Kolor blenched, and he thrust his hands out in refusal, saying, “No, no, Camille. I would not take what the Fates have given you.”
“Oh, would that I yet had the jewels I did sew into my garments, but they were stolen, and so I have little to-”
“Lady Camille, since the Fates themselves sent you to me, it means that my ship and crew and I have been commissioned by the Dread Sisters Themselves to be at your behest. Aye, we will bear you to that wicked place, if it is truly there, for the Fates so decree, but we will do so reluctantly, for I would not willingly put you in such peril extreme.”
Big Jack, who had said little, glanced at Camille’s stave. “When, Cap’n Kolor? When will you take us there? What I mean t’ say is: time grows short.”
Kolor looked at the big man. “You mean to go as well?” Big Jack glanced at Camille and nodded. “I was told t’ protect her, and protect her I will.”
“Oh, Jack,” said Camille, “you don’t have to go. It’s likely to be-”
“Quite dangerous,” said Big Jack. “All th’ more reason for me t’ go.” Then he turned to Kolor. “As I said, time is short. When do we go?”
Kolor took up the split and cracked stave-the blossoms gone, the carved vine withered-and examined it closely. Then he started, his eyes flying wide, and turned the stick into the lanternlight to see it more clearly. “ ’Twas the dark of the moon when we docked, yet look.” He laid the staff down on the table and pointed to the dark disk just below the grip at the top. A hairline-thin pale crescent marked the disk along the right-hand perimeter.
“And a whole moon beyond,” breathed Big Jack. “And a whole moon beyond…”
Captain Kolor sucked air in between clenched teeth and he looked at Camille and said, “Oh, my lady, I am sorry; I neglected the import of Lady Sorciere’s words.”
Camille felt her heart plunging. “Sieur?”
Kolor sighed and shook his head and tapped the stave. “A whole moon beyond is not enough time, for the isle is far, and the winds are against us; we simply cannot reach it in a moon.”
33
Tears welled in Camille’s eyes. “Cannot reach…?” Kolor shook his head. “Not in a moon.” He looked into his mug of ale, peering at the foam.
Big Jack reached out his enormous hand and enveloped Camille’s, and he said, “Captain-”
But Kolor thrust out a palm to stop Big Jack’s words; the Dwarf’s brow furrowed in concentration as he peered into his mug as if trying to capture an elusive thought. And then his eyes widened in remembrance, and he grimaced and murmured, “Unless…”
Camille and Big Jack waited, but Kolor said no more.
“Unless what, Captain?” said Camille.
Kolor took a deep breath and dipped a finger into the froth and raised it up and stared at the pale lather. Then he licked his finger clean and looked over at her. “Unless we sail across the Sea of Mist.”
Camille frowned. “The Sea of Mist?”
Kolor let out a lengthy sigh. “ ’Tis said it is a short lay of water, Camille, though I’ve never been there. Too, they say therein a terrible monster dwells-a breaker of ships, a killer of all who attempt to cross. No vessel has ever won through, but if we could sail those waters and out, then mayhap we could reach the island in just under a moon.”
“If no ship has ever won through,” said Big Jack, “then how do you know it’s but a short stretch across?”
Kolor glanced at Scruff sleeping in Camille’s pocket. “ ’Tis said a message bird was loosed at dawn to fly from side to side, and from the time it took, the lay was judged. Even so, ships are not birds, and those waters are deadly.”
“What kind of monster is it?” asked Camille.
Kolor turned up his hands. “I know not, lady, for none has ever survived to say.”
“Then how do you know it is a ‘breaker of ships’?”
“Wreckage drifts out, Camille. And before you ask, reefs and shoals could account for such wrack, but there are no signs of grounding on the remnants.”
“Monster, reefs, shoals, or no, if it’ll get us to the isle in a moon, then that’s what we should do,” declared Big Jack, “sail the Misty Sea.”
Camille held up a cautioning hand. “Oh, Jack, I don’t know whether-”
“Camille,” said Kolor, “a commission was I given by the Fates, and I would not go against Them.”
Camille looked at the Dwarf. “Is there no other way?”
Kolor glanced at Big Jack and said, “Not any that will get us there in a moon.”
Big Jack looked to Camille for affirmation, and she sighed and then silently nodded.
“Done and done!” Big Jack declared.
“May the Three Sisters truly be with us,” said Kolor.
“When do we leave?” asked Big Jack.
Kolor looked out through the window at the rising dawnlight. “It will take the full of this day to reprovision, but we can set sail as soon as that is done.”
“What about the tide?” asked Big Jack.
“No need to wait for the outflow, not with the Nordavind, ” said Kolor, standing. “Now I must recall my crew and tell them of the task the Fates have cast our way.”
As Camille rose to her feet, Kolor added, “Rest this day, lady, and bid your farewells.”
Big Jack said to Kolor, “I will fetch th’ lady when all is ready.”
Kolor nodded, then turned toward the door, Camille and Big Jack following. And as they stepped from the Bald Pelican, with a new day on the air, Scruff awakened and scrambled to Camille’s shoulder and demanded to be fed.
As she broke fast with Scruff and Big Jack in the common room of the Blue Marlin, Camille said, “Jack, will you tell Madam Maquereau at the Red Lantern that we will be leaving on a voyage, and that I will not be singing there again?”
“Uh-huh,” said Big Jack, shovelling eggs into his mouth.
“Also, if you can find Jordain, tell him as well what it is we do.”
“Mmm-hmm,” said Big Jack, bobbing his head. Then, speaking around the mouthful of eggs, he added, “Though with th’ Nordavind in port replenishing her stores, I suppose Harbormaster Jordain already knows.”
They finished the meal in silence, Scruff pecking away at the barley seeds. Then, after Big Jack was gone, Camille settled her bill with the desk clerk, paying for that day as well, and she asked that Aicelina prepare a bath for her, the last she would have for many days to come.
When Aicelina knocked on Camille’s door, Camille gave the girl a silver for herself, saying, “You have served me well, Aicelina. Scruff, too, bringing his grain as you have.” Then Camille gave her another silver and said, “We are going on a long journey, a moon there and back, and I will need more grain for him, and since we will be going by water, the grain will need protection from spray.”
“Oui, mademoiselle,” said Aicelina. “I shall have them put it in a double sack, the outer one tarred. And what grain would you have?”
“A mix of oats, barley, rye, wheat, and millet.”
“And how much?”
Camille shrugged, then said, “Enough to last the full journey, and a bit more, should something go awry. Three moons in all should do it.”
“I shall purchase ten pounds,” said Aicelina, then looked at the silver in hand. “Oh, mademoiselle, it will not take a silver or even a bronze for such a small amount.”
“Keep whatever is left over, Aicelina.”
Aicelina’s eyes widened and she bobbed a curtsey. “Thank you, mademoiselle. I shall fetch it now.” The girl started to turn away, but then turned back. “Oh, and your bath is ready.” Then she was gone.
Night had fallen when came a tap on the door. Camille opened the panel, and in the lanternlight stood Big Jack, an enormous bronze battle-axe over his shoulder. “Th’ North Wind is ready, Lady Camille. Captain Kolor says t’ come.”
Camille fastened her cloak ’round her shoulders and took up her bedroll and waterskin and rucksack, the stave affixed in the loops. Then she fetched sleeping Scruff from his perch on the back of a chair, and, blowing out the lantern, said, “Let’s go.”