The Sorcerer's Plague

Rois held out a hand, which Grinsa took in a powerful grip. "It's th' least I owed ye." He stood, stepped to the door, and held it open for them. As the woman walked past him, he inclined his head slightly, and said, "Ma'am."

A small smile touched her lips, but she said nothing.

"We'll put int' Yorl by midmornin'," he told Grinsa, as the Qirsi stepped past him. "Once we're in Eagles Inlet, th' waters should be calmer. Th' lady shouldn't have any more troubles, on this trip at least."

"Thank you, Captain. You've been very kind to us." He turned to look at Pelton. "Mister Fent."

The first mate gave a curt nod.

When they'd gone, Rois closed the door and exhaled heavily.

"I'm sorry, Captain," the mate said. "I'd 'ave done better t' keep my mouth shut."

He returned to his seat and poured the rest of the wine into his cup. "Ye did fine." He felt weary. The storm, this supper with the Qirsithey'd worn him out.

"It could be dangerous for 'em in Aelea," Pelton said. "An' Stelpana's even worse. They should sail farther south."

"I know that," Rois said. "But it seems they've made up their minds." He sipped his wine. "I have th' feeling they can take care o' themselves. Seems they came through all tha' trouble in th' Forelands all right. And I'd wager there's more t' both o' them than meets th' eye."

"Maybe," the first mate said. "But th' Eandi sovereignties are no place for a Qirsi family, 'specially one what doesn' know th' ways o' th' land."

They walked back to their cramped quarters without saying a word, except for Bryntelle, who fussed and cried and would have given

both Crese

"The captain was right. It's calmer."

"You were nicer to them than I would have been," she said.

"It's really not their fault that we know so little about where we're going. It's mine. Entirely."

He was always doing this: finding reasons to forgive people for their failings, be they friends or utter strangers. It was one of the reasons she loved him, and yet she often found it a

"I'm not so sure I agree with you. I think they were so eager to take our gold that they gave no thought at all to anything else."

"And they should have?"

She frowned. "Yes! Of course they should have! We have a child with us. It should have been clear to them that we were strangers to the Southlands. Our accents alone mark us as being from the Forelands."

"Yes, they do. But I doubt many people embark on a voyage like this one without learning a bit more about their destination. I certainly wouldn't have had we been given the choice."

Crese

They might have made a life for themselves in another realm of the Forelands, but the other Eandi courts were every bit as fearful of Weavers as was Eibithar. And so they chose the Southlands.

There was something romantic in the notion, something mysterious and wonderful. The Southlands. Home of the first Qirsi to come to the Forelands. True, they had come as would-be conquerors, but that did nothing to diminish the allure of the place, at least not as far as Crese

"I'm still angry with them," she said at last. "And I still think you're being too…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

Clearly Grinsa knew what she was going to say, because he smiled, looking away.

Too forgiving. That was another of his faults. Crese

Their love had begun as a seduction, an elaborate deception on her part so that she might learn from this man what he knew of the courts and the gleaned fate of one particular noble. Twice, while still a part of the conspiracy, she had sent assassins to kill him, and even after Bryntelle's birth, when she should have been doing all she could to reconcile with Grinsa, she had instead railed at him, calling him a traitor to his people and worse. Yet still he loved her, and she him. She had finally found the strength to admit as much both to him and herself. She had loved him from the start, and-gods be praised-he had forgiven her for all that she had done to deny and destroy that love, which she had once mistaken for a weakness.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said after some time, "I didn't like Pelton any more than you did. But I do feel that the captain was trying to make amends. And I promise to make certain that he gets us those mounts at a fair price."

She had to smile. Would that she could be as fair-minded.

"And will you hold him to his promise of smoother seas?" she asked.

He sat beside her on the bed and kissed her shoulder. "I will. And if he breaks his word, I'll summon a wind and smooth them myself."

"Well, all right then." She looked down at the nursing child. "In that case we'll let him stay, won't we, Bryntelle?"

The baby paused in her suckling to look up at her mother briefly. After just a moment she resumed her meal.

"That's a yes," Crese

Grinsa laughed. "I'll take your word for it."

For some time, they sat together, watching Bryntelle eat, smiling as the baby's pale eyes gradually closed and she fell into a deep sleep.

Crese

turned to Grinsa's side and kissed him softly on the lips. She lay down on the bed and pulled him to her.

"Are you feeling well enough?"

She nodded, smiled. "I'm fine, and I have it on good authority that we're done with rough waters."

They kissed again, deeply this time. Then she undressed him, and quietly, tenderly, they made love.

After, as Crese