Treasure (11 page)

"Fine," Taka said. "I was able to get the shears when I went to get my dinner. Sit down and I will cut your hair, and then we can rest for a couple of hours before dawn."

"Thank you," Kyo replied softly and obediently went to sit at his dressing table.

Kin wondered if he could lock them all in a cabin and pretend they weren't there until they arrived at their destination. He could assign one of his men to see to it they were regularly fed and didn't kill each other, and he'd be able to enjoy the voyage in relative peace.

He sighed as the harbor bells rang, announcing the formal arrival of dawn. And there they were, two unmistakable figures approaching the ship. They must have spent a lot of time together, he thought cynically, given the way they moved together, so similar right down to the way they walked. He watched from the ship as Raiden greeted them and led the way up the gangway. Sailors approached to take and stow the satchels they carried, and then Raiden guided them across the ship to the Captain's quarters.

Preceding them, Kin went to his desk, sat down, and resumed drinking his coffee, a drink he'd become fond of in Piedre and that he vehemently refused to go without no matter how much Raiden harassed him for it. He watched idly while Takara and his Highness removed their hoods, not realizing until he saw Nankyokukai's face that he had been holding his breath.

He was even more astonished by the wrenching disappointment he felt when the fabric finally fell away, and he realized Nankyokukai had cut his hair. His hair had been cut to his chin; the long, thigh-length, ocean-blue strands gone. It looked good, but, as much as Kin hated to admit it, Nankyokukai was beautiful, breathtakingly so, and his long, long hair had only enhanced that beauty. Everyone knew the royals wore their hair long and decorated it with beads and other trinkets, but Kin had not realized until he saw it just how stunning it could be. Even as he had wanted to stand and walk off in disgust, he had wanted to run his fingers through that hair.

And now it was gone. Kin looked away when he realized he was staring, refilling his coffee and going over the papers his first mate had given him.  Signing off on everything, he stood to return the papers and give the order to depart.

When he returned, the others were eating breakfast and discussing tariffs and trade laws. Kin wasn't certain what irritated him most:  that they were able to discuss it at all so early, or that Nankyokukai discussed it so well.

Nankyokukai reminded Kin of Raiden in that he was so visually distracting that no one noticed just how hard his mind was working. Devious was the word, and conniving right on its heels, but Kin wasn't surprised by a merchant acting that way. He was surprised to find it was the case with a prince who all rumors said had little going for him save his looks, a prince who everyone said slept with his secretary.

He had thought so earlier, watching the way they moved together, how comfortable and familiar they were together. Observing them with Raiden, he thought they were friends, but not lovers. That was a relief because the last thing he needed was Raiden attempting to seduce Takara away from Nankyokukai in the middle of the sea. Watching Raiden, he could see full well that was
exactly
what Raiden intended to do, and storms protect anything that stood in his way.

Kin did not get the obsession, and he did not want to get it.  The one obsession he had was distracting enough. His fingers twitched for his dagger, but he had already tucked it away for the journey. Helplessly, his eyes flicked back to Nankyokukai, that one moment in the temple when he had thought …

Ailill's words had come back to him, then—that the dagger had once been noble or royal. Kin had always assumed noble. Royal had never entered his mind before, and Ailill's comments were the only reason he had thought, for even a single moment, that Prince Nankyokukai was Koori.

If he were, then surely … surely he would remember? Hope had almost immediately soured into doubt, however, when Kyo had given absolutely no indication of knowing him. He had bit the question back at the last moment. Looking at Nankyokukai ensconced on his ship and bickering trade law almost cheerfully with Raiden …

He just could not reconcile that little boy with the arrogant prince before him. Kin left the room again, in no mood to feel out of place on his own ship. He joined Samé on the poop deck, listening while Samé rattled on about the ship and crew, the weather, how good it would be to be in Pozhar again.

Kin silently agreed. Pozhar was always tense because of the search for and eventual sacrifice of the Vessels, but the children of rebirth placed a great deal of faith on that very thing, more than any other country. It was hard to keep down people who believed that the end of one life was just the beginning of another.

