Rorra shook her head. “The current’s wrong for that. And Dranam would have seen the change in direction.”
Spark must have been satisfied it wasn’t a trick, because she dove on the island and snatched up Vendoin. She rose on the wind again, Flicker pacing her.
Rorra and Niran backed away from the rail to allow them room to land. Niran said, “Bramble, go to the main cabin, please. Tell the others we’ll bring her in down there. I don’t want Kalam to be startled.”
Everyone who wasn’t steering the wind-ship or tending to Callumkal had gathered in the main cabin, waiting for the warriors to return with the castaway. Bramble reached the hatch in one bound and hurried down the stairs. She shifted to her groundling form in the doorway.
Delin sat on a stool, bundled up in several layers of Islander robes and shirts. Kalam paced in front of the stove. All the Islanders were wrapped up in extra clothes, though the room felt warm to Bramble. Everyone turned expectantly to her, and she said, “It’s Vendoin.”
Kalam’s jaw set in a hard line. He still had a small fire weapon slung over his shoulder; a wise precaution for groundlings in a strange place. Bramble said, “Kalam, are you going to . . .” She didn’t know how to put it without sounding insulting or condescending.
But he folded his arms and said, grimly, “I’m anxious to hear what she says.”
From his stool, Delin told him, “I have listened to her for days on end, and I can tell you it will be a frustrating experience.”
One of the Islanders snorted a laugh, and there was a relieved stir as the tension broke. Bramble felt the tightness across her shoulders ease a little.
Steps sounded from the stairs, light Raksura steps and the clunk of Rorra’s boots. Then Spark pulled Vendoin into the room. Spark let her go and shook ice drops out of her spines. Vendoin stepped away from Spark, stumbling a little, as Niran and Rorra followed her in.
Vendoin gazed around at them all. She appeared to note Bramble and Delin without reaction. The gray skin between the rock-like armor plates was pale and tinged with blue, which must be a reaction to the cold. The light tunic she wore was torn and stained. She said, “So, you did follow us. I—” Then her gaze met Kalam’s, and the words seemed to catch in her throat.
The room was silent. Rorra watched Vendoin intently, as if reading expressions that Bramble couldn’t interpret. The deck creaked and Bramble felt the wind-ship move. It was fighting the wind to continue on its course.
As if the faint sound and movement had broken a spell, Kalam said, “My father still lives, despite what you did to him.”
Vendoin drew breath. “It was not my intention—”
“I don’t care,” Kalam interrupted. There was a faint quiver in his voice. “Why were you on that island? Where are the other Hians?”
Vendoin looked at Niran and Rorra, her attention passing over Bramble. As usual. Bramble managed not to roll her eyes and hiss.
Niran said, “Obviously the Raksura don’t abandon their own, and neither do we. We couldn’t have followed you here without their help.” He made a gesture to the other Islanders. “I am Niran, and these others are my family, and Delin-Evran-lindel is our grandfather.”
Vendoin’s gaze went to Delin. “You will not believe me, but I was taken from my moss-craft.”
“We believe you,” Rorra said, still watching her critically. Her self-control was almost queen-like, and Bramble found herself grateful for it. Rorra added, “We found it, and what was left of the crew. You seem to be making a habit of abandoning ships in distress.”
“I wasn’t the one who killed them,” Vendoin said, still expressionless.
Bramble felt a growl build in her chest. Deliberately, in the Hian-inflected Kedaic, she said, “I told them it was hardly a surprise. You Hians aren’t like the other Kish. You’re uncivilized.” She had meant to sound ironic, but found her voice rough with rage.
Vendoin turned to stare at her. “How long have you known our language?”
“Bramble is not here to answer your questions,” Rorra said. “Did your companions drop you on the island because of your charm, or did they just not need you anymore?”
Vendoin looked around again, as if taking stock of them all. Fragments of ice slid down her legs to collect on the woven grass mat on the deck. Rorra said, “It’s up to you whether you tell us or not. We have a horticultural tracking your moss and the others have already caught up with the pinnace.”
Vendoin made a slight movement, maybe so slight the groundlings wouldn’t see it. To Bramble’s eyes, it looked like a movement of relief. Vendoin said, “I refused to cooperate with Lavinat. I assume Bramble has told you about her.”
Rorra said, “Yes, go on.”
“When I took the weapon-artifact from—from you, aboard the sunsailer, I did not realize what its abilities were. How flawed it was.”
Delin said, dryly, “Even the fragmentary writings the foundation builders left said that the artifact was flawed beyond their ability to repair. They left it for the forerunners, hoping they could render it useful. The fact that it was still inside the city is proof enough that the forerunners never came for it. We are not fools, and kindly do not treat us as children. You knew it was flawed and you didn’t care.”
“I didn’t know that it would kill Jandera.” Vendoin’s voice was hard, but Bramble thought she detected a faint tremor underneath. Then Vendoin admitted, “I knew it was a possibility.”
Rorra glanced at Kalam, her expression sour. He looked incredulous. He said, “A ‘possibility.’ How many other species, how many other species in Kish, does it kill?”
“It kills Hians,” Bramble said. She knew she was right. “It killed Aldoan, it killed the Hian scholar and her family. That’s what made you afraid.”
Vendoin didn’t look at her, but the muscles of her neck tightened. “Lavinat insisted that it was the operation of the weapon that caused Aldoan to die. That it was not meant to be held by a living being, that it was the close presence of the Fell that had caused it to operate. She said the Fell killed the scholar. Bemadin and I were not convinced. But many of Lavinat’s crew were aboard and we found it politic to pretend to accept that explanation, at least until we had more information. We never dreamed—” She stopped, cutting off the words.
“You never dreamed she would betray you,” Kalam finished. “If my father was conscious, I’m sure he would say the same about you.”
After a moment, as if Kalam hadn’t spoken, Vendoin continued, “We believed that the weapon would eliminate the Fell in the east. If it worked, we could leave Hia Iserae and return to Hia Majora. We could go home. That was our only goal. My only goal.” She looked away, her gaze on the wall. “I and others had worked for a long time for this, even before I joined Callumkal in Kedmar, ever since the message stones that described the weapon were uncovered in the foundation builder ruins buried beneath Hia Iserae. Lavinat had also worked on it. When she betrayed us she admitted that she had concealed things from the rest of us, that there had been warnings that the artifact could cause terrible damage.”
Delin’s expression was disbelieving. “And yet she still intends to use it? Has she lost her senses?”
Vendoin’s mouth curled. “She believes it is worth it, to destroy the Fell. She believes that some of our people still in Hia Iserae, in our cities sheltered by layers of rock, will survive. That it is worth the sacrifice of those who live in other parts of Kish and the east, or are caught out without shelter.”
Bramble met Kalam’s gaze, and he shook his head incredulously. The Islanders murmured in shock. Niran’s expression was appalled.
Hard and practical, Rorra asked, “How did you know where to take the artifact?”