Azure Seas
Part two. First part here.
---
Either Captain Naefindan suspected and Riven wasn't as good at keeping his thoughts to himself as he'd believed, or he had the absolute worst luck. Given how the rest of his life was going, Riven was going to go with the luck theory.
Naefindan had apologized not long after they'd set sail, explaining that their guest quarters had been holding extra cargo for several months and it would take a few days to get it all moved. In the meantime, Riven could sleep down in the crew quarters, though the Captain didn't recommend it, or he could just steal Lanthus's bunk as the First Mate seldom bothered to sleep anyway. Lan wouldn't mind.
Lanthus had tried to hit him, but Naefindan moved faster than any man Riven had ever met. Riven had attempted to squeak out that the crew quarters would be fine when Lanthus had all but ordered him to take the First Mate's quarters. Riven still wasn't quite sure what had happened, but the end result was he spent his nights in Lanthus's quarters while the big man stayed on deck long into the night.
It was sheer torture. Everything in the room reminded him of Lanthus, Riven could see his unique taste everywhere, and the bedding smelled like him. Having to try to force yourself to sleep when you were half hard had to be the most difficult thing in the world to do.
As a result, he hadn't been getting nearly as much sleep as he was accustomed to. He seemed to be constantly tired, and after he'd tripped on a coil of rope and nearly fallen down the stairs Captain Naefindan had forbidden him from going up into the rigging until he was more awake.
So instead Riven opted to investigate Torhle's office. As they weren't transporting any sort of merchandise on this voyage, the Azure's supercargo had little to do. Riven figured he wouldn't mind a little company, and as he'd seen Naefindan go aloft not long ago there was no chance that he'd interrupt anything.
Torhle's muffled acknowledgement came through the thick door and Riven opened the door, stepping inside. The dark-haired man seemed somewhat surprised to see him, but he smiled readily enough and waved him to a bench fastened to one wall.
"What brings you into brave my little closet office?" Torhle asked, closing whatever logbook he'd been looking at.
Riven returned the smile with a faint one of his own. "Captain Naefindan forbid me from the rigging and I'm kind of in the way on deck so..."
Torhle laughed. "So you're finding somewhere you can't get into any trouble. Understood. I could welcome the company, really. I've pretty much just been going over things I've already done, as it's a bit hard to play any sort of games with only one person."
"Games?" Riven queried, a little surprised.
Torhle laughed again, opening one of the lower drawers in his desk. "Yes, games. I've picked some of them up in ports, while others Nae gave me from his collection. We play sometimes when we get some time to ourselves, though we seldom make it all the way through a game without getting interrupted."
Riven smiled faintly. "I imagine the Captain is in very high demand."
"Yeah, he is." Torhle grinned ruefully. "Still, I'm lucky to have him at all. Nae's pretty special. Sometimes I wonder what he sees in me."
"Ask him?" Riven suggested.
Torhle chuckled as he spread out the tokens to a game Riven vaguely recognized across his desk. "I did. He told me he'd get back to me on that, as his brain was shutting down, but my lips were fairly impressive." He paused, then grinned. "I'd just kissed him, in case you were wondering."
Riven flushed. "Yes, well, so, there's one thing about you he likes. Apparently you kiss well."
"I do more than that well," Torhle told him, smirking, then howled with laughter as Riven's face flooded with heat. "Sorry, sorry," Torhle managed. "I think I've been on the Azure too long."
Struggling to look anywhere but at Torhle's face, Riven finally settled for folding his hands in his lap and staring fixedly at them. "It's a good ship, and good people," he said finally. "I'm glad I got to meet all of you."
Torhle's laughter faded as he regarded Riven for a long moment, gaze oddly intent when Riven risked a brief glance up.
"Riven..." he said slowly, "What exactly are you doing, traveling to some uninhabited island three weeks' sail into the western expanse? I thought all westerners were terrified to death of the supposed mer-folk that live out that way."
Riven felt the blood drain from his face and he clasped his hands tighter together as he struggled to come up with something, anything, to tell Torhle. He was a pathetic liar, but he couldn't tell the truth either.
"I... that is, my family... it's something I have to do, or... things will happen."
Torhle frowned, his chair creaking as he turned to fully face Riven. "Things will happen?" he asked, "What kind of things?"
Riven swallowed. "Just... things."
The chair creaked again, then Riven could hear footsteps, and Torhle was kneeling on the floor and tipping his face up so that their eyes met. "Riven," Torhle tried again, "What kind of things? What's going on?"
He tried to look away, but Torhle's grip stayed firm. "Riven..."
Riven winced, sighing quietly when it became obvious that Torhle wasn't going to relent. "The mer-folk," he said finally.
Torhle looked puzzled. "What about them?"
"The Flying Star... I don't think it was an accident that it went down," Riven admitted quietly. "In recent years they've been sinking more and more ships. The histories of my kingdom have records of such things happening before, and always one of the royal family goes out to meet with them and get them to cease their attacks."
Torhle frowned, but released his grip on Riven's chin. "What are you supposed to do?" he asked. "From what Lan's told me, they don't seem particularly friendly..."
Riven looked away again. Torhle didn't grab him, but he also didn't move from his place at Riven's feet.
"Riven..." Torhle said softly.
"I..." Riven drew in a deep breath. "There's a legend, on Arienn. Nobody remembers it now except for a few of us who have read the ancient histories in the royal library." He paused, breath shuddering, though Torhle didn't interrupt. "Ages ago the first kings of Arienn somehow enslaved the merfolk and forced them to build the palace and the spires that Arienn is famous for. Some of them died during the construction, and most of the rest were killed when it was complete. A few escaped into the sea."
Torhle looked rather pale, the rest of his color draining away as Riven added, "The histories surmise that the merfolk will never forgive us until either the blood spilled has been repaid in full, or the spires of Arienn fall."
"You..." Torhle's voice caught and he tried again. "You're not going to negotiate with them, you're a sacrifice..." he breathed.
