Orphan's Blade (19 page)

“Supplies…” She didn’t take her eyes away from the window. “We’ll need them where we’re going.”

The door opened, and Brax strode in with bags of apples, blankets, and dried meat. His eyes scanned the room and fell on Valoria. Did interest flash in his gaze? “I did not know you were here.”

“I just stopped by.” Valoria stood abruptly, as if she’d done wrong.

Guilt plagued Nathaniel’s heart whenever Brax caught them together. At least they weren’t alone.

“Wait.” Brax placed the bags on the bed. “You should stay to hear the news.”

“News?” Nathaniel stood. It was a better stance to come between anyone should they argue. All his life, he was used to keeping peace.

Brax straightened and adopted the commanding tone he used when giving a speech or ordering the army. “I have found a place for our raider.”

Ardent stopped chewing and his mouth was still full of half-eaten bread. His eyes widened as if a judge delivered him his death sentence. Nathaniel stepped over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Brax pulled an apple from the bag and took a bite. “I have spoken with a local fisherman who is in need of an oarsman. He is willing to take Ardent on knowing full well of his prior indiscretions.” Brax turned to the boy. “The work will be strenuous, but you will be paid adequately. You’ll have to sleep on the boat for now, but with a couple months labor, if you save correctly, you will have enough for a small room in town.”

Ardent dropped his bread. “You mean I’m not going to prison?”

“No.” Brax shifted uneasily as if he wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. “You are not.”

Valoria cheered and rushed across the room to Brax. She took both his hands in her own and kissed his knuckles. “Thank you.”

Brax blinked in shock. Then, he regained some composure and nodded in deference. “You should thank yourself.” Brax’s voice softened. “Your arguments led me to this conclusion.”

Jealousy ripped through Nathaniel. He smothered it immediately. There was nothing wrong with Valoria thanking Brax with kisses. So, why did it feel so wrong in his heart?

“I do not deserve this kindness.” The tension in Ardent’s voice stilled everyone in the room. The boy dropped both hands at his sides.

“You mean you will not accept it?” Valoria stared at him in shock.

Ardent sighed and pulled at the frayed edges of his pants. “I’ve been shooting arrows at passing caravans all my life.”

Valoria stepped toward him and crouched beside him on the floor. “You’ve done it because Gibson ordered you too, because you had to survive.”

Ardent shook his head. “I chose to, just like I told you back in the wagon. I wanted to keep on living, and I didn’t want to become weak like the prey. But, I knew it was wrong.” He wiped at his eyes. “I tried to honor the gods by delivering superficial wounds. But, about a year ago, I grazed this man’s arm. I thought he’d survive. I intended for him to.”

Valoria reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Sorrow touched her beautiful face.

Nathaniel could only squeeze the boy’s shoulder. He wished he could have found Ardent many years ago, like the king and queen had found him in the ashes of Shaletown. He’d been lucky to have such loving saviors. This boy did not have half his luck.

“It’s all right.” Valoria patted his arm. “It’s not your fault.”

“But, it is.” Ardent spat back in anger. “He died. Lost too much blood on the way to the city.” The boy’s hands shook. He pulled away from Valoria’s touch. “I learned the man’s name from a letter he’d had in his pocket. I had some people ask questions about the man’s family. He had a son. My father died when I was young, and I took another boy’s father away, continuing the cycle. I’ve turned my back on the way of Helena and Horred. I’m cursed.”

Brax stepped forward and Nathaniel’s chest tightened. Would he judge the boy harshly? Would he rescind his earlier bargain?

“Warriors kill many men in battle.” Brax crouched next to Valoria on the floor. “They are taught to mourn their loss, but not to carry their deaths on their hearts.” He offered his hand to Ardent. “’Tis time to right your wrongs, my son.”

Ardent chewed his lower lip. This moment of indecision reminded Nathaniel of Bronford Thoridian asking him to join the Royal Guard. His life had balanced on a thin branch, and he could have fallen either way. He was glad he’d chosen the path he had. Now Brax was following in his father’s footsteps, offering a second chance to a lad down on luck. Bronford would be proud of his son.

Ardent took Brax’s hand. The warrior stood, pulling the boy up. “Come, pack your things. A new destiny awaits.” His voice had turned lighthearted, or as least as lighthearted as Brax could be.

