Killian looked up with curiosity at the worried countenance on his brother's face. He had been wearing that concerned expression for what had to have been close to an hour now, before the rain had even begun to fall. It wasn't like Aldred to trouble over a spot of foul weather - the Silversail had proven it could handle a substantial beating already. They'd dealt with a near-constant battering of rain and wind without so much as puddle belowdecks along the second leg of their journey. Even though an unrelenting deluge had followed them along the entire northern coast of Selars Crag.
It had only been within the last couple of days that the sun had broken free; this drizzle was a shower compared to the drowning they'd been receiving. Killian's wrist had begun to ache. He'd tried telling Aldred to loosen up, but his current distractions had deafened him.
He must've had a fight with Father Killian supposed.
While returning from a successful mission to acquire some candied nuts they'd picked up at the last port, Killian had heard the raised voices and stopped to spy on the activity. He had spotted his father first, which gave Killian all the more reason to remain hidden. Fortunately enough, Gresham Goldwind had yet to spot him. Killian was on the verge of retreating out of the vicinity, when the angry tone of his usually even-tempered brother gave him enough pause to risk a second glance. He had never seen such a serious expression on Aldred's face.
Typically, if anybody in their family was yelling, there was a good chance it was their father. Captain Goldwind was known to run his home like a ship, and he'd always run a tight ship. Killian had never seen anyone raise their voice to his father, and he was certain that any who did would receive an almost divine retribution. He was shocked to see that Captain Goldwind's face remained almost completely impassive. Only the deep set of creases in his forehead, like cracks in a stony mask, indicated the seriousness of the matter.
Killian could not make out what was being said in the exchange, and did not dare risk creeping closer for fear of being caught. He could only watch as his exasperated brother articulated a rather crucial point with his hands to no avail, as their father responded in a low, even tone, and a shake of the head. Eventually, the stalemate ended seemingly without a winner, and Killian realized too late that Aldred was stalking off in his direction. Quickly and quietly as he could, he ducked behind a doorway. Tucking himself deeply into the shadows, Killian nearly thought he had gotten away unseen, at least until Aldred walked through the door.
Looking around the room only briefly, Aldred turned and locked eyes on his youngest brother. Killian's cheeks flushed crimson and his gaze drifted to the floor. He remained silent, certain that he was about to receive a severe scolding for eavesdropping. Instead, Aldred simply sighed.
"See all that, did you?"
Killian raised his head, seeing the passion that had been present replaced by tired defeat. He nodded once.
"Right, then."
Aldred had spoken no further and offered no explanation. Instead, he bid that Killian follow along behind him for a time as he went from one end of the ship to the other. He spoke to a number of men and women aboard about matters that soared so far above Killian's head that he could not even glimpse their meaning. All the while he hardly spared Killian a glance, except to ensure he was still beside him when it was time to march on to another corner of the vessel. They had just resurfaced from the main cargo hold, where several mates were busy lashing crates and barrels with thick ropes.
There was a charged air aboard the ship. Whether it was the energy in which the crew had come to life with the various tasks they'd been assigned, or the actual static felt on the breeze, Killian could not be sure. One thing could be certain as the pair gazed upon the gray horizon from the bow - the sea had changed. Killian was too young and inexperienced to be able to tell what this change was, of course, but even he could sense that something was different. Aldred studied the seascape with worry for several minutes, plucking a spyglass from its fastenings at his waist.
He held the instrument to his eye for another few painfully long moments before his voice rang out.
"Hold steady! Bite upon us!"
His command sliced through the air, not to be muffled by wave nor wind. Through a dozen different voices the announcement echoed down the ship from bow to stern. As if in response, a gale wailed a sorrowful song, whipping their hair into their faces. Aldred came alive now, stalking off with an aura that commanded Killian to fall in line. It was all he could manage to keep pace.
"One to take the bow!"
A man raced forward to replace their position at the front of the ship.
"Bow watch and topman, eyes wide for rogues and reefs!"
Loud cries of assent came up to match his orders. As the siblings came nearer the stern, Gresham could be seen engaging urgently with the helmsman upon the quarterdeck. Killian approached just in time to hear the helmsman's warning.
