Mariner's Luck: Scarlet and the White Wolf: Book 2 by Kirby Crow

Author:Kirby Crow [Crow, Kirby]
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy - Epic, Fantasy, Fiction, Epic, General, Fantasy - General, Fantasy - Series, Fiction - General, Gay, Fiction : Fantasy - General
ISBN: 9781603704915
Publisher: Torquere Press
Published: 2008-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

6.

T'aishka

"Liall, did I hear you say this was good for us?"

"Quite good. First rule of travel: make friends with your new climate."

"I don't think it wants to be f-friends,” Scarlet stuttered, his teeth chattering.

They were getting very close to Rshan. The Ostre Sul had passed through the Circle—the invisible line drawn on maps that terminated the normal spans of day and night—twelve days ago. The farther north they drew, the less light they saw, and all was shrouded in a gray nothingness in which there was no sun and no stars. There was nothing to steer by this far into the cold seas, no landmark or constellation in the bland sky, only the compass needle by the helm that arrowed the ship dead north for weeks. Liall watched Scarlet observe this change in the sky and saw how it frightened him, but when the pedlar began speaking of disasters and portents, Liall demonstrated the celestial mechanics of the event with a lighted candle and a ball of wax, showing Scarlet how the light could only shine on certain parts of the ball during the year. After that, Scarlet relaxed and ceased viewing the sky with trepidation, though he did wonder often and aloud how they managed to keep their feet on the ground if the world was spinning as Liall claimed. He also wanted to know what the stars were, and if they had worlds that circled their warming light as Nemerl did, and what manner of people lived here, but to these, Liall had no answers.

It was freezing on deck, the air biting as fangs, and Scarlet shivered even under the heavy coat he was bundled into. His hands were gloved with thick, fur-lined leather and his arms were wrapped around his body, and still his slight frame rattled with shivers. Each new gale stole his breath away and clawed tears from his eyes. Scarlet bore it all without complaint, grinning at Liall over the high neckline as he blew his warm breath down into the coat's shell, conserving as much heat as possible.

"I am not trying to be cruel,” Liall said over the sound of the wind. “I am exposing your blood to the temperature. It is far colder than this in Rshan during the winter months, and I do not know how long we will be there. The same is done with children."

"I'm not your child,” Scarlet said immediately, with faint annoyance.

But Liall was afraid. Scarlet was already dangerously weakened by the voyage and his earlier sickness, not to mention the beating he had taken. Liall feared that if some measure was not taken to strengthen Scarlet, he would fall prey to the first illness that came along.

An extended gust blew over them, pushing chunks of slushy ice against the hull, and Scarlet began to shiver uncontrollably. Liall reached inside his coat and produced a silver flask that he had kept warm near his skin. Tipping off the cap, he took a swallow before handing it to Scarlet.

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