Foundations Broken and Built

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “I didn’t know you had company,” she apologized.

  “See!” Mata cried. “This is what I was just saying!”

  “Gwen, would you tell the princess I’ll see her later today?” Silas immediately asked.

  “I’ll pass along the message,” Gwen agreed, sizing up the dynamics in the room before she quickly departed.

  “You and the princess are close, aren’t you?” Mata immediately asked.

  “We spent time together in the mountains, and I have been a fighter for her. She knows I’m a weapon she can use,” Silas tried to be as diplomatic as possible, but realized there was truth in his words. The princess had shown a disciplined determination to use him and everyone else who could help her during the fight to regain control of the island from Ivaric. But she also did show a tenderness towards him unlike anything he had observed her demonstrate towards anyone else. And he had feelings about her too.

  “I heard she went to check on you a lot when you were lying unconscious, before the sprites took you away,” Mata discarded Silas’s avoidance of the question.

  “They weren’t sprites; they were imps. They’re a lot like sprites but a little different,” Silas corrected the girl.

  “That’s not the point. You haven’t answered the question. You’re in love with the princess, aren’t you?” Mata asked.

  “Mata, I am in love with you,” Silas replied, but the answer felt weak, an equivocation. “Princess Lumene is trying so hard to fight the same fight I am,” he tried to answer differently, and honestly, “I care about seeing her succeed, and be happy.”

  “And how far will you go to make her happy?” Mata asked.

  Silas was silent for a long moment.

  “Where’s Tagg?” he asked.

  “What’s Tagg got to do with this?” Mata asked defensively.

  “I don’t know,” Silas answered. “You tell me – does he have something to do with this?”

  “I’m going to leave now,” Mata stood up. “You can go see the princess. You should leave Tagg alone; he’s done nothing wrong. He’s been a friend when I’ve needed someone to help me. It was his idea that I should come talk to you, and that may have been the best or the worst thing he’s done for me,” she said indefinably, then left the room.

  “Oh gods,” Silas muttered as he flopped back onto the bed and lay sprawled halfway upon the mattress.

  He was upset. He felt upset with Mata, and with himself, and with Lumene even, for having made her way into his heart. He stood up and left his room, but instead of going to see the princess, he took the unobtrusive passage that led to the Speaker’s tower, and he climbed to the top of the decapitated structure. The top of the tower, which had once upon a time been a comfortable room, before the goddess Kai had swept away the roof and walls, remained just as Silas remembered it had been during his time of generating the great storm that had destroyed the Ivaric fleet. He stood atop the tower, alone, brooding over his circumstances.

  He felt turmoil in his heart, turmoil of his own making. He inexplicably remembered the words of Krusima, who had told him his powers had grown comparatively weak – weaker than they had been in Faralag – because his heart was torn and uncertain. That was without a doubt an understatement, he thought as he wore an unconsciously grim smile.

  Silas stared out at the harbor, and the few ships that were sailing in or out. That was what he needed to do, he told himself. He needed to leave all the conflict and heartache of Amenozume behind and be on his way.

  It would be cowardly, he admitted. But it would let him do something. He could easily find himself stalled in Amenozume, trying to decipher what he should do, what would be best to do, and he might end up doing nothing more than breaking the hearts of Mata, Lumene, and himself.

  “Hey! What are you doing up here?” Jimes’s voice startled him, and Silas turned to see that his fellow Speaker had climbed the stairs of the tower.

  “I’m trying to clear my head,” Silas answered.

  “No,” he corrected himself. “I’ve cleared my head.”

  “What does that mean?” Jimes asked curiously.

  “I’m going to go to the mainland and fight Ivaric and L’Anvien,” Silas announced.

  “I know,” Jimes agreed.

  “Now, right now. I’m ready to go,” Silas clarified. “You said you wanted to go with me to start the liberation of Heathrin. Are you ready to go?”

  “Really?” Jimes asked in astonishment. “Right now? Just like that?”

