Read Online Dream Storm Sea by A.E. Marling - Free Book Online Page B

bled a tide of water, that it was dead.”
    “When was this?” Sagai asked.
    “I was old enough to take a swallow from the jug the fishermen passed around. The liquor burned. I coughed and coughed, and they laughed. But I didn’t care. We were all so happy. The spellsword smiled at me. I thought he was the handsomest man.” She gazed at Sagai, her eyes alive with tears. “At the time.”
    Naroh’s whispering quickened, a tremble of words rolling over each other. Hiresha pointed her ear at the couple and leaned as close as she could without tipping the fox off the couch.
    “Then the spellsword was gone. Yanked out from the center of us. I never saw how. Everyone ran back to their huts, and all that night we had to listen. You could hear him over the surf. His screams lasted to morning.”
    Hiresha worried that neither of them would fall asleep after that chilling story.
    Sagai placed a hand over Naroh’s heart then reached his arm around her shoulder. He held her and asked, “It was the Murderfish?”
    She nodded. “After that the city sent out three boats of guards. They were all drowned. Or pulled apart.”
    “Many beasts will eat a man. Tigers, terror birds, and leopards. I’ve never heard of one that tortures.” Sagai made wiping motions with his hands over his velvet and gold jacket. “And it snatched the spellsword from the middle of your village? That sounds like no fish.”
    “It is a spirit.”
    “Did it leave tracks?”
    Naroh scrunched up her face, and she hesitated before answering. “Many prints. All very round. I could stand in them, but mother said it was bad luck.”
    “Round? Like a hippo print?”
    “I don’t know.”
    He grasped her hands. “The Murderfish sounds real enough to kill, if fish it is. And I must make something of myself.”
    “Even if you could kill it, it wouldn’t matter.”
    “How could you say—”
    “Sagai, the sea is full of monsters, but there’s only one of you.”
    The prince and the maid held hands, gazing into each other’s eyes.
    Hiresha felt a creeping heat of embarrassment. Watching any longer felt as wrong as wearing someone else’s jewelry. She closed her eyes. She still heard Naroh speak.
    “Promise me to never go near the sea.”
    The silence that followed pressed down on Hiresha. Whether Sagai gave his word or not, the enchantress never knew. Sleep bore her away.
    She waited in her dream world, gliding among the stars. The enchantress tried not to dwell on the story of the Murderfish, what manner of creature it was, what drove it to kill. The Murderfish has no bearing on my escape plans. Unless Sagai abandons his duties to hunt it.
    Hiresha discovered that she could not wish that of the spellsword, not even though he had held her down under the skin-stitcher’s knife. Besides, I must escape before we reach Jaraah and the sea. The lands beyond the city would dry into inhospitable desert then become too crowded on the flood plains. Hiresha’s chances of escaping unnoticed and surviving would only worsen.

10
    Jaraah
    The city glittered above the heat mirage. Domes of brass and green glass seemed to float above the rippling horizon. The camel beneath Hiresha swayed its way closer, and spires descended from their bulb-shaped roofs. A wall appeared, an arched gateway of gleaming metal. Jaraah shimmered into view.
    The city docks pointed toward the desert. Sails billowed white as the land ships heaved their way over the dunes in sprays of sand. Enchantment reduced the weight of such vessels, and they carried trade goods throughout the empire. Commerce moved on magic.
    Passing caravans cheered Arbiter Cosima. They paid Hiresha less notice in her gown without jewels. One captain steered his land ship close and hailed them, his hand bright with rings.
    “Enchantress, may the goddess’s beauty ever shine through you. Will you honor my wretched ship by sailing aboard to the city?”
    The arbiter lifted her hand to shield the sun. “We must graciously