the love of his life, but now she was gone. She would say that that he must go, he decided, even if it meant never seeing each other again. After all, that was the risk that Wigg and Abbey were taking. Were Celeste alive today, could she and Tristan do less?
Placing his thoughts aside, he walked deeper into the bedchamber and toward a large oak table that stood near the far wall. As he looked at what sat upon it, he again found himself filled with awe.
Late in the afternoon, Wigg and Faegan had attempted the miniaturization of theTammerland and theEphyra. To Tristan’s amazement, the experiment had been a complete success, right down to the thousands of crates and sundry items that the Minions had loaded aboard the ships beforehand. It had been a mesmerizing process to watch, and were the two ships not sitting on the table before him, Tristan would have never believed such a thing possible.
Each Black Ship now measured just over one meter long from bowsprit to stern and about the same distance from the keel to the top of the mainmast. Had he not known differently, he would have thought these ships nothing more than amazingly accurate models. Their sails were furled and they nestled in their new cradles, which had also been miniaturized. When the process was finished, Tristan ordered the ships brought to his quarters for safekeeping. Tomorrow morning they would be crated, and the free space in the crates would be enchanted by Faegan to cushion the vessels during what would surely be a hazardous journey through the labyrinthine caves.
Bending down, Tristan looked more closely. Each ship still twinkled with the subtle matter that had accomplished their miraculous transformations. Wigg and Faegan thought that they might stay that way permanently, and Tristan suspected that the twinkling substance might help camouflage the vessels when sailing on the Azure Sea. Is this something that the Ones planned for? he wondered. Unless we reach Shashida, we might never know.
Walking back to the balcony, he again took up his wineglass. The sun was starting to slip down behind the western horizon. As he watched it disappear, his mind drifted back to the Conclave meeting that he had called immediately after the miniaturization of the ships.
Because of the many important issues to be settled, the meeting had become a spirited, often raucous affair. More than once Tristan had been forced to intervene to keep the discussion civil. The stressful tenor of the meeting had not been because of any personal rancor among the members, he knew. Rather, it was that they would soon be splitting into two groups, and those in each group might never see the others again. Because everyone was eager to see Shashida, trying to decide who would go with Tristan had been a particularly difficult issue to resolve.
In the end it was agreed that Wigg, Tyranny, Scars, Astrid, Phoebe, and Jessamay would accompany Tristan on the expedition. Faegan, Traax, Aeolus, Abbey, and Adrian would stay behind to follow Shailiha into battle against the Viper Lord. Also, theTammerland and theEphyra would carry the same two Minion phalanxes that had trained with Tyranny and Adrian during the recent sea trials. By common agreement it was decided that the Tome, the Scrolls of the Ancients, and the Paragon would stay behind under Faegan’s care.
Tristan refused to allow personal relationships to play a part in these decisions, demanding that his group members be selected only for their unique abilities. Wigg was chosen rather than Faegan largely because of Faegan’s limited mobility. Faegan had been deeply disappointed but agreed that of the two of them, Wigg should be the one to go.
Tyranny was selected because of all the Conclave members she had the most seagoing experience, and that could prove vital. As usual, Scars would serve as her first mate. Because Jessamay commanded the unique ability to determine an endowed’s blood signature lean by looking into his or her eyes, she too was chosen. The acolytes Astrid and Phoebe would relieve Wigg and Jessamay in the piloting of the Black Ships. Marissa and another acolyte would remain behind to pilot theCavalon and theIllendium under Shailiha’s command.
But the most distressing problem-and the one that would have no resolution until Tristan’s group entered the Caves of the Paragon-was how to find the subterranean Azure Sea.
Tristan was the only Conclave member who had seen it, and sometimes even he wondered whether it had been real or some mad dream. Wigg had been with him at the time, but unconscious. It was on the sandy shores of that strange sea that Tristan and Wigg were scooped up and flown away by Nicholas’ hatchlings, only to be released by Nicholas after suffering cruelly at his hands. By that time Tristan had also lost consciousness, ensuring that neither he nor Wigg knew how far the hatchlings had carried them or how long it had taken. Even if they could find the sea again and restore the ships to their original size, they would be literally sailing into the unknown.
