Empire's Exile by Marian L Thorpe

Author:Marian L Thorpe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arboretum Press
Published: 2018-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Part III

...A TOWERING PRIDE IN his sensibility, and an endearing disposition to be a hero. Fry

Chapter Thirteen

I THOUGHT I WAS A GOOD sailor, but those first days on a Marai ship taught me otherwise. Even well-ballasted with rocks, the ship lacked the stability I was used to on Dovekie, and until we had become used to the sway, everyone but the Marai men—and even one or two of them—was seasick and wretched. I cannot imagine what the voyage would have been like in bad weather. But the sun shone, and the wind blew steadily from the west, the rectangular sail billowing out and sending us forward. By the third day out, I had found my sea-legs and my stomach had stopped writhing.

Turlo looked pale and drawn, but his spirits were high this morning. Cillian and Sorley were less cheerful, being careful with the food provided for breakfast. As the morning went on and breakfast stayed down, Sorley especially began to recover. Mid-morning, he approached Cillian, who was sitting, arms around his knees, doing nothing. Recovering, I thought; three days of seasickness on top of his efforts at Sylana had left him drained. Sorley crouched beside him. “Imirdh xache liovha, mo charaidh?[7]" he said.

“Xache?” Cillian replied, clearly puzzled.

“Thá[8]. Faich[9].” He opened the skin bag he carried, to take out intricately carved game pieces. They must be part of Irmgard's treasure. How did he convince her to let him use them? Cillian took one, turning it in his fingers. “Hálainn[10],” he murmured.

“Thá,” Sorley agreed. From beneath his arm he took a rolled kidskin, spreading it out on the deck to reveal inked black squares alternating with plain ones. Suddenly, Cillian grinned. “Lena,” he called, “come here, would you?” He gave me the game piece. “Hold it behind your back, in one hand. You choose,” he said to Sorley.

“Left,” Sorley said. I held out the game piece.

“I will go first,” Sorley elected. “It is the only advantage I will have, no doubt.”

Cillian would be all right, I decided. I had been too sick myself these last days to give him the attention I thought I should have. Not that there was much I could do. I had ginger root, dug at the lake, and I had made a tea with it for us all, but if it was effective, the results didn't last for long. I couldn't keep the anash down, either, but I didn't think it mattered: I had been drinking it regularly the last time we made love, and there would be no other time now until Casil, at least.

I made my way to the stern, where Turlo stood. “Feeling better?” I asked him.

“Aye. But I know why I didn't choose the ships when I was twelve.”

“I did, and it didn't help. Every boat is different. We should be fine now, unless we hit bad weather,” I told him.

“Then let's hope we don't,” he replied with feeling. I glanced back at where the two men played xache.

“Thank you for that,” I said, indicating the game with a movement of my head.

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