breast, and looked deliberately at Hercуl as she echoed Pazel's words.
'On my life, and yours.'
Thasha, Neeps and Hercуl swore the same. Then Thasha went to her father and linked her arm through his. Ramachni stretched and flexed his claws.
'The Wolf will not let you forget such a promise,' he said. 'Indeed, you must be strong as iron yourselves, if you are to stand against Arunis and the conspirators, and the terrors of the Ruling Sea. The Nilstone cannot be destroyed-and you five cannot hope for rest until it is placed beyond the reach of evil. And now, Lady Dri, you must hide yourself.'
'Why is that?' she asked, slipping behind Felthrup's basket.
'This is why,' said Isiq, and swept back the curtains.
What a sight! The Chathrand had heeled round, and the city of Simjalla loomed to portside. The waves smashed against her seawall, so that her towers and temples and cedar groves seemed almost to rise out of the foam. Vessels of every land were ranged along her docks; in many places six or eight vessels lay side by side. Off to starboard, in deeper water, stood the greater gunships and trading vessels. Most striking of all were the Mzithrini Blodmels: sleek white warships, even their armored sides painted white, huge cannon sticking out like needles in all directions, and on their snow-white sails the red shooting stars of the Mzithrini flag.
'Eighteen ships,' said Hercуl with awe. 'An entire squadron.'
Of course even the largest was but half the size of the Chathrand. But so many! Pazel could not help but shudder. There came the blood-drinkers, the coffin-worshippers, the ones whose cannonballs scalded men to death. Were they, too, not to be feared?
'That first is the Jistrolloq,' said Isiq, peering through his telescope. 'Two hundred guns. 'Twas she sank Maisa, sister-ship to the Chathrand. Your expectant groom Prince Falmurqat will be aboard her, Thasha.'
'Let's spare him the bad news till he's ashore,' muttered Neeps.
'None of us will go ashore tonight, certainly,' said Hercуl, 'nor will any of us sleep! For tomorrow at dawn the Templar monks will come for Thasha. She is to be drilled in her Mzithrini vows. And bathed, I think.'
'Bathed}' cried Thasha. 'What am I supposed to be, an infant?'
'An offering,' said Hercуl. 'And we have only tonight to discover a means of preventing it.'
'Will someone be so kind as to draw me a bath?' said Ramachni. 'I have learned to lick many things from my fur, but Volpek blood is not among them. Besides, it is warm here, and cold where I am bound.'
'There is fresh water in the washroom,' said Isiq.
'I'll do it,' said Pazel.
He crossed the cabin to the Isiqs' private washroom. Inside he found a small porcelain basin and held it under the spigot of the freshwater cask. Only tonight, he thought.
As the water splashed into the basin a curious feeling stole over him: a feeling of golden joy, as if he had just remembered the happiest dream of his lifetime. He stood amazed and shaking. His breath came short.
'Land-boy, land-boy! Love you!'
'Klyst!'
Was that her face reflected in the basin, or his own? He shouted her name again, dizzy with pleasure and fright. Then a hand touched his arm. It was Thasha.
'What's wrong?' she said. 'What's that word you shouted?'
Pazel struggled to speak, and failed. Thasha stepped into the washroom, closing the door behind her. She looked at him steadily.
'Something's happening to me,' she said.
Pazel looked up quickly. 'What do you mean? Are you ill?'
She shook her head. 'Not at all. But I'm… changing. When I read that book I feel-different. Older.'
He stood holding the basin, knowing she had more to say.
'It's a magical book,' she said at last, fearfully. 'Did I tell you that I first read about the Shaggat Ness and all his crimes in my Polylex?'
'You mentioned it. What about them?'
'Pazel, the thirteenth edition was printed before the Shaggat was born.'
Their eyes met, and Pazel suddenly understood her fright.
'And it was written long before the Mzithrinis invented dragon's-egg shots,' she went on. 'But I read about them, too. It's impossible, but it's happening. The book is adding entries on its own. It's writing itself.'
He stared at her. 'Thasha, you have to tell Ramachni.'
'I did,' said Thasha, 'and that's the strangest thing of all. He told me not to mention it to anyone. Not even Hercуl, nobody but-'
She broke off, unsettled, still looking him in the eye.
'I wanted to kiss you today,' she said.
The water in the basin trembled.
'And I'm going to tell you the truth,' said Thasha. 'They don't want me to, but I will. Your father came aboard the Hemeddrin. After the battle with the Volpeks. It was he who led the freebooters' attack, out of the mist.'
Pazel took a step toward her. 'My father?'
'He didn't stay long. You were out cold. He just wanted to look at you, he said.'
'I heard him,' Pazel whispered. 'I heard him say my name! Where did he go? Why didn't he wait?'
'He can't come near Ormael. He's a smuggler, Pazel. An enemy of the crown.'
'But it's been nine years!' cried Pazel. 'Didn't he say anything? Didn't he ask anyone to do something, tell me something?'
'I told him to write you a letter,' said Thasha, her eyes bright. 'He just waved me away.'
'Nine years,' Pazel repeated in a hollow voice.
They stood still. He looked at her bandaged neck, felt the leathery scar on his palm. Then Thasha put a hand on the back of his neck and reached for his lips with her own. And suddenly the shell in his chest was blazing, searing him with Klyst's jealousy. He turned his head away and pushed past her, avoiding her wounded gaze, slopping water onto the floor.
Ramachni splashed vigorously in the basin. He scrubbed his tail between his paws, doused his head, squirmed with delight. Even Pazel and Thasha were laughing by the time he leaped out and shook himself. But the effort exhausted him. He raised a weary paw, and Thasha gathered him into her arms.
'Now,' he said, 'my time is truly spent. Be good to one another, be fearless. And look for me when a darkness comes beyond today's imagining. Very well, Hercуl.'
Everyone crowded into Thasha's sleeping cabin. As she rubbed the mage dry with her towel, Hercуl performed the ritual that opened the mariner's clock. There was a sharp, cold puff of air, and the sound of wind in a high place.
Then Ramachni spoke his last spell: the holding charm that would allow him to open the clock from within, one day. When he was finished, his tongue flicked once over Thasha's palm. He crawled into the dark tunnel mouth, then turned to look at them.
'Don't go,' said Neeps desperately. 'We can't fight them alone!'
'That is true,' said Ramachni. 'You cannot. But when were you ever alone? My part has not been so very great, after all. You have been saving one another since this ship left Etherhorde. You, Neeps, saved Pazel from prison in Uturphe, by your gift of eight gold. Pazel saved Hercуl from dying in the poorhouse. Hercуl and his countrymen saved Thasha, and Thasha saved us all from the fleshancs. And those are just a few examples. We have been struggling together since this ship left Etherhorde. Always together, and always, so far, without defeat.'
'Or victory,' said Diadrelu. 'The Nilstone remains in that creature's hand.'
Ramachni crawled farther into the darkness. When he looked back again they could see only his eyes, shining in the lamplight.
'Victory is a shadow on the horizon, and whether island or illusion you can only learn by sailing. Defeat, however-those reefs you may be certain of. They are real, they surround you. I say this not to frighten but because I cannot lie. And yet there is reason to be hopeful-even to rejoice. You are a clan now, and as Dri can tell you, a clan is a powerful thing.'
'But we're losing the head of our clan,' said Pazel. 'And you're not just anyone. You're special.'
