by Martha Wells
“Yes, I think it must be your Lord Engal, for now,” Rani said, thinking it over. “If he has no solutions, we'll have to think of one for ourselves. And I wish to retrieve Kenar as soon as possible.” She paused on the landing to confide to Emilie, “Men are not good left on their own, you know. They pine.”
Emilie had never heard that before and the thought kept her occupied all the way down the stairs.
Getting to the harbor was just as difficult as Emilie had suspected it might be, even with Rani's help.
Rani knew what direction they had to go in, but when they came to the edge of the empty area, there were too many merpeople between them and the waters of the harbor. Merpeople swimming in the waterways, towing little rafts piled with bundled goods, merpeople walking along the bridges and the galleries. The light was starting to get that edged quality that meant the Dark Wanderer was bringing the night eclipse, and Emilie thought this might be the rush to get home before dark, or to get the last things done for the end of the working day.
She was glad she had decided to try to rescue Rani and Miss Marlende, and hadn't fled alone toward the harbor for help; not only would Lord Ivers have been able to leave with both of them in his airship, but Emilie would have become hopelessly lost and recaptured by the merpeople.
Rani left Emilie to hide in an enclosed passage in the last empty building, and made several forays to check on different possible routes. Emilie sat on the cool smooth floor, washed her boots off in a little pool, and worried. Her stomach was also starting to growl; it had been a long time since breakfast. She had also had time to feel her bruises from being manhandled into the sack; her arms looked like she had put them into a vice.
Rani returned finally, surfacing in the pool suddenly and giving Emilie a start. “It's not good news,” Rani reported, and slung herself out of the water to sit on the platform. “The harbor area must be the most crowded part of the city. I think we must wait until dark before we try to make it to the docks.”
“That's not long, though, is it?” Emilie asked, trying not to sound as weary and anxious as she actually was. “Maybe another hour?”
“Not long.” Rani absently wrung out her long braids. “Your Lord Engal's ship would not travel at night, would it?”
“Um, yes. It has spotlights. We've been traveling at night all along, because we wanted to find Dr. Marlende and you all as quickly as possible.” Emilie bit her lip. “You think the Queen might have made them leave already?”
“Ah.” Rani frowned, preoccupied, but she said reassuringly, “We'll see. Perhaps we'll be lucky.”
Emilie thought Rani was probably an optimist.
About an hour later, the complete darkness of the eclipse settled in, and they crept out of hiding. Lamps, burning oil that smelled vaguely fishy, had been lit along some of the waterways and bridges, but most of the byways were dark. Rani moved silently over the walkways, giving wide berth to the lighted areas, leading them toward the docks.
Emilie was relieved to be moving. The wait for darkness had worn on her nerves, though at least the anxiety had kept her awake. It had been a long time since her last good night's sleep, as well as a long time since breakfast. At one point Rani had demanded, “What is that noise? Is that you?”
“It's my stomach,” Emilie had replied defensively. She had noticed that Rani didn't speak Menaen as readily as Kenar; she thought that was because Kenar had been with Miss Marlende, probably talking himself hoarse to help her convince Lord Engal of what had to be done to come to Dr. Marlende's rescue, while Rani had been locked up with not much of anyone to speak with. “Doesn't your stomach grumble when you're hungry?”
“Yes, but not that loud. No one's stomach is that loud.”
Now Emilie was almost willing to believe she was right, and hoped her stomach didn't alert any merpeople swimming through the dark water below them. She had kept her boots off in case they had to swim, tying them together and looping them around her neck, and the smooth stone was cool underfoot.
They came down a narrow walkway above a deep canal, and out onto the docks, under the shelter of the lower level of the big gallery. It was quiet except for the breeze on the water, and this part of the gallery smelled of the bundles of wet reeds stacked and piled everywhere. There were more lamps lit here, illuminating the piers that ran out into the water. Rani drew Emilie forward, using the reed bundles as cover, to where they could look out over the ships.
