A bead of sweat rolled down Zollin’s forehead and he reached up to wipe it away, when suddenly the sails billowed out and the ship lurched forward. The captain began shouting orders to the crews of the boats who were cheering the return of the wind. It took nearly half an hour to get the sailors out of the ship’s boats and back on board. They used the intricate systems of pulleys to hoist the heavy, wooden boats out of the water. The Northern Star was like a stallion set free-it seemed to rush headlong over the easy sea, leaving a long, frothy wake behind it.
Zollin stayed on deck, relishing the cool breeze and the sense of momentum returning to his quest. He was leaning on the railing, watching dolphins race along beside the ship, jumping and playing in the turbulent water beside the ship’s hull.
“They’re amazing creatures, aren’t they?” Roleena said.
Zollin looked up, frowning but not wanting to be rude.
“Yes,” he said sternly.
He was angry at Roleena for using her charms on him. If Eustice hadn’t come to the rescue, he’d have stayed in her cabin while Mansel was beaten for a crime he didn’t commit. It made Zollin’s stomach turn, but no matter how angry he was or how guilty he felt, he couldn’t keep his heart from racing when Roleena was close to him.
“Oh, don’t be surly,” she teased. “It doesn’t become you.”
“I’m not trying to impress you,” he said.
“Nor I you. I admit, I underestimated you. I took you for a merchant, or perhaps a healer, although I thought you much too young for that. But a wizard-now that is something. I’m rarely surprised, Zollin Quinnson, if that is your real name. I’ve never met a wizard before. The tricks you did with my guards were impressive. I don’t believe they’ve ever been thwarted before. It was a blow to their egos. They’ve been even more sulky than you.”
“I don’t care,” Zollin said.
“Of course you don’t. You have bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes. What takes you to Osla?”
“I have business there.”
“Oh, rubbish,” she said. “Wizards don’t conduct business, but I think I know. There is someone there you are trying to catch or kill. Isn’t that what wizards do? It’s all shadows and mysteries in the songs and stories, but when it comes right down to it, wizards are men. And men are all the same.”
“So why bother asking?”
“I rarely do,” she said. “But I must admit you intrigue me, and so few people can do that.”
“You have everyone figured out?”
“For the most part, yes. In fact, I’ll lay odds that you are going Osla to kill someone. Am I right?”
“It’s none of your concern.”
“Oh, I think it is. What if you being on this ship endangers us all somehow? I heard about the sea monster in Lorye. You were the wizard it attacked, weren’t you? I doubt there are two wizards in the same kingdom, after all. I mean, we’ve heard rumors of dragons and wizards. My brothers took men to fight with King Felix when the armies from Osla and Falxis invaded. I heard a wizard saved the kingdom. Was that you too?”
Zollin didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what was worse-being responsible for the destruction of the ship at Lorye, or being the hero of Orrock. He wasn’t on good terms with the king, and although some of the people in the capital had shown him deference, most didn’t even know who he was. He preferred it that way-being famous seemed overwhelming. He remembered when all he wanted was to learn more about his magic. That had been such a simple time, yet full of hope for the future and excitement just the same. He had felt that way when he thought of marrying Brianna, but now those dreams were dashed. His only hope now lay in killing the master of the Torr. It was his only chance for peace, or at least the only chance he could see.
“It was you,” she said. “I know it was. My brothers sent word home. They said the wizard was a young man, that he healed the king and fought off a dragon. I’m sure they were both green with envy. They dream of greatness on the battlefield, but yet here you are, fleeing Yelsia. I wonder why?”
“I’m not fleeing anything,” Zollin said.
“Of course not, but then I wonder why you weren’t honest about who you were.”
“Going around telling people I’m a wizard is foolish.”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t stop most men from bragging about their accomplishments.
How did you come to be a wizard, I wonder?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was your father a wizard?”
“No.”
“How about your mother-was she a witch?”
Zollin didn’t answer. He didn’t like Roleena talking about his mother. Zollin had never known her. She had died giving birth to him and it was a deep wound in his soul. Brianna was the first woman to ease the pain he felt over not knowing his mother, but she had left a wound almost as deep.
“You don’t like me talking about your mother,” Roleena said, as if she had just discovered something important.”
“I don’t like you talking at all,” Zollin said.
“Oh,” Roleena said, acting as if his words had hurt her feelings. “I’m sorry, Zollin. I thought we were friends. I thought you liked me.”
“No,” he said. “Friends don’t treat each other the way you treated me.”
“I thought I was perfectly civil,” she said innocently. “It was the captain who betrayed you, not me.”
“Really? Then why did your guards try to keep me from leaving your cabin?”
“They must have been told to do that by the captain.”
“I find that hard to believe. I doubt they take orders from anyone but you.”
“It all turned out okay in the end,” she said soothingly. “So, why not be friends,” she placed her hand on his forearm, “or more than friends?”
Zollin looked up at Roleena, a lump forming his throat. She was beautiful, but there was a danger to her beauty, like a white wolf. He knew that getting close to her was foolish and would only end in pain, but he was tempted. A very basic part of him burned with desire for her. He wanted to take her, to make love to her, to hold her tight until all the pain and regret he felt was gone. But she was not that kind of lover, he knew. He could see the trap she was setting, see the desire was not for Zollin but for his power. She wanted to use him the way a warrior used a sword, but even knowing all of that, he still wanted her. He was wavering between what he knew to be right and what he wanted. Part of him wanted to be her lover-wouldn’t that privilege be enough to satisfy him, even if all she wanted was to use him?
“Dragon!” the sailor high on the mainmast shouted down. “Dragon ho!”
Zollin looked up. The sun was setting and the light was golden, almost magical, but the sailor in the crow’s nest high on top of the mast was pointing and shouting.
Zollin squinted for a moment, straining to see, but it was useless. Then he sent his magic surging out and he felt the beast. It was Bartoom, the big black dragon that had been his nemesis in the Northern Highlands. The dragon had almost killed him, but Brianna had saved him. Then she had saved the dragon, and it had taken her away. Anger burned white hot in Zollin, setting his magic into a frenzy.
Zollin looked up, hoping for clouds. He needed a way to generate lightning to drive the dragon off, but the sky was completely clear. Zollin had used the friction of the tiny particles in the clouds to create lightning in Orrock, but now he wasn’t sure what to do.
“Zollin!” the captain roared. “One spark could set this whole ship ablaze.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Zollin said. “Send for Mansel.”
Zollin didn’t wait for the captain to reply. Instead, he levitated himself up to the crow’s nest. He wasn’t sure he could have climbed the rigging like the sailors, but even if could have, he wouldn’t have gotten up to the lofty perch in time. He could feel the dragon swooping toward the ship now, even though the black beast was difficult to see in the twilight. Zollin gathered his magic and sent out an invisible shield.