not resist this conversation. It sounded as if perhaps his scheme might bear fruit. She had called him a sweet boy. He had seen how Wintrow's eyes followed her when she was on deck. Had they acted on the impulse yet? Did she, perhaps, already carry an heir for his liveship? He slid his hand down her arm as if he were caressing her, then set his hand flat on her belly. The tiny skull still jutted from her navel. Time, he cautioned his disappointment. These things took time. If he penned them together long enough, they would breed. So it had always worked with his family's pigeons, goats and pigs when he was a boy.
'In truth, I don't know how to thank him,' Etta demurred.
The answer to that was obvious to Kennit, but he refrained from stating it baldly. 'I think the lad is lonely. Show him that you have become fond of him and enjoy his company. That will please him. Think of what knowledge you have that he might benefit from, and teach him. That would seem an appropriate exchange to me.'
There. Was that too broad of a suggestion for her to take?
'I know so little,' she faltered after a moment. 'What would Win-trow learn from someone like me?'
Kennit sighed and tried again. Delicately, he reminded himself. Delicately. 'Oh, I am sure you know far more of the world than he does. The boy has spent most of his life in a monastery. He may know much of letters and the arts, but he is woefully ignorant of more worldly skills. Your situation, of course, was just the opposite. So, share with him what life taught you. Teach the boy to be a man. He could have no better instructor.' He stroked the length of her body.
She was silent. He could almost hear her thinking. 'I would like to give him… Kennit, would you mind greatly if I gave him something of yours? Something from our cargo?'
This was not quite what he had in mind, but it was along the right path. Who knew where her gift giving might end, once she had started? 'Do not hesitate,' he encouraged her. 'I am, as you know, very fond of the boy. I do not mind sharing with him what is mine.'
WINTROW CAME AWAKE TO HIS DOOR OPENING. SOMEONE CAME SILENTLY into his cabin and shut the door stealthily. For a moment, fear paralyzed him. He had slept better since Sa'Adar was no more, but he had always feared that some of the ex-slaves would blame him for their leader's death. He caught his breath and held it. He tried to edge silently over in his bed. Maybe the first attack would miss him and he'd have a chance to escape. Whoever it was crossed to the small desk in his room and set something down there.
'I know you're awake,' Etta said quietly. 'I heard you stop breathing. Get up and strike a light.'
'It's not morning,' he protested in confusion. 'What are you doing here?'
'I noticed that,' she replied wryly. 'I've come to teach you something. Some things are better learned privately. Night seemed the best time for the lessons I have come to teach.'
He groped for a candle, and then stepped out into the companionway to light it at the small lamp that burned there. He brought it back to the cabin, shut the door and fixed the candle into a candlestick. When he turned to face her, he was hard put not to gasp. She wore leggings and a snug-fitting jerkin. Never before had he seen a female form so blatantly displayed. She ignored his stare. Instead, she walked around him slowly. Her eyes ran up and down his body appraisingly. The frankness of her gaze warmed his cheeks. She gave a small snort of displeasure.
'Well. It's plain you've worked hard, but not heavy. Still. You're lithe and quick. I've marked that about you. And that may be more telling in this game than muscle or bulk.'
He blinked at her. 'I still don't know what this is about.'
'Kennit suggested it. I told him I felt a debt to you for teaching me to read. He said I should return it in kind, by teaching you something I know well. Something of my more worldly skills, as he put it. I've come to do that. Take your shirt off.'
Slowly he obeyed her. He refused to think about what he was doing, or what her intentions were.
She smiled grimly. 'You're sweet and smooth as a little girl. Not a hair to your chest yet. A little more muscle would please me, but that will come in time.' She went back to his table, and worked the latch on the flat box there. As she opened the box, she repeated, 'Some things are best learned in private. The skills of a man are among them. Were we more open with this, the crewmen would mock you. This way, you can pretend it was something you've always known how to do.' When she turned back to face him, she held a dagger in either hand.
'These are for you, now. Kennit said I could give them to you. You should begin to wear one at your belt whenever we go into a port. After a time, start wearing it all the time, and sleep with it under your pillow. But, first, you have to learn how to use it.'
She threw one at him suddenly. It was a toss, really, the weapon coming at him hilt first. He caught it awkwardly, but not squarely. The blade bit into his thumb. She laughed at his exclamation. 'First blood to me!' A menacing light came into her eyes. 'Grip that like you mean it and get ready. I'm going to teach you how to fight.'
'I don't want to know how to fight,' he protested in dismay. He retreated. 'I don't want to hurt you.'
She grinned merrily. 'I'm very sure you won't. Don't worry about it in any case.' She had gone into a knife-fighter's crouch, her blade at the ready. She swayed gracefully, and transferred the knife from hand to hand almost more swiftly than he could follow. Suddenly, she came at him, menacing as a tigress, her blade leading the way. 'Just concentrate on keeping me from hurting you. That is always the first lesson.'
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Departure of the Paragon
'I WISH WE HAD TIME FOR MORE SEA TRIALS.'
Amber gave Althea a weary look. 'No time. No money. And after each one, at least two or three hands jump ship. A few more sea trials, Althea, and we'll have no crew left at all.' She paused and cocked her head at Althea. 'Is this the fifth time we've had this conversation, or the sixth?'
'The twenty-seventh, by my count,' Brashen interjected, coming up between them. They shifted aside to make a space for him at the after rail. He joined them in staring out to the open water past the mouth of Bingtown Harbor. He gave a small chuckle. 'Get used to it, Amber. Sailors have the same conversations over and over. Chief topics: the bad food, the stupid captain and the unfair mate.'
'You forgot the rotten weather and the unruly ship,' Althea filled in.
Amber shrugged. 'I have a lot to become accustomed to. It has been years since I took an extended sea voyage. As a youth, I was a bad sailor. I hope that my living aboard here in the harbor will have schooled my stomach to a moving deck.'
Althea and Brashen both grinned. 'Trust me. It hasn't,' Brashen warned her. 'I'll try not to expect too much of you the first few days out. But if I need you, I'll need you, and then you'll have to crawl about and do your best between trips to the rail.'
'You're so cheery,' Amber thanked him.
A silence fell over them. Despite their easy words, they all had reservations about what they faced today. The ship was loaded, most of the crew aboard. Secreted belowdecks, unbeknownst to their hired crew, were seven slaves who had resolved to take this opportunity to escape to a new life. Althea tried not to think of them. The risk they took was not just to themselves. If anyone else discovered them before they sailed, who knew what might come of it? Nor did she know how their hired crew would react to these extra hands. She hoped they would be relieved there would be more backs to bear the work. Most likely, there would be some scuffling for position and bunking space, but that happened aboard any ship. She took a breath and told herself it would be all right. She still pitied the crowded men hidden below. The suspense for them must be agonizing.
At first light, they would sail. Althea almost wished they could just slip away now. But to sail off silently into the dimness would be an ill leave-taking. Better to wait and endure the farewells and good wishes of those who came to see them off. Better, also, to have clear light and the morning breezes to speed them.
'How is he?' Brashen asked quietly. He stared off into the distance.
'He's anxious. And excited. Eager, and scared to death. His blindness-'