Emilie's heart sank immediately, but she still squinted, studying the piers, the place she was sure the Sovereign had been anchored. But the Sovereign would have been the most obvious thing in the crowded harbor, with all its running lights lit. “Not there?” Rani asked quietly.
Emilie shook her head, unexpectedly and stupidly feeling tears well up. They had known this was a possibility. She swallowed hard and managed to say, “No, it's gone.”
“Hmm. Then we go with the other plan. Wait here.” Rani ghosted away down the gallery before Emilie could say, “What other plan?”
Emilie crouched on the cool stone, waiting. She heard merpeople talking somewhere nearby and flinched, but after a moment it was obvious they were on the gallery a level or two above, and walking away. She realized she was trying not to bite her nails, recalled that her aunt was not here to remonstrate with her about it, and that she could bite them as much as she liked. It was a relief to her abused nerves.
Rani finally returned with a net bag slung over her shoulder. “This way,” she whispered, and they went the other way down the gallery, away from the lighted piers. Emilie wanted to ask where they were going, but was afraid their voices might carry over the water. If one of the merpeople in the gallery heard a conversation of more than a few words, they might realize they were hearing a strange language and give the alarm.
They left the shelter of the gallery and were heading toward the far side of the harbor. It was so dark, Emilie couldn't make out much, but when she tripped over a coil of rope and stumbled on a ramp, she realized they were passing the taller piers where the big barges had been docked. Had been docked. Now that she looked, she could see the empty water glinting faintly between the dark shapes of the piers. She tapped Rani on the back, and whispered as softly as possible, “The barges are gone.”
Rani stopped, leaned back to cup her hand around Emilie's ear and say softly, “They've gone with your ship, after the nomads.”
Oh, no, Emilie thought. They must have left when the Sovereign was forced to go, sometime this afternoon. When Rani started to pull away, she caught her arm and whispered, “Where are we going?”
“After them,” Rani replied.
Oh. Startled, Emilie followed Rani through the dark. Good, she thought.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Past the big barge piers, Rani turned and stepped down onto a platform at the water level. From the dim glow of the lights on the gallery, Emilie could just make out the shapes of small boats, no bigger than the rowboats that plied the village pond at home, tied up along it. Rani selected one, motioned for Emilie to climb in, and began to untie it.
Emilie managed to clamber in and sit down on the narrow seat running down the center without flipping the boat over, though it was a near thing. The hull was made of something as light as straw; it must be dried reeds. Rani cast off, and stepped in to push away from the pier. She took a seat in the back, dumping her net bag in the bottom of the boat. Something poked Emilie in the back, and she twisted around to take the paddle Rani was handing her.
They paddled as quietly as possible, Rani guiding them out of the harbor, away from the city. The dark was so complete they had to navigate by brushing against the stands of reeds that bordered the outlying islands. After a time Emilie made out isolated lights that must be burning in the windows of the occasional outlying settlements; she hoped that Rani knew where they were going, because Emilie was completely lost.
Finally, when the lights of the city were a good distance behind them, Rani said, “We must stop for a moment.”
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Relieved, Emilie pulled her paddle in, and stretched her neck and back. She turned around, listening to Rani rummage in the net bag. Then Rani handed her a heavy soft object. It felt like a big peach. Emilie said hopefully, “Fruit?”
“Yes. You can eat the peel.” She crunched into one herself, and Emilie hastily followed suit. It was sweet, with the texture of an apple, but the inside was thicker and more filling. She hoped the sack was full to bursting.
Rani rummaged in the bag again, and Emilie heard a faint clank of metal. Then a small flame sparked and she saw Rani was lighting a lamp with a big matchstick. Or it looked like a matchstick, except that it sparked blue and didn't smell of sulfur. “There, that will make our journey a little easier.” She handed Emilie the lamp.
Emilie took it and stretched forward to hang it on the hook above the bow. Swallowing the last bite of fruit, she asked, “How do we know where the nomads are?” She remembered that Rani had escaped before the nomads had reached their final destination.