"We ought to reef the topsails, Captain! She's overcanvassed for the coming blow!"
Both Captains made to answer at once, though Aldred was the quicker of the two.
"Trim the lines! Shoals are hungry for slack!"
There was once again a near-instantaneous movement to match the command. Gresham cast a dark look at Aldred, but it was clear that the time for argument - at least on this matter - had passed. Aldred exchanged a few words with the helmsman himself before the next order of business quickly made itself known.
"Avast! Breaker two-hundred yards off the starboard-bow and closing fast!"
Aldred swore under his breath at the lookout's decree. It was no more than he'd already expected. In a split second he came to a decision, and bellowed out his response.
"Starboard the helm, take her head on!"
Killian nearly lost his footing as the Silversail obeyed with haste. Boards groaned and canvas billowed as the ship pitched to the right.
"You'll beach us at best if we take on a breaker in the Bite!"
Killian flinched, as he was close enough to hear the fury of Captain Goldwind. Aldred gave no quarter.
"Better than to broach if we take 'em full abaft!"
"This is folly, Aldred!" Captain Goldwind shook his head with fierce disapproval. "I'd thought you to be more sensible than this!"
"It was folly to take the Bite to begin with!"
"I'd think I'd know the strength of a ship I'd commissioned myself, Arboran timber is strong enough to crack bergs in two! We take her straight on"
Tempers flared between father and son strong enough to match the tempest building around them. For a moment Killian believed that the two would actually come to blows, until Aldred was forced to steady himself. Through the frenzy of laboring sailors, the first mate urgently strode to join the four of them at the helm. Robert did not even bother with a greeting, instead supplementing one for a brief nod to the company and the removal of his thoroughly soggy cap. His face was haggard, and when he made to speak aloud, he cast a glance at Killian and thought better of it.
Instead, he leaned in and relayed a quick message to his captain that Killian could not hear. Whatever the news had been, it did not aid the burdened visage that Aldred portrayed. At one point, the tidings he had received appeared to bring such alarm that Aldred could not help but steal a worried look about him. Drawing a heavy breath, Aldred sent Robert away and once again addressed their father, who was waiting nearby expectantly. He seemed to weigh his words carefully.
Killian himself was growing more frustrated and anxious. This was not due to the growing storm itself, but because it hindered his already slim understanding of the unfolding events. When he attempted to read his brother's lips, Aldred showed him his back. When he then creeped closer in order to listen in on the conversation, a severe glance from his father rooted him firmly in place. Although the discussion went on for several minutes, it had lost the traces of animosity that had last been present between them.
This was a fact that was not lost on Killian, and made him wonder as to what could be so important that it would relieve tensions so quickly. He caught only fragments; bits and pieces that were too scattered to formulate a cohesive meaning in his young mind. One word, however, stuck out to him, if only because it had been so strange.
Lurlaiths
It took him a moment to remember where first he had heard it spoken. Years ago, on a rare occasion in which he had accompanied his father to Caportos, Killian had watched as a battered carrack limped its way into port. He observed curiously as the weary sailors had disembarked, listlessly going about their duties as if zombies - they seemed too few to be crewing such a large ship. There, he had heard that word spoken in similarly hushed tones, as if the word itself would hail danger. His father had largely ignored the men, as he had urgent business regarding several new vessels he was purchasing for the Goldwind Trading Company.
When asked about the rumors, Captain Goldwind had clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I don't bother myself with harborside bilge." He had huffed.
It appeared the years had not altered his view, though in less than an hour it would hardly matter. Time seemed to speed up - and perhaps it had. Killian had only been a child afterall, there was much he was likely to forget in such a tumultuous time. Whether that were due to the growing chaos or his own lack of understanding, he could not say. It was not, however, caused by the passing of years.