They also had fine whorehouses and none of the prudery of Verde and Piedre and were a taste of something different from Kundou. Kin looked out over the sea, thoughts drifting from the journey to his passengers, to Pozhar, to Sanhoshi all the way at the end of the journey.

Why in the name of the dragons would a royal prince want to journey there? How did he even know it existed? Kin knew veteran sailors who were ignorant of the island's existence, and it was not on any maps save those that he and Raiden had altered and kept very close.

He was pulled abruptly from his thoughts when Samé fell silent mid-sentence. Kin saw the look on Samé's face and followed the direction his gaze, completely unsurprised to see that Nankyokukai had come on deck. Leaving Samé, Kin moved down to the main deck and approached. "Highness, was there something you needed?"

"No," Nankyokukai replied. "You can stop calling me Highness; there is very little need for that out here." He swept his arm out to encompass the ship and the sea. "Kyo will suffice, please."

"Kyo," Kin repeated obediently, feeling awkward at such informality—feeling awkward, period. What did one say to a prince? He could not converse the way Raiden did, and was not inclined to anyway, but he refused to look like an uneducated idiot on his own ship, no matter how much that was true.  He was an officer because he was good at his job and Raiden trusted him, no matter his lack of station or formal education. "Did you grow tired of discussing tariffs?"

Kyo laughed. "I wanted to see the ocean. I thought it would look the same whether I saw it from a ship or my bedroom window, but it looks different from here."

"The protections of Kundou are gone here," Kin replied. "The water is deep. They say that in some places it goes on forever, too deep for any but a god to comprehend."

"I believe it," Kyo said, looking out over the water again. The wind flew about them, stirring his hair and hiding his face from view.

Kin fought a strange urge to reach out and brush it back, keep it back, so that Kyo was not hidden from him. "You cut your hair, Highness."

"I, for one, did not want to try to wash and comb it throughout this journey. It is difficult enough in the palace where every luxury is at my disposal to help tend it." He reached up to touch the back of his neck. "It feels very strange having my neck bare." He smiled ruefully, then let his hand fall.

Once more Kin had to fight an urge to touch. He could only imagine the penalties for touching Kyo without permission, and it made no sense he wanted to anyway. But that was a lie, and he knew it. Raiden loved to mock him for being susceptible to pretty things, especially pretty men. Kin had never denied the weakness, or the trouble it had gotten him, though he thought it a bit ridiculous that Raiden mocked him. Kin, at least, had never been banned from a brothel for causing trouble.

Thinking of Raiden and brothels reminded him of Takara. "Are you certain you should be leaving Shima alone with your secretary? He looked as though he might bite."

"With all due respect, Raiden looked as though he would not mind," Kyo drawled.

Despite himself, Kin laughed. "Fair enough." He moved to the railing and leaned over it, arms braced on the edge, and stared out at the sea himself, wondering what it looked like through the eyes of someone new to sailing. He had been that person, once, but he no longer remembered that moment.

The sea, to him, was home and hostile territory all rolled into one. Already he could feel the perpetual itch of his merman features wanting to come out. Being out at sea made the fangs and scales harder to suppress. His mouth tightened as he wondered how Kyo and Takara would react the first time his merman form took control. There were reasons he worked hard to keep a stable crew, and finding replacements when they did leave or died was difficult. Those willing to stay on such a dangerous ship, with a captain who attracted that danger, were precious few.

He startled when fingers touched his arm, and he jerked back reflexively. "My apologies," Kyo murmured, withdrawing his hands into the sleeves of his dark turquoise robe. "Your skin … "

Kin looked down where he stared and grimaced when he saw he did not have control of himself the way he had thought. "It's nothing," he said. "If you'll pardon me, Highness, I should check we are still on course. The winds are stronger than usual, and they have a mind all their own." He balled his hand into a fist and strode off, silently swearing at the glisten of tiny scales that covered most of his right forearm.  He drew deep breaths and released them slowly, willing his merman nature back—but try as he might, it would not subside.

Even as the scales frustrated him, he could feel his teeth alter. Dragons' balls! What was wrong with him? Rapidly climbing the steps to the top deck, Kyo barked out, "Samé!"