Riven nodded slowly, miserably. "If I don't go, innocent people will die."
"But... you..." Torhle rocked back on his feet, blinking rapidly as he attempted to sort his thoughts. "There's got to be another way."
Riven shook his head slightly. "It's been tried, and it always ends the same."
Torhle frowned, rubbing his nose idly in thought. "I'm sure there's another way. There has to be." He stood swiftly, startling Riven. "I need to go talk to Nae," he announced.
Riven paled again. "It won't help... there's nothing that can be done..."
Torhle smiled grimly. "You'd be surprised what Naefindan can do when he puts his mind to it. If anyone can figure out how to spare both your life and your kingdom's, he can."
It made sense, in some twisted fashion, that when he finally fell for someone it would be for the worst possible person alive. Not only was Riven a beautiful prince a fraction of his age, but he was, apparently, supposed to die at the hands of the creatures the entire western sea feared.
Life, Lan decided bitterly, sucked. Particularly his. The last two weeks had been sheer torture after Torhle had quietly informed him and Naefindan as to the purpose of their journey. Lan had been all for turning around and vanishing into the eastern seas where Riven would be safe, but both Riven and Naefindan had objected to that plan.
Now Riven seldom left Lan's quarters, Nae had gotten oddly distant and quiet, and Torhle had locked himself in his office trying to come up with some other alternate solution to the problem they were rapidly approaching. Lanthus had had no choice but to throw himself into his work and try not to think about it.
Not thinking about it was a lot harder than it sounded. The entire crew was giving him a wide berth after he'd snapped at a number of them, and part of him felt guilty about taking out his frustrations on the people he'd come to call friends. A small part of him, however, felt somehow satisfied that at least he wasn't the only miserable one on this trip.
The ship shuddered suddenly, knocking Lan off-balance for a moment, though he managed to stay on his feet. It hadn't sounded like they'd run aground, and the sea was still deep blue as far as he could see, but they were unquestionably stopped.
Lan frowned. Had Nae stopped the ship for some reason?
The man in question swung down from the rigging, landing gracefully on the deck and walking purposefully to the starboard side, hands resting on the railing as he stared out into the water. A few moments later both Torhle and Riven emerged from their retreats, both looking around briefly before joining the Captain. Lan could hear voices, but they were speaking too quietly for him to make out the words.
Nae kissed Torhle fiercely, then dove off the side of the ship. Lan jerked, calling the nearest man to take over the helm for him and leaving him free to join the remaining two on the main deck.
"What's goin' on?" he asked as soon as he was within range.
Torhle frowned unhappily. "He's going to talk to them. See if he can't convince them to take some other payment."
"That idiot," Lan growled.
"It will never work." Riven clasped his hands together tightly enough that half his hands turned white. "They care nothing for us. Humans are naught but annoyances to them."
"I'll grant that they're angry," Torhle said quietly, "But perhaps things aren't as bad as you think. Nae will speak with them, and we'll just have to wait and see what hap-" He broke off, staring past Lan at the port side of the ship. Lan spun, eyes widening as he took in the sight of three men climbing over the rail.
All three were pale and slender, their hair varying shades of blond so pale as to be nearly white on one. They were soaking wet and completely nude, standing unsteadily on their legs as though not at all accustomed to them. One pointed at Lan and the other two and said something in a language he'd never heard before. The other two looked, then all three started across the deck.
Lan drew the knife from his boot, cursing beneath his breath as he was a good ten feet from the nearest weapons-cache. One of the other sailors attempted to grab at the merfolk from behind, getting flung halfway across the deck for his troubles as though he'd been nothing but a mere nuisance.
He swore again as he noticed two more merfolk climbing over the railing and bellowed loudly for all hands to arm themselves. A moment later the first of the merfolk reached him and Lan had his hands full trying to stay alive. The merfolk were much, much stronger than their slender builds and diminutive size would suggest, and they were just as fast and agile as Naefindan. He had the brief, idiotic thought that the only reason he wasn't bleeding yet was because he'd been sparring with Nae for almost ten years and he'd gotten used to opponents that moved almost faster than thought.
The hard part, though, was keeping the merfolk away from Torhle and Riven. He knew he'd failed in that task when he heard a voice cry out - Riven's, unmistakable - and a moment later came a loud splash from the water below.
Lan roared, shoving the two nearest merfolk roughly away before whirling and diving in after Riven. There was nothing remotely logical in the action. He was only a passable swimmer at best and everything he knew about fighting was designed around combat on land or a ship, but it was Riven and there were undoubtedly more merfolk in the water. Riven didn't stand a chance.
He hit the water harder than intended, going under for several moments before resurfacing for a deep breath. Riven was nowhere in sight, so he dove back under and looked around wildly, spotting at least four merfolk in his immediate vicinity and several more clustered around a struggling figure...
Kicking out hard at the nearest of the creatures, Lan swam the distance between himself and the cluster of bodies. He reached out and yanked two of them off of Riven, kicking a third and pulling Riven into his arms. His lungs were starting to burn with need for air but the scaled creatures around him were already drawing closer. He tried to kick up toward the surface but something latched onto his ankle, pulling him down.
Lan struggled, trying to kick at whatever had ahold of him, fruitlessly. His lungs burned with lack of air and his vision was starting to dim. Something tried to yank Riven out of his arms and it was all he could do to prevent it.
Then a crown of familiar gold hair appeared and the merfolk scattered. Nae grabbed onto Lan and Riven's wrists, sending them shooting upward with a few flicks of his powerful tail. In a moment Lan's head broke the surface of the water and he heaved in great gulps of precious air.
When at last he could breathe normally again, several things hit him all at once. First, that Nae had rescued them. Naefindan, with a sleek blue-green tail like a fish. Like the merfolk. That in itself was enough to send his head reeling, but the second thing he'd noticed was what sent him over the edge.
