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Hello, the Eidolon! called Isolde.
Hallo& the pier& A tall blond man waved vaguely.
Isolde didn t bother to call again, but walked up the steeply-inclined
gangplank, leaving us to follow.
I followed right after her. Waiting wouldn t solve anything.
Stand right over there, ordered our guide, pointing to a clear space of
deck to the right of where the ship s officer waited.
I followed her directions and positioned myself by the railing. A quick
glance toward Nylan reassured me that I could still see the market square,
though most of the tables and booths had been deserted even before we had
passed by on our way to the harbor.
& eight passengers, as agreed with Captain Heroulk& Isolde started right
in with the mate on duty, a man with a short blond beard and a sleeveless
shirt that revealed heavily-muscled and bronzed arms.
At first, as I stood by the rail, I could smell nothing except a lingering
scent of something-salt, soap, varnish. The deck was clean, aside from several
coils of heavy rope by the foot of the masts. The railing, as my fingers
brushed it, felt faintly tacky, and glistened as though recently varnished.
Two sailors stopped their work on a windlass, or something like it, to
survey the group that had trooped on board.
Witches, the whole lot& observed the older, a wiry man with
salt-and-pepper hair.
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Clank. His hammer knocked the handle loose from the assembly.
& see if you can pry loose that broken edge&
The ship seems clean enough, if small, noted Myrten, stepping up next to
me.
Small?
Haven t you seen the Hamorian freighters? Some of them are nearly three
hundred cubits long.
I shrugged, not really having thought about it.
Good thing it s only a day and a half. I d hate to go to Hamor on this.
That would take nearly two eight-days.
Tamra stood by herself further down the rail toward the bow. I walked away
from Myrten and stood next to her. She said nothing, just looked up at the
black wall overlooking the harbor area, much as I had first looked at that
same wall, wondering how it could look so insignificant from behind and so
imposing from the waterfront.
Are you all right? I tried to keep my voice low.
Does it matter? She sounded tired.
Yes.
Why?
I didn t know what to say. & Because.
She didn t say anything. She just kept looking from the harbor wall to the
hill wall and back again.
After a while, I eased away, thinking she wanted to be alone.
Oh& sorry& In backing up, I backed into Wrynn.
Since it s only you, Lerris&
I thought she was joking, but held up my free right hand, since I was still
holding on to my staff with my left. I apologize.
We ll accept, added Krystal with a soft smile. She didn t giggle.
All right! interrupted Isolde. Let s get your gear stowed. Follow us.
Wrynn shrugged. Krystal and I both shrugged back. All three of us followed
Isolde and another officer-the officers were all taller than the crew, and had
yellow collars on their sleeveless shirts-aft and down a narrow wooden
staircase. The sailors all called it a ladder.
I ll bunk with Sammel, Lerris, and Myrten, announced Isolde. We ll take
the first cabin.
Myrten s face went blank, as did Dorthae s. I thought Wrynn and Krystal
nodded, but couldn t see for sure in the dimly-lit passageway.
The cabin was the size of a large pantry with four built-in bunks, two on
each side, one above the other. Each bunk had a thin pallet covered with a
faded linen sheet and a folded brown blanket-no other covers. The floor space
between the bunks was less than three cubits. A single porthole graced the
outboard side, opposite the door.
Two lockers fitted side-by-side under each lower bunk.
Isolde threw her pack on the top outboard bunk. Lerris, you re the most
agile. Why don t you take the other top bunk?
Since it wasn t really a question, I put my pack up on the other top bunk.
You can use the lockers. No one on the ship will steal anything. She
glanced at me. Please leave the staff on your bunk until we land.
Always the staff. I tucked it next to the pallet, then squeezed my pack
into one of the lockers. Sammel eased his smaller pack into the other one.
Myrten was shaking his head as he knelt to get into the other locker.
Is it all right if we go back on deck? I asked.
Of course. Just stay out of the crew s way.
So I went back up the ladder.
Whufff& whuff& Through the timbers I could feel the steam engine, as if the
ship had come alive. A helmsman stood at the wheel on the bridge, flanked by a
silvered and weathered man I took to be the captain, since his entire shirt
was yellow.
Lines aboard!
Lines aboard, sir!
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Clang!
Pressure on the boilers! Stand by for paddles.
Thwap& splat& thwap& Slowly, ever so slowly, the paddles began to turn as
the Eidolon eased off the pier.
I nearly tiptoed to the rail to watch the Eidolons departure.
Tamra stood by the same point on the rail as when I had left her. She must
have gone below because both her staff and pack were absent, but her posture
was the same.
