Sea of Sighs (Empath Book 2) (29 page)

“No, you haven’t.”

“I want to see you come back to Sha’sek, and
not just because of is going to happen. We need you here,
Quinn.”

Quinn tasted the air, and knew it was the
truth. But she knew the truth could be bent, and just because the
baron found her to be useful, didn’t mean that he cared for her.
She had learned that the hard way through Sammah. Nothing Pax would
ever say would change her opinion of him.

“So, who’s going to be guarding me?”

“Hopefully this gesture will show you that I
truly mean what I say. Your friend Ross; he is coming with you.
He’s going to be more useful to you than he is sitting, taking up
guards, in one of our apartments.”

“Who else? You said guard
s
.
Multiple.”

“Tarik will be coming with you, too.”

“Tarik does all of your training. You’re
paying for him to give my lessons.”

“My pockets are deep Quinn, and my affection
for you runs deeper; not in the way my brother regarded you either.
We need you back in Sha’sek, more than I can even describe.”

“For the war effort?”

“For more than that. You are vital to our
heritage, and we have lost our way, I think you can put us back on
the right path. You must trust me in this.”

“Trust you? You don’t answer direct
questions, and you blackmail me into doing what you want. You think
I’m going to help with the future of
your
people?”

“Our people, Quinn. Remember who you are,
and where you came from.”

“As far as I know baron, I came from Oster,
in the province of Yender, and that’s all I’ve ever been told. No
one will tell me about my heritage, no one can tell me who my
parents are. So, why should I trust anyone, or anything you
say?”

“You do this for the baron, girl, and come
back in one piece, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know
about your parents.”

Quinn turned to see Tarik walk into the
room, accompanied by Ross. Quinn sprinted to her friend, throwing
herself at him in a bear hug. Ross chuckled, return the hug and
stroking her hair. “Did you miss me, little one?”

“You have no idea.” Quinn said, her words
muffled against Ross’
s barrel chest.
“I
hate it when he calls me,
girl.
”

Ross chuckled. “That’s just the Sha’sek way.
You get used to it eventually.”

“What, when I stop being a girl?”

“You’ll only stop being a girl when you get
married and bear children, so that miraculous day remains to be
seen. Is it true, Tarik? Do you really know something that will
help?”

“I know enough. There aren’t exactly many
candidates.”

“So, does your escort meet your
satisfaction, my lady?” Pax drawled, looking impatient.

“More than.”

“Let’s head to the harbour. The ship is
waiting.”

“Have you ever crossed the Sighs,
baron?”

Ross’s voice was quiet and calm. Quinn knew
that that meant danger, and she was sensible enough to keep her
mouth jammed shut. “No,
mercenary, I
’ve
never had the need. Why?”

“Have you ever spoken to anyone that has
done the crossing?”

“Plenty.”

“Did you actually ask what the crossing was
like? How it felt?”

Pax shrugged. “It’s of no consequence to me,
these rumours that you hear about this magical sea. It’s
conjecture. Like the Beach of Bones, it only really exists in the
mind. There isn’t any higher power, nothing in this world dictating
who we are and what we do. Nothing but ourselves.”

Quinn didn’t want to get on that ship. She
didn’t want to cross the Sighs again, because she didn’t like the
woman she became when the fog took hold of her.

Eden tried to reassure her. “You’ll be fine,
Quinn. The sailors will know what you are; I’ll look after you.
We’ll all make sure you’re safe.”

Ross and Maertn both shot Eden looks that
the young lord missed, and Quinn was grateful for it. They both
knew the truth of what had happened to Quinn on their first
crossing, and she still didn’t want Eden to know.

The baron grinned, all teeth. Right then, he
looked so like Sammah, Quinn wanted to drive a sword through his
gut. Sadly, she wasn’t armed. No, she’d have to go back to
Everfell, and her revenge would have to wait.

“There’s no use fighting, Quinn,” Ross moved
forward to grab her arm.
“So
let
’
s just go.
”

“Back again so soon?”

