Ship of Destiny

He tried to explain it to her. "Ke

"No," she said slowly. Ke

"Sa's breath." The pieces were all fitting now. Her mind struggled to encompass it all. "So Ke

Brashen nodded, watching her face. "He always has been, Althea. I don't think his death on the ship has changed Paragon, save to put him at peace. He is finally one, a complete self. The dragons, the Ludlucks, men and boy, and Ke

She could scarcely concentrate on his words. She had dreaded telling Brashen about the rape, but had resolved she must. Yet, how could she tell him, without compromising his feelings for his ship? The convolutions of her thoughts dizzied her.

"Althea?" Brashen asked her anxiously.

"I'll try," she said faintly. She suddenly didn't care who was watching. She tugged his arms around her and stepped into his embrace. "Hold me," she told him fiercely. "Hold me very, very close."

SHE HAD SAID SHE WOULD TRY. WITH DIFFICULTY, BRASHEN DID NOT PRESS HER for more than that. Something had happened on board Vivacia, something that kept her apart from him now. He set his chin upon her dark head and wrapped her in his arms. He thought he knew what.

Althea seemed to sense his thoughts, for she changed the subject. "The chop's getting worse." She shifted slightly in his arms. He pretended not to see that she wiped tears on his shirtfront.

"That it is. I suspect we've got a bit of a squall coming up. But we've been through storms before. Paragon's a good ship for stormy weather."

"All the better for us to hide in."

"I think we're gaining distance from the Jamaillians."

"They've doused their lights. They're hoping to creep up on us in the dark."

"They'll have to find us first."

"It will be harder for the Marietta and the Motley to keep pace with the liveships in the dark."

"They're ru

"Vivacia won't leave them behind. She'll protect them no matter the risk to herself."

An ordinary conversation, discussing the obvious. It spoke too plainly to Brashen. She had been back on the Vivacia, and found her heart once more. He could not blame her. Vivacia was Althea's family ship. With Ke

She loved him, in her way. She gave him as much as she could, without forsaking her ship and her family. He had no right to ask more than that. If he'd still had a family to claim him, perhaps he would have been just as torn. For a fleeting instant, he considered leaving Paragon to follow her. But he couldn't. No one else knew this ship as he did. No one else had endured alongside him. He could not make Paragon vulnerable to a captain that might not tolerate his uneven moods. And what of Clef? Would he tear the boy from the ship that loved him? Or leave him on Paragon, to be trained by a master who might not have his best interests at heart? And Semoy would not be first mate under any other captain. He'd go back to being a washed-up drunk, and lose whatever years he had left to a bottle. No. As much as he loved Althea, he had responsibilities here. She would not respect a man who abandoned his ship to follow her. Brashen Trell was finished with walking away from his duties. Here he must remain, and if need be, love Althea from afar and when they could.

In that acknowledgment, he suddenly knew that he did have a family again.

ETTA LEANED ON THE RAILING, STARING FORWARD INTO THE DARK. PARAGON could feel her there, though her presence was limited to the warm press of her forearms against his wizardwood railing. With no bond with her, he could not sense her emotions at all.

She broke the silence suddenly. "I know a little bit of liveships. From Vivacia."

He had nothing to say to that. He waited.

"Somehow, I don't understand how, Ke

"In a ma

She took a breath. In a strangled voice she asked, "So you are Ke

"No. I'm sorry. Ke

"Then he is gone," Etta said heavily. He heard her take a struggling breath. "But why couldn't you heal him as Vivacia healed Wintrow?"

He thought silently for a time. "You say she healed him? I know nothing of that. I can only guess at what she did. It is what dragons can do, if they must. They burn the resources of their bodies to speed a healing. If Vivacia did that to Wintrow, he was lucky to survive it. Few humans have such reserves. Ke

Her silence lasted long. The night deepened around them. Even darkness was a pleasure to his newly restored vision. Night was not truly dark. He turned his eyes to the skies above, to clouds obscuring and then revealing the moon and stars. Phosphorescence outlined the waves. His keen vision, part of his dragon heritage, picked out the outlines of the ships he followed.

"Would you know something about him-Ke

"Perhaps," Paragon hedged. He glanced back at her. She had lifted her hands from the railing and was turning her bracelet restlessly.

"Did he love me?" The question burst from her, painful in its intensity. "Did he truly love me? I need to know."

"Ke

"If you have his memories, you know the truth," Etta insisted. "Did he love me?"

"Yes. He loved you." He gave her what she needed to hear, without compunction. I have Ke

Thank you. As clear and brief as a drop of falling rain, the thought reached him. He groped for the source, but found nothing. The feel of the voice was oddly familiar, almost as if it came from Ke