”

  Lavinia couldn’t form words. Tears stung her eyes again as she struggled against the tightness in her throat. Ty’s expression had changed. His face was now pale and he cast a sideways look towards Niri.

  “No,” Ty said into Lavinia’s strained silence. Ria’s eyes flew wide, the green flashing against the paleness of her skin. Ria turned toward Ty, her scarf blowing open in the breeze.

  “I need Lavinia’s help sailing. She did fine this morning getting us to Kyrron.”

  Niri glanced from Ria to Ty. “I think that would be wise. We could work in shifts, you and I at night, Ria and Lavinia during the day.”

  “I can’t sail” Ria exclaimed. Lavinia’s smile slowly brightened her eyes, though it only faintly lightened the look on her brother’s face.

  “I’ll teach you, don’t worry. We’ll get the day so it won’t be so bad.” Lavinia’s voice held excitement as she tried to encourage Ria.

  “If we still need money, where are we going to go then?” Niri asked.

  “Sardinia,” Ty’s answer brought everyone’s head around sharply. The dancing warmth on Lavinia’s face faded, Ria paled further, while Niri simply waited with a questioning look in the tilt of her head and lift of one eyebrow.

  “You’ve, you’ve been there before?” Ria asked, fear stumbling her words.

  Ty licked his lips, his focus on the sail for a moment. “Yes,” he said with a quick glance to Ria before returning his attention to adjusting the boom.

  Lavinia felt queasy again. No honest merchant boat would have ever sailed to Sardinia. The men in Mirocyne, the stolen goods on the boat, Ty’s familiarity with markets was beginning to thread a common connection.

  “Ty, where have you been? What . . . ,” Lavinia wasn’t really sure what to ask.

  Ty closed his eyes for a moment before he gazed towards her. The last of the sun’s light brushed the sail a marine lavender, almost the same color as his eyes.

  “The merchant vessel I was on wasn’t what I thought it would be. The apprenticeship . . . it didn’t go like I expected, not like you’d think, Vin.” The muscles of Ty’s jaw flexed and he glanced away again.

  Lavinia felt hollow inside. Ty’s gaze slipped to Niri. They stared at each other a moment, something quizz
ical still on Niri’s face, a deep ache filling Ty’s eyes. Ria shifted uncomfortably on the bench.

  “But Sardinia, there has to be somewhere else?” Ria’s worry broke what seemed to Lavinia to be a rare non-hostile moment between Ty and Niri.

  Ty’s expression hardened. Eyes narrow, he tossed Ria a fraction of a glance without moving his head. Lavinia could feel Ria stiffen next to her as if Ty had slapped her.

  “Don’t worry Ria, I know my way around.”

  CHAPTER 7

  THE BIZARRE OF SARDINIA

  No one entered Sardinia unnoticed. The town was perched on an exposed slim finger of land which jutted out into the Sea of Sarketh. High hills dropped quickly to the ocean, leaving no deep sheltering harbor or port for vessels. Instead, a natural break water was formed by a line of rocks sweeping out from the point. It offered ships meager shelter from the current and incoming storms.

  A small town had formed by those skillful or desperate enough to seek refuge behind the submerged rocks of the breakwater. Despite the convenient location of the town between the archipelago and the cities lining the Sea of Sarketh, the lack of a harbor had kept the settlement from becoming a thriving commercial town. Over time, the breakwater had been enlarged with boulders and the town had turned to catering to those whose needs were not met in the traditional markets. Sardinia was avoided by conventional merchants and honest professionals, or so Ria had heard.

  As Lavinia steered them toward a ramshackle wharf, Ty stood watch leaning over the edge of the boat.

  “Rocks awash fifteen feet to port.”

  Lavinia nudged the rudder post to turn them a degree to the right.

  “No, keep the course steady.” Ty’s harsh voice caused Lavinia to flush as she froze her hand.

  “Then say ‘stay on course,’ not ‘rocks to port,’” Lavinia snapped at her brother.

  Ty ran his hands through his already rumpled hair. Ria and Niri glanced at each other in silence. Ria’s breath caught in her throat as they glided past the half submerged remains of a ship. The cracked boards of its hull were an ominous welcome to the dangerous town and harbor.