House of Salt and Sorrows(13)

I jumped away from Ekher and raced down the docks, but I kept looking back as he shouted curses at me. I’d never seen someone’s moods turn so quickly. Had so many years in the sun addled his mind? As I cast one look back toward him, I bumped into someone and nearly fell over my feet.

“I’m so terribly sorry,” I exclaimed, reaching out for balance. The rising sun was directly behind the stranger, casting around him a brilliant corona that blinded me. Spots, dark blue and white-hot, danced before my eyes.

Like the old man’s stars.

“I believe this is yours?” he said, stepping closer, arm outstretched. Shaded from the sun’s glare, I made out friendly blue eyes staring down with concern.

I felt completely dwarfed by him, barely coming to his shoulders. My eyes lingered on their broad expanse for a moment longer than was entirely proper. He must be a sea captain, I thought, sensing the muscles beneath his fine wool jacket. It wasn’t hard to picture him raising a heavy sail, one hoist at a time.

His hair was unfashionably long, the dark curls stopping just shy of his jawline. One curl brushed the corner of his mouth, caught on a passing breeze, and I had a sudden and thoroughly horrifying desire to push it aside, just to feel its softness.

He cleared his throat, and my cheeks burned, so terrified was I that he’d somehow read my mind. He’d been holding out a coin between his fingers while I openly gaped at him, my mind racing with wild thoughts.

“You dropped this.” He took my hand and pressed the piece of copper into my palm.

Such a simple gesture, performed every day by merchants and tradesmen, should not have felt so singularly intimate, but his touch thrilled me. His thumb caressed the center of my hand, leaving a tingling sweep when he released the money into my possession. My breath caught as I irrationally wondered what that same movement would feel like against my neck, my cheeks, my lips….

“Thank you,” I murmured, finding my voice. “That was very kind. Most people would have kept it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of keeping something that didn’t belong to me.” I sensed he was about to smile. “Besides, it’s only a copper florette. I’d rather lose the money and seize the chance to talk with the pretty girl who owns it.”

I opened my mouth, willing anything to come out, but words failed me.

He stepped in closer as a pair of fishermen barreled down the pier, a heavy crate balanced between them. “Actually, perhaps you could be of some assistance?”

My guard shot up. Papa always cautioned us to be on the lookout for pickpockets and thieves when outside Highmoor. Perhaps returning my coin was merely a ruse to swindle me out of greater sums.

“I’m new here and was looking for the captain.”

I squinted, keeping a wary eye on his hands. Papa said many were so skilled in the art of thievery, they could steal the rings from your fingers without you being the wiser.

“It’s a large wharf,” I stated, gesturing to the dozens of boats around us. “With many captains.”

He smiled guilelessly, his cheeks betraying a trace of his chagrin, and I thought perhaps his intentions were pure. “Yes, of course. I’m looking for Captain Corum. Captain Walter Corum.”

I shrugged, wishing the light in his eyes didn’t fluster me. After so many years of being locked away at Highmoor, I had almost no experience with men. Even speaking with Papa’s valet, Roland, for more than a question or two left me a rosy, stammering mess.

I pointed toward the marketplace farther down the harbor. “Someone there will know.”

The stranger’s eyes dimmed a touch, his disappointment evident. “But not you?”

“I’m not from Selkirk.”

He turned to go.

“Are you to sail for him?” The question burst out too loudly. “For Captain Corum?”

He shook his head. “He’s sick. With scarlet fever. I’ve come to take care of him.”

“Is he very ill, then?”

He shrugged. “I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.”

I remembered how everyone gathered at Ava’s sickbed when she fell ill. The room was kept dark, the curtains shut tight against the light. The healers said to heat the plague out of her body, and it grew unbearably stuffy with the fires stoked as high as Papa dared. Even so, Ava’s teeth chattered so loudly, I feared they’d crack apart, falling from her bloodied lips like hailstones raining down.

But the stranger didn’t look like a healer. He was made to be on a ship, high above the sea in the crow’s nest, halfway to the stars. I could picture the wind tugging at his dark curls as he scanned the horizon for adventures.

“I hope he’s soon on the mend,” I offered, my hands fumbling, unsure of what they were supposed to be doing. “I’ll say a prayer to Pontus tonight for a swift recovery.”

“That’s very kind of you…” He trailed off, clearly seeking my name.

“Annaleigh.”

His mouth curved into a smile, and my breath caught as a bundle of nerves fluttered deep within me.

“Annaleigh,” he repeated, and on his tongue my name sounded full and lush, like a line of poetry or a hymn.

“Thaumas,” I added, though he didn’t ask. I sounded like a staggering simpleton and wanted to sink into the waves.

His eyes lit up, as if he recognized my surname, and I wondered if he knew Papa. “Annaleigh. Thaumas.” His grin deepened. “Beautiful.” He swept into a deep bow, holding his arm out like a gallant courtier. “I hope our paths soon cross again.”