The Sea Devil's Eye - Mel Odom [120]
The lump returned to Jherek's throat. It was all he could do to nod and walk through the door. He took the stairs from the nearly empty cargo hold that still stank of slavery and walked up on deck.
Morning tinted the eastern sky a rosy pink peering through wheat-colored clouds. Sabyna Truesail stood in the middle of it on the forecastle deck, peering east, in the direction Azure Dagger was headed.
Jherek gazed at her with longing. Though the rising sun behind her reduced her to a silhouette, he could picture every line and even,' rounded curve of her. No matter what happened from this moment on, he knew he'd never forgot that sight.
He crossed the deck hurriedly and went up the steps to the forecastle.
"Lady, I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
She turned at his voice, and surprise lighted her eyes.
"So it would appear well worth the wait," she said. "Had I known, I'd have dressed accordingly."
She wore dark green breeches and a white shirt with her sleeves rolled to mid-forearm. She'd bathed and combed her hair, and the scent of lilacs was gentle around her. Jherek thought he'd never seen a lovelier woman in all his life.
"It's the shirt," he said lamely. "Glawinn loaned it to me."
"He has good taste."
"I'll tell him you thought so." Jherek paused, wondering how to continue. How did you tell someone you cared about that your father killed her brother?
"Jherek, about last night," Sabyna said, "I was perhaps out of line."
"Does that mean you've changed your mind about talking."
Instead of feeling relieved, Jherek was anxious, wanting to be done with the secret he kept. It was confusing.
"No, we're going to talk," she said adamantly. "I meant. it when I said I can't go on like this, but I think perhaps I could have waited for a better time or spoken somewhat less harshly."
"You did what you had to do, lady. I claim no foul there."
"Good, because I'm not leaving here without knowing your heart."
Jherek took a deep breath and said, "You know my heart, lady. It's my past you're unaware of." He paused, uncertain of where to begin.
"You said you were wanted," Sabyna said. "For what?"
"For things I never did, lady. I'm innocent of any crime, but I had the misfortune to be born the son of a bad man."
"No man is responsible for the mistakes his father has made."
"You may not feel that way after you hear the whole story." With a trembling hand, Jherek unfastened his sleeve, his eyes on Sabyna. "When I was twelve, I ran away from my father, from all the things that he did."
"That was a very brave thing to do."
Jherek forced himself to roll the sleeve up. "But I found running away didn't rescue me from my fathers heritage." Rolling over his arm, he showed her the tattoo of the flaming skull masked in chains.
Sabyna's face drained of color and her eyes filled with cold, hard tears. She wrapped her arms across her breasts and glared at him. "That's the mark of Bloody Falkane," she whispered.
Jherek nodded slowly and said, "Bloody Falkane-the man who killed your brother-is my father, lady."
Sabyna turned from him and walked woodenly to the prow railing.
Not knowing what else to do, Jherek followed after her. He stayed back, wishing he could comfort her. Why did it have to be her brother? But he knew that wasn't a fair question. There were a number of families who'd lost-brothers and fathers, and other family to the notorious crew of Bunyip and Bloody Falkane. It was only his ill luck that numbered Sabyna's family among their victims.
He stood quietly waiting. He had no words. All he could do was try to figure out how a day that was starting so beautifully could be so bad already.
"Anything," Sabyna croaked hoarsely as she turned around to face him with a face wet with tears and wracked with pain. *T was prepared for anything but that."
Jherek nodded but couldn't get a word past the lump in his throat. He looked at the deck between his feet and tried to think. Even if he could speak, what would he say?
Sabyna's startled scream ripped through the morning.