Chapter 8
The Cold Light
The next morning, every muscle in her body felt sore. “Oh my gods, I’m so—” She rolled over and was looking into the startling yellow-black eyes in an unbelievably handsome face. “Ah. Right.” She put a thumb on her lips and smiled at him as her cheeks flushed.
He leaned forward and kissed her. “Good morning.”
She giggled and moved up against him. It was impossible to miss the feel of him getting a little stiffer.
Before she could do anything, there was a knock at the door. “Madam, we have breakfast ready for you, at your leisure. Are you well enough to eat?”
“Ye—yes!” she nearly shouted. “I’ll be out in a bit.”
“And we definitely have not come up with a plan for any of this part.”
“What do you mean?”
“You clearly didn’t have me when you came onboard. And the ship has not reached any ports yet. Nor have they encountered any ships. And if I recall, you were quite adamant about not being a mystic when you boarded. If they were to find out you lied, it could get them into serious trouble.”
The weight of what she had done was suddenly a lot heavier, and she started to feel guilty.
“None of that now. I can take care of this easily. Go ahead and get dressed.”
“You first.”
Ian laughed, and threw the covers back enough to mostly uncover Iris. “That should satisfy both of us. No, no, you can’t cover back up.”
“Are you telling me what I can and can’t do?”
He opened his mouth to say something, and Iris enjoyed looking at him as he stood there wearing nothing. “I am not telling you what you can do. I am asking you to remain uncovered for me.”
“Oh, you could have just asked.” She pushed the covers off of her leg and settled into the space where he had been. He stood still for a moment looking at her, then she interrupted him. “I think we do both need to get dressed.
“Right, dressed.” He looked at her for a moment longer before turning and picking up his clothing. “It’s not completely dry. Probably because it doesn't dry when it is wadded up on the floor.”
“It’s not the best method for drying things.”
“You know, you could probably fix that.”
“Really.”
“Yeah.” He moved over and sat on the bed, the pants hanging from his hand. “You are still running a little hot.” His eyes drifted over her body. Clearing his throat, he looked at the pants. “We should be focused on getting your father back now.”
It was like an electric jolt. Iris sat up and looked at him. “Do you think that we will arrive today?”
“We should. It isn’t that far, and this ship was moving. I do not know what you did, but that was why I had to swim. I'm faster than a heavy ship for those kinds of distances. Couldn’t cross an ocean, though.”
“Wow, really, that is… almost unbelievable.”
Ian shrugged, “It’s part of the training.” He held up the pants, shrugged, and stood up.
“Don’t you want me to try to dry them?”
“Aren’t you hungry?” His stomach growled, and Iris realized that he had swum for an hour, then they had been together for hours after that.
“Oh, gods, you must be starving. Here, give me those. You put on some of the other pants. I will dry these for you later.”
The couple got dressed, passing each their clothing as they did. Ian helped her with a couple of the pieces, then nodded when he thought she was ready to go.
As they left the cabin together, she leaned over to him, “Are you sure this is alright?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her forehead. They emerged at the top of the stairs a few minutes later, and the activity on the deck stopped as the crew turned to look at the couple.
“Good morning.” Ian bowed to the captain. “You must be Captain Casper.” He held a hand out, and the captain shook it, throwing a confused look at Iris. “I am Ian, Iris’s guardian.”
“Guardian?” The captain raised an eyebrow as he looked at Iris.
“Yes. I apologize for the deception. We are lovers, so we were hoping to make it away from Solona before our cover was blown. I take it we are approaching the last place where her father’s ship was?”
Captain Casper shook his head, “No, we cannot gloss over that. I will have to report this back. You will be—”
“Yes,” Ian smiled and nodded, “you will need to, and I can sign anything you need, although I can assure you that Caden is already moving people this way. I am not so concerned about myself. We are here to make sure that her father is brought back safely.”
Captain Casper looked between the pair. Iris was frowning at Ian, but she kept her mouth shut. The serious discussion was interrupted by another growl from Ian’s stomach. “Oh, I am so sorry. It has been a couple of days since I ate, and I have been a little bit mobile over the last 24 hours. Do you think we could adjourn to the breakfast table?”