  “I need to leave this place,” Silas offered a brief explanation.

  “Just you and me?” Jimes tried to grasp the situation.

  “No,” Silas said thoughtfully. “We need a couple of others. Let’s go get them and be on our way.”

  “If you say so,” Jimes was caught off-guard by the inexplicable decision by Silas, but he saw no option for him to decline to go with his friend. They walked down the stairs.

  “Do you know where the rebels are staying?” Silas asked in the stairwell.

  “Which rebels?” Jimes tried to clarify.

  “Lexy,” Silas answered. He had suddenly decided he would like to have the bloodthirsty woman at his side, as a second set of eyes and ears to accompany him through the process of setting Avaleen free from Ivaric’s rule.

  “And I want to take Stash too,” he added. He was sure the slippery thief would be useful in maneuvering around the city of Avaleen.

  “You, me, Lexy, and Stash,” Jimes mumbled the names as the pair walked through a palace hall that was little-traveled.

  “Lexy is in the garden near the stables, and Stash could be anywhere,” Jimes directed Silas.

  Silas thought about the garden; he knew precisely where it was. He’d hidden near it and in it during his daring rescue of Lumene, Jade, and Gwen. Lexy had been with him on that adventure, which was perhaps why she had chosen the garden as her new residence inside the palace walls.

  Silas soon found his way to where a small band of the rebels had tents pitched in the garden area. Silas remembered the amorous couple he had accidentally interrupted during the night he had been in the garden; there was no possibility of such covert assignations taking place while two dozen or more rebels occupied the garden, he thought with a melancholy shake of his head.

  “Is Lexy here?” his appearance at the camp stirred excitement among the inhabitants, but he ignored the heads poking out of tents to see him, as he asked the first person he found.

  “She’s in the green tent,” the man replied as he studied Silas’s eyes with fascination. “They really are colored; I thought that was just a story,” he grinned at Silas.

  “They really are colored,” Silas agreed with a returned grin, then he went to Lexy’s tent, with Jimes close on his heels.

  “Lexy? Are you in there?” Silas asked.

  “Go away. She’s busy,” a man’s voice answered.

  Silas paused. Lexy had mentioned taking Card to the mainland as well when she had expressed her interest in going with him, and at the time he hadn’t cared much. Now though, as he considered his impulse for an immediate departure, he felt that Card would slow him down, and he preferred not to have to take the rebel leader.

  The voice inside the tent didn’t sound like Card, but it might have been, in which case Silas might have to relent and let the other rebel join him as well.

  The thoughts and consideration ran through his head in a fraction of a second.

  “I’d like to speak to Lexy, please,” he repeated his request.

  “Just tell them it’s you,” Jimes prompted him quietly. “That’ll bring her out here!”

  “I told you to go away!” the male voice inside the tent roared, and a man with no shirt came charging out of the tent flap, his face angry at the intrusion.

  “Oh lord!” he stopped before he was completely out of the tent, as he recognized the colors of Silas’s eyes.

  “Who is it, Cred?” Lexy’s voice was inside the tent, a tone that was both languid
and annoyed.

  “It’s the Abomination!” Cred replied in a high-pitched voice.

  “You’re a funny man; send whoever it is away and come back in here,” Lexy demanded.

  Silas turned his head and looked at Jimes. He had made his decision to go to the mainland impulsively, and he intended to act just as impulsively. He was driven to leave the island, and he wasn’t going to let anything slow him down. If Lexy was interested in lounging in her tent, he would leave her behind and move on.

  “Never mind,” Silas said. “Let’s go, Jimes,” he turned and walked back to the entrance to the garden.

  “Stash!” he called out using his Wind Word voice. “Stash, this is Silas. I’ve decided to go back to the mainland today, immediately. I’m going to the docks right now. If you want to go with me, meet down at the docks in fifteen minutes,” he broadcast the message to his thieving companion from Avaleen.

  “It’s amazing that you can send your messages to the ordinary people,” Jimes marveled at the action that was beyond the ability of any other Speaker in the Guild.

