Smaller kegs were stored under lock and key behind an iron portcullis, whose rusty expanse covered the port wall. Harsh fumes proclaimed their rum-filled contents to any who drew near.
A shelf next to the portcullis was stuffed with sheathed swords, spears, hanging crossbows, and a few well-polished shields.
The ceiling was composed of well-fitted planks, except for a wide, square opening directly above, which pierced the ship from the top deck, to mid deck, to hold, to the orlop deck. A rope ladder of rough hawser ran up the side of the opening, connecting all four decks.
Beneath the opening, a sailor lay on the stained, planked floor of the hold.
The sailor quivered and bucked as if possessed, and froth formed at the corners of his mouth. The veins that crisscrossed the exposed flesh of his face, arms, calves, and bare feet flamed scarlet with pain.
Anusha Marhana looked down at the thrashing, barefoot man, a hand to her mouth.
All she had done was touch him!
A dark-haired woman with a scar disfiguring the left side of her face perched half-way down the ladder leading into the hold. Terror robbed the woman of the strength to move up or down. Her ability to scream, however, was unhampered. The scarred woman's mouth was wide with a howl of dread, and her eyes seemed locked at something she saw near her writhing companion.
The scarred woman looked not at Anusha, but at one of the half-silvered shields that hung from the ship's weapon depot. Anusha followed the direction of the woman's terrified vision, into the face of the mirror-like shield… and something looked back at Anusha. A humanoid silhouette of purest black, outlined in erratic white and blue flashes. She recognized the silhouette as her own.
The first time Anusha had dream-stepped, she hadn't realized it.
She had awakened from what seemed merely an unusually detailed dream. During the dream she'd seen her half brother, Behroun, and the mysterious warlock plotting. True, upon "waking," her mind was almost ready to accept the first wild explanation that occurred to her, that she'd somehow stepped beyond her body and spied on events in the outside world as she slept… but she backed away from that explanation quickly enough. She managed to convince herself the experience was mere fancy, born of unsettled sleep.
She was able to hold on to that conviction for all of half a day.
The morning after her first dream, Behroun had summoned her to his office to warn her that enemies of Marhana were sending assassins into the manor. Shadow assassins that burned with a corona of azure fire.
Anusha realized Behroun was describing the very event she had dreamed! How was that possible-had she sleepwalked? No, she'd ghosted through solid objects without effort. It must have been a dream after all, but a dream dreamt beyond the confines of her own head!
Dazed with the insight, she sat dumbly as Behroun recounted his discovery of the assassin.
Nor did she contradict her half brother as he went on to explain how fortunate it was that his agent, Japheth, had been present to drive off the specter. Anusha remembered it was her terror of the darkness hiding under the warlock's cloak that proved impetus enough to awaken her physical body.
Behroun explained he had arranged for Anusha to summer beyond the walls of New Sarshel, where she would be safe from those who wished her ill. He described how getting her out of the city would allow him to concentrate fully on discovering which jealous noble house wished to destroy the soon-to-be-noble House of Marhana.
Anusha rushed back to her suite to pack, cold fear prickling across her body. But it wasn't the thought of assassins that scared her.
Behroun and Japheth had seen her! She had dreamed them, but they saw her, even though they had been awake.
Anusha was again convinced that the dream of the night before had been more than simple fancy. Something of it had been real.
A giddiness brought on by visceral fear stifled her wild packing. She stood frozen amidst a flurry of expensive clothes strewn on the floor and across her bed.
What was happening to her?
Behroun talked of assassins. Had some demonic creature lured her spirit beyond the confines of her body in order to steal it away? It had failed to find her this time, but would she be so lucky again? Would every foray into sleep be a cat-and-mouse game between her and some unseen soul stealer?
Then again, she had seen no evidence of such a creature. To fabricate the existence of a soul stealer to explain her too lucid dream based only on Behroun's talk of enemies of House Marhana was premature.
Especially because her half brother's belief in a potent rival stalking the family was based on his glimpse of her!
Anusha clenched her hands, and then loosed them, one muscle at a time. She willed the muscles in her forearms to go slack, then the muscles in her shoulders and neck. She even imagined tiny muscles in her face and scalp drooping into utter relaxation. Her breathing slowed, as did her heart's frantic pace. She tried to push herself beyond the reach of a panic that could not answer her questions or explain what had happened.
When her body was her own again, she sighed and resumed packing.
If she wished to understand what had happened to her, she must think. What was the significance of her dream?
Perhaps it had been a one-time event brought on by some unknowable, arcane event beyond her ken. Or a glimpse provided by fate of a pivotal event that was somehow important to her future. Or, when all was said and done, a giant coincidence?
Anusha wondered if she was spinning fantasies no more likely than her first panicked invention of a soul-stealing stalker.
The only way to know what afflicted her was to experiment. As her tutor so often tried to instill in her, only repeated observation, study, and questions could uncover real knowledge. She needed to explore the experience again.
Her heart's pace quickened once more, but now in anticipation.
Could I, she wondered, walk purposely as a dream in the waking world?
Anusha dumped all the clothing, shoes, and purses she'd pulled from her closets into the great leather-padded travel chest Behroun had ordered delivered to her room. The chest was so large it reminded her of a coffin.
Once the bed was cleared, she settled herself on the soft, pink-hued coverlet and closed her eyes. Beneath the coverlet, her costly feather mattress pressed only lightly into her shoulders, calves, and ankles, but her skirts and blouse made her feel uncomfortably warm and confined. Sounds of distant horns, shouts, and braying animals in the market competed for her attention. The nearer clattering chime of servants working at their own tasks in other parts of the manor jangled at discordant intervals.
Sleep seemed far away.
She tried to evoke the sensation she'd felt when striding unseen down the streets of New Sarshel. She had been 1 neither cold nor warm despite wearing only her sleeping gown. Not the least breath of wind had caressed her cheek, it; nor had the cobblestones pinched her bare feet. Yes, some-I; "thing like that.
This is not working!
She groaned and left the bed, feeling a sudden pinch as she rose.
"Oh," she exhaled quietly.
A girl still lay half swaddled in the quilt, fully dressed, eyes closed. It was herself.
She had dream-skipped out of her body again!
Anusha gazed down on the sleeping form. Her body breathed in a slow but regular pattern, very much like sleep.
She glanced away from the sleeping body and instead drew her dream hands up before her face. They looked completely normal, maybe a bit hazy if she squinted.
Anusha rubbed her hands together. The sensation was exactly what she expected.
She was further surprised to see her dream self dressed in the very same clothes worn by her sleeping body. Then again, why was she surprised? In a dream, anything was possible, wasn't it? Insofar as her consciousness existed beyond her mind, perhaps dream logic ruled what she could accomplish, just as in regular dreams.