Ilse Witch

Ahren grinned. “You don’t understand how these things work, Bek. It is because he is out of favor that he’s been sent with us. Kylen wants him out of Arborlon almost as much as he wants me out. Ard is my friend and protector. He trained me personally at my father’s express command. Everything I know about fighting and battle tactics, I learned from him. Kylen doesn’t trust him. My father’s death gave my brother the perfect excuse to strip Ard of his command, and this expedition offered him a way to remove both Ard and me from the city.”


He gave Bek a cool look of appraisal. “You seem pretty smart, Bek. So let me tell you something. My brother doesn’t think we’re coming back—any of us. Maybe, deep down inside where he hides his darkest secrets, he even hopes it. He’s supporting this expedition because he can’t think of a way out of it. He’s doing this because Father decreed it as he lay dying, and a newly crowned King can’t afford to ignore that sort of deathbed admonition. Besides, in a single stroke of good fortune he manages to get rid of me, Ard Patrinell, and the Druid, none of whom he has any particular use or liking for. If we don’t come back, that solves his problem for good, doesn’t it?”

Bek nodded. “I suppose so.” He paused, thinking about the implications of it all. “It doesn’t make me feel very good about being part of the expe1dition, however.”

Ahren Elessedil cocked his head reflectively. “It’s not supposed to. On the other hand, maybe we’ll fool him. Maybe we’ll survive.”

That night, when dinner was complete, the airship coasting on ambient starlight, and crew and passengers alike beginning to settle into their quarters for sleep, Walker called together a small number of the ship’s company for a meeting. Bek and Quentin were among those summoned, which surprised both, since neither considered himself a part of the vessel’s leadership. By then Bek had shared with his cousin his conversation with Ahren Elessedil, and the two of them had debated at length how many others aboard ship understood as the young Elf did how expendable they were considered by the Elven King who had dispatched them. Certainly Walker appreciated the situation. Ard Patrinell probably understood it as well. That was about it. Everyone else would be operating under the assumption that Kylen Elessedil and the Elven High Council fully supported the expedition and anticipated its safe and successful return.

Except perhaps the Rovers, Bek added, almost as an afterthought. Big Red and his sister seemed pretty quick, and it was common knowledge in the Four Lands that Rovers had ears everywhere.

Bek was of the opinion that he should tell all of this to Walker in any case, since the Druid wanted to know everything the boy saw or heard while aboard ship, but there had been no opportunity as yet to talk with him. Now they were gathered in Redden Alt Mer’s quarters below the aft decking for the meeting Walker had called, and Bek put the matter aside. In addition to the Druid and the Highland cousins, others present included Big Red and his sister, Ahren Elessedil and Ard Patrinell, and the frail-looking seer, Ryer Ord Star. As the others crowded close to Walker, who stood at a table with a hand-drawn chart spread out before him, the seer alone hung back in the shadows. Childlike and shy, her strange eyes luminescent and her skin as pale as parchment, she watched them as if she were a wild thing ready to bolt.

“Tomorrow midday we will reach the coast of the Blue Divide,” Walker began, looking at each of them in turn. “Once there, we meet up with Hunter Predd and two other Wing Riders who will accompany us on our voyage, serving as scouts and foragers. Our journey from there will take us west and north, where we will seek out three islands. Each requires a stop and a search for a talisman that we must claim in order to succeed in our quest. The islands are familiar to no one aboard, myself included. They lie beyond the regions explored either by airships or Rocs. They are named on the map we follow, but they are not well described.”

“Nor are we certain of the distances to each,” Redden Alt Mer added, drawing all eyes momentarily to him. “Headings are clearly marked, but distances are vague. Our progress may depend greatly on the weather we encounter.”

“Our Captain believes from the information I’ve been able to extract from the original map that the first island requires about a week’s travel,” Walker continued. He pointed at the map. “This copy is an approximation of the one we follow and will be left out for anyone who wishes to view it during the course of our travels. I’ve made it larger so that it will be easier to see. The islands we seek lie here, here, and here.” He pointed to each. “Flay Creech is the first, Shatterstone the second, and Mephitic the third. They will have been chosen deliberately by whoever concealed the talismans we seek. Each talisman will be protected. Each island will be warded. Going ashore will be a dangerous business, and we will limit each search party to the smallest number possib1le.”

“What sort of talismans do we search for?” Ard Patrinell asked quietly, leaning forward for a better look at the map.

“Keys,” Walker said. “Of their size and shape, I can’t be sure. I think from the writing on the map they are all the same, but possibly they are not.”