No, if there were a memory he could have chosen to forget, a memory he could have sealed in a lockbox and dropped to the depths of the sea, it would be this one. This echo, that chose to dredge itself out of the recesses of his mind on the loneliest nights, had plagued him like a tangible sickness. A change of scenery would ward it off for a time, but inevitably it would always return, like a phantom haunting the victim it had yet to claim. Many times since Killian had wondered silently if madness could be transferred like a contagion.
Young Killian had watched from a distance as Robert reemerged from below, managing much better than he at keeping his footing. In the time he'd been gone, there had been a noticeable uptick in the ferocity of the storm. Aldred now stood next to the helmsman, acting as a relay between him and the lookout in order to direct each minute movement of the ship. They seemed to be weaving as quickly as the Silversail could manage, careening over the ever plentiful and ever growing waves. Robert's return coincided with a loud cry from the bowman that seemed to carry to every ear aboard.
"There's a keening on the wind! Keening!"
Killian did not understand, but as he witnessed his brother's face lose all color, he did not have to. Robert rushed to meet them once again, and Killian could see that he had brought several men along with him. Several men, bearing several bundles of thick rope.
"Lash yourselves! Lash all! Rope to rail, rope to mast!"
Aldred's command had an electrifying effect on the crew. At once, every member dropped what they were doing and began to run amok the deck almost haphazardly. It reminded Killian of a time he had stepped on an anthill and watched all of the little creatures scatter in a frenzy. Robert and his men acted without speaking. With only a permissible nod from their captain, two of the men jumped upon Gresham, each locking an arm around one of his.
Startled, Killian watched as the sailors forcibly dragged his father toward the mizzenmast. Spitting a thousand curses as he was yanked along, Captain Goldwind struggled to no avail. Helpless, his back was roughly slammed into the mast as the pair of mates tied him until he could hardly move. Terrified as he was, Killian was very nearly ready to intervene, had he not been scooped up into the arms of his eldest brother. Aldred half ran as he fled down the stairs of the quarterdeck; he kept Killian's head pressed firmly into his shoulder.
"Al, what is-"
Killian was unable to finish his sentence. As Aldred pushed his face further down, the soaked linen muffled his words. He struggled to glimpse his surroundings as his brother increased his pace. Careful order had been abandoned for frenzy. Shouts and cries blended into the cacophony of sound brought about by the storm.
It mingled together with the rain and wind and waves, and another sound Killian didn't quite understand. A deafening splash directly next to the ship broke free of the chorus, catching Killian's attention with alarm.
"Don't look!" Aldred ordered.
Aldred's hand squeezed down on the back of his brother's head so hard that Killian thought his skull would crack. It had been too late, though. He had seen what had made the splash, and knew the lookout was no longer at his post.
Soon enough Aldred slowed to a halt. Only after they had reached the main mast did he set Killian down.
"Al, what's going on?" Killian pleaded. He was so confused, and the chaos only fed into the fear that had begun to gnaw at his stomach.
"It's going to be alright," Aldred reassured him, "just have to make it through the pass is all."
His familiar warm, kindly eyes brought Killian a brief respite from his fears. Quickly he turned his head and Killian followed his gaze. He was surprised to see that Robert had followed them down. Too surprised to notice that his own back was pressed firmly against the mast. Robert went about his work quickly.
Squirming did nothing, and soon enough Killian was bound as taut as his father had been, unable to move anything beside his arms.. It was impossible to hide the hurt and betrayal from his gaze, and Aldred matched it with one that held so much sorrow that it was all he could do to hold it steady. Robert gave the knot an appraising tug and took a step back to examine his work; at last, Aldred let Killian go.
"You've done enough, Rob. You next."
"But Captain, you-"
"That's an order, Robert"
Killian was unable to see the first mate from his position, though there was a long pause before his next words.
"Right, get on with it then."
Aldred then took his turn moving with purposeful focus that was only broken when he heard the quiver in his brother's voice.
"Did I do something wrong?" Killian could think of no other reason as to why he would be punished.
Killian could only feel the slightest shift of his bindings as Robert, now bound to the mast himself, tested his weight against it. Aldred finished up, and lowered himself down onto one knee.
"You haven't done a thing wrong, Killy. Not a thing."
