Starsinger

Tall Tales

Aaron woke at dawn, huddled under his cloak and a spare roll of canvas, leaning against the wood railing of the ship. Dawn came earlier when there was nothing between you and the horizon but waves. He was getting used to it. He could have slept in the cabin, but the dark room was cramped enough. Instead Aaron chose to sleep on deck with the rest of the sailors, along with Jace and Sapphire. Delia stayed in the cabin with Raelyn to keep her safe.

So far it had been better than he had expected. The days were unseasonably warm and the sound of the waves lapping against the hull lulled him to an easy sleep each night. This was the only unpleasant part, when morning broke frosty and wet against his skin.

Aaron wiped the dewiness from his face and rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them up. He pulled the cloak around his shoulders as he stood.

"Good morning."

The voice came from above him. Aaron glanced up and nearly choked. "Mistress Robin?"

Raelyn was clinging to the rigging, her travel dress knotted tightly around her ankles to create a billowing pair of pantaloons. She took a deep breath, then released the ropes and dropped to the deck with a whoop.

Aaron dove for her. She landed unsteadily but kept her footing, leaning on Aaron's outstretched arms for balance. She was breathing hard, her green eyes flashing with adrenaline. "That was fun."

"Good," Aaron said, "because you're never doing it again."

"You sound like Jace."

"Oh hey, another person who would panic if you fell to your death."

"I didn't fall, I jumped down," Raelyn objected. "And I did it without hurting myself."

"She's a natural." Matty called from higher in the rigging. He clambered down until he was hanging just beside them. "Fearless. Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on her."

Maybe that shouldn't have been reassuring coming from a freelancer, but Aaron felt some part of him relax anyway. The Drake's first mate didn't seem to have an insincere bone in his body. Raelyn had spent the days badgering the crew to teach her everything about the ship, about sailing, about their languages and the lands they'd come from. Matty seemed the most charmed by Raelyn's curiosity, and the most eager to answer her endless questions.

"I have no doubt," Aaron told Matty. He turned back to Raelyn. "Still, if I see you more than a few feet off the deck of this ship again, I will haul you back down here myself.

Raelyn shook her head sadly at Matty. "My guards get more insolent every day."

Aaron was just searching for a clever retort when he heard someone call his name. Sapphire crossed the reardeck towards him.

"Jace was wondering when you'd get up," she said when she got close enough. "Told me to keep an ear out."

"And here I thought you just missed me," Aaron said.

"I can't do both?"

A flash of teal light burst over the reardeck with a bang.

Aaron spun to shield Raelyn from the blast just as Sapphire dropped to the deck, grabbing the knives from her boots.

The light blinked out of existence as quickly as it appeared, leaving Delia standing shell-shocked at the far end of the reardeck with Neal's string of stones clutched in her palm, and Neal himself doubled-over to contain a wave of uncontrollable laughter.

"You jackass," Delia shouted.

"I didn't think you were actually going to cast it—"

"You said it was a godsdamned firefly light!"