Riven had gills. Several rows of them on either side of his neck, tightly closed now that they were above the water. No tail, Lan could feel that much, but gills. He started to open his mouth to ask something, anything, when Nae's voice cut him off.
"Hold onto him, Lan, and hold your breath. I'm moving the water and you're about to go under again."
Lan obeyed automatically, too overwhelmed by his own thoughts to do anything else. The water surged up around them, lifting them in a rush of liquid. A few moments later his feet touched something solid and he braced himself as the water drained away, leaving him standing on the deck of the Azure with Riven still in his arms.
Naefindan hissed and Lan looked up in time to see the slender blond - with legs, now, not a tail - stalk across the deck and viciously punch one of the merfolk still onboard. The man went flying over the railing, landing in the water with a tremendous splash. Nae knelt down next to Torhle whose arm was bleeding from a long gash, ripping a length of fabric from his sarong and expertly binding the wound. Once that was done he helped Torhle shakily to his feet, then looked around at the remaining merfolk.
"How dare you..." Nae spat, holding Torhle close with fury in his normally-gentle azure eyes.
In varying degrees of haste the merfolk made odd gestures, looking almost... nervous. They chattered wildly in their odd language for a moment, then two crept forward slowly. "Apologies, aeziri," one said, voice thickly accented.
"We beg forgiveness, aeziri," the other added. "We only wanted-"
"I know what you wanted," Nae interrupted harshly, "And your silly feud has gone on long enough. How many more have to die before your thirst for revenge is slaked? Too much blood has been spilled already. Too many lives lost in the names of greed and vengeance. I will not allow this to continue any longer."
He paused, gaze flicking from the merfolk to Lanthus and back again, grip tightening ever so slightly on Torhle. He licked his lips and opened his mouth, but before he could speak again Riven started coughing and choking, his hands going up to touch his throat.
Lan jerked, looking down at the shaking figure in his arms. Riven had begun gasping, shuddering, clutching his throat like he couldn't breathe.
Couldn't breathe. The gills.
Distantly he heard Naefindan swear profusely, then abruptly the man had crossed the deck and torn Riven away from him, one hand wrapping around Riven's throat.
"What're ye doin?" Lan exclaimed, yanking Nae away from Riven. Naefindan fell heavily to the deck; Riven collapsed into Lan's arms, drawing in deep, shuddering gulps of air. The gills were gone.
"He couldn't breathe," Naefindan said, getting slowly to his feet. "No one ever taught him how to change properly... I didn't realize..."
"Realize what?" Lan snapped, holding Riven protectively close. Everything was so confusing. Riven had gills, then didn't. Naefindan had a tail and could apparently force Riven's gills to go away - had he made them appear in the first place?
It didn't help that Nae wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "Riven is a half-blood," he admitted quietly. "One of his parents was human. The other was..." He gestured helplessly at the watching merfolk. "If we're not taught how to shift between land and sea, we can drown just as easily as humans can."
As humans can. Nae was one of the merfolk. Riven was half merfolk.
"How.. how can you know that?" Lan asked hoarsely.
"Riven isn't the first half-blood I've seen," Nae told him quietly. "They're very rare, as my people rarely leave the seas and most harbor ill feelings toward land-dwellers. I would hazard that his mother tired of the ongoing feuding and went to land in an effort to end it." He smiled faintly, a mere shadow of his usual expression. "Given that Riven's father is the leader of the heart of the struggle, I am almost certain that was exactly her intentions. Create a child with the blood of both peoples, and perhaps they can be made to cease the bloodshed, if nothing else."
"I don't remember her," Riven spoke up quietly, leaning heavily on Lan's arm. "She died when I was born."
Naefindan nodded quietly, looking up briefly at Lan's face before returning back across the deck to sag wearily in Torhle's arms. He remained there several moments, eyes closed, before straightening and stepping forward to face the merfolk once again.
"Now what will you do?" he asked them. "The one whose blood you sought to spill carries our blood as well."
There were several looks exchanged amongst the gathered merfolk along with more of their fluid speech. One stepped forward this time, looking, in Lan's opinion, like a child that had just gotten scolded by its mother. "Aeziri, you more than any know the suffering of that terrible place. As long as the towers of the land-folk continue to mock us-"
"Then I will tear the towers down," Naefindan said firmly. "You will have no further reason to hate the land-folk for something that happened years ago."
Another brief, rapid conversation in the language of the merfolk, then a different representative stepped forward. "Aeziri," she asked hopefully, "You will return to us once the hated towers fall?"
Nae and Torhle both stiffened. "No," Naefindan replied flatly. "My home is abovewater now."
The mermaid looked startled. "You would live with these humans, aeziri?"
"My home is here," Nae repeated. "Above the waves. Return to the depths and take word of what has transpired here. We will return to Arienn and the spires will fall. Do not continue your attacks on the land-folk or you will answer to me."
The merfolk hesitated several long moments, then turned and dove off the edge of the ship, leaving only those onboard who belonged there.
"Aeziri?" Lan asked roughly once they were gone.
Naefindan paled, then flushed, looking studiously at his feet. He mumbled something that Lan couldn't hear; from the quizzical look on Torhle's face, he didn't think anyone had been able to hear.
"Wha' was that?"
Nae looked up briefly, then back down. "It's... somewhat complicated. We don't... Our society is constructed differently..." He winced slightly. "There are no equivalent translations."
Lan scowled. "S' gimmie somethin' general."
He'd never seen Naefindan looking so uncertain before. The man usually had enough confidence for seven men, going about life as though it were all one big adventure created solely for his amusement.
"It... part of it is my magic..." Nae said haltingly. "I'm... somewhat stronger than most of my people..." He fidgeted and Torhle came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Nae's waist. Naefindan leaned back slightly into the embrace, visibly calming himself. "The rest is a title, of sorts. Something like a prince, but without the blood connections that such a word implies."
