Fire Sail

by Piers Anthony

  “You’ve got it wrong,” Santo said. “That’s angle, not angel.”

  “Oh, a wiseguy,” the swordsman said. But he was shaken by the change in his basis. “We’ll wipe you out!” Then the two of them charged.

  “Make another hole!” Win shrieked.

  Santo did, though he had energy for only a brief one. They dived through it, barely escaping the sword and glue. They landed about a hundred feet away. The feet quickly scattered, fleeing through a crowd of hands.

  “Look!” Win cried. “In the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plain.”

  “You mean plane,” Squid said.

  “No, it’s a boat,” Santo said. “The one we’re supposed to board.”

  They ran for the craft as it came down for a landing. Santo was staggering; that third hole had really gutted him. But he hung on, determined to make the connection this time.

  “And that’s how it was,” Win concluded.

  “And now I think we understand,” Nia agreed. “Certainly your talent is proving to be useful, and surely Santo’s will be also.” She paused, reflecting, or at least stopping the light that struck her. “What is Squid’s talent? That’s a funny name for a girl.”

  “She’s not a girl. I told you, she’s an octopus. So she doesn’t have a magic talent.”

  “This is a figure of speech?” Nia asked. “She certainly looks like a girl.”

  “Uh-oh,” Merrie murmured. “I smell a storm.”

  Dell looked. There was a nasty dark cloud on the horizon to the side.

  “That’s Fracto,” the peeve said. “Always looking to rain on someone’s parade. Better stay clear.”

  They tried to avoid the cloud, but it zoomed in determinedly, growing larger and sending out nasty jagged lightning bolts. Grania angled the craft up to pass over it, but the storm formed an anvil reaching up so high they couldn’t get enough air to breathe. So she angled downward to pass under it, but the rain came pouring down on them. It was trying to douse the fire sail!

  And glanced off without striking them or the boat or sail. “What happened?” Dell asked, amazed.

  “Oh, it’s the shield,” the peeve said. “I forgot to mention it. It protects the boat from mischief like bad weather.”

  They looked out past the shield, where rain was sluicing down and buffets of wind were blasting at the boat. The weather couldn’t get at them directly, but it was pushing the boat to the side, shield and all.

  “Too late to find a safe harbor,” Nia said. “We’d better just wait it out here in the sky. Eventually the storm will get tired of its game.”

  The others agreed. Grania lashed the rudder in place, while Dell furled the sail and folded the mast down, tying it too. “Drop the anchor,” the peeve suggested.

  “But we’re in midair!” Dell protested.

  “Doesn’t matter. It can hold in vapor.”

  They tried it. The anchor dropped straight down out of sight. The chain went taut, holding the boat in place. Their respect for the boat went up another notch.

  Then they all went belowdecks.

  Where it was perfectly calm. The boat was being rocked about, but the yacht section was stable. It really was a remarkable craft.

  Nia went to check on the two sleeping children. Squid was alert. “He’ll be another day,” she said. “It’s a great talent, but it does take a lot out of him.”

  “You need to eat, Squid,” Win reminded her.

  “I’ll wait until I can hunt in water. I don’t really like regular human food.”

  “There’s raw fish in the icebox,” the peeve said.

  So there was. The child gladly snacked on a cold fish.

  “You,” Nia said. “What are you, really?”

  “I’m an alien cuttlefish,” Squid said between mouthfuls. “I got caught when my future broke up, and Astrid rescued me along with the others, and Kandy and Ease adopted me. I can’t go home, so I’m trying to make it in the human society.”

  Was this childish imagination? “Could you show us?” Dell asked.

  “Oh, sure.” Then the child’s arms each separated into two tentacles, and so did her legs, so that she now had eight limbs. “I’m more comfortable in water, but I can make it landside,” her bulbous head said.

  “Let’s go swimming together, when the storm passes,” Merrie exclaimed. “Along with Tata Dogfish.”

  “Sure. As soon as I know Santo is okay. He couldn’t sleep well if he didn’t know I was watching.”

  Dell liked their loyalty to each other. In fact he was coming to like all three children, now that he knew more about them. They should be good crew members.

  “You need to sleep now too,” Nia told Win. “Using your talent surely takes energy from you too, and you need to recover.”

  “You’re not my mother!” the child flared. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “I’m not your grandmother either,” Grania said evenly. “But your folks are trusting us to supervise you, all three of you, and we shall do it. Now get to bed.”

  “That’s the voice of authority,” Squid said. “You know you have to do it, Win. She’s a grandmother.”

  “Aw, I guess,” Win said reluctantly. She went to bed and was soon asleep. Dell had the impression that this was the way she really preferred it to be. He realized that he really didn’t understand children, for all that it hadn’t been that long ago that he was a child himself. Fortunately it was clear that Nia did understand them.

  The storm lasted for hours. Squid got Santo up so he could have some food before resting again. It was clear that she was solicitous, and that he accepted her as his caring sister, even knowing she was an alien creature.

  “There are life lessons to be learned, just watching this seeming family,” Grania murmured to Dell. He could only agree.

  They checked every hour, opening the hatch just enough to verify that the storm still raged. “Use the periscope,” the peeve suggested.

