Pursuit of Balance, page 16
“As far as I know, yes, we will still leave in the morning.” Felicia could see the anxiety in his eyes. Faddy had no wish to return to the place where his mother had banished him. Felicia had heard his sad story and knew his mother warned him to never return or the council would carry out his death sentence. She had claimed to be saving his miserable life by evicting him and handing indenture papers to some foreign merchant. Faddy came to learn that her statements had been a ruse—and the merchant turned out to be a flesh-trader. Faddy didn’t learn the truth until he was brought to a brothel near Masemba for special training, which was where Garth had rescued him nearly three years earlier.
“Oh thank goodness, I’ve found you,” Lydia called from the doorway.
Felicia had hoped they had seen the last of her. “Lydia? What are you doing here?” The waterfront district didn’t seem like a place the princess would normally frequent.
“You must take me with you.”
Must? Felicia rebelled instantly. She didn’t think she could handle an hour with the princess, let alone weeks at sea while they traveled to Walcott.
“Lydia, don’t you remember how much you hated the voyage when we brought you here last year? Why in the world would you want to take an extended journey?”
“Please, I need your help. I’m certain my mother’s family will welcome me. She always told me that women of the clan were treated like queens over there. And . . . well, I want to discover who my sire was. Was it someone she loved? Did he die? I need to know and the answers all lie to the west, in the country of Kammigian. I know you are going to Walcott, but I should be able to find transport to the city of Tito. My father . . . um, King Latham has given me the names of her relatives. He believes I will be accepted into the clan. I can help along the way with all the children, and I promise not to cause any problems.”
Felicia’s mind was scrambling for a reason to deny Lydia’s request. She knew Garth would not be happy to have her along, and she also knew that Lydia’s promises would be worthless once they set sail. Lydia’s ‘help’ would likely create more work.
“She should come,” Willow whispered beside her.
“Why? What do you envision, sweetheart?” Felicia asked Willow. Her insightful visions were always taken seriously.
“The most direct path to our goals includes both her and those who Uncle Gee has found.” Felicia realized those statements were probably the most Willow would be able to describe, so Felicia looked over at Lydia and nodded her acceptance.
With a sigh of pleasure, Lydia yelled outside the door for her servants to unload the wagon, which held a mountain of trunks and crates she planned to bring along. Garth was not going to be happy . . . not at all.
18
ABOARD SALVATION
“Oh, my . . .” Lydia backed away from the cabin door, her hand over her mouth and eyes wide open.
“What in Sigrid’s design are you doing in here?” Garth yelled at her. The healer was at the bedside concentrating on one brother while the other had stepped out of the tub completely naked. After their mad dash from the slave ship, Garth managed to get the brothers onto the deck of Salvation and ordered the members of the crew left aboard in several directions. The cook took charge of the lass inside the galley, while Garth sent another for the healer and yet another off to the inn to find Felicia. Seeing the pampered princess charge into his cabin was the last thing he expected.
“Felicia . . . um, sent me ahead to warn you.” The woman’s eyes were still taking in the bruised but clean lines of the naked Kammigian.
“I’ll be out in a moment. Could we have some privacy?” Garth watched Lydia turn away after another leering glance. Switching back to the Kamm language without effort, Garth apologized to Vilmar. “Here’s a set of my clothes. They will be a bit large, but until I can send someone to purchase something at the market, they will do. Make sure you keep the cap on your head. If someone from the slave ship crew happens to walk past the ship, they wouldn’t look twice while you’re wearing normal sailor garb.”
“Thank you, sir. We won’t know how to repay your kindness. Do you think Orton will be okay?” Vilmar’s brother had lost consciousness almost as soon as they climbed aboard the ship. Though Orton was banged up pretty badly, Garth believed he would be fine after the healer fixed the head wound.
“Call me Uncle Gee, or Garth, if you prefer, and don’t worry about repayment. I’ll put you to work on the voyage to Kammigian.” Extra hands were always welcomed aboard the ship. Orton wouldn’t be much help unless the healer could perform miracles, and he didn’t seem to be that powerful. Once Vilmar finished dressing, Garth called outside the door for clean water. They may not be able to get Orton into the tub, but there was still the little girl who had been forced to wear her soiled clothing for weeks already.
Felicia was the first to enter, and she glanced at the brothers, then the healer, taking in the entire scene without batting an eye. “Dump the tub and bring fresh water, find Pike, and have him heat the water.” She then yelled out the door to a couple of the older children to find some clean linens and clothes for their new arrivals.
“Have you seen the girl?” Garth asked. “Her name is Reese, but she doesn’t speak anything but Kamm. If Faddy is with you, he might be able to help her more than the rest of us.” Faddy, being a native of Kammigian, was better acquainted with the culture and language. Though most of Garth’s family knew how to speak Kamm enough to get by, Faddy would be able to understand the entire picture. From what he deciphered so far, the two brothers had been hired to kidnap Reese, but Garth had difficulty translating all their words, as his language skills weren’t up to understanding all the circumstances.