Valoria stood and studied Brax with a mixture of interest and awe. Nathaniel had never seen such admiration in her eyes when she’d looked upon him. She touched the warrior’s arm. “I’m going to pack a few things of my own for Ardent. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Brax nodded awkwardly as if he didn’t expect her to tell him anything of her whereabouts. “Very well.”

Valoria glanced at Nathaniel and nodded, then left. The sunshine in the room went with her, along with Nathaniel’s heart. Someday he’d have to come to terms with the fact she’d never be his. But, one tragedy at a time. Save the boy, save the kingdom, then save his own heart.

While Ardent packed, Nathaniel approached Brax by the door.

Brax had resumed eating his apple, but his gaze glazed over, as if his thoughts had gone with Valoria as well.

“Why?” Nathaniel whispered.

Brax raised his brow in question and bit off another piece of apple. He didn’t answer.

“Why did you change your mind?”

“Something you’d said.” Brax swallowed the bite of apple and a ponderous expression came across his face. “You said to acquaint myself with the treasures of her heart. Well, I listened.”

Nathaniel nodded, surprised his advice had gone so far. He didn’t think Brax would listen to him, never mind to Valoria. “That, you did.”

* * * *

Valoria wrapped a fig cake in a cloth along with a piece of gold. Ardent’s sad history had touched her soul. She could not imagine being forced into raiding to stay alive. But, deep down in her gut, she knew she’d have done the same. She didn’t have her mother’s wholehearted kindness, the kind that forgives so easily and places everyone’s happiness above her own.

Valoria was a survivor. She’d rather endure pain than give in. She was her father’s daughter, and she would make him proud, even if it meant marrying Brax.

That thought didn’t have its usual harsh sting. Brax had surprised her. He’d shown kindness instead of judgment, thinking beyond the walls of right and wrong he’d so carefully constructed.

He’d said he did so because of her. Perhaps, she’d been the one to judge too harshly.

She opened her door. Brax, Nathaniel, and Ardent stood at the top of the stairs. Nathaniel had his hand on Ardent’s shoulder. “Listen to the fisherman. Do as he says and be respectful.”

Brax glanced in her direction and nodded. “Ready to see him off?”

“I am.” Valoria approached Ardent and handed him the cloth. “Something for the road.” Ardent consumed anything in front of him, so she didn’t think her fig cake would go uneaten. As for the gold, maybe he could buy that room in town sooner than he thought. “Remember, you shape your own destiny.”

Valoria smiled, but it felt forced. How much of that was true in her case? Could she shape her own destiny? Hadn’t she been fated to unite the House of Song with Ebonvale since birth? Her statement was true for him but not for herself.

Ardent nodded gruffly and stuffed the cloth in the bag strapped across his back.

Brax cleared his throat. “Time to depart.”

The warrior took the stairs two at a time, and Ardent followed him. A few steps down, he turned his head to Valoria and Nathaniel. “I won’t forget this.”

With the rhythmic sound of footsteps, they were gone. Valoria wished him a silent prayer and ran her fingers along the wood railing of the stairs.

Nathaniel turned to her. “Do you think he’ll stay on the right path?”

Melancholy mixed with confusion made Valoria shift on her feet. What was
the right path
? The path we choose for ourselves, or the one laid out by our parents or, in Ardent’s case, by his circumstances? “He has as much of a chance of any of us.”

The raw truth of her answer surprised her.

Nathaniel gave her a questioning glance, and Valoria ignored it. To be alone with him after what Brax had done for the boy made her feel guilty in a sticky, tortured way.

Without another word, she disappeared into her room.

Last Kiss

The morning cast a dull, grey light. The sea, the clouds, and the air had a misty, bleak quality that did not bode well for their journey. Nathaniel tightened his cape around his neck, eager to leave New Shaletown behind him no matter what the future brought.

“Where is this captain that your…lady friend recommended?” Brax spoke from the inside of his hood. Out of the three of them, he was the one who was most likely to be recognized, so he kept his face hidden at all costs.

“She’s not my lady friend.” Brax made her sound like a mistress. “I knew her as a child, that’s all.”

“But, you knew her well enough to trust her now?” Valoria sounded suspicious, as if he were withholding some secret relationship, which would not be wrong considering she was betrothed to Brax and not to him.

