by Mel Odom
"I'm worried about you." Sabyna regarded him sternly with those frank, reddish-brown eyes.
Sabyna loves you, young warrior. Glawinn's words spun through Jherek's mind as soft as silk and as unforgiving as steel.
"I worry about you. Perhaps it is time you make your way back to the Sword Coast."
"Do you think I'm some kind of ballast you can just heave overboard?" Sabyna's voice turned icy.
Jherek felt as though his thoughts were winding through mush.
"No, lady," he said. "I worry only about your safety. This is not your fight, and I fear that things are going to get even harder from this point on. Last night has proven that"
"I remember a time when you spoke pretty words to me, and enjoyed my companionship," she told him in a cold voice.
"Lady, I have no hand with pretty words. My skills are with the sea, and with raising the ships that sail on it."
"Then you're telling me I heard wrong?"
Jherek felt as though he was being mercilessly pummeled. "No," he said, "I wouldn't tell you that."
"Then tell me what you feel."
Jherek hung his head. "I can't." He hated the silence that followed.
"Perhaps," Sabyna said in a softer voice, "I did hear wrong. Maybe I was wanting to hear something that wasn't there, nor ever offered."
She reached into the bag of holding at her hip and brought out two books. "I spoke with Glawinn this morning. He asked me to give you these."
Heart still hurting, Jherek took to the books, meeting her eyes and never even glancing at the titles. Normally books were a fascination to him, a promise of adventure and other lives he could share.
"Has something happened between you two?"
"Please," Jherek said, "I don't wish to speak of it."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. It's just hard watching the two of you have trouble when it's obvious you're so much alike."
"Alike?"
The comparison stunned the young sailor. He saw no way in which he and the paladin were alike.
"You're both proud, strong men. You're brave enough to face your fears, and you're a good friend."
"If I was such a good friend, Glawinn wouldn't be angry with me, and you wouldn't be so uncomfortable around me."
"I have no doubt that you and Glawinn will work things out," Sabyna told him. "That is the nature of men. And you're not responsible for my discomfort." Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. "That is caused by my own folly and foolishness. You have worries enough of your own. I only wish I could help you."
Without another word, the ship's mage turned lithely in the rigging and glided down the ropes, hard muscles playing in her arms, shoulders, and the small of her back.
Jherek almost went after her. It was only when he realized that he'd have to say something, but had no idea what, that he stopped. He watched her, though, as she dropped to the deck and strode to the stern to join Azla. They looked up at him together, then they turned and walked behind the stern castle.
The young sailor felt shamed to have been caught watching after them and quickly turned his head. He'd never felt so alone or unhappy in his life. He glanced at the two books he held, wondering what Glawinn would have thought to send him-and why.
Both books showed signs of stress, as if they had been read a number of times. The first was a thick volume called The Rider and the Lost Lady of Grave Hollow. Jherek carefully opened the front cover and read the frontispiece, discovering the work to be a romance about a Ridesman of Archendale. He flipped through the pages, smelling the scent of the parchment and the ink and remembering all the hours of pleasure he'd received from the books Malorrie had let him borrow.
The second tome was Way of War, Way of Peace by Sir Edard Valins. The book was much slimmer and promised to be a treatise on the art and thinking of combat.
Jherek closed the books, wondering why Glawinn would have sent them to him. He secured the book on the strategies of war in the rigging and opened the romance. A few hours of sailing yet remained before Black Champion reached her destination and he felt it would be best if he could stay away from other people in the meantime.
Standing at Black Champion's starboard rail, Jherek gazed out at the grotto of sea caves that made up the Dragonisle's northeastern harbor. The harbor sat back in the curvature of the rocky shoreline below and around the caves, creating a crescent of calm water scarcely able to shelter a dozen ships. Nesting pelicans and seagulls lined the craggy surface.
"These waters are filled with treacherous rocks and reefs," Azla said as she belted her scimitar around her slim hips. She tucked a fighting dagger down inside the rolled top of her left boot, then pulled on a cloak against the chill of the bitter wind. "I won't take my ship in there. We'd only be a target if two or three of the other ship's crews decided to take us as a prize. Out here, Champion can maneuver."
