An Ocean of Lies (AFOS II)

Chapter 16: Jo

Alaric changed to knight mode in a second. She could see it in his eyes, his posture, the way he reached for the hilt of his sword without moving a muscle. It was easy to forget there was a killing machine behind that boyish smile. He lowered his ear, to listen to her.

She explained, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Someone was trying hard to make the island look deserted. Trying so hard it was a giveaway. The island was soundproof, there were probably mages hiding in the shadows, watching their every step. Pondering whether they'd make good prisoners or if they should feed them to the ocean: they'd known Roisin, probably, but not them. They weren't expecting them. He nodded. He had been too focused on his own body, aching, changing, that he hadn't noticed the details. He looked disappointed in himself, like it was his job to protect them and he had failed. He was, after all, the one trained to keep every factor in mind, to seize and capture dangerous fugitive mages. But Jo had been trained to read her surroundings as well, wasn't she? She saw his shoulder muscles relax, he smiled. She was right. They were both just as capable, they were a team and she didn't need saving.

"That's probably what they are," he whispered, his breath warm in her ear. "It's either a pirate enclave or one of those dark mage safe-havens," he licked his lips. "You know? I would've much rather end up in a tiger's nest, at least you know what to expect from tigers: they'll eat you, and be done with it," he laughed, nervously. "Dark mages might want to try and have some fun with us first. It won't be so fun for us, though," he wrinkled his nose.

"Do you think they'll... sacrifice us? It's a good thing we aren't virgins, then, they'll think it twice before draining our blood to cast dark rituals," she couldn't help it. It was either joking back or giving in to despair.

"If they're pirates, we could end up as slaves, who knows? Maybe they won't separate us. I hear some rich people in Ampuria like to have couples under their roofs, it makes it easier to control them, you know? Threaten to cut the other's fingers, that sort of thing. Lovely people, those Ampurians. I wonder why Wyn ever left that place: a mystery," his jaw looked tense.

"Maybe we'll be even luckier than that, and they'll be mage pirates: imagine the possibilities. What if sell us to Roisin, I mean, she had their little island of wonders marked on her map, they're probably old friends! I'd love to see her revenge, I'm sure it'll be really entertaining for us," she was shaking at that point.

They agreed it would be best to go back to their boat, without making any sudden moves. If they were lucky, whoever or whatever hid in that island hadn't caught their scent yet. Maybe they were being paranoid, and the mages or pirates just wanted to be left alone, right? They'd leave them alone as long as they didn't try anything funny. They could row away, ration the food they had and keep rowing until getting to skaldjaar territory without losing a drop of blood.

Either way, escaping was the best plan, or so they kept muttering under their breaths. If they were going to die, at least they would die doing what they were meant to do: finding Alaric's sister. Her blade was the only blade acceptable at that point, they'd gone through too much to die by the hands of random mages, pirate mages, whatever they were. Maybe there were alchemical traps hidden in the ground: that thought didn't do much to reassure Jo or Alaric, by the looks of his face.

When they finally made it back to the beach, Jo was ready to sit on that hard wooden boat for hours again, looking forward to all the leg cramping and neck stiffness from looking at the map: but the boat wasn't there any longer. She wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, at least, right? Or anything else in the foreseeable future, for that matter. They should've tied the boat to a log, to a rock or something, the tide was low but the waves still reached the shore once in a while. She bit her tongue, pacing back and forth, kicking the sand: she wanted to yell at Alaric, badly. She wanted to blame him for it, but it was unfair: it wasn't his fault, not entirely. It was on both of them. He sat down on a rock, pensive, looking at the ocean, and that only made her angrier. It was stupid. She closed her eyes, loosened and unloosened her fists: deep breaths. She'd found herself having to do that a lot, lately. Something about Grandmother's idea didn't sit well with her, but what, exactly? She had gotten swooped in by Alaric's enthusiasm, they never had a lot of time to think it through and at the moment it seemed like a plan, the only plan. The city of Ontur wasn't safe, but running away to the fog Ocean, immediately? Grandmother was counting on them wanting to go, she had sent Laurentius off to fetch Roisin, who had been paid in advance. She pursed her lips, looked back at Alaric. He looked sad now. Defeated. He could probably sense she was mad at him, the poor thing.