Page 15 of Suffer No Fools
"Do you like sailing?" Roy asked. The twins were identical, but Roy had taken the foresail at Tovey's direction. He was also quicker to speak, and to smile, than his brother.
"It's all I know," Tovey admitted. "I've been on a ship since I was eighteen. Before then, if you count the fishing boats we ran for trade with Glamiere."
"I hate it," Ray said behind them. "It's cold."
"It'll warm up, the closer we get to Aquarion."
"Is Frost really going to freeze a thousand miles of ocean?" Ray asked.
"That's the plan, yes. Hugo's starting to come into his own frost weaves, so he could help."
Roy frowned. "Won't that hurt the fish?"
"The fish will be fine. The aquatic mammals will have to adjust, but they're strong enough to break through the ice. It will only cover the surface, maybe six inches down."
"All right." Roy still looked concerned for the fish.
"Any other wind-related questions?" Tovey asked.
"No. Thank you!" Ray chirped. He was the more polite of the two, or maybe he wanted Tovey to leave them alone, already. Tovey knew that feeling. He had hated it when his mentors had corrected his every move.
Tovey stepped to the rail, pretending to watch the surf but sensing their weaves behind him. They were still struggling with focus, letting their sails fall and then remembering to keep them full, but that would come with time. Eventually, they would fill the sails without a second thought.
Finally certain he could walk away without drawing Vadim's ire, he approached the navigation deck. Stan, Trin, and Jermain stood at the prow, laughing about something. It was good to see Trin laugh, after hearing Yvette's tale of saving her from her suicide attempt.
"She looks happy," he said to Vadim in greeting.
"She does." He grinned. "Have you checked on Hugo?"
He hadn't checked his locked weaves in a while, the ones he'd set in place over the true hold so he would always know where Hugo was. He found the emperor in his room, in his sail bed.
"Taking a nap, I think."
"Good. He needs his rest to help him recover from the healing this morning. Has he been eating?"
Tovey nodded. "Devoured the snack we brought him."
"Frost wants to stop at Equis to walk Hugo through his paces with ice. Any objections?"
Tovey had traveled these waters enough to know they would reach the islands in three days. "Is that where he intends to start freezing the surface?"
"I think so. It would prevent an aerial assault, unless Coryn has an airship bigger than Nola's and more air weavers."
Tovey shrugged. "Did Coryn see Nola's air ship?"
"She was awake when we left. If she didn't, I'm sure her loyalists have told her about it by now."
Tovey agreed he and Stan wouldn't be able to carry a single airship over a thousand miles without stopping, but, "They could potentially stop on the ice to rest."
Vadim nodded. "I mentioned that, too. If they do, Nola believes she would hear them with her water listening ability, and Frost also said he would know if his ice was disturbed from above rather than from below."
"You've thought of everything, then." Tovey missed the days when Efren had asked him for advice. Now, the captain, Vadim, and the elders planned without him.
"Not everything." Vadim steered a tick to the right. "We'll meet with the full council and any available pirate crews when we land on Aquarion. If you and Stan think of anything before then, please tell Efren, Olivia, or me."
Tovey gave Vadim's shoulder a gentle tap, a move he wouldn't have made even a week before. Now that Efren had made Vadim their quartermaster, it seemed right. "Welcome back to the crew. We'll bring them to you. Efren can't be bothered with the trivial shit and Olivia would let Nola steal our thunder."
"Did you just hit me?" Instead of his usual death glare, Vadim looked incredulous.
