Page 9 of Fate of Echoes and Embers (Heirs of Elydor #3)

ISSA

“Have you sailed before?”

Not wanting to be left behind as we pushed off, I followed Marek and Kael above deck. Joining Mev along the side railings, apparently called gunwales, which Mev confessed to learning recently herself, I watched as Marek, above us on the quarterdeck, flicked his wrist.

“I have, but never with a Thalassarian.” We began to move slowly away from the dock. “How did he do that?”

“By creating a current,” Kael said, coming up to us. “That nudges the ship away from the dock.”

Slowly drifting away from port and the lights of Valewood Bay, the clear night sky full of stars, the same surging of excitement I’d always gotten when leaving shore bubbled within me.

I turned once again to watch Marek. To say he looked at home up there would have been an understatement.

All Thalassarians felt most comfortable surrounded by water, but he was not just a water-wielder.

Marek was a Navarch with the Tidebreaker Fleet, and the captain of Tidechaser , his pride and joy.

Watching him take to the rigging was a sight to behold.

“What is he doing?” Mev asked before I could.

“Releasing the topgallant sail,” Kael said as it unfurled. “Marek is as territorial as any ship captain I’ve met. Won’t let me help.”

Mev made a face. “Won’t let you? I was under the impression Gyorians and sailing weren’t exactly like peanut butter and jelly.”

“Peanut… what?”

Mev rolled her eyes as we pitched forward. “I don’t know how that didn’t make its way here. It’s not like peanut butter is a recent invention.”

“Ooh!” I ducked my head, as if willing Marek to do the same, thinking for a moment he’d come close to being beheaded by the swinging boom as the wind caught the sail. But, of course, this was Marek. Quick as a tide change, he pivoted, ducking smoothly without missing a beat.

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Kael said gruffly. “He may run his mouth more than any Thalassarian I’ve ever met, but Marek certainly knows how to navigate in the open seas.”

Marek’s hands were extended toward the horizon, and though I couldn’t see his expression from here, it was clear he was focused intently.

“So he’s controlling the current?” I asked as the ship groaned while we moved, her creak of wood joining the ocean’s whispers.

“In a different way than before, but yes,” Kael answered, which is when I saw Mev’s sly smile. We crept along, sailing further and further away from shore.

Mev lifted her hand toward the sail.

It was subtle, at first. But as we picked up speed, her manipulation of the air to create enough wind to bolster Tidechaser ’s sails became more obvious.

“Much appreciated,” Marek yelled down from his position above us.

Mev smiled up to him, the same way I might have when we first met. Marek was easy to like.

“You’ve been training?” I asked, unable to look away from Marek. The moonlight caught him just right, making his expression easier to see. With one hand now resting on the ship’s wheel, fingers curled around the wood, a slow smile tugged at his lips as he looked our way.

I gave my attention to Mev, too late. She’d caught me staring.

“All day, every day,” she said. “Between my father and Lyra, I’ve little time for much else.”

“Not entirely true,” Kael muttered, his tone teasing.

“I’m lucky she even agreed to train me,” Mev said as we glided through the water, the lights of Valewood Bay long gone. “Being that Kael once tried to kill her.”

“I did not .” He emphasized the last word. “Try to kill her.” Kael turned toward us, sighing. “We served on the Aetherian Gate Council together. When I escorted Mev?—”

“Kidnapped.”

I pursed my lips together to keep from laughing.

“After we left Hawthorne Manor, Lyra discovered us,” he said.

“Can’t wait to hear this revisionist story.” Mev crossed her arms, also close to laughing.

“Would you like to tell it, my love?”

Mev’s smile broadened.

“She began to train her and has been doing so since,” Kael finished.

I inadvertently looked up to the quarterdeck. Marek wasn’t even pretending to steer the ship now. Instead, he leaned on a nearby railing, flicking his wrist toward the bow of the ship, presumably controlling the water in some way.

Except, he wasn’t looking at the water.

Marek was looking at me. Always me.

I spun back to Mev and Kael.

“Lyra has advised my father for many years.” Mev cleared her throat, turning serious. “And has been an ally to us in many ways.”

“She was raised”—Kael pulled Mev into his side—“by one of the most prestigious families in Aetheria, her lineage tracing back to the ancient air mages who first harnessed the power of the Wind Crystal that we are attempting to retrieve.”

A reminder of our mission.

“Can he do it?” I asked, only partially wanting the answer.

Kael was no longer smiling. “I grew up hearing tales of the ships that were lost in the Maelstrom Depths. How my father managed to hide the Crystal there, I have no notion. None have successfully navigated those waters before, as you know.”

