laughed_
on the hill stood a burned-out shell of a building too. It was definitely the right town. But . . . how had it become so small?
“You’re sure you won’t stay, son?” The captain’s heavy hand rested heavily on Keilin’s shoulder.
He shook his head, slowly, “Thank you, sir, but no. There are things I have to do.”
The stern-faced man blew out between his teeth. “I wish I didn’t understand what you meant, Keil, my lad. Still, you go carefully. That’s some unchancy folk you’re mixing with there. Don’t you trust that supercilious Cap fellow. You watch that Leyla woman too. She knows too damn well that when a man’s balls start thinking, his head doesn’t. That,” he said, with an almost smile, “is hell of advice from a sour old man that girls steer clear of, but I wasn’t always that way. When they start looking at you like that little one does, it’s time to take a berth, any berth, to any place else.”
“She’s a princess, sir. This is her idea of fun. She knows she’ll marry some high muck-a-muck sometime, but in the meanwhile she uses me to keep her claws sharp. I wish she’d pick on someone else,” Keilin said with wry acceptance.
The old sea captain laughed. “You’ve certainly