Forging Ties (Ties, Book 3) | ✓

Chapter 28

Hamish had a restless night, constantly waking to check on Aris and then carrying her up on deck to check the situation with the creature they were following. Finally, Duran made them up a bed on deck, placed Aris in her bassinet, and pulled Hamish down to sleep. It didn't stop him from waking up every half hour, but at least now he could check in on things quickly and then go straight back to sleep.

Hamish was awoken one final time at dawn to a deep, mournful sound that seemed to resonate through the ship. He made it to the railing in time to watch the creature submerge itself. It didn't come back up.

The ocean around them was calm. Duran yawned and then rested his chin on Hamish's shoulder.

"What now?" Hamish asked Everett as the small man hurried by on his way to adjust the sails. "Where are we headed?"

"Go take a look from the front of the ship," Everett said without pausing in what he was doing.

Hamish made his way to the front of the ship and looked out into the endless ocean beyond. Or—no, not quite endless. Just barely visible in the distance was a tall, light blue structure. The Spire.

This trip had been the journey of a lifetime, but Hamish was glad to be home. Not that he really had a home at the moment, but anywhere the people he cared about were was home enough to him.

Duran wrapped his arms around Hamish from behind and leant his forehead against his back.

Hamish reached around and gave Duran a pat on the back. "How are you feeling about being back?"

Duran let go of Hamish and tucked in against his side instead. "Ready to tackle it."

"Yeah?"

"Before we left, the whole thing just felt too big to me. Overwhelming. Now I see that it doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to do everything all at once. You can start by getting to know just one or two people, and that makes everything else a lot easier."

"You already knew Danya and Fanner, though. Didn't that help?"

"I got to know Fanner while we were travelling together, but he's a busy boy these days. I don't really know Danya at all. I knew him as a slave, to a degree, but that's not what he is anymore. Sure, there are some things about the three of us that we'll always understand about one another better than anyone else can, but that's not friendship. Friendship is something we'll have to work on building now that we're allowed to be people."

"Makes sense. And that's strength, you know? Building relationships. Anything that makes you stronger is strength. I was in the military and they teach you a very macho perspective on things, but honestly, a lot of those ideas only make you weaker. Simon can be an ornery little bitch, but there was never any shame between us when it came to being open and sharing what we were going through. And sure, now I know a lot of people who are like that, but Simon is the one person that I know has that in him so deep in his core that it survived an environment that tried to strangle it out of him. That matters."

"It was never about being macho for me, of course, but being too open with your feelings was generally a bad idea. Even with other slaves. I have a lot of things I need to unlearn."

"Just let me know what you need. We'll figure it out."

Duran shook his head, a smile making its way onto his face. "A novel concept in itself. It's going to take me a while to get used to the idea that I can ask people for help."

Hamish grinned. "Well, at least you're not the only man who's bad at that. It won't take much to be better than average."

"I do strive for excellence."