Page 20 of Apple Boy

I paused to gather my thoughts. It was all so deeply painful to share. My body was numb apart from the places Adam’s soothing fingers caressed. His fingers became my focus, anchoring me to the present while my mind dug up the detritus of the past.

“I was dragged, kicking and screaming up to the main deck where I met the terrified gaze of my valet Jossuah, who had hurriedly repacked both of our travel bags and stood with one slung over each shoulder. My trunk was hefted from our cabin by two deckhands. They placed it on the main deck as Jossuah and I were pushed together. The ruffian gagging me would not release his grip, so I could not even tell Jossuah what had happened.

The Trojan Star had been skirting the coastline from Osia to Erias, so, as I said, the land was never out of view. In my naiveté I thought they would lower it into the cock-boat they used to ferry supplies too and fro, and we would row ashore. But then Oates joined us on the main deck, and with a nod from him the deckhands lifted my trunk and sat it on the waist, then I heard the mighty splash and realized my trunk had been thrown overboard. I wriggled in my captors grasp and roared in protest, but then the two deckhands who’d thrown my trunk into the Wide Sea then grabbed Jossuah, dragged him to the edge and—” I stifled a sob, “tipped him over the side of the ship as if he were nothing but unwanted ballast.”

Adam’s fingers stopped their ministrations, and beneath me, it sounded like his heart had stopped beating. “NO! No, that can’t be.”

I felt a tear fall onto my cheek, one that did not belong to me. “I can still see the look of horror and disbelief in his eyes, Adam. Jossuah cried out for me as he fell. He cried for me, and I could do nothing to help him. He was weighed down by our baggage and had no time to unhook the weight. He was dragged under.”

I lay sobbing in Adam’s arms, at last able to face the truth. My actions in challenging the Captain had resulted in the murder of my valet. I was to blame for his death. It was all my fault.

In a small voice, as if terrified to learn the answer, Adam asked: “Winter, what did they do to you?”

I spoke on between my sobs, but my voice sounded distant to my ears. “With a nod from Captain Oates, I soon followed Jossuah into the icy waves.” Adam clutched me a little tighter.

“I don’t remember swimming, just the suffocating chill of plunging into the sea, and the pressure in my chest, and then I remember waking on the shore and it was morning.” The silence stretched as Adam gave me the space to gather the threads of my thoughts.

“The belongings from my bags—the bags that Jossuah had carried, were strewn along the beach, sodden and ripped by the sharp black rocks that lined that stretch of coastline. Jossuah was nowhere to be seen. I was uninjured, apart from a few scrapes and bruises. I trailed the beach and sharp jagged black rocks for hours looking for a sign of him, but his body never washed up. I was so cold and confused as to why they had done such a hateful thing to us. I understood only that could not stay on the beach overnight and so I collected what belongings I could carry and climbed up a cliff path to see a dirt track that led to the road that eventually bought me to Mallowick.”

“And to me.”

I smiled through my sadness. Yes, Adam was correct, that terrible event had led me into his arms.

“Gods, Winter. I’m so sorry about what happened to you and your friend. That’s no way for any man to go.” Adam’s voice was as broken as my own.

“No, it’s not. So you see why I need to get to Serein. It is imperative I find out if the Trojan Star is still in port. I must know what happened to the slaves and I want justice for poor Jossuah.” I declared passionately.

“I also need to inform my uncle that the Kings are dealing in flesh with the Great Council. He’ll know what to do.”

“Are you sure the Great Council are involved?”

“No, but the cargo was meant for them. They must know.” I’d been rolling this conundrum around in my head for weeks. Serein had a long-standing agreement to mint coin for the Empire; everyone knew that. And then minted the coin was held in a Sereinean depository. It had been that way since the city was created. But, I could not understand why the kings would send slaves. Was a human cargo part of an illicit deal or was something else afoot here?

“I cannot think of any sane reason for captives to be shackled to the Great Council’s trove.” I said.

“Sending slaves and breaking the treaty—that’s like the Kings poking at a chained dog. It’s a threat if ever I heard one. Ye know this could bring war to the Empire.”

“I know.” It was good that Adam and I were on the same page. “There were slaves from all of the six provinces, and once their Dukes discover the anti-slavery treaty has been broken they will retaliate—but against whom is debatable.”

“So,” Adam said thoughtfully, “This Captain Oates thinks you’re dead too, does he? What will he do when he finds out you survived?”

I’d been thinking that very same thing. Currently, the Kings, the Captain and the crew of the Trojan Star were the only ones who knew about the illegal cargo of slaves. Once it was discovered that I live there will be a price on my head.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. I winced then, recalling how Adam had used my title here at the Journeyman’s Rest while trying to procure our bedchamber. If any man in the tap room had overheard—or if Rawlings was the gossipy sort who liked to brag about the aristocrats who bedded down at his hostelry, my name would reach Serein before the Zephyr.

I cupped my face in my hands. I was emotionally drained from the telling and exhausted from the long day's travel. The silence between Adam and me stretched, and I thought he’d drifted off to sleep. But then, in a subdued voice, he said, “What will we do when we get to the city? I need to find my brother, but—”

“But what?” I queried.

“I don’t want to leave you, Winter. Not now.”

Hearing those words from his lips kindled a fire that burned away my sadness.

“We can help each other. I don’t know no-one in the city. You’re my friend, my only friend at that! It would be daft to go our separate ways when we get there.” I guessed Adam feared a rejection, just like in the bathhouse because he was trying too hard. Things between us were different now. I wanted more time with him, not less.

I reached for Adam’s hand and pulled it to my lips. He was not used to a boy reciprocating his affections, and so the tiniest of intimacies became potent between us. He shyly held me in his remit, his cheeks flushing at my attention. Meeting his soulful green eyes as they reflected the candlelight I kissed his fingers, one-by-one. Did he have any idea what that submissive look did to me? I wanted to laugh-out-loud with the wonder of the feelings bubbling inside me. I wanted to throw myself upon him and ravage him to distract me from all the terrible thoughts swirling in my head. And I also wanted to curl up quietly in his arms and listen to him tell me of his life, the lilting melody of his Pasturelands accent working in counterpoint with the comforting thrum of his heart beating in his chest.

Oh Gods, what was wrong with me? I could not be falling for this man after three days. Adam Sewell made me feel alive and as if I was infected with madness at the same time. I answered my own question then—there was nothing wrong with the way I was feeling. The madness came from the rightness and the purity of this uncharted ocean of feelings. I didn’t want to navigate Serein alone, and I couldn’t leave Adam to fend for himself in the city.