Glawinn gave a quick nod, accepting her judgment. He offered his hand to her at the ship's rail and said, "Lady, if I may."
The half-elf pirate captain seemed a little surprised at the offer, but she took his hand and said, "My thanks, but I am captain, not lady."
"Of course, Captain."
Azla made her way down the rope ladder hanging over the ship's side to the waiting longboat, and Glawinn followed.
Jherek hadn't noticed the change in temperature until they'd come closer to the harbor. The sun hung low on the horizon behind them, drawing long shadows over the emerald waters. He pulled his cloak more tightly around him.
Without a backward glance at him, Sabyna strode to the side and quickly descended the rope ladder. Jherek shifted hands with his wrapped bow and followed. He quietly made his way to one of the rowing stations and sat. No one seemed inclined to speak to him and that fact gladdened him at the same time it made him feel disappointed.
No one came to meet them when they reached the uneven shoreline, but there were plenty of eyes watching. Five ships sat at anchor inside the harbor proper. Pirates lined the railings and hung in hammocks beneath the yardarms. Others cooked fish over slow fires on the rocky beach. The beach butted up against the gray rock of the cliff face where the caves were.
They ran the longboat aground, then shipped oars. Jherek and three pirates leaped out onto the beach and grabbed the longboat's sides, pulling it easily onto the rocky sand. The wind ripped low howls from the caves as the breeze traveled across the mouths. Jherek looked up at the towering cliff face while the others stepped from the longboat. A few of the seagulls took wing curiously, swooping down within a few feet of him.
"Look at 'em," one pirate growled. "You'd think they was watchdogs close as they eyeball a body."
Azla assigned four of the ten men in the crew to guard the longboat. She took the lead with long strides, crossing the shoreline to the nearest group of men frying fish.
"I need some information," Azla told the strangers.
A hulking brute of a man standing nearby gave her an evil, gap-toothed grin. "Ain't nothing free here, wench. Mayhap you show me a little kindness-"
Before the man even knew what was going on, Azla ripped her scimitar free and touched the blade to his throat.
"How much," she asked coldly, "would you be willing to pay for your next breath?"
Color drained from the big man's features. "What was it you'd be wanting?" he asked.
Azla kept the scimitar at the big man's throat. "There's a diviner who lives here. Do you know her?"
"I know of her, Cap'n." The big man's Adam's apple slid across the blade's edge. "Name's Dehnee. She gives readings and such for them what want 'em."
"Where can I find her?"
The man pointed up the narrow ledge that wandered back and forth across the cliff face. Other branches led off to other caves, giving each a portion of privacy. The diviner's cave was halfway up and on the right.
"Take us there," Azla commanded.
"Cap'n, I'd rather not. The woman lives with a ghost."
"You'd rather not more than you'd rather try breathing thro
ugh your neck?"
The man started walking, glancing in cold rebuke at his companions who sat without comment. Azla kept the scimitar's point at the back of the man's neck.
Jherek kept a ready hand on his cutlass hilt as he brought up the party's rear. They marched up the narrow, inclined path to the cave the big man indicated.
A handmade sign hung beside the cave mouth that simply proclaimed DIVINER. A thick carpet of sea lion hides stretched across the cave mouth, hung from a length of rope. The hides possessed the maned heads and forelegs of great lions, but the body and tail of a fish. The bottom of the carpet of stitched hides was rolled up and sewn around rocks that weighted it to the ground.
Azla dismissed the big man with a turn of her head. He went quickly, muttering beneath his breath.
"Dehnee," the half-elf captain called out. "I've got coin if you've a mind and skills enough to earn it."
The hides slid to the side, revealing the torchlit interior of the cave. A woman no older than her late twenties stood at the entrance. Her hair was mousy brown, long and pulled back in a ponytail. Gold eyes regarded the party and showed no fear, set deeply in a face that was chiseled and translucent as if she seldom saw the sun. She wore a gown of good material that showed age as well as care.