Lanthus processed that for a moment, letting go of Riven so he could cross his arms and glare. "So yer some sort of authority figure or somethin?"
"Something like that," Naefindan agreed softly. "I tried to give it up when I left. Apparently I am not allowed to forget who I once was..."
Lan looked slowly around at the figures gathered, people he thought he'd known. He didn't know what to think. It was too much, all at once.
He scrubbed a hand through his wet hair, shaking his head. "I think... I think I need ta go think abou' things fer a while," he said finally, turning and making his way down into the ship to his quarters. He had a whole lot of things to think over, preferably with as few distractions as possible.
Riven had been watching the tall figure staring out over the bow of the ship for most of the morning. In all that time Lanthus hadn't moved once from his solitary vigil. The whole voyage back the man had behaved as one lost, struggling to come to terms with all that had been revealed to him. Everyone had left him alone as he seemed to want, for whatever good it had done.
It was more than frustrating. Riven knew Lanthus had gone in after him. He remembered the big man pulling him away from the merfolk that had been grabbing at him. Surely it meant something. The way Lan had held him so protectively on the ship, he'd almost thought...
But Lanthus had been avoiding both him and Captain Naefindan ever since the incredible revelations. Riven hadn't been able to fault him that, as he was still having difficulty believing it all himself. Captain Naefindan, one of the elusive merfolk. His mother...
He hadn't had any choice but to believe. Naefindan had been teaching him how to switch from breathing air to breathing water. They'd eventually decided that Riven's shift to water-breathing that day with the merfolk had been part desperation and part proximity to Naefindan, as Naefindan, being an aeziri, could force others to make the switch.
Now he more or less had it figured out for himself, which only left Lanthus to be dealt with. The only question was... how?
Drawing in a slow, steadying breath, Riven cautiously climbed the stairs to the forecastle and stepped quietly up next to Lanthus. The tall man didn't give any indication he'd noticed Riven's presence, though he was sure Lan knew. He was too good not to.
Several minutes later Lanthus finally turned to face him, dark eyes unreadable. He looked Riven over slowly, meeting his eyes for only a moment before looking back out over the sea ahead of them.
"How y' feelin?" Lan asked quietly, rubbing at his face.
"Confused. Overwhelmed." Riven shrugged slightly. "It's a lot to deal with when you grow up thinking you're completely human and then suddenly get told one day that you're not."
Lan turned slightly toward him, brow creasing faintly. "How... what're ye gonna do now?"
Riven smiled wistfully. "I don't know. I don't really want to go home, but I'm pretty much worthless at anything useful. I kind of like the idea of being on a ship, but..." He grinned ruefully. "I think we all saw just how bad of an idea that would be."
Lan chuckled softly. "Yeah," he agreed.
Riven hesitated, steeling his nerves. "You know," he said casually, "I don't think I'd be able to do what Captain Naefindan's done." At Lanthus's confused look, he elaborated. "Leaving behind the only world I'd ever known to go live amongst people who were completely different from mine... It'd be like me trying to go live with the merfolk. I'd be terrified."
A thoughtful frown settled over Lanthus's features. "Nae's always been untamable, doin' things just cause 'e hasn' done 'em before..." The frown deepened. "No... tha' ain't quite right..."
Riven waited, uncertain if he'd gotten through. Lan wasn't stupid, but fear made people do strange things sometimes.
"'e wasn' always like 'e is now," Lan said finally. "When I first met 'im... I 'member thinking 'e was runnin from something. I couldn' figger out how a man who owned 'is own ship couldn't get away from whatever was chasin 'im."
"Hard to run from the sea..." Riven murmured quietly.
Lanthus turned completely, staring out over the length of the ship to where a single slender figure stood with one hand resting lightly on the helm. He looked so confident, so fearless. Like the world had been created for him to play in. Then he noticed Lan looking and all the fire seemed to die as Naefindan shrank back, partially hiding behind the big wheel.
Riven laid a gentle hand on Lan's arm. "You told me once he was fearless, but I think what he fears the most is losing the people he cares about. That first voyage I spent on the Azure..." He shook his head faintly. "I didn't want to leave. You all were so close... more than friends, the Azure was like a family. I think I sort of envied it."
Lan blinked at him in surprise, looking down at Riven for a moment before looking back up and across the deck. "Yer right," he said finally, "Nae's closer t' me than any brother..." He smiled slightly, a hint of a grin in the way his lips tilted and those dark eyes crinkled. "Even if 'e is a fish," Lan added.
Laughing softly in relief, Riven returned the smile. "I think I'm glad I'm only half," he admitted. "I wouldn't have a clue what to do with scales and a tail."
Lan chuckled, massive shoulders shaking just a bit. He regarded Riven for several long moments, dark eyes thoughtful, then ventured, "Ya really mean what ye said 'bout wantin to stay?" he asked.
A brief flash of surprise rippled through Riven. "Yes," he said confidently, "Though I have no idea what I'd do. Growing up as a prince seems to leave one singularly unsuited for doing anything else."
Though he smiled slightly, Lanthus didn't laugh at Riven's self-disparaging comment. He seemed oddly nervous; not something Riven would have ever expected of the towering mountain of a man.
"I... ye wouldn' hafta be a sailor," Lan said haltingly. "That is... I wouldn' mind if ya kept usin... if ye stayed in my quarters..."
Riven stared at him for several moments, certain that his own hopes and dreams had somehow colored Lan's words. He couldn't have meant... but then he had rescued Riven from the merfolk. Only one way to find out for sure, really, though if he'd misread Lanthus this was really going to hurt.
Standing on his toes and pulling Lan down by his shirt, Riven pressed a brief, hesitant kiss to Lan's lips. He could feel Lanthus's surprise and started to pull away, only to find himself swept up into powerful arms and kissed in a way that left absolutely no doubt as to Lan's intentions.
"Oh good," Riven breathed when at last they broke apart. "That's what I hoped you'd say."