  “The what?” Dell asked.

  This turned out to be a magic mirror oriented on the prow of the boat that made an image in the yacht below. They could see the rain blasting past. They could make it turn to watch in other directions, even back at the boat itself.

  Darkness came outside. Dell shared a stateroom with Nia, Merrie shared one with Ula, and the three children shared a third.

  Dell carried Merrie to the sanitary alcove before retiring himself. “If you wish to join me for the night,” she murmured, “I’m sure Ula would be glad to share with Nia.”

  The temptation raged within him like the storm outside. He concluded that absolute candor was best. “I’m young and inexperienced, especially with women. I’d love to be with one, but I don’t know what she would want of me. I mean something I can’t give, like to take the boat. What do you really want?”

  “I don’t actually want anything, except to be dropped off in due course by a suitable new river. But I appreciate that you don’t dare trust anyone you don’t thoroughly know. I would be happy with a casual affair en route, without emotional commitment. But I fear that that would not be possible for you. If you nighted with me now, you would fall in love with me, and want to keep me forever, and it just wouldn’t work. You’re a land creature; I’m a water creature; neither of us would be comfortable very long in the other’s environment. So we can’t be together permanently, and I fear that means we can’t be together temporarily either. I’m so sorry.”

  So was he. But she was right. His heart was already pounding with her mere presence, as it had when he was with Zephyr. Until such time as he could handle his rioting emotions, he needed to stay clear. He nodded as he set her down on the bed.

  “But I think we can afford to risk one kiss,” she said. “Then you must go before we both start bawling.”

  “Yes.”

  “Close your eyes and do it.”r />
  They kissed, and it felt as if he were floating the way the boat did, with his sail on fire. Then it ended, and he was back on the deck, his eyes wet. He saw that hers were wet too. She really had wanted to be with him, but not to take possession of his heart. She truly was a good girl, and that was their problem.

  “Good night, Lydell,” she whispered as he walked away. He was too choked up to respond.

  “Bleep,” Nia said as he joined her. “But she’s right: you couldn’t risk it. It’s an irony that you could have taken a girl you knew was bad, but not one you knew was good.”

  “When will I ever find the right one for me?” he asked tearfully.

  “In matters like this, you just have to have faith that there will be one eventually, and you will meet her, and know her when you do.”

  He didn’t argue with her, but his faith was weak. Still, he was glad that she was there to help steer him right.

  In the morning the storm had passed. They breakfasted, all seven of them, plus bird and dogfish, then went topside to look about.

  The region was completely strange. It seemed that by the time they anchored, they had already been blown far off course, whatever their course might have been. They could see the landscape below, but none of them recognized it. They were effectively lost.

  They steered down to a fair-sized lake, landing on it with a splash. Then Merrie, Squid, and Tata jumped in and disappeared under the surface, joyfully swimming together.

  Merrie glanced at her companions. Both were quite different from the norm. Tata was a robot dogfish who seemed to know a lot more than he let on, while Squid was actually a, well, a squid. Now in her natural state Squid swam well, taking in gulps of water and squirting them out forcefully so that she zipped backward through the lake. Tata, in contrast, dog-paddled, but moved along well enough even when wholly underwater.

  “Where to?” Merrie inquired in sign language.

  “Anywhere,” Squid signaled with a tentacle.

  Tata’s screen showed a map with one section starred.

  “To the star,” Merrie agreed. What did the dogfish have in mind? She fluked to the surface for a breath of air, then descended again. She could swim a long way on a lungful. Her companions could swim farther, of course, because Squid had gills and Tata had, well, something. He left a small trail of hot bubbles behind him that smelled like a mundane motor.

  They swam to the site. On the way Merrie saw two mermen playing tag. So this lake had sea folk in it. That was nice. But she couldn’t just swim up to them; she needed to have her own base, where they could come to see her, per merfolk protocol.

  Merrie tasted the water. It was the mouth of a river emptying into the lake; she could tell by the faint flavor of saliva. There was no hint of any merfolk in it; that meant it was an unoccupied tributary. Which meant in turn—

  “Tata!” she exclaimed in bubbles. “You found me a vacant river! Thank you!” She kissed him on his screen.

  The dogfish blushed, which was a good trick for metal and plastic, not denying it.

  “How did you know where to find it?”

  Now a picture of Princess Eve appeared on the kiss-smudged screen. Oh. That was right: she could tell anything about the inanimate she touched, and Tata had been touching the water. So maybe it was the Princess she should have thanked. But why had she bothered?

  Regardless, she could hardly wait to tell Nia and Dell the good news. She had hitchhiked a ride on the marvelous boat for this purpose, and now she was there.

  Why did she fear that Dell would not be completely pleased with the discovery?

  Chapter 5

  Royal Wedding

  “It’s nice here,” Ula said. “I wish I could stay.”

  “Not alone,” Nia said firmly. “We need to find you, well, maybe a suitable family.”

  “I mean here on the boat, with you. You’re nice folk.”

  Nia shook her head. “We’re not a family. We’re just two people performing a mission. When it’s done, we’ll go our separate ways.”