“This.” Rani pulled off one of her necklaces, and handed it to Emilie. She couldn't see detail in the dark, but it felt like a piece of soft round stone. Rani said, “Spit on it and rub your thumb over it.”
Emilie followed instructions. After a moment, light gleamed inside the stone, forming an arrow. It swung around like a compass, pointing toward Emilie's right. She looked up, smiling, and handed it back. “A magic compass?”
Rani looped it around her neck again. “Dr. Marlende made it, and gave it to me in case our ships became separated. It shows the way to find him, wherever he is.” She leaned over to feel along the side of the boat, where a long reed wrapped in cloth was clipped to the hull. She lifted it up, and Emilie realized it was a sail. “The Queen's ships will have to search around for the nomads, even if her spies know roughly where they have taken our friends. With the compass, we can beat them there.” She added more quietly, “I hope.”
Emilie shifted around on the seat to help her hold the pole steady while Rani got it fixed into the base mounted to the bottom of the boat. She had almost forgotten that Dr. Marlende was a sorcerer, like Dr. Barshion. Except better, apparently. “I wish he'd given one to Kenar. At least then we could have dealt with the nomads and skipped the Queen.”
Rani tossed Emilie another piece of fruit. “He didn't have to. Jerom had the magic of his own, to find us.” She hesitated. “Jerom is not with your ship?”
Emilie hesitated. She hadn't told Rani that part yet. “No, he died, I'm sorry. It was more dangerous than they thought it would be. But Kenar got through it all right.”
“I see.” Rani sounded pensive. She was silent for a time, finishing her second piece of fruit and tossing the rind into the water. She said finally, “I think your people are a little more delicate than us. And perhaps the ease of their journey down here made Marlende and Jerom incautious.”
Emilie thought that was very likely. “Our journey was easy up to the point where the engine stopped working and we would have been crushed to death if we hadn't been so close to the Hollow World already.”
Rani snorted with wry amusement. “That sounds typical. Now...” She stretched out the light fabric of the sail, fixing it to the lower reed. “If we can get this to work the way it's supposed to, we can make better time.”
With Emilie to hold things and help tie the light seaweed-braided ropes, Rani got the sail rigged. It caught the breeze and they began to move, skimming lightly over the water.
They sailed through the night, sometimes having to stop and use the paddles to get the boat through a narrow island channel, or through stands of tall reeds. Emilie knew she was lucky the boat was light and easy to paddle, and that there seemed to be no strong current to fight. The wind was light but steady, full of the scent of the sea, and the jasmine-like fragrance of the reeds. When Emilie's stomach started to growl again, Rani passed out more food from her bag, including some pieces of dried fish that tasted salty-sweet. It wasn't entirely pleasant, but it gave Emilie the energy to carry on.
For a while, at least. They had been passing through an empty stretch of water for some time, with no islands or obstructions that required them to use the paddles. Emilie caught herself slumping forward. The second time, her forehead banged her knees before she woke up. Behind her, Rani said, “Sleep, before you fall out of the boat.”
Groggy, Emilie rubbed her eyes. “What about you?”
Rani chuckled. “After too many days as Lord Ivers' prisoner, with nothing to do but sit or sleep, I could go on forever.”
Emilie was sure even Rani couldn't go on forever, but she appreciated the chance to sleep. She shifted around in the bow, easing down to the bottom of the boat, and put her head down on the seat. She was asleep instantly.
It took them a day and a night of sailing, just Emilie and Rani, out on the sea. When daylight returned, they stopped at a small island with a spring, so Rani could refill the clay water jug in the bottom of the boat. Rani gave Emilie a small knife she had managed to find along the dock, and Emilie used it to cut some dried reeds. Once they were underway again, she wove sunhats for them both.
The hats made the glare off the water bearable, though at least the wind was cool and the sun down here in the Hollow World didn't seem as bright or as hot as the one above the surface. Emilie would never have thought that weaving sunhats, a skill gained during long summer afternoons at her aunt's sedate garden parties, would come in this handy.