---
Either Captain Naefindan suspected and Riven wasn't as good at keeping his thoughts to himself as he'd believed, or he had the absolute worst luck. Given how the rest of his life was going, Riven was going to go with the luck theory.
Naefindan had apologized not long after they'd set sail, explaining that their guest quarters had been holding extra cargo for several months and it would take a few days to get it all moved. In the meantime, Riven could sleep down in the crew quarters, though the Captain didn't recommend it, or he could just steal Lanthus's bunk as the First Mate seldom bothered to sleep anyway. Lan wouldn't mind.
Lanthus had tried to hit him, but Naefindan moved faster than any man Riven had ever met. Riven had attempted to squeak out that the crew quarters would be fine when Lanthus had all but ordered him to take the First Mate's quarters. Riven still wasn't quite sure what had happened, but the end result was he spent his nights in Lanthus's quarters while the big man stayed on deck long into the night.
It was sheer torture. Everything in the room reminded him of Lanthus, Riven could see his unique taste everywhere, and the bedding smelled like him. Having to try to force yourself to sleep when you were half hard had to be the most difficult thing in the world to do.
As a result, he hadn't been getting nearly as much sleep as he was accustomed to. He seemed to be constantly tired, and after he'd tripped on a coil of rope and nearly fallen down the stairs Captain Naefindan had forbidden him from going up into the rigging until he was more awake.
So instead Riven opted to investigate Torhle's office. As they weren't transporting any sort of merchandise on this voyage, the Azure's supercargo had little to do. Riven figured he wouldn't mind a little company, and as he'd seen Naefindan go aloft not long ago there was no chance that he'd interrupt anything.
Torhle's muffled acknowledgement came through the thick door and Riven opened the door, stepping inside. The dark-haired man seemed somewhat surprised to see him, but he smiled readily enough and waved him to a bench fastened to one wall.
"What brings you into brave my little closet office?" Torhle asked, closing whatever logbook he'd been looking at.
Riven returned the smile with a faint one of his own. "Captain Naefindan forbid me from the rigging and I'm kind of in the way on deck so..."
Torhle laughed. "So you're finding somewhere you can't get into any trouble. Understood. I could welcome the company, really. I've pretty much just been going over things I've already done, as it's a bit hard to play any sort of games with only one person."
"Games?" Riven queried, a little surprised.
Torhle laughed again, opening one of the lower drawers in his desk. "Yes, games. I've picked some of them up in ports, while others Nae gave me from his collection. We play sometimes when we get some time to ourselves, though we seldom make it all the way through a game without getting interrupted."
Riven smiled faintly. "I imagine the Captain is in very high demand."
"Yeah, he is." Torhle grinned ruefully. "Still, I'm lucky to have him at all. Nae's pretty special. Sometimes I wonder what he sees in me."
"Ask him?" Riven suggested.
Torhle chuckled as he spread out the tokens to a game Riven vaguely recognized across his desk. "I did. He told me he'd get back to me on that, as his brain was shutting down, but my lips were fairly impressive." He paused, then grinned. "I'd just kissed him, in case you were wondering."
Riven flushed. "Yes, well, so, there's one thing about you he likes. Apparently you kiss well."
"I do more than that well," Torhle told him, smirking, then howled with laughter as Riven's face flooded with heat. "Sorry, sorry," Torhle managed. "I think I've been on the Azure too long."
Struggling to look anywhere but at Torhle's face, Riven finally settled for folding his hands in his lap and staring fixedly at them. "It's a good ship, and good people," he said finally. "I'm glad I got to meet all of you."
Torhle's laughter faded as he regarded Riven for a long moment, gaze oddly intent when Riven risked a brief glance up.
"Riven..." he said slowly, "What exactly are you doing, traveling to some uninhabited island three weeks' sail into the western expanse? I thought all westerners were terrified to death of the supposed mer-folk that live out that way."
Riven felt the blood drain from his face and he clasped his hands tighter together as he struggled to come up with something, anything, to tell Torhle. He was a pathetic liar, but he couldn't tell the truth either.
"I... that is, my family... it's something I have to do, or... things will happen."
Torhle frowned, his chair creaking as he turned to fully face Riven. "Things will happen?" he asked, "What kind of things?"
Riven swallowed. "Just... things."
The chair creaked again, then Riven could hear footsteps, and Torhle was kneeling on the floor and tipping his face up so that their eyes met. "Riven," Torhle tried again, "What kind of things? What's going on?"
He tried to look away, but Torhle's grip stayed firm. "Riven..."
Riven winced, sighing quietly when it became obvious that Torhle wasn't going to relent. "The mer-folk," he said finally.
Torhle looked puzzled. "What about them?"
"The Flying Star... I don't think it was an accident that it went down," Riven admitted quietly. "In recent years they've been sinking more and more ships. The histories of my kingdom have records of such things happening before, and always one of the royal family goes out to meet with them and get them to cease their attacks."
Torhle frowned, but released his grip on Riven's chin. "What are you supposed to do?" he asked. "From what Lan's told me, they don't seem particularly friendly..."
Riven looked away again. Torhle didn't grab him, but he also didn't move from his place at Riven's feet.
"Riven..." Torhle said softly.
"I..." Riven drew in a deep breath. "There's a legend, on Arienn. Nobody remembers it now except for a few of us who have read the ancient histories in the royal library." He paused, breath shuddering, though Torhle didn't interrupt. "Ages ago the first kings of Arienn somehow enslaved the merfolk and forced them to build the palace and the spires that Arienn is famous for. Some of them died during the construction, and most of the rest were killed when it was complete. A few escaped into the sea."
Torhle looked rather pale, the rest of his color draining away as Riven added, "The histories surmise that the merfolk will never forgive us until either the blood spilled has been repaid in full, or the spires of Arienn fall."
"You..." Torhle's voice caught and he tried again. "You're not going to negotiate with them, you're a sacrifice..." he breathed.