“So why does he attempt it?”

“The friendship between you and I, Issa, runs deep,” he said, something I knew already. Kael had defied his father attempting to save my parents, despite his mistrust of humans. I could not repay him sufficiently during my lifetime.

“It does,” I acknowledged.

“Marek’s friendship with the new Thalassarian queen runs just as deep. I believe he attempts it for her, but also because he believes Elydor is stronger unified. We have been splintering slowly for many years, but never more so than since my father…” He paused. “Since my father closed the Gate.”

Mev leaned her head against her partner in silent support. The love they shared was evident, and I was glad for it. Even knowing how difficult it must be for Kael to now be an outcast among his own clan. His father’s hate was poisoning him, as it was all Gyorians.

“Marek never struck me as someone who cares about the greater good,” I said, avoiding looking his way. “His own enjoyment? Surely. Lining his pockets with smuggled goods? That I believe. But risking his life for the unification of Elydor?”

“What happened between you?” Kael asked as the wind swept through my hair. I attempted to pull it from my face, but a crosswind had picked up. “He refused to talk about it.”

Both he and Mev watched me expectantly. Though I had little desire to talk about Marek, they deserved to know.

“It was not long after my parents had died,” I said. “Marek had recovered a pendant that once belonged to my mother, the seal of Hawthorne Manor leading him to me.”

Kael’s brows raised. “Recovered?”

“His word,” I said, remembering Marek’s reluctance to tell me how the pendant had come into his possession until, a few days later, he admitted to some of his less-than-noble activities.

“Later, he admitted to being curious about the ‘lady of Hawthorne Manor.’ Apparently, talk of the Estmere/Gyorian border and its strongholds, specifically Hawthorne, is a regular topic at port. At first, he was to just stay the eve, as my guest. But long days strategizing on how to best protect the border turned into longer evenings discussing politics and trade. He remained at Hawthorne for over a sennight, our bond…” Stopping to remember something I’d tried for so long to forget, memories of those days flooded back.

“Marek had become a brief respite from my duties. Listening to his tales of adventures on the high seas and across Elydor…”

Kael understood. He knew me well enough. “Before her parents died, Isolde dreamed of becoming a diplomat for Estmere.”

Mev’s eyes widened. “Get out!”

Confused, I was about to question her when Mev added, “I just mean… wow. That’s cool. I didn’t know that.”

I smiled weakly. “I woke up one morning and he was gone. No note. No word to anyone. I saw him just once since then. While in Thalassaria a few years back, I sought him out at a port tavern I knew Marek frequented. But instead of speaking to him, as I planned, something inside me snapped when I spotted him with a woman. I slapped him,” I said, flexing my fingers, remembering the sting as my hand had made contact with his cheek, “and walked out. We never spoke again until you brought him into my keep. For so long I wanted an opportunity to talk to him, just once more. Ask why he left. But then when I was faced with that opportunity, I froze, leaving myself with the same unanswered questions. I realized later… maybe I didn’t want the answer knowing, as I do now, there isn’t one that could possibly take away the pain Marek caused. ”

By now, Mev looked as angry as I had felt all these years. She was glaring up at him.

“What a complete asshole.”

That made me laugh. It was a word I had heard before, but rarely. “Asshole,” I repeated. “I think I will use it.”

“Oh, I have more,” Mev continued. “Douchebag, or douche canoe if you want. You can call him?—”

Kael cleared his throat.

Mev stopped, but scowled at him. “What? He deserves it. What possible good reason could he have for getting so close to her like that and then just up and leave?”

“Good question,” I said. “Something I still don’t have the answer to, but I can suspect it well enough.” Fact was, Marek cared more about himself than anyone else in Elydor. He wanted to leave, and so he did.

I watched Kael, wondering what he was thinking as he looked up toward Marek. Upset all over again with him, I refused to follow his gaze.

“I think I know what happened,” he said finally, so quietly, Kael’s words were almost lost in the wind.

“You do?” I asked, more than a little surprised.

Kael looked back at me.

“I do,” he said. “Happened to me. It’s scary as hell, though I’ll admit, Marek didn’t handle it well.”

“Handle what well?” Mev asked.

He leaned down, kissed her on the nose, and said, “Falling in love.”

I stared out at sea, avoiding looking at Kael. Or Marek. Refusing to let his words take root, I denied them silently, knowing he was wrong.

Marek could not have fallen in love with me. I knew it as well as I knew that I had fallen in love with him for one simple reason.

“Marek doesn’t believe in love,” I said quietly.

“How do you know?” Mev asked.

“Because he told me.”