She floats in the water next to me, a sling-spear in her hand and her new swimming gear on her sun-browned body. Instead of her foolish dresses, we’ve made breast-bands of fish-hide leather and a small loincloth so she has freedom of movement. I’ve crafted her a pair of reinforced feet fins like the ones Balo uses when he swims, but this time there is no retrieval line on her spear. If she tosses it too far, I will get it for her. I’m not about to let my pretty bride get dragged away by another fish.

“I’m ready,” Vali tells me. Her eyes glitter with excitement. “Do you think the shieldfish are still here? Or do you think the school has swam away?”

“They’ll be nearby,” I reassure her. There’s a cool current running through the waters, and the shieldfish like to drift in and out of it, plucking at smaller fish as they do. “You know what to aim for, yes?”

“The face.” She makes a stabbing motion with her spear. “And if it swims away, let it.”

“Exactly. There are many, many fish in the sea, my sweet wife. If you do not catch the perfect one for Lord Vor today, you will tomorrow.”

Vali nods and swims the short distance over to my side. She slides her wet arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. “Let’s do this.”

“I’m going to swim at your side the entire time,” I reassure my too-eager wife. I am the one that is always thinking twice about things, the one that hesitates. Vali loves to fling herself into a task without stopping to think of the consequences. I love that about her, even as it terrifies me. “Remember the signal to make if you have concerns and I will surface immediately⁠—”

She kisses me to stop my lecture. “I know, Ranan. Let’s go.”

“Let us go, then.”

Even so, I watch until my wife dives, swimming deeper, before I follow after her. I’m doing my best to try not to hover over her or to be anxious about her fishing. She’s come so far in the last few weeks. Vali now swims for much longer lengths and can hold her breath for twice as long as before…but she is still my fragile, lovely wife and I fret over her. She does not have the lungs or the strength of one of the seakind. She has to come up for air frequently. But she is very determined that Lord Vor should wait no longer for his fish, so we are seeking one today.

We swim along in the surface waters, and I watch Vali’s movements carefully as we head out away from the cliffs and into the depths. She points out a distant shark, and I’m pleased that she moves like I’ve shown her—with careful, precise strokes and not the flailing of prey that will bring it closer. It swims away, uninterested, and we continue on. Soon enough, I see a shieldfish swim past, and point it out to her. She nods, surfacing to take a big breath, and then dives deeper, towards the beds of coral, so she can truly begin her hunting.

It takes everything I have not to wrestle the spear from her hand and take care of things for her. In the weeks since our marriage, everything has been going smoothly between us, and every day I wake up more besotted with my bride. I cannot imagine life without Vali at my side. I want her with me every hour of every day, and I’m obsessed with making love to her. That, and hearing her talk. Her laugh. Her smile.

I’m obsessed with all of it, truly.

I follow along behind her, giving her enough room so that I don’t chase off her prey, but not so far away that I can’t immediately be at her side if there’s trouble. I’ve deliberately picked shieldfish because they are a fish that is slower to react. They do not dart like a thunderfish does, their heavy, flat bodies making it trickier for them to maneuver. One veers off from the school, gliding over an outcrop of coral, and she signals to me that she’s going after it. I watch her kick with slow, powerful strokes, propelling forward with the help of her fins, and she lifts her spear. She swims overhead then dives down and lets her spear fly.

It sails through the waters, spearing the target. The fish flutters and immediately drifts, the forked end of the spear having pierced through the fish’s head and come out the other side.

Vali looks to me, waving her arms under the water with excitement. If she could scream with joy under the waves, she would. I indicate she should surface, and I swim down to collect her prey. This was perfect. Lord Vor is smiling upon us this day for certain.

When I surface with the heavy catch, Vali squeals with delight. “Did you see? Wasn’t that a good shot?”

“It was flawless,” I agree, holding the end of the spear out to her. The hefty fish is on the other end, trailing blood in the waters. I’m not going to let her swim back with such a weighty load, but she can hold it for now and relish her victory. “You did very well.”

She takes the spear without complaint, bobbing under the water at the weight of it, and I realize the size of the thing might be bigger than my mate is. She surfaces again with a chuckle and a rueful look at me. “Think the gods would mind if you carried this to shore for me?”

I grin at her. “Why would they give you a strong husband if not for such things?”

“Why indeed.” Vali gives me a playful splash. “So we take this to shore, light a fire and burn it for Lord Vor. After that…” She gives me a meaningful look and licks her lips.

“We celebrate?”

“Absolutely.” Vali smiles, her expression full of giddy promise.

I like the way my wife thinks.

OceanofPDF.com

EPILOGUE TWO

VALI

Five Years Later

I watch the oncoming ship approach with interest, a stolen spyglass held up to my eye. Akara is in her spot, blocking the narrow strait with her large body, and the approaching ship is just now about to figure that out. We’re at the other end of the channel on a raft, and when the two ships slowly make their way into the channel, we move in behind them, neatly blocking them in the pass.

“A more agile ship could avoid all this,” Ranan comments, musing. “You would think the Aventinians would learn.”

“I’m glad they haven’t,” I tell my husband. “Their ships are the easiest to rob.”

“And the easiest to tip,” he agrees, smiling at my enthusiasm. “Are you ready to board, my sweet wife?”

I put on the fake slave collar we’ve made for such adventures and adjust my torn, tattered clothing. I love the pretending most of all. “Ready.”

He puts a hand on my shoulders, mouth twitching. “Quit looking so happy. You’re supposed to be a slave.”

I adjust my features, trying to put an appropriately grim expression on my face. Truth is, I love this. I love the thrill of robbing bad people. I love that we’re taking their spoils from them and giving them to the people we love or using that money for ourselves. I love that after we’re done, my husband’s blood runs hot and we make love like wild demons.

So yes, I absolutely love a life of piracy.

We watch as the ships come along the bend, skirting the jagged rocks and moving close to the cliffs. The straits are narrow here, and they’ve yet to notice that we’re behind them. I want to laugh at how low the long, heavy ship is in the waters. There’s one smaller boat and a much larger one with rowers. It’s the one with all the cargo. I count heads. They have far too many people on board, and not all of them are rowing. “Slave ship,” I point out to my husband.

“Aye, I see it.”

“Can we rescue them? The slaves?”

“Always.”

Another reason why I love the man. I hide my feral grin as the occupants on the ship notice us behind them and begin pointing. Time for the acting to begin. I pick up the large copper bell at my feet and ring it with the striker. As I do, I put on my “slave” expression. I make my face worried and fretful as I step forward. I ring the bell again and again as the two boats slowly approach Akara. Someone turns around in the boats and points at our raft behind them, and a cry goes up.