She waited, which made it even harder to speak.
"I thought eveningfeast tonight was just in appreciation for the work I'd been doing," he stated finally.
"You accepted because you liked the idea of a meal cooked only for you, or being seen with the only female on the ship's crew? If that's the case, then I was wrong about you." She wrapped up more tightly in her part of the blanket.
"No, lady, that's not it. I took your eveningfeast invitation because I wanted to get to know you more."
"You didn't think I'd invited you for the same reason?"
"No, I didn't."
Sabyna laughed softly. "In some ways, for a sailor, you're very naive," she said. "Why wouldn't you think I'd be interested in you?"
"I'm very common, lady."
"You work hard, yet you keep to yourself. You're opinionated, but you keep those opinions to yourself. You're brave and caring. Tonight has shown me that. Those are all traits a woman could be interested in." She paused. "You said you'd wanted to get to know me better. What about me made you feel that way?"
Surprisingly, Jherek found the answer to that easy, if somewhat disconcerting to admit. "I liked your smile," he told her, "and I liked the way you handle yourself. You walk this deck confidently, lady."
"My beauty didn't turn your head?"
Jherek faced her, not believing he hadn't thought to comment on her beauty. In all the stories he'd read, the heroes always talked of their lady love's beauty. She wasn't his lady love, he reminded himself, and life didn't always have a happy ending the way it did in the romances.
"Lady, as you've said, I'm naive about some things, but one thing I have learned is that beauty can be deceptive."
"Touche," she replied, looking into his eyes. She smiled at him.
Jherek became even more aware of the way the blanket enfolded the two of them, and of the scent of lilacs. The moonlight ignited copper flame highlights in her damp hair. She was beautiful.
"You lie as well," she replied calmly, without accusation. "I don't know if your name is Malorrie or Jherek."
"Lady-" Her words tore at Jherek's heart. He'd never wanted to lie to anyone.
She placed her fingers against his lips. "Shush. I feel I know you. I think you believe you have reasons for lying about the things you lie about. I won't have you lying any further to me, not if I'm going to get to know you, and I won't push you to tell me anything you're not ready to say."
He waited, smelling the lilac softness of her fingers.
"Do you understand?"
"Aye, lady," he said softly.
She stared at him in silence for a moment, then broke the eye contact. "You need to get some sleep," she said, "as do I. Tynnel will keep a crew out searching for any more possible survivors, but I don't think there'll be any. We can talk more tomorrow."
"As you wish."
She smiled at him." As you wish,'" she repeated. "I like the sound of that."
Jherek flushed. At the moment, looking into her eyes, the response had seemed so appropriate, culled from the pages of books he'd read, of the romances in the stories, but aloud like that, with Sabyna drawing attention to it, it seemed to strike a false note. "I only meant-"
"It's all right. I meant what I said, I do like the sound of it. I've grown up around the sea and seafaring men all my life. Men's lips often move before their brains have full sails up. I'll warn you now, if you start coming across as a dandy, I'll have none of it. The man I had dinner with, the one who was polite and kind and thoughtful, and maybe a bit flustered, that's the one I enjoy. If he turns out to be a bit of drama or a flummery, I warn you now I'll be greatly disappointed." She took her blanket back and stood.
Jherek stood as well, and he was surprised how chill the wind felt now after being wrapped in her blanket. He took the empty bowls, intending to drop them in the galley after they parted.
"Are you still interested in helping out with the work Breezerunner needs?"
"Of course."
She started to go, then turned back to him. "There's one other thing I want to mention to you."
"Aye."
Her manner turned even more darkly serious. "When I read your palm earlier, I had a vision. I've never had one before, but I know that's what it was. It was interrupted by the collision."
Jherek felt his stomach turn small and cold, wondering what she'd seen. After living with Madame litaar as she gave divinations all those years, he believed in such magic, "I don't know how far in the future, but at some point, you're going to cross swords with Falkane the Salt Wolf. It will be at sea, but it's a sea I've not seen."
Suddenly dizzy, feeling like the deck itself had dropped out from beneath him, Jherek made himself remain standing.
"That surprises you?" she asked.
"Aye."
"Why?"
"I'm just a sailor, no king's man or corsair to pursue the pirates of the Nelanther."
Her eyes examined his face. "It might not come true," she said finally. "The vision felt like it was sometime in the future, but the events aren't set. If you stay on your present course, I feel it will happen, but visions aren't written in stone. Good night. I'll see you in the morning."
Jherek watched her walk away, reveling in the sight of her while at the same time feeling more wary than ever. After leaving the dishes with the cook, he took himself amidships and hung out a hammock. He'd stayed in the cabin below decks for the last three nights, sharing the space with other travelers and some of the ship's crew. Tonight, though, he wanted to sleep out under the stars, hoping it would clear his head.
He laid on the hammock and draped the heavy blanket Madame litaar had made and he'd gotten from his traveler's kit over him. The wind slipped across his face. He wondered about the ship's mage, wishing he had Malorrie there to talk to him about the way she made him feel and the confusing things she said and did.
He thought about the vision of his father she'd said she had. He didn't doubt that she'd had the vision, but he did question whether it was going to come true. There was no reason his path would cross his father's ever again. If it did, he had no doubt that blood would be spilled and one of them might die.
The last thought he had, though, was of what might be waiting for him at Baldur's Gate.
XXII
Seated atop the royal flier, skimming through the depths at top speed, Laaqueel looked out over King Huaanton's village. It was spread across the rocky seabed three hundred feet and more below the surface, located between the Nelanthers and the Moonshaes, as the surface dwellers termed the ground above water. By Huaanton's reckoning, those areas were still part of his domain, just held by invaders. Iakhovas, Laaqueel knew, had promised to bring those regions under Huaanton's control soon.
The terrain was broken, peaking and gliding in mismatched sections that left troughs and valleys scattered over it. The deepest section of it was the canyon that ran through the ocean bed. Perpetual murk hung over the area, masking the pale blue light that actually made it to that depth. Surface dwellers, even with their magic potions and items that allowed them to breathe underwater and withstand the crushing depths, wouldn't see the village with their weak eyes unless they were on top of it. By that time, sharks, sahuagin guards, and traps all stood ready to kill them.
The village was huge, lining both sides of the immense canyon. Buildings crafted of great blocks of stone sat barnacle-covered on both sides. Despite all the killing that had gone on by each sahuagin king who'd held court at the site, there still existed the rumor that the buildings had once been on the surface, and that immense changes had shaken all of Toril in the past.