Terrified though the Storm Sprite's crew might have been, the command sent every man lurching through the froth to form lines at the braces. So marvelous was their skill and balance that not one sailor lost his footing, though the raging sea would have hurled Ruha overboard in an instant. By the time the last man had taken his place, the final glimmers of blue light were fading from the rigging. The wind bent to the witch's magic and swirled around to blow against the gale. The sail filled from the opposite side, and the Storm Sprite heeled far- ther into the dune and began to climb its face. The tor- rents of water pouring over her decks grew even greater.
'Loose the braces!' Fowler bellowed.
The crew freed the heavy lines that controlled the angle of the yardarms, leaving the sail to swing free and flap in the wind. The ship righted itself and slowed as it had earlier, but the starboard wales finally rose out of the water, and the sea drained off the decks. The captain gave no further commands and did not take his eyes from the dune's moonlit crest. Ruha saw his lips moving in silence, and she wondered whether he was cursing her magic or offering some bribe to the faithless Queen of the Sea. The Storm Sprite drifted to a full stop, then heeled away from the heaving sea. It slipped sideways down the face of the great water dune, and Ruha thought they would capsize.
'Haul the braces!' Fowler commanded.
The crew hauled on the thick lines that trailed down from the yardarms, bringing the sail around to catch the wind. The flaxen sheet ceased its flapping, then bulged outward and snapped taut. The sailors grunted, strain- ing to hold the braces steady, and several were pulled off their feet and left to dangle above the deck. The ship rolled back toward the dune, and the dark waters boiled over the decks, flinging strings of men about like beads on a thread. Somehow the crew held the yardarms in position, and the Storm Sprite lurched forward again.
The taffrail rose above the crest of the dune. In the moonlight, Ruha glimpsed the distant caravel, the dragon still standing on the poop deck. The beast had ripped the mizzemnast from its step and was using it like a spear to jab at its foes, almost too tiny to see, upon the main deck. The witch thought it strange that the wyrm fought with a makeshift weapon instead of spraying its enemies with fire or acid, but perhaps the creature feared sinking the vessel and losing its treasure.
The Storm Sprite's bow cleared the top of the dune, and Captain Fowler shoved the tiller to one side. The ship's bow swung neatly over the crest, and the sail sput- tered as it lost the wind.
'Fill the sail!'
The command had barely escaped Fowler's lips before the yardarms swung around. Once more, the sail caught the wind. The Storm Sprite lunged forward and slipped down the back of the dune so swiftly that it reached the bottom trough before the captain could give his next com- mand. The prow slammed into the next rolling dune, and the ship groaned as though her spine would break. A wall of water roared over the forecastle and rolled down the decks to splash against the somercastle, then the bow pitched up and the flood drained overboard, carrying with it two screaming men.
Ruha cried out in alarm. Captain Fowler let out a long breath and fondly patted the Storm Sprite's tiller.
'That's a fine girl.' The half-ore made no remark upon the loss of his crewmen, but looked forward and, in a calm voice, ordered, 'Fasten the braces.'
The crew tugged at the brace lines until the last flutter disappeared from the sail and, with the Storm Sprite rushing madly up the face of the heaving water dune, secured the lines to the belaying pins. The little cog crested the top and raced down the other side, then sped, pitching and crashing, toward the distant caravel. The sailors busied themselves with clearing away the great tangle of lines scattered over the decks, coiling the loose ends and hanging them in their proper places, and paid no heed to the misfortune of their two lost fellows.
'Captain Fowler, what of your lost men? Is there noth- ing you can do for them?'
The half-ore shrugged and did not look at Ruha. 'Even if we could find them, I would not turn back.' His voice was sharp with restrained anger. 'They're the price
Umberlee demanded for letting us come about, and she'd look harshly upon me^f I tried to bring them back.'
Ruha felt a terrible emptiness in her stomach, feeling her spell had brought the Storm Sprite around too sud- denly and caused their loss. 'Then I am sorry for their deaths.'