With its black slate roofs, black streets, and black walls lit by the low
western sun, and with the grass hidden behind walls, Nylan looked more than
ever like a brooding fortress rising from the sea. Nothing reflected the
reddish near-setting sun, except the water itself. In a way, the scene
reminded me of one I d seen in one of my father s history books-the White City
of Frven, under the chaos-masters. But Frven had been all white, and it had
perished. Nylan endured, its black order stolidly guarding Recluce.
A shimmer of distorted air caught the corner of my eye, and I turned my
head to see one of the long and mastless black boats of the Brotherhood
trailing the Eidolon. A single narrow .turret gun bore on the Nordlan ship,
shifting slightly as the Brotherhood ship easily drew up and took station on
the Eidolon s stern.
You do that so easily. Tamra s voice was pitched to me, barely carrying
the three cubits between us.
Do what?
See the unseen.
I shrugged. I never thought whether it was easy or hard. I just looked. It
is a strange-looking ship, though.
It s not really fair, you know. The redhead s voice was expressionless,
so expressionless that I felt colder than the sea breeze whipping through my
tunic should have made me feel. They don t care how hard you try. They don t
care how much you learn. They don t care.
I edged closer. The Brotherhood, you mean?
They don t love. You re the child of one of the high temple masters. You
don t swallow their beliefs, and they throw you out younger than anyone else.
*
High temple master-my father?
The Brotherhood ship increased its speed and veered toward the right,
pulling up beside the Eidolon. The impression of order and power pounded at me
from more than a hundred cubits away.
You don t even know, do you? Is that fair?
No. But they don t go by what s fair, Tamra. It s already pretty clear to
me that they go by what works. If we get in the way& then we go.
She turned to me, and her face was white. You agree with that? Each word
was evenly spaced, dropping like a hammer on a forge.
I wanted to step back, but the ship lurched, and, instead, I grabbed the
railing. The Eidolon had passed the breakwater, and the waves were higher.
Thwup, thwup, thwup& thwup, thwup, thwup& The paddles churned, dipping into
the water with increasing speed, and a heavier and thicker plume of whitish
smoke billowed from the stack.
& foresail& Sailors were scurrying over the masts as well, releasing and
adjusting the canvas of the sails. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
Hello, the Eidolon! called Isolde.
Hallo& the pier& A tall blond man waved vaguely.
Isolde didn t bother to call again, but walked up the steeply-inclined
gangplank, leaving us to follow.
I followed right after her. Waiting wouldn t solve anything.
Stand right over there, ordered our guide, pointing to a clear space of
deck to the right of where the ship s officer waited.
I followed her directions and positioned myself by the railing. A quick
glance toward Nylan reassured me that I could still see the market square,
though most of the tables and booths had been deserted even before we had
passed by on our way to the harbor.
& eight passengers, as agreed with Captain Heroulk& Isolde started right
in with the mate on duty, a man with a short blond beard and a sleeveless
shirt that revealed heavily-muscled and bronzed arms.
At first, as I stood by the rail, I could smell nothing except a lingering
scent of something-salt, soap, varnish. The deck was clean, aside from several
coils of heavy rope by the foot of the masts. The railing, as my fingers
brushed it, felt faintly tacky, and glistened as though recently varnished.
Two sailors stopped their work on a windlass, or something like it, to
survey the group that had trooped on board.
Witches, the whole lot& observed the older, a wiry man with
salt-and-pepper hair.
Page 54
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Clank. His hammer knocked the handle loose from the assembly.
& see if you can pry loose that broken edge&
The ship seems clean enough, if small, noted Myrten, stepping up next to
me.
Small?
Haven t you seen the Hamorian freighters? Some of them are nearly three
hundred cubits long.
I shrugged, not really having thought about it.
Good thing it s only a day and a half. I d hate to go to Hamor on this.
That would take nearly two eight-days.
Tamra stood by herself further down the rail toward the bow. I walked away
from Myrten and stood next to her. She said nothing, just looked up at the
black wall overlooking the harbor area, much as I had first looked at that
same wall, wondering how it could look so insignificant from behind and so
imposing from the waterfront.
Are you all right? I tried to keep my voice low.
Does it matter? She sounded tired.
Yes.
Why?
I didn t know what to say. & Because.
She didn t say anything. She just kept looking from the harbor wall to the
hill wall and back again.
After a while, I eased away, thinking she wanted to be alone.
Oh& sorry& In backing up, I backed into Wrynn.
