Chapter Thirty-Four: New Adventures
In which Ian says goodbye to Ursula and prepares to sail with a new captain.
The morning of Ian’s departure from Espara dawned with fair skies and rising winds. He stood on the pier below the Emerald Wind, Xian on one side of him, Ursula on the other. “Nervous?” he asked Ursula in a low tone.
She laughed. “A bit. I don’t know your tongue well, and this task—it’s a bit more than I’ve ever undertaken.” She turned to him. “You’re certain your parents will welcome me?”
He nodded. “And my sister will love you. Tell them you’re royal, and you’ll have the run of the Citadel.”
A smile flickered across her lips. “And you? Will I see you again?”
He took both her hands in his own and lifted them to his lips. “Ursula, if you were not a saya and I were not a wandering prince, I would write your father tomorrow and ask his permission to court you."
Her dark cheeks colored, and she lowered her eyes. “You charm me.”
“Why would I need to charm you? You’re leaving. I have no hope of despoiling you, if that’s what you fear.” He lifted her chin with one finger. “Go find that pear orchard and raise chickens and sheep, if you wish. If I return to Eirya and you have not wed, well . . . .”
She lifted one hand to his cheek. Her eyes flickered to the Esparan guards nearby. “If they see me kiss you goodbye, they might suspect I’m not a reliable agent of the kirok.”
“’Tis well.” He kissed her hand.
They’d spent most of their waking hours together for two days, making arrangements for her to go to Eirya with the Emerald Wind. Ian found her charming, witty, and intelligent, and he considered returning to Eirya with her several times. But I'm still committed to escorting Xian, and she's still committed to the kirok. Perhaps someday . . . .
Graeme refused to let Xian back onboard, but his friend, Robbie Dougal, was going to Tal’Amun. “Take your friend on the Blue Horizon,” he said. “I’ll offload my cargo here and take the saya and your dagger to Eirya.” He tossed back his oiska. “Donal will be comin’ with ye, too. Robbie hired him away from me—made him promises I couldn’t match.”
“I’ll be glad of his company,” Ian said, pouring more oiska.
“Ye can both watch over Seamus while he’s on the Horizon. Robbie’ll take ye back to Eirya when ye’re done, and then Seamus and Piper can wed and get their ship.”
Ian had tossed back a full cup of oiska at that. “You still plan to buy a ship?”
“I do. I promised.” His eyes shone with pride. “I may vex her, but ye need to know, lad—that girl carries all my pride on her tiny shoulders. She’ll bring nothin’ but honor to her family name.”
“And when she has babes?”
“Bah.” He tossed his arm in a sweeping gesture and took another long drink of oiska. “She’ll manage. She’ll tuck ‘em onto her back and shinny up a shroud quick as blinkin’.”
Ian laughed at the image of tiny Piper running up a shroud with a babe on her back. “If Seamus allows it.”
“He’ll not have a choice.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Ian said. “There’s mettle in that boy. A year away from Piper will do him good to strengthen it.”
Graeme grunted. “Mayhap ye’re right. In that case, he’s an even better match for my girl.”
Xian, for his part, spent most of his time in quiet reflection in a cell at the sayada. “I am grateful to you for the second chance,” he told Ian. “I will endeavor not to squander it.” He paused. “What will you do with the dagger?”
“Ursula is taking it to my parents. It should be in the royal archives. It’s a piece of our history.”
“And the boy?”
Ian shrugged. “He just wants his girl and a ship. He never cared as much about the dagger as those two things.” Ian folded his hands and watched his friend. “I have to ask: Did you cut those ropes?”
Xian’s eyes widened. “No. I swear it, no.”
Ian frowned. Then Graeme still has a saboteur aboard. Or I have one with me—but what reason would Seamus or Donal have had to cut the ropes? He couldn’t answer.
Three mornings after the events in Lord d’Tarjian’s chambers, Ian found himself on an Esparan dock staring into the dark eyes of the prettiest girl he'd seen in years and wishing he didn’t have to leave. “It seems strange,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Saying goodbye to you so soon. I wish we had more time. Two days seems like only a start.”
She smiled. “I will write you,” she said. “I promise.”
He nodded. “When I return to Eirya, I’ll look for you. Don’t wait for me, but—”
“Yes. I know this.” She squeezed his hands. “Take care of yourself, Ian Mac Roy.”
“And you, Ursula.” He kissed her hands once more, and she walked up the plank onto the Emerald Wind.
Ian and Xian found the Blue Horizon and walked up the plank to the sounds of a gruff voice barking orders. He sounds just like Graeme, only deeper, Ian thought. “Captain Robbie,” he called.
A hairy man with a peg leg and girth almost as wide as his ship turned and fixed a dark eye on Ian. He folded his hands behind his back. “You’d be the prince I keep hearin’ about?”
Ian stepped onto the deck. “I am.”
Robbie grunted. “The new quartermaster’s already aboard. Ye’ll be makin’ sure he don’t steal from me, aye?”
“No more than is usual and accepted, Captain.”
Robbie’s eyes narrowed, but he grunted again and turned away. “’Tis well. Make yourself useful.”
“Aye, Captain.” As Xian made his way below decks, Ian found Donal manning the jib. “We’ve been here before, aye?”
Donal grinned. “Aye. And I’ll be asking ye not to go diving off into the harbor, lad.”
Ian laughed. He took up the jib sheets and listened for orders as the men on the dock unmoored the ship. Crewmen pulled in the gangplank and hoisted the anchor, and Ian unfurled his sails at the order from Robbie. Sails flapped taut all over the ship, one at a time, and the full tide and rising breeze drew the ship away from the dock. Robbie took the wheel, calling out orders accompanied by wild gestures and random curses. The crew moved with familiarity, largely ignoring the cursing and falling into their habitual motions.
Ian watched it all with a contented smile as he tied off the jib sheets. By the gods, I do love the sea.
This concludes Ian’s first adventure, Deception at Sea. Stay tuned for the next adventure, The Heart of the Goddess, coming in April 2023!