would it? Would you like to take a look at the runners? All you have to do is peer over the side. I especially enjoy watching the spray they make when the ship's running at full speed. On a sunny day, you can see little rainbows in the mist. It's quite lovely!'
Thokk scowled and Onu looked suddenly embarrassed. 'But I suppose it's too cloudy today, isn't it?'
'The illusion spells cloaking the containment towers aren't bad,' Tresslar said, 'but they won't stand up to scrutiny. I suppose that's why you make anchor so far from the docks: to keep anyone from getting a close look.'
'That, and to keep our distance from the Fury,' Onu said. 'When the curse was still active, that is. It would've been most inconvenient to have our crew suddenly trying to kill one another.'
'What I don't understand is why you bother to hide the true nature of your vessel,' Asenka said. 'You'd get far more business if people knew how fast the Turnabout can travel.'
'Perhaps concealing their true speed is what allows them to attract the kind of business they want,' Yvka said. She gave Onu and Thokk a meaningful look. 'The kind that pays a hefty sum to have cargo transported swiftly and discreetly.'
Onu began to open his mouth, but Thokk spoke first, cutting the captain off. 'You've paid your fee-or at least Calida has paid for you-and you've sworn your oaths. Now I'll inform our pilots to rouse the elementals, and we'll get well and truly underway. We should reach Trebaz Sinara within two days-perhaps a touch less if the pilots can squeeze a bit more wind out of the elementals. Calida has certainly paid enough for them to try.' The dwarf turned to Onu. 'If you wouldn't mind coming with me, Captain, I'm sure the pilots will work harder if you offer them some personal encouragement.'
'Of course, Bartalan! I'm always delighted to do whatever I can to help keep the crew's spirits high!' Onu turned to Diran. 'I insist that all of you join me in my cabin for dinner this evening. It'll be somewhat cramped, but I think we'll be able to manage. And I fully expect you to regail with me with wondrous tales of adventure for as long as the wine holds!' He laughed, clapped Diran on the back so hard that the priest staggered forward from the impact, and then Onu followed Thokk and the two began to make their way over to the closest containment tower, the captain talking loudly the entire way, and the first mate pointedly ignoring him.
Diran watched them go. 'They're an odd pair. And before you say anything, Ghaji, I know others have spoken the same about you and me. I suspect there's more to their relationship beyond captain and mate, though I have no notion what.'
Ghaji looked at Solus. 'Do you know?'
The psiforged shook his head. 'I limited myself to probing the dwarf's surface thoughts, going deep enough to determine if taking the oath would prove to be a danger to us but no farther. Even so, I sensed some vague background thoughts and emotions… enough to make me believe that Diran is correct in his assumption. Just as the true nature of the Turnabout was hidden from us, so too is the true nature of Onu and Thokk's relationship.'
'I wonder if we'll learn the truth about them,' Asenka asked.
'If we do, we won't be able to speak of it to others,' Tresslar said. 'We are now physically incapable of speaking, writing, or in any way communicating information regarding the Turnabout to anyone who is not already bound by the magic of the Oathbinder. And remember what Thokk asked us? To swear that we wouldn't reveal any of the ship's secrets. He didn't limit us to just the one secret, either.'
Anger clouded Yvka's delicate features. 'You knew that and didn't tell us? Who knows what we might learn about the Turnabout and her crew? And we won't be able to tell anyone? Ever?'
'I'm sure you're employers would've preferred you didn't take the oath,' Tresslar said. 'But I saw no point in informing the rest of you about the scope of the promise we allowed ourselves to be mystically bound to. I want the Amahau back, and swearing that oath was the only way to ensure that we reach Trebaz Sinara as swiftly as possible. We all had to swear. If even one of us refused, Onu would never have given the command to use the ship's elementals.'
Yvka looked as if she'd gladly cut Tresslar's throat right then, but she fell silent. Ghaji knew that as an operative of the Shadow Network, it galled her to be tricked into anything, let alone being tricked into taking a magically-binding oath as broad in scope as this one. Secrets were the Network's stock in trade, but what good were secrets to an operative if she couldn't use them?
Ghaji was about to say something to Yvka, but before he could, the three containment rings flared to life as the pilots seated within the towers activated the spells that woke the air elementals. Gusts of wind blasted forth from the rings to fill the Turnabout's sails, and the galleon leaped forward, the sudden acceleration almost knocking the companions off their feet.
They were on their way to Trebaz Sinara at last.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It shouldn't be long now.'
Nathifa stood at the prow of the Zephyr, her bloodless white hands gripping the ice-covered railing. She looked eastward into the darkness, toward Trebaz Sinara. Skarm sat in the pilot's seat behind the glowing containment ring, keeping the air elemental active. The barghest, while possessing more stamina than a mortal creature, was on the brink of exhaustion. The magic that controlled the elemental was contained within the pilot's chair itself, but wielding that magic still required the contribution of the pilot's will. Someone trained in using the seat's magic could do so with minimum effort, but Skarm had no such training. Thus the energy drain on the barghest was significant. Not that Nathifa cared what happened to Skarm. All that concerned her was reaching Trebaz Sinara and obtaining the last object she needed to realize her dark dreams-and those of her mistress, of course.
The lich sorceress sensed more than heard Makala approach her from behind. A moment later, the vampire joined Nathifa at the railing.
'Haaken is still sleeping. And before you ask, I didn't take any of his blood… much as I might have wanted to.'
'I would've known if you'd tried. And I would've punished you.'
Makala smiled, as if to show that Nathifa's threat didn't impress her. The vampire was becoming far too bold, and the lich was beginning to regret accepting her as a servant. She reminded herself that Vol sent Makala to her, and that meant the vampire had an important role to play in fulfilling the queen's plan. But Nathifa vowed to continue keeping close watch on the woman, for she had no doubt that Makala was going to attempt some manner of treachery, and sooner rather than later.
'Why does the man sleep so much?' Makala asked. 'He's no longer human, but he still seems to possess a human's weaknesses.'
'He's no longer only human,' Nathifa corrected. 'He still requires rest, though less than a mortal needs. While you slumbered during the day, Haaken spent several hours practicing his new skills. He's unused to transforming back and forth between his various forms, and he's unaccustomed to the physical exertion of swimming so much.'
Letting Haaken swim meant deactivating the air elemental so that he could keep up with the Zephyr. Nathifa didn't like slowing down and adding hours to their journey, but Haaken would be useless to her as a servant if he didn't possess at least a minimal mastery of his lycanthropic skills. Nathifa forced herself to view the delay as an investment, though it wasn't easy. She'd bided her time for a hundred years, but now that the culmination of everything she had worked for was finally at hand, she found herself becoming increasingly impatient, almost as if she were a mortal woman again.
She gazed up at the night sky. The cloud cover was light, and the Ring of Siberys was visible off to the south, a luminescent band of golden dragonshards that encircled the world high above the equator. A number of Eberron's twelve moons could be seen as well, four of them full and bright.
Nathifa frowned. Something tickled at the edges of her memory… something about full moons and sailing on the Lhazaar. It was a memory from her living days, when she and her two brothers had raided throughout the Principalities. But she couldn't quite-
The moons dimmed and winked out, followed closely by the Ring of Siberys. Nathifa was a lich, and thus
