“Theo?” Calum asked. “It's going to be okay. I promise you that.”
“Yeah, absolutely.” Theo forced a bit of cheeriness in his voice.
“You’re insane!” Lyra shouted, and Theo's attention was diverted.
“Uhh, Calum? I need to go. Wyn and Lyra?—”
“Say no more,” Calum agreed. “I love you, Theo, and it is all going to work out.”
“Love you, too,” Theo tried to sound half as confident as his brother, hanging up the call quickly to not worry Calum any further. He pocketed the phone and jogged over the sand, preparing to get in between Lyra and Wyn if needed.
“I’m not getting in this bloody thing,” Lyra snapped, crossing her hands over her chest. Theo walked right into an intense argument over the size of Wyn's boat. “It hardly looks seaworthy, and it's insulting. I'll swim alongside.”
“She's not what she looks.” Wyn still had a devilish smirk on his face. “I’m asking you to take one single step forward and then decide for yourself.”
“And I'm telling you it would be an insult to all of my sisters and everyone in the waters to do it.” Lyra stepped back from the store to illustrate her point.
Theo realized he'd never seen her move away from water. It surprised him.
“Here, here.” Theo held up his hands, moving forward. “I’ll step on the boat.”
Lyra rolled her eyes, unimpressed, while Wyn simultaneously gave Theo a small bow.
“You'll find her more than seaworthy,” Wyn promised, holding out a hand to help Theo across the water. Theo accepted the help, and the moment his foot touched the dinghy, the sight shifted before his very eyes.
The small rowboat was gone. Instead, Theo was standing on the deck of a very large ship. It looked like a traditional knarr, a Viking merchant ship, except even bigger. Theo could tell from the size alone that there were several cabins beneath the deck. The bright green sails were shining in the sunlight, embroidered with gold thread in the shape of a family crest. All of the wood fixtures had been hand-carved, and everything from the railings to the doorknobs was etched with motifs and runes. The prow of the boat featured a huge dragon painted in bright colors. The dragon turned towards Theo, its wooden tail whipping back, and roared.
“Shit!” Theo cursed, stumbling backward in an effort to get away.
Wyn laughed, a deep, hearty sound that didn't contain any malice, but rather, the sound of a man who had done the same thing more than once.
“Oh, don't you worry about her.” Wyn helped Theo straighten up. “TheBarufakris a good ship, and the dragon won't harm you none. She can't move from her post anyhow.”
“This is incredible—” Theo started to ask more about the ship when Lyra interrupted them from the shoreline.
“What are you even talking about?” She scowled, assuming there was some magic afoot now. “I can't see any dragons. Besides, there haven't been dragons in Scotland for five hundred years.”
“They'll come back one day!” Wyn shouted eagerly, with an enthusiasm Theo didn’t understand and didn't have time to question. Theo knew an enchantment when he saw one, and realized from Lyra's perspective, they were still standing in a rowboat that barely fit the two men.
“It's enchanted, Lyra,” Theo called out. “It's not a rowboat.”
“Aww,” Wyn started pouting, which had more of an endearing effect than it should have on such a massive grown man. “You're going to ruin the surprise.”
Theo leveled a look at Wyn, shaking his head slowly. “Trust me. It's best to be direct. You aren't going to get far with Lyra if you're trying to play games.”
Lyra waded into the water and climbed into the rowboat, her reaction completely neutral as it transformed into the large ship around her.
“Well,” she pursed her lips, studying her surroundings, “this isn’t an embarrassment to be seen on. You should have just said so.”
“I thought it would be fun—” Wyn started to speak, but Lyra held up a hand to silence him and started walking towards the door below decks.
“I’m going to pick out a room for myself,” she informed Theo and Wyn, without leaving any room for discussion. “If you need me, don’t.”
The heavy door swung shut behind Lyra, leaving Wyn and Theo alone on deck. Wyn whistled lowly.
“She's a character, that one.”
“Be nice,” Theo snapped, coming to Lyra's defense far too quickly. Wyn caught this and raised an eyebrow, studying Theo and looking back to where Lyra had disappeared.
