Seeing is Believing (37 page)

Kinsu's eyes widened—
The Spirit's
crew had already died for him, he wasn't about to let Lenol die too—Lenol smiled, his fingers tightening briefly on Kinsu's shoulder.

"He's blocking all magic around him, not just around your brother." Chethi scowled at Kell irritably. "This was not part of the contract."

"If I kill him myself, you're returning the money I paid you." Kell muttered darkly, shrugging off his cloak and drawing the short sword belted to his hip. Kinsu jerked back, startled.

"Just give up, Kinsu." Kell ordered crossly, stalking across the pier towards them. Kinsu hesitated briefly before allowing Lenol to draw him closer to the ship.

"Get onboard," Lenol whispered near his ear, shoving him gently towards the small schooner.

"But—" Kinsu started—Lenol wasn't armed either, unless there was more to his detect-and-block magic power that Lenol hadn't told him about.

"Kinsu—" Both Kell and Lenol started at once. Kinsu scowled, obstinately stopping and crossing his arms. It really wasn't fair and he half-wished he could knock Kell on his ass and wallop him one for this. Lenol frowned at him, mouthing 'on the boat' at him, but Kinsu ignored him. He wasn't running away, though he wasn't really sure what he
was
doing.

Lenol had taken his eyes off Kell though, and Kell took the opportunity, lunging for Kinsu sword-first. The strike breezed near enough to Kinsu that it ruffled his cloak a bit, but it hadn't actually hit. Kinsu stumbled back, fighting for options—running away was
not
an option, no matter how much Lenol wanted him too—

Kell lunged again, but stumbled, likely on the uneven planking of the pier, and slammed into Kinsu. Sword-first again, and Kinsu winced because he'd been too close to the side of the pier and they were falling and his forearms stung badly—

Kinsu gasped in a breath and then they were underwater. Kell was kicking, but Kinsu was fighting the shock of the cold,
cold
water and his cloak wasn't letting him move much…

*~*~*

Lenol watched with horror as Kell drove Kinsu over the edge of the pier, the both of them tumbling out of sight with a splash. Cursing fluently under his breath, Lenol kicked off his shoes and threw himself after them. He hadn't gone through this much to protect Kinsu only to let that bastard get him now.

As soon as he was submerged, the legs he wore on land shifted together and morphed into his tail. Lenol spared a moment to hope that no one actually
noticed
as he flipped off the tattered remnants of his breeches. Peering through the dark water, Lenol picked out Kinsu quickly, struggling against his cloak feebly.

Kell was treading water above them, but Lenol ignored that—Kinsu was more important. Kinsu's struggles were doing absolutely no good—he was still sinking steadily as he thrashed against his cloak. Lenol shot close and wrapped his arms around Kinsu's middle, getting an elbow in the stomach for his trouble. Kinsu wriggled a bit before going distressingly limp in Lenol's hold.

Lenol swam to the surface as quickly as he could—Kinsu hadn't been underwater that long, had he? Angling away from where Kell was swimming slowly back towards the dock, Lenol aimed for the boat as he pulled Kinsu up. Kinsu gasped in air as soon as they surfaced, which was reassuring, but the way he started to cough wasn't quite so.

"Len—" Kinsu managed, fingers hooking in the collar of Lenol's wet shirt.

"Shh." Lenol muttered, watching Kell climb from the water with a helping hand from the magician. Kinsu coughed again, breathing ragged. The water was odd around them, thick and smelling of blood and Lenol belatedly remembered that Kell had knocked Kinsu from the pier sword-first. "Are you hurt?"

Kinsu nodded, staring at him wide-eyed. "Not … not bad."

"—something
physical
?" Kell shouted behind them, and Lenol pulled Kinsu closer to the boat. If he could get them sailing, they could get away before Kell launched another offensive.

Kinsu shivered violently in his arms, and Lenol realized belatedly that the water had to be freezing. It was late spring, but there hadn't been anywhere near enough time for the water to warm. Swimming faster, he carefully made sure that Kinsu's head stayed above the water. Kinsu just clung to his shirt, shaking.

