“Languages, eh? That’s a fine skill to have, even if everybody does speak G’Rdellian.”
“Nesporance and Avestese are almost dialects of G’Rdellian, they’re so similar. I’m sure they’re all from the same root-language system. The same with Odoän, Scorpinnesk, and Shudris—all the same root language, I’m sure.”
Varian nodded. “I pick up a few words here and there, since I’m all over the place. It makes sense to me.” He paused for a moment, lighting his pipe. Then: “What about galley help. You can do that, can’t you?”
“Cooking? Of course, my father. . . .” She let the sentence die. Even the memory of the vile old man made her inwardly shudder. “Why do you ask such a thing?”
“You can’t go back where you came from. You have no marketable skills. You need help. Alcesa would be glad to keep you here as long as you like, and maybe you could eventually find work, or perhaps enroll in one of the universities. You are fortunate at least to be in one of the World’s finest cities. You know what they say of Eleusynnia: ‘Whatever a man might desire, it can be found in The City of Light.’”
“‘From the highest ideal to lowest perversion,’” said Tessa, finishing the quotation.
“Oh, you’ve heard that one?” Varian smiled. “Well, it’s true.”
“Yes, I know. I’ve been thinking of staying in Eleusynnia, but I didn’t know Alcesa would put me up. I have no money, you know. I have nothing.”
Alcesa shrugged. Varian waved his hand. “I can pay your costs until you get on your feet. Or, you can come with me. . . .”
Tessa tensed in her chair. Varian could not help but notice. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. Nothing.” She looked away for a moment. “Why would I come with you?”
“You would come only if you truly wished to. I am bound next for Ques’ryad. It’s quite a city and you might want to see it and, later, a little bit more of the world before you decide where you want to be, what you want to do with yourself.”
Tessa searched this strange man’s eyes before answering. It was clear to her that he spoke sincerely. He was not given to deception and she could sense this. He was genuinely interested in her welfare. And, of course, she did owe him her life, whatever that was worth. . . .
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “How could I sail with you?”
“There’s never been a crew I’ve seen that would not welcome the company of a beautiful woman,” said Varian, smiling. “And don’t take that the wrong way. No harm would come to you. . . . I’d see to that.”
Alcesa laughed. “You can be sure of that, my lady. No one bothers Varian Hamer.”
Varian looked embarrassed, but said nothing to refute the old woman’s boast.
“I don’t know,” said Tessa. “I’d have to think about it. How long will you be in Eleusynnia?”
“We sail in two days.”
“I’ll decide by then. I promise you.”
For the next two days, Varian escorted her about the famed City of Light. There were festivals in various precincts, avenues filled with bazaars and musicians, contests and exhibits. There were museums and galleries, sporting events, and great pieces of architecture to be explored and admired. Varian spoke of the city’s great tradition for culture and enlightenment, and she noticed that he spoke with the tongue of an educated man, not the rough, coarsened argot of a common sailor. He was an enigma, this man. She had never known anyone even remotely like him. This she realized as the two days swept by her in a seeming instant. Her memories of the time were a montage of colors and images and sounds. The lyrical music of the orchestra in the Great Park, the pageantry and hue of the Sor Theater, where the morality plays of the First Age were still enacted with as much authenticity as possible, the setting sun playing its dying light about the white-sand shores of the beaches below the city, the gentle lapping surf of the G’Rdellian Sea. Tessa embraced all of these things and she fell in love with the magical city on the sea. It was difficult to imagine leaving such a place if one had a choice, but there was another part of her which saw the man who introduced her to the magic and the wonder. The thought of not seeing him bothered her as such a thought should not have ever bothered her. There was a large world to be seen and to be tasted and touched and smelled. She did not want to do it alone, for she had been alone for such a long, long time.
For Varian, a different set of feelings had rushed into his mind. He too had been alone for a long time, but not in the same sense as Tessa. Varian had chosen a life of solitude of his own free will. It was as though he needed the freedom from responsibility to others so that he could more truly learn about himself. True, he had sailed on every conceivable type of ship, to every known harbor on the Aridard, and true also had he been constantly surrounded by crews of rugged, competent men.
But in truth, too, Varian had been alone in the crowd.
Through all the years, he had never taken the time to get to know any of his mates. The only friend to Varian had been old Furioso, and that relationship seemed to have taken shape more out of inevitability than true desire. Varian and the old man had simply grown accustomed to each other’s company.
The women in Varian’s life had been nothing more than an
