She lay like a dead weight against him, as loose as a doll.
He pulled her tight. “Please,” he whispered. “Please come back to me. Please. I can’t lose you-not now.”
He lifted her head. She appeared to be sleeping, the way he had seen her dozens of times. There was a beauty about her face when she slept that he could never explain, a calm softness-only she was not sleeping now. There was no reassuring rise of her chest, no breath on his face. He pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her, but her lips did not move. They remained slack, lifeless, and when he pulled back, she still hung in his arms. He hoped that maybe some power from within him could awaken her, like in a fairy tale. That the kiss-their first-could somehow call her back, awaken her. But nothing happened. Their first kiss-their last-and she never felt it.
“Please,” he muttered as tears began running down his cheeks. “Oh dear Maribor, please, don’t do this.”
His own breath shortened, his chest too tight. It felt as if a blade had sliced through his stomach and he was falling to his own death. He held tight to her, pressing her body against his, her cheek against his face, as if holding her could keep him-
Her hand jerked.
Hadrian held his breath.
He felt a squeeze.
He squeezed back, harder than he had planned.
Her body stiffened. Her head flew back. Her eyes and mouth opened wide and she inhaled. Arista sucked in a loud breath, as if she just surfaced from a deep dive.
She could not speak and drew in breath after breath, her body rocking with the effort. Slowly she turned to look at him and her expression filled with sadness. “You’re crying,” she said as her hand came up and wiped his cheek.
“Am I?” he replied, blinking several times. “Must be the sea air.”
“Are you all right?”
Hadrian laughed. “Me? How are you?”
“I’m fine-tired as usual.” She grinned. “But fine.”
“He’s alive!” Mauvin shouted, stunned.
They simultaneously turned their heads just in time to see the dwarf rising groggily. Magnus looked at Arista and immediately began to weep.
“The wound,” Mauvin said, shaking his head in disbelief. “It’s healed.”
“Told you I could do it,” she whispered.
Arista woke to the gentle motion and creaking of the ship at sea. She felt physically drained again, her body weighted. Both arms shook when she lifted them, her hands quivering. She found her pack left beside the bed and reached in, feeling around for food. She pulled out a travel meal and silently thanked Ibis Thinly as if he were the god of food. Just as before, she devoured the salt pork, hard bread, and pickle. She swallowed three mouthfuls of water and leaned back against the wall for a moment. Eating exhausted her.
In the dark, she listened to the ship. It creaked and groaned-verse and chorus-riding up and down. She let the movement rock her head, feeling the food work its magic.
She thought of Alric and in the darkness saw his face. Young and yet strangely lined, with that silly beard that had never looked right on him-his kingly beard-meant to make him appear older. It had never fully filled in. She thought of her father and the hairbrushes he had brought her-his way of saying he loved her. She remembered her mother’s swan mirror, lost when the tower collapsed. It was all gone now, certainly all of Medford, perhaps all of Melengar as well. She could still hear the sound of her mother’s voice and remembered how it had come to her from out of the light.
What is that place?
She had come close to it twice now. It had been easier with Magnus; she had not seen her loved ones, only his. They spoke to him in dwarvish. She did not know the words, but the meaning was clear-kindness, forgiveness, love.
What is that place? What is it like inside?
She sensed peace and comfort and knew it would be a good place to rest. Arista needed rest, but not there, not yet. Taking the remaining walnuts from her meal, she climbed out to the deck. The length of the ship lay before her, illuminated by the green sea. Royce was in the rigging with an unpleasant, sickly look on his face. Hadrian was at the stern, both hands on the wheel, his teeth clenched as he focused intently on the rising and falling waves. Myron and Degan worked together near the bow, tying off a loose rope that was allowing the jib to flap. Gaunt pulled and Myron tied. Magnus sat at the waist coiling a length of rope, looking like a bearded child left to play on the floor.
“The sleeping princess awakes!” It was Mauvin calling down from the yard above. She smiled at him and he waved back.
“Forget her,” the thief barked. “Get to the end of that yard!”
Arista walked across the deck, pausing once reaching the dwarf. She popped another walnut into her mouth. “Feeling all right?” she asked.
The dwarf nodded without looking at her.
“Oh good.” She sat down beside him. A warm wind came off the sea and blew through her hair, clearing her face. She looked up and spotted Hadrian taking a precious moment away from steering to look at her and wave with a smile. She waved back, but by then his eyes had turned back to the problems of the sea.
She looked around the deck again; then her head tilted up and she scanned the rigging. Everything was illuminated eerily from below by the glowing sea, which gave the whole ship a ghostly appearance.
“Where’re Wyatt and Elden?” she asked Magnus.
“Dead,” the dwarf said coldly.
“Oh,” she replied, unsettled by the blunt response. She leaned back on her hands, forgetting to chew the walnut as she remembered the two sailors. She had liked them both and regretted now that she had never spoken to either very much, but then, she guessed no one but Myron had spoken much to Elden. She slipped her hand in her pocket and withdrew the little figurine Elden had carved of her and rubbed it with her thumb.
“Poor Allie,” she said, shaking her head sadly. Then a thought came to her. “Are you sure they’re dead? Or did the goblins just take them? Did anyone actually see-”
“Found them partially eaten,” Magnus growled. “Wyatt’s legs and arms were gone, his chest torn open- gnawed out like a turkey ready for stuffing. Only half of Elden’s face was there, the skin hung off one side and bite marks on his-”
“That’s enough!” She stopped him, raising her hands up before her face. “I understand! You don’t have to be so-so graphic!”
“You asked,” he said tartly.
She stared at him.
He ignored her.
Magnus huffed, stood up, and began to walk away.
“Magnus,” she said, stopping him. “What’s wrong?”
“Whatcha mean?” he said, but did not turn. He looked out over the side of the ship, watching the luminous waves roll.
“You act as if you’re angry with me.”
He grumbled to himself, something in dwarvish, still refusing to face her.
Overhead the wind was still ruffling the jib. Myron and Gaunt had paused in their work, both staring at them. Royce was yelling at Mauvin about mainstays and yards.
“Magnus?” she asked.
“Why did you do it?” the dwarf blurted out.
“Do what?”
He whirled at last to face her. His eyes were harsh and accusing. “Why did you save my life?”
She did not know what to say.
“What do you care if I die!” he snapped at her, his eyes fiery. “What difference does it make-you’re a princess, I’m just a dwarf! You forced me on this trip. I never wanted to come. You took half my beard. Do you know what a beard means to a dwarf? Of course you don’t, I can see it in your eyes. You don’t know anything about dwarves!” He flicked the bottom of his severed whiskers at her. “You got what you wanted out of me-you have the
