Blood of the Guardian by Kristal Shaff

through him. He felt it coming, knew he should get some control, but he was too tired. Too seasick. Too sad over Taryn’s death. He really didn’t give a rat’s backside what they thought of him anymore.
    “Quit looking at me!” he yelled.
    The soft conversation in the room quieted. The stares increased.
    He flared his Shay, knowing yellow, glowing eyes would give them something to talk about. A few eyebrows rose. Alec smiled, satisfied. He wasn’t sure if his emotions or his Shay of Speed was more strange to them; both were foreign to the Talasians. However, Maska had Strength; Alec wasn’t sure why the savages on this ship seemed void of any Shay powers. He’d have to ask Greer later, sometime when he was well enough to speak rather than hanging over the side of the ship.
    He headed to the farthest corner, shoveling the strange food into his mouth as he went. The effects of Greer’s treatment were already wearing off. More than likely, this slop would end up feeding the fish instead.
    Taking off his sword, he planted himself in the corner, facing away from the others. The boat rocked under him, and he pretended to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. He ate, swallowing the grain nearly whole. The meat tasted pretty good, tender for being dried. It was better than eating fish—which they served far too often. He took his time eating, enjoying the flavor of something besides vomit.
    Examining the boat, he tried not to think about the wall as the only separator between him and the infernal water. The blue tinted wood had darker shades of blue winding through it. He wondered what kind of trees provided the wood. The workmanship of the boat was good, not what one might expect from a group of brainless savages.
    He continued to eat and study the wood grain, pretending a whole group of warriors didn’t gawk at the back of his head. A figure appeared in front of him, blocking his sight. The gypsy, Jezebelle, slid down the wall facing him, extending her long legs on either side of him.
    He scooted away quickly, feeling heat rise to his face.
    “You move fast, don’t you?” She leaned toward him.
    Alec swallowed and averted his eyes.
    “Oh, come now, Alec. You’re nearly a man. Matter of fact, if you were Talasian, you’d be a man already.” A mischievous grin pulled on her lips. “They reach manhood at fourteen years. And you are … sixteen? Seventeen?”
    “Fifteen,” Alec answered.
    “Fifteen!” she said. “See! You’re a man already.”
    “If I was thirty, I still wouldn’t be interested in you.”
    She gasped, placing a hand on her breast in mock surprise. “Oh, Alec! You offend me!”
    “Not likely.” He shoveled more food into his mouth, trying to finish quickly.
    She smiled, obviously not offended. “I am a business woman. I run a traveling show of oddities with my friends, touring the countryside.” She eyed him. “It’s too bad you are so attractive; you’d make a good addition.”
    Alec snorted, filling his cheek with grain.
    “You’d be surprised what the Talasians say, Sun Warrior.”
    His head rose from his empty plate and met her smug grin. “What’d you call me?”
    “Sun Warrior.” Jezebelle stood, flipped a braid over her shoulder, and walked away.
    Alec gawked at her retreating back. What the Darkness was she talking about? As much as he couldn’t stand her, she’d prodded him in the right direction this time. He grabbed his sword and strapped it on as he followed.
    She meandered, as if expecting him. When he came beside her, she only grinned.
    Alec huffed. “What do they say?”
    “What does who say?”
    “For Brim’s sake, woman. What do they say?”
    She stopped and turned, her eyes raking over him before landing on his face. “They wonder how—for one so young—you can be so scarred. They call you Sun Warrior because of your wounds, and because your eyes glow like the light of the sun.” She shrugged. “I told them I had no idea why you are marred. I figured your