'For their deaths?' Fowler snapped. 'And what of
Storm Sprite? She could have lost the rudder or snapped a yardarm!'
'You care more for boards and cloth than for men's lives?'
The captain's jutting brow rose, and his flat nose twitched uncomfortably. He squared his shoulders and looked forward and did not speak. The crew had finished the tidying of the lines and now stood in the center of the ship, clinging to whatever they could find to keep from being swept away by the cataracts that boiled down the decks each time the bow crashed into another water dune.
When Fowler finally spoke, his gravelly voice was again deliberate and composed. 'I doubt the world's going to miss those two. They were cutpurses and mur- derers both, and if Umberlee doesn't take them for her own, I pity the shore they wash up on.' The captain peered at Ruha from the corner of his narrow eye, then added, 'But I warn you, Storm Sprite is mine. Hiring her does not give you leave to disregard my commands. While a ship is at sea, the captain is lord and master, and those who cross him are filthy mutineers. I could sail into Pros with your rotten carcass hanging from my yardarms, and your friends would not question your punishment.'
Ruha had reason to be glad she still hid her face behind the modest veil other people, for it would do much to conceal her shock. The Harpers had paid a steep price for her passage, which, having observed the effect of gold on people in the Heartlands, she had expected to make her master of the ship. She considered challenging
Fowler's claim, but saw by his composure and firm man- ner that he was speaking the truth. Not for the first time, the witch cursed her ignorance of the strange customs in this part of the world and wondered if she would ever learn them all.
The Storm Sprite crested another dune, and Ruha saw they had closed half the distance to the ravaging dragon.
The dark wyrm stood upon the caravel's main deck, fac- ing sternward and digging through the somercastle like a pangolin after termites. The wings upon its back were flapping fiercely, knocking aside the cloud of arrows and spears assailing it from behind. The vessel itself had begun to list, but the bow continued to slice neatly through the heaving sea, giving Ruha hope that the ship would survive until they arrived to help. Yet Captain Fowler had not ordered his men to take up arms. Even with a magic wind driving his vessel to the rescue, the half-ore still did not mean to give battle.
The Storm Sprite pitched downward, and Ruha lost sight of the battle. 'Captain Fowler, I did not mean to challenge your authority,' she said. 'I was told that you are a Harper friend and, despite your mixed blood, a man of honor. I can see now that my informant was mistaken.'
The half-ore's face grew tight. 'I have as much honor as any human captain!' he snapped. 'And would I have Storm Silverhand's name upon my ship if I were not a friend of the Harpers?'
Ruha shrugged. 'I know only what my eyes show me-and I can see that you have not called your men to arms. You have no intention of aiding that ship.'
'You'd do well to worry less about my intentions and think of your assignment. The Harpers are not given to hiring private ships unless the matter is urgent. Do you think Lady Silverhand would want you to risk your mis- sion over a fight that's none of your concern?'
'Storm Silverhand is not here.'
The witch's reply was evasive because she did not know the answer to Captain Fowler's question. Storm Silverhand had told her only that she was to sail to the port village of Pros, where an important Harper named Vaerana Hawklyn would be waiting to take her to the city ofElversult. Presumably, Vaerana would explain Ruha's assignment, but even that was not certain.
Ruha looked toward the distant caravel. 'I do know one thing: neither Storm Silverhand, nor any other
Harper, would turn a blind eye on so many people in such terrible danger. If you are truly her friend, you know this as well.'
The sea was piled high before the Storm Sprite, block- ing all sight of the caravel and its attacker, but Captain
Fowler's gray eyes looked toward the unseen battle and lingered there many moments.
'It will go better for us, and them, if we arrive after the battle,' he said. 'If that dragon sends the Storm Sprite to lie in Umberlee's cold palace, we'll be of no use to the sur- vivors-or to those waiting in Pros.'
