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Unfortunately, sea life was not for everyone.
Gawain stepped back from the rails, his rugged, freckled face unusually pale for a moment. He wiped a handkerchief across his lips and forced a smile.
“Improving every day,” he reassured me. “By the time we reach Eskira, this will have passed. It’ll be a distant memory, nothing more.”
I eyed him with skepticism as the ship rolled over the waves and he paled again.
At least he was right about one thing—the number of times he lost the contents of his stomach on a daily basis seemed to have been reduced from when we’d first left Myntra. But I suspected that was more because Gawain had cut back on his diet than that he was becoming truly accustomed to life at sea. Still, his stoic demeanor was impressive.
“All is well amongst our crew?” I asked, changing the subject. I had found that the worst thing for soldiers at sea was boredom. Everyone needed to feel useful.
Gawain straightened as if preparing to give an official report. “Crescent stitched onto each of the ships in our fleet this morning...”
I groaned. “I’ve told him he does not need to do that.”
There were more than one hundred ships in the fleet that had set out for Eskira. At a bare minimum of two to three minutes on the deck of each ship, Crescent was looking at a time of at least three to four hours away every morning. Not to mention the sheer exhaustion of making so many stitches.
“He’s pushing himself beyond his limits, Gawain. It isn’t healthy,” I warned Crescent’s husband.
“Come on,” the red-bearded man said, trying to shrug casually. “You know he likes to.” He grinned. “If you really want to know the truth of it, he thinks he must make up for the fact that he decided to bring Taina along with us.”
I cocked one eyebrow. “But you do not?”
“Oh, I told him not to bring her,” Gawain said cheerfully. “And so since it was Crescent who caved, I now get to enjoy having her here with none of the guilt.”
I shook my head. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible husband?”
“Crescent tells me every day, but I don’t believe him.” Gawain winked. “You see how happy he is.”
“He’ll be passing out from exhaustion when he’s back from checking in with all of the ships,” I pointed out.
Gawain still looked remarkably unconcerned about his mate. “That’s where Ulpheas will come in.”
“Ulpheas?” I knew we’d brought the other stitcher. Not that Crescent had been letting him do much.
“Indeed. By my calculations, today’s the day. Crescent could barely get out of bed this morning. He’s reached his breaking point. As you’ve already rightly noted, it’s completely excessive. He’s going to snap.”
I stared as Gawain rubbed his hands together gleefully. “You cruel man. You’ve been... what? Preparing for this?”
Gawain nodded and turned to point. “Ulpheas has, too. He’s just over there. You see him?”
I looked across the deck and saw the blond-haired courtier lurking by the quarterdeck.
Ulpheas wore a tailored ensemble more suited to a ballroom than the deck of a warship. A doublet of rich, forest green hugged his slender form, fastened with a series of silver buttons. His honey-hued hair fell in loose waves around his face, and his sky blue eyes gleamed with an innocent curiosity as he watched the rugged sailors bustling about.
He looked absolutely out of place on the deck of my warship.
I swore under my breath. “Why the hell did we bring him again?”
“Well, that’s not very nice,” Gawain chided. “Because he’s supposed to be back in your good graces again, remember? Be careful, I think he heard you.”
Sure enough, Ulpheas had turned towards us with a distinctly crestfallen expression.
Sighing, I raised a hand gingerly. The courtier eagerly waved back.
“You do have his loyalty,” Gawain said quietly by my side. “What happened to his cousin ensured there would be no doubt of that.” Pearl. He meant Pearl. The Siabra woman who Avriel had put down like an animal in the training arena. Why? Just because he could. Because he’d been stronger than she’d been. And for many centuries, that had been the Siabra way. “Sephone lost his loyalty for good when she continued to support Avriel. And while I know you make no secret of despising him...”
“He broke into my bed chamber with Lyrastra when Morgan was—” I started to say angrily.
