Rising tide - Mel Odom [19]
Jherek knew that wasn't true. Getting a berth on a ship's crew had been hard, even in Velen. If it hadn't been for Madame litaar and his experience working in Shipwright Makim's yard, Captain Finaren wouldn't have given him a second glance. If not for Butterfly, he didn't know what ship he would have crewed aboard. There were too many experienced sailors in the Duchy of Cape Velen, and none of those bore his sins.
"In the end," Hagagne went on, "Merchant Lelayn agreed that the cap'n standing up for you was good business. Said when he got back to Athkatla, he'd put another cargo together and ship with Butterfly again."
"That is good news," Jherek said.
"Aye. With the cap'n and Butterfly, we'll do all right. Not many got the rep of either of those."
It was something to take pride in and Jherek did, even though the edicts of Ilmater preached against such feelings. He glanced back at the Amnians below. "I'll wish them good luck in their fishing."
"From up here," Hagagne suggested.
"Aye."
Hagagne gave him a side-long glance. "And hope that the lady wins so that she doesn't have to live up to her end of the wager?"
Jherek's face burned. Thoughts of the young woman sharing her bed silks with anyone didn't set easy with him even though she wasn't what he'd thought she was.
"Don't be so embarrassed, lad. Your heart's full of love at your age, and there's nothing wrong with it, but you could do with a little seasoning, if you'd allow yourself. I know some of the tavern wenches who wouldn't mind a tumble if you'd only ask."
Ignoring the comment, Jherek gazed up at the darkening clouds. The storm seemed more threatening than ever. The shadows had chased the green from the Sea of Swords, turning even the water dark. Off in the distance, pale flickering lightning knifed through the sky.
"You reading again?" Hagagne asked, picking up the book.
"Aye."
"Never found a knack for reading meself," the crewman said, "but I like being read to well enough. What's this book about?"
"A liege's man," Jherek said. "He joined the king's army to fight against the goblin hordes threatening the kingdom, only to find that he's falling in love with his liege's lady."
"Does she know?"
Jherek nodded. "The lady's marriage was an arranged one. She doesn't love her liege. She loves the warrior."
"Perhaps when you have time, you'd read this one to me." Hagagne picked up the thick volume. "I'd predict a short, unhappy ending, but I tell by the heft of this book that's not the case."
"No." Jherek loved the intricacies of the plot, loved the way the liege's man was at war with his own feelings and the rules he'd laid down for himself. He still didn't know how the story would end. "Aye, I’ll read it to you if you'd like."
Hagagne clapped him on the back. "Now there's a good lad. I shall look forward to it."
Jherek replaced the volume in his kit, brought to him earlier by a crewman the captain had sent up. His eye wandered back to the cog's wake to study the fishing lines. He and Hagagne watched in silence for a few moments, then watched Yeill's line suddenly draw taut.
A cheer rose from the throats of the Amnians, showing the effects of the wine they'd been drinking. It died away when the shark's dorsal fin broke the water.
The triangle of cartilaginous flesh looked impossibly large. The brute's gray mottled head broke water next, the fishing line trapped in its snarl of teeth.
The cheers turned to a panicked chorus of fear.
Jherek rose to his feet, yelling down from the crow's nest. "Cut the line! Cut the line!"
The line was stout, unbreakable. Butterfly had a large crew and she had to feed them. The Sea of Swords held big fish, and the captain wanted none of them to get away once they were hooked. The enchantment on the lines he'd paid for kept them from breaking, though they could be cut. Still, two men had been pulled from Butterfly's deck before.
Captain Finaren himself moved first,