'Aye. He told me I'd kill or be killed, and in the doing of that, I'd be dead or I'd take my first steps toward becoming his son.'
'Lathander's mercy,' the paladin whispered.
'I stayed up most of the night,' Jherek continued. 'I knew I couldn't be part of that boarding party.'
'Because you knew it was the wrong thing to do.'
His throat hurting too much to speak right away, Jherek shook his head. 'No. I only knew I was afraid,' he said hoarsely. 'I was afraid I would be killed, but mostly I was afraid of what my father would do to me if I froze and could not move, could not make it onto that other ship. I was certain he would kill me himself. So I walked out onto the deck when no one was looking, threw the cutlass into the sea, and jumped in after it. Bunyip sailed on, leaving me in the ocean. I wanted to die, but I started to swim, not even knowing where I was heading. I don't know how long I swam, but I know it was well into the next day before I washed up on Velen's shores.'
They were silent for a time and Jherek struggled to ease his thoughts back into the dark places of his mind where he kept them.
'Why are you telling me this?' Glawinn asked.
'Because you seem to see something good in me,' Jherek said, 'and I wanted you to know it was false. I ran from my father's ship that night.'
'You didn't want to kill innocent people,' Glawinn objected.
Anger stirred in the coldness that filled Jherek. 'Am I any better now? I took a man prisoner tonight only so he could be tortured.'
'It's not what you think.'
'Isn't it?' Jherek demanded. 'I am my father's son. When it came time to take Frennick, I took him and I brought him here.'
'No, young warrior, you judge yourself too harshly. You did only what you had to do. You are meant for more than being a pirate's son, Jherek.'
'How can you believe that?'
'That's the wrong question.' A small, sad smile twisted Glawinn's lips. 'After having heard everything I have from you, the question is how could I not believe that.'
'I just want out,' Jherek said tiredly. 'I don't want any more false hope, no more dreams, and I'm sick of the fear that has filled me all my life.'
'A way will be made,' Glawinn whispered. 'You must believe.'
Jherek couldn't, and he knew it. He looked out over the black water, taking in all the emptiness that made up the Sea of Fallen Stars.
'It's done.'
Almost asleep, Jherek blinked and looked up at Azla as she strode across the deck.
More than an hour had passed since Azla had gone below with Frennick. The young sailor pushed himself up from his seated position against the prow railing.
'And Frennick?' Jherek asked.
'Relax,' Azla told him. 'Frennick is alive and of one piece still.'
Images of how the man must have been tortured ran rampant through Jherek's mind. The instruments the pirate captain had laid out with such familiarity looked vicious enough to come straight from Cyric's darkest hells.
'Nor have I harmed him,' Azla went on, 'so your precious honor and integrity yet remain whole.'
Jherek shook his head. 'I don't understand.'
'Glawinn asked that no harm come to Frennick when we returned to the ship,' Azla said.
'Glawinn didn't tell me he'd asked that,' Jherek told her, confused.
'No, nor did he want you to know until it was over.'
Jherek grew angry but pushed it away. That lack of knowledge was something he intended to deal with the paladin about. He should have been told instead of spending time worrying over it.
'Pirates are a superstitious lot,' Azla commented. 'Despite all his blustering and bravado, Frennick is not a brave man. My ship's mage bewitched him, making him think we'd immersed his hand in a pot of acid till the flesh melted from his bones. Actually, it was a pot of water.'
Two of the ship's crew marched Frennick up from the hold. The pirate captain swore venomously, calling down the spiteful rage of Umberlee on Azla, her ship, and her crew. When the crewmen threw him over the side, both the splash and Frennick's curses echoed around the ship. Relief filled Jherek, but it didn't take away the anger he felt toward Glawinn.
'Where is the disk?' the young sailor asked.
'Vurgrom has it.'
'Does Frennick know where Vurgrom is?'
Azla shook her head. But he did know that Vurgrom used a diviner to learn what he could of the disk.'
Jherek's heart sped up. 'What did he learn?'
'Frennick wasn't allowed in the room. Only the diviner and Vurgrom were there. However, Frennick gave us the location of the diviner. She lives off the northeastern harbor of the Dragonisle.'
'If we are not sailing there,' Jherek said, 'I need to know so I can make other arrangements.'
Azla looked at him, her dark eyes flashing, and asked, 'You would, wouldn't you?'
'Aye, Captain. I've no choice.'
'You won't have to walk,' she replied. 'We're going to weigh anchor in a short while.'
'Enter, young warrior.'
Jherek slipped the lock on the door and let himself into the room.
Glawinn sat on the lowest of the bunk beds, crouched over so his head wouldn't bang against the upper berth as the ship gently pitched at anchor. An oil lantern hung from the ceiling over the small desk in the corner. The paladin was cleaning his armor, a task he tended to every day.
'You lied to me.'
'No.' Glawinn's eyes narrowed and became hard. Steel filled his voice. 'You never accuse another man of lying unless you know that for a fact. Especially not a man of honor.'
Shame burned Jherek's cheeks and ears. 'My apologies.' He tried to maintain his level gaze but had to drop it to the floor. 'You didn't tell me that they weren't torturing Frennick.'
'No.'
'You let me believe they were.'
'Yes.'
'Why?'
'You were comparing yourself to the wretches and scoundrels that populate that island like that was your destiny. Suddenly you were seeing yourself as no better than they are, doomed somehow to follow in your father's footsteps.'
'They say the apple never falls far from the tree.'
Then looking forward to a life as a pirate or a thief is something you deserve?'
'I never said that.'
'Yes you did. You were pulling penance for Frennick. You looked out over Immurk's Hold and told me you couldn't see the difference between yourself and those men. Can you now?'
'Aye,' Jherek said, his voice tight, 'but I also see the difference between you and me.'
'Do you believe that difference to be so great, young warrior?' Glawinn stood. Without his armor, he looked like only a man. Lantern light gleamed against the dark black of his hair and short-cropped beard.
'You're a paladin, chosen by a god to represent the covenants of his faith.'
'Was I anything before I became a warrior for Lathander? Or was it Lathander who made me the man I am today?'
'I don't know.'
'Tell me what is in your heart, young warrior,' Glawinn said softly, his voice barely carrying across the small room. The waves slapping against the side of the ship outside the room underscored his words. 'Tell me what you
