to lean closer.
A black patch bulged over one eye and the other held a serious gaze as the child set up the board. He caressed and named each piece and explained how it moved.
She tried to engage him in conversation but he held tight to his words. She only learned that he had lost the eye as a babe and his parents sold him to the ore-mancers, the men who worked magic with flesh and metal to be enhanced. They had added the telescope and sold him to the captain. She held in her revulsion at the coldness of men, where a landwalker became less of a person when they lost a part. How easily they turned a sick or injured person into a pile of coins to feed their endless greed. Little wonder they would sell her, she was only half a woman.
"What of Fenton? Where does he come from?" Another question bubbled in her mind, did he have a mate and young waiting onshore somewhere?
"He's the same as me," Timmy said, puffing his lean chest out as though he took great pride in having something in common with the older man. "We both came from the ore-mancers."
"Oh?" She had not noticed any mechanical parts to Fenton, perhaps they lay under his clothes? Heat rose up her torso at the thought of stripping him bare to find his enhancement. "What does he do?"
The lad's voice dropped to a low whisper. "He makes the others afraid of him."
"Why are they scared of him?" Ailin's stomach rolled, was there something she missed about the landwalker? He was tall and broad, and yet exuded a gentleness at odds with his size.
Timmy cast around, as though making sure they were truly alone and then leaned in closer over the board. "He controls the kraken."
Her heart skipped a beat. "The kraken?"
Ailin's mind spun. The kraken was the most feared thing that dwelt in the darkest depth of the ocean. Vicious and cruel, it would rip another creature apart and then leave the pieces to drift on the tide. Her people thought it mad, driven insane by a constant blood lust that surged through its enormous form. Even their fiercest warriors spoke of it in hushed whispers, least the word vibrate through the water and reach its ears. How could Fenton be tied to such a monstrosity without being tainted by it?
Timmy continued. "Fenton must summon it whenever the captain tells him to, and order it to do as Captain Reis wants."
That explained the tattoo he wore, a visible sign of his invisible tie to the kraken. But how could a landwalker control a primordial beast that dwelt far beneath the water? A hundred questions rose to the tip of her tongue but remained unasked as a heavy step shook the stairs and the pieces on the board jumped. Men rattled down into the hold and filled the space.
"What's going on, Timmy?" Reis stood with one hand on an overhead timber. He scowled at the game in progress. The captain's black clothing relieved by the red sash around his waist, like a line of blood.
Timmy leapt to his feet. "Mr Fenton suggested I teach Ailin to play, to pass the time."
The scowl deepened and black eyes turned to rack the mermaid. "Don't try your siren tricks on the boy. No man here will free you, not unless he wants to serve himself up in your place." He struck out and the board flew across the room and the carved pieces rolled across the floor.
On the back swing, he struck the boy who cried out and scurried to a far corner of the room. The patch over one eye came loose and the half-light glinted on the metal embedded in his eye socket.
The captain levelled a finger at the child who held one hand to the side of his face. "Get up to your post, Timmy, and no more wasting time with the fish."
He gulped and shot a look to Ailin but she couldn't meet his hurt gaze. The boy's feet scrabbled to make purchase on the smooth floor, and it took him a few attempts to stand and place his feet under him. Then he scuttled up the stairs.
"Dinger, Yusuf!" The captain shouted over his shoulder and two men stepped forward. Both were as broad as barrels, but one a good foot
A black patch bulged over one eye and the other held a serious gaze as the child set up the board. He caressed and named each piece and explained how it moved.
She tried to engage him in conversation but he held tight to his words. She only learned that he had lost the eye as a babe and his parents sold him to the ore-mancers, the men who worked magic with flesh and metal to be enhanced. They had added the telescope and sold him to the captain. She held in her revulsion at the coldness of men, where a landwalker became less of a person when they lost a part. How easily they turned a sick or injured person into a pile of coins to feed their endless greed. Little wonder they would sell her, she was only half a woman.
"What of Fenton? Where does he come from?" Another question bubbled in her mind, did he have a mate and young waiting onshore somewhere?
"He's the same as me," Timmy said, puffing his lean chest out as though he took great pride in having something in common with the older man. "We both came from the ore-mancers."
"Oh?" She had not noticed any mechanical parts to Fenton, perhaps they lay under his clothes? Heat rose up her torso at the thought of stripping him bare to find his enhancement. "What does he do?"
The lad's voice dropped to a low whisper. "He makes the others afraid of him."
"Why are they scared of him?" Ailin's stomach rolled, was there something she missed about the landwalker? He was tall and broad, and yet exuded a gentleness at odds with his size.
Timmy cast around, as though making sure they were truly alone and then leaned in closer over the board. "He controls the kraken."
Her heart skipped a beat. "The kraken?"
Ailin's mind spun. The kraken was the most feared thing that dwelt in the darkest depth of the ocean. Vicious and cruel, it would rip another creature apart and then leave the pieces to drift on the tide. Her people thought it mad, driven insane by a constant blood lust that surged through its enormous form. Even their fiercest warriors spoke of it in hushed whispers, least the word vibrate through the water and reach its ears. How could Fenton be tied to such a monstrosity without being tainted by it?
Timmy continued. "Fenton must summon it whenever the captain tells him to, and order it to do as Captain Reis wants."
That explained the tattoo he wore, a visible sign of his invisible tie to the kraken. But how could a landwalker control a primordial beast that dwelt far beneath the water? A hundred questions rose to the tip of her tongue but remained unasked as a heavy step shook the stairs and the pieces on the board jumped. Men rattled down into the hold and filled the space.
"What's going on, Timmy?" Reis stood with one hand on an overhead timber. He scowled at the game in progress. The captain's black clothing relieved by the red sash around his waist, like a line of blood.
Timmy leapt to his feet. "Mr Fenton suggested I teach Ailin to play, to pass the time."
The scowl deepened and black eyes turned to rack the mermaid. "Don't try your siren tricks on the boy. No man here will free you, not unless he wants to serve himself up in your place." He struck out and the board flew across the room and the carved pieces rolled across the floor.
On the back swing, he struck the boy who cried out and scurried to a far corner of the room. The patch over one eye came loose and the half-light glinted on the metal embedded in his eye socket.
The captain levelled a finger at the child who held one hand to the side of his face. "Get up to your post, Timmy, and no more wasting time with the fish."
He gulped and shot a look to Ailin but she couldn't meet his hurt gaze. The boy's feet scrabbled to make purchase on the smooth floor, and it took him a few attempts to stand and place his feet under him. Then he scuttled up the stairs.
"Dinger, Yusuf!" The captain shouted over his shoulder and two men stepped forward. Both were as broad as barrels, but one a good foot
Similar Books
