Fire Sail

by Piers Anthony

  He returned inside. “I have strengthened the wall, but it’s still a temporary solution. We need a permanent one, to prevent the goblins from returning later to wipe Jack out.”

  “We do,” Nia agreed. “I am thinking of Ula’s first suggestion, which seems likely to be more useful.”

  “Hawthorne,” Dell said. “Background. Before the goblins return.”

  “Hawthorne is a hermit with a maybe Magician-caliber talent,” the peeve said promptly. “He isolates himself because of that talent, which invokes itself whenever he becomes passionate about something. He’s a good man and doesn’t want to do harm. He has the ability to make anyone he focuses his attention on feel incredibly excited and nearly overwhelmingly joyful and filled with a desire to do anything to make him happy in return. This happens to anyone he focuses his attention on: the type of attention a person normally pays when conversing with someone. Hence his reluctance to speak directly to or even look directly at any person of consequence.”

  “Does this apply to one person at a time?” Nia asked. “Does the effect dissipate when he stops focusing on that person? If so, there is surely protection in groups.”

  “It’s not limited like that,” the peeve said. “Any person he converts remains that way until Hawthorne himself focuses on him to persuade him otherwise. He can also address a crowd of people, and they will all be affected. For example if another Wave of conquest or colonization came, Hawthorne could talk his way into meeting the general of that force, and in a moment there would be nothing that would make that general happier than to turn his army over to Hawthorne, and each soldier would be vying to be the best soldier he could be to make him happy. It’s not a conversion by force so much as by desire. Converts are thrilled to be supporting him. It’s called the Hawthorne Effect.”

  “That could be dangerous,” Nia said thoughtfully.

  “How so?” Dell asked. “If all he wants is to do the right thing, and they willingly support him, isn’t this good?”

  “No. Even a good king would go wrong, because too much happiness reinforced by prolonged exposure would diminish his rational thought, and he would strive to experience ever more happiness and take ever more of the Magician’s attention, while the kingdom suffered. Yes-men are not healthy for a king in the long term. And a bad king would descend that much more rapidly. It would be like the Mundane who takes a coco cane, thinking it a mere walking stick, and seeks only more and more of it, destroying his life by that seeming happiness. It’s addiction to pleasure, which is no good for anyone.”

  They pondered that. “I’m not sure we should get involved with this person,” Dell said. “We might have trouble getting uninvolved again.”

  There was a distant goblin cry. The horde was beginning to catch on that the menacing eyes were maybe not dangerous.

  “How fast can we fetch him?” Nia asked the peeve.

  “Tata says he is coincidentally close. That’s why he’s our best prospect. The boat can do it in a few moments. Maybe three.”

  “Let’s do it faster,” Dell said, with a smile lurking near his mouth. “Try for two moments.” He knew that moments could be stretched when necessary.

  They clambered back aboard. “We’ll be back soon,” Win called as she took her place at the stern and summoned the wind.

  They sailed out of the pot house, following the direction required by Tata’s map. The wind ramped up, which was something Dell hadn’t known wind could do, and the boat moved rapidly across the landscape.

  And there, in the deepest jungle, almost hidden in a thorny thicket of hawthorn trees, was the house. They sailed through it and into it.

  An older man looked up from his book, startled. “What’s this?”

  Nia stepped out. “We need you, Hawthorne. Goblins are besieging Jack Pot and Jill, and will soon cook and consume them if not discouraged.”

  He glanced at her as if about to decline, then looked away, avoiding her gaze. He seemed to be about sixty, with dark hair and a grizzled beard, lean and wary. Then he changed his mind. “I know of Jack. He got me my cooking pot. He’s a decent sort. Take me there.”

  But Dell suspected that it wasn’t just the knowledge of his neighbor’s danger that influenced Hawthorne.

  Nia guided him into the craft and down the hatch, where he was properly amazed. “I take it you folk are not ordinary travelers,” he said.

  “We are on a temporary mission to deliver this magic craft to its new proprietors,” Nia explained. “We are crew members for the time being.”

  “I gather you know my talent,” he told Grania. “You understand why I avoid meeting eyes with you.”

  “Yes. I appreciate that.”

  “It has been a long time since anyone sought me for any reason.”

  “You’re a lonely man,” she said wisely.

  “Yes. I could probably get a woman to join me, but I am reluctant to do it by using my talent. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

  “It would not be fair,” she agreed.

  “They like each other,” Ula whispered to Dell.

  So it seemed. Dell wasn’t sure how he felt about that. If Nia found her kind of man, would she leave the boat? Dell dreaded the thought of handling it alone, yet he didn’t begrudge Nia her happiness any more than she begrudged him his. She was old, but hardly finished. So—he would stay out of it. It was her decision.

  They reached Jack’s pot house just as the second extended moment expired. Jill was now out of the pot and in the clothing Nia had brought her.

  “We’ve been talking it over,” Jill said. “I think I’d like to stay here with Jack, if we can just get rid of the goblins.”

  So much for her coming on to Dell. She had found another man to come on to. And of course that was par for his present course: the girls flirted with him, but then found other men. The effect of the sweetie pie didn’t last. He was both disappointed and relieved.

