22

Sonya did not tire of the ocean, no matter how long she stared at it. It looked as immense as the tundra, yet it was ever-moving, ever-changing. So much life teemed beneath the surface, just out of view. Some of it, like schools of fish, were easy to understand. But other things that Jorge described, like octopuses and man-o-wars, were more difficult to grasp. And the idea that some of these wonders could never be seen, or even truly known, because they reached depths beyond humanity’s ability to reach… that she found staggering. She still wrestled with this new feeling of unfamiliar surroundings, but she knew she needed to get past that. After all, a ranger must range. Even if the Lady Marzanna didn’t care about her and Izmoroz had rejected her, she could still be a ranger of some sort. Couldn’t she?

As Jorge had predicted, they arrived at the town of Herder’s Gate a few days after reaching the coast. The homes were stout stone constructions sealed tightly with mortar. Apparently the coast was often lashed by fierce storms during the summer and fall, so it made sense to have such squat, sturdy buildings.

As they led their horses down the narrow cobblestone streets, the air was permeated with the overpowering smell of saltwater and fish.

Jorge heaved a sigh. “It’s starting to smell a bit like home.”

“Colmo is on the ocean, isn’t it?” asked Sonya.

“Technically the Sea of Charmed Winds, which is on the other side of the El Fin Peninsula,” he said. “As the name implies, the water and wind are a lot calmer there. But yes, it still smells like the ocean.” He took in another deep breath and smiled. “I hadn’t realized just how much I missed that smell until now.”

They hitched their horses up, then bought roasted fish on sticks from a street vendor and ate them as they walked through the immense docking system that seemed nearly as big as the town itself. It looked like a forest of ship masts, each thick wooden pole tangled up in a bewilderingly intricate system of ropes and pulleys with functions Sonya could only vaguely guess at. The vessels ranged in size from small fishing boats that clearly couldn’t accommodate more than two or three people at the most, to towering three-masted ships that looked like floating wooden castles.

Sonya wasn’t sure what Jorge’s criteria was in selecting boats, but after walking the docks for a short while, he found a midsized ship with two masts that seemed to please him.

“Ahoy!” He waved to the men who were busy loading cargo on the ship. They all had the brown skin and black hair of Raízians.

One of the sailors stopped and gave him a curious look. He was tall, with braids similar to Jorge’s, except tied up in a red scarf. He wore baggy yellow pants made of a thin, silky material, and a leather vest that showed off his bare, veiny muscles. He also had a number of blue drawings on his arms. Sonya remembered Jorge telling her about those. A Raízian tradition called tattooing.

The man asked, “What can I do for you, friend?”

“Where are you headed?”

“South.”

“As far as Colmo?” asked Jorge. “And would you be willing to take on passengers?”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “How many?”

“Only two.” Then Jorge’s expression grew pained. “And… two horses.”

The man’s expression went from wary to sour. “Sailing with horses is messy. It’ll cost you.”

Jorge’s expression grew more uncomfortable. “We don’t actually have a great deal of money on hand—”

“Never mind then.” The man turned his back on them and continued helping the others with cargo.

“But,” Jorge pressed on, speaking to the man’s back, “I’m certain my family would reward you generously when we reach Colmo.”

The man glanced over his shoulder, his eyes narrow. “What family?”

Jorge closed his eyes and sighed, as if what he was about to say took tremendous effort. “My name is Jorge Elhuyar.”

“Bullshit,” the man said.

Jorge nodded, as if that’s what he had expected. He took a large gold ring out of his pocket. In place of a gem, the ring had a flat gold circle with a symbol imprinted on it. He put the ring on his first finger and held it out for the man to see. The man stared at it for a moment, then his eyes slowly widened, and a broad grin stretched across his face.

“Why, Señor Elhuyar, what an honor!” He clapped Jorge enthusiastically on the back with his calloused hand. “I’m Captain Cajal! Welcome aboard the Endless Summer!”

