Map of Ember and Moonlight

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

It only took them three more days to reach the port town. And in that time, Amory and Lyv spoke little, but the touches were more frequent. Like when she'd smile at him and brush her thumb across his cheek. When he'd help secure their things on the saddles and their hands would brush. Or when he took over braiding her hair one evening after she'd gone off to wash up in a nearby stream. She's laughed when he moved her hands, asking how he knew how to.

"I have a sister," was his answer. He couldn't help leaning down to kiss the side of her neck once he'd finished either.

Just as he'd left it when he first arrived in Escarral, the port town was merely a few buildings circling one larger boathouse. They arrived late in the afternoon and the twenty or so fishermen he and Gideon had met before were just starting on their supper, along with the nightly bonfire on the beach.

Lyv had introduced herself as such, not Audry like she did when she met others for the first time. Of course, they knew who she was, taking off their caps and bowing their heads respectfully.

And then practically made her one of the family. He hadn't heard her laugh as much as she did in the four days they stayed with them. It was a sound he was going to miss, for sure. One he could not wait to hear again once he came back. But he knew when he did come back, everything would be different.

The first night as they ate dinner, Lyv listened to their stories of their last month-long trips. She had stolen Amory's cloak to put over her own to keep out the chill, even as the bonfire blazed in front of them.

One particular man named Irveng, who was fifty-something with a front tooth missing, was one who loved crafting stories with words. "Girly, you would like tha open waters, but get too close to the Fae land..."

"And what?" Lyv questioned. She gave a sidelong glance at Amory, trying to hide her smile.

"'Cause the closer you get...well, it ain't just the fishies yer catchin' in the waters then."

"Don't listen to him, princess," a younger man, Mal, laughed. "He swears he caught a mermaid in the waters a few miles from Blackloch."

"Mermaids?" This time, she looked up at Amory. "There are mermaids in the waters of Dalcaine?"

"Of course," he nodded, grinning. "Why do you think Asturia has the greatest navy in all the lands? They do not just have the fastest ships or the greatest captains and crew. They have others who serve from under the surface."

"Your man there," Irveng started, pointing at Amory. "He told us some stories of his own about the merfolk. And a certain one with a blue tail and silver hair that caught his attention on the way back to Ayveri from Blackloch..."

Lyv raised both eyebrows at that as they all started laughing. "Okay, I am definitely going to have to hear this story..."

"No, you are not," Amory told her.

"You're right...and I bet Gideon will tell me the whole story once you are off on your way to Dalcaine. Just please do not be wooing any more mermaids once you're there, all right, love? Mal promised to teach me how to properly filet a fish tomorrow. So, if you come back and have met a special mermaid, I might have to try my knew skills on her."

The men sitting around the bonfire howled with laughter and Amory grinned.

How had he lived this long without having her in his life?