On the run from his fate of misery, Cole finds a job on a ship. The job helps him to escape the plans of his father, but it puts him into a series of events that takes him far from the sheltered life he had been living.
His one true wish is to find...
Cole closed the door behind him while Tan spun around to face him. “Would you marry me?” Cole stared at him. “Did you just propose to me?” “Well… Yeah… If we can find my dad, he can talk to your dad and make the arrangements with him instead, you could marry me instead of lady Shirola. If it’s a fleet your dad wants, my dad’s fleet is the biggest on the Marmorian seas. He can make a better deal and make us betrothed instead… I mean… If you want to…” Tan’s enthusiasm faded while he gave Cole a nervous look. The shock slowly calmed down while the suggestion sunk in. Cole took a deep breath before he nodded. “Yeah. I would. Sounds great.” Tan’s tense shoulders relaxed and he took a breath of relief. With two long strides he walked over to Cole and gave him a hard hug. “Sorry for ambushing you with it, but I think it’s the only way. We can’t be on the run forever, and this way we would be free to go wherever we want.” Cole smiled and rubbed Tan’s back. “It’s a great idea. I would much rather marry you than anyone else. I just hope we can find your dad before anyone else finds us.” “Yeah…” Tan took a step back with a concerned look, “He normally hunts in the Dreki Sea. That’s pretty far from here… We could change course and go around Orison and Nozent, but that’s dangerous waters. The best way would be to cross Middvatter, but then we must follow the coast of Orison all the way down to the canal between Cruor and Nozent while people are looking for us… I got a letter from dad about a month ago. I think he said he would travel between Camun in Nozent and the harbors of Theron during this month.” Tan walked over to his desk.
Tan found the letter and opened it. “Yeah. He will be visiting Camun a few times and travel through the Therison canals. That makes it easier to find him, but it will be risky. The Therison canals are full of ships all year.” Tan met Cole’s gaze. Cole had no suggestions to bring to the plan. It didn’t feel right to make Tan and his crew take all that risk.
Tan gave him a soft smile and came over to give him a hug. “We’ll think of something. We could say we left you in Eldow while you hide somewhere on the ship or something.” Cole sighed and hugged him back. “I don’t like you taking such a risk.” “Don’t be silly. I don’t mind taking a risk for my husband.” Cole couldn’t hold back a smile. “Well, if your mind is set on it, I can’t stop you.” “You’re absolutely right about that.” Cole sighed and hugged him tighter.
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Cole stood in the bow of the ship, scanning the horizon. It had been a few tense days from Eldow towards Nara, constantly avoiding other ships and taking detours to stay away from people. A harder part was still to come when they needed to get through the gap between Caleum and Orison. They had been spotted in Nara and they strongly suspected Jock to be the person behind the observation. They had no idea who he might have told about them.
A small spec of white made Cole lift his monocular for a closer look. The ship turned out to be too small to be of any threat. He lowered the monocular again and sighed. It felt like he was going paranoid as a lookout, but he needed to do his part. It was only for a few more hours. After that, they would be safe in Dark waters – for a few days at least.