They passed islands with strange spiny trees, which rustled with all sorts of animal life, and long-legged bright blue water birds standing amid the reeds in the shallows. They saw crumbling towers and halls and other remnants of the old Sealands Empire. And sometimes there were waterspouts in the distance, which Rani said might be caused by some sort of large sea life.
At one point, after they had to use the paddles to guide the boat through a maze of sandbars, Rani said thoughtfully, “You know, I think this thing is even better than I thought.”
Emilie twisted around to see her examining the compass. She lifted her hat to wipe the sweat off her forehead. “Why?”
“I noticed it was taking us on a route through the islands that was too quick to be luck. Then it led us on the best path through these sandbars; if I had used my own judgment, we'd have run aground and had to go all the way around the other end of the island to get here.” Rani slipped the thong around her neck again. “I think it shows the way, the best turns and twists, to get to Dr. Marlende, and not just the direction toward him.”
It made sense. “It's the aether,” Emilie said. “Aether's in everything: air, land, water. I bet that's a bit like an aether-navigator, only it's using the aether currents to find Dr. Marlende.”
Rani lifted her brows. “You study this stuff too?”
“No, not really. I just read about it; in the Lord Rohiro novels.”
“Now which one is Lord Rohiro?”
So Emilie told her about Lord Rohiro's adventures, which occupied the next few hours.
Emilie learned a lot about Rani’s past adventures, too. They had been traveling for a long time, and had been crew together on Rani's mother's ship before Rani had grown up and acquired the Lathi. They had gone to some exceedingly strange places, and the stories about the sinking islands and the people who lived inside giant, dead-sea creatures would have sounded made-up, if Emilie hadn't known better.
Rani also taught Emilie how to hold the tiller and the sail to keep them on course, so they could keep going while Rani slept. Emilie would never have thought she would do something like this, sailing a small boat, let alone voyaging over an otherworldly sea, guiding it with a sorcerer's compass. Being so close to the water, dependent only on herself and Rani, mostly Rani, for safety, was very different from being aboard the Sovereign.
In all, she was enjoying the trip immensely, except for the fact that all their friends were in danger. Emilie knew she should feel guilty about that. But she had never done anything like this before, and the sea and sk
y and the islands were endlessly diverting, providing a constant distraction from their predicament.
They were both awake by the time the next eclipse passed on, and Emilie, squinting at the horizon in the gradually brightening light, was the first to say, “Land!”
“I see,” Rani said thoughtfully. “I think we are there, Emilie.”
Emilie hoped so. The island ahead stretched for some distance, and was higher than the others in this region. From this vantage point, it looked like the shore was lined with rocky cliffs, topped with tall dark green vegetation. If this wasn't their destination, Emilie didn't know how they were going to get their little boat around it. “How do you know?”
Rani, her hands occupied with the sail and the tiller, jerked her chin toward the starboard side. “Because I think that is one of the Queen's barges, over there. We did not beat them here, after all.”
Emilie looked, staring hard, knowing by now that Rani's eyes were sharper than hers. After a moment, she made out the dim gray-blue shapes, long and low, in the water toward the far end of the island. She could barely see them, but the good thing was, she didn't think anyone aboard would be able to spot their tiny boat. She thought she saw the sun glinting off something metallic, and said, “Can you see the Sovereign?”
“I see something big and coppery; I think that must be it.” Rani grimaced, tipping her straw hat back. “But it is surrounded by the barges, so that's one of our plans in the crap hole.”
Rani's language was also a bit more earthy than Kenar's, something else Emilie liked about her. They had talked about possibly sneaking aboard the Sovereign, once they located it, and joining forces with Lord Engal and Kenar and the others. They could warn them about Lord Ivers, and tell them that Miss Marlende was aboard his airship, heading toward the surface, and not a hostage to the Queen. “You don't think we could sneak aboard it?”