  Meanwhile the goblins were banging on the walls again. Nia’s eyes had disappeared when she departed, so that defense was gone, and they were unlikely to scare the goblins again. The hardened walls would hold out for some time, but not forever, and of course they would not remain hard once Dell departed. By nightfall they would be back to their original state.

  “We do need to be rid of the goblins,” Nia said.

  “I will take care of that,” Hawthorne said.

  “But we can’t simply step outside,” she said. “They would tear us apart before we ever got to talk to them.”

  “I fear you have a point,” he agreed.

  “Why don’t you use the boat?” Ula asked.

  There it was again: the obvious answer that wasn’t obvious until she unexpectedly asked it.

  This time they all got into the boat, and Win blew it through a crack and out among the goblins, who didn’t see it. They sailed over the heads of the horde and landed behind the goblins. There was the goblin chief, supervising the siege.

  Beyond him more goblins were filing in. It seemed that the full contingent had not yet arrived. “It may be better to wait a while,” Hawthorne said. “I can address any number at once, and all will be affected. But if more arrive thereafter, they will have missed the conversion, and will be free to work their usual mischief. Once all are here, we can get them all.”

  “That makes sense,” Grania said. “Will the house that Jack built hold out long enough, Dell?”

  “Yes, now that I have strengthened it. They won’t get in until evening, if then.”

  “Then let’s get to know each other better.” Nia led the way down the hatch.

  “This as amazing!” Hawthorne said. He was avoiding their gazes, but could look freely at the craft. “I thought it was a boat with special qualities, but it’s a ship.”

  “It is indeed,” Nia agreed. “I’m sure its new proprietors will be pleased with it, when we
deliver it.”

  “How is it that you have not yet done that?”

  She laughed ruefully. “We haven’t yet found them. We’re still looking.”

  “I should think you would be tempted never to find them, and keep it for yourselves.”

  “Show him around,” Nia told Dell. “While I fix us a good meal.” She disappeared into the galley. The children had already disappeared into their own interests, and Jack and Jill were absorbed with each other in a corner. Tata and the peeve kept a quiet eye on things, as they normally did. He was effectively alone with their visitor.

  Dell picked up on the implied question. “Nia and I were selected for our honesty. We will not abscond with the boat. We will deliver it safely when we can.”

  “That is admirable.” He drew closer to Dell without meeting his gaze. “May I speak candidly?”

  “Of course. We prefer candor.”

  “Nia—is she spoken for?”

  Dell smiled. “Her family is behind her; she is a widow. She is alone, except for we who share the boat with her.”

  “I ask because she strikes me as the kind of woman I would like to have in my life.”

  “Here is candor of my own,” Dell said. “Nia and I are temporary co-captains of the boat. If your interest is in acquiring the boat, playing up to her will not succeed. It will only sadden her. I hope you will not play on her feelings for that reason.”

  “Oh, by no means!” Hawthorne said, embarrassed. “I find the craft fascinating, but I have no need of it. I could readily win the cooperation of any captains I encounter, if I wanted to travel. It is she I am interested in. I think she would be the kind of woman I would like to finish my life with.”

  “In that case, let her know. She may come to you once our mission with the boat is finished.”

  “Thank you. That is a relief to hear.”

  Nia emerged with a rolling cart full of assorted foods. “Mess call!” she said.

  The children reappeared. They sat down to a really nice meal. They were used to it, as was Dell. The ship’s stores seemed endless, and Nia knew how to use them.

  “You did this alone,” Hawthorne said. “I am impressed.”

  “The ship has a well-supplied galley,” Nia said, plainly flattered. Dell had not before seen her like this. He wondered if this was the way she saw him when he met an interesting girl, all aflutter. “I merely have learned where things are.”

  “But knowing what to do with them is the key.”

  They chatted as they ate, and Hawthorne learned the capsule histories of the children. He almost dropped his cup of grog when Squid demonstrated her nature by turning her left arm into two tentacles. “It is plain that I am not the only one here with magic,” he said.

  “It’s not magic. I’m just not human. I’m a little monster.”

  “To me, you’re a magic girl, and a cute one.”

  Jack and Jill both nodded. They had been similarly astonished by Squid’s display.

  All in all, Dell found that he liked Hawthorne, and the others seemed to feel much the same. He seemed like a good match for Nia, if she was interested, and she seemed to be.

  “The incoming line of goblins has ended,” the peeve announced, watching the periscope.

  They went to the upper deck and saw that it was true.

  “You have been most hospitable,” Hawthorne said. “Now I must earn my keep, as it were.”

  They kept the boat invisible. “I will talk to the chief,” Hawthorne said. “The rest of you should remain in the boat and cover your ears so as not to hear me.”

  They all understood why, and did so; even the peeve ducked its head down and covered it with its wings. The dogfish lay down and put paw-fins across its auditory inputs.

  Dell and the others watched as Hawthorne stepped over the gunnel and became visible to the goblins. The chief oriented on him, lifting his spear.

