At Eden's obvious curiosity Tal led the way around the dock to the other side of the larger ship, bringing the Peregrine into view. She was a neat, trim little cutter with a single main mast and her sails currently furled. She gleamed from a recent cleaning, her lines simple but almost too perfect to be entirely natural.
Oh, and there was a great lump of white scales snoring lightly atop the cabin's roof.
"Thanks," Tal took Eden's compliment at face value, his scowl finally disappearing as he looked over his ship with fondness and pride. "Don't let her size fool you. She's a smooth ride, an' a swift one." Her next words brought the furrow back between his brows, however, and he chewed at his lower lip.
"Um. Not as such, no. She can only fit two... me an' one passenger. An' the dragon, o'course," he added, gesturing to the companion happily sacked out on the roof. "But she doesn't spend much time aboard while we're travelin'." Enough to rest and eat and get scratches and love when the ship hove to for the night. "But we are headin' t'Torchline on our way back t'Halo. If you're in a hurry I could take you an' your brother could catch another ship later? Or vice versa." He shrugged, not knowing Eden's circumstances.
Then the wording she'd used hit and Tal narrowed his pale eyes, looking her over with a hint of wariness. "Say, you're not in any trouble, are you?"
Oh, and there was a great lump of white scales snoring lightly atop the cabin's roof.
"Thanks," Tal took Eden's compliment at face value, his scowl finally disappearing as he looked over his ship with fondness and pride. "Don't let her size fool you. She's a smooth ride, an' a swift one." Her next words brought the furrow back between his brows, however, and he chewed at his lower lip.
"Um. Not as such, no. She can only fit two... me an' one passenger. An' the dragon, o'course," he added, gesturing to the companion happily sacked out on the roof. "But she doesn't spend much time aboard while we're travelin'." Enough to rest and eat and get scratches and love when the ship hove to for the night. "But we are headin' t'Torchline on our way back t'Halo. If you're in a hurry I could take you an' your brother could catch another ship later? Or vice versa." He shrugged, not knowing Eden's circumstances.
Then the wording she'd used hit and Tal narrowed his pale eyes, looking her over with a hint of wariness. "Say, you're not in any trouble, are you?"
