frightens me.’ Kutch reddened and studied his boots. ‘I feel like a coward.’
‘Good.’
‘Eh?’
‘People think behaving bravely means acting without fear. It doesn’t. True courage is when someone acts despite their fear. You’re not a coward, Kutch. I’ve known you long enough to recognise that.’
The boy smiled, half proudly, half abashed. ‘Thanks, Reeth. I don’t feel very brave, I can tell you.’
‘Start to worry if you do. Anyway, I think we’ve done enough for today. If you want another session tomorrow, just say.’
‘I will. I mean…yes, please. And I’ll try my best next time.’
‘Our best is all any of us can give. How are you faring with your duties as ship’s sorcerer?’
‘Actually, there’s not much to do. I regularly cast the detection spells Phoenix taught me, but that’s about it.’
‘Have you come up with anything?’
‘No. Nothing except the background emissions from magic that are always present. Though there’s less of that way out here, of course.’
‘Background emissions?’
‘All the magic being conjured in the world leaves a sort of residue. It’s around us all the time.’
‘And you can…sense it? How? Through these detecting spells or your own spotting talent?’
‘A bit of both, I suppose. The training Phoenix gave me heightened my natural awareness of it, and that hasn’t gone away, even though I stopped the exercises.’
‘How does it…What’s the word? How does it seem to you?’
‘That’s hard to explain. It’s a bit like…like a piece of music being played quietly in another room. Or a whiff of honeysuckle on a summer breeze.’ Kutch grinned. ‘Only it’s not really like that at all. You’d have to practice the Craft yourself to understand.’
‘Then I’ll stay ignorant.’
‘I wish you weren’t so antagonistic towards magic, Reeth. Knowing you disapprove of what I do makes me feel uncomfortable.’
‘It’s true I’d rather you weren’t doing it. I’d prefer nobody to be doing it. But in rejecting magic I’m not rejecting you, Kutch. I hope you know that.’
‘Yes, I do. But magic has benefits, Reeth. It brings so much good to people.’
‘I could argue with that.’
‘You’re a special case.’
‘Am I? What about those who can’t afford it? Or suffer because of it? Are they special cases, too? If so, there’s a hell of a lot of them.’
‘I’m not saying things are perfect. But that’s the fault of the system we live in, not the Craft.’ He held up the rapier he was still clutching. ‘It’s like this sword. It can be in the hands of a tyrant or a freedom fighter. The sword has no say in it.’
‘Pity there are so many more in the hands of tyrants then, isn’t it?’
‘You know what I mean, Reeth.’
‘Yes. Though I think the logic’s questionable. But you’re overlooking the fact that I’m letting magic aid this voyage. That shows my mind’s not totally closed, doesn’t it?’
‘It’s a start, I suppose. But I’d like to see you grant that magic can do lots of positive things.’
‘You’ll never get him to agree with that, Kutch.’ Serrah had arrived without them noticing.
‘Maybe not,’ Kutch replied, ‘but it’s worth trying.’ He stood. ‘I promised Phoenix I’d keep up with my studies, so I’d better make a start.’
‘Don’t be too late getting your head down,’ Serrah cautioned. She took his seat on the barrel.
‘I won’t. Oh, the sword.’ He made to give it back.
‘It’s yours,’ Caldason told him. ‘Get used to wearing it.’
‘Really? Thanks, Reeth.’ He sheathed it and left smiling.
When he was out of sight, Serrah said, ‘Think that’s wise?’
‘Would you go without your blade?’
‘Me? Hell, no. I’d feel naked. But he’s just a boy.’
‘I can’t remember how many different weapons I’d owned before I was his age,’ Caldason said.
‘You come from a warrior race; it was expected of you. He’s always been a bookish kid.’
‘Then it’s time he learnt to look after himself. Particularly with what’s coming. And he’s nearer man than child. Did you notice how he’s starting to argue back?’
‘He is fighting his corner more than he did. And yes, you’re right; he should be armed. For all the good it’s going to do him,’ Serrah said.
‘Do I sense a note of defeatism?’
‘You know the odds. We’ll be lucky if any of us on the Diamond Isle come out of this alive. Assuming it hasn’t already been overrun when we get back.’
‘This is a way of asking how much longer our trip’s going to take, isn’t it?’
‘You know I’d feel happier on the island, doing what we could to defend it.’
‘If we find the Source-’
‘Yes, if. If we find it, if we work out how to use it, if we get back in time, then perhaps it could fend off an invasion. We can’t pile all our hopes on a myth, Reeth.’
‘Is that what you think?’
‘Of course I hope it isn’t. But don’t you think there might be just a hint of gold at the end of the rainbow in all this? Quests usually occur in wordsmiths’ stories or fairytales, Reeth.’
‘What are you saying, that we should turn back?’
‘You know I’m not. And I’m no less hopeful about the Source than you are, despite what you might think. But we never put a real limit on how long this is going to take. I’d like to have one.’
‘I promised you we wouldn’t be out here any longer than we had to be. Why the sudden urgency?’
‘That last vision you had. You saw Zerreiss coming. Shouldn’t that ring alarm bells for us?’
‘You’re assuming the vision’s prophetic.’
‘Do you doubt it?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t.’
‘Then maybe it isn’t too smart to be sailing into his path.’
‘He’s a long way off. I…knew that, in the vision. We could be done before he gets here.’
‘It’s the “could” that worries me.’
‘Look, it won’t be much longer before we get to the island group. We should be sighting them any time now, in fact.’
There was a cry from the lookout in the crow’s nest.
‘This is just too much of a coincidence,’ Serrah said.
‘That’s not landfall. It’s something else.’
They got up. A ship could be seen, well off from the prow. It was triple-masted, and looked sizeable, even from a distance. Caldason and Serrah hurried forward.
Rad Cheross was at the bow, studying the ship through a glamoured spy tube.
‘What is it?’ Serrah asked.
‘That’s an empire vessel,’ the skipper told them.
‘Which?’
‘Rintarah, from the markings.’
‘Is it an attack?’ Caldason said.
‘I don’t think so. The rigging’s set wrong, and I can’t see anybody on deck.’
One of Cheross’s crewmen appeared on the bridge with a pair of hand flags and began signalling.
They let a few minutes pass, maintaining their speed and course.
‘No reply,’ the Captain reported, lowering the spy tube. ‘I reckon it’s adrift.’
Kutch arrived. ‘What’s happening?’
‘We’re not sure,’ Serrah explained. ‘Could be a ship in trouble.’