  “My lord! Lord Silas, wait,” a voice called behind them, and Silas turned to see Lexy running after him, pulling a shirt over her head as she ran. “How can I serve you, my lord?” she asked as she approached.

  Silas stopped and turned, then stood silent for a moment, considering the girl as she arrived before him, breathing heavily, and trying to discreetly tighten her belt. Her usually-combed hair was a picture of disorganization.

  He wondered if he should take her or leave her. She didn’t look like the battle-toughened companion he had come looking for.

  “Why did you come to see me, Lord Silas?” she spoke reverently.

  “I’m going to the mainland to start the next campaign,” Silas decided to tell her, to see what her reaction would be. “I’m going now – right now. You said you wanted to come with me, so I came to see if you were willing to leave.”

  “This afternoon?” Lexy asked in astonishment. “I haven’t heard of the preparations; I haven’t heard a thing at all!”

  “There are no preparations,” Silas answered. “I’m leaving now; it’s my decision. I’ve invited Jimes, and Stash. And I’ll take you too, if you can be ready and can meet me at the docks in ten minutes.”

  “Just a moment! I’ll go get my things and be right with you. And I need to tell Cred and the others good bye, if you can wait,” Lexy frantically tried to convince both Silas and herself that she could make the journey with him.

  “I’ll be down at the docks; if you get there in time, you’ll travel with me,” Silas replied. “Let’s go Jimes,” he gave a nod of his head towards the docks, and he began walking again.

  “I’ll be there!” Lexy called loudly after him, then went racing back to the center of the camp to prepare herself for the trip.

  Silas and Jimes walked around the palace to the gates, and passed through them, walking by the startled guards who offered no objection or even comment on the unexpected appearance by the Abomination. Minutes later, after passing through the city streets, then reached the docks of the city.

  “Where will Stash find us?” Jimes asked.

  “He’ll find us,” Silas said assuredly. “If he wants to go. We just need to go find the ship that will take us to the mainland. Let’s go see the harbor master,” he began to lead the way along the paved passages of the harbor.

  “We have a merchantman bound for Barnesnob on the afternoon tide – about three hours from now,” the master’s office informed Silas. “And another merchantman bound for Shouldteen about the same time. There’s one going to Outpine, on the other continent, if either of those interest you,” the man at the window offered. “Here are their names and berths,” he quickly scribbled the info on a scrap of paper.

  “Where to?” Jimes asked. “You’re not going to Outpine, so which of the others will it be?”

  “Barnesnob,” Silas answered. “We’ll start there. It’ll give us a safe and easy landing. It’s on the third dock, the Seabird,” he read the name of the ship on the paper and began to lead the way.

  “Hello the ship,” he called when they reached the plank that lead from the pier to the deck of the Seabird.

  “Who calls?” an officer asked without looking up from his duties.

  “We want passage to Barnesnob,” Silas answered. “We’ll provide you a faster passage if you take us on.”

  The ship’s officer looked up, puzzled by the ridiculous offer.

  Silas had one foot on the plank, ready to come aboard.

  “What nonsense is this about a faster passage?” the man asked gruffly.

  “Look at his eyes, man!” Jimes exclaimed. “This is the man who sank an entire fleet a month ago. You think he can’t move a ship through the water?”

  “Oh, sea shells!” the man exclaimed as he stared at Silas. “Are the stories true?”

  Silas paused for just a second, then summoned his powers – the first time he had thought to do so since his return from the healing spring and waved his hand negligently through the air in front of his chest, as he focused on a strong breeze around the ship.

  The furled sails began to flap as the air began to move briskly, while waves rose and lapped against the ship’s hull, rocking it moderately, though the other ships in the vicinity remained calmly moored at the dock.

  Silas lowered his hand to calm and end the momentary display of power. It felt good to do it; he realized he felt a smile on his face.

  A line of faces was stretched along the railing of the ship, staring down at him in wonder, he realized, as the men passed quiet stories along from one to the other.