“I’ll send someone to the inn to get him. I only brought the three oldest in case there was fighting involved, since your messenger didn’t give any details. Lydia insisted on running ahead, hoping to garner your goodwill. She was worried you wouldn’t want her to accompany us.”
“What? She’s not coming with us, is she?” The look Felicia gave him suggested that yes, she was. How in the world did that happen?
“I would have denied the request, but Willow declared the path was straighter or more well-defined with Lydia’s presence. Sorry, I know she can be a handful, but seeing that we have two ailing new crew members, I believe we should assign her to their care.” The healer had finished with Orton and was now treating some of the swelling and bruising that covered Vilmar.
“Not much else I can do here.” The healer looked over at Garth. “The lad on the bed is in healing sleep. He should wake in a couple of hours, but he will have a severe headache, which should dissipate in a day or so. He also had a broken forearm, which I have set to healing. He shouldn’t make use of it for at least two weeks. This young man has bruised ribs and a black eye, but in time, should heal without help. You mentioned another patient?”
Garth wanted him to check out Reese before he left. One of the sailors had been sent to bring her in for a much-needed bath since the cook had more than likely already filled her belly with sweet treats.
“Here she is now. Kitty, I’ll leave you with the healer and Reese.” Garth turned to the little girl, who still sent angry, spiteful looks at Vilmar and his brother. “Sweetie, my wife and the healer are going to help you get cleaned up. I’ll speak with you later. Vilmar, come with me; your brother will be asleep for a while yet.” Vilmar smiled politely at Reese, and Garth could see the guilt and remorse on the lad’s face. Hopefully, Reese would forgive her kidnappers knowing that they had also been betrayed.
Garth’s wildly diverse family came from all across the planet. He had several from the tribal lands of Barwick, who were easily distinguished by their darker skin tones. Willow was of both Barwick and Empire background, and had a lighter skin tone—though still much darker than the pale shade of Carrabon or Kammigian. A couple of his children originated from Olseti Island and had the bronze skin tone of the native islanders. Lydia was born on the island, but her obvious Kammigian heritage was prominent.
Along with the various nationalities, his children also harbored a variety of talents, like Willow, who had inherited the first-born talent of a seer. Eight-year-old Aleck, who Garth had rescued from a brothel in the city of Orion, had recently displayed a reader talent. They had just begun to train him using some books the king of Carrabon had lent them. One of the rarest of first-born talents was that of a fire mage, and nine-year-old Pike had inherited that particular talent, which they had discovered when he blew a hole into the side of a building in their hometown of Roscow.
Not all of his children were of human descent. Last year, Garth had rescued a young elf lad who had been tormented and evicted from the elf homeland of Vali. Billy was an eleven-year-old who had an elfin gift of a blood-bond-mate. Garth’s wife had the same type of magic, but where Felicia shared her body with an ocelot, Billy’s was with a bear. What made Billy’s blood-bond unique was the fact that his bear was female. Normally, the shared bond was of the same gender, since they shared the same body.
Add into the mix, Garth’s first-born talent of travel, and their large family encompassed nearly all the known magic. What they were missing was someone with the healer talent, but Garth had heard that particular talent usually didn’t manifest until the mid- to late-teens, so they might discover one of their younger children had such a talent. Part of him hoped none of them would, because they would have to be sent away for training and he would hate to be parted with any member of his family.
Garth escorted Vadim into the galley. It looked like the young man hadn’t had a good meal in weeks. When they entered, he discovered Lydia once more. She glanced over at Vadim, now fully clothed, and smiled shyly.
When did she learn to be so coy?
“Sit here while I find you some grub,” Garth told the young man, then pointed to a seat opposite Lydia. He would need to clear the air with her and see exactly how determined the princess was. From her last voyage, Garth had his doubts about whether she knew what traveling across the Tucker Ocean entailed. They were looking forward to weeks at sea and may encounter terrible storms at this time of year.
He returned with a heaping plate of meat and vegetables. Garth wondered when the cook had found time to prepare all the food. As he set the plate in front of Vadim, he caught part of Lydia’s glowing report of daily life. Vadim smiled back at her politely, though Garth suspected he didn’t understand a word of it.
“Ah . . . Lydia?” Garth interrupted with a smile. “Vadim does not speak our language; he only knows how to speak Kamm. You’ll be learning quite a bit of that language while teaching them some Carron and Welly if you choose to sail with us.” Turning to Vadim, he switched to Kamm. “The children are great teachers if you would like to learn our language. Why don’t you eat while I discuss the terms with the lady?”
Lydia looked somewhat embarrassed at being caught chattering to someone who had no clue what she was talking about. “You could have mentioned that before I told him my life story.”
“Now, if you choose to travel with us, you need to know a few things. This is an important mission from the king of Carrabon. We may run into dangerous situations, in addition to storms at sea. I cannot guarantee your safe passage.”
“I’m not the pampered, vain creature you have come to know and despise, Garth. Regardless of everything I’ve done in the past, I’m willing to help in any way, despite the possible danger. I’m as prepared as anyone to meet my destiny. What exactly is this mission about?”
“Easy words to say; I just hope you won’t have cause to regret them in the future.” Taking a deep breath, Garth tried to choose what parts of their mission he would need to explain to her. If she knew all of it, would she decide against coming along?
