is far, and the winds are against us; we simply cannot reach it in a moon.”
33
Tears welled in Camille’s eyes. “Cannot reach…?” Kolor shook his head. “Not in a moon.” He looked into his mug of ale, peering at the foam.
Big Jack reached out his enormous hand and enveloped Camille’s, and he said, “Captain-”
But Kolor thrust out a palm to stop Big Jack’s words; the Dwarf’s brow furrowed in concentration as he peered into his mug as if trying to capture an elusive thought. And then his eyes widened in remembrance, and he grimaced and murmured, “Unless…”
Camille and Big Jack waited, but Kolor said no more.
“Unless what, Captain?” said Camille.
Kolor took a deep breath and dipped a finger into the froth and raised it up and stared at the pale lather. Then he licked his finger clean and looked over at her. “Unless we sail across the Sea of Mist.”
Camille frowned. “The Sea of Mist?”
Kolor let out a lengthy sigh. “ ’Tis said it is a short lay of water, Camille, though I’ve never been there. Too, they say therein a terrible monster dwells-a breaker of ships, a killer of all who attempt to cross. No vessel has ever won through, but if we could sail those waters and out, then mayhap we could reach the island in just under a moon.”
“If no ship has ever won through,” said Big Jack, “then how do you know it’s but a short stretch across?”
Kolor glanced at Scruff sleeping in Camille’s pocket. “ ’Tis said a message bird was loosed at dawn to fly from side to side, and from the time it took, the lay was judged. Even so, ships are not birds, and those waters are deadly.”
“What kind of monster is it?” asked Camille.
Kolor turned up his hands. “I know not, lady, for none has ever survived to say.”
“Then how do you know it is a ‘breaker of ships’?”
“Wreckage drifts out, Camille. And before you ask, reefs and shoals could account for such wrack, but there are no signs of grounding on the remnants.”
“Monster, reefs, shoals, or no, if it’ll get us to the isle in a moon, then that’s what we should do,” declared Big Jack, “sail the Misty Sea.”
Camille held up a cautioning hand. “Oh, Jack, I don’t know whether-”
“Camille,” said Kolor, “a commission was I given by the Fates, and I would not go against Them.”
Camille looked at the Dwarf. “Is there no other way?”
Kolor glanced at Big Jack and said, “Not any that will get us there in a moon.”
Big Jack looked to Camille for affirmation, and she sighed and then silently nodded.
“Done and done!” Big Jack declared.
“May the Three Sisters truly be with us,” said Kolor.
“When do we leave?” asked Big Jack.
Kolor looked out through the window at the rising dawnlight. “It will take the full of this day to reprovision, but we can set sail as soon as that is done.”
“What about the tide?” asked Big Jack.
“No need to wait for the outflow, not with the Nordavind, ” said Kolor, standing. “Now I must recall my crew and tell them of the task the Fates have cast our way.”
As Camille rose to her feet, Kolor added, “Rest this day, lady, and bid your farewells.”
Big Jack said to Kolor, “I will fetch th’ lady when all is ready.”
Kolor nodded, then turned toward the door, Camille and Big Jack following. And as they stepped from the Bald Pelican, with a new day on the air, Scruff awakened and scrambled to Camille’s shoulder and demanded to be fed.
As she broke fast with Scruff and Big Jack in the common room of the Blue Marlin, Camille said, “Jack, will you tell Madam Maquereau at the Red Lantern that we will be leaving on a voyage, and that I will not be singing there again?”
“Uh-huh,” said Big Jack, shovelling eggs into his mouth.
“Also, if you can find Jordain, tell him as well what it is we do.”
“Mmm-hmm,” said Big Jack, bobbing his head. Then, speaking around the mouthful of eggs, he added, “Though with th’ Nordavind in port replenishing her stores, I suppose Harbormaster Jordain already knows.”
They finished the meal in silence, Scruff pecking away at the barley seeds. Then, after Big Jack was gone, Camille settled her bill with the desk clerk, paying for that day as well, and she asked that Aicelina prepare a bath for her, the last she would have for many days to come.
When Aicelina knocked on Camille’s door, Camille gave the girl a silver for herself, saying, “You have served me well, Aicelina. Scruff, too, bringing his grain as you have.” Then Camille gave her another silver and said, “We are going on a long journey, a moon there and back, and I will need more grain for him, and since we will be going by water, the grain will need protection from spray.”
“Oui, mademoiselle,” said Aicelina. “I shall have them put it in a double sack, the outer one tarred. And what grain would you have?”
“A mix of oats, barley, rye, wheat, and millet.”
“And how much?”
Camille shrugged, then said, “Enough to last the full journey, and a bit more, should something go awry. Three moons in all should do it.”
“I shall purchase ten pounds,” said Aicelina, then looked at the silver in hand. “Oh, mademoiselle, it will not take a silver or even a bronze for such a small amount.”
“Keep whatever is left over, Aicelina.”
Aicelina’s eyes widened and she bobbed a curtsey. “Thank you, mademoiselle. I shall fetch it now.” The girl started to turn away, but then turned back. “Oh, and your bath is ready.” Then she was gone.
Night had fallen when came a tap on the door. Camille opened the panel, and in the lanternlight stood Big Jack, an enormous bronze battle-axe over his shoulder. “Th’ North Wind is ready, Lady Camille. Captain Kolor says t’ come.”
Camille fastened her cloak ’round her shoulders and took up her bedroll and waterskin and rucksack, the stave affixed in the loops. Then she fetched sleeping Scruff from his perch on the back of a chair, and, blowing out the lantern, said, “Let’s go.”
At the dock Jordain stood waiting. “Camille, I know you feel you must do this thing, yet to sail the Sea of Mist is tantamount to throwing yourself from a cliff.”
“We have no choice,” said Camille.
“Besides,” said Big Jack, hefting his battle-axe, its keen edge glinting in the light of the dockside lanterns, “it’s not like we’re going in unprepared; I’ve got Lady Bronze here, and th’ Dwarves… well… you know Dwarves.”
“Fear not, Harbormaster,” said Kolor, just then stepping forward, “the Fates are on our side, or so I do believe.”
Jordain shook his head. “Nevertheless-”
“Harbormaster,” said Kolor, “there is no other way.”
Jordain sighed and said, “Then I can but wish all of you well, especially you, my lady.” And he took Camille’s hands in his and kissed them, then released her and stepped back.
Moments later: “Ares rede!” called Kolor, and Dwarves took up spruce oars from the trestles.
Then Kolor called to the docksmen, “Cast off fore! Cast off aft!” and the mooring hawsers were uncinched and dropped into the water.