“Without her recommendation, we’d be choosing blindly. We do not have any other choice.” He counted the ships at the dock. Blanca had said it was the fifth one in, double-masted with a flag of red and gold.

“There.” Nathaniel pointed to an older, but sturdy looking ship. “That’s the one.”

They walked down the dock, their boots echoing on the wood. The sea lapped at their feet as if eager to swallow them whole. A seagull picked at an oyster on the top of a mooring, watching them with an orange eye. He cawed, and it almost seemed as though he warned of their coming.

An old, white haired man wearing a dark overcoat threw netting off the side of the ship. It fell in the sea with a splash and sunk to the dark depths below. The man gazed up as they approached. He had a timeworn, withered look, his long hair blowing every way of the wind, and a tattoo of a shark’s fin on his neck. But his eyes were a bright blue, and when he smiled, his face was kind.

“What brings you to Amok’s dock?”

Nathaniel gave Valoria and Brax a look that told them to let him handle negotiations. “A friend recommended we speak to you. We’re looking for passage through the Sea Of Urchins.”

“The Sea of Urchins, eh? That’s not a place one crosses without a purpose, indeed.” Amok smacked his lips together, then his eyes filled with mischief. “Depends on who this friend is, lad.”

Doubt made Nathaniel hesitate. How much did he really trust Blanca? Somehow he doubted she was in it for the money, at least with him. “Blanca Grainville from the Gilded Hopper.”

“Good ol’ Blanca.” Amok smiled fondly. “Poor girl. I knew her parents. They were kind folk, even if they were a lil’ leery of eccentric strangers.”

“Perhaps you knew my father then?” Nathaniel stepped forward. Saying his father’s name took courage because it brought back his loss in full force. “Alhearn Blueborough.”

Amok’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.” He jumped from the boat onto the dock.

Brax moved his hand to the hilt of his sword hidden underneath his cloak, but Nathaniel raised his hand to stop him.

Amok studied Nathaniel’s face. Close up, the old man had more wrinkles than an old sheet wadded in the closet. “Ah yes…there he is.” Amok pulled back and smiled. “You have his eyes and his nose. He’d be proud of the man you’ve become.”

A wave of melancholy threatened to knock Nathaniel to his knees. He breathed deeply, stifling the sorrow. “Will you help us?”

“For the son of Alhearn, I’ll do anything.” Amok gestured toward his ship. “Climb aboard. The Manta’s Tail is all your own.”

Nathaniel turned to Brax and Valoria. Brax raised his brow in doubt, but he followed the old man and climbed aboard. Valoria smiled as she passed him. “Thank Lyric’s lyre you came along.”

“Lyric’s lyre?” Amok noticed Valoria’s harp strapped to her back. “Do we have a minstrel in our mist?”

“We do, and my harp is at your command.” Valoria bowed to him. Brax offered his hand and she climbed aboard.

Nathaniel moved to climb on himself, but Amok held up a gnarled hand. “Hold on right there, lad.” He gestured down the dock toward the town. “Looks like you forgot to give a proper farewell.”

His stomach dropped. Blanca came running down the dock with veils trailing behind her, waving her arm wildly. The urge to jump on the ship overwhelmed him, and he glanced back to the bow, where Brax and Valoria stood staring.

Blanca had put them up for the night with no questions asked, offered to watch over their carriage and horses while they were gone, and gave him a great recommendation for a captain. Only a rogue would run away from her now.

He walked as fast as he could to meet her to get as far away from the ship as possible. He did not want anyone overhearing her flirtatious attempts.

“How could you leave without saying farewell?” She reached him, grabbing both his arms in her hands.

Guilt trickled over him. He’d been relieved when he saw an older woman sitting at her post. “You weren’t at the desk, and we had to leave immediately.”

“I forgive you.” Her hands roamed up his back to his neck. “And I want to give you something for the journey.”

Before he could ask what it was, she pulled his head down to hers and mashed her lips to his. Her hair blew in the wind, surrounding him in a curtain with no escape.

Nathaniel pulled back, but she was stronger than she let on, and her grip did not falter. She smeared her lips all over his mouth and sucked on his lower lip before pulling her head back.

She could have hit him over the head with a hammer and he would have been just as bowled over. But, it wasn’t from love. It was from shock and embarrassment.