"Good evening," said Captain Patrochian, and J'role jumped nearly falling into the river below. "I'm sorry," she said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Didn't mean to startle you.
Out for some air?”
J 'role nodded, then turned away slightly, embarrassed that he could not say more.
The river stretched out before them, amazingly wide. The rushing surface of the river caught the reflection of the stars, which seemed to bob and toss in the water. J' role thought of all the times he'd looked to the stars for answers, searching for patterns he could not read. Now the stars floated along the watery path the ship traveled, as if finally leading him to his fate.
“I love this river," the captain said with warm cheer. Her thin tail slowly snaked its way back and forth across the ledge, making J'role wonder briefly whether it had a will of its own. After a moment, she asked, "Are you far from home?”
J'role decided he was and nodded.
"Any rivers like this where you come from?"
J'role shook his head.
"Is the land dry?" She asked the question in a friendly way, not pressing him. Curious.
J'role nodded. He then mimed casting a spell, his hands wide apart and busy. Then he bent down, and slowly raised his fingertips all the way from the floor to his standing height, as if following the growth of a plant. He reached into the air and mimed plucking a fruit, then took a bite.
"Ah. Yes. Magic for the crops. We had to do that at first. Or rather, my parents did. But the Serpent is so fertile …" Her voice trailed off, obviously full of love for her home.
J'role wondered what that would be like, to live in a place that one loved, that one didn't want to escape.
Ahead, on the far right side of the river he saw a riverboat docked among several of the spires rising out of the water. J'role pointed at the tableau.
"I'm sorry …," the captain said, uncertain.
J'role raised his arm vertically, then pointed again.
"Ah. The spires. Those are the tips of our homes. We t'skrang live in communities under the waters of the Serpent. The spires lead down to our towns. That's where we hid during the Scourge."
How extraordinary! J'role wondered if he might someday visit an underwater town. He would wait until he could ask the captain if he might visit. With words. Until that day, his focus would be on finding the means to remove the creature from his head.
An image flashed through his mind: his body on the ground, bloody gashes across his wrists. The creature in his thoughts laughed.
"You've seen the elves?" the captain asked abruptly. "Your father said …”
J'role nodded, somewhat surprised by the captain's question. What interest would a citizen of an underwater town have in the elves? Didn't living in such a strange place offer enough delights?
"I've never seen them. My parents heard stories of course. Passed down through the generations in the kaer. They're supposed to be wonderful."
Yes, wonderful and terrible. And he had seen them and Captain Patrochian had not. She stared over the bow of the Breeton, out over the river, eyes full of anticipation of excitement. She had what she wanted, her ship and her travels, yet seemed to long for even more.
Turning back to J'role and meeting his eyes, she gave him one of her frightening smiles, the corners of her mouth pulling down grotesquely. "You are not yet a man, but you have already seen a great deal, haven't you?”
At first J'role thought she was talking about the elves and other extraordinary sights like their thorn men. But a part of him suddenly realized that the captain was referring to the darker, subtler sights that he could not remember, but knew were buried in his memories somewhere. He answered her question with a nod.
"Have you ever swung over the stars at night?"
The question confused him. He shook his head no.
"Come." She addressed him the same way she did her sailors-with the expectation of being obeyed. They walked along the ledge until they came to a hook driven into the wall. Wrapped around it were several ropes. She grabbed the end of one and said,
"Watch."
With a mighty push from her legs she swung in a wide arc out over the river. The rope hung from a wooden arm that pivoted on a thick pole, and her momentum carried her toward the rear of the ship. J'role thought she would slam into a wall, but she pulled up her legs and braced them against the impact. At the exact moment the captain made contact with the wall she pushed again with her legs and swung out over the water once more. She swung back toward J'role with a mighty rush, landing on the ledge with perfect balance, wrapping the rope around the hook in the same deft motion.
"You try."
"Me?" J'role almost said. But before another thought could come to him, she'd unhooked one of the ropes and was holding it out. "Just hang on tight. I'll catch you on the way back. Stopping is where the training comes in. And make sure to look down."
She put the rope in his hands. As he thought about giving it back to her, he felt the rough hemp fit comfortably against his palms and fingers. It was just like climbing a wall, he realized. And if he could climb a vertical pit lined with writhing roots, he could certainly cling to a rope.
Without hesitation he turned toward the wall, and with a sharp exhalation of breath he pulled up his legs, braced his feet against the wall of the ship, and pushed. .
He swung out into the darkness, the red lights of the ship flashing in and out of his sight as he spun wildly around.
"Look down,” the captain cried.
He did.
The stars. .!
The stars bobbed up and down in the wake of the Breeton's passage. They whirled around beneath them as if he'd flown up from the earth and now lived among them.
"The wall!" the captain shouted. At her warning he looked up and gained his bearings. As his body rushed toward the wall, J'role used the thief magic to balance himself and pull his legs up toward the wall.
Even sooner than he expected his feet slammed into the wall, buckling his legs. As if he'd been practicing for years, he pushed off the instant his forward momentum stopped, and was out over the water again.
He looked down again. This time he saw his own shadow, his silhouette, rush through the night sky. He gasped as he watched his life finally given a place in the stars.
"Grim!" the captain said, and he looked up to see her only a few feet away, an arm outstretched. He pulled his legs up again, and slammed into the wall feet first. The captain reached out and grabbed the rope, one hand on the hook for balance. J'role nearly swung back out over the water, but Patrochian held him fast and pulled him close to her.
Her body shook with laughter
"Well done, softskin! Well done!"
The motion of her laughter passed from her into his body and he found himself floating in his emotions. The thief magic sulked away like a disappointed child, promising to return when he had room only for it. He wrapped his arms around Captain Patrochian to prevent himself from falling off the ledge, and she held him tight.
"Well done," she said again. "How would you like to put yourself to some use during the rest of the trip? Nothing required, of course. Just something to occupy you so you don't go restas while on board. You seem to have the spirit."
J'role looked up at her, uncertain what she wanted from him. In that moment a chill passed through his flesh.
She caught-the expression on bus face. "No, no. Only if you want to. Maybe you'll like it."
An offer, he realized. Simply an offer. She was giving him something-a chance to work aboard her ship. She loved the Breeton, and so it was an offer to share something dear to her. His fear changed to embarrassment. He realized he did not know how to accept a gift that he had not first begged for.