"I've always got a ready use for coin," she said, smiling, "but I'm not a desperate woman."
"I don't particularly care for the desperate," Azla said. "They have a tendency to tell you what you want to hear."
"It's the truth you're after then?"
"Aye, and we've come a far way to get it."
Jherek watched the woman, remembering the times he'd seen Madame Iitaar work at home in Velen over a man's hand or an object yanked up from the sea in a fisherman's net.
Diviners could tell of things yet to come upon occasion, as well as the past of objects that were brought to them. Those who lived on the sea, depending on the gracious bounty of the waters, learned to respect people like that.
Dehnee looked at them coolly and said, "My home is small, and I like my privacy."
"Only four of us." Azla pointed out Sabyna, Glawinn, and Jherek.
The diviner's eyes raked casually across the ship's mage and the paladin, but came to rest on the young sailor.
"Yes," she said softly. "I can see that the four of you are tied. Some in more ways than the one you came to see me about."
The announcement surprised Jherek, but he said nothing.
"Enter." Dehnee stepped back and held the folds of sea lion skins back.
Jherek entered last, his mind and eyes seeking danger everywhere. He hadn't forgotten the story about the diviner sharing her cave with a ghost.
The cave evidently divided into three or more rooms. Some of the division was natural but the young sailor could also detect scars and markings from tools and stone cutters.
More hides taken from sea creatures decorated the walls along with mounted fish on lacquered wooden plaques. Shells and bits of coral of different sizes and colors strung on sections of net in designs and patterns hung from the uneven ceiling. Red, blue, and green lichens clung to the walls in whirlpool patterns, evidently carefully directed in their growth.
Two clam shells more than a foot across hung upside down from more nets. They were filled with blubber and burning wicks to fill the cave with light.
Dehnee passed her hand over a small net with silver bells and shells that tinkled and rattled. The sensation of clawed feet crawled over Jherek, causing him to shift his shoulders.
"It's all right," Sabyna said in a soft voice. "The spell was intended as protection only."
"I have been hunted before," the diviner said. "I like to make sure that no one enters my home while bewitched by a charm, and that I have no unseen guests."
She sat cross-legged on a sea lion hide that had the creature's head still intact.
Jherek's hand tightened as he stared at the maned head. The itching sensation grew even stronger. Dehnee turned a hand palm up and offered seating on the piles of hides in the center of the cave.
"If you don't mind, lady," Glawinn said, "I'll stand. The armor becomes rather cumbersome."
"Of course, Sir Knight. I know merely being here must be troublesome to you. Some of the objects I use in my divinations would not be comfortable to you, but they are necessary in what I do."
"Thank you, lady."
Gazing at the paladin, Jherek saw that Glawinn was a little paler than normal and held his lips tightly as a man at rough sea might. The young sailor didn't feel well himself and was experiencing a throbbing behind his eyes.
Sabyna and Azla sat in front of the diviner.
Dehnee looked up at Jherek with dark, liquid eyes. "I can attempt this without you," she told him, "but my best chance of success will be with your assistance."
"I don't understand," Jherek said.
"You come here seeking an object," Dehnee told him. "Of all, you are the most closely tied to it."
Jherek hesitated only a moment, wishing there were some other way. "What do I need to do?"
"Sit."
Dehnee pointed to a place before her. The young sailor pulled his cutlass from the sash at his waist so that he could sit in comfort. As soon as the blade came free, the sea lion's eyes glinted with unholy light and tracked his movement. The massive jaws unhinged and loosed a coughing roar of warning. Skin prickling and heart hammering in fear, Jherek stepped back.
The sea lion's body rose from the carpet, magically transforming and coming fully to life.
VI
6 Flamerule, the Year of the Gauntlet
Half formed from the diviner's carpet, the sea lion glared at Jherek with hot hatred in its emerald green eyes. In life the creature had been easily a dozen feet long. Light danced on the shiny scales that began just behind its forelegs as it slithered protectively in front of Dehnee.
