'And you like it here?'
'More than any other place I've been.'
Her line of questioning made Jherek believe that she hadn't always known the sea. Yet, with the grace and certainty she displayed on the deck, he couldn't imagine her not in command of a ship. As Finaren often declared, ships' captains were born and made, hammered into shape by events rather than through book learning.
Azla nodded and said, 'But you're young. There are probably few places you've actually been.'
Jherek tied off another stitch as he gave consideration to what she'd said. 'I've been up and down the Sword Coast a number of times. I've been to Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Athkatla, and a number of cities to the north. I've seen my share of things.'
'And now you're here in the Sea of Fallen Stars to see yet more.'
'As the gods will it.'
An icy chill touched Jherek again as he remembered the great voice that had haunted him upon occasion since he was a child.
'Personally,' Azla informed him in a fiat tone, 'I don't believe the gods take an interest in anyone.'
Jherek shrugged, then touched the praying hands of II-mater hanging on the thong around his neck. 'I have my beliefs.'
'Do you find your god shading the luck and opportunities you have in your favor?'
Jherek considered the question gravely. Religious matters were important and he wanted to answer the question most correctly. 'At times I have thought so.'
'But you don't know?'
'No.'
'Then how can you profess to believe?'
'Because believing is different than knowing,' Jherek answered. 'Once I know, how can I believe? Knowledge isn't faith.'
Azla regarded him in silence. 'You've been talking to soothsayers far too long.'
Jherek shrugged, taking no offense. 'Captain, I learned a long time ago that each man has to build within himself the things he'll need to get through life. Part of that is a way of thinking, certain skills that are meant to put food on the table and a roof over his head, other skills that keep him free from the tyranny of other men. Belief has to be in there as well, to shape a man's destiny and lead him forward.'
'And what if that destiny is a bent or broken one?' Azla asked. 'Where does belief fit in then?'
The question lit a new fire under all the doubts that Jherek tried to keep buried within him. He hesitated for a moment, then gave her the answer Malorrie had always given him. 'A man's belief helps him through, helps him remain himself in spite of the trials around him.'
'What about you?' she asked him. 'Is your belief helping you so far?'
'Aye.' Jherek's answer was given with far less confidence than he would have liked to admit.
'Good, then maybe it'll be enough for us all.'
XXV
1 Flamerule, the Year of the Gauntlet
Laaqueel stood on Tarjana's deck and looked out at the Lake of Steam. Thick, heated gray mist hung over the lake and clouded the surrounding lands with perpetual fog. Ahead of them in the distance, she could barely see Arnrock Island, which was the major source of all the volcanic activity in the area. Gray-white smoke with searing orange embers belched continuously into the air, creating the black cinders that swirled endlessly over the lake and filled the water with dark speckles.
She wrapped her arms around herself, already feeling her skin drying out from exposure to the steam. The other sahuagin stayed underwater on the mantas. Even there, the temperatures were hot enough to be uncomfortable and would tend to encourage parasitic growth inside gill tissue. For some of the spells Iakhovas had to do in order to open the gate for them that would take them to Seros, he needed to be out of the water.
He'd also needed the things he had stored aboard the mudship. He'd summoned it after they'd entered the lake, praising it to the sahuagin as an item taken in battle from Baldur's Gate.
Laaqueel prayed constantly, clinging to her belief so much easier now that she'd discovered why Iakhovas had come among them. Freeing the captive sahuagin had preyed upon her mind since he'd told her about them, allowing her to focus on something more than her own doubts.
'Priestess.'
Laaqueel turned, hearing unaccustomed fatigue in Iakhovas's voice. 'Yes, Most Exalted One.'
He walked out onto the deck from the cabin where he'd been working. 'It's done. All the preparations have been made. The gate will open as soon as Vurgrom has his piece in place in the Alamber Sea'
'Is there anything I can do, Most Exalted One?' Looking at him, Laaqueel wished she could take away some of the tiredness that clung to him. He'd worked hard for the last week, never stopping even to sleep.
'No, but thank you for your kindness, priestess. Now all that may be done is the waiting.'
Despite the low burning that covered her skin, she went to stand beside him.
'He's dropping his sails,' Jherek said, staring through the telescope he held.
He stood on Black Champion's foredeck, the bright blue-green of the Alamber Sea spreading out around him. Vur-grom's flagship, Maelstrom, dropped anchor after another few moments, flanked by the three smaller craft floating around it. They all flew the skull and crossbones on a field of black. In the distance behind the pirates, the volcanic island that was called the Ship of the Gods spewed vile smoke into the air.
'That's foolish,' Azla snapped, looking irritated. 'Sitting out here like this, he'd be a target for any sahuagin who chose to attack. This is the Alamber Sea, and it literally crawls with them.'
She scanned the sea in all directions, as if expecting some proof of her statement. The farther Vurgrom had led them from Westgate, the wilder their speculations had gotten about where he was going and why. They tried guessing at possible allies the pirate had in the coastal nations around the Alamber Sea. Finally they'd had to give up and admit defeat. None of the nations Azla could name would have aligned themselves with the sahuagin.
'What now?' he asked.
The half-elf shook her head. 'I don't know.' She turned and gave the order for her own crew to strike Black Champion's sails. 'I'm not going to get close enough that they can overtake us before we get the wind behind our sails again. All we have over Vurgrom's ships is speed.'
Glancing back amidships, the young sailor saw Sabyna and Glawinn standing close together and talking. A pang went through his heart as he thought about how little he and the ship's mage had seen each other during the trip out from Westgate. He'd spent every morning and every evening practicing swordcraft with Glawinn. The paladin seemed to be made of iron.
His absence from Sabyna, Jherek knew, was because he took an active part in the care and maintenance of Black Champion. The ship's mage chose not to do anything other than give aid in summoning the winds that kept them at Maelstrom's heels. The young sailor hadn't known how hard the trip was going to be on Sabyna.
'There he is,' Azla said.
Jherek spotted the big pirate captain walking across Maelstrom's deck. Even at this distance, the young sailor could see the glint of gold in Vurgrom's hand. The pirate captain threw the object out to sea. It twinkled in the air and vanished below the surface. Jherek had no idea what the thing was, but anxiety spread across his shoulders and shot up the back of his neck.
It's time.
Laaqueel glanced up at Iakhovas, watching as he rubbed the token that gave him command over Tarjana between his fingers.
Iakhovas walked back to the great galley's steering section and took the wheel. Under his command, the
