Malspire by Nikolai Bird

words. "I ain't seen it all, but I've seen plenty. I sailed the seas longer than you've been alive and I've seen things both strange and magical in my time. I've seen fish with the heads of lions. I've arm wrestled with a man who had three eyes. I once had dinner with the prince of Col-Jah and ate the brains of a swamp monkey. I've seen the morning sun rise through the mists of the Tebio Falls and I saw a woman who was so beautiful, men would lay down their lives for one kiss."
    Harl now edged closer to me as he spoke, forsaking discipline for passion. I let him. The sailor's words were spoken with a simple honesty that I could not resist.
    "It's a strange world, sir. The Gods of Creation know no bounds. I saw a witch bring a lamb back from the dead by blowing through its nose and a wizard raise a ship from the very seabed, sir. I once even saw a giant take a hammer and crush the head of a troll that had killed his family. The giant then threw himself over a cliff top to his own bloody death." This was more than Harl would normally speak in a whole day. I liked Harl. I even respected him and so Mister Harl's words held weight and I continued to listen.
    "I've seen some strange things," Harl said again. "Wonderful things and tragic things, but never in all my days and all my travels have I seen something as strange as a man's love for a woman and a woman's way with men. What is this thing that drives us so mad? Eh? What is it that raises us up to the heavens, and then rips out our hearts and drops us back to the deck again, broken and unwanted?"
    "What is it, Grandon? Do you know?" I asked, desperately wanting to know the answer, no longer caring for pride or status. Mister Harl was right. I had been raised up in hope and then cast aside like a rag doll in a storm.
    "I don't, sir. No man knows. All I know is that it happens to all of us. It happens to the best of us, and when it does, it hurts like the white hot tip of a poker in the gut, sir. Nothing to be ashamed of. You're an officer, I know, but you've been good to the lads and they see you as one of them, sort of, and I look after the lads."
    My shoulders slumped. Harl sat down on the cot. "It's hard sometimes, Harl. How did you know?"
    "Saw your brother with that woman you were taking an interest in. A fine woman, but not the last, sir. Plenty of women out there, just waiting to be saved from pirates."
    "What then?" I asked. "Raised up again, then stabbed in the heart?"
    "Oh yes," Harl said lightly. "But then one day, one of them will be right. One will only have eyes for you."
    I was aware that all semblances of authority and strength were gone now. I was naked and laid bare. I was also aware that the older man must think me a fool for falling in love after only three days with this woman, but it did not seem wrong. Grandon Harl was offering friendship and I found that I desperately needed it and no longer had the strength to fight the honest offer. "It would be nice. I dared to think of a future with a wife and children. I had never thought it possible before, but she was kind to me."
    "I know," said Harl.
    "Don't think badly of my brother. I told him to go to her."
    "Of course. One day, sir. One day you will have that life."
    "Do you think so?" I said, looking at the man, offering my mongrel face for examination.
    "Yes I do," Harl said sincerely. "Best not to introduce her to your brother until you're married though."
    We both laughed at this.
    "What a bloody fool I am, Harl. One pretty woman shows a bit of affection and I fall apart."
    "You're a man, sir. We're all fools where women are concerned."
     
    ***
     
    It was the fifth day in Umuron, and I knew my brother would be heading for Norlan the next, so I made my way over to the Grand Oak to say farewell. I was still heartbroken but it could be months before I saw Ajator again, and so I steeled myself and searched him out. After asking some crew, I eventually found Ajator behind a stacked pile of stock, oddly hidden