As we leave the harbor, I watch the palace fade into the distance. It doesn’t look like I thought it would–the walls don’t lean inward as they seem to do when I’m trapped inside.
“Are you going to miss it?” Aris says.
I tear my eyes away from the retreating town. Only the palace towers are visible now as the foggy morning swallows the town.
“I guess I will.” I’ve never been far enough away to miss anything.
The sea stretches out around us, fading from gentle blues to deeper, darker colors. A light breeze sprays us with a salty mist and lifts aloft the birds that fly in and out of crevices on the cliffs that border the harbor. Their shrill calls fill the air as some swoop toward us, rising and dipping in time with the ship.
I turn toward the bow, where the sun has started to peek above the sea. Sunrise has always been my favorite time of day, and past the horizon, the rising sun nestles in a cloudy haze of oranges and pinks.
There’s an old saying that a pink sky in the morning means rough seas ahead, but for the first time in my life, with Aris at my side, I actually feel ready to face whatever dangers come my way.
CHAPTER 6
Aris leans over the railing as a pod of dolphins appears in our wake. “Some people say Triton sends dolphins as a sign of a good journey ahead.”
I can’t help the smile that slides across my face. I’ve never heard that before, and I’m fairly certain Aris made it up in an attempt to calm my nerves. I keep tugging at my sleeves and gloves. I cast a glance over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure Royce and his gold buttons haven’t moved any closer.
“I hope you’re right,” I say. We’ll need a smooth journey. And a fast one. Will my father last a week? A month? Two?
Aris must sense my apprehension because his voice takes on the jovialness it held when I first saw him. He switches position so that his back leans against the railing and his elbows are propped out on either side. He flicks hair away from his eyes. “Did I ever tell you about the time I used nothing more than a conch shell to fight off four men who accused me of cheating at cards?”
I give him a skeptical look.
“Really,” he says. “We were on one of the small Rolliginian Islands, I can’t even remember which one. It was in the island’s only tavern, and every table had these ridiculously large conch shells as centerpieces.” He stretches his hands out in front of his stomach to show how large the conch was.
Before he can continue the story, another voice cuts between us.
“We’re clear of the harbor,” Royce says.
I turn to find him standing with his arms clasped behind his back.
“Let’s discuss what direction we need to head.” Royce motions for us to follow him and then sets off without waiting to see if we do.
But I don’t want to. Not when it means being so close to gold again and having to tell someone else how I can find it. Sadly, I have no choice.
Royce leads us to a room right under the helm. The air is stale, but at least it doesn’t smell like fish. A small desk occupies one portion of the room, and across from it are two chairs with worn leather cushions. Several shelves run the length of the room and are laden with books and journals whose tattered covers are too worn to read from this distance. Thin wood beams run across the bookshelves, preventing the books from falling while the ship is in motion. At the far end of the room is a large window looking out the back of the ship. Underneath it is a rumpled bed with my trunk shoved against the foot. So I guess this is my new room.
Beneath one set of shelves opposite the bed is a mirror. I haven’t kept one of those in my room since being turned back. It’s bolted into the wall, so there’s no chance I can take it down.
I turn and catch my reflection as I move farther into the room. One flash of gold. I look away.
Royce shuts the door. “We’re about to hit open water, and I need to know which direction to take.” he says. “Aris tells me you have the map for this voyage.” He waits.
My throat is dry. I’ve never trusted men who wear gold. A few had tried after it was banned from the palace, and even after they were forced to take it off, I felt uneasy around them. They always seemed to be looking to confirm their own importance, to show how important wealth was to them. And I’ve seen firsthand what a want for wealth could do to a man.
But if Aris trusts Royce, I suppose I must.
I try to think of what to say, of how to explain how I know where we’re going without sounding crazy. Something tells me he won’t simply accept me pointing in a direction and telling him to go that way.
“May I see the map?” The annoyance in his voice is clear.
Seconds tick away.
“There is no map,” I finally blurt out.
“What?” Royce turns toward Aris. “What’s going on here? If you’re leading me on another one of your wild goose chases, then I’m heading back to the dock right now. Last time we didn’t have a map, we ended up in the Straits of Temperance, and I’m sure you remember what happened then.”
“She’s the map.” Aris points to me.
“I can find the gold,” I say with as much authority as I can muster.
“Gold?” He turns to Aris, clearly confused.
“Come on, it’ll be just like old times. Remember the time we sailed out to that little island in the middle of your lake looking for treasure and swung from vines and found that snake . . .”
“We’re not kids anymore. I don’t have time to sail off searching for treasure that doesn’t exist,” Royce snaps.
“So it’s a little more complicated than I made it seem,” Aris says with a shrug. “It’s nothing you can’t handle.”
“You said it would be a simple journey, a journey to find some girl’s father on a merchant ship because his wife is dying. You didn’t say anything about gold.”
I turn to Aris, confused.
Aris looks apologetically at me and clears his throat, but Royce cuts him off. “My ship is in need of repairs. Whatever gold you’re after will have to wait.”
“It’s a matter of life and death,” Aris says.
“Whose life?” Royce asks.
“The king’s,” I supply.
There’s a beat of silence, I think Royce may finally relent and start listening, but instead, he has the opposite reaction.
Royce’s eyes snap upward like he’s pleading with Poseidon himself. “No.” He marches toward the door.
Aris matches him stride for stride and slams his arm against the door before Royce can storm out.
Royce eyes Aris’s arm as if he’s trying to decide if it’s worth the fight.
“You know I don’t work for him,” Royce spits. “He has an armada at his disposal. And despite the fact I’ve never once seen those ships sail to fight the pirates plaguing the coast, his fleet is actually meant for things like this. Let them help with whatever this gold problem is. I have no desire to fill the king’s coffers.”
I’m stunned by his reaction. “You can’t deny aid to the king.”
“What do you think he did during the Orfland Wars, hmm?” Royce asks, his voice hard. “His people were dying, and he stayed locked up safe and sound in his precious palace. I owe that man nothing.”