“What? No orange schooner?” Marcus asked as the man approached.
He shrugged through the weight of the duffel. “Well, milord, you did say you wanted me to be unrecognized. Declan the Dandy is off scouring the western archipelagos, looking for undiscovered accounts of events in some of the ancient epics. Everyone knows that; you should’ve seen the crowd on the docks of Birsha when he left.” The man broke into a huge grin. “My brother takes such a child-like delight in portraying me; you should’ve seen his smile when I asked him to take the schooner to the archipelagos.”
“You never disappoint me, Declan,” Marcus said, gesturing for the man to walk with him. “That is why I had them summon you.”
All trace of banter and joviality disappeared from Declan’s demeanor as he fell into step with Marcus. “What’s the mission, sir?”
“Oh, no need to be so formal as all that. I have a new apprentice-”
“A new apprentice? Really?” Declan asked, turning his head to show Marcus his right eyebrow quirking upward. “I seem to recall you having a rather specific opinion on the idea of taking any new apprentices.”
“Yes…well…he came highly recommended by an old friend,” Marcus said. “In fact, my apprentice is why you are here. It is my intent for you to earn his trust and become an associate. It is not an infiltration but a protection detail hiding in plain sight. While you’re working on that, I would appreciate it if you would assist me in rounding out his training. There are many aspects of the world you have seen that I have not, and I feel the knowledge those experiences have given you would be of value to Gavin at some point in his life.
“I had not intended to bring you into this quite so soon, but I’m afraid the Lornithrasa forced my hand. They attacked a few days after Gavin arrived, and were it not for the intervention of an as-yet-unknown archer, the local Wraiths would not have had time to respond.”
“I see, milord,” Declan said as they walked, head lowered in thought and stepping aside for a crew of longshoreman moving toward the ship Declan had just departed. “Do you have any specifics in mind for my training curriculum?”
“Show him the weak points of the Art,” Marcus said, taking effort to avoid a coil of rope another longshoreman was preparing for a ship being towed in by another longboat. Fortunately, they were close to leaving the docks. “He also has a slave. I think learning your style of blade-work will be asset in the future…to both of them. That’s all that comes to mind right now. I leave the rest up to you. Oh, and I have arranged your usual quarters at the College.”
“Gavin?”
Gavin pulled his eyes away from the tome Marcus had set him to reading and saw Kiri standing at the edge of the table. He sat at the center of the long edge with his back to the library door. He could see her working her lower lip between her teeth and how her fingers fidgeted at her waist. She’s nervous about something.
“Yes, Kiri?”
“Can we…I mean, am I disturbing you?”
Kiri wore one of the dresses the tailor had made. It was green with silver trim and hugged almost every curve Kiri possessed. Fabric went up her chest and back to join at her neck where a clasp secured them; her shoulders and arms were bare, and the skirt fell to mid-shin from where it gathered at her hips.
“Not at all,” Gavin said, closing the book before him and gesturing to the unoccupied chairs around the table. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Kiri said, taking a seat at the end of the table. “I just wanted to thank you for protecting me. I’m sure it’s not easy having your peers think you are the kind of person who condones slavery and consorts with those who perpetuate it.”
“Well, you are certainly welcome. I meant what I said about not throwing you back into the world that harmed you. Besides, I’d say they’re far more unsettled by me being House Kirloth; I doubt they’re even aware of you.”
“Oh, no; they’re aware of me. You wouldn’t believe how many pairs of eyes watch me whenever I go anywhere unaccompanied.”
Gavin’s eyes narrowed just a bit. “Has anyone-”
“No…not a one…but that doesn’t mean they can’t look at me.”
They were both silent for a time. Gavin gazed into her eyes and found he didn’t want to look away.
“Yes, well…I can’t honestly hold that against them. I can’t deny enjoying the sight of you in motion; you possess a grace and poise most uncommon for most people I’ve seen.” Gavin’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what he’d just said, and he suppressed a cough. “Forgive me; I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I don’t know why I admitted that.”
Kiri lowered her eyes to the table, where she fidgeted with her fingers. “I can see how hard you work at giving me space, at not being like all the other men I’ve known these past two years. It means more to me than you know.”
Gavin didn’t know what to say to that, whether he should say she was welcome, so he nodded in acknowledgement. He watched her fidget with her fingers in silence, determined not to direct the conversation or push her to say more than she wanted.
“I was betrothed when my father sent me away, and my father wouldn’t let him come with me. As the ship pulled away from the dock, I wanted to hate my father; I thought we were so in love. Given how events unfolded, I’m relieved; he would be dead or worse…”
“Do you miss him?”
“Miss him specifically? No…but I do miss my innocence, my uncomplicated view of the world. Back then, the only men I knew were my father and those he chose to associate with; they were all good people, upstanding citizens. I thought I was so in love and so lucky; I thought I’d found what my parents had. Looking back on it now, I don’t see how I could possibly have been in love. I was such a child, no matter how much of a woman I looked.”
Kiri fell silent again for a time, and Gavin didn’t want to say or do anything that might make her leave.
“You said Lornithar returned memories of your daughter.”
“That’s right. I-”
“Tell me about her?”
“I’m not sure what all there is to tell, really. I was twenty when she was born, and I was so happy. Whoever started the tradition of calling babies ‘little bundles of joy’ certainly knew what they were talking about. We named her Jennifer Anne, the middle names of our mothers, but don’t ask me which one was ‘Anne’ or which one was ‘Jennifer.’ I don’t see how I could lose the memory of her taking her first steps or the first time she looked up at me and said, ‘Da-da.’ She’ll be turning thirteen soon, wherever she is; at least, I think she will be. The last memory I have about her is choosing a pendant for her thirteenth birthday in a jewelry store; it was a silver angel-wing pendant with a ruby in the center.”
“You don’t seem thirty-three to me; you don’t look that old.”
Gavin chuckled. “Thanks, I guess.”
“I’d love to have what you have.”
“What? A daughter?”
“The lack of memories.”
The wistfulness Gavin felt was gone in a finger-snap, and he shook his head as he lifted his eyes to meet Kiri’s. “No, you don’t…not one bit. Look, I understand the last two years were bad; I’ll never understand just how bad they were, but I realize they were bad. No matter how bad they were, though, you have no idea what it’s like to live with a void where your sense of self should be, a hole that should be filled with all the experiences of your life that made you who you are. You don’t want this, Kiri; no matter how bad you think your life is, you don’t want this.”
Just then, the solid click of the suite’s lock releasing echoed through the common room, and Gavin and Kiri watched the door swing wide. Marcus entered the suite, trailed by a man in earth-toned traveling clothes. The old wizard smiled at seeing Gavin and Kiri together.