Killian did not see Captain Silversail, like so many others did. All throughout the journey he had been confused as to the new name. Even their father had taken to it, and had reproached Killian for referring to his eldest brother by anything else. He had begun to worry if he would be required to use it as well, but Aldred had never scolded him. He had only ever smiled as he did now.
"I need you to do something very important for me, alright?"
Killian nodded as Aldred took each of his hands in his. Killian accepted it willingly as Aldred puppeteered his hands to either side of his head.
"I need you to cover your ears, just like this. Do not remove them no matter what you see, or whatever you think you might hear. Can you do that for me?"
Killian nodded once more obediently.
"Show me."
Aldred removed his own hands, and Killian did as he was told. He followed Aldred's movements as his brother stepped back a few paces, but kept his hands cupped firmly at the sides of his head. Aldred flashed a tight grin of approval as he fastened something into both of his own ears.
"Remember," He shouted loud enough for Killian to hear, "keep them there until I tell you otherwise!"
Killian stayed that way for what felt like hours, and in reality were likely only minutes. Most of the crew, he had noticed, had vanished from the main deck of the Silversail. From those he could see, they were bound in a similar fashion to himself. Most were bound in rope, tied up so thoroughly that one would think them to be captives of a mutiny. Each human bundle was fastened securely to any permanent fixture aboard the ship that they could reach.
Space among the masts was filled, so the majority were lined up along the gunwale and tethered to the rails. If he craned his neck enough, Killian could just make out Aldred back upon the quarterdeck, where he worked aside the helmsman who now found himself bound to the ship's wheel. It was strange, Killian thought, that though the storm had grown quieter with his ears covered, it did nothing to muffle the screams. Many of the sailors that were bound held their heads in their hands as he did, but those who did not uttered piercing cries. He did not know what caused them such distress - surely the ship was not floundering, or they would not have bound themselves so.
Still, they wailed in such a way that was highly unnerving. Flailing about as best they could against their restraints, it was a wonder many did not break their necks with the haphazard manner in which they flung their heads. It was not too long before one voice sounded out above the rest. Two crewmen, having apparently run out of space to secure themselves, had opted to be bound to one-another's back. One of the pair - a thin man not much younger than Aldred - called out in alarm as he was slowly dragged along the deck.
Though he could hardly move his legs, the larger of the two men had managed to tip the pair of them over so that he lay on his stomach. With a glassy look upon his face, he used his two massive forearms to pull himself forward like a desperate, wounded creature. With horror, Killian realized that the man was dragging himself and his partner towards the gunwale. Despite the frantic pleas of his companion, the man showed no sign of hearing, and no sign of stopping. Aldred noticed the struggle not a moment too late.
Nearly flying down the stairs to the quarterdeck, he managed to grab hold of the tangle of rope just as the sailors had reached the port side. He tugged hard upon the bindings, straightening the men to their feet. Though the smaller of the two still held his hands upon his ears, the larger did not, and righting him only meant that he was able to use his legs as well. Aldred began to yank the crewmates back towards the center of the main deck. This did not sit well with the entranced sailor, who, upon realizing what was happening, broke from his stupor.
His reaction was instantaneous. As Aldred pulled them along, the large man's elbow shot backwards and connected with his nose. Aldred reeled back instinctively, clutching at his face, and the sailor took his opportunity to lunge for the rail. Killian gasped with horror as his brother's face erupted with a misty spout of blood. Without thinking, he removed his hands from his ears, and froze.
It was a queer sort of noise. An ethereal, ancient melody that slipped out from just behind the natural song of the sea. Its sorrowful harmony reached out through the air from everywhere and nowhere like grasping tendrils. Though the voices spoke in a language unknown to man, Killian found himself transfixed, attempting to understand some semblance of meaning to the words. Each crooning verse took him back to his earliest memories of their little village on the Gildstream Isle…
Aldred had regained his orientation just in time to prevent both deaths. As the burly sailor that had struck him set both his fists upon the rail, his Captain had roughly thrown his bodyweight into the bound pair, tackling them to the deck. Straddling them, he unsheathed his rigging knife and began to slash at the thick cord that kept the men inseparable. Though he could hear much more clearly now, the voice of the maddened sailor sounded far away to Killian.
