I had forgotten all about my father until that moment.
Luthair stepped into the room, and the door shut behind him.
My father stood with his hand on the handle, his gaze on his grip. When he finally mustered the courage to look at me, I could practically feel his apprehension.
We looked a lot alike. I didn’t know why, but that irritated me.
No. I knew why. It was the association. Everyone on the Isle of Ruma thought I would become a man just like my father. I would be a murderer who followed in his dark footsteps.
We were both tall—he may have even been taller, like Gravekeeper William—and his dark eyes and black hair matched my own, down to the precise hue. He had rough stubble, though, like he hadn’t shaved in days. And his honeyed skin was paler than mine, perhaps because he stayed below deck more often than not.
Jozé couldn’t look at me long before averting his gaze. He pushed away from the door and walked around the edge of the room, favoring his right leg more than his left, resulting in a limp.
He wore a coat that went down to his ankles, and several belts and holsters held his many weapons in place. He also had metal and leather straps secured around his left knee—the one he refused to bend more than a couple degrees.
Despite his weak leg, he had the arms and shoulders of a man who worked with metal.
Jozé rested his weight on the end of his table. The furniture was nailed to the floor, just in case the airship took a tumble. Up close, I noticed the arcanist’s mark on his forehead—sure enough, it was of the mighty phoenix. The Isle of Ruma was famous for their phoenixes, and there was no doubt in my mind where Jozé had met his.
“I saw your fights in the Sovereign Dragon Tournament,” Jozé said, breaking the tense silence between us. His voice was deeper than mine, and gruff. Did he smoke? He sounded like a man who had run the habit for a long while. Jozé continued, “I was impressed, kid. Real impressed. I had money you’d win the apprentice division.”
I nodded, unsure of how to follow up the statement.
The blue phoenix, Tine, watched our interactions with wide eyes. She glanced between Jozé and me, hanging on every word, but offering none of her own. Her dazzling blue feathers shone under the light of the lanterns on the wall, giving her an otherworldly halo.
Luthair positioned himself in the empty corner and waited. After a few moments, it was like he was another piece of furniture. He could’ve collected dust, he stood so still.
“Want some rum?” Jozé asked before the silence returned in full force.
I shook my head. “I don’t drink.”
“You look a little rough.”
I ran a hand down my shirt. Sweat stained most of it. And I still didn’t have any boots.
Jozé opened one of the bookshelves, his hands unsteady, but he hid it well by keeping his grip tight on the door latch and then the bottle of rum. He uncorked the top and took a long swig. Once he’d gotten enough, he tipped the glass container in my direction.
“You sure?” he asked. “It takes the edge off.”
Again, I shook my head.
While he took another drink, I tried to think of a question—any question—to ask him. I felt like I’d had hundreds before entering the room, but now they eluded me.
Jozé set the bottle on the table. The airship rocked a bit, but not enough to spill the beverage.
“I assume you know who I am,” Jozé said, almost a whisper. He went back to avoiding my gaze, his attention fixated on the bottle. “I wanted… Well, I tried to see you several times during the tournament. To tell you I was there. But I never found an opportunity.” He scratched at the back of his neck, hard enough I wondered if he was breaking skin.
“What about before that?” I asked, my volume increasing with each word. “What happened on the Isle of Ruma? Why didn’t you ever send word? Where have you been? Why not see me before I reached the age of majority?”
I hadn’t been able to speak three seconds ago, but now I couldn’t stop.
He had wanted to see me, but couldn’t find the opportunity? I didn’t buy it for a second.
Jozé said nothing. He mulled over the questions, unmoving. His eyes contained a world of information, but he refused to give any of it words.
I threw his blade on the table. The scabbard clattered loud enough to startle his phoenix eldrin, but I didn’t knock over the rum.
“Thanks for the weapon,” I said, sardonic. “When you have answers, I’ll have the time.” I turned to leave, hating every moment of this interaction.
“Wait.”
I stopped.
“I’ve got answers.”
My throat tightened as I turned back around and waited.
Jozé tapped his knuckles in the palm of his other hand. “Listen. Years before…. Well, before you were born, I was called to the Isle of Ruma to be a caretaker for the phoenixes.”
His statement caught me off guard. I waited, one eyebrow cocked. If he didn’t get to something relevant soon, I still intended to leave.
“That was… my profession. Before I became an arcanist. I was a caretaker for mystical creatures.” Jozé exhaled. He closed his eyes and continued, “I watched over the phoenixes on Ruma until something unusual happened. When the new eggs hatched, one of the chicks was blue.”
I glanced over at Tine. She met my gaze with a hopeful expression on her heron-like face, her feathers fluffing.
“I told the families who controlled the island,” Jozé said. “They wanted me to keep it quiet and take the phoenix to the docks so they could sell it to a buyer on the mainland.”
“What?” I asked.
The phoenixes of Ruma were meant to bond with people who completed the island’s trial of worth. It had been crafted with the phoenixes of old in mind, including the oath of the arcanist that was etched into the 112 steps up the side of the Pillar. Why would they ever take phoenix chicks from the island?
Jozé motioned to his eldrin. “Tine was there. She can confirm what I’m sayin’.”
“It’s true,” she said. “Please listen, Volke.”
“I… found out who the buyer was, and I didn’t want to help them sell Tine, so I intended to take her from the island.”
Jozé spoke with guilt woven in his voice. Before I could interject with more questions, he hurried through the rest of the story.
“Hevil Ren, a man from one of the larger families, intercepted me and tried to take Tine. We got into an altercation.”
“So, you killed him?” I asked, curt.
“It wasn’t as simple as that, kid.”
I held my breath, waiting for this complicated explanation. Jozé still couldn’t bring himself to look at me.
“Did you kill him or not? It’s not like I can—”
“It was an accident,” Jozé growled. He slammed his hand on the table, knocking over the drink and spilling the alcohol onto the floor. He grimaced afterward and ran a hand through his windswept hair. “I swear to you. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I wasn’t gonna let them take Tine, either. You get that, right?”
His phoenix made a quiet chirping noise, but otherwise didn’t add to the conversation.