Eulyn? Sure enough, Cay had tilted his head back and was gazing at the symbiont wrapped in the medusid's tentacles. From this angle Theo couldn't see his face, but he didn't need to. The pain in Cay's voice said everything.
"Eulyn, please." Though his voice was soft, the wind carried his words to Theo's ears anyway. Some dim part of Theo realized he shouldn't be here, shouldn't be watching this, but his body just wouldn't move.
"Won't you speak to me now? Your Levia...it feels stronger than it has in years. Surely that means you can hear me. Surely…."
No answer, only the soft whistling of the wind, the thrum of the propellers.
Sighing, Cay drew his knees to his chest. "Please answer me. Even if it's just one word. Just one word."
When his voice cracked, a horrible tide of guilt flooded Theo's chest. What was he even doing?
He had to get out of here. But before he could climb down the ladder, a metallic click rang through the air.
Theo's heart stopped. Had he been discovered?
Holding his breath, the blood rushing in his ears, he dared to peek out of the hatch. To his relief, Cay was still sitting atop the roof.
But now he wasn't alone. Because someone had emerged from another hatch, a tall man wearing a bandanna.
The instant Cay saw Amaro, his entire body stiffened. Somehow he reminded Theo of a prey animal that had sighted a predator.
In contrast, Amaro strolled casually up to Cay, though just like in the mess hall his nonchalance seemed too practiced, too deliberate. "Fancy seeing you out. Couldn't sleep either?"
Cay vaulted down from the cabin roof, robes billowing around him. "Go away."
"Hey, this is my craft. I can enjoy the fresh air if I want."
Rather than reply, Cay folded his arms and lifted his chin. It was a miracle he didn't spontaneously sprout spikes.
"Hm." Amaro's gaze darted up to Eulyn. "Did I interrupt? Sorry 'bout that."
"Shut up." Even from this distance, the venom in Cay's voice stung Theo's ears.
'I need to get out of here,' he thought, heart thumping madly. Yet he couldn't twitch a single muscle, his hands clamped around the ladder bars like claws. Besides, if he closed the hatch the noise might attract Amaro and Cay's attention.
Or maybe he was just making excuses.
Amaro breathed out, shrugged his shoulders, and rested a hand on his hip. "Thought you'd be happier about going back home."
His tone was light, but with a careful edge. Cay flinched like he'd been slapped and whirled toward Amaro, hair flying everywhere.
"I told you to shut up! Or is tormenting me that much fun for you?"
His voice rose to a shout, high and strangled, so painful it made Theo wince. But Amaro remained standing in place, still deliberately casual.
"Aren't sages supposed to be composed at all times? Pretty sure that's one of the precepts."
"You!" Theo's heart jumped into his throat when Cay lunged at Amaro, seizing a fistful of his shirt. Even from this distance, Theo could see how his shoulders trembled. "This is all a joke to you, isn't it! It always was! And that's why you took her away without any regret, you damn – "
"Like I said a hundred times, Eulyn's the one who chose to go." Amaro sighed heavily. "As much as you don't want to believe it."
"Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better," Cay growled, twisting Amaro's shirt in his fists.
"And you tell yourself I seduced her like the scoundrel I am if it makes you feel better." Now Amaro's voice held not a trace of amusement.
"Well." To Theo's surprise, Cay let out a laugh – the first he'd ever heard from him. If you could call that short, bitter bark a laugh, anyway. "It's not like she can give us her account, can she."
Amaro said nothing to this. For a while silence fell over the deck, broken only by Theo's furiously racing heartbeat. 'I have to go, I have to go, I have to….'
Sighing, Cay unfurled his fingers and let Amaro go. Amaro lurched back but didn't step away from Cay, and Cay didn't move either. He glared at a patch of the floor a few feet to their right.
"I can't...I can't go back like this." When he spoke, his voice came out soft, almost defeated. "I promised...when I returned, I would bring Eulyn with me."
"She is with you," Amaro said, sounding gentler than he ever had.
Cay scoffed. "You know what I mean."
Another long silence. Theo watched the wind stir Cay's hair, the ends of Amaro's bandanna, and felt his arms ache more and more. 'Now,' he told himself. 'I have to leave now.'
But if he closed the hatch, they'd definitely hear it. Right?
When Amaro reached out his hand, Theo blinked. Then his jaw dropped when the hand closed around a stray lock of Cay's hair, twirling the slate-gray strands between his fingers. Hold on – that seemed like way too intimate a touch.
Theo fully expected Cay to shove Amaro away or even punch him, so it surprised him when all the sage did was lower his head. "Scoundrel," he grumbled, but without much feeling. "Not in front of Eulyn."
"I've told you, haven't I? It was never like that," Amaro said lightly. "Ah, but what's the point, you never listen to me anyway."
His grip tightened and he leaned down close to Cay's face. Alarm sparked through all of Theo's nerves. Okay, he definitely should not be watching this –
But before he could climb back down, Cay shoved Amaro's face away. "Don't."
"Alas," Amaro said, his voice still light but tinged with disappointment. "Foiled again."
Cay sniffed and tossed his head, stepping away from Amaro. "You needn't worry. If the prince wishes to go the temple, then I shall accompany her."
"What's this?" Amaro definitely sounded caught off guard. "Thought I said you didn't have to – "
"It's because you said that."
Amaro chuckled, a startlingly warm sound. "Never underestimate the power of Cay's spite."
"As a sage, I have a duty. And as a subject of Prince Darian." Cay's gaze flicked up to Eulyn. "Even if Eulyn can no longer fulfill it, I will."
"Why do you have to talk like that?" Another shrug from Amaro. "As if she's already dead."
"She might as well be." Cay's voice was stiff and brittle, each word carefully enunciated. "And you killed her. Good night."
With that, he started down the deck with firm, purposeful strides – thankfully in the opposite direction of Theo's hiding space. Watching him go, Amaro shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
After Cay shut the hatch, Amaro waved up at Eulyn – something painful clenched in Theo's chest – before ambling toward the railing and resting his elbows on it. It didn't seem like he was going to move anytime soon, so Theo figured it was time to leave.
As quietly as he could, he climbed down and slid the hatch shut. Even the faint metallic click made Theo's blood turn to ice. He waited, heart pounding, but when angry footsteps didn't come pounding toward him and Amaro's face didn't pop through the hatch, he let out the breath he was holding.
Time to get out of here. He should never have come in the first place. But try as he might, Theo knew he couldn't easily forget what he had witnessed.
Reluctantly, he began trudging back to his quarters, though he doubted he'd catch an ounce of sleep tonight.