“No,” Ilior said. “No,” he said again, softer. “That route will take half a year or more. The Bazira trail will be long gone by then.”
“Of course it will,” Julian said, studying the chart.
Selena bit her lip. He’s going to change his mind about this and we’ll be stuck all over again.
But Julian said, “Well, business has been slow as of late and I’m not one to turn down real gold. We’ll sail as south as we dare and take our chances. My Storm can outrun the pirates, I’m sure of that.”
Selena eased a sigh. “Thank you.” She rose to go but the captain halted her.
“Speaking of gold, there is one last matter. My fee. And for this discussion, I prefer privacy. In fact, I insist on it.” He smiled thinly at Ilior.
Ilior hesitated. Selena gave him a reassuring nod and he strode out of the cabin. She was sure he took up position outside the door, just as he had on Jarabax’s ship.
Julian shook out of his long black coat. Beneath he wore a white linen shirt, loosely tied at the collar. Patches of blood darkened his right shoulder. He reached behind him, wincing, for a bottle of wine and a glass.
“Would you care for some? I broke my other glass during a bad storm and now have only one.” He cocked a smile. “But we can share.”
“I don’t drink,” Selena said stiffly.
“Neither do I,” Julian said, taking a sip. “When we’re under sail, I mean. And I prefer to discuss business with the person I am conducting it with. I hope your dragonman takes no offense.”
“The term is Vai’Ensai,” Selena said crossly. “If we’re to sail with you, it’s important that you not insult Ilior with the slur.”
“Very well. I can understand him not appreciating the term, nor its connotations. But why do you care?” Julian asked.
Selena gave a short, confused laugh. “Because he’s my friend?”
“Your friend is waiting for you outside my cabin door, isn’t he? Aye, I’d wager the Storm on it. Your friend won’t let you out of his sight for more than a few moments, as if you were a helpless maid and not a Paladin trained in swordcraft and the gods’ know what other kind of magic. Is he your bodyguard? Does he owe you a life debt?”
Selena sat back in her chair. “I don’t see how it’s of your concern.”
“Everything that happens on my ship is of my concern.” Julian raised an eyebrow. “Are you two…?”
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” Selena said, a sour taste in her mouth. “He is my friend. That means he cares for my well-being and I for his. I hardly need explain that concept, do I?”
“Dragonmen—pardon, Vai’Ensai—are rarely seen outside the Cloud Isles,” Julian said. “You’re telling me friendship alone keeps him from his homeland? Come to mention it, he didn’t seem too keen on sailing anywhere near the Cloud Isles as we plotted our course.” Julian waved his hand. “It’s strange; you, him, the whole of it.”
“It’s not strange.” Selena said and stopped, wondering if others shared Captain Tergus’s insinuations, perhaps at the Moon Temple. She felt the tingle that meant hot blood rushed to her cheeks. Anger dispelled the shame, and she shook her head. “It is unfortunate our friendship is subject to such base notions.”
“Maybe if you weren’t so secretive about it…”
“I don’t speak of Ilior’s private matters to strangers.”
“In the absence of fact, people fill in their own truth,” the captain said. Another harsh laugh erupted out of him. “Oh, do they ever.” He sipped his wine.
“Very well,” Selena said irritably. “I will tell you only because the merits outweigh the dishonor that rumors would place on him.”
Julian held up his hands. “My crew is mute. It’s just me.”
“Aye, you,” Selena said, “who has the olive coloring and dark hair of the Farendii.”
He said nothing but the smug grin had slipped off his face.
“The Zak’reth were at the height of their power, brutalizing those lands ruthlessly,” Selena said, gentling her tone. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this.”
“No,” Julian said. “You don’t.”
“And I don’t wish to cause you pain, truly. But it’s important you know that Ilior fought bravely for the Farendus Isles and that’s where I found him. On a desolate beach, surrounded by three Zak’reth warriors. I came in time to see them hack off his wing with their burning blades.”
Selena closed her eyes as the memory swamped her with its ugly brutality. When she opened them, Julian was watching her with that absolutely blank expression that masked any hint of emotion.
“I killed the Zak’reth before they could harm him further,” Selena said. “For that, Ilior has pledged his life to me, to protect me, to stay with me always. He was with me at Isle Calinda when I summoned the sea, and after, when the wound’s first agony had me. For ten years he’s remained by my side, loyal to me even in those early years when the torture of it became too much and I…behaved recklessly.”
Julian’s expression remained blank. “And he’s never been back to the Cloud Isles? I had heard that some Vai’Ensai had fought in the war, but then returned at once to their homeland. They’re not exactly welcome elsewhere.”
“The prejudice they face for the actions of their distant ancestors is a farce.”
Julian shrugged, his expression loosening. “The dragons caused the Breaking. That’s not an easy thing to forgive, even three thousand years later.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Selena snapped. “Ilior is no more responsible for the Breaking than I am responsible for my grandfather’s deeds.” She smoothed down the folds of her blue overtunic until she was calmer. “Ilior may not return to the Cloud Isles. He says the loss of his wing makes him a cripple in the eyes of the tribes. He’s considered too weak to retake his place among them to protect the homeland. That’s a disgrace I don’t understand, but nonetheless, I am grateful that he is with me. More than that, I owe him my life. I may have saved him from the Zak’reth once, but he has saved me from the wound countless times.”
“A life debt then, as I said.”
“Will that suffice, Captain? He is owed respect, not…ugly insinuations, or—”
The captain held up his hands in surrender. “I understand. He guards you from bodily harm but is not your bodyguard. Fair enough. May we speak of my fee now?”
Selena fought to keep her irritation from mounting further. There’s no one else, she reminded herself. It’s either this captain, or we return to Lillomet.
“My offer is standard,” she said. “Three hundred gold doubloons; half now, half after I…after I kill Accora. And if we learn where Bacchus is and you take me to him, we shall renegotiate.”
“That’s all very well and good, if you kill Accora. If you get killed, what happens to the other half of my fee?”