Chapter 13: Waves of Departure

     When Gale finally knocked on his door, it was softer than she wanted.

     He woke up and mentally steadied his thoughts for whatever happened

     “Come in.”

     She did, staring at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable, and he wasn’t sure at the moment that he wanted the ability.

     “How could you, Zephyr?” Like the knock, her voice was unexpectedly soft and calm.

      That worried him; he would rather she’d have come in raging at him.

      “She asked. You were there. She told us the reasons why, and spoke to you privately.

      “She asked because she trusted me to do it, instead of anyone else”

      “Are you telling me you did it out of love?”

      “No, I didn’t love her. She was responsible for making me an orphan. Not sending me to the mines wasn’t an act of mercy. Because of my size, she decided to use me to kill her enemies.

      “I didn’t love her like you. Not like you. She molded you, mastered you, into becoming who you are now.”

    “You mean what I am.”

    He sighed. “I’m not going to apologize, Gale. If you need to get your anger out by attacking me, we can do that if you’d like.”

    “Are you going to kill me too?”

    “No, but I’m not going to let you hurt me. We’re supposed to be fleeing a slave rebellion, and we need our bodies whole in order to do that. And as hard as it is to say it, if you decide you can’t be with me because I did it, I’ll understand.”

    She sat down, rubbed her face, wiped her eyes, and fell silent.

    He started packing, giving her time to collect herself.

    “We have no reason to stay here,” she said, “and if they find her, they may come looking for us.”

    He didn’t tell her the likelihood of them finding her now was slim to none unless she washed back up on shore. Even then, he doubted they’d bother investigating; no one here knew her or her reputation.

   “So what do you want to do today? Fight, screw, or run?”

   She gave him a weak grin. “Can we do them all?”

   He grinned back. “Maybe after we run. We can get enough distance between us and the rebels to do the other two without looking behind us and jumping at random shadows.”

   “All right. I’ll go pack while you book passage.”

   “Which direction?”

   “Southwest. I want heat, and the rebels will have a hard time crossing all this.”

   “What about the snow?” 

     “I’ve seen enough.”

    She closed the door behind her.

Chapter 14: Full Circles

    Gale was pleasantly surprised to see that the ship was stout and the crew was singing.

    “They must pay well,” she said.

    “Likely, but fortunes are always fickle.”

    “Like a woman’s love?” she teased.

    “No. Nothing’s more valuable than that.” The sarcasm was understated, but obvious.

    “Oooh, you’re going to pay for that later.”

    He laughed, found a crate to sit on, and patted his lap for her to join him.

    She did, enjoying the feel of his arms around her, securing her as the ship rocked.

    In silence they both watched the ocean roll by, calm and blue, rippling with gentle waves as the ship skimmed swiftly over it.

    The captain walked over to them. “Is everything well with you?”

    Zephyr nodded. Gale said yes.

    “Good, good. There’s just one thing…”

    He was hesitant to tell them, but there was nothing he could do now to get out of it.

    “We don’t allow passengers to carry weapons on deck. They make the crew nervous, so would you mind turning them over to my first mate? He’ll stow them away for you..

    “We’re a reputable ship with a good crew, sir. “Weapons give people thoughts they might not otherwise have, and I’d rather they not have them on my ship.”

    He spared Gale a quick glance when he said ‘people,’ letting them know he didn’t consider her any less a threat. He’d known captains that lost their ships, lives, or both for doing that.

    Gale moved some hair from her eyes and calmly stared back at him.

    Zephyr sized up the first mate.

    The man was taller and wider than the captain, and the scar on his right cheek was deep and nasty looking. The facial muscles around it twitched, but whether it happened all the time or was in anticipation of them objecting, he didn’t know, and didn’t ask.

    Zephyr released Gale, she sat next to him, and they waited some more, listening to the ocean susurrating under the hull.

    The first mate looked at the captain, but Zephyr cleared the matter for them.

    “No, captain. As much as it makes your crew nervous that we keep our weapons, it makes us even more so when we don’t have don’t have them close at hand.”

    The captain shook his head. “I was being polite, but now I have to insist.”

    The first mate took a step forward.

    “Don’t.” Gale said. “Don’t insist.”

    The captain held up his hand, and the mate stopped.

    “Captain, we’ll respect your crew and ship. Simply don’t give us a reason to use them, and we won’t. Your crew will hardly see us, and won’t see the weapons at all.”

     “My ship, my rules. Last chance. Hand over your weapons.”

     Gale stood up and looked at the captain.

     Zephyr did the same with the first mate. “No sir. And your harrying us now has your crew’s attention, something you said you didn’t want.

     “How about this: we’ll laugh with both of you as if you just told us something funny, and then you two walk away, and this face-off never happened.

     “I’d be willing to leave it at that, but it’s entirely up to you.”

     After another long moment of sizing each other up, the captain made his decision and turned to the first mate.

     “Stand down.”

     Zephyr saw the tension go out of the first mate’s shoulders, but whether it was from relief or disappointment he wouldn’t know. He’d been fidgety enough when Gale was staring down the captain.

     It was enough for the moment, but still unfortunate because the crew had seen it, and from his own experience and the stories he’d heard, there could be loss of respect for a captain who wouldn’t fight to keep his passengers in control and his crew safe.

    He hoped while he and Gale were on the ship, no one would step forward to openly challenge the captain.

    The crew had sauntered off and  gone back to work now, though there didn’t seem to be much more to do.

     Gale sat on Zephyr’s lap again, and again he put his arms around her..

     They went back to watching the ocean, quelling the adrenaline surges that began coursing through them, but they couldn’t get back to the moment they’d had before the captain interrupted them.

    Gale sighed. “You’re going to have to hurt or kill the first mate. He keeps looking at you over his shoulder.”

     “I know.”

     He wiggled his fingers on her belly, and she doubled over laughing.

    “Stop it!”

    He let her catch her breath.

    “This isn’t funny,” she said when she could. “It never ends, does it?”

    “No, it doesn’t. The saying about all those who live by the blade will die by it is mostly true. There’s always someone looking to prove they’re better, faster, stronger, and can handle more multiple weapons simultaneously than you.

    “As with everything else, it’s the time you put in, then repetition. In the end, we all lose to the passing of time.”

    She put her head on his shoulder. “Do you hate that we’re running?”

    “Yes.”

    “Do you want to go back?”

    “Would you?”

    “Yes.”

    He knew their fates hinged on his answer.

    Karis was right; she’d trust him enough to do what he decided, and wouldn’t abandon him if things didn’t go as planned.

    He’d been trained and conditioned, pushed to the limits of his flesh, then beyond. Everything in him craved the violent encounter, even up to meeting a challenger who’d cut him to pieces and feast on his roasted heart over a campfire.

    Chuckling, he remembered that the girl he now embraced once jumped at him and made him flinch. Now, her hair brushed against his beard, and her eyes were closed in the peace and trust of his protection.

    His superior opponent would deprive her of that, and what she’d do to them, he didn’t care to even speculate.

    As much as he craved the violence of his profession, he needed her more.

    To drive the point home, when he answered her, he used her real name.

    “No, Amari.”

    And just before she kissed him, he saw the first mate heading below to his quarters, looking over at them.

    He kissed her back, but even that pleasantry didn’t unburden his mind.

    It never ends.

The End