  Then Hawthorne began to speak, and the chief listened, his whole hostile attitude visibly changing. He signaled the horde, and they broke off the siege and came to stand around Hawthorne and the chief. Now the Magician addressed the horde directly.

  Dell unconsciously emulated Hawthorne’s persuasive gestures.

  “Eeeek!” Jill exclaimed, turning so thoroughly pink that some of the color leaked into her new clothing.

  Dell had accidentally touched her rib, through the dress, tickling her pink.

  The shriek startled all of them, so that they uncovered their ears. The sound of Hawthorne’s voice surrounded them.

  “Oh, bleep!” Nia swore. “Now I just want to do whatever it takes to make him happy.”

  As did they all.

  Hawthorne completed his harangue. The goblins organized and marched away from the pot house. They would leave Jack and Jill strictly alone, because that was what Hawthorne wanted.

  Hawthorne returned to the boat. And saw their state. “Oh, no!”

  “We just want to help you,” Nia said. “There is surely a lot of good you could do if you traveled in the boat with us and addressed troublemakers wherever they might be.”

  “I sought to avoid this,” Hawthorne said as they returned to the yacht, where there was more room. “You are not with me because it makes sense, but because you heard me emote. My power commands you. That’s not the kind of companionship I crave.”

  “I messed up,” Dell said. “What can I do for you, Hawthorne?” Because he genuinely wanted to please this man. He knew it was magic compulsion at the root, but that did not change the reality of it. He also knew that the others felt a similar urge.

  “Confound it!” Hawthorne swore. “You especially, Grania, I wanted to impress honestly.”

  “All I want is to make you happy,” Nia said. “In any way that pleases you, whether in your kitchen or your bed or some other manner.”

  “What I want is to free you so I can court you honestly.”

  “It seems to be too late for that,” she said with a mixture of regret and eagerness. She had been speaking literally about finding ways to please him.

  “Do you really want to free all of us?” Ula asked hesitantly. She had been silent during the meal, avoiding attention.

  “Yes! I wish I could have you, all of you, as friends who choose it on your own, or not, as completely free folk. Only then does it become meaningful.”

  Dell understood. They had had a compatible meal together, and might have sought to please Hawthorne anyway. Now that was meaningless.

  “Are you sure?” Ula asked. “Can I please you best by escaping your power?”

  What was on her mind? Dell knew that she was captive just as the rest of them were. All Hawthorne needed to do was tell her what he wanted and she would gladly do it.

  Hawthorne looked at her more closely. “What use have I for a child? I can’t say I noticed you before. Who are you, and what is your talent?”

  “I am Ula, and my talent is to be useful in unexpected ways. I can be that for you, if that is truly your desire.”

  He frowned. “I do not abuse children, not even willing ones, if that is your implication.”

  “It is not. I do want to please you, but not in that way.” Ula plainly had a hint, because of her unpleasant experience in the orphanage. “Are you asking me to please you by freeing these folk from your enchantment?”

  “Yes! If you can, though I fear it is impossible.”

  Ula turned to Dell. “Summon Kadence.”

  Oho! Kadence was a Princess and a Sorceress, who was absent during the mishap so would not be under his spell. Maybe she could help.

  Dell touched the ring, thinking of her.

  Ula changed. Her features shifted, becoming those of the princess.

  Kadence paused, surely assimilating the situation from what her host was telling her. Then she nodded. “I understand.”

 
“Who are you?” Hawthorne asked, recognizing the difference.

  “I am Princess Kadence, from the near future. I am a Sorceress, borrowing Ula’s body as my host, since I can exist here only in spirit.”

  “What is your talent?”

  “I made things align to the beat. It’s a kind of organization.”

  Hawthorne shook his head. “I fear I do not properly understand.” That went for Dell and others too; they had never seen the girl’s talent in operation.

  “You will. I believe I know what is required here.”

  “You can free these good folk of my power?”

  “Yes.”

  Dell marveled at the girl’s assurance. This was one tall order. He hoped she was not fooling herself.

  Then Kadence tapped her fingers on the table, making an even beat. There was something about it. Dell found his feet tapping to match it, his body swaying to the rhythm, and saw it happening with the others. He remembered how this was the coming daughter of Princess Rhythm; there was surely a connection.

  The beat increased, and with it their participation in it. Including even Hawthorne himself. They all were becoming part of the cadence.

  Then Kadence stood, maintaining the beat on the table. They stood too, their feet still treading time. Everybody was part of it, including bird and dogfish. They were marching in step, in place.

  “Now you are mine,” Kadence said. “You are all part of my beat. I can hold you in it, or let you go.”

  And suddenly she stopped the beat. Then the rest of them stopped, looking surprised.

  Dell realized that he no longer felt obliged to try to make Hawthorne happy. He had nothing against the man, but the spell was gone. He saw the others looking similarly released. “You broke the enchantment!” he said.

  “I could keep you, or let you go,” Kadence said. “That is part of what makes me a full Sorceress. Hawthorne can capture folk, but he can’t let them go. That is why he has a very strong talent, but mine is beyond it.”