“Where?” she asked.
In reply, he merely tapped his skull and smiled.
She nodded in return and whispered, “If you still want to try for that fortune, support me when I make my play.”
“Have you figured a way out of here?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she replied. “I can’t fight the whole Order of Brass, but…”
Mik looked puzzled, but she said no more.
“Where are we going?” Trip asked their brass-armored captors. He hopped to the rail and leaned out over the gunwale so far that he nearly toppled into the drink.
“Berann,” Lady Kell replied. “Home of the Order of Brass and our lord Thrakdar.”
“A bag of wind,” Shimmer grumbled. “Both him and his uncle Thracktil.”
Misa Kell’s eyes narrowed, but she did not react to what the bronze knight said. Instead, she turned to the others and said, “Turn over your weapons. We will return them to you after judgment”
“And if we’re judged unworthy?” Mik asked, his hand resting on the pommel of his scimitar.
“Then they will he returned when you are cast adrift beyond the Veil,” Lady Kell replied.
Ula rose from where she had been sitting, her spear clenched tightly in her fist. “I am no common prisoner,” she said. “I will not give up my weapons.”
“It is the law, Ula Landwalker,” Lady Kell said.
“You apply your laws capriciously, Misa Kell,” Ula replied. “They do not hind me. I am a Drakenvaal. I will not submit to you, or your order, or your laws. I am hound by the customs of my people-the Dargonesti. We roamed the seas when your people were but babes. Only the Dargonesti can deprive me of arms; only they can judge me. I demand that you take me to Darthalla.”
Mik glanced at Ula, and saw cunning in her eyes. He nodded that he was with her.
“Those were the old ways, Landwalker,” Lady Kell said. “Things are different since the gods of good and their dragon consorts left Krynn. Things have changed in the isles, and order must be maintained.”
“Has honor changed as well, then?” Ula asked.
Misa Kell looked offended. “How could the laws of honor change?” she said haughtily.
A sly smile broke over Ula’s beautiful face. “Then I demand honorable justice,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Lady Kell asked.
“I demand trial by combat.”
Chapter Nineteen
Trip elbowed Mik. “What’s she up to?” the kender asked.
“Trying to keep us out of prison,” Mik replied, though he wished that he felt more sure of the sea elf s impromptu plan.
Lord Kell strode from the bridge to where Ula and the rest stood in the bow of the dragonship. In his left hand he held his long coral lance clutched tight. He took up a defensive posture beside his sister.
Misa Kell’s gaze narrowed, and her brow furrowed with anger. She stared unblinking into the sea elf s green eyes.
