Wide wings hang above her. She crouches like a mouse in the owl's falling shadow. Her little heart beats to bursting. See how she trembles. But it is too late. Too late. She sees her. Knows me as well!' He threw back his head. The laughter roared from him. 'I was a king!' He was incredulous in his triumph. 'I was lord of the three dominions. But you have made me this. A shell, a toy, a slave!'
Perhaps lightning struck her from the still blue sky. She fell into a roaring black gulf. She tumbled, soundless, through endless black space. Then from nowhere, a flash of gold appeared. It was too large a shape for her to see it all. In an instant, it loomed too close to her to be seen. Great talons seized her, wrapping around her chest and waist. They squeezed the air from her. She clawed at them, but they were armored in scales like metal. She could not pry them loose to let herself breathe. Nor did she want to fall to her death if they let go of her. Choose a death, a dragon whispered. That's all you have left, pretty little one.. The choice of your death.
No! She is mine, mine! Let her go!
Prey belongs to he who seizes it first!
You are dead. I have still a chance at life. I will not see it snatched from me!
Iridescent silver clashed suddenly with gold. Mountains collided and fought for possession of her. The talons clenched, cutting her in two. I shall kill her before I let you take her!
Malta had no breath to cry out. There was almost nothing left of her at all. These two were so immense; there was no room for her to exist in their world. She was going to blink out like a dying spark.
Someone spoke for her. 'Malta is real. Malta exists. Malta is here.' As if she were being wound up like a ball of yarn, the layers of herself were gradually restored to her. Someone held her against the maelstrom of forces that tried to shred her apart. It was like being cupped in warm hands. She curled tighter into herself, holding on. Finally, she spoke for herself.
'I am Malta.'
OF COURSE YOU ARE, KEFFRIA SPOKE THE WORDS COMFORTINGLY, TRYING to stay calm despite her panic. Her daughter was pale as death. The slits of her eyes showed only white. When they had heard the commotion on deck and hastened back up, she had never suspected it would be Malta. She had collapsed, and lay half in the bead-woman's arms, her head supported by one of the woman's hands. The entire ship had been rocking. The figurehead was doing it, his head bent into his hands as he wept. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' he sniveled over and over. 'Be quiet,' Keffria heard Amber tell him irritably. 'You did nothing. Just be quiet.' Then, as they had burst through the circle of staring sailors, Keffria saw Amber look up and speak directly to Althea.
'Help me get her off the ship. Right now.'
Something in the foreigner's voice brooked no argument. Althea stooped and actually lifted her niece bodily, but then Brashen was there, taking her into his own arms. Keffria had a glimpse of Amber's disfigured hands before the woman gloved them hastily. She glanced up to meet Keffria's stare. The look in the bead woman's eyes chilled her to the bone.
'What happened to my daughter?' Keffria had demanded.
'I don't know. You should go to her.'
The first was obviously a lie, the second a plain truth. Keffria hastened after her daughter as Amber turned back to the figurehead and spoke to him in a low, intense voice. The ship quieted abruptly and the rocking eased. Then Selden began to cry. The boy wept at everything. It was not right for a boy to be so highly strung, and how could she be thinking of something like that at this moment? 'Shush, Selden. Come with me,' she snapped at him. Her son followed her, wailing. When she reached the dock, she found that Brashen had spread out his coat and lay Malta down upon it. Ronica took over Selden, patting and shushing him. Keffria sank down beside her daughter. This was terrible, an awful omen for the launch of the ship, and so improper for Malta to be stretched out unconscious like this in front of every passerby. Then she moaned and began to mutter, 'I am Malta, I am Malta.'
'Yes. You are Malta,' she assured her daughter. 'You're here and you're safe, Malta.'
As if those words were a magic charm, the girl suddenly opened her eyes. She looked around dazedly, then gasped. 'Oh, help me up!' she begged her mother.