"You have to climb," Lenol told him, doing his best to ignore Kell's shouting as he berated his magician. Kinsu nodded jerkily, letting Lenol unhook his fingers from the front of Lenol's shirt. Kinsu latched onto the side of the boat with stiff fingers, and Lenol gave him a boost, shoving himself underwater as he shoved Kinsu up over the side of the boat.

Surfacing again, he watched Kinsu's legs slither under the ship's railing before swiveling to watch Kell and Chethi arguing. Kell had dried, probably as a result of Chethi, and Lenol exerted his influence again, working extra-hard to block all magic in the area.

"G-go home, K-Kell." Kinsu yelled, and Lenol jerked his gaze back. Kinsu had found one of the fishing harpoons, and was brandishing it menacingly. Almost menacingly, because Kinsu's features didn't lend well to menacing.

Kell laughed. "Please. You won't throw it, and if you did you'd miss." Kell sneered. "Besides, you're shaking like a leaf."

Kinsu scowled, his mouth twisting into a frown. Heaving the harpoon with all his weight behind it, Lenol watched, impressed as the harpoon flew. Kinsu abruptly fell over, unbalanced, but it wasn't a bad throw. Lenol debated the merits of climbing on board—pants-free, but he'd have that problem at any point, really.

"Oh." The single word was loaded with shock and Lenol paused, sinking slightly in surprise. He wasn't the only surprised one—Kell stared disbelievingly at the harpoon embedded deeply in his stomach. Blood darkened the light fabric of his shirt, and he sat down heavily on the pier, his hand going to touch the wooden handle of the harpoon shakily.

Kinsu clambered up, teetering a bit before tilting over the rail slightly to stare down at him. "Why are you down there?"

"The place to be," Lenol offered, certain his tail was invisible in the dark. It wouldn't do to freak Kinsu out now.

"Oh god." Kinsu sat down again, pushing the hair out of his face as he stared, wide-eyed at Kell. Dark streaks traced the movement, and Lenol couldn't figure out what it was. "I only meant to scare him."

"It's okay," Lenol called up, probably not at his most comforting, treading water beneath where Kinsu was having a minor freak out about hurting his bastard of a brother. Lenol spared Kell another glance—Chethi was tending to him, and Lenol decided that now was as good a time as any to get lost.

"Kinsu, start unhooking the mooring lines." Lenol directed, watching carefully as Kinsu levered himself to his feet and wobbled away towards the pier. Lenol took the opportunity to pull himself out of the water, shaking the water from his tail with two quick flicks as he pulled himself onto deck.

His shirt was long enough that it pretty much covered the essentials, so Lenol moved quickly to help Kinsu free the ship from the restraints holding it to the pier. The tide was rushing out, at least, so it pulled the ship out as Lenol worked quickly to set the sails. There was a bit of a breeze—they could run with that. Magicians could only work within a certain distance, hence why he'd though Kinsu was cursed—it had never occurred to him that
The Spirit
herself had been cursed.

"Lenol?" Kinsu's quiet voice came from behind him, and Lenol hoped beyond hope that Kinsu hadn't noticed the fins because Lenol really wasn't up to explaining how he wasn't really human.

"Are you okay?" Lenol blurted, reaching out and tilting Kinsu's face towards the lantern at the back of the ship. Streaks of blood traced along Kinsu's forehead, back towards his ear. The magic trying to suffocate Kinsu was fading already as they pulled away, at least, and Kinsu frowned at him thoughtfully.

"I—why … don't you have pants?" Kinsu peered at his legs curiously for a long moment before jerking his head back up with wide-eyes.

Lenol laughed, tugging at the bottom of his shirt. "If you give me a moment or two to get us further from land, I'll gladly put some on, I promise."

"Not what I asked." Kinsu swayed dangerously, and Lenol frowned. He
knew
Kinsu had better sea legs than that. Kinsu's knees gave way abruptly, hitting the deck with a crack as Kinsu crumpled, falling to his side.

"Kinsu?" Lenol knelt immediately. Kinsu had passed out; he was breathing, shivering slightly, and completely insensible. Lenol sighed—he really should've expected something like this. Shifting Kinsu's arms, Lenol paused at the sticky wetness. Wetness he was expecting, but not… sticky.

Frowning, Lenol drew Kinsu's sleeves back, one after another, revealing matching, deep gashes slashed into his forearms.