“Yes, come on.” The captain turned and headed toward the kitchen.
Iris leaned in, “I did not agree to this. What is going to happen to you?”
“You don’t need to worry about a thing. Trust me.”
“I am not going to let you get in trouble for what happened.”
“I told you that was going to happen if we went through with it.”
“I didn’t realize you meant you were going to sacrifice yourself. I do not agree to this.” She stopped walking.
Ian hung his head, then stood in front of her. “I won’t be able to be a guardian, but I can still be yours. That is what is going to happen.”
“You gave up your career at the beginning? For me?” She wanted to be flattered, but she felt mortified.
He leaned over and kissed her. “It will be easier to protect you as your lover than as your guardian. Starting with the fact that I can do it from your bed. Your mother had your father. You will have me. Okay?”
“I’m not sure that is okay. I don’t want you to give up on your career.”
“Your father, Iris. Right now, you need to be focused on your father. I will be a guardian until we get him back. Alright?”
“Right. You are right.”
Ian leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head.
Over breakfast the captain told them about the situation. Apparently Iris’s father had been separated from the rest of the hostages. The group appeared to be pirates, but they operated in a way that was decidedly similar to the Unwashed. The captain had found out a lot through communication, and it was very impressive to Iris to see just how much he could learn in so little time.
“But madam, if you are a mystic, we can’t let you go in there to get your father. That is exactly the kind of thing that they are expecting. It was probably their entire plan.”
“How are they going to know that I am a mystic?”
“You have a guardian.”
“Does Ian look like a guardian to you?” She gave him a look.
“Well, no. He looks more like an assassin.”
Ian looked offended as Iris nodded. “Exactly.”
Ian squeezed her knee, but she ignored it in front of the captain. Captain Casper shook his head, “Still, if they think you are a druid, they are going to try to kill you. But you cannot counter their attacks like a druid can.”
“Captain Casper, I have a number of unique abilities that go well beyond just magic. We will be fine. You guys wait here, and we will go in. If we are not out within two hours, head to the nearest port and send word back to the guild. You will be pardoned for what happened.”
“What about you two?”
“I don’t think it is going to fail, so I’m not too worried about that. It’s just a question of how long it will take us.”
“And what determines how long it will take?” He leaned forward, obviously thinking he had got her stumped.
“Whether or not my father is alive and well. The less well he is, the less well they will be. If he isn’t alive, none of them will be by the time we leave.”
The captain sat back and shook his head. “I cannot let you walk ashore knowing that. There is no way you can go through with any of that. Is this a suicide attempt because you don’t think you can be together? It isn’t your only option.”
“No, Captain, I want my father back. I lost my mother 16 years ago not too far from here and the druids had to intercede because of what happened. This is more their territory than ours, but the ship took our people. Given we have just brokered a peace with the druids, we cannot bring military ships here. That is what the Unwashed want Solona to do. It is not happening, not using my father as the bait.”
“Look, madam, I admire your bravery, but this is clearly much more dangerous than you realize.”
“Captain Casper, you live on the ocean. That is a far more dangerous proposition, and the chances of you dying while working are over 90%.”
“But it is what I love, so it is worth it.”
“Then we understand each other.” Iris smiled at him.
The captain laughed and shook his head. “You are every bit the firecracker I had heard you were. Right down to the beautiful young man on your arm. Leave it to you to seduce a guardian.”
“Me seduce him?” Iris gave him a look of shock. “My dear captain, I barely had to try.”
The captain laughed and rose. “I wish you the best. I will give you two hours as you said.”
Ian leaned in, “You seduced me? Is that what really happened?”
Iris shrugged, “I think that it was about half and half.”
Leaning forward, he kissed her far more passionately than was appropriate for their situation. “Let’s go save your father.” He rose, leaving her a little weak-kneed on the bench.
“I might need a little help,” she said, her cheeks a light pink.
He chuckled as he walked over to her and offered her an arm.