'Rest a moment longer,' Brashen counseled her, but Malta had already seized her mother's arm and was pulling herself upright. She rubbed at the back of her neck, winced, and then rubbed her eyes.
'What happened?' she demanded.
'You fainted,' Amber told her. She had appeared suddenly at the edge of the group. Now she pushed closer to Malta and their eyes met. 'That is all. I suspect the light on the water dazzled you. That can happen, you know, if you stare at the sea too long.'
'I fainted,' Malta agreed. She lifted a hand to pat nervously at her throat and gave a giddy little laugh. 'How silly of me!'
Her words and gestures were so contrived that Keffria could not believe that anyone could accept them. But Davad bustled up, to add, 'The excitement of the day, no doubt. And we all know how Malta has pined for her father. No doubt this launch of his rescue has overwrought the poor child.'
Malta glared at him. 'No doubt,' she said in a venomous little voice. Even thick-skinned Davad seemed to feel the barb. He recoiled a bit, and looked at her oddly.
'I fainted,' Malta repeated. 'Dear me. I hope I have not delayed the sailing.'
'Not by much. But you are right, we must be on our way.' Brashen turned away from her, but before he could shout an order, Trader Ashe stepped up to him.
'Let your men save their backs. I'll have the boats from Sea Rover give you a tow out.'
'Leave room for one from Winsome,' Trader Larfa brayed. In a moment, half a dozen other liveship owners had offered assistance. Keffria stood, wondering if this was a belated show of good will, or simply a sign of how eager they were to have Paragon out of the harbor. There had been rumors that some of the other liveships found him unsettling, but no one had been crass enough to challenge his right to dock there.
'Gentlemen, I give you my thanks,' Brashen had replied in such a wry voice that Keffria was certain he wondered the same things.
They did not re-board the vessel, but said their good-byes right there. Mother was more emotional than Keffria had expected her to be. Over and over, she cautioned Althea to be careful and come home safely. Althea scowled when Brashen promised to do all he could to watch over her. As she embraced her sister in their own good-bye, Keffria could only wish that things had been different between them. Her heart was so full of conflicting emotions that she could barely wish her farewell.
It was even more disturbing to turn from that and see Amber holding one of Malta's hands in her two gloved ones. 'Take good care of yourself,' the foreigner was saying to her. Her gaze was far too intense.
'I will,' Malta had promised her. They spoke almost as if Malta were the one sailing off into the unknown. Keffria watched Amber turn away from her daughter and re-board the ship. A moment later, the bead woman reappeared on the foredeck by the figurehead. She leaned down and said something to him. The carved figure dropped his hands away from his face. He brought his head up, took in a breath that swelled his chest, and then crossed his arms on his chest tightly. His jaw set into lines of stark determination.
The lines were cast off, the final farewells and good wishes exchanged. The crews of the small rowing vessels bent to their oars and began to draw Paragon away from the dock and out into the waters of the harbor. Althea and Brashen joined Amber on the foredeck. Each in turn bent to speak to Paragon, but if he acknowledged them in any way, Keffria could not see it. She glanced away from the spectacle and found Malta staring raptly at the ship. She could not decide if her daughter's expression was one of terror or love. Nor, she frowned to herself, could she tell if she stared at the figurehead or Amber.
Malta gasped and Keffria immediately looked out to the ship again. The small boats were catching back the lines thrown to them. Brashen was waving his thanks as the sails began to blossom on the ship's rigging. Despite the men scampering about frantically, it was a truly graceful sight. As Keffria watched, the figurehead suddenly threw wide his arms as if to embrace the horizon. He shouted and a trick of the wind carried the words to them. 'I fly again!' It was a triumphant challenge to the world. Paragon's sails swelled with wind and he began to move under his own power. From his deck, a faint cheer rang out. Tears pricked Keffria's eyes.
'May Sa speed you,' Malta whispered.
Keffria heard her daughter's voice break on the words. 'May Sa speed you, and bring you safely home again,' she herself said aloud. The breeze seemed to blow her prayer away.
