The other sailors didn't seem to change their position, and, if anything, eyed the captain with suspicion.
Releana said brightly, "Then there is no problem, for he is not yet a man."
Silence reigned for a heartbeat, then the captain said, "Ah! There it is." She turned to the other sailors. "He is almost there, but is certainly not a silent man."
The sailors did not seem convinced. But Voponis said, "If you say so, Captain." He sounded relieved. J'role noticed the t'skrang had taken a liking to the strange entourage that wanted passage on the Breeton.
"And you would be?" the captain said, turning to Bevarden.
"He's Despair," Releana said without thought, then caught herself and winced. "Grim's father. He's not in very good shape." '
The captain put on a strained smile and said, "Well, you wish to go to Throal?"
"Yes," said Releana.
"Four dwarven gold. Pricy, but you must admit, you're a strange lot."
Releana looked to J'role, and then said, "We have no gold to offer. But we have something else. Something that might gain you more than four pieces of gold."
"And what would that be?"
Releana looked at the other sailors. "It's a bit of a secret…."
The captain eyed Releana carefully, then J'role and Bevarden in turn, as if weighing them in some arcane mercantile manner. "What you can say to me, you can say to them."
Releana paused, then opened her mouth to speak Just as she was about to begin, the captain said, "But if we're going to bargain, let's get some food. I'm famished. Please, whether you travel with us or not, be my guest for a meal." She took a long look at Bevarden. "He, in particular, looks as if he could do with one."
An intense rumble emanated from J’role’s stomach at the words, and though it had only been two weeks since he'd left his village, his mind strained trying to remember his last real meal.
As he walked up the wide loading plank to the ship, the image of the last fine meal he'd eaten suddenly hit him. It was the lamb Garlthik had bought him the day J'role had been initiated into the way of thief magic. For just a moment he thought wistfully of Garlthik, the man who had dragged his wrist into an open flame. Then the feeling left and J'role thought only of the good, hot meal he was about to eat.
It was wonderful, though strange. Long, succulent fish, dressed with colorful vegetables the like of which J’role had never seen, sat on silver plates on a long wooden table intricately carved with pictures of mountains and dwarfs at work in forges. Wine poured freely from pitchers made of cut glass almost as beautiful as the diamond Garlthik had traded to the tavernkeep. They sat in a wide, low-roofed room with the captain at the head of the table. Another sailor, who the captain introduced as First Mate Nikronallia, sat to her right. Voponis serve them food, more of which seamed to appear each time they had cleaned their plates.
J'role started his meal by wolfing it down, but soon the taste so caught his senses that he let the food rest for a moment or so on his tongue, so he might enjoy it more. Releana rushed food into her mouth as well, and no one spoke a single word for some time.
Nikronallia glowered at them, seeming impatient at their silent, ravenous behavior. But the captain smiled to see them sate their hunger.
After several minutes J'role realized that his father was not eating, only swallowing down one glass of wine after another, knocking it back in terrible gulps. J'role leaned over and cut up a slice of red fish on his father's plate, trying to encourage him to take some true sustenance. Seeing what J'role was doing, Bevarden knocked his son out of the way, nearly throwing J'role out of his seat and spilling his plate to the floor.
Voponis quickly appeared to clean up the mess and give J'role's father a new plate of food, which the man steadfastly ignored. J'role wanted to apologize to the captain and the others, though he did not exactly know for what. Perhaps, he realized, it was simply to put the matter behind him; a little ritual over an incident that truly needed no comment.
Unable to say anything, he simply looked down at his food and continued to eat. After a moment he glanced up and found Releana staring at him. He could not guess what she was thinking.
"She thinks you're a freak," said the creature in his head. "And she feels even more sorry for you now that your father has shamed you. Don't think she feels anything for you other than the lowest form of pity."
"I don't think she feels anything for me …," J'role began to think angrily, to defend himself. But he let the thought trail off. What did it matter? The creature was right. He wanted to look at Releana again, but he blocked the impulse. Instead he remembered her, thinking that her face was pretty and her eyes large. And he liked the way she smiled.
The creature laughed at him, dismissing his pleasure.
After the eating had gone on for some time, Captain Patrochian said, "Well, I think we can let the stuffing slow down to steady intake now. What say we discuss this proposition of yours?”
Releana and J'role looked up loath to slow their eating. But Releana set her fork to the side, and J'role followed suit. Bevarden continued to drink.
"We are on a quest," said Releana
Nikronallia snorted, but the captain waved her hand at him, and leaned in toward Releana. "What do you seek?" she asked.
"A city. Lost during the Scourge."
The captain crinkled her eyebrows in concentration, which had the disturbing effect of making her reptilian face look positively terrifying. "The city's name?"
"We do not know," answered Releana.
Nikronallia snorted again. J'role wished he could say the name, Parlainth, which the elf queen had spoken to him. But he could not, nor could he write it.
"We believe that all memories of the city were removed from the world shortly before the Scourge. Rather than build the kind of defenses the Therans taught us to use, this city hid itself. . somewhere else. In another plane, I suppose."
"If I might be so bold," said Nikronallia, leaning in, a condescending smile lifting the corners of his mouth, "How do you know about this city if it is not in this world and everyone has forgotten about it."
"There is a ring that makes the wearer seek out the city."
'Stop- annoying our guests, Nikronallia," said Captain
Patrochian. "Your attitude bothers me as much as it does them." She turned toward Releana. “This ring? You have it? Is this what you wish to trade?"
“No," she said. "We lost it in Blood Wood. To the elf queen."
"The elves," Bevarden said suddenly, "have thorns that grow from within their bodies!"
He spoke to the captain, his tone full of pain. "The flesh is torn, and the blood runs in smooth droplets down their flesh. They have ruined themselves, you see. They were a dream once." He paused, and everyone stared silently in amazement. "I had dreams once.
So did my son." He closed his eyes, and J'role realized his father was going to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Voponis," the captain said quietly. Voponis nodded, stepped up next to Bevarden, then took the man's shoulder and helped him stand.
"I'm sorry," Bevarden said again.
"You need rest, my friend," said the captain, and Voponis led him out of the room. J'role stood to go with him, but the captain motioned for him to sit. "He will be given a cot to sleep on. He. . looks as if he could use a rest." The captain eyed J'role. "It looks as if you could use some, too."
J 'role nodded, and sat back down. Unexpectedly he found himself relieved that his father was gone. One less disaster waiting to happen. He relaxed into his chair and listened to the rest of the conversation.
"I take it you no longer need the ring?" asked the captain.
“That's what we think," said Releana. “We need to get to Throal and do some research.