Since it s only you, Lerris&
I thought she was joking, but held up my free right hand, since I was still
holding on to my staff with my left. I apologize.
We ll accept, added Krystal with a soft smile. She didn t giggle.
All right! interrupted Isolde. Let s get your gear stowed. Follow us.
Wrynn shrugged. Krystal and I both shrugged back. All three of us followed
Isolde and another officer-the officers were all taller than the crew, and had
yellow collars on their sleeveless shirts-aft and down a narrow wooden
staircase. The sailors all called it a ladder.
I ll bunk with Sammel, Lerris, and Myrten, announced Isolde. We ll take
the first cabin.
Myrten s face went blank, as did Dorthae s. I thought Wrynn and Krystal
nodded, but couldn t see for sure in the dimly-lit passageway.
The cabin was the size of a large pantry with four built-in bunks, two on
each side, one above the other. Each bunk had a thin pallet covered with a
faded linen sheet and a folded brown blanket-no other covers. The floor space
between the bunks was less than three cubits. A single porthole graced the
outboard side, opposite the door.
Two lockers fitted side-by-side under each lower bunk.
Isolde threw her pack on the top outboard bunk. Lerris, you re the most
agile. Why don t you take the other top bunk?
Since it wasn t really a question, I put my pack up on the other top bunk.
You can use the lockers. No one on the ship will steal anything. She
glanced at me. Please leave the staff on your bunk until we land.
Always the staff. I tucked it next to the pallet, then squeezed my pack
into one of the lockers. Sammel eased his smaller pack into the other one.
Myrten was shaking his head as he knelt to get into the other locker.
Is it all right if we go back on deck? I asked.
Of course. Just stay out of the crew s way.
So I went back up the ladder.
Whufff& whuff& Through the timbers I could feel the steam engine, as if the
ship had come alive. A helmsman stood at the wheel on the bridge, flanked by a
silvered and weathered man I took to be the captain, since his entire shirt
was yellow.
Lines aboard!
Lines aboard, sir!
Page 55
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Clang!
Pressure on the boilers! Stand by for paddles.
Thwap& splat& thwap& Slowly, ever so slowly, the paddles began to turn as
the Eidolon eased off the pier.
I nearly tiptoed to the rail to watch the Eidolons departure.
Tamra stood by the same point on the rail as when I had left her. She must
have gone below because both her staff and pack were absent, but her posture
was the same.
With its black slate roofs, black streets, and black walls lit by the low
western sun, and with the grass hidden behind walls, Nylan looked more than
ever like a brooding fortress rising from the sea. Nothing reflected the
reddish near-setting sun, except the water itself. In a way, the scene
reminded me of one I d seen in one of my father s history books-the White City
of Frven, under the chaos-masters. But Frven had been all white, and it had
perished. Nylan endured, its black order stolidly guarding Recluce.
A shimmer of distorted air caught the corner of my eye, and I turned my
head to see one of the long and mastless black boats of the Brotherhood
trailing the Eidolon. A single narrow .turret gun bore on the Nordlan ship,
shifting slightly as the Brotherhood ship easily drew up and took station on
the Eidolon s stern.
You do that so easily. Tamra s voice was pitched to me, barely carrying
the three cubits between us.
Do what?
See the unseen.
I shrugged. I never thought whether it was easy or hard. I just looked. It
is a strange-looking ship, though.
It s not really fair, you know. The redhead s voice was expressionless,
so expressionless that I felt colder than the sea breeze whipping through my
tunic should have made me feel. They don t care how hard you try. They don t
care how much you learn. They don t care.
I edged closer. The Brotherhood, you mean?
They don t love. You re the child of one of the high temple masters. You
don t swallow their beliefs, and they throw you out younger than anyone else.
*
High temple master-my father?
The Brotherhood ship increased its speed and veered toward the right,
pulling up beside the Eidolon. The impression of order and power pounded at me
from more than a hundred cubits away.
You don t even know, do you? Is that fair?
No. But they don t go by what s fair, Tamra. It s already pretty clear to
me that they go by what works. If we get in the way& then we go.
She turned to me, and her face was white. You agree with that? Each word
was evenly spaced, dropping like a hammer on a forge.
I wanted to step back, but the ship lurched, and, instead, I grabbed the
railing. The Eidolon had passed the breakwater, and the waves were higher.
Thwup, thwup, thwup& thwup, thwup, thwup& The paddles churned, dipping into
the water with increasing speed, and a heavier and thicker plume of whitish
smoke billowed from the stack.
& foresail& Sailors were scurrying over the masts as well, releasing and
adjusting the canvas of the sails. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]