Valor shifted his hold on the wheel and glared at her, his blue eyes filled with anger. “If you are washed overboard it is not of my doing. It seems no matter how hard I try to keep you safe, you do everything in your power to make it impossible. You are like guarding a child with a hatchet. Sometimes the aim is true and other times you aim for your own foot.”
“Valor, I’m sorry,” Jala pleaded as she released her grip on the rail and crossed the last stretch of deck separating them. The roar of another wave rose on the air and she braced herself for the impact of the water. Icy sheets poured down over her back and she felt one of her feet slip under her, then a firm hand on her arm.
“Impossible to protect,” Valor snarled as he pulled her over to where he was standing and returned his grip to the wheel.
Jala frowned and brushed tendrils of soaking wet curls from her face as she stared up at him. “Valor, I’m sorry,” she repeated her eyes searching for any change in his expression.
“Sorry for what exactly? Sorry for the arrangements you have made, or sorry that you didn’t tell me sooner? When exactly where you planning to tell me? As you returned for Merro with an army of Spooks?” Valor snarled.
“Spooks?” Jala asked in confusion. It wasn’t a term she was familiar with and this was the first time she had ever heard Valor use it.
It is the derogatory term the Arovan use for Seravae. Spooks, wraiths, paleys and a variety of much less flattering words. I’ve learned all of them while we have traveled. I must say I envy your talent for drinking more than you should and passing out, Marrow informed her.
“The gods-be-damned Seravae, Jala. When were you going to tell me?” Valor demanded and his voice held as much hurt to it as it did anger. “You ask me to trust you and then you keep something like this from me,” he added bitterly and shook his head as he turned his attention back to the raging sea.
“I wanted to tell you, Valor. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I would have found a way before I left for Seravae,” Jala said desperately, her gaze still locked on Valor’s face. “Please, Valor, please understand I can’t do it any other way. I have to do this to keep Merro safe.”
“And what you said about building you an army, what was that, Jala? Just some feeble attempt to make me feel important? You certainly don’t seem to think it will do anything to help protect our home,” Valor snapped, his eyes flashing once more.
“No, Valor, I need the army too. Don’t you understand? Avanti has us outnumbered twenty to one. Even with the army Ash will receive, we will be outnumbered. We need every last soul we can manage fighting for Merro or we will all be Avanti slaves,” Jala explained, her voice desperate. She needed Valor to understand. She had too much to face without him. He had become her anchor in the past few weeks and just the thought of facing what lay ahead alone terrified her.
“Ash? You are going to marry the man that failed to raise your husband?” Valor gasped incredulous.
“I failed Finn, Valor. That was my failure from the start. And yes, I am going to marry Ash. For Merro and every person that is depending on me I will do whatever it takes to survive what’s coming,” Jala shot back, her own temper rising a bit at the mention of Finn.
“Do you know the Seravae laws at all, Jala? Do you actually believe it will still be your land after you marry a Spook? Women have no property in Seravae. They are property there. If Ash wanted to sell you it would be well within his rights.” Valor returned his eyes fully on her now rather than the storm or the ship.
Uhh. I know I’m not an expert on human concerns, but shouldn’t someone be sailing the ship, considering we are in the middle of a storm and most likely soon to be lost if he doesn’t guide us, Marrow cut in, his yellow eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them.
“I sincerely doubt Ash would want to sell me even if those laws applied. This is beneficial to both sides, Valor. His faction doesn’t agree with how things are done in Seravae and are seeking a new beginning. This could work if you would just try to open your mind a bit,” Jala pressed.
“Open my mind a bit? Do you have any idea what his people have done to our land for the past thousand years? They are murderers and rapists. They attack the coasts every year and kill whatever is not useful to them, Jala. Is that what you want in your country?” Valor snarled, the expression on his face suggested that he would like nothing more than to shake some sense into her.
“Did you not just hear me say it’s a different faction? Ash’s people are not raiders, Valor! You cannot judge them all by the actions of a few,” Jala replied, her voice gaining volume as her frustration grew.
So the glowing yellow light to our left means land right? Don’t your people keep flames on the coasts to warn ships about rocks? Marrow spoke again but the words barely registered in her mind. Every ounce of her focus was upon Valor who stood glaring down at her his back rigid.
“And you believe him? You are so damned na?ve, Jala. What makes you think Ash’s people are any different from the others, beyond his telling you so,” Valor snapped.
“Ash has given me no reason to doubt his words, Valor. He has always acted with honor when dealing with us,” Jala replied hotly.
“When dealing with you! I have had no dealings with the spook nor will I ever,” Valor corrected.
Yes those are definitely rocks. That is, if either of you care yet. I’m really not looking forward to a ship wreck, but then I wasn’t really looking forward to any part of this trip, Marrow said, his voice taking on a defeated tone.
“Wait what?” Jala snapped her eyes turning to the Bendazzi and then to the storm darkened sea beyond. It was a useless endeavor with her vision however and she could barely see beyond the prow of the ship. “Valor, are we about to hit rocks?” she asked, her tone switching from anger to panic.