Skyrun

Chapter 21; Cast up the night.

Liam blinked at Sinclair, still trying to wrap his head around what he had just been told.

"So," he said slowly, "The secret you did not want to have people discover was that you have magic?"

The man nodded, seeming slightly amused at the bewilderment on his face. "Magic is not a gift that is readily appreciated among pirates... and I would sooner not have people like Coin attempt to turn on me. Thus, it is better kept a dire secret between Valentine and myself, and now, you."

"I'll guard this secret with my life, Sinclair. Truly."

"I should hope that you do; for yours and my sakes both."

Turning back to the front of the ship, Liam rested his palms on the edge of railing that separated him from miles and miles of thin air and fixated his stare on the shifting countryside below, his head lost in the cloud of bewildered thought. 

"So what happens next?" he asked suddenly, "Did you and Valentine start the crew after that?"

"More or less; Vix had a way with making friends, and she'd always help the broken and the beaten, giving them a second chance. Many were quite willing to follow her to the ends of this wretched world and I was no exception."

"And Ryder? What of him?"

Sinclair sighed, his body stiffening, brow furrowing. "Ryder and I were close once. Very close. We had met the summer I turned nineteen, and it soon became a fast friendship. Blood brothers we were, and I did not hesitate to trust that man with my life. He was a good worker, strong, valiant, and handsome enough that Valentine soon took notice."

"By then, she was my age, and though you may know her now as..." Sinclair struggled for words. "The promiscuous type, she was not always so. She flirted, yes, but it never went farther than that... until Ryder. He charmed her with his silver tongue and sweet Valentine naively believed him. Gods, I was so stupid then! To think that he had good intensions, I--" He faltered then, his words dying on his lips.

Liam nudged him slightly, not wanting to press too much, yet not wishing to never find out what had happened.

Thankfully, the quarter master went on bitterly without Liam having to pry.

"I thought the best of my friend... I had hoped he would be an excellent match for Valentine. But it was only when I journeyed down to her chambers one morning to find her sobbing on the edge of her bed that I realized how wrong I had been. He had left in the dead of night, taking both her chest of coins and heart with him, his web of flattery and lies of love crumbling to ash. And after that, Valentine never was quite the same again. I believe she fears to love-- or, rather, that she refuses to give any one man her heart ever again. And Ryder... he lives on as though nothing happened between them-- joining Vix's uncle's crew simply to spite her, no doubt."

"But Vix-- I mean, Valentine did not seem to be upset when she saw him." Liam burst out, unsure why he was trying to defend a man who had stolen so many things from his captain.

Sinclair gave him a withering look, replying coldly, "Oh, no? Then tell me why she drank herself to a stupor tonight?"

Falling silent, Liam did not bother coming up with an answer.

He had learned so many things tonight. Things not only of Sinclair's past, but of the captain's as well. And while he had not expected to hear quite so much of long buried memories, he was glad he had.

It made him feel less miserable about his own past for a start.

Looking at Sinclair once more, Liam felt a stir of pity course through him, though he did not say so. Instead, he let the silence wrap around them like a warm blanket, interrupted only by the distant sounds of Thorn's drunken laughter from the dinner table. Here, for a moment that flickered on and on, the two simply gazed at the stars that twinkled sharply above them, looking so close that Liam wonder if he could reach out to grab a handful. Perhaps then he would bring them to Valentine, watching as her face lit up with wonder, hearing her laughter as he weaved the starlight in her hair.

Oddly enough, such a thought brought to mind an old tune his sister had sung for him once, long, long ago... And though it may not have been the truly proper time for a bard's song, perhaps singing it might chase away the ghosts of the past that seemed to drag Sinclair's shoulders down even now.

A good song tended to do that, after all.

Taking a deep breath, Liam began; softly, gently, his voice carried little above the raucous noise from the table behind them, yet it was enough to reach the quarter master's ears, he was sure of.

     In the town of midnight, there was a maiden fair,

 She had a smile of moonlight, the stars were in her hair.

On summer nights she danced, with laughter in her eyes

        And with a silver spell of old, she cast up night.

               The night, the night, she cast up the night.

Gently he sang, his voice smooth and lilting as the words wound themselves in the air around them before being carried off by the quiet breeze.

The prince of darkness saw her, her laughter in his ears.

Her words and songs moved him, bringing him to tears.

With quiet steps he found her, he brought her starlight,

  And with ancient spells of old, they cast up the night.

         The night, the night, they cast up the night.

Sometime during the seventh line of the song, Liam had noted with some surprise that Sinclair was singing as well.

It was a pleasant thought, knowing he was not alone.

Thus, together, they continued the ballad, their voices mixing, yet still separate with Liam's voice higher in pitch and Sinclair's tending to be lower and smoother.

Either way, it made the boy smile slightly to know that the quarter master had such a pleasant singing voice. And as they neared the end of the song, he wondered what else he still did not know about Sinclair.

                              ........................................

AUTHOR'S NOTE; I hadn't wanted to split up Liam and Sinclair's conversation into two chapters, but the previous chapter was just getting TOO LONG. Also, I figured I'd throw in a song in this chapter since it's been awhile since I've written one in this book! I hope you liked it :) Also, don't forget to vote and maybe check out some of my other books if you are interested (like Enter Abyss, for example). Anyway, thanks so much for reading!

the_twilight_writer