“No doubt you are aware of Queen Phoebe’s crimes since you aided her with some of them.”
“Not knowingly, Garth. You must believe me.”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe or not. The truth of the situation is this; the queen is an accomplished traveler. She disappeared from her incarceration at the monastery, even though she had been severed from her talent. Since then, we learned through one of her accomplices that she sailed to a port city west of Kammigian and planned to travel through a portal into another realm. We have written evidence stating that Emperor Tadesse approached her, and it’s likely his healer fixed Phoebe’s access to her talent. The king believes Tadesse sent her on this quest to access weapons that he believes will aid him in an invasion of some sort. It has always been known how ambitious and controlling the man is.”
“Are you planning to go after her?” Lydia’s eyes were round with curiosity. She seemed to pay close attention to everything Garth said.
“No, not after her, precisely. With the information we’ve discovered, if she went through the portal safely, the next chance she would have to return to our realm is during the upcoming moon eclipse on the night when Rachael is completely engulfed by Tiber. A period of time during this event is supposedly when a gateway between realms can be opened. We need to locate the area and intercept her upon return. According to our informant, she intends to betray the emperor and wants to retrieve the weapons to destroy him and take back her native country of Gunvor.”
“Yes, I recall her going on about how Edwin would soon go to war to gain her country back . . . though he didn’t seem at all interested.”
“You are correct. Prince Edwin was less inclined when he learned the truth about me being his older half-brother, and the fact that I inherited her travel talent.” He recalled that Lydia was present when all those revelations came to light. Edwin had been furious with his—their—mother, Queen Phoebe. Garth had never met the woman, and he wasn’t looking forward to when they inevitably came face to face.
“I’m even more determined to go along. I would love to make some amends to Carrabon and the king for any part I played in her intrigue. Maybe then you’ll realize how much I’ve changed.”
“Only time will tell. I’m putting you in charge of caring for Vadim and his brother. Vadim will probably heal without much help, but his brother has a skull fracture, along with a broken arm. You can help while learning their language, which you would need to do anyhow if you plan to locate your mother’s kin.”
“Thank you, Garth. I promise not to cause any hardship, and I will help in any way.”
“Here comes Faddy. He will be your translator and tutor for all things Kammigian while we’re sailing.”
Ever since learning their destination, Faddy had attempted to set his anxiety aside—the mere thought of returning to the land of his birth set him on edge. He felt like the air surrounding him had grown too thick to breathe. How was he going to manage when they got closer to his homeland? He became nauseous just thinking about it. The fear of seeing any member of his clan was nerve-wracking, but would they even recognize him after three years?
Faddy tried to put his trust in Uncle Gee and Kitty, knowing they would put their lives on the line to protect him—this he knew for a fact. Uncle Gee had proven himself time and time again to be the salvation of any child in danger when he came across them.
Casper ran back toward the ship with him, and he wondered why they came to get him in particular. His single unique quality was his nationality. Faddy had never discovered any other useful talent, unlike other members of his family. This led him to assume that whoever Uncle Gee had rescued was from Kammigian, and that thought renewed the queasiness in his belly.
Faddy went directly to the galley after learning Uncle Gee was there waiting for him. The first person he noticed was Lady Lydia, who he didn’t much care for. The last time they traveled together, she took great pleasure in ordering all the children about, giving them menial tasks she could have easily done herself. The fact that she looked a lot like the clan women—his mother, in particular—was also a major factor in his distaste for her.
“There you are,” Uncle Gee called out in Kamm, which was unusual. Then Faddy noted that the other man across the table had a clan resemblance as well, though he looked more like a seaman in his clothing.
“I came as quickly as I could.” Faddy looked from one to the other, wondering what he was needed for.
“Faddy, this young man is Vadim. He and his brother, Orton, are from Kammigian and don’t speak any language besides Kamm. Since you are our resident Kamm specialist, we could really use your services for communication. Orton was injured and is resting in my cabin, where you’ll find Kitty with a young girl named Reese. See what you can learn about their situation, hmm?”
“Reese?” As soon as Uncle Gee mentioned the girl’s name, Faddy’s mind went to his cousin. “That’s not a common Kamm name, but it was my little cousin’s name. She was but two or three when I left.”
“Hmm . . . could be her. Only one way to find out.”
When Faddy opened the door to the captain’s quarters, he could hear Kitty attempting to calm the child. “Reese, sweetie, I need to rinse the soap out of your hair first. Then I’ll let you dry off.” Faddy stopped in his tracks near the open door and stared at the child. Could it be his little cousin?
After closing the door, Faddy glanced at the injured man sleeping on the bed and then walked over to the tub. “Your name is Reese?” Faddy asked as the young girl came into view. As soon as she turned her face to him, all the memories came flooding back—not the terrible memories that tormented him, but some of the happier ones. Moments that were buried deep and had remained untouched until now. She had been a toddler when he left, but she had the same heart-shaped face and wide blue eyes. “Umm . . . I’m Faddy. Do you remember me?”
“My Faddy died. Auntie said so, and Papa cried for days.”