"Aye, Captain?" Samé asked, breaking off his conversation with another sailor. His eyes widened when he saw the scales and fangs. "Are we going to be attacked so soon?"

Kin shook his head. "I don't think so—on such a clear day, I should be able to feel them easily. I don't feel anything, though, and nothing else would set it off."

Samé frowned at him. "What of his Highness?"

The words drew Kin up short, and he whipped around to stare down where Kyo still stood, annoyed that Kyo was staring right back. "I didn't think of that," he replied, realizing it made perfect sense, and that he should have anticipated it himself.

As a royal prince, Kyo had dragon magic in his blood. He was a living embodiment of the sea itself—of course his presence would bring out Kin's merman nature. It had not been a problem at the temple, but then, on land it was much easier to act like a land-walker. Kin turned back around, scowling. "This is going to be a very long journey."

Samé laughed, but wisely did not reply, merely bid him farewell again when Kin stomped off. Returning to his quarters, he was not at all surprised to see Raiden standing entirely too close to a flushed-looking Takara. Raiden glanced toward him—and his brows shot up in surprise. "You're looking toothy."

"Dragons eat you," Kin retorted. "His Highness is problematic."

Raiden laughed. "Indeed."

Kin gestured crudely and replied, "Seduce your secretary somewhere else and get out of here so I can get some real work done."

Takara jerked away and brushed by him to go out on deck. Raiden glared at him. "Just because you are having a bad morning does not mean you have to ruin mine."

"Yes, it does."

"Why must you get so hostile whenever you turn mermaid?"

Kin glared at him. "I am not a maiden, in either form, in any way. Do not call me one, or I shall render the subject of
your
masculinity questionable at best. I'm a merman. According to everyone, that, in itself, makes me hostile by nature."

Raiden just laughed again. "Mermaids are no more inclined toward hostility than anyone. They are hostile because they believe they have reason to be."

"I could understand that if not for the fact they've been killing and feasting upon their brethren for nine hundred years. Even I do not stay in a snit that long."

Smirking, Raiden replied, "I'll be certain to bring this conversation up in nine hundred years." Kin shot him a scathing look and said nothing as he settled behind his desk. "How is the weather?" Raiden asked into the silence.

"Perfect," Kin said. "The wind is strong and in our favor, and there are no problematic clouds as far as the eye can see. If this holds, we'll make excellent time that should make up for the inevitable storms and attacks."

Raiden nodded. "I am less concerned with the elements and the mermaids and more with whoever may be coming after us in due course."

Kin looked up at that, frowning. "You're referring to the announcement that Kyo was undertaking a journey on behalf of his father."

"Yes," Raiden said. "The ships that were going to serve as his escort will likely be sent to find him."

"Let them try," Kin said. "Out here, they hold no sway, not against me. If they are sailors of any remote worth, they will be certain not to find us."

Raiden smiled. "So fiercely protective and calling him 'Kyo'. Attached already, Kin?"

"Dragons eat you," Kin replied without heat. "I want no part of this, but I am a part of it, and I will not be accused of failing to uphold my end. If his Highness wants to go to Sanhoshi, then to Sanhoshi he will go, and nothing and no one will stop me—not the mermaids, not the royal navy, not the storms. You know that."

"It's why I wanted you to do it."

"I still do not see why you care."

Raiden shrugged. "It's important."

"You and your odd feelings," Kin groused. "Go away. Find my cabin boy and tell him I want more coffee."

Laughing, Raiden obeyed, leaving Kin mercifully alone. He let out a long sigh and leaned back in his seat, wondering what would attack them first. He wondered what it said about him and his life that the threat of a noose around his neck was laughable at best.

He'd crossed paths with the royal navy before, and none of those exchanges had been pleasant. He did not relish actually engaging them in combat. It would not be a fair fight. Whatever the navy had faced, it was not equal to the violence Kin faced every time he left port. He knew piracy had once been a problem, but it had been nearly a hundred years since the last pirate had been executed.  No one disputed Kundou's mastery of the sea any longer, and even if they did, the other countries were not as equipped to handle the mermaids and the storms.