'Oh?' Melcorka glanced over at the casualties. The woman she knew as Kanaima lay as she had fallen, with her head detached from her body. 'Well, she's dead now. Defender is not an ordinary sword.'
'I hope you are right,' Hadali said.
'You are good people,' Melcorka said. 'I am sorry if we have caused you pain.'
'You meant well,' Hadali woman said. 'We will repair the harm you have done.' She smiled again. 'We will provide provisions for your great piraua and pray for you.'
'Thank you,' Bradan said.
Hadali placed her hand on Bradan's shoulder. 'You are seeking, Bradan, but you do not know what you seek.' Her face contained a wealth of wisdom. 'You seek more than knowledge.'
'That may be so,' Bradan said.
Hadali's expression altered to sympathy. 'Then let me tell you what you seek.'
'If you would.'
'You are seeking a truth you will never fully find and a peace you cannot obtain.' Hadali's eyes were compassionate. 'Not until you have fulfilled your destiny.'
'I did not know I had a destiny,' Bradan said.
Hadali touched his forehead with a cool finger. 'We all have a destiny,' she said. 'It is knowing what we seek that guides us toward what we should ultimately become.'
'I see.' The explanation meant nothing to Bradan. 'Can you tell what we should ultimately become?' He included Melcorka in his gesture.
Hadali put both hands on Bradan's shoulders. 'You cannot be greater than your destiny, Bradan the Seeker. What is the greatest thing you desire?'
Bradan returned to his earlier statement. 'I thought that my greatest desire was knowledge.'
Hadali smiled. 'There is much knowledge in the world, Bradan. You are seeking to fill a bottomless pit. You will never satisfy that desire. What else is important to you?'
Bradan met Hadali's dark eyes. 'To share the knowledge I gain.'
'That is a good desire.' Hadali placed both hands on Bradan's head, frowning.
'What's the matter?' Melcorka had been an interested spectator.
Hadali moved her hands slightly. 'There is trouble and great danger ahead of you both.'
Melcorka smiled. 'We always have trouble and great danger ahead of us,' she said. 'We have trouble and great danger behind us as well. As long as I have this,' she tapped the hilt of Defender, 'we can handle whatever fate throws at us.'
Hadali touched Melcorka on the shoulder. 'You are a brave woman, Melcorka. You only need to learn humility to mature beyond your over-confidence.' She looked directly into Melcorka's eyes. 'You have strength beyond your sword, Melcorka. If you find that, you will become a full woman. If you depend only on Defender, you will stagnate into a sword-for-hire.'
'I am no mercenary swordswoman,' Melcorka said.
'You are capable of becoming much more,' Hadali agreed. 'Or much less.'
'You spoke of destiny,' Bradan said. 'What is the destiny of Melcorka?'
Hadali stepped back a pace. 'Although fate will guide Melcorka, she is a woman who will create her own destiny. Her life is in her hands, not in the blade of her sword.' When Hadali touched Melcorka's head, her expression altered.
'What is it?' Bradan asked, suddenly alarmed. 'What did you see? What can you see?'
Hadali stepped back. 'I saw you lying on your back, Melcorka of Alba, with your sword beside you. I saw a tall man standing over you, smiling. I saw blood.'
Melcorka nodded. 'Such is the way of the warrior.' She patted the hilt of Defender. 'Until that happens, we will stay together.'
'One day, Melcorka the Swordswoman,' Hadali said, 'you will meet a warrior who will defeat you, despite the skills inherent in your sword. One day, you will meet a warrior whose sword is superior to your own.'
'May that day be far off,' Melcorka said. 'You have given me a lot to think about, Hadali.'
Hadali's smile was enigmatic. 'Then think, Melcorka the Swordswoman.' A shadow crossed her face. 'Take care, Melcorka and Bradan. You have faced the Kalingo and lived; not many do that in these seas. Melcorka, you have also met a kanaima face-to-face.'
'I cut off its head,' Melcorka said.
'I know,' Hadali spoke softly. 'It will not forget. Be careful that you do not meet it again.'
Chapter Two
The islands lay weeks behind them, long sunk beneath the horizon so they were little more than a memory of lush trees, peaceful people and exotic fruit. All around was the sea, languid and flat. High above, the sun hammered down on Catriona, the single-masted vessel that had carried them from Alba across the Western Ocean and down the great rivers of the New World.
'There is not a whisper of wind.' Melcorka lay at the tiller, fanning her face with a broad-brimmed hat. 'No birds, not even an insect. It is as if God has forgotten to put life into this part of His world.' Standing up, she shouted and the sound of her voice was lost in the vast abyss that surrounded them. 'Nothing!'
'It's hot.' Bradan pulled on the oars, looked up at the sail that hung limp and useless, and pulled again.
'It is.' Leaving the tiller, Melcorka slumped onto her rowing bench and pulled at her oar. 'Are we making any progress?'
'It's hard to tell in this ocean.' Bradan swept the perspiration from his forehead. 'How long is it since we last saw land? Three weeks? Four?'
'Three weeks,' Melcorka said. 'Three weeks and three days. It's at times like this that I could long for a good, old-fashioned Alban gale, with bitter, cold rain and a wind that bends the mast.'
Bradan grunted. 'I'll remind you of that when the weather breaks.' He gave a sour grin and pulled again. Catriona slid another few feet through the water, without changing anything. The blue sea merged with the blue sky somewhere on the indeterminate blue horizon.
'How is the drinking water?' Bradan asked.
Melcorka lifted one of their water containers and looked inside. 'Turning green and slimy,' she said. 'I think there are things living in there.'
'Fresh meat,' Bradan said, pulling at the oars again. 'Check the fishing lines, Mel.'
'Nothing,' Melcorka said. 'Even the fish have deserted us.' Her laugh had an edge that
