Anusha took it, and he pulled her into a sitting position. Her fingers were cool and slightly clammy. She relinquished his grip, coughed, ran a hand through her tangled hair, and… blushed?
She said, "F-first, you're wrong. Behroun didn't send me. I came on my own; he doesn't know I'm here. This is probably the last place he'll think to look for me. He's a toad."
"A toad?"
"He doesn't care anything about me-only if I can help him get adopted into New Sarshel's lineage of noble Houses. Without me to back up his claim, there's no way they'll let him join their cozy club."
"I see," said Japheth, though he did not. "So why are you here, if he did not set you to spy on me?"
"I had to go somewhere!" She threw up her hands. "Behroun was trying to send me away to the country; he thinks assassins are after me." She snorted.
"Assassins that have a strange, ghostlike silhouette, perhaps?"
She looked down and said, "Yes."
Japheth waited a moment then asked, "A shape you call to do your bidding am I right? Some sort of spirit of the air that answers and reports to you?"
"No, that shape is me," she blurted, looking directly into his eyes for a moment, then glancing down again. "The shape is… my dream self. I dream myself out into the world, leaving my sleeping body behind. Usually no one can see me. Except for you. And a guard dog on this ship. And… people can see my reflection."
"You're a wizard then, despite your tender years, able to cast spells of scrying." "No, I-"
"Perhaps you have applied yourself to the mental arts and have learned psionic, remote viewing?"
"Nothing like that!" she protested. "No, it just happened one night. I was having a dream. One of those dreams where you know you are dreaming? And I saw you."
"Me?" He forgot his follow-up inquiry about how Behroun intended to communicate with her while she spied.
"Yes. I was lost in the city I thought a dreamscape. Then I saw you, and I followed you. I thought it was all inside my own head. You walked into an old curio shop, and, um…"
The warlock realized she had seen him purchase traveler's dust. Unexpectedly, a sliver of shame touched him. It was his turn to blush.
"Anyhow," said Anusha, "when you left the shop, I followed you back to Behroun's office. I saw you… agree to Lord Marhana's demand. I thought it was all a fantasy of sleep. Then I discovered everything I witnessed actually happened. I was seeing the waking world."
Japheth looked at the girl with narrowed eyes. He said, "I don't understand."
Anusha shook her head. "You think I do? It just happened to me. I took a nap, and next thing I knew, I was dreaming myself into the world!"
"Have you had any contact with spellplague?"
She shook her head, but her eyes grew thoughtful. Anusha said, "No, but I've been beset by dreams of burning blue. Isn't that how it looks?"
Japheth nodded. "I think my assessment is correct. You are spellscarred."
The girl shuddered. She said, "The one thing I know for certain is that I saw Behroun when he didn't know I was watching. He is an awful man."
"He has his peculiarities," offered Japheth diplomatically. The girl was a sibling of Lord Marhana, even if only by one parent. And she still could be spinning a great yarn and secretly working with her half brother.
"He is a killer, and I hate him," she declared, staring at Japheth as if challenging him to say differently.
The warlock changed tactics. "So you… 'woke' to strange new abilities and learned your brother was a bastard, who-"
"Literally a bastard," she interrupted.
"Yes, right," he sighed. "My question, then, is merely this: how is it that I find you stuffed, of your own accord apparently, into a travel chest on a ship of freebooters allied with your oh-so-hateful half brother?"
"I told you! He was trying to send me away, out of the city. I decided I would go, but somewhere of my own choosing. Somewhere he would never think to look for me. Somewhere I could see things I was never allowed to even imagine while I was kept safe in my suite. Since I can dreamwalk, I thought I could mingle even with pirates and stay safe."
"You sought adventure? I hate to break it to you, but the stories about the exploits of heroes leave out-"
"That's only half of it!" she snapped. "Mostly, I was worried. I wanted to see what Behroun is so excited about. I wanted to know what sort of deal he's going to make with pirates and who knows what else. I'm still loyal to my family name, you know, even if everyone treats me like I'm a child. If Behroun means to do something to drag the Marhana name through tar, I intend to stop him."
"Hmm," mused Japheth. He hadn't expected that sentiment. Perhaps she wasn't as emotionally-shallow as he'd initially assumed.
Japheth said aloud, "If your words are not lies to blind me-"
He raised his hand to silence her protest.
"Why are you on board this ship physically at all? If you can dreamwalk, why didn't you just send your dream self to the ship? If we sink, you could have awakened safely on land. Now you'll go down with the rest of us."
"My dream form can stray only a little way from my body. Only about a mile, maybe two. I can't explore the whole world when I dreamwalk-only what's nearby."
Japheth rubbed his jaw, not certain if he believed the girl. He knew of a quick and dirty enchantment that could compel her to tell the truth… but if it turned out she hadn't been lying, the act of robbing her of her own volition, however J briefly, would turn her against him. That was the problem with such inducements-one never really knew in the first place whether one had properly identified a reasonable target | for harsh questions until afterward. That's why enlightened | societies frowned on the use of involuntary, magical interrogations or even baser forms of physical torture.
Of course, in these post-Spellplague years, when 5 things were only just coming under control, surviving institutions were not the sticklers for decorum they had been before the Year of Blue Fire.
More to the point, Japheth had worked long and hard on developing a persona that matched his circumstances. That facade he'd created for himself, friendless and cruel, hard to acquaintances and vicious to enemies, would force the truth from the girl in a moment, regardless of consequence.
Why didn't she show more fear? She even knew he walked the crimson road, yet she treated him in a strangely friendly manner, as if she didn't, in truth, fear him.
Japheth decided, for the moment, to act as if he believed Anusha.
"Very well, then, Lady Anusha," he said, surprising himself with the smile in his voice, "let's get you cleaned up and give you a little exercise, eh? You can move about here within my cabin unseen. No one has the key but me."
Japheth drew some fresh water from ship stores and filled a large hand basin for Anusha. He heated the water with a flourish of fire, smiled, and left her to her own devices.
It was tricky given the limited space in the cabin, but she managed a reasonably decent sponge bath. If nothing else, at least she had tendays of clean clothing in her travel case.
She found a hand mirror in the trunk and observed her image in its restricted oval. Presentable, she decided. Her hair was still damp, but she rather liked the look. She imagined it made her seem daring. Anusha wondered if Japheth thought so.
She struck a pose, and then laughed. "How about that, warlock? You've found a stowaway who isn't afraid of your mysterious ways."
A voice outside the door silenced her.
"Captain? Can I help you?" It was Japheth's voice, faint as if from some distance away.
A much louder reply sounded right outside the door. "Japheth, ain't you a fair sight; just the man I was looking for. We have a problem."
Anusha stifled a gasp.
"What sort of problem?" Japheth's voice was closer now.