Finding Destiny (35 page)

“You are a most worthy vessel,” He stated aloud. Then added in her mind,
Though technically, I have not filled you. Nor will I, for I will keep to My word, as promised. But I am pleased My Seer finds deep joy in you, and that your union is proving fruitful on many levels.

The smile that graced His lips was a gentle one. A loving one. Briefly closing His eyes, He vanished from the Seer King’s body. Devin, gazing at her with his own warm brown eyes, rose and descended from his throne with a warm smile of his own.

“... And I myself am pleased. Ruul has graced me with a day’s freedom, to properly celebrate this news. Petitions will be heard on the morrow. Tonight, let the whole kingdom rejoice!” he called out, reaching her side and lifting her hand for a brief kiss. With his free hand, he touched the section of stomach outlined by the lower two swaths of her sash. “We have a future son or daughter on the way.”

Looking up at him, loving him, Gabria realized she was no longer afraid.
Ruul?
she thought, shaping the name carefully.
Ruul? Can You hear me?

One eye blazed gold while the other remained brown. Devin flicked up his free hand, the one on the golden-eyed side. Gabria blinked and stared around her, taking in the colorfully inlaid walls of their winter palace bedchamber, which had abruptly replaced the body-filled, glass-walled chapel. Not to mention the startled faces of the maidservants, who were caught in the act of changing the bedding. One look at their sovereign and they quickly scuttled out, not even bothering to finish straightening the covers. Within seconds, the bedroom door banged shut, and moments after that, they could hear the muffled sound of the parlor door closing as well.

Devin-Ruul smiled and lifted her fingers once again to their shared lips.
You will not regret this ... and since I can tell you want to comment on it,
no
, it is not incest. Neither I nor My hosts have been related by blood to any of the women We have loved. Nor have My Seers loved more than one woman at a time. The right woman for each of them, hand-selected by Me.

I have simply loved all of them ... just as I love you. Just as
he
loves you.

She blushed, but cleared her throat and spoke her mind. Knowing that she safely
could
, with this particular God. “Just so long as
You
understand that I love Devin more than I love You. I’m not afraid of You anymore, and I do ... I do love You. I just love
him
more.”

I can live with that,
the golden-eyed half of her husband teased, while the brown-eyed half pulled her close and kissed her deeply. The two of them merged ... and suddenly she felt like she was being kissed all over, all at once, by a dozen hungry mouths.

Ruul chuckled in her mind, and the sensations increased.
Indeed. You can return the favor by introducing Me to this “crankman” machine of yours ... after the second or third round . . .

Gabria shuddered at that particular thought—but not, thankfully, from fear.

JENODAN ISLES

ONE

I
f I weren’t such a faithful man,
Ellett thought to himself, watching the crew of the
Parrot’s Ride
hauling on the ropes that shifted the cargo ship’s colorful sails,
I might have given up by now. But that does beg the question, Ruul,
he added, aiming that thought at his Patron Deity.
You prompted my king to tell me to set sail on
this
ship ... but this will be my fifth trip around the rim of the Jenodan Sea. When are these Jettan pirates going to show up, so I can
do
something about their predations?

He didn’t expect an answer. Even if his friend and liege were there beside him, he wouldn’t have expected a reply from Devin. Gods could help, but it didn’t mean they always would. Not after having given mortal men and women free will.
At least I can take comfort that Ruul
does
see all that happens in and around our borders. Which includes this sea. So I know I
will
encounter the pirates while on board this ship. Eventually.

Hopefully soon. As Captain of the Royal Guard, leader of the finest mage-warriors in all of Aurul, he really shouldn’t be assigned to a simple task like this. A good part of him itched to be back in command of his fellow guards. He did believe his Leftenant was competent, though he thought she was a bit too zealous as an organizer and not quite personable enough to lead with the greatest effectiveness.

I suppose it’s a good opportunity for Rahina to try her hand at command,
he allowed.
Not that I expect I’ll be giving up my post any time soon. But she needs to know just how difficult it is to lead people, not just command them. It takes flexibility to deal with different kinds of personalities, and an understanding of human nature. If she simply barks out a command and expects, say, Sergeant Briss to follow it without questioning ... well, I myself
earned
the right for him to follow me, by listening to his complaints, taking them seriously, and explaining in terms he could understand why certain things needed to be done in the Royal Guard way, rather than the way he thinks best. Some of his ideas have been quite good enough to implement, and
that
softened him ...

Ellett’s thoughts trailed off as the bo’sun shouted up at him from the middeck. “Hey, mage! Stop daydreaming and start working! We’re almost clear of the breakwater!”

And thus begins circuit number five ...
Lifting a hand in acknowledgment, Ellett sighed and straightened, tugging the folds of his plain, pale blue
eta
jacket more neatly into place. Brushing his fingertips over the forecastle railing, he traced strengthening runes onto the wood, tightening the hull and supporting the masts so that they would withstand the coming stresses.

Learning in his initial investigation that the
Parrot’s Ride
, a common, broad-bellied, Aurulan cargo ship wasn’t due to pull into the port nearest the winter palace for a handful of days, Ellett had given his prophecy a bit of thought. He’d realized quickly enough that if he tried to ride around on the ship as a member of the Royal Guard—captain or otherwise—every single sailor around the entire sea would talk about it.

