{{ THIS BOOK IS THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT IN THE TITULAR SERIES. PLEASE READ THE FIRST THREE BOOKS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE FOURTH. LOVE Y'ALL ♥}}
The Great Unrest has come to an end, but The Night's Curse still rests upon Judson. With the guide of a...
Bergor's hand against his right wing made him lift his head. The sailor's voice was scratchy when he spoke. "You succeeded then? You reached the Mountain?"
Judson managed small nods, and Bergor exhaled a few times in disbelief, staggering back. He covered his mouth with one hand, where his little and middle finger were missing and paced the room for a while.
"What do you remember?" He inquired and tapped Judson on the chest with the back of his hand. "Tell me everything."
"I cannot tell you everything, Bergor." Judson shook his head.
The sailor halted, and, for a moment, seemed to realize something. Looking into his face, Judson saw waves of rising anger crease his skin – from the grinding of his teeth to the flexing of his eyebrows.
"You can at least tell me how my Estmere met her end," He stated bluntly. "Can't you?"
Judson's gaze tore away and affixed into one of the dark, gaping holes in the floor. Even though he stood far away from it, he remembered the smell of dust and dead things that oozed out of the hole. It almost made him disgorge the malted pancakes he had eaten a few hours ago.
"I do not really know."
In a flash, Bergor had reached for him, clutching the front of his shirt in a violent yet weak grip. The smell of a previous meal filtered out of his mouth into Judson's face.
"The gods curse you for letting her be taken under!" He growled in a harsh whisper. "You should've died instead of returning to me without her. Are you shameless? You swore you'd keep her safe. I warned you to release a drogue sail before any disaster hit. Where the heck is my ship?."
Judson felt the urge to shove Bergor away, but he could not help that he understood the man's anger. Instead, he refused to meet his eye, opting to look down. The sailor finally let go and shielded his face with his palm.
As Judson rearranged his shirt, his gaze lifted and he saw that he was being stared at.
"Your ladylove," Bergor began quietly.
Judson's heart sank straight into his stomach. A searing kind of pain began to rise from his chest, splitting it and spreading fast into his eyes. He struggled to keep from blinking.
"She is not with you." The sailor went on. His head tilted. "Where is she?"
The urge to shove the sailor came again, but Judson fought hard against it. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Waverly to someone who would likely feel no sympathy for her. He kept his gaze away.
"So, you lost my woman as recklessly as you lost yours." Bergor taunted with a pained laugh.
Judson's head snapped to him. He walked close to the man. "I was never reckless with either, but you should know that Estmere held her own against Turmoil's winds for many weeks; a Syren's lullaby, and a confrontation with Tumut himself."
Bergor's eye twitched and his chin went up slightly. "How did she meet her end?"
Pausing, Judson tried to keep the ugly memory from his mind, but it was one of many that he would never be able to defeat. "He stood in her path. Our path. He would not let us pass and summoned a great wave as tall as himself. She was possibly crushed to pieces."
"And how were you not?" Bergor sneered. "Did the young lady die also at the hands of—"
"She is not dead!" Judson snapped loudly and the sailor flinched.
Almost immediately, he regained himself and walked toward the bed then carefully sat on it and buried his face in both hands.
With his eyes shut, he vividly recalled the forlorn look in her own eyes moments before she was taken. He stared with regret at his incapable hands. They trembled slightly and felt weak, useless.
"She's not dead." He repeated quietly, his voice breaking. The tears he had fought for so long sieged the rim of his eyes, and he lowered his face to make certain Bergor did not see.
Thus begins the end. . .
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
TEASER COVER REVEAL/TITLE REVEAL
WAVERLY STUMP AND THE 7 REALMS #5: THE CALL OF NYS
