It did sound interesting. Moon asked, “Are you going there?”
Callumkal lifted a hand, making a negative gesture. “I’ll be occupied with obtaining supplies, and local maps.”
Moon turned that over thoughtfully. Sealings should have contacts all along the coast, and out into the archipelagos, and maybe beyond. It might be useful to see if they had heard anything about Fell.
By dawn the port city was fully visible. There were a great many spiral stone towers of different sizes—or at least Moon thought they were stone. The surfaces caught the light in a way that showed they were oddly smooth and polished, and might be treated with some other material. Between the towers were small dwellings and winding streets, leading up to the curve of the shoreline. Islands studded the harbor, and beyond them lay the limitless sea, the sun glinting off the white-capped waves, even as high clouds threw shadows across the gray-blue water.
The shore toward the north end was open beach, dotted with small houses or buildings. The other end was all docks, extending out far into the harbor, some turning into bridges reaching to the nearest islands. And there were boats and ships of every size and shape imaginable. Moon spotted a couple of flying bladder-boats tied up to a smaller tower, but didn’t see any Golden Islander craft, or anything else similar. He wondered where Niran and Diar were, if they had been able to follow as Delin hoped.
Earlier Callumkal had gone into the steering cabin, and Jade had come up to the bow to watch the city appear on the horizon, trailed later by a still sleep-bleary Chime. The others had followed them, Merit and Bramble lining up along the railing with Delin and Stone, and the other warriors perched up on the center ridge. Jade stirred now and said, “Did Callumkal say where he was planning to put this thing?”
“He said we’re going to dock on one of those, with the bladder boats.” Moon jerked his chin to indicate the smaller towers that seemed to work as air-docks.
“We’re leaving by dark, right?” Chime asked. He watched the approach of than-Serest uneasily. “The last time we went to a groundling city like this, they tried to give us to the Fell.”
“And Delin was with us then, too,” Moon pointed out.
Chime glared at him, not appreciating the humor. Moon nudged his shoulder in apology. “You don’t have to get off the boat if you don’t want to.”
“None of us have to get off the boat.” Jade eyed him. “Do we?”
Moon hesitated, considering his half-formed plan. “I’d like to hear if there’s any news, especially any news of Fell. Or things happening that might mean Fell are somewhere around. And I’m not sure if the Kishan know how to ask for it.”
Jade made an annoyed noise in her throat. “Where would this news be?”
“Callumkal said there were trading places where you can talk to the sealings that live in the shallows. They may have heard something from the sealings further out in the sel-Selatra.”
“That . . . doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Jade’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.
“Would they have contact with sealings so far away?” Chime asked.
“I don’t know, but we can ask.” Moon didn’t know much about the sea kingdoms, but a city where groundlings and sealings were allies seemed like a good way to find out. And it wouldn’t seem odd for a flying boat heading toward the sel-Selatra to ask if anyone had heard about any trouble out there. Or at least it wouldn’t have seemed odd back in the Abascene, where Moon had done most of his traveling.
Chime nodded slowly. “I suppose asking Rorra for help would be out of the question.”
Moon winced at the thought. “Right, no.” They had been getting along with Rorra fairly well, getting used to her scent and learning to treat it as just part of the scents associated with the flying boat. But Rorra was still a difficult person in her own right, and it was obvious her past as a sealing was a subject to be avoided.
Jade was still doubtful. “Have you ever talked to sealings before?”
“No, but someone you’re related to has.” Moon turned to look back along the deck where Stone leaned against the railing with Delin. Stone saw them all staring and narrowed his eyes.
CHAPTER NINE
Despite the strong wind from the sea, the flying boat managed to lower itself down enough to tie off at the upper level of the smaller docking tower. Like all the towers it formed an open spiral, stretching up from a broad base and narrowing at the top. The flying craft were docked by securing their ropes around the outer rim of the spiral, and then a plank bridge was connected to the ship so the crew could disembark.
Watching this process with Jade, Stone, Chime, and Delin, Moon asked, “Is that going to hold?” The bladder-boats docked here seemed to be secure, but the Kishan flying boat was considerably larger and probably stronger.
Delin told him, “The material is not stone, not metal. No one knows what it is. Vendoin says these towers were all here long before the port was built or the Coastals settled here.” He made an impatient gesture. “Another mystery.”
The breeze was fresh and strong, scented of salt and the sea and groundling city. The warriors and the Arbora were on the far side of the boat, staring at this closer view, with Balm to keep an eye on them and make sure none of them shifted.
The groundlings who helped with the docking must be Coastals. They were tall and slender, their skin covered with pale gray scales that seemed flexible and soft in texture, almost like feathers. Their heads were a long narrow shape, eyes oblong slits, noses long and pointed, jaws long and mouths small, as if originally meant for eating small shellfish. They wore loose-fitting clothing, mostly brief wraps around the waist, and their hair looked a little like water grass, curving back from the crests of their heads. There was variation in colors and shapes between some of them, which might indicate different races. The differences were probably terribly important to them, though like Moon, most other species probably found them barely noticeable. Like the way most other species confused Raksura, especially Raksuran consorts, and Fell rulers.
They watched Callumkal, Vendoin, Kalam, and two crew members go down the plank onto the tower. Callumkal stopped to speak to the Coastals who had helped with the docking, then he and the others started down the ramp. Moon looked down the deck for Rorra, and saw her just vanishing into the passage to the steering cabin. She clearly had no intention of visiting even the groundling portion of the city.
As Callumkal’s group took the first turn down and disappeared from view, Jade said, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Moon faced her. She was serious, and, from the furrow of her brow and the angle of her spines, very worried. He said, “It’s how I lived most of my life.”
“I know, but . . .” Jade sighed. “You weren’t very good at it sometimes.”
Moon decided to let that go. Besides, she wasn’t entirely wrong. “I was good at this part.”
Jade seemed to find this less than reassuring. Stone said, “Hey, I’ll be there.”
Jade’s expression made it clear that she didn’t see this as a benefit. “Just be careful.”
Callumkal had told his own crew that if they left the boat, they must stay in the vicinity of the market around the base of the tower. Moon had heard a few complaints about this, but the fact that the boat was meant to leave by late afternoon had reconciled most of them.