When the other men heard him, they stopped loading cargo and turned to stare. Several whispered among each other, and Sonya’s sharp ears picked up: “An Elhuyar? Here?” She’d already suspected that Jorge came from a powerful family in Raíz, given how both Angelo and Galina had fallen all over themselves to be polite once they learned his last name. But the way his countrymen were reacting, she wondered if he was something akin to royalty there.

“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Captain,” said Jorge, looking embarrassed.

“And is this your lovely…” Cajal seemed to take Sonya in for the first time and paused, his smile frozen. He took a beat, then continued as if he hadn’t hesitated. “Your lovely wife?”

Sonya realized that this man, and possibly everyone she would encounter from now on, had never seen beast marks before. They would not understand what they were, or what she was. Probably no one outside of Izmoroz would. In that awkward moment of silence, she felt self-conscious in a way she’d never known before. It was a horrible, squirming sort of sensation that lingered long after.

“Oh, uh, no, she’s just a friend,” said Jorge. “This is Sonya Turgenev Portinari.”

Cajal’s smile remained firm, although it now seemed to be tinged with a bit of relief. “That’s wonderful, Señor Elhuyar. Just wonderful. Welcome aboard, miss.”

“Uh, thanks.” Still feeling this unpleasant new self-awareness, Sonya smiled with a closed mouth so he wouldn’t see her sharp teeth.

“Well, we should have all this cargo loaded up within the hour,” said Cajal. “Some of it is time sensitive, so we’ll want to set sail right after. Should I send someone to retrieve your horses, Señor Elhuyar?”

“Oh, uh, no thank you, Captain. Sonya and I will go get our horses and be back here before you depart.”

“As you wish, Señor.” Then he turned to his men, who were still staring at Jorge and Sonya. He clapped his hands and said in a much less friendly voice, “All right, you lot of rum-soaked sponges! Back to work or so help me, you’ll be making the trip home on the keel!”

As the sailors hurried back to their labor, Sonya and Jorge made their way up the dock to where they had tied their horses.

“So… how important is your family?” asked Sonya. “Really?”

“Honestly? Anything I say would sound like the most horrendous boasting, so I’d rather you just see for yourself when we get there.”

“Why does it embarrass you so much?”

“It’s… hard to describe,” he said. “When I was a child, I wasn’t embarrassed at all. People told me to be proud of my family and I was. But when I was older, I was able to see how different everyone else lived, and I began to see how… separate I was from most people. It made friendships and relationships difficult, because I was never really on equal terms with people.”

“Is that why you came all the way to Gogoleth to study?”

“No, the college in Gogoleth is the best place to study apothecary in the entire empire.” He winced. “Or it was, I suppose, since Izmoroz is no longer a part of the empire. Anyway, while it wasn’t my primary reason for going there, I did enjoy the relative anonymity I found. And now, after knowing what that feels like…” He shook his head. “As much as I’m looking forward to seeing my family, I dread feeling the full weight of that name again.”

“Yeah.” Sonya wondered if perhaps they both felt isolated by qualities they had once seen as good. “Say, Jorge. Be honest with me. Are people going to think I’m weird looking? Or ugly?”

He gave her a sharp look. “Why do you ask that?”

“You saw the way that captain looked at me. He didn’t know what I was or how to react to it.”

“Ah, your, uh, gifts of the Lady.”

“Let’s just call them beast marks,” said Sonya. “Because they don’t really feel like gifts right now.”

“Well, I hardly even notice them anymore,” said Jorge. “And I certainly don’t think you’re ugly.”

“Yeah, but you’re my friend.”

“People might be a little unnerved at first. But I’m confident you’ll quickly win them over with that famous Sonya charm.”

She grimaced. “I’m not feeling very charming these days.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her in close as they walked. “Your confidence took a blow in Izmoroz, so it’s only natural you feel a little… unsure right now. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that it will be fine.”

She looked at him, and he seemed so certain. They were going to his land. His people. So surely he knew what he was talking about.

“Of course I trust you,” she said.