Riven nodded slowly, miserably. "If I don't go, innocent people will die."
"But... you..." Torhle rocked back on his feet, blinking rapidly as he attempted to sort his thoughts. "There's got to be another way."
Riven shook his head slightly. "It's been tried, and it always ends the same."
Torhle frowned, rubbing his nose idly in thought. "I'm sure there's another way. There has to be." He stood swiftly, startling Riven. "I need to go talk to Nae," he announced.
Riven paled again. "It won't help... there's nothing that can be done..."
Torhle smiled grimly. "You'd be surprised what Naefindan can do when he puts his mind to it. If anyone can figure out how to spare both your life and your kingdom's, he can."
It made sense, in some twisted fashion, that when he finally fell for someone it would be for the worst possible person alive. Not only was Riven a beautiful prince a fraction of his age, but he was, apparently, supposed to die at the hands of the creatures the entire western sea feared.
Life, Lan decided bitterly, sucked. Particularly his. The last two weeks had been sheer torture after Torhle had quietly informed him and Naefindan as to the purpose of their journey. Lan had been all for turning around and vanishing into the eastern seas where Riven would be safe, but both Riven and Naefindan had objected to that plan.
Now Riven seldom left Lan's quarters, Nae had gotten oddly distant and quiet, and Torhle had locked himself in his office trying to come up with some other alternate solution to the problem they were rapidly approaching. Lanthus had had no choice but to throw himself into his work and try not to think about it.
Not thinking about it was a lot harder than it sounded. The entire crew was giving him a wide berth after he'd snapped at a number of them, and part of him felt guilty about taking out his frustrations on the people he'd come to call friends. A small part of him, however, felt somehow satisfied that at least he wasn't the only miserable one on this trip.
The ship shuddered suddenly, knocking Lan off-balance for a moment, though he managed to stay on his feet. It hadn't sounded like they'd run aground, and the sea was still deep blue as far as he could see, but they were unquestionably stopped.
Lan frowned. Had Nae stopped the ship for some reason?
The man in question swung down from the rigging, landing gracefully on the deck and walking purposefully to the starboard side, hands resting on the railing as he stared out into the water. A few moments later both Torhle and Riven emerged from their retreats, both looking around briefly before joining the Captain. Lan could hear voices, but they were speaking too quietly for him to make out the words.
Nae kissed Torhle fiercely, then dove off the side of the ship. Lan jerked, calling the nearest man to take over the helm for him and leaving him free to join the remaining two on the main deck.
"What's goin' on?" he asked as soon as he was within range.
Torhle frowned unhappily. "He's going to talk to them. See if he can't convince them to take some other payment."
"That idiot," Lan growled.
"It will never work." Riven clasped his hands together tightly enough that half his hands turned white. "They care nothing for us. Humans are naught but annoyances to them."
"I'll grant that they're angry," Torhle said quietly, "But perhaps things aren't as bad as you think. Nae will speak with them, and we'll just have to wait and see what hap-" He broke off, staring past Lan at the port side of the ship. Lan spun, eyes widening as he took in the sight of three men climbing over the rail.
All three were pale and slender, their hair varying shades of blond so pale as to be nearly white on one. They were soaking wet and completely nude, standing unsteadily on their legs as though not at all accustomed to them. One pointed at Lan and the other two and said something in a language he'd never heard before. The other two looked, then all three started across the deck.
Lan drew the knife from his boot, cursing beneath his breath as he was a good ten feet from the nearest weapons-cache. One of the other sailors attempted to grab at the merfolk from behind, getting flung halfway across the deck for his troubles as though he'd been nothing but a mere nuisance.
He swore again as he noticed two more merfolk climbing over the railing and bellowed loudly for all hands to arm themselves. A moment later the first of the merfolk reached him and Lan had his hands full trying to stay alive. The merfolk were much, much stronger than their slender builds and diminutive size would suggest, and they were just as fast and agile as Naefindan. He had the brief, idiotic thought that the only reason he wasn't bleeding yet was because he'd been sparring with Nae for almost ten years and he'd gotten used to opponents that moved almost faster than thought.
The hard part, though, was keeping the merfolk away from Torhle and Riven. He knew he'd failed in that task when he heard a voice cry out - Riven's, unmistakable - and a moment later came a loud splash from the water below.
Lan roared, shoving the two nearest merfolk roughly away before whirling and diving in after Riven. There was nothing remotely logical in the action. He was only a passable swimmer at best and everything he knew about fighting was designed around combat on land or a ship, but it was Riven and there were undoubtedly more merfolk in the water. Riven didn't stand a chance.
He hit the water harder than intended, going under for several moments before resurfacing for a deep breath. Riven was nowhere in sight, so he dove back under and looked around wildly, spotting at least four merfolk in his immediate vicinity and several more clustered around a struggling figure...
Kicking out hard at the nearest of the creatures, Lan swam the distance between himself and the cluster of bodies. He reached out and yanked two of them off of Riven, kicking a third and pulling Riven into his arms. His lungs were starting to burn with need for air but the scaled creatures around him were already drawing closer. He tried to kick up toward the surface but something latched onto his ankle, pulling him down.
Lan struggled, trying to kick at whatever had ahold of him, fruitlessly. His lungs burned with lack of air and his vision was starting to dim. Something tried to yank Riven out of his arms and it was all he could do to prevent it.
Then a crown of familiar gold hair appeared and the merfolk scattered. Nae grabbed onto Lan and Riven's wrists, sending them shooting upward with a few flicks of his powerful tail. In a moment Lan's head broke the surface of the water and he heaved in great gulps of precious air.
When at last he could breathe normally again, several things hit him all at once. First, that Nae had rescued them. Naefindan, with a sleek blue-green tail like a fish. Like the merfolk. That in itself was enough to send his head reeling, but the second thing he'd noticed was what sent him over the edge.
