Austine and Janine joined Damon and the others at the docks the next morning, though their attention was split between the farewell and minding their young children.
“I’m serious,” said Austine. “Come back through this way if you get the chance.”
Damon clapped him on the shoulder. “I will.”
They hugged, and in truth, it felt less like a final goodbye than their parting five years earlier had. Damon helped Malon and Vel onto the dinghy, with Ria already aboard and manning one of the oars. He hopped on himself, waving to his oldest friend with gulls flocking overhead and the gentle sea breeze stirring his hair and clothing.
“I’m glad the two of you were given a chance to see each other again, solas,” said Malon.
“So am I. He’s done well for himself.”
“You sound almost surprised by that,” said Vel.
Damon shrugged. “He’s the kind of man who I wouldn’t have been surprised to see among the pirates, or working as a bouncer at a brothel, or dead twice over.”
“Such a high opinion of your friend you hold, husband,” said Ria.
“I do, in truth. Just one as wild as it is high. An innkeeper… He always did like to copy my moves.”
They reached The Reunion , the strikingly beautiful ship still anchored right where they’d left it, and climbed aboard from the rope ladder hanging near the dinghy launch. Damon was first into the main cabin, and first to be greeted by the sight of Lilian lounging in a chair, nearly naked, drinking wine and reading a book.
“Oh,” she said, marking her page with a ribbon. “You’re earlier than I expected.”
“You’re… more undressed than I expected,” said Damon.
“I got a little hot.” She grinned at him and stretched in a manner that practically announced that she enjoyed his gaze. “I shouldn’t make a scene for the others. Come find me later? I’m a little peckish.”
She headed for the stairs, hips swaying, casually performing the act of simply walking around in her small clothes as though engaged in active seduction. He brought his hand up to his neck, rubbing absentmindedly as he tried to keep his thoughts from running wild.
The others came in, and the group of them fell into the increasingly familiar routine of operating the ship. Damon secured the dinghy and winched it back up into place for the next time they’d go ashore. Vel took her place up in the glass cabin, while Ria and Lilian went below decks to ensure that the furnace was still well stocked with coal.
Over the course of the next hour, the island of Telsius disappeared over the horizon. It seemed to grow so small, so fast, despite holding so much. Austine, with his wife and family, so content in the little cove city against the cliffs. It gave Damon an odd sense of perspective on his own situation, one that left him appreciating his fortune in life.
He spent some time helping Vel plot their exact course, though aiming them toward their destination was far from an exact process. He listened to Myr in his head, but the advice she gave on which bearing to set was often vague enough to leave him wondering.
“Maybe a little more toward the north,” said Myr. “Just a smidge.”
“How many degrees is a smidge, exactly?” he muttered.
Vel gave him an odd look, but he waved a hand, still focused on the compass. He shifted the wheel a bit more.
“There!” said Myr. “Right there.”
“Keep heading on this line,” he told Vel.
“For how long?” she asked.
He waited a pause, but Myr seemed disinclined to guess.
“No idea,” he said, squeezing Vel’s shoulder.
He headed down into the ship, finding Lilian in her cabin to oblige her earlier request. She was, unfortunately, full clothed, and she went about sipping on his blood in a fairly respectful manner. Damon still felt blissed out in the aftermath, but Lilian laughed and gently swatted his hands away as he began feverishly groping at her.
“Stop,” she laughed. “Seriously! You’ll only be making drama if the others come across us. Save it for tonight, or perhaps early in the morning.”
“By my reckoning, it’s still rather earlier.” He pulled her into an embrace, kissing her neck much as she’d just been kissing his.
“It’s past midday, you lecher,” she said. “But it’s good to know you didn’t wear yourself out during your time ashore.”
She turned and gave him a kiss that seemed to undo her previous points, her long tongue dancing through his mouth and reminding him of what it could do. Damon found a palmful of her ass, and was about to see if he could get her into bed regardless, when footsteps sounded in the hall.
“Solas,” called Malon. “I think Ria was looking for you down in the lower level.”
Lillian patted his cheek and mouthed the word later. He left her cabin, ignoring his aesta’s somewhat judgmental gaze as he headed for the stairs.
