The Shattered Islands: Part One: The Rakam Read Online Free
Author: Karpov Kinrade
balms and seaweed strips to close the wounds. I find the captain of my own ship supervising the process.
He looks up and grunts when he sees me. "If yer here to ask for those stones back, yer wasting yer breath. I told ye when we started this trip, once a man sets sail on these waters, his fate be in the hands of the goddess."
I shrug idly, never having intended to ask for compensation. It says much about the captain and the people he's dealt with, that he thought I would. "We were lucky the Ruu ship came when it did," I say, eyeing the grizzled old man.
He glares at me from the side of his eyes, his scar twisting over the clenched muscles of his jaw and neck. "I taught them, you know," he says, glancing back at the healers. "Taught every one of them."
I raise an eyebrow. "You were a healer?"
"Still smell the healing sap on my hands." He takes a swig from his flask. "Back then all I wanted was to be captain, but now, I think that was a simpler time. A better time." He smiles and points at the working crew. "See how they apply the balm in layers, not all at once like those big island folk? That's the right way." His words focus on the healers, but I see his mind is elsewhere. I see it in his stone heavy shoulders, in the way his smile never reaches his eyes, in the way his hands cradle his flask like a lover. His mind is yet to forget. His mind is yet to forgive.
"Any idea when we'll be back on the water?" I ask.
"If all goes well, two sun's time."
I mentally calculate all that could happen in two sun's time.
Too much.
For a moment, we sit silently in the darkness. Before I leave, I grip the captain's shoulder and use my softest voice, the one I learned from my mother. "You led your men well," I say. "No other captain would have saved as many." Then I walk away swiftly, for it is a rare thing to hear words of kindness and know that no words are needed in return.
***
I spend the rest of the afternoon exploring this new ship, talking to the crew, getting to know as many of them as I can. My cover as "Sev," a lower-family cast off, stands. No one questions why my eyes are so bright, why I wear gloves to hide my nails, why I'm on this trip at all.
And so both crews settle into a rhythm that is focused and efficient. When the final repairs are made and our whale is deemed seaworthy once more, Han'Ruu invites everyone for a final celebratory dinner to cement our friendship and say our goodbyes before we set sail the next morning.
The dinner takes place on the larger whale-ship, atop the great shell, with everyone in attendance. It's a grand affair, for a ship, with multiple courses of complex meals—including of course, roasted rakam—different flavors of wines and liquors and several choices of desserts. The alcohol flows freely and there isn't a sober man or woman left by the time the crone moon is high in the sky.
I am sitting at the edge of the shell, watching the festivities from afar, cradling a wine cup in my hands, when Calla saunters over to me. She runs a long finger down my chest as she puckers her lips. "Such a waste these last few days have been," she says, grinning mischievously. "You and I could have had so much fun, if you'd wanted." She leans into my shoulder and whispers into my ear, her breath hot on my neck. "They have beds, ye know. And the moon is still high. There is time."
"Perhaps in another life," I say, gently pushing her away. As I do, she opens her lips and brushes the side of my face with her hand, but there is no part of me that responds to her touch. That part of me belongs to another.
Seeing my lack of excitement, she shakes her head and settles into the chair next to mine, clutching her cup close to her. She eyes the bundle tied with kelp that hangs from the side of my chair. "Tell me a secret tonight. Just one." Her eyes are bright and glossy from the drink, but also from unshed tears of those recently lost.
"I have no secrets worth sharing."
She laughs loudly. "That is
He looks up and grunts when he sees me. "If yer here to ask for those stones back, yer wasting yer breath. I told ye when we started this trip, once a man sets sail on these waters, his fate be in the hands of the goddess."
I shrug idly, never having intended to ask for compensation. It says much about the captain and the people he's dealt with, that he thought I would. "We were lucky the Ruu ship came when it did," I say, eyeing the grizzled old man.
He glares at me from the side of his eyes, his scar twisting over the clenched muscles of his jaw and neck. "I taught them, you know," he says, glancing back at the healers. "Taught every one of them."
I raise an eyebrow. "You were a healer?"
"Still smell the healing sap on my hands." He takes a swig from his flask. "Back then all I wanted was to be captain, but now, I think that was a simpler time. A better time." He smiles and points at the working crew. "See how they apply the balm in layers, not all at once like those big island folk? That's the right way." His words focus on the healers, but I see his mind is elsewhere. I see it in his stone heavy shoulders, in the way his smile never reaches his eyes, in the way his hands cradle his flask like a lover. His mind is yet to forget. His mind is yet to forgive.
"Any idea when we'll be back on the water?" I ask.
"If all goes well, two sun's time."
I mentally calculate all that could happen in two sun's time.
Too much.
For a moment, we sit silently in the darkness. Before I leave, I grip the captain's shoulder and use my softest voice, the one I learned from my mother. "You led your men well," I say. "No other captain would have saved as many." Then I walk away swiftly, for it is a rare thing to hear words of kindness and know that no words are needed in return.
***
I spend the rest of the afternoon exploring this new ship, talking to the crew, getting to know as many of them as I can. My cover as "Sev," a lower-family cast off, stands. No one questions why my eyes are so bright, why I wear gloves to hide my nails, why I'm on this trip at all.
And so both crews settle into a rhythm that is focused and efficient. When the final repairs are made and our whale is deemed seaworthy once more, Han'Ruu invites everyone for a final celebratory dinner to cement our friendship and say our goodbyes before we set sail the next morning.
The dinner takes place on the larger whale-ship, atop the great shell, with everyone in attendance. It's a grand affair, for a ship, with multiple courses of complex meals—including of course, roasted rakam—different flavors of wines and liquors and several choices of desserts. The alcohol flows freely and there isn't a sober man or woman left by the time the crone moon is high in the sky.
I am sitting at the edge of the shell, watching the festivities from afar, cradling a wine cup in my hands, when Calla saunters over to me. She runs a long finger down my chest as she puckers her lips. "Such a waste these last few days have been," she says, grinning mischievously. "You and I could have had so much fun, if you'd wanted." She leans into my shoulder and whispers into my ear, her breath hot on my neck. "They have beds, ye know. And the moon is still high. There is time."
"Perhaps in another life," I say, gently pushing her away. As I do, she opens her lips and brushes the side of my face with her hand, but there is no part of me that responds to her touch. That part of me belongs to another.
Seeing my lack of excitement, she shakes her head and settles into the chair next to mine, clutching her cup close to her. She eyes the bundle tied with kelp that hangs from the side of my chair. "Tell me a secret tonight. Just one." Her eyes are bright and glossy from the drink, but also from unshed tears of those recently lost.
"I have no secrets worth sharing."
She laughs loudly. "That is
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