Kyle gave a short bark of laughter. “For now. Not for much longer, I suspect. And you need not fear, my dear. I have no intention of stopping in Bingtown with them. It will be a swift straight run down the Inside Passage to Jamaillia City, then north again past Bingtown on to Chalced. No one will bother us.”
“Pirates,” Keffria pointed out shyly.
“Have never bothered the Vivacia. How often have you heard your father brag of how fleet she is, and how nimbly she keeps a channel? Now that she is quickened, she will be even more so. Pirates know that pursuing a liveship is a waste of their time. They'll leave us alone. Try not to trouble yourself with worrying over things I have already pondered. I would not be taking this course if I deemed it risky.”
“The cargo itself may be risky to a liveship,” Ronica pointed out quietly.
“What do you fear, an uprising of some sort? No. They'll be under the hatches and well secured below for the full trip.” Kyle was starting to sound annoyed at their reservations about his plan.
“That could be even worse then.” Ronica tried to speak gently, as if she were offering an opinion rather than stating a danger he should plainly see for himself. “Liveships are sensitive creatures, Kyle, and Vivacia is only recently quickened. Just as you would not expose Malta to the… discomforts slaves must endure during transport, so, too, the Vivacia should be sheltered from them.”
Kyle scowled, then his expression softened. “Ronica. I am not unaware of the traditions surrounding liveships. And so far as our finances will allow us, I will respect them. Wintrow will be aboard, and he will be allowed some time each day simply to converse with the ship. He'll be able to reassure her that all is well and that none of this has anything to do with her own well-being. Nor do I intend any unnecessary cruelty. The slaves must be kept confined and controlled, but beyond that, they will experience no harshness. I think you worry needlessly, Ronica. Besides. Even if she is distressed by it, it's only for a time. What harm can come of that?”
“You seem to have considered it well,” Ronica tried to put reason in her voice, and replace the anger she felt with a tone of concern. “There are tales, of course, of what a distressed liveship may do. Some, they say, go unwillingly, spilling wind from their sails, running aground where it seems they should float freely, dragging their anchors… but all that, no doubt, is nothing that a lively and well-trained crew cannot deal with. In more grave cases, it is said that ill-used ships can go mad. The Pariah is but the most famous of them. There are rumors of others, of liveships that went out and never returned, because the ship turned on its owner and crew”
“And every season there are ordinary ships that go out and do not come back. Storms and pirates are as like to be the cause of a liveship not returning as a ship going mad,” Kyle cut in impatiently.
“But with both you and Wintrow aboard, I could lose half my family at a single blow,” Keffria wailed suddenly. “Oh, Kyle, do you think this is wise? Papa made money with the Vivacia, and never took on illegal cargoes or dangerous ones.”
Kyle scowled even more darkly. “Keffria, my dear, your father did not make enough money. That is exactly what we are discussing here. How to avoid his mistakes and make this family financially sound and respectable once more. Another one of his quirky decisions immediately comes to mind, in this light.” He met Ronica's eyes suddenly and studied her face as he observed, “If you don't care for the slave trade, we could trade up the Rain Wild River. Certainly that's where the world's most desirable goods come from. Every other liveship trades up the Rain Wild River. Why shouldn't we?”
Ronica met his gaze calmly. “Because years ago Ephron decided that the Vestrit family would no longer do River trade. And we have not. Our trading contacts with the folk of the Wilds are gone now.”
“And Ephron is dead now, too. Whatever he feared, I am ready to face it. But give to me the charts of the Rain Wild River, and I'll make contacts of my own,” Kyle offered.
“You would die,” Ronica said with great certainty.
Kyle snorted. “I doubt that. The Rain Wild River may be a savage one, but I've taken ships up rivers before. So.” He paused, then uttered the words. “I'll take those charts now. They are Keffria's by right, you cannot withhold them from us any longer. Then we can all be content. No slaves aboard the Vivacia, and a fat trade up the Rain Wild River.”
