A War Of Traitors( ARTK, Book 2)

Chapter 89

Juhna 26th, 3329 A.G

Out here, where there was nothing but a few islands too small to be mapped as far as the eye could see- Renard had never felt more alone. Almost all soldiers were asleep- and Auricula's crew too focused on keeping the ship on course too make conversation.

In a way, having the entire upper deck to himself was peaceful. He still saw flashes of his parents and Amery every now and then, but he'd pushed them aside because he had no other choice. It was that- or be useless until they hit land again, and he'd been trusted enough to lead thousands.

  He would miss Andre and Imania- Maude and his wife most of all.  He shouldn't have left how he did, he recognized days later- but it was too late now.  He should have ignored the eyes looking on- jumped from the rowboat and at least kissed her again...... but instead he'd only stared. When the ships had sailed far enough away he could barely make out the shapes of those on the shore, she'd turned to leave.... and he'd forced himself to do the same. The crew had asked for him- for a reason he couldn't remember now as he listened to the waves.

  "Father?" He remembered saying through cracked, parched lips- when the lack of water began to take hold of him and hallucinations had really started to set it. His father had been taken in an ocean dweller attack the previous day, and his mother's body had drifted away that morning- but six days without water and six days next to death really did something to a twelve year old. "Father?"

He stood over the water like a god- and walked away like one too. Before Renard could begin to protest, he'd disappeared.

  It was another full day before traders from Dedor found his ships ruins- fed and gave him water before returning him to the island. He'd been a poor leader for weeks then, unable to do anything without bursting into tears in front of his people- so his council had all but ruled in those days. For years, an aura of grief hung over the island. People had loved his parents- and who could blame them? His mother had been kind to nearly everyone- save his bastard sister the one time they met, and Danyll Otes because she simply hadn't liked him. His father was kind as well- but a far better lord than Renard ever believed himself to be.

He'd found some comfort in the fact that, as the lord of the only inhabited island- men and women alike offered themselves freely. Over the years, before he'd left for Ebon- he'd lain with so many it was a miracle he had no known bastards.

His appetite had all but disappeared when he reached the continent, but he didn't mind. He'd been given other ways to occupy his time- just as he would again soon.

"Can't sleep?" Tuyon said, suddenly leaning against the gunwale. "There's two full sacks of Valerian-"

"No." Renard shook his head. "None of that."

Tuyon shrugged. Like everyone else, Uwen had fallen asleep hours ago. He would have taken some of the root- but he'd discovered very early in life that it didn't affect him at all until he took enough to keep him out for days.

Renard sighed. Tuyon was an incredible advisor- and Nara knew he'd need someone like him in Dedor, but he was no Andre. They wouldn't be able to speak like they'd been friends for years- not yet at least.

"What in the hells are you doing?" Andre'd asked once, watching him aim a bow across the upper deck on his trade ship, a few days after he'd found him.

"I-"

"Hold your arm like this." He'd interrupted, moving it to a more proper form. "Otherwise you'll end up shooting one of my crew members."

Renard smiled. He hadn't been a horrible shot before- but Andre'd taught him so much about how not to die when fighting another person. He could now trust himself not to die in battle- to save another person even, and after him.....

Nara'd also had something to do with it.

  "My king-" Tuyon started. "You're of no use to us if you lose your mind from lack of sleep."

    Renard had lost it before, but not from a lack of sleep. "I'm only your king because I married into that title. Otherwise.... you would have known me as some distant trade partner-"

  "And yet I don't." Tuyon interrupted. "You're no Nara,  but you're a strong enough leader when you need to be. I may not have known you in your earlier years.. but I believe you made the right decisions for your people when you were trying. Where has this come from?"

  Renard said nothing for a while, because the moment he did he feared it would happen. He knew without a doubt that Nara would be Queen of an entire continent the next time they met- no matter what it took, but could he deliver a second?

  "What if I fail her?" He finally got out. "She doesn't exactly have the most...... forgiving nature."

  He'd stood by and watched while she stabbed a woman who'd claimed to be with child- watched as Mace had rats put to his stomach( though he'd certainly deserved it), and as a lord was executed before his wife and son- an he hadn't felt bad for any of them.

   Being around his wife had changed him, but she were still the most brutal of the two.

  "You will not." Tuyon began. "The soldiers on these boats would give their lives for her- for you, even. They would fight until they were missing all four limbs: follow nearly any order given because they both fear and love your wife. If you fail her, it won't be because you're weak. It'll be because every single one of them are dead. Try to get some sleep, my king."