Mel Odom - The sea devil's eye

Khlinat threw a cargo net over the side and called, "Pipe aboard, swabbie. We done found us a ship that a gaggle of pirates didn't have the guts to keep once we decided we liked the look of her. The dwarf was splattered in blood, but not much of it looked like his. He offered a hand as Jherek climbed aboard. "Ye done for that bad 'un, yeah?"

Jherek nodded and glanced at the ship. The stern mast was broken, the rigging was in tangles, and most of the canvas was gone.

"Aye," Khlinat bellowed, "she ain't no pretty 'un, swabbie, I'll grant ye that, but she's tight as a duck's arse and she's got some promise."

"There's also a pretty impressive cargo below," Azla said. She stepped up from the hold, limping only a little. "No matter where we're at, we're not going to be broke. Well find a port and get this ship fixed up."

"Then where, Captain?'' Jherek asked. "Back to the Sea of Fallen Stars?"

Azla hesitated, then smiled a little. "I don't know," she said. "I'm beginning to think I've been around you and Glawinn too long. The life of a pirate doesn't hold quite the allure it once did."

"And maybe you've taken a better look at yourself," Glawinn said, cradling his injured arm as he approached. "Maybe you aren't as uncaring or disbelieving as you think you are."

"Back off, Sir Knight," Azla said with only a trace of humor. "I'm quite capable of finding my own way. Without your help."

Glawinn turned his gaze on Jherek and asked, "What about you, young warrior? Where are you bound?"

Jherek looked at Sabyna, then took her into his arms, enjoying the warm feel of her.

"Home," he said, looking into her eyes. "I want to see

Madame Iitaar and Malorrie again, and make sure old Finaren and Butterfly are still hale and whole."

Glawinn softened his voice. "Not all of your troubles are over, young warrior. Your father and his crew still roam the waters along the Sword Coast."

Sabyna gazed into Jherek's eyes with her copper-colored ones. "Whatever his troubles may be," she promised, "great or small, he'll never have to face them alone."

"Lady," Jherek began, "you don't know the kind of trouble-"

The ship's mage placed her hand over his mouth. "No," she bade him, "no arguments. There's been enough of those. I mean what I say, Jherek, and I ask only that you love me in turn. Without restraint, without remorse. With all of your heart." Tears glittered in her eyes, but she was smiling.

Jherek held her to him tightly, smelling the lilacs in spite of the brine that clung to her. He grinned at the dawning sun in the eastern sky and said, "As you wish, lady."