"Not bad, my fishy mermaid tail." Lenol grumbled, tugging off his shirt and tearing it. Studiously ignoring that he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing now, he carefully bound Kinsu's arms. He'd do a more thorough job later, when he'd dropped anchor later.

*~*~*

Kinsu woke up slowly, groggy and warm and with the world swaying soothingly around him. He drowsed for a bit, content to stay that way until Kell's plots made an unseemly entrance and woke him up completely.

Sitting up straight, Kinsu knocked the thick blanket covering him into his lap. He didn't recognize the little room he was in, but he probably wasn't remiss in thinking he was on Lenol's ship. Wincing, Kinsu tugged his sleeves back, staring in confusion at the knotted cloth tied haphazardly around his forearms.

Lenol must've done it. Kinsu smiled wryly; Lenol had always been less than fantastic at tending wounds. At least he hadn't left Kinsu to bleed out, though. That wouldn't have been fun. Drawing his left arm closer, Kinsu picked absently at the knot on the fabric.

Kell … Hopefully he wasn't dead. He was close to hating Kell, but he didn't want him dead, and he didn't want to be the one who managed to kill him. Last night—or whenever, since Kinsu had no clue how long it had been since his confrontation with Kell on the dock—was mostly blurred.

Lenol had leapt after him, though. Into the freezing cold water, the moron. Kinsu frowned—and come up without his pants. And had … had a
tail
? Kinsu frowned, pressing his mind to remember. It certainly had seemed that way. Kinsu hadn't gotten a good look, but no way could Lenol swim the way he had with legs. The wave-like motion just wasn't possible or efficient.

The door to the little room opened slowly, and Kinsu blinked curiously at Lenol, who crept in quietly before spotting him.

"Oh. You're up." Lenol smiled, and Kinsu stared at him thoughtfully. He definitely didn't have a tail now.

"Stop picking at that." Lenol scolded, crossing the room in two long strides and batting Kinsu's hand away from the bandage.

"You," Kinsu started, watching the way Lenol tensed just a little. "Suck at bandaging."

Lenol grinned, relaxing again. "Yeah, I know. We can do it better later. Or now."

"Now's good." Kinsu let his fingers find the knot on the bandage again. "You've got actual bandage this time? Not bits of your shirt?"

"Yes, complain now," Lenol muttered, ducking down and tugging a small chest free from beneath the bed Kinsu sat on. Flipping the latch, he pulled out a few small rolls of linen. The knot fell free under Kinsu's fingers and he tugged the blood-stiff cloth away from his arm, wincing when it stuck a bit.

"Ow," Kinsu grumbled, pulling the makeshift bandage completely off. His forearm was smeared with blood, surrounding a gash angled across the width of his arm. Lenol made a face and tugged free a handkerchief, soaking it with a canteen he pulled from a pocket on his pants.

"Thank you for putting on pants." Kinsu grinned as Lenol started to clean the dried blood from his arm.

Lenol paused for a second before tilting a wicked smirk at him. "Well, you've taken off your shirt so many times in my presence, so I decided to up the ante."

"You're not being very subtle you know." Kinsu told him seriously, wincing as Lenol started to clean the sword cut itself.

"Subtle about what?" Lenol questioned, nearly casual but for the hint of strain in his voice.

"I thought I was imagining things, really." Kinsu smiled a bit, amused when Lenol frowned at him unhappily.

"You were." Lenol told him seriously. "There was—you lost a lot of blood."

"What?" Kinsu narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Okay, I don't think we're talking about the same thing anymore."

Lenol just stared at him stubbornly, and Kinsu scowled. "You're not leaving until my arms are fixed up." Kinsu ordered, thrusting his arm back towards Lenol.

"Right," Lenol sighed, holding Kinsu's arm as he resumed cleaning the wound. "What were you talking about?"

"Hmm, no, what were
you
talking about?" Kinsu tried, ignoring the way his cheeks were heating. He'd lost blood? That had nothing to do with Lenol flirting with him.

"I asked you first." Lenol muttered, setting aside the dirtied handkerchief and picking up one of the rolls of cloth. Kinsu pushed his sleeve up a bit higher futilely, since it slid right back down to his elbow.