Ronica did not hesitate. She lied. “That might be so, if such charts still existed. But they do not, Kyle. Ephron destroyed all charts of the Rain Wild River years ago, when he decided to sever out trade connections there. He wanted to put an end to the Vestrit family trading up the Rain Wild River. And he did.”
Kyle shot to his feet. “I don't believe it!” he snarled. “Ephron was not a fool, and only a fool would destroy charts that valuable. You're keeping them back from us, aren't you? Saving them for precious Althea and whatever you can find to marry her?”
“I don't care to be called a liar,” Ronica hissed. That, at least, was truth.
“And I don't care to be treated like a fool!” Kyle raged in return. “No one in this family has ever given me the respect I deserve. I was willing to endure it from old Ephron. He was a man and years my senior. But I will not tolerate it from anyone else under this roof. Once and for all, I want the truth. Why did Ephron sever the family trading contacts up the Rain Wild River, and what will it take for us to recover them?”
Ronica merely looked at him.
“Damn it, woman, can't you see? What is the point of having a liveship if we don't use it to exploit the River trade? Everyone knows that only liveship families can trade up the Rain Wild. We're a liveship Old Trader family, and what has your husband done with that privilege and that debt? He's traded in silks and brandies, as could anyone with a raft and a sail, and watched our debt grow larger every year. Money flows down the Rain Wild River faster than its waters do, and yet you'd have us stand on the banks of it and starve.”
“There are worse things than starving, Kyle Haven,” Ronica heard herself say.
“Like what?” he demanded.
She could not stop herself. “Like having a greedy fool for a son-in-law. You don't know what you're talking about when you speak of the Rain Wild River.”
Kyle gave her an icy smile. “Why don't you give me the charts then, and let me find out? If you're right, you'll be rid of me as a son-in-law. You'll be free to sink all your children and grandchildren into debt.”
“No!” Keffria started up with a shriek. “I can't stand this! Don't talk about things like that. Kyle, you mustn't go up the Rain Wild River. Slaves are far better, trade in slaves, and take Wintrow with you if you must, but you mustn't go up the Rain Wild River!” She looked at them both pleadingly. “He would never come back. We both know that. Papa's only just died and now you're talking about letting Kyle get himself killed.”
“Keffria. You're over-wrought, and over-reacting to everything.” The look Kyle shot Ronica suggested it was her fault for playing upon her daughter's imagination. A tiny spark of anger kindled in Ronica's heart, but she doused it firmly, for her daughter was looking at her husband with eyes full of hurt. Opportunity, she breathed to herself. Opportunity.
“Let me take care of her,” she suggested smoothly to Kyle. “I'm sure you have so much to do to ready the ship. Come, Keffria. Let's go to my sitting room. I'll have Rache bring us some tea. In truth, I feel a bit over-wrought myself. Come. Let's leave things to Kyle for a while.”
She stood and slipped an arm around Keffria and led her from the room. Salvage, she silently whispered to Ephron. I'll salvage what I can of what you left me, my dear. At least one daughter I shall keep safe by me.
Chapter Eleven
Consequences And Reflections
And if i wished to dispute these documents?” Althea asked slowly. She tried to make her voice impartially calm, but inside she was quivering with both anger and hurt.
Curtil scratched reluctantly at what was left of his graying hair. “That is specifically provided for. Anyone who disputes this last testament is automatically excluded from benefitting from it.” He shook his head, almost apologetically. “It's a standard thing,” he told her gently. “It's not as if your father was thinking specifically of you when we wrote it.”
She looked up from her tangled hands and met his eyes firmly. “And you believe this is actually what he wished? That Kyle take over Vivacia, and I be dependent on my sister's charity?”
“Well, I doubt that is how he envisioned it,” Curtil said judiciously. He took a sip of his tea. Althea wondered if that were a delaying tactic, to give him time to think. The old man straightened in his chair as if he'd decided
