But even then, the sober man—Shrewdmind he was slowly becoming in my thoughts—didn’t look away from me.He started shouting, and what little strength I had in my legs threatened to abandon me.I trembled from the cold and the fear, and I felt myself growing smaller.
“Come here,” he said, waving me forward as he took a lazy seat on the arm of a great chair—the sort that would be found on a dais back home.
I was so used to not understanding everything around me, that I had a moment of confusion because Icouldunderstand what he’d said.
“You speak Islish, yes?”he said, interlacing his fingers and placing them atop his knee.“You are from the Isle?”
I wanted nothing more than to put as much space between me and the discerning man as I could, but I knew he wasn’t someone to be denied—his expression alone made that clear, and my nature at this time was obedient.I had been well-trained by my order.It was hard for me to ignore direct commands, but I think he was someone that any person would have difficulty denying.“I-I am,” I answered.
“There has been an error,” he said.“Obviously.”
My breath fluttered.“I don’t know…” I began shaking my head.Was he accusing me of wrongdoing?I wanted no punishment for it.Tears forced their way out.“I don’t understand any of what has happened.”
“I do,” he said.“You were brought here by mistake.I wanted someone else.You’re ill from the journey; your lips are blue.Your kind are not meant for the air here.You will probably die, which is a shame.Make peace with your gods now, just in case.I will have dry clothes for you and a warm meal and a comfortable place to rest.Spiced ale to help heat you again from the inside.It probably will not work, but there is no harm in trying.”
My knees begged me to crouch or sit.My shoulders felt like they were being ground flat by the metal in my gown.“What?”
“I apologize for their stupidity.I do not consider wasting life to be a trivial matter.”His eyes flicked to the sea dogs behind me when he saidstupidity.I knew Pinkbeard’s laugh by the sound of it; I knew his voice, too, as he spoke.
Shrewdmind furrowed his brow.“You have refused healing?”
“What?”I said again.
“He says they offered you medicinal ale several times.They tried a healing chant, and you refused it.You do not wish to attempt recovery, slim as your chances are?”
“What?”I sank to my knees, my voice shaking as snot dripped out of my nose.“I didn’t know.I haven’t understood anything for days.But I want no sorcery, please.”
Everyone began talking, and I was so tired and sore and shaken that I wasn’t even the slightest bit embarrassed that I was crying on the floor in front of all these strange sea dogs.
“Wait…” Shrewdmind held up a hand, and everyone grew silent.“He said you were heavy.”The man’s eyes lit up.I could see the gleam even from a distance.His head tilted to the side as a slow smirk spread onto his face.“Is there, by chance, a gentlewoman in my court?”
I said nothing, but my heart slammed against my ribs with so much force that I figured he could sense the change in me, the fear that came with being discovered.
His smile grew.“From which clan do you hail?No!Do not tell me.”He stood, pacing.“You look a little… mid-west… Danton perhaps?No… further west than that, I expect.Uwer-Traegis?No, they have no daughters.You, my dear—” He pointed at me with each word.“—hail from the Arched Cliffs.Sinjin is the head of your clan.”He raised his brows, awaiting my response.
Sinjin was my father’s name.
“What are you?Twenty?Sinjin has a daughter that age, does he not?”
Every bone in my body sensed danger.How could a sea dog know so much about my homeland?About my family?
“You are old enough to have been paired, though?To whom?”
He waited, his gaze digging into me with so much force my forehead tingled.It was unsafe not to answer him, I knew.But I also knew it was unsafe to speak of anything related to my order with anyone outside of it.Would he know if I lied?He knew so much else… “Loric.”I swallowed.“Of the Hard-Won Kepen.Only we haven’t been fully married.I was on my way when they came?—”
Shrewdmind laughed.He laughed so hard he had to lean over.“You were stolen on the way to your pairing?Ha!What a fine beginning to a saga!I have changed my mind about everything.You will live.I will ensure it, whether you cooperate or not.”And then he was issuing orders to those around him in the sea dog language.
Eleven
Sea dog after sea dog presented Shrewdmind with what he requested as he crouched beside where I knelt.Everything was placed on the furs on the ground near him so he could present the items to me himself, explaining what things were.A ring of braziers was set around us.Broth came and porridge and herbed tea and ale.I refused the ale, and Shrewdmind set his fearsome gaze on me.
“I could not bear any more confusion, Gentlesir,” I said.I knew he wasn’t a member of the orders, but I also knew I needed to speak to him with respect.It was the highest-ranking title I’d ever encountered in real life, so I gave it to him.
He chewed on his lip for a moment.“My beloved Gunnar, bard of impeccable skill, the most observant man I have ever known, is being peeled apart by your father’s order in a dungeon somewhere on your island because you have been rescued in his place.You will take what you are given.”
I took a burning sip and felt my throat wash with heat that spread to my cheeks and lips.I choked.
“And I am not a member of your order, Gentlewoman.There is no need for formality.”
