Corvus (Stars and Sails, Book 1)

Twenty-three

The Sunflower Harvest Festival had been canceled on account of the dust storm destroying the entire crop. It was a devastating blow to the Aydesreveans, and in the place of the Harvest Festival, a dance was held to commemorate the first rainstorm in five years.

The ballroom was decorated with candles stacked one atop the other. They were lit with bright flames and grew shorter as they dripped wax to the floor. All the best sunflowers were set out in huge vases. There were bruised petals and heads lolling on snapped necks everywhere. That did nothing good for the nerves that Aiden was feeling lately.

He pulled his hat off and straightened out his hair. He liked to wear his wide-brimmed hat so that he might blend in, but it was just a security blanket. It did nothing.

Everyone in Aydesreve had the same face, the same body in that town. He was from somewhere far away, like a bright comet that Zeus had gotten quite tired of and thrust out of his sky. So he was an outsider. A fallen star. A bird with scorched feathers and broken wings that dragged across the dirt. He tried to tell himself that wasn't a bad thing, but it never made the wound heal any faster.

Mr. Wagner helped himself to one unsightly twirl about the dance floor as he slinked over to Eli Hale. Wagner almost slipped amid his spin, but only twisted his ankle at quite the disturbing angle. He cursed and limped over.

"Listen here," he said, "My boat's come back." He turned his head down, his chin curling up into multiple chins while he poked at the small sunflower head he'd pinned to his jacket.

"Your boat." Hale held eye contact while taking a sip of ale.

"The one that was stolen from me some time ago! It came back after the storm. Winds must've dragged her in. She was upturned, blood all in the hull." he paused.

"You don't think..."

"Don't think what? What do you think was in my boat, making her all bloodied up, dragging her around hell's half acre?"

"Tan—Tanner, sir? Just a thought. Just that there he goes, up and vanished and then your boat up and vanished, too."

Wagner laughed. "Jim Tanner left on his own accord. We all know it. Took that gold and ran with it. He's not—" Wagner laughed uncomfortably, kind of a rare thing for him, "Dead."

"I didn't think he'd leave." Hale muttered. "Not without saying his goodbyes."

Aiden couldn't help the nervous sweats start beading up under his arms and on the back of his neck. The dread that he had left so long ago was back, sitting on his stomach like a nightmare. Just sat there, real long like. Just one heavy son of a bitch.

Aiden tried to tamp it back down to a place where he couldn't feel it, but as he poured himself a cup of Sun Ale, he could see his hands shaking the glass. He took a deep breath, collected himself and drank real fast, because all he wanted was to get a little stupid. The rim of his hat sheltered his face. He pulled it down low over his eyes and watched the couples dance. They spun in circles of eight, exchanging partners. The women and men looked happy, as if there wasn't a thing weighing heavy on their mind, nothing keeping them up at night, tossing and turning in sweaty sheets.

The dancing at home was nothing like this. In Aydesreve, it was a celebration. They had dances for everything; barn raisings, barn demolitions, barn fires. It was hardly advisable to dance for the sorts of things they'd dance for. It was just another unusually romantic layer to the culture of Aydesreve.

There was a cold draft coming in from the door, but his face warmed with a comforting heat. He turned his head.

"Has my father made comment on your shoes?" Amelia Rose kept her voice low. She was rebellious that night. All the other ladies had their hair in elaborate braids adorned with fancy golden beads. Amelia Rose's hair was down as it always was, with two pearled combs tucked into her crown to keep the hair out of her face.