The Farthest Shore (Eden Series Book 3) by Marian Perera Page B

Against it was the name Enlightenment , and the ship’s pennants were bright slashes in the sky.
    “She looks beautiful,” she said.
    Alyster made a low noncommittal sound. “Let’s see how she handles. Wrack and Mistral are already here, so we’ll be dining in the triton.”
    Miri had expected that. She guessed the choice of that harbor for the rendezvous had been deliberate, because it wasn’t the largest port in Denalay, but it did have the most unusual talking point. Dagre had technology. Bleakhaven supposedly had the Tree of Life, whose fruit gave immortality. Iternum had magic, and while no one was quite sure what Lunacy had, everyone agreed it was something bizarre and remarkable. Denalay had to be able to hold its own in that regard.
    “You can eat here if you like.” Alyster paused. “When do you plan to leave?”
    “After supper.” Her pocket-scrapings of money needed to be saved for the journey home, so she’d eat for free as long as she could.
    She imagined how the race would proceed and how exciting it would be—especially if Enlightenment , in waters her captain was familiar with, held her own with Checkmate as the finishing point came into sight. And there was that finishing point itself. Snakestone Isle had been joined to the rest of the continent long ago, and on it, the serpent had unsealed the Tree of Knowledge. After the first people had tasted that gift, their minds had been awakened and they had gained the ability to discern good from evil. So they had ventured out to colonize Eden, and since the serpent’s task was done, its home had broken away from the land. Rumor said the remains of the Tree were still there, high on a cliff. She would have loved to see it.
    Don’t be a fool . Not only was there no place for her among the crew, how could she risk being found out? Alyster had already got part of the truth out, like a man winkling a snail from its shell for his supper, and the longer she stayed, the more danger she was in. She had to leave.
    Alyster checked his appearance in the small mirror. Saber hilt and scabbard polished, captain’s bars bright as if they’d been lifted from the forge. He straightened his coat, inspected his boots and decided they passed muster.
    Cologne? He had a tiny bottle he’d bought years ago, but the one time he’d used it, his brother had told him that real men didn’t wear perfume, and if not for the prohibition against assaulting a superior officer, Alyster would have thrown the bottle at him. He went out of the bedroom.
    Miri looked up from a book, her eyes widening as her lips parted slightly. Alyster smiled, because her reaction was just what he needed after remembering the cologne incident.
    “Enjoy your supper,” she said, recovering quickly.
    “You too.” He stopped at the door. “You’ll be gone by the time I’m back, won’t you?”
    She hesitated. “I guess so.”
    Alyster could tell she wasn’t trying to flirt with him, that she was genuinely doubtful, but the effect was the same—an unexpected pull, as if something unseen was drawing him closer to her. With all the women he’d been with before—up to and including a Voice of the Unity—he’d been on solid ground, fully aware that they wanted him. With Miri, things were…complicated. She opened up slowly with time, but they didn’t have any time left.
    Unless he acted as though she was likely to be there when he came back. If he wished her goodbye and good luck and anything sentimental, she’d take that as a definite cue to leave—not that he’d ever say anything emotional to someone who wasn’t being honest with him.
    So he inclined his head in a brisk, brief farewell to her and left.
    The officer of the watch saluted him, and he went down the gangplank. At evening, the air in the harbor was cool, though it was heavy with humidity and smelled as all harbors did. Boots gritting on sand and cobblestones, Alyster headed for the giant triton’s shell that had given the port