Into the Void

'I can't believe that.'

She laughed again. 'Neither can I, but I'm sure the stories are good for a few pints at dockside taverns.'

They sank back into a comfortable silence. Over the last several days, Teldin and Rianna had spent more time together. It was nothing extreme and didn't even seem to be purposeful on either of their parts. It was just a matter of taking opportunities that came up-and, Teldin had to admit, being more conscious of such opportunities. Whenever the two of them met, at meals or while wandering the ship when neither had the watch, they'd take the opportunity for brief chats. These talks were just enjoyable ways of whiling away some time. They'd rarely touch on anything of much significance, preferring to keep the exchanges light. It was obvious to Teldin that Rianna enjoyed his company, and he knew that their impromptu discussions were generally the brightest parts of his day. It was impossible to deny that a warm friendship was developing between them.

Or, more correctly, between Rianna Wyvernsbane and Aldyn Brewer, Teldin thought somewhat bitterly. Since Rianna's crippled mosquito had first been spotted, he hadn't shown his real face, even when alone in his cabin. The Probe's officers were very careful to refer to him only as 'Aldyn,' and the way things were working out, the hammership's crew had less and less reason to refer to him at all.

The growing relationship-if you could call it that-didn't go unnoticed. When it comes to such things, after all, even the largest ship is very small. The retinue of male crew members that had been following Rianna around the ship began to tail off in number. While she was still considered by far the most beautiful and alluring female aboard ship, it was generally accepted-at least according to the gossip that Teldin heard-that she'd made her choice as to the man with whom she wanted to spend her time. With anyone else, that might have led to some uncomfortable, jealousy-fueled confrontations. In Teldin's case, however, the crew seemed unwilling to provoke an incident with the warrior-mage who now wanted to be called Aldyn. Envy and jealousy did still appear, but in the harmless forms of generally shunning Teldin and not talking to him unless absolutely necessary-which, Teldin found, was just fine with him at the moment.

The Probe's officers were a different case. Rianna seemed to have totally won them over-particularly Sylvie, it seemed. Teldin had frequently seen them in private tete-a- tetes. Now the half-elven woman was quite likely to shoot Teldin knowing-and somehow sly-glances whenever they met. Only Julia seemed to feel anything less than total friendship for the blond woman, and that, Teldin decided, was merely jealousy. While the red-haired officer was attractive in her own way, she definitely paled in comparison with Rianna.

Aelfred and Estriss seemed to view the whole thing with what could only be called paternal amusement-which Teldin found patronizing but was unable to complain about. The illithid had reminded him that it was still a good idea to maintain his new identity, no matter how he felt to the contrary. Aelfred's only comment had been that 'Aldyn's' face looked great, but that he hoped the illusion was as good all over his body-this said with an expression of studious innocence.

Teldin wanted to argue about the whole thing. He enjoyed Rianna's company, and apparently vice versa, but that's all it was. Not even friendship, really, just close-acquaintanceship, if there were such a word. He well knew that it'd do more harm than good to argue the point. Oh, well, what did it matter? He was enjoying himself at the moment, and he might be nearing the end of his quest, if Estriss was right about the arcane.

Estriss. That was another interesting issue. Rianna had been aboard the Probe only a couple of days when she'd marched onto the bridge-so said Aelfred-and demanded to see the captain. She'd figured out that the captain was keeping himself hidden, she'd explained, and had concluded it was because he wasn't human or demihuman. Was he a lizard man? she'd asked. Or maybe an illithid?

Aelfred had been surprised, but admitted to Teldin that he'd also been quite impressed. He'd immediately arranged a meeting between Rianna and Estriss, wondering if the woman would handle matters as well when she met the 'brain-sucking monster' face to face. If he'd been expecting any show of fear, he'd been disappointed. 'She carried it off perfectly,' the first mate had told Teldin, 'greeted Estriss politely, then started asking if 'the honorable captain' ever had any need for a message-runner.' The big man had chuckled deep in his throat. 'I'm coming to like her a lot.'