The captain didn’t sound
happy about Quinn being back on board his ship. She couldn’t
console him that she wasn’t happy to be there either. The man
looked miserable beyond belief. Quinn would be too, if she was
forced to traverse the Sighs as often as he did. She wondered how
he hadn’t gone insane, and quickly decided he was not a gifted
navigator, like some ship captains she had heard of.

“The sooner you get me on board, the sooner
you can get rid of me.”

“The sailing weather seems fine, so it’s
just the sea itself we need to cope with.” Quinn was wary at his
phrasing, but there was no way she could escape this. All she could
do was trust in the captain, and hope that she and Eden would
still
be together by the end of the
crossing.

* * *

“Ho there! Quinn! You look like you have the
weight of the world on your shoulders. Can I help you unburden
yourself?”

Tarik danced up the deck towards her,
dodging men as they carried boxes on board. Ross and Eden were
helping, showing they were capable to the crew. Tarik wasn’t
burdened with such insecurity.

“You can, actually. Can we carry on with my
lessons?”

“Really? I thought you hated my lessons.
This is your opportunity to be rid of them.”

“You’ll keep me from staying in my own head,
Tarik, and right now that’s a dark and depressing place to be.”

Tarik looked across at the horizon. “Yes, I
can imagine it is. What were you like the first time? It wasn’t
good, I take it?”

“When I made the crossing I thought I was
going to be staying in Sha’sek. I was so relieved to be past it. I
never wanted to experience anything like that again, and here I am,
forced back through it. I’m hoping at least, if I do some training,
anything to take my mind of my abilities, it’ll lessen the effects
once we get out there.”

“What did you tell your lord? Does he know
what happened to you the first time?”

“No, though it wasn’t a complete lie. I told
him I couldn’t control myself.”

“And he thinks you meant that you could feel
everything again?”

Quinn nodded, not able to voice the answer.
Tarik grunted. “Well, I suppose the
best
thing we could do
is keep you in your quarters, away from everyone else.”

“
I won
’t be a
danger, not this time.” Quinn’s voice was hard and determined.

“How can you know? The Sighs don’t come to
order, and they don’t give you any warning. We might sail through
without a problem, don’
t forget.
”

“That comes down to luck, doesn’t it?”

“No, and that’s the only reason this
crossing is used so much. As the myth goes, the more gifted on
board, the more the Sighs are likely to seek out your ship. Look
around you.”

“What? Me and you?”

“There might be some men on board with
lesser gifts. Nothing so much that we should be bothered about, but
enough for the Sighs to be interested in us. But, the main thing we
have on board is you. I think the Sighs take an interest whenever
there’s an empath in their midst.”

“Why did I have to be born this way? I
didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t want to be Sammah’s daughter.
I don’
t want t
o be Pax’s pawn. I thought
that, when Vance exiled me to Sha’sek, I’d be free.”

“No one is free, girl. No matter how old we
get, or how wise, we always have other people making our decisions
for us.”

“The baron seems to be making a lot of his
own choices.”

“You think that’s right? He’s making
decisions that he thinks are for the good of Sha’sek. He believes
he is sparing others from making those hard choices. Like his
brother, he thinks we serve a higher purpose, that the people of
Sha’sek deserve more than they have. The way you were treated in
Everfell has only reinforced that opinion, I fear.”

“It was Sammah who treated me poorly in
Everfell, not anyone else. Why does there have to be conflict at
all?”

“Because, so long as the people of Everfell
fear us, there will always be conflict between our people. It has
to end, somehow, and the only way it has ever looked like ending,
is through bloodshed.”

“But that’s ridiculous! Why can’t they just
talk? Lynton has lived in Farn. Why can’t he just tell Vance what
Sha’sek is really like. Rhi’s singing, dancing troupes, they’re not
dangerous people. Everfell has nothing to fear!”

“You don’t think that’s been tried? That
they didn’t try to stop war the first time? We’re not fools, Quinn.
Peace was rejected.”

“That was years ago, though, Tarik. Can’t
they try again? Times have changed. There must be a peaceful way of
fixing this.”