  “You are welcome to board the ship,” a different officer, the captain of the ship, informed Silas. “We are honored to carry you.”

  “And my friends too?” Silas asked.

  “I see one friend,” the captain motioned to Jimes.

  “I’ll have another join us, I believe,” Silas offered.

  “Come one, come all. Give us time to clear a cabin for you and you can come aboard,” the captain assured him.

  “Silas, don’t you go anywhere without us,” Lexy’s voice drifted along the dock as she and Stash hurried through the pedestrian traffic to join their leader.

  “Are you sure you want to make this trip?” Silas asked. “And leave everything – and everyone – behind?”

  “Cred was just someone I met while waiting for this. I don’t have anyone or anything to hold me back,” she said.

  “Where are you taking us?” Stash asked as he arrived at Silas’s side.

  “Come on board,” the ship’s captain called down to them.

  “We’re sailing to Barnesnob, and then we’re going to go to Avaleen and fight against Ivaric,” Silas explained.

  “Why not sail directly to Avaleen?” Stash asked. “You did it last time.”

  “It’s not my ship,” Silas answered with a grin. “I can’t take it away from the officers and the crew.

  “But I can hurry it along to get to Barnesnob faster than usual,” he added.

  The quartet walked up the plank to the deck of the ship.

  “Show them to their quarters,” the captain directed a nearby crew member, and the four were shown to a tiny cabin with two hammocks strung along the side walls.

  “We’ll add two more hammocks for you as soon as we can get the carpenter down here,” the crewman promised. “Do you need two more, or will one be enough?” his eyes flitted to the three men, carefully making no contact with Lexy’s smoldering eyes.

  “Four hammocks,” she said emphatically. “I’ll sleep on my own!”

  Silas thanked the crewman, then went back up to the deck. “Whenever you have all your crew and all your cargo on board, let me know and we can leave the dock – we don’t have to wait for the tide to take us out to sea.”

  The captain looked puzzled momentarily, then assumed a sly grin. “We’ll tip our hand to you as soon as we can,” he answered. “If you can
lend us a hand once we’re out of the harbor.”

  Silas waved a finger of agreement to the officer, and then the four passengers were left alone as they stood by the rail of the ship and looked out over the waters of the harbor while the crew of the ship hustled to prepare for departure.

  “This is sudden,” Lexy commented. “Is there something happening on the mainland that you want to attack?”

  “No,” Silas answered with a sad smile. “Nothing in particular on the mainland; it’s just time to take the next step,” he said. I’m running away from the situation here on the island, he thought to himself.

  “This is Sloeleen, the Speaker of the palace of Amenozume, calling to Silas; Sloeleen is calling Silas. Princess Lumene wants to know where you are and asks you to come see her in the Pearl Room of the palace,” a voice suddenly sounded in Silas’s ears. He turned and saw by the expression on Jimes’s face that his friend had heard the summons as well.

  Silas put a finger to his lips, a signal to Jimes to not respond or comment, and the group remained at the rail observing the traffic of smaller vessels that plied the waters, while the larger ships waited for the tide to provide the impetus they needed for a good start to their journeys.

  The noises on board the ship began to diminish, as the preparations were completed, and orders were no longer shouted at the crew.

  “We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes,” an officer informed Silas.

  “I’m ready. I’ll be ready,” Silas offered.

  “You’re not going to create a typhoon that will blow us out to sea, are you?” Jimes asked.

  “I saw that storm you used to destroy the Ivaric fleet; try to tone it down,” Lexy added.

  Silas grinned at them both, then resumed leaning against the railing.

  A new series of shouted ordered commenced, and the gangplank was drawn in, as the ropes and cables were cast free, while the crew used poles to press the ship slowly away from the dock, and large, sweeping oars were run out into the water from the deck of the ship. The Seabird began to move ponderously through the close-in portions of the harbor waters, as other ships’ crewed jeered at the perceived too-early departure.