"Narik!" Dehnee cried, tugging on the fierce mane. "No!"
Slowly, the sea lion shifted its attention from Jherek to the diviner. The coughing growls subsided and changed to a plaintive whining that filled the whole cavern.
"He means no harm," Dehnee stated, continuing to pull on the ensorcelled beast. "He thought you were going to hurt me. He's not been around many such as you."
As if in grudging obedience, the sea lion glided back to the cave's stone floor and became inert. The green eyes continued to follow Jherek's movements.
The young sailor swallowed hard, discovering he had a death grip on the cutlass.
"This is an uneasy place for us, young warrior," Glawinn said softly. "As you sense danger about this cave, so it senses danger from you. Trust the lady to hold the balance."
Jherek let out a tense breath, reminding himself why they were there. He sat slowly, offering no threat, watching the green eyes that watched him. He sat with crossed legs, his cutlass across his knees.
"Believe in me," Dehnee told him, offering her hands.
"Lady," Jherek said in a tight voice, "as much as I am able."
He held his hands out and she took them. Her touch felt almost too warm, too exciting. Emotions and desires that he kept carefully bottled up slapped at the sides of his restraint, threatening to explode. He tried to yank his hands away, feeling shamed.
Dehnee tightened her grip, but he pulled hard enough to bring her to her knees before him. He gazed into her gold eyes.
"It's all right," she told him. "Your feelings are natural."
"No." Jherek shook his head and kept pulling at his hands. Nothing that strong and heady could ever be natural.
"An innocent," Dehnee breathed in quiet wonder. "By Umberlee's favored sight, I've not touched an innocent in decades."
"Have a care with him, lady," Glawinn warned softly. "I'll not have him hurt in any way."
"I know what I'm doing, Sir Knight."
All Jherek's ability to struggle deserted him in a powerful surge that left him weak. He still felt the woman's hands on his, still felt the unaccustomed and unacceptable desire th
at flamed him, but he couldn't move.
Then Glawinn's strong hand dropped to his shoulder, anchoring him and putting some of the feeling at bay. "Patience, lady," the paladin said. "He's never been around one such as you."
"What did you come here seeking?" Dehnee asked, her eyes totally focused on Jherek's.
Jherek's thoughts ran rampant. It was hard to concentrate. "Lathander's disk," he said.
"Picture it in your mind."
Unbidden, Jherek's thoughts ranged only on the woman before him. He saw her naked, her body trim and gently rounded, her small breasts heavy with desire. He closed his eyes tightly against the vision and whispered, "No."
"What you're feeling is normal," Dehnee said.
Jherek didn't believe her. Nothing like this could ever be normal-or acceptable.
"Picture the disk."
Calming himself as much as he was able, Jherek built the image of the disk inside his head.
"Good," Dehnee whispered. "I can see it as well. What do you wish to know?"
"Vurgrom took it," Azla said beside Jherek. "We want to know if he still has it."
Lathander's disk tumbled in Jherek's mind.
"Yes," the diviner said. "It is still in Vurgrom's possession."
"Where?"
Filmy black patterns ghosted over Jherek's vision, like rotten spots on fruit. They cleared momentarily, revealing a glimpse of a ship. He managed to peer closer and see her name, then the image slipped away. He recognized the ship from the confrontation at the Ship of the Gods.
"Maelstrom" he gasped.
"Do you know where she is?" Azla asked.
Jherek shook his head, too weak to say anything.
"It is far from here," Dehnee replied.
"We want to find it," Azla told her.
"Of course you do. And you will. It is meant for this boy to find."
The diviner released one of Jherek's hands but not the other. The young sailor watched as she reached into the sea lion's open mouth and pulled out a complex device.
"An astrolabe. It's used by a ship's navigator," Azla said. "With it a captain or anyone learned enough to take readings from the azimuth of the sun, the moon, or certain stars can determine where a ship is on the sea."