Riven had gills. Several rows of them on either side of his neck, tightly closed now that they were above the water. No tail, Lan could feel that much, but gills. He started to open his mouth to ask something, anything, when Nae's voice cut him off.
"Hold onto him, Lan, and hold your breath. I'm moving the water and you're about to go under again."
Lan obeyed automatically, too overwhelmed by his own thoughts to do anything else. The water surged up around them, lifting them in a rush of liquid. A few moments later his feet touched something solid and he braced himself as the water drained away, leaving him standing on the deck of the Azure with Riven still in his arms.
Naefindan hissed and Lan looked up in time to see the slender blond - with legs, now, not a tail - stalk across the deck and viciously punch one of the merfolk still onboard. The man went flying over the railing, landing in the water with a tremendous splash. Nae knelt down next to Torhle whose arm was bleeding from a long gash, ripping a length of fabric from his sarong and expertly binding the wound. Once that was done he helped Torhle shakily to his feet, then looked around at the remaining merfolk.
"How dare you..." Nae spat, holding Torhle close with fury in his normally-gentle azure eyes.
In varying degrees of haste the merfolk made odd gestures, looking almost... nervous. They chattered wildly in their odd language for a moment, then two crept forward slowly. "Apologies, aeziri," one said, voice thickly accented.
"We beg forgiveness, aeziri," the other added. "We only wanted-"
"I know what you wanted," Nae interrupted harshly, "And your silly feud has gone on long enough. How many more have to die before your thirst for revenge is slaked? Too much blood has been spilled already. Too many lives lost in the names of greed and vengeance. I will not allow this to continue any longer."
He paused, gaze flicking from the merfolk to Lanthus and back again, grip tightening ever so slightly on Torhle. He licked his lips and opened his mouth, but before he could speak again Riven started coughing and choking, his hands going up to touch his throat.
Lan jerked, looking down at the shaking figure in his arms. Riven had begun gasping, shuddering, clutching his throat like he couldn't breathe.
Couldn't breathe. The gills.
Distantly he heard Naefindan swear profusely, then abruptly the man had crossed the deck and torn Riven away from him, one hand wrapping around Riven's throat.
"What're ye doin?" Lan exclaimed, yanking Nae away from Riven. Naefindan fell heavily to the deck; Riven collapsed into Lan's arms, drawing in deep, shuddering gulps of air. The gills were gone.
"He couldn't breathe," Naefindan said, getting slowly to his feet. "No one ever taught him how to change properly... I didn't realize..."
"Realize what?" Lan snapped, holding Riven protectively close. Everything was so confusing. Riven had gills, then didn't. Naefindan had a tail and could apparently force Riven's gills to go away - had he made them appear in the first place?
It didn't help that Nae wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "Riven is a half-blood," he admitted quietly. "One of his parents was human. The other was..." He gestured helplessly at the watching merfolk. "If we're not taught how to shift between land and sea, we can drown just as easily as humans can."
As humans can. Nae was one of the merfolk. Riven was half merfolk.
"How.. how can you know that?" Lan asked hoarsely.
"Riven isn't the first half-blood I've seen," Nae told him quietly. "They're very rare, as my people rarely leave the seas and most harbor ill feelings toward land-dwellers. I would hazard that his mother tired of the ongoing feuding and went to land in an effort to end it." He smiled faintly, a mere shadow of his usual expression. "Given that Riven's father is the leader of the heart of the struggle, I am almost certain that was exactly her intentions. Create a child with the blood of both peoples, and perhaps they can be made to cease the bloodshed, if nothing else."
"I don't remember her," Riven spoke up quietly, leaning heavily on Lan's arm. "She died when I was born."
Naefindan nodded quietly, looking up briefly at Lan's face before returning back across the deck to sag wearily in Torhle's arms. He remained there several moments, eyes closed, before straightening and stepping forward to face the merfolk once again.
"Now what will you do?" he asked them. "The one whose blood you sought to spill carries our blood as well."
There were several looks exchanged amongst the gathered merfolk along with more of their fluid speech. One stepped forward this time, looking, in Lan's opinion, like a child that had just gotten scolded by its mother. "Aeziri, you more than any know the suffering of that terrible place. As long as the towers of the land-folk continue to mock us-"
"Then I will tear the towers down," Naefindan said firmly. "You will have no further reason to hate the land-folk for something that happened years ago."
Another brief, rapid conversation in the language of the merfolk, then a different representative stepped forward. "Aeziri," she asked hopefully, "You will return to us once the hated towers fall?"
Nae and Torhle both stiffened. "No," Naefindan replied flatly. "My home is abovewater now."
The mermaid looked startled. "You would live with these humans, aeziri?"
"My home is here," Nae repeated. "Above the waves. Return to the depths and take word of what has transpired here. We will return to Arienn and the spires will fall. Do not continue your attacks on the land-folk or you will answer to me."
The merfolk hesitated several long moments, then turned and dove off the edge of the ship, leaving only those onboard who belonged there.
"Aeziri?" Lan asked roughly once they were gone.
Naefindan paled, then flushed, looking studiously at his feet. He mumbled something that Lan couldn't hear; from the quizzical look on Torhle's face, he didn't think anyone had been able to hear.
"Wha' was that?"
Nae looked up briefly, then back down. "It's... somewhat complicated. We don't... Our society is constructed differently..." He winced slightly. "There are no equivalent translations."
Lan scowled. "S' gimmie somethin' general."
He'd never seen Naefindan looking so uncertain before. The man usually had enough confidence for seven men, going about life as though it were all one big adventure created solely for his amusement.
"It... part of it is my magic..." Nae said haltingly. "I'm... somewhat stronger than most of my people..." He fidgeted and Torhle came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Nae's waist. Naefindan leaned back slightly into the embrace, visibly calming himself. "The rest is a title, of sorts. Something like a prince, but without the blood connections that such a word implies."
