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Sineater - Book 3 - The Camadt - Chapter 20

  It took the rest of the morning to get Nipper’s new pen situated.

  I sat on the rail with Whizz and ate popcorn while the rest of the crew helped get the cage set up on the longboat, then hauled it up beside the deck with Nipper in it.

  “You could help, you know.” The Goblin sitting next to me popped another kernel into his shark-tooth-filled maw.

  “If Storbek wanted my help he’d let me know.” I looked over at the short, yellow man and smiled. “And if you’re so worried about them needing an extra hand, why aren’t you pitching in?”

  Whizz puffed out his chest. “My job’s the wheel.” He threw another handful of popcorn in his mouth. “And that’s where I’m staying.”

  I chuckled. Many people would assume that the shorter man was weak, but I knew that he could throw around heavy objects as well as any powerless human. I ran my hand through my black hair as I looked at the crew. “Looks like most people stayed.”

  “Your dad didn’t want there to be a lot of concerns about having the Dark Tribe as guards.” Whizz spit out the name most Elves used to classify those they deemed unworthy of associating with. “Like any of us here have time for that!” He waved his hands in the air. “Ain’t none of us going to be leaving here anyway!”

  Of the crew, Frosu, the five-foot-tall Frigazi–a race that resembled a humanoid penguin– was the only one who didn’t belong to a race on the “unfriendly to Elves” list. Unfortunately, the list was long enough that it was easier to name all of the races that the Elves tolerated than all of the ones that they considered undesirable.

  “You know dad doesn’t mean it like that.” I took a handful out of the bowl between us.

  “I know.” The navigator nodded at the big golden hand on our main sail. “Might as well have made it a finger instead.” The yellow man cackled as he held his belly.

  “Quit trying to get sympathy out of the boy.” Uziah, the yellow-skinned, bald Cyclops stomped up the stairs to the upper deck. “Captain gave Storbek a promotion and we get to fly under the banner of the royal navy.” The tall man folded his thick arms as his lone eye glared down at us.

  “Bah, you’re just happy that you aren’t cooped up in that castle anymore.” The Goblin waved for the larger man to leave.

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  While Elves were almost all six feet tall or more, they kept many of their hallways between seven and eight feet, which was very restrictive for the larger races. Dragons were the only of the larger races the Elves liked and the older Dragons were able to shapeshift into a smaller form, which allowed them to travel in even the three-foot-high tunnels of the Gnomes.

  “I was made for the sea.” Electricity crackled over Uziah’s arms as excitement crept into his voice. “Who wants to hide in caves and eat rabbit food?”

  I couldn’t disagree with him. If I had my choice, I would rather be on the ship than stuck in the castle. I was about to agree with the larger man when Starna walked onto the deck. She’d been below getting her room situated. Both of us were wearing gloves to hide the soulbinding rings, though I had a feeling our subterfuge wouldn’t last the whole trip. The tanned Elf wasn’t ready for a closer relationship and there would be no end of teasing from the men who were like uncles to me if I wasn’t staying in her room.

  Her presence destroyed my answer. I realized that for me, it didn’t matter where I was as long as she was there and happy. My bed had been a hammock in a corner or under the extra sails for most of my life. I could live anywhere and even if that meant no longer traveling the world, I knew I’d be content.

  “You’ve got it bad, huh?” Whizz elbowed me in the ribs before grabbing a handful of popcorn out of the bowl.

  “Wha-?” I swallowed trying to think of what to say back.

  “You’re a prince now!” The smaller man cackled. “I mean, you were always a prince, but now you know that that!” Whizz smirked. “That means she’s not out of your league!”

  I took a deep breath as I weighed my words. Denial would only lead to more trouble and a confession would yield similar results.

  “We’re on official business for the Queen.” I tried to fill my voice with a serious edge that I realized was only going to encourage him. “There will be time for that once we get back to the mainland.”

  The Goblin’s eyes got big. “You did something!” He stood up and was barely able to look down on me. “She turn you down?”

  I sighed and brushed myself off as I stood. The longboat was secured and Phlek, the Ogre cook, was coming back with a wagonload of supplies that would need to be brought on board. “I’m going to help finish loading up so we can leave.”

  “Don’t worry!” Whizz cupped his hands so that most of the port could hear his shout. “THE LUV WIZ IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING!”

  Starna raised an eyebrow as I walked by her. “What is that about?”

  I looked at the yellow man, giving me a pair of thumbs-up, then turned back to my girlfriend. “You don’t want to know.” I shuddered as I remembered a ‘love doll’ that the Goblin had made one time that had been supposed to make women weak in the knees. The Mermaid he’d gifted it to had thrown the pieces of it on the deck along with some words I’d never heard before and that my father had forbidden be repeated.

  I gave the smaller man one last look, then headed off to help get the loading finished. I just hoped he didn’t do anything too drastic.

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