Will Shashida really lie on the other side? he wondered. And if so, how long might it take to reach it?
Just then a soft knock came on the double doors. Tristan walked over and opened them to see his sister standing there. Morganna stood by her side and Caprice floated lightly overhead.
Tristan smiled and beckoned them into the room. Shailiha looked radiant in a yellow gown, matching satin slippers, and a golden chain. The medallion lying against her bosom twinkled in the candlelight. Three-year-old Morganna looked adorable in a red dress fringed with white lace.
As Shailiha escorted Morganna into the room and Caprice obediently followed, the princess put on a brave smile. Tonight would be difficult for her and Tristan. They had seen the death of their parents, and each had lost a spouse whom they loved more than life. So far, the journey toward fulfilling their common destinies had been terribly costly. Without saying so, each understood that despite how much they had already endured, their struggle was far from over. And tomorrow they would part, perhaps forever.
“I thought you’d never come,” Tristan said as cheerfully as he could.
Shailiha’s eyes widened as she watched her ever-curious daughter walk toward the Black Ships. “Don’t touch!” she cautioned.
Morganna stopped and turned, her bright eyes still curious but respectful. “I won’t, Mamma,” she said. She quickly turned back again to look with that innocent, wide-eyed gaze that it seems only children can muster.
Tristan was soon reminded of how much Morganna was starting to resemble her late grandmother. The queen had been a remarkable woman, and she was many years ahead of her time. It had been she who had convinced the late Directorate of Wizards to break with more than three hundred years of tradition and again allow the teaching of the craft to females. This teaching had taken place at a secret castle called Fledgling House nestled at the base of the Tolenka Mountains. Some of those girls, and a group of specially selected sons of the Redoubt Consuls, now took their training in a similar school in the Redoubt.
Morganna will soon attend that school, Tristan thought. Then his smile faded as he remembered that he might never see that day. He looked back at his sister.
“Would you like some wine?” he asked.
Shailiha nodded vigorously. “After hearing the Conclave members bicker for two hours, I could use some!” she answered. She turned to look at her daughter. “Come, Morganna!” she said.
Shailiha escorted her daughter to the balcony and boosted Morganna into one of the chairs. As might be expected, Morganna’s eyes went straight for the cake icing. Before Shailiha realized it, the child had poked three of her fingers into it and shoved them straight into her waiting mouth. Her satisfied smile said it all.
Tristan laughed as he poured another glass of wine. “She takes after her mother,” he chided. “It seems that she’s developing your taste for sweets.”
Shailiha wiped Morganna’s mouth, then quickly moved the cake a safe distance from her daughter’s energetic fingers. “So you noticed, did you?” she asked. After fixing a proper plate and cutting the food for the child, the princess took her first sip of wine.
For a time Tristan and Shailiha ate Shawna’s delicious food in relative silence, with few sounds to accompany them aside from the night creatures and Caprice’s delicate wings fluttering overhead. They dawdled over their food, realizing that the meal provided a welcome reprieve from the conversation that would follow. But after finishing two slices of cake and several cups of tea, they both knew that the time had come.
Shailiha looked over to see that Morganna had fallen asleep in her chair. The princess carried her into Tristan’s bedroom and laid her on the bed. After moving Tristan’s weapons to a nearby sofa, she again joined her brother on the balcony. As he looked into her eyes he could see tears welling.
Leaning closer, Shailiha took his hands into hers. “Please be careful,” she said quietly. “I know that you must do this thing. More than once you have gone away only to return. But tomorrow might be very different. No one knows where the Azure Sea will take you or what you might have to face to get there. And we have only recently seen the coded message left by the Ones that tells us you are doing the right thing. That spell was likely written