"That's it Captain! Cut me free…dontcha know them? They've come to guide us home…"
Squirming as best he could with the weight of two men upon his back, the lunatic babbled on with red cheeks and bulging eyes. At last, the final ropes gave way under the pressure of the blade, and the man leapt to his feet.
"Sweet Goddess, I must go to her!"
Without sparing a look back at his Captain or the man he nearly dragged with him, the sailor clambered over the gunwale and threw himself into the icy sea below. Having done his duty, Aldred walked past the sailor he had freed, who now sat in a heap upon the deck in near catatonic state. He resheathed his blade with one hand clutching the side of his head. Killian watched all of this, of course, though the scene was now displayed to him with a state of surrealism. It felt as if the world had become clouded; blurred at the edges, as if all that he saw were a play he were watching from the back of a theater.
Aldred strolled up to him almost lazily, almost casually.
"Killian, I thought I told you to keep your ears covered."
He reproached his brother with an airiness that was devoid of anger. Instead, he sounded almost tired. Killian's eyes met his with an unnatural slowness. With a sigh, Aldred once again crouched to meet Killian on his level.
"These things are dangerous, you know," he explained, lethargically covering Killian's ears with his hands, "fill your head with all kinds of fanciful ideas."
There was an almost immediate difference once his mind had been shut off from the outside influence. His thoughts, though sluggish at first, seemed to speed up as the world became crisper and more real. Aldred smiled dreamily as he watched Killian blink back into focus.
"I tried to tell him we didn't have enough if we ran into them, but you know how father is…" Aldred shook his head, sending a torrent of droplets from his hair to the deck. Only now did he see that one of his earstoppers had gone missing. Killian reached a hand out for Aldred's face, though his arm was too short to reach.
"Al, your-"
Aldred reached up a hand to touch his ear and smiled.
"Oh this? Yeah, must've gotten knocked when that bastard struck me. Cracked me good, he did." Aldred gave another ghostly smile as he grew evermore lost in thought.
"They all say different things you know…I never knew that. I'd heard stories, of course, you will too when you apprentice. They're rarely first-hand and then when they are - well, you know, those folk don't tend to make much sense of things anymore. But I'd always thought… I dunno, that it'd be the same thing they're hearing, but it isn't like that really…"
Aldred continued rambling, and Killian could tell it was more to himself than to him. He was about to say something, when Aldred let out a soft chuckle.
"Some of them are the same though, that's the weird thing. When I was at the helm I heard father talking about it. I wish that old saltfish could take orders as well as he gave them. Whole time he's up there calling her name, real softlike at first, like she was right there in front of him."
He shook his head forlornly.
"Within a couple minutes he was hollering for her so loud I thought he'd tear his own throat out. I had to have him gagged, but he kept on yelling through the rag. Thought they'd just got their madness into his head, that it'd pass, but then I heard it too. That's the weird thing, how they got her voice so right. Took me right back to when I was a lad, younger than you are now, when father was out at sea and it was just the two of us in that crooked little house when the clouds would roll on in.
"She sang to Brandy that way. You too, I'm sure you remember. Alise tried to sing to Thorian that way, after she'd gone. It didn't sound quite the same though…she'd get so mad when I'd tell her that."
His demeanor shifted and his eyes held a strange sparkling sheen.
"You heard her too, didn't you, just now?"
Killian swallowed hard, and was on the verge of denying it. However, some unknown will forced him to acknowledge the voice he had heard. He nodded once, and Aldred looked at him somberly.
"Makes me wonder even after all these years where she ended up. Father was different after that, you know, never was the same. Maybe she really is down there, calling out for us to come home."
Aldred raised himself to his feet, letting his arms fall slack from Killian's face. There was very little Killian could do, and part of him even then must have realized it. So he simply stood and watched from the mast. Watched unblinking as Aldred Silversail walked to the portside gunwale and vaulted over it in one swift movement, soundlessly disappearing from view beneath the churning waves