Ria was at the furnace, frowning as she eyed the metal door, which emanated a faint thrum from the intensity of the fire on its other side. Damon set his hands on her shoulders and stood behind her.
“Are you worried we’ll run out of fuel sometime before the journey’s end?” he asked.
She shook her head. “We have more than enough, as it happens.”
“Then what has you frowning so furiously?”
She turned around, looking past him as though afraid of being overheard. “We do not understand how this ship works.”
“Coal goes in, ship goes fast,” he said.
“Be serious, young Damon,” said Ria. “I speak of the true inner workings. What might happen if, say, some piece of the mechanism failed? We would have only our best guesses as to how to repair it. This is not simply changing out a cracked wagon wheel.”
“Avarice was always meticulous with his craftsmanship,” he said. “I feel safe trusting that our ship will manage to hold together for the duration of our journey.”
“It well should, assuming we encounter no surprises.”
It was then that he saw the lingering edge of suspicion in her expression and took her meaning plain. She wasn’t speaking of mechanical failure, parts wearing out or breaking under stress. She spoke of sabotage.
“Enough,” said Damon, with a sigh.
“I share this with you, husband, out of a need for us to consider all outcomes.”
“Ria…” he said. “You need to find a better place to direct your excess frustration toward aside from our aesta.”
“Do you have a suggestion?”
He could have kissed her then, if he’d wanted, but it had been a while since they’d sparred. He took Ria’s hand and led her to the training circle. As soon as they began, the paranoia melted out of her posture. It was more effective as a solution than Damon could have even hoped, and they both worked up a sweat over the course of nearly an hour, ending in an even stalemate.
It was close to dinnertime when they finished and they both went upstairs. The main cabin was thick with delicious smells, roasted meat and buttered vegetables. Strangely, Malon wasn’t in the kitchen. Damon frowned as he saw a full chicken roasting over the ship stove, one side of it precariously close to burning. He flipped it and glanced at Ria.
“Perhaps she’s out on deck?” he guessed.
They found her easily enough. She was at the ship’s bow, looking out at the sunset, her body silhouetted by blazing orange-red. It was that color that kept Damon from realizing what was wrong until he was within a handful of strides of her.
“Aesta?” he said, seeing the glow of crimson in her eyes. “What…?”
She turned around, staring past him, eyes still brimming with the power of her crest. Damon’s concern shifted to horror as he heard Ria move next to him, lunging forward to act on her own interpretation of the situation.
“No!” he snapped.
Malon came back to reality just as Ria was striking out. She ducked under a punch, stood straight, stumbled back into the railing. She held up a hand, more in confusion than defense. Ria pulled her fist back to swing again.
Damon seized Ria by the arms, holding her with such strength that he pulled her off her feet. Ria snarled and tried to break loose, kicking out, even.
“Think, Damon!” she shouted. “What do you think she was doing? She can dreamspell with nearly as much ease as Velanor. She was revealing us to Lascivious!”
“She could have been using her magic for anything,” said Damon. “Give her a chance to explain!”
“Seta is right,” said Malon. “I was in contact with Seffi.”
Ria let out a shout of anger and began struggling against Damon even harder. He gritted his teeth and breathed out condensation, letting his fingers grow cold enough to warn her that he wasn’t going to mess around if she kept it up.
“She admits it!” hissed Ria.
“Let me finish,” said Malon. “Seffi and I often reach out to one another in such a way. So often that if I was to stop, or ignore her attempts to speak with me, it would be suspicious, unto itself. I am keeping her updated only to the degree that is necessary to keep her in the dark.”
“How do we know that?” asked Ria.
“We know it because we trust our aesta, and that’s what she said.” He shifted from holding Ria, who’d finally stopped fighting him, to hugging. “Please, Ria. Trust me, if not her. Trust that I know what I’m doing by believing her.”
Seconds passed, long enough for breeze to pick up and die down again and the tension to fill the space. Slowly, Ria nodded, and Damon relaxed, exhaling out the breath he’d been holding. Malon suddenly gasped and everyone was on an edge again until she hurried by them, muttering an explanation.
“I left the chicken on the stove! Leandra’s bush…”
“I flipped it for you,” Damon called after her. He looked at Ria, who was shaking her head.
“Where would we be without you, husband?” she asked.
“I honestly hope we never have to find out.”