“You’d think that, as a man gifted
effectively to kill others, I would prefer the wars. Do you have
any idea how depressing it is to know that your special gift is
only any good for destroying life?”

“Do you know what it feels like to know what
everyone else is thinking? Without wanting it, you know if someone
is lying to you, or despises you?” Quinn countered. She wasn’t sure
which one was worse, but she wasn’t going to give Tarik the
sympathy he was looking for. Eden headed towards them, wiping his
hands on his trousers.

“Everything and everyone is on board.” Eden
went to Quinn, taking one of her hands in his. “Are you okay? Do
you need me to speak to the crew?”

“There’s nothing they can do about it, Eden.
I think it would be best if I stayed on my own, in a cabin through
the whole crossing. Don’t let me out. That way I can try to keep
distracted.”

Eden looked horrified. “I’m not going to
leave you on your own during this crossing, Quinn. Especially not
across the Sighs.”

Quinn didn’t want to put Eden at risk; she
didn’t trust herself, nor her control of her extended powers, with
Eden being the only focus of her attention. The intense pain she’d
felt with the malice she’d directed at the mercenary before
propelling him overboard. With that kind of ability, what could she
possibly do to Eden, left alone with him? Her heart had leapt when
she’d seen him walk into that ballroom, and despite his injuries,
she’d seen the way he’d looked at her. She’d felt his desire, and
her own matched it. If the Sighs made her lose control—and worse,
made her bend others to her own will, what could she do to Eden
without restraint?

As whistles rang out and sailors started to
dart around her, the ship lurched out of port. She saw the baron,
the malicious grin still on his face, standing on the jetty
watching her leave. She didn’t hail him. She never wanted to see
his face again. Sha’sek; Everfell. It didn’t matter where she was.
People wanted to control her; they wanted her power. They didn’t
want Quinn. She wrapped her arm around Eden’s waist, and rested her
head on his shoulder. He shrouded her in a hug and Quinn ignored
Tarik’s snort, as her swordmaster stalked off, presumably to find
his cabin.

The captain had told her
it would be a full day of sailing before they reached the strait of
the Sighs, so Quinn had decided she would follow through with her
request for more sword training. She wouldn’t admit it out loud,
but she had enjoyed the discipline of the craft. The concentration
it took had distracted her from keeping her abilities in check, and
the longer she reflected on it the more she wanted to go the
opposite way—drill herself into using her abilities to try to
anticipate other’s moves. There had to be more to being an empath
than the political anguish she’d so far brought on herself. Quinn
was determined to carve a niche for herself in this world dominated
by men vying for a throne that no one seemed to deserve.

Eden joined her, initially through
curiosity, and a claim that he was out of practice in swordplay. As
a captain of the guard, or a former one at least, from his homeland
of Sevenspells, this was unacceptable. There was also the tenuous
situation of Sammah and his escape. None of them knew what kind of
chaos they would be coming into when they arrived back in court,
and they both wanted to be prepared. Eden was openly encouraging
Quinn’s practice. It was good, he said, that she would be able to
protect herself when no one was expecting it. They all still
remembered the meek Quinn that Aaron had reflected on in their
camp. What they would be getting, Eden had said, would be more like
a hawk. Stunning, and gracefully lethal.

Tarik had been delighted to have two
students to berate. Eden hadn’t surprised him. Tarik expected a lot
of men from Sevenspells, and so Eden’s reputation had preceded him.
The Guardsman-cum-chamberlain was going through solo drills now, as
Quinn perched on a crate. Tarik stood next to her, leaning on a
staff, examining the lord’s movements.

“Does he pass your examination?”

Tarik grunted at Quinn’
s
question.
“He’d take a few years of training, but I think
he’d be passable. I’ve only had to shout at him three times so far,
which is a massive improvement on what you were like.”

“I wasn’t brought up with a sword in my
hand.”

“
A fair point,
girl,
”
Tarik regarded her out of
the side of one eye. “What do you think of your lordling?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your future? What do you think is going to
happen?”