'How long was I asleep?' she whispered.
'About an hour. You drooled a little, by the way.'
Irritated, she wiped her chin with the back of her hand.
'What's going on?' she asked.
'A few minutes ago, I saw a message sprite flit past the window toward the main deck.'
'And?'
The young husband across from them was giving her a questioning look. She smiled at him and kissed Silverdun on the cheek. She reached out for a thread with the young husband and found it: He was tired and hungry, and a bit suspicious as well. Everything's fine, she pushed into the thread. He seemed to relax.
'There was a bit of a commotion on deck, and then they showed up down here.' He nodded toward the front of the cabin, where the Unseelie soldiers they'd seen earlier were walking slowly toward them, examining the passengers.
She looked over at Ironfoot, whose face was buried behind a newspaper.
'Do you think they're after us?' asked Sela.
'Who knows?' said Silverdun. 'Either way, we'd just as soon not be noticed.'
Sela strained her feelings toward the soldiers, but it was no use. She needed some kind of emotional connection to sense a thread, and the soldiers didn't know she existed. Yet.
They continued down the aisle, engaging each row of passengers in turn. When they came a bit closer, she could hear snippets of conversation.
'... two men and a woman ...'
'... persons of interest ...'
Sela noticed the young husband across from her looking at them, an odd, curious expression on his face.
Silverclun leaned in again. 'I'm going to try something. Follow where it goes.'
He leaned forward to speak to the young husband.
'Do you have any water?' he asked the husband. 'I'm parched.'
The young man's eyes widened. 'What sort of water?' he asked, his voice quivering a bit.
Silverdun looked the man directly in the eye. 'Water from the freshest stream.'
What was Silverdun talking about? Whatever it was, the young man seemed to understand, because he nodded and leaned forward himself, putting his hand on Silverdun's shoulder.
'There is water in abundance,' he whispered.
Silverdun nodded.
'Where are you coming from?' asked the husband quietly.
'Mag Mell.'
The husband smiled.
The soldiers came closer. When they reached Sela, Silverdun, and Ironfoot's row, they stopped, eyeing them with suspicion.
'Would you three be traveling together?' asked one, looking at Silverdun. 'Just the three of you?'
'No,' said the young husband. 'We're all together. Just returning from a holiday in Mag Mell.'
'Ah,' said the soldier, his eyes brightening. 'May we see your passports, then?'
The soldier took each passport in turn. The family, as it happened, had indeed just returned from Mag Mell themselves, according to their passports.
'Is there a problem?' asked Ironfoot, casually.
'We've received word that there might be some persons of interest aboard ship. Two men and a woman traveling together.'
The young man's wife blanched. 'Goodness, are they dangerous?'
'I don't think so,' said the soldier. 'Heretics. Aba-lovers.'
'Ah,' said the husband. 'I've found that you can always tell an Arcadian by the glassy-eyed stare of blind obedience.' He raised his eyebrows.
The soldier chuckled. 'You may be right, sir.'