Lanthus processed that for a moment, letting go of Riven so he could cross his arms and glare. "So yer some sort of authority figure or somethin?"
"Something like that," Naefindan agreed softly. "I tried to give it up when I left. Apparently I am not allowed to forget who I once was..."
Lan looked slowly around at the figures gathered, people he thought he'd known. He didn't know what to think. It was too much, all at once.
He scrubbed a hand through his wet hair, shaking his head. "I think... I think I need ta go think abou' things fer a while," he said finally, turning and making his way down into the ship to his quarters. He had a whole lot of things to think over, preferably with as few distractions as possible.
Riven had been watching the tall figure staring out over the bow of the ship for most of the morning. In all that time Lanthus hadn't moved once from his solitary vigil. The whole voyage back the man had behaved as one lost, struggling to come to terms with all that had been revealed to him. Everyone had left him alone as he seemed to want, for whatever good it had done.
It was more than frustrating. Riven knew Lanthus had gone in after him. He remembered the big man pulling him away from the merfolk that had been grabbing at him. Surely it meant something. The way Lan had held him so protectively on the ship, he'd almost thought...
But Lanthus had been avoiding both him and Captain Naefindan ever since the incredible revelations. Riven hadn't been able to fault him that, as he was still having difficulty believing it all himself. Captain Naefindan, one of the elusive merfolk. His mother...
He hadn't had any choice but to believe. Naefindan had been teaching him how to switch from breathing air to breathing water. They'd eventually decided that Riven's shift to water-breathing that day with the merfolk had been part desperation and part proximity to Naefindan, as Naefindan, being an aeziri, could force others to make the switch.
Now he more or less had it figured out for himself, which only left Lanthus to be dealt with. The only question was... how?
Drawing in a slow, steadying breath, Riven cautiously climbed the stairs to the forecastle and stepped quietly up next to Lanthus. The tall man didn't give any indication he'd noticed Riven's presence, though he was sure Lan knew. He was too good not to.
Several minutes later Lanthus finally turned to face him, dark eyes unreadable. He looked Riven over slowly, meeting his eyes for only a moment before looking back out over the sea ahead of them.
"How y' feelin?" Lan asked quietly, rubbing at his face.
"Confused. Overwhelmed." Riven shrugged slightly. "It's a lot to deal with when you grow up thinking you're completely human and then suddenly get told one day that you're not."
Lan turned slightly toward him, brow creasing faintly. "How... what're ye gonna do now?"
Riven smiled wistfully. "I don't know. I don't really want to go home, but I'm pretty much worthless at anything useful. I kind of like the idea of being on a ship, but..." He grinned ruefully. "I think we all saw just how bad of an idea that would be."
Lan chuckled softly. "Yeah," he agreed.
Riven hesitated, steeling his nerves. "You know," he said casually, "I don't think I'd be able to do what Captain Naefindan's done." At Lanthus's confused look, he elaborated. "Leaving behind the only world I'd ever known to go live amongst people who were completely different from mine... It'd be like me trying to go live with the merfolk. I'd be terrified."
A thoughtful frown settled over Lanthus's features. "Nae's always been untamable, doin' things just cause 'e hasn' done 'em before..." The frown deepened. "No... tha' ain't quite right..."
Riven waited, uncertain if he'd gotten through. Lan wasn't stupid, but fear made people do strange things sometimes.
"'e wasn' always like 'e is now," Lan said finally. "When I first met 'im... I 'member thinking 'e was runnin from something. I couldn' figger out how a man who owned 'is own ship couldn't get away from whatever was chasin 'im."
"Hard to run from the sea..." Riven murmured quietly.
Lanthus turned completely, staring out over the length of the ship to where a single slender figure stood with one hand resting lightly on the helm. He looked so confident, so fearless. Like the world had been created for him to play in. Then he noticed Lan looking and all the fire seemed to die as Naefindan shrank back, partially hiding behind the big wheel.
Riven laid a gentle hand on Lan's arm. "You told me once he was fearless, but I think what he fears the most is losing the people he cares about. That first voyage I spent on the Azure..." He shook his head faintly. "I didn't want to leave. You all were so close... more than friends, the Azure was like a family. I think I sort of envied it."
Lan blinked at him in surprise, looking down at Riven for a moment before looking back up and across the deck. "Yer right," he said finally, "Nae's closer t' me than any brother..." He smiled slightly, a hint of a grin in the way his lips tilted and those dark eyes crinkled. "Even if 'e is a fish," Lan added.
Laughing softly in relief, Riven returned the smile. "I think I'm glad I'm only half," he admitted. "I wouldn't have a clue what to do with scales and a tail."
Lan chuckled, massive shoulders shaking just a bit. He regarded Riven for several long moments, dark eyes thoughtful, then ventured, "Ya really mean what ye said 'bout wantin to stay?" he asked.
A brief flash of surprise rippled through Riven. "Yes," he said confidently, "Though I have no idea what I'd do. Growing up as a prince seems to leave one singularly unsuited for doing anything else."
Though he smiled slightly, Lanthus didn't laugh at Riven's self-disparaging comment. He seemed oddly nervous; not something Riven would have ever expected of the towering mountain of a man.
"I... ye wouldn' hafta be a sailor," Lan said haltingly. "That is... I wouldn' mind if ya kept usin... if ye stayed in my quarters..."
Riven stared at him for several moments, certain that his own hopes and dreams had somehow colored Lan's words. He couldn't have meant... but then he had rescued Riven from the merfolk. Only one way to find out for sure, really, though if he'd misread Lanthus this was really going to hurt.
Standing on his toes and pulling Lan down by his shirt, Riven pressed a brief, hesitant kiss to Lan's lips. He could feel Lanthus's surprise and started to pull away, only to find himself swept up into powerful arms and kissed in a way that left absolutely no doubt as to Lan's intentions.
"Oh good," Riven breathed when at last they broke apart. "That's what I hoped you'd say."