  “Oh.” The girl was plainly disappointed.

  “Boobs ahoy!” the peeve sang out. “They’re back.”

  Merrie’s head and shoulders appeared in the water beside the boat. “They’re not on my back, bird-bill. Look again.”

  The peeve shut up; for once it had been verbally outmaneuvered.

  The three swimmers scrambled aboard. Dell put out a helping hand and the mermaid took it, managing to give him a good frontal contact in the process. Now he knew that wasn’t accidental; her seeming clumsiness had seductive design. He hardly objected.

  “I found a river,” Merrie murmured in his ear.

  “There are several feeding into this lake,” he said. “We saw them on the way down.” Then he made the connection. “For you!”

  “For me,” she agreed. “But I don’t have to go there right away. We could still have a night together, like a goodbye kiss, if you wish.”

  Once again he was torn. “I do wish, but I think I mustn’t do it. You know why.”

  “Yes, I understand.” She kissed his ear. “Set me on a bench, please.”

  He did so, his emotions churning. At least he knew better than to jump into the storm.

  “Now all we need to do is get our bearings and find the Royal Wedding,” Nia said. “Maybe Tata can make a new map.”

  “There is no need. This is the place.”

  They turned to look. There was a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a small gold crown, standing on the deck. Dell recognized her because of the picture he had seen, the one that winked. “Princess Eve!” he exclaimed.

  Tata printed a WOOF and ran to her. She picked him up and held him fondly in her arms. Obviously it really was her.

  The others were awed into silence. Except for the peeve. “How’d you get here, Princess, since your magic is inanimate information, not conjuration?”

  “My husband helped.”

  “Pluto. Sure,” the bird agreed.

  “Perhaps I should introduce the situation to the others,” Eve said. “But let’s do it below, where there is more room.” Indeed, the small deck was crowded.

  They went below, Dell carrying Merrie with the usual delight and frustration. Soon they were seated in the main cabin, in a circle facing the Princess. Dell knew he was not the only one almost overwhelmed by amazement.

  Eve stroked Tata, who now rested happily on her lap. “As you know, my friend here keeps me informed,” she said. “This is in part at the request of the Good Magician, who wants to be sure that Fibot is not lost or damaged. Fortunately no intervention has been necessary.” She paused to look around. “I know who all of you are. For the record, I am Princess Eve, otherwise known as the Queen of Hades. My sister Dawn will attend, and three other princesses. It is to be a small private ceremony, for a reason I will explain in due course. All of you will be witnesses, and one of you will actually conduct the ceremony. That is either you, Lydell, or you, Grania, as you have the authority as co-captains of the boat. Do you have a preference as to which one?”

  “Not me!” Dell said, horrified by the notion. “I know nothing about weddings, and less about royal ones. I never even met a princess, before you.”

  “Then it will be you, Grania,” Eve said, seeming unsurprised. “Agreed?”

  Nia seemed nonplussed. “I suppose I could; I am familiar with the process. But it would help to know who is getting married.”

  “We will get to that soon. First I want to settle the details.” Eve glanced at Win. “You will be the flower girl.”

  “Wow!” Win said, delighted.

  Eve looked at Dell. “You will be Best Man.”

  Dell felt weak kneed. “Uh, for whom?”

  “All in good time. Merrie, you will be Maid of Honor. You may also sing for the occasion.”

  “But
—but my tail—”

  “You will not have to move about. Dell will set you up properly.” She glanced on. “Santo, you will be the Ring Bearer.”

  “But I’m—”

  “Your social orientation has nothing to do with this.” Evidently she knew. “Squid, you will be a bridesmaid.”

  “But I’m not even—”

  “Gender is all that matters here, not species. Tata and Peeve, you will be witnesses.”

  “Sure thing,” the peeve agreed readily, and the dogfish wagged his tail.

  Eve now focused on the last girl. “Ula, you have a rather unusual role.”

  “I do?” the girl asked. “But I’m just an orphan child, here mostly by accident and the kindness of my rescuers. I don’t belong in any royal wedding.”

  “Ah, but you do belong. There will be a very special visitor. She can’t attend physically, but will in spirit. She needs a host her age. Her name is Kadence. She will, with your acquiescence, join you and thus become physical for this occasion. This will not harm you in any way; it will merely make you be a spectator rather than a participant. You are of course free to decline the honor, but we would really appreciate it if you accept.”

  Ula’s face brightened. “Being useful in a way no one expects! My talent! That’s why I’m here.”

  “That is why you are here,” Eve agreed.

  “Yes! Yes, I’ll do it. When will she arrive?”

  “She is here now, as of your agreement. You will have time to get to know her before the ceremony.” Eve smiled. “Ula, meet Kadence. Kadence, meet your host Ula.”

  Ula stood there. An odd expression crossed her face. In fact her whole aspect changed, so that she looked like a completely different child in the same body. Then she smiled—and it wasn’t exactly her. “Hello, folks. I am Princess Kadence. Thank you for inviting me here; I am very glad to see this marriage happen. It makes a huge difference to me.”

  The others looked at her, nonplussed. A nine-year-old princess?