That meant subterfuge, and it meant establishing himself as a more common sort of man. He had known he wouldn’t make a very good trader, though; most of the cargo carried by the
Parrot’s Ride
was purchased and hauled by its owner, the independent-minded Captain Livit, and very little of it freight bought by other people. Nor did Ellett think he had the right mind-set to be a good trader, since that required a different sort of diplomacy than juggling the personalities of some of the best battle-trained spellcasters in the kingdom. And he definitely couldn’t hide the fact that he was a mage for very long, though at least he could hide most of his magical strength.

The best option, therefore, had been to present himself as a ship’s mage. It had also meant a bit of maneuvering. Not only a two-day crash course in various nautical spells, but also a thorough investigation of the ship’s mage currently serving on board the
Parrot’s Ride
. A bit of manipulation, a letter from “an addendum to the estate of your late great-uncle, only just now uncovered” which detailed the funds to send said mage to one of the best Mage Academies, and the mage in question gleefully jumped ship as soon as he finished reading his mail and explaining this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—room and board and books included in the tuition price, which were actually being provided by the government and not any dead relative—to his captain.

Ellett had then arranged to be on hand when Captain Livit sent out word for any interested parties to audition for the vacancy in a series of tests ranging from a display of nautical spellcrafting to a set of Duels Arcane. The only part he had sweated was the display of spells. One did not become a member of the Royal Guard, never mind its commanding officer, if one were magically weak ... and one did not become a ship’s mage if one were exceptionally strong. There were far more lucrative positions available to the truly powerful spellcasters, after all.

More lucrative, and more interesting. Any mage who could manage the power and the responsibilities would go after the best possible job he or she could get, and ship’s mage wasn’t exactly the highest-paying career.

Once the ship was strengthened, Ellett cast two more spells. One was a downward curl of his left hand and a mnemonic murmur of words, which lowered the water pressure in front of the ship just a little bit. The bow dipped downward slightly, giving them a touch more in the way of speed.

The other spell required a swirling, cupping twist of his right wrist, fingers and spell spread to capture and entwine the winds blowing in from the west. Not that much was needed in the way of redirecting the wind, but in order for the ship to travel swiftly to the east, it actually needed to blow in slightly from one side or the other, and blow consistently. The bright red, green, and yellow sails snapped and filled, straining at the sheets—which weren’t the sheetlike sails, but which were instead the nautical term for ropes—holding them in place. He still didn’t know all of the terminology involved in sailing ships and other seaworthy things, but he was learning.

Tying in the threads of power to the rigging, which would anchor the spell and allow it to funnel the wind more accurately, Ellett relaxed his arms. Part of his mind had to stay cognizant of the trio of spells, but only as long as it would take them to reach the next port, half a day’s steady sail from here. Relaxing, Ellett leaned on the rail again, the short, pocketed sleeves of his
eta
bumping lightly against the rails.

In one of those pockets, he had tucked a kerchief and a viewing loupe, similar to the sort used by the slightly nearsighted Master of the Royal Retreat, back at the royal court. Unlike Master Souder’s looking glass, his was enchanted to act like a telescope, giving him an enlarged, stereoscopic view of the horizon. It was a very popular tool among those sailor types who could afford the expensive Artifacts. In the other pocket, he had tucked a small, hastily scribbled grimoire filled with his notes on nautical spells.

After having traversed the entire circumference of the great Jenodan Sea four times and a titch—their next port of call would be a city in the neighboring kingdom of Keket, and four ports farther along than his original starting point in Aurul—Ellett didn’t have to refer to his notes very often. Unless the weather changed noticeably, he would have nothing else to do. Of course, the sky was more cloudy than clear, with some tufts moving faster than others. That might herald the beginnings of a windstorm, or it might simply mean rain. Right now, the wind was in their favor, and a little rain wouldn’t hurt, given how hot and dry even the months of early summer could be.

I will have faith in my God ... I will have faith in His prophecy ... I will be bored out of my wits ...
Sighing, Ellett pulled his loupe-on-a-stick out of his sleeve. Giving the lenses a cursory polishing with the scrap of linen serving as his kerchief, he peered through the eye-pieces at the shore. They were pulling away from the eastern half of the port city of Cerulean Cove, easternmost town of any size on the Aurulan coast. From this angle, the magnification spells on the lenses allowed him to peek into the upper floors of the houses and other buildings they were leaving behind.

Such as the inn at the edge of the docks, which had several of its second-floor windows open, letting in the midmorning light.
Oh, here we go!
Ellett bit his lip, stifling the urge to laugh.
Someone not only loves the morning sun, but apparently has no compunction against making love to his or her companion . . . up against the wall, if I’m not mistaken. Although it’s such a small view, I
could
be mistaken.

The loupe came with a rune-chased band near the bottom of the shaft. If he chose to do so, he could have twisted it and heard an amplified version of whatever he was hearing, at a distance suitable to the focal point of the lenses ... in other words, just barely close enough to have heard, faintly, some of the louder, lustier sounds the pair were undoubtedly making.
Especially with her mouth that wide ... but I think I shall refrain
.

Lowering the viewing glass, he sighed for a different reason.
That’s another thing I haven’t had in a while. The crew is off-limits; Captain Livit carefully, monotonously explains it every few days, no fraternizing among the crew or the few passengers we may take on board. At least while on board the ship. We can romp all we like onshore, but that sort of thing isn’t meant to be brought on board.