‘We lost six, and five more are limping up the coast to Carse.’
Nicholas swore. At least sixty-five ships had sailed north against his own sixty, and this had been little more than a sparring match.
Nicholas looked at the morning sun. ‘Orders, Captain Reeves.’
‘Yes, m’lord?’
‘Signal the fleet to head west. Let them think we’re running to the Sunsets.’ He gripped the railing on the quarterdeck. ‘At sundown, we turn south. Before dawn tomorrow, we’ll turn east and hit them while they’re outlined against the rising sun and we’re still in darkness.’
‘Understood, sir!’
Nicholas watched the ponderous ships of the Emerald Queen fall away behind, finally turning southward as they gave up their attempt to overtake the Kingdom ships. Nicholas looked to the east, where he was leaving one of his ships crippled and sinking slowly, while his other boarded ship burned.
‘This one is far from over,’ said Nicholas to no one in particular.
THIRTEEN - Improvisation
Calis knelt.
‘How long has he been like this?’ he asked, using the subtle speech of his mother’s people.
‘Weeks,’ Calin told his half-brother.
Pug lay unconsdous in the center of the contemplation glade, at the very spot where he had first been placed, while Spellweavers worked around him to keep him alive. ‘Tathar?’ Calis asked.
‘We think he regains his strength, slowly. The wounds are also healing, slowly.’
Calis regarded the silent magician. His body was covered with huge scabs and scars, with flakes of dead skin peeling off, as if burned by the sun. Under the flakes, raw pink skin could be seen. Most of his hair, beard, and brows had been burned away, so he looked even younger than usual.
Acaila said, ‘We’ve tried mind probes, of the most cautious sort, and no one was able to reach him.’
Calis stood. ‘We were counting on his holding back until the end.’
Calin said, ‘I think he acted imprudently, but that is judging after the fact. At the time he took the risks, he thought the outcome worth it.’
Calis nodded. ‘Sinking the Queen’s fleet in the deepest part of the great ocean would have simplified many of our problems.’ He shook his head in regret. ‘But I would rather have him standing healthy at Sethanon.’
Calin said, ‘Tomas will go to Sethanon.’
‘What of the dragons?’
Calin looked concerned. ‘They doubt Tomas. Not his word, but they doubt his apprehension of the risk. For all their wisdom, only a few grasp the concepts of magic we know to be at play.’
Calis looked at his brother for a long moment, then said, ‘May I speak to you alone?’
Calin moved his hand in agreement, indicating the younger man should follow him. When they were away from the others, Calis said, ‘Miranda?’
‘No word from either Miranda or Macros since they brought Pug back. They went with Tomas to seek information on the demons under the mountains where you last found them.’
Calis looked off at the trees of Elvandar. He was silent for a long time, and his brother didn’t say a word. In the fashion of the elves, Calin knew the other would say what was on his mind when he was ready.
After several minutes of silence, Calis said, ‘I miss her.’
Calin put his hand upon his shoulder. ‘You love her?’
‘In a fashion,’ said Calis. ‘Nothing like among the eledhel; it feels nothing like what I have been told of the recognition. But she found me, back when this all began, and she fills a dark and cold place within me as no one else has.’
‘If it is still dark and cold when she is not with you, it is not truly filled.’ Calin sat upon a large rock and said, ‘When your father first saw your mother I was there; I thought him but a boy smitten by the beauty of one without peer, a boy who had no conception of the feelings between a man and woman.’ He sighed. ‘I certainly had no idea of what the future would hold.’
Calis had heard the story of his mother’s first visit to Castle Crydee, when the Tsurani had first threatened the Far Coast, and of his father’s first glimpse of the Elf Queen.
Calin said, ‘You are still very young, my brother. You have seen much, experienced much, but you’ve not begun to understand yourself. In many ways you are human, but in many others one of us. Patience is required in most things. Your father realized that quickly, when he first came to us, and for a human boy, those years he spent here taught him much.’
‘Father’s unique. He possesses knowledge tens of thousands of years old.’
‘Does he?’ said Calin.
Calis turned to look at his brother. ‘Ashen-Shugar?’
Calin said, ‘Macros said something to me a few days before he left. He said Tomas had Ashen-Shugar’s memories, but that all memories are suspect.’