Read Scarlet and the White Wolf [02] - Mariner's Luck for Free Online Page B

now," Liall said. "Stay here in the sun for a bit; the fresh air will do you good."
    Scarlet nodded. His strength was far from fully returned, and now his legs felt wobbly again and he was not ready to try breakfast again so soon after losing the first. Liall patted him on the shoulder and followed the mariner in the direction of the captain's cabin.
    Scarlet watched him walk away and wished he knew more about Liall, about his family and why his presence was needed so urgently. He still did not really believe that Liall's country was the fairytale land of Rshan, and he was annoyed that every time he badgered Liall for details on his family, Liall would reply that it was too dangerous for him to know more than the barest information. The atya had offered to make up a charming lie, which irritated Scarlet so much that he refused to talk to him for the remainder of one evening.
    Too dangerous, indeed! Never mind that he had saved Liall's skin on arriving in Volkovoi, and that he had cleared the bravos so they could board the ship; it was too dangerous.
    Still, Liall seemed to believe what he was saying.
    Tilting his face up into the wind, Scarlet closed his eyes and breathed the salt air, trying to be patient. Liall had been right about the fever and he had been right about being able to cure him of it, so perhaps he was right about Rshan. Yet, it bothered Scarlet's fierce sense of independence to be relying so much on someone else.
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    Mariner's Luck [Scarlet and the White Wolf Book 2]
    by Kirby Crow
    Scarlet's eyes flew open as a spate of Sinha near his ear startled him, and he turned to see a mariner he did not recognize standing quite close to his side. The blond mariner was grinning and Scarlet saw he had lost an eyetooth in some dockside battle or to scurvy.
    "Sorry, I don't understand," he said.
    The mariner held up a silver bit and gestured, miming handing the coin to someone else.
    No wiser, Scarlet looked over his shoulder, hoping to see Liall, but no luck there. He shrugged.
    Still grinning, the man gripped the front of Scarlet's shirt and dropped the coin inside.
    His jaw dropped. "What—" Scarlet began, but the mariner took hold of Scarlet's wrist and pressed the pedlar's hand firmly against his groin.
    Shock held him immobile for a moment. He jerked his hand away, fumbled the coin out, and flung it at the mariner.
    "Sheep-raping, dung-eating maggot!" he shouted and swung his fist. It connected solidly on target with the mariner's jaw, and the man staggered back. By the time Liall blessedly reappeared with the captain, Scarlet was shaking his numb hand and surrounded by angry, shouting mariners.
    Scarlet was small and the mariner nearly twice his size, but the mariner was flat on the deck, holding his jaw. Neither the captain nor Liall seemed particularly impressed by this.
    Liall fixed Scarlet with a grim look.
    "What happened?"
    Scarlet told him the bare facts: "He tried to buy me into his bed."
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    Mariner's Luck [Scarlet and the White Wolf Book 2]
    by Kirby Crow
    "How?"
    "He put a coin down my shirt and put my hand on him."
    "So you punched him?"
    "Yes!"
    Liall was exasperated. "For Deva's sake, you can be such a child. Why not just return the coin?" Liall turned to the captain and began explaining.
    Scarlet was coldly furious. He steadied himself against the rail while the offending mariner stood glaring. The man gave Scarlet a bleary look that held hatred, and Scarlet saw Oleksei smirking at him with satisfaction. He suddenly felt cold and alone.
    Captain Qixa began speaking to his crew, his tone sharp.
    Liall spoke to Qixa and then to the mariner Scarlet had punched, his tone mild and humorous.
    "What are you saying?" Scarlet demanded. "Don't apologize for me."
    Liall turned on him. "Silence!" he hissed, his blue eyes so fierce that Scarlet was shocked into obeying. Liall said several words to the crew again, then took hold of Scarlet's shoulder and began to hurry him toward the cabin.
    "Come with me,"