“Whatever the true answer, we don’t have much time. You should get to work.” His father turned back to the activity in the cargo hold. “We have to clear this area of all supplies that were ruined during the sinking.” Then he turned back to Shang-Li. “But there are other things you should keep in mind while you’re out there.”
Shang-Li waited.
“Grayling,” his father said. “If that ship is down here somewhere, I would like to see Liou Chang’s books salvaged. They are much too powerful to let lie in the wrong hands. Find them, or find out if they were destroyed.”
Shang-Li nodded. His father’s interest in those books went without saying.
“Also, we need water.”
That surprised Shang-Li.
His father frowned a little, obviously displeased. “Perhaps you haven’t gotten thirsty yet, Shang-Li, but you will.” He waved a hand through the water easily and stirred sediment that floated in the sea. “We can breathe this, by whatever magic exists, but we certainly can’t drink it. And as soon as we open any water kegs down here, they become fouled as well. I think it’s safe to assume we’re not going to find any fresh water in this place.”
“Even if we find fresh water or wine or ale, how do we drink it without it becoming fouled?”
His father waved him to the ship’s stern. There, an empty barrel had been upended and tied to the bulkhead. “Stick your head in there.”
Shang-Li did and discovered an air pocket that nearly filled the barrel. Breathing the air inside the barrel was easier, but it tasted stale and stank of the barrel’s previous contents, turnips.
“The air will quickly go bad,” his father said. “But it will give us a place to drink. We’ll put up more as we need them. We can’t eat down here either without swallowing sea water. Whatever the spell is that allows us to breathe down here, it’s very selective.”
“How did you get the air in the barrel?”
“The ship’s mage conjured it. She intends to use that spell, on a grander scale of course, to raise the ship when it’s time.” His father smiled appreciatively. “That young woman is very intelligent. Quite the thinker.”
Shang-Li looked around the ship’s cargo hold and realized how huge the job would be to fill the hold with enough air to carry the ship to the surface. “Do you think she can do it?”
His father hesitated. “I hope so. That would depend on how well the hull’s integrity has held together.”
“Patching the leaks could take too long,” Shang-Li said. “The Blue Lady has ignored us so far, whether to let our fears grow or because she needs to recover, but that will end soon.”
“I know.”
“We could line the hull with sailcloth. It’s designed to catch the wind.”
“That task would take a lot of sailcloth.”
“Some of the other ships that are down here will have salvageable materials. Some of it will be sailcloth.”
His father nodded. “I’m glad to see that the ship’s mage isn’t the only one that can think.” He looked at Shang-Li. “You had best get going.”
Shang-Li nodded, but he disliked the idea of leaving his father with this ship. The Blue Lady’s would doubtless be coming for Swallow.
Shang-Li swallowed sour bile. Worse yet, the Blue Lady could chose to end the water breathing spell that protected them at any moment and they would all drown. He hoped that the breathing spell wasn’t hers to control and was a part of the land or the Spellplague, or whatever the mixture between all things involved might be.
“Be safe, Father.” Shang-Li bowed slightly.
“And you, my son.” Kwan Yung bowed and touched Shang-Li’s shoulder briefly.
Shang-Li leaped up and swam away, negotiating the maze of sailors ferrying cargo. When he glanced back, he saw that his father had already turned his attention back to his duties.
Shang-Li swam through the cargo hold and out into the open sea. Even though he knew Swallow was no real place of refuge, he felt the disappearance of the protection the ship offered.
It felt like hours later when Shang-Li returned with the latest salvage they’d recovered. Finding planks and pulling them free of ships was hard work, especially when they were constantly threatened by the sea shambles and the other denizens of the strange forest.
He drank water from the barrel and tried to hold his breath against the stink of turnips. He had a handful of raw fish fillets in the same manner, then laid down to rest on a pallet of bedding that felt soggy. Despite the discomfort of the bed.
He felt like he’d only just closed his eyes when the Blue Lady called to him.
“Wake, manling. You don’t get to sleep all the time.”
Equal parts angry and fearful, Shang-Li opened his eyes. He felt for his fighting sticks but they were gone. He stood before the Blue Lady unarmed. Swallow, his father, and his friends were nowhere in sight. He was dreaming, he realized and he relaxed a little at that. Even though he was certain he wasn’t safe, his father and friends would be.
He hoped.
The Blue Lady stood in front of a ruined stone building that had once been multiple stories. Several sections had collapsed, but part of the building stood and would have offered shelter if it had been on land.
“What do you want?”
Amused, the Blue Lady smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “Such insolence, manling. Haven’t you discovered that you live now only at my whim?”
“Do I?”
“Yes.” She walked toward him, totally unafraid. “More than that, your father and your friends live through my generosity as well. Perhaps I should kill one of them to show you how much power I wield here.”
Shang-Li backed down immediately. “That isn’t necessary.”
The Blue Lady shrugged. “I don’t mind killing. I’m actually quite good at it. You should know that from all the ships you’ve seen that I’ve brought down over the years.”
“Why do you target the ships?”
“To gather wealth, of course. Walk with me.”
At first, Shang-Li was going to resist the command, but a trio of sharks swam close to him and got him moving. He fell into step behind her and thought of how her turned back might give him an edge, if only he’d held a weapon. If only he weren’t dreaming.
“Honor will only get you killed.” The Blue Lady walked up a flight of stairs that followed the outside of the building.
“You seek revenge and to expand your power. That will get you killed quicker.”
“Only if I fail, manling. And I don’t plan to fail.”
“You’re here, which means you’ve already failed once.”
The Blue Lady halted at the top of the steps. Her dark eyes blazed silver fire, and for the first time Shang-Li wondered if she had taken on some aspect of the Spellplague after her long exposure as well.
“I didn’t fail, manling.” Her voice was as cold as the gales that swept the far north. “I was betrayed by someone I was foolish enough to love. I should have crushed him as I’d set out to do. Instead, I spared him and let him get close to me. I don’t make mistakes like that anymore.”
“Who threw you out of the Feywild?”
“People who feared me. People who feared my passion and my vision.”
“Your vision for what?”
“My father held a kingdom in the Feywild. I intend to get it back. And you are going to help me. You might find the secrets in Liou Chang’s books. If you can translate the information I need about the portals that General Han used, I will let you live.”
Shang-Li said nothing.
“If you don’t, I’ll keep killing everyone on that ship until you agree to help me. And if you don’t, I will kill you and find someone else from the Standing Tree Monastery. Now that the monks know the books are hereand I’m sure you or your father has let them knowthey will send someone else if you’re not heard from again. And you won’t be.” The blaze in her eyes faded. “Think about my offer, manling. If you do as I ask, I will let you and the others live.”