Free The Farthest Shore (Eden Series Book 3) by Marian Perera Page B

of the day’s events which he sealed into a thick-walled glass flask that held each day’s records. Even if Nautilex was lost with all hands, some note of their achievements had to remain. Hours later, he went up to the hatch to look out.
    The night was not nearly as dark as the depths Nautilex traveled during the day. If he had needed to, he could have seen more, because Nuemy had said the creature could make parts of itself flare bright as a defense. But light would attract too much attention on the surface.
    Even if he had closed his eyes, he could smell the creature. Because its own blood vessels supplied their air, Nautilex rested just beneath its skin, part of which had been dissected free and stretched over the submersible, leaving only the hatch uncovered. Ropelike ligaments had been grown in vats and transplanted to hold Nautilex in place. After five weeks, Kaig knew he should have been used to that, but he hated being in the beast’s belly.
    Not that seeing it from the outside was much better. A full moon shone down on the thick limbs which trailed on either side, wider than the timbers of a ship and studded with suckerlike cups on their lower surfaces. The two far-longer hunting arms stretched for just over fifty feet. Kaig looked away from it and watched the empty horizon instead, until the sky grew fractionally lighter in the east and it was time to close the hatch before descent.
    Silently, the kraken that carried Nautilex embedded into its mantle, like a saddle on a horse, swam on into the Denalait ocean.

Chapter Three
    At Triton Harbor
    Alyster looked up when the door opened, but it was only Miri, her arms full of linen. It had rained yesterday as well, but rather than getting soaked a second time, she had taken advantage of both the rain and the subsequent sun, washing everything from his clothes to the table napkins, and had strung a line to dry them overnight. Though she’d had the good sense to bring them in as soon as possible. People were hardly likely to ooh and aah over Checkmate if the first they saw of the ship was the captain’s underclothes fluttering in the breeze.
    He’d been slightly embarrassed when she’d taken those as well, but by then it was too late to do anything, and she was as matter-of-fact about it as she was about the rest of her duties. When they passed a reef marker that evening, he knew Triton Harbor was less than a day away, and Miri’s eyes brightened when he told her so over supper.
    “Not that I haven’t enjoyed my stay aboard,” she hastened to add.
    Alyster smiled inwardly, thinking it was odd if she had enjoyed herself despite stowing away, almost dying, retching over the rail and working hard every day. It had probably been the most eventful week of her life. Then again, considering how the voyage had begun for her, it could only improve from there, and she seemed to have finally gotten her sea legs. The haggard look was gone and she ate heartily at supper.
    It was a pity she wasn’t staying on. She didn’t have Reveka’s dazzling looks, but she’d combed her hair out after the rain had washed it, and it fell in dark waves over her shoulders. He found himself wanting to touch it to see if it felt as soft as it looked.
    He noticed unusual things about her too, small details that might never stand out to a casual glance but which set her apart. Like the way her hair peaked in the center of her forehead, and the odd indent in her chin. Her jawline was stubborn, almost too prominent, but the full mouth softened it and the wide brown eyes—the color of polished fruitwood—balanced it out. She was attractive all right.
    And he liked talking to her. She’d made an effort to learn naval terminology, and while he still corrected her, he never had to tell her any word more than once. Still, she could hardly drop all her responsibilities to travel to Dagre. She probably wanted to return to Endworld and write about life aboard a steamship.
    No , he realized over