'Not too much, I hope,' Teldin had replied.

*****

Neither Teldin nor Rianna were on duty as the Probe spiralled slowly down toward the surface of Toril. There was nobody on the forecastle, so they'd taken it as their private viewpoint.

As they'd drawn closer to the planet, and-presumably-as the Probe's navigator picked the course that would best take them to Rauthaven, the cloud cover had thinned beneath them. Now Teldin could look down through patchy white clouds. There was water below them, water of an almost breathtakingly pure blue. Here and there was a flash as sunlight reflected off waves-at least, that's what Rianna assured him the glints were. From this vantage point, Teldin found he had no way of judging their altitude, and hence no way of estimating the size of the body of water below them. It could just as easily be a small lake or a great ocean. He remarked on that to Rianna.

'It's the Great Sea,' she told him. She pointed. 'See that island? That's Nimbral, called the Sea-Haven. Rauthaven's near the southeast tip.'

Teldin moved closer to her so he could sight down her arm. In fact, he could pick out the island she was referring to, but why pass up on an opportunity like this? he thought. Her shoulder was warm against his chest as he lowered his head to sight down along her arm. He took a quiet breath, enjoying the subtle smell of her.

She nudged him playfully. 'See it?'

'Oh, there' he responded in feigned surprise. Her laugh told him she knew what he was doing, and-more importantly-that she, too, enjoyed their closeness. 'So that's where we're going.'

'That's it,' she confirmed. 'Of course, you won't see the city itself until we get much lower.'

Even though she'd lowered her arm, Teldin felt no great desire to move away from her. She leaned in a little more against his chest. After a moment's hesitation, he slipped his arm around her waist and let his hand settle on the point of her hip. She made no movement to pull away or remove his arm. 'Where were you born?' he asked, more to simply hear her voice again than from any need for the information.

She laughed softly. 'Sorry, I can't point it out to you,' she said teasingly, 'we can't see it from here. It's called Waterdeep, on the Sword Coast, a long way away.'

'But you've been to Rauthaven.'

'I've been a lot of places. My father traveled a lot, and then I followed in the family tradition.'

'What did he do, your father?'

She shrugged, and he felt strong muscles shift under her soft skin. 'He was a merchant, I suppose you'd say,' she replied. 'But, like me, he dealt more in information than hard goods. There are always people willing to pay to have their messages delivered without having to trust to wizards.'

'You're a wizard, too, aren't you?' Teldin remarked. 'You've got to be to pilot a ship, don't you? Unless you're a priest…'

Rianna laughed out loud. 'Oh, I'm no priest, Aldyn Brewer,' she told him. 'Yes, I'm a wizard, but not much of one, just enough to fly my ship. I learned it young. It didn't take me long to realize that the world's full of creatures that would like nothing more than a nice, harmless messenger for even-feast. Magic's an equalizer, and I always like to have an equalizer.' With the suddenness that Teldin had come to expect from her, she changed the subject. 'You're with this ship but not of it, at least that's how I read it,' she said. 'How come you're going to Rauthaven?'

Teldin didn't hesitate. Since their first meeting in the officers' saloon, he'd taken the time to work up a good background story and the answers to the questions Rianna-or anyone else-was most likely to ask him. He didn't have to like it, and he didn't, but he recognized it was necessary-for now, part of his mind added. 'I need to meet with an arcane,' he told her smoothly. 'Estriss tells me there's likely to be one around because of the auction. You know about the auction?'

'Yes, he told me. Why an arcane? What do you need with one of them?'

Again Teldin had an answer ready. 'That's what I've been hired to do,' he said. 'My principal-the one who's paying me-needs me to pass a message on to one of the arcane, and that's what I'm going to do.'

Rianna accepted that with a nod, and Teldin knew he'd guessed right in his prevarication. Someone whose