“Time doesn’t always heal all wounds.”

A.J. Darkholme

A sombre crew slowly made their way home to Wester Ponente. They had unwillingly watched their little lord swallowed by the storm that had so nearly taken their own lives. No matter how many times he had managed a miraculous escape or victory before, it was difficult not to think the worst when it came to his fate. His father, Kaius, seemed to be beside himself that he had not been on board with his son when the storm struck. He often cursed the fact that he had been aboard the former slaver’s ship rather than his sons. It was with heavy hearts that the former slaves, now sailors who owed their very freedoms to the Silversea family and its little Lord, returned home to face the island, the town and his family without him.

The journey back was not helped by the damage to their vessel. Unlike Kai’s little speedboat, their ship had not been enchanted from the point of the prow to the rear of the rudder. Their sail had ripped and required patching, parts of the rigging were missing and the hull would require a full workover with caulking and tarring once they returned home.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Arawn pointed out one of the few individuals capable of doing so without receiving their captain’s fury or coping with it should he have unleashed it.

“Then whose was it?” Kaius was unrelenting in his self-punishment. It did not take a genius to see that he somehow felt responsible for both the sea and the storm.

“Speaking from experience and having watched him disappear over the edge of a cliff without warning, he is far more resilient than you give him credit for. Last time he had nothing but his wits to save himself with. The sea has swallowed him whole before and spat him right back out again. We cannot give up on him.” Arawn seemed to be optimistically confident in his grandchild’s ability to survive whatever the world might throw at him.

“I hope you are right.” Kaius couldn’t help but fear the worse and the ship and crew slipped back into silence as they slowly worked their way home.

Kaius’ POV

Returning home without his son was a bitter feeling of burned ashes, but not one he hadn’t felt before. When Arawn had returned to tell them of Kai’s death, it had been the same. For the whole family, alongside disbelief that someone would throw a child off a cliff. However, he had not been there. There had been no way to refute what his father-in-law and daughter had told him despite the lack of a body. However, this time, he had some small fragile hope.

They had not seen his son’s ship sink.

Sure the storm had whipped them out further west before moving north, but Kai had done this before, coming back from the dead. He could do it again. His thoughts went around in circles, what could he have done differently, how could he have prevented this?

He turned to prayer.

But no one answered.

Despite the silence, he still almost half expected to sail home to find him already sitting there at the top of the cliff, to welcome them home.

But he wasn’t.

It was with sinking stone hearts that they returned home with the sad news. Kai was missing, but hopefully not dead.

Arawn’s POV

The thought that he should have been onboard kept running through his head. Namir had gone with him to keep him safe from sea monsters, but what could he do against the sea and sky itself? The storm that had swept them all up had come out of nowhere. Powered by muscles as much as by the wind, their boat had managed to make it to Little Wester, not so his grandson and his small sailboat. Not that he could have done much more than Namir facing such circumstances. Still, he would have stuck with him through thick and thin. In the wrong place at the wrong time he couldn’t

Aliyah was going to be distraught. Aleera would be beside herself.

He knew that he hadn’t been the best father or even grandfather, but things had been getting better; with the oaths relaxed and removed, he had been able to recreate his relationships. Building better foundations for them. It was not easy, and it was taking time, but things were improving. He was not going to write off Kai too soon. He had been fooled before.

They would have to wait and see. The question was whether or not others would.

Aleera’s POV

“He’s dead?” She quizzed Arawn.

“We don’t know, we didn’t see him die. Officially he is missing. He was swept out to sea and then to the north with Namir. But then again, he’s done this before and come back from it. We shouldn’t write him off just yet.” Arawn answered cautiously, optimistic.

“He’ll be fine.” Aliyah insisted. “He’s alive, I know it.” Her mother was unwilling or incapable of giving up on her son so soon.

“So we carry on, as planned?” She looked for support from both her parents and Lady Acacia. Without Kai present, she would officially be head of the household. She would no longer have her brother as a foil to placate and defend herself and her house from others.

“As planned, without pause. He’ll be back soon enough and expect us to have moved forward rather than waiting for him to return.” Aliyah answered a little too frenetically. Aliyah did not live for her children, but they did mean the world to her, and currently, her world was a little cracked as she contemplated life without her little lord, if only for a few days, weeks, or months. “He’ll return.” She repeated as if to reassure herself of that fact.

Without knowing how long it would be until he returned, Aleera realised to herself that it was time to move on to the next phase of expansion for the Silversea House. They could not afford to wait for him indefinitely, and ready or not, they needed to move forward with their plans, even if it would be up to her and her alone to implement them.

At least he had left books and plans behind for her to hand out to the various branches of House Silversea. They would be able to move on without him.

Lady Acacia’s POV

Lady Acacia looked on at the family meeting from the outside. The only retainer included in their small gathering. It had not been a pleasant affair, and from where she was sitting, it did not look overly optimistic about the child’s chances.

A small child at that, and his retainer Namir, who admittedly was a bit of a monster and one of her few friends left, but still. There was only so much a land monster could do in these circumstances. This was the Azimuth Ocean they were talking about, after all and a storm that, by all accounts, had nearly stripped the sails of the ships off and whipped them into the ocean.

She just couldn’t see exactly how it was they were supposed to have survived.

Namir hated sailing, and for the first time, she understood why.

The lack of control of your fate was frightening.

Her fist closed tightly on the small stone in her hand. She didn’t want to give anyone false hope.

But if he was alive and he had a hope of returning with Kai then Namir would be able to let her know.

“Namir did you survive the storm?” she sent into the aether.