Shadow War: Book 3 of the Shadows Rising Trilogy (WIP Rough Draft)

16. Vorrim

12th of Eylestre, Continued

Denzig had been steaming north for several hours, stopping in the occasional village along his route to drop off and pick up parcels and special deliveries. Not only was he a decent human, he was conveniently heading the right direction, taking us closer and closer to the border with Altyr and away from the Magis of Vreis and their wanted person's bulletins, all at a speed we wouldn't have been able to travel on land.

That would end, quite possibly sooner rather than later. We were coming up on Vorrim, a town built around the restorative qualities of its hot natural baths and medicinal mineral tonics , or so quoth the River Destinations pamphlet that fell out of the maps packet I found in Denzig's kitchen. The mineral tonics and bathwater were hardly cause for concern. The star that designated Vorrim a Port Authority checkpoint was making my stomach churn.

I had made use of my time by figuring out Denzig's tiny bathing system, washing my hair and putting on a clean blouse and skirt. It felt strange to be doing normal things only a day after losing everything that had become normal, but my dirty clothes weren't doing me any favors, and becoming smelly wouldn't make a good impression on anyone. Bad impressions were generally a bad idea when trying desperately to hide.

Arramy, on the other hand, had done something actually useful. Typical.

When I came topside, he had just finished wiping down the forward railings and gunwales with riverman's wax and was gathering a collection of scrapers and rags into a tool bucket. He picked up the bucket and came ducking back along the narrow walkway between the wall of the pilot's nest and the side of the boat.

He paused when he saw me, his eyes finding mine for a moment before sliding down my person. Then he glanced away and edged around me. "You're looking a bit better."

"Thank you. I think." I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. I hadn't grabbed my coat, and the air had a bite of winter to it, the scent of frost unmistakable in spite of the early afternoon sun peeking through the clouds overhead.

Arramy stowed the cleaning bucket in one of the deck lockers beneath the transom and turned back to face me.

A chilly breeze was teasing a few curls free of the combs I had tried to secure them with, and I lifted a hand, trying to snag them and tuck them back in. Arramy went still, watching me, and for some daft reason my heartbeat skipped a peg.

Again, he looked away, then went stumping past me and down the stairs into the hold. 

What had gotten up his nose? "You should probably take a turn in the bath closet," I called after him. "You smell like an jar of sealant."

A door opened below, releasing the sound of water already running in the tiny upright bathing stall beside the scullery. Arramy's brogue was ripe with sarcasm as he yelled back, "Why thank you, my dear! I never would have thought of that on my own."

I rolled my eyes and straightened, only to find Denzig giving me a knowing, cheeky grin through the aft window of the pilot's nest.

If I had to guess, I'd say he was buying our ruse.

Which meant that so far, we had convinced him we were a couple.

Oddly flustered by that thought, I wheeled around as though I had seen something interesting in the rocks on the riverbank. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt... whatever this strange tension was, this itch at the back of my mind shaped like Captain Rathe Arramy of the Coalition Navy.

No. I was going to slip up if I kept thinking like that. He had to be Kaen in my head. Kaen with the dark hair and the grey eyes and the fierce glower and the deep, raspy Northlander brogue. Kaen, who knew how to fix boat engines and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Kaen, who I was supposed to be convincingly in love with.