Daughter of Tide and Illusion

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jai opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his cabin, heart racing in his chest. That dream...he hadn't had it in months. And this time it had changed, yet it felt the same. There was just one other person with him, Lyv, and their daughter.

A little boy who had to be seven or so, though still small for his age. His body was littered with scars, including one that cut across his right eye, making it a cloudy blue and lighter than the other navy one. Even though he didn't know who this little boy was, he still felt that he loved him. No, he wasn't his and Lyv's son, but he was theirs in a different sense. And with the silent question he'd asked Lyv and her answering smile and nod...well, there was a reason for the seemingly strong connection between the boy and their daughter.

Pushing himself up to sit, Jai reached over to grab his tunic, slipping it on before grabbing his boots. Though he could still feel the movement of the ship, it wasn't going as fast as it had been when he'd gone to sleep the night before. Shouts sounded from up above as the crew prepared for them to dock, letting him know they had finally reached their destination after three weeks of travel.

As soon as he reached the deck, the twin cities of Azam and Ajolak came into full view. Both were huge with a million or so people living in each, but they were separate and ruled by two families who Jai had known practically all his life. A wide river divided the land, connecting them by a steel and stone bridge, which had been standing for centuries. And on either side of that bridge stood two hundred-foot statues of armor-clad warriors for whom the cities were named after, watching out over the water and protecting them.

He found Gideon and Thia leaning against the deck railing with warm drinks in one hand and a breakfast of buttered toast and jam in the other. Jai himself wasn't hungry, not after that dream.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Thia greeted when he came up to them. "Thank you for finally waking or else you would have found that I'd thrown Gideon overboard."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Gideon sighed before taking a bite of his toast. "All I'm trying to do is make you fall in love with me. Is that too much to ask? Too bad Erly won't be back for a few days since you let her stay in Eld for a little while. At least she loves me."

The half-sorceress slapped his face gently and grinned at him.

"What's got your stomach in a knot?" Gideon asked Jai then, seeing the slight frown on his mouth.

"Nothing," he lied, shaking his head. "Have you thought of any plans of what to do once we've docked?"

"Yes," Thia nodded. "We all need proper showers, but especially Gideon. Maybe we could walk the streets a little later, try to see if we hear anything of interest. I figured we'd stay here for a day or two, then head north toward Filwey since that's where we think Lyv was last at once Erly's back and we get some horses."

"I thought that was always the plan?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but..."

"But, like you said, we're going to stick around here for a few more days instead of heading out immediately. You know there will undoubtedly be rumors, especially when the whole of Ethran got word of what happened back home. Maybe we'll hear whispers of a foreign female with a silver streak in her burgundy hair."

Lyv's image popped into Jai's head then. He'd only gotten to know her as Alberich and Bridget's daughter for a little over a week...and then she left. There was only a short time he got to see her as she truly was, half-Fae and half-sorceress with burgundy hair and a silver streak, pointed ears like her father's, her mother's features, and their combined magic. Now, it had been almost eight months since they parted ways...and though it wasn't long, it felt like a lifetime to him.