Ship of Destiny

She went still and soft in his hands. The tension he had sensed thrumming through her muscles went away. He felt her do something, and then her bared hands danced lightly over his face. By her touch, she both measured him, and opened herself. Skin to skin, she hid from him no longer. He touched enough to know it was the bravest thing she had ever done. He stifled his curiosity and tried to reciprocate her trust. He did not reach into her and plunder her of her secrets. He would wait, and take only what she offered him.

He felt her hands walk his face, measuring off proportions. Then she touched his cheek flat-handed. "I could do that. It would, in fact, be easy." She cleared her throat. "It will be a lot of work, but by the time we sail into Bingtown again, you will wear a new face."

"Bingtown?" He was astonished. "We're going home?"

"Where else? What point is there in challenging Ke

"But what about Althea?" he objected.

Amber stopped what she was doing. She leaned her forehead against his cheek and shared the full depth of her misery. "All of this was about Althea, ship. Without her, whatever task I was to perform becomes meaningless. Brashen has no heart to continue, nor has this crew the mettle for vengeance. Althea is dead and I have failed."

"Althea? Althea is not dead. Ke

"What?" Amber stiffened. She set her hands flat to his face.

Paragon was amazed. How could she not know that? "Ke

"Jek, too!" She took a deep shuddering breath, as if she had not been able to find air for a long time. She spoke to herself. "Always, always, I lose faith too easily. By now, I should know better. Death does not conquer. It threatens, but it ca

HE CAME RUNNING TO AMBER'S WILD CALL, FEARING THAT PARAGON HAD injured her. Instead, Brashen saw the figurehead set her gently on his scorched foredeck. She took a stumbling step toward him, babbling something about Althea, and then collapsed to her knees. "I told you to take some rest!" he rebuked her angrily. Her damage from the serpent venom was appallingly apparent. Her tawny hair hung in hanks from a peeling red scalp. The left side of her face and neck were scarlet. How far the damage extended down her body, he was not sure. She walked with a pronounced limp and kept her left arm close to her body. Every time he saw her, he was shocked that she was out of bed at all.

He hastened to her side, seizing her right arm to steady her. She leaned against him. "What is it? Are you all right?"

"Althea is alive. A serpent told Paragon that Ke

"I do," Amber contradicted him. "The way in which he told me leaves me no doubt. The white serpent told him. It saw Ke

"The words of a serpent, passed on through a mad ship," Brashen scoffed. But regardless of his words, hope flared painfully in him. "Can we be sure the serpent knows what it speaks of? Were they alive when Ke

Amber laughed. She seized his shoulder in her good hand and tried to shake him. "Brashen, they are alive! Give yourself a moment to savor that! Once you take a breath and say, Althea lives, all the other obstacles are reduced to a

Her gold-brown eyes were compelling. Somehow, he could not refuse her. "Althea lives." He tried the words aloud. Amber gri

"Believe it," Paragon encouraged. "The serpent has no reason to lie."

Something dead inside him stirred to life. Perhaps, despite his defeat, she still lived. He had accepted the burden of her death due to his failures. Trying to live with that dereliction had baffled him. This reprieve unma

Clef was bold enough to seize his wrist and tug at him. "Cap'n, don't yer u

He laughed suddenly, the sound as painful as a sob. "I know. I know. It's just-" His words abandoned him. How could he explain to a boy the rush of feelings that accompanied the restoration of his world?

Amber filled in other thoughts for him. "Ke

"We'll have to go to Divvytown." Brashen's mind was racing. "Ke

"He's ne'r seen Amber 'n me. We could take the ship's boat up the slough on a high tide, an' make the offer an'-"

Brashen shook his head as he smiled down on Clef's valiant offer. "That's a brave thought, but it wouldn't work, lad. There would be nothing to stop them taking the ransom and keeping you both as well. No. I fear there will have to be a fight."

"You ca

"How do you know?" Brashen demanded.

Paragon looked away from them and his voice went deeper. "Because I know what I would do. I would fear that she knew my secrets. Such knowledge is too dangerous for Ke

Brashen held his breath. The ship had never before been so open with him. It was almost as if a stranger spoke with Paragon's voice.

Paragon mused on. "If he keeps her, he will keep her for himself alone, a treasure beyond gold's power to ransom. And there is only one place where Ke

"Could you take us there? Could we lie in wait for him?" Brashen asked.

The ship turned away from them. He hunched his head down on his chest. The muscles stood out suddenly on his back, as if he waged some terrible battle with himself.

"Ser?" Clef began, but Brashen motioned the boy to silence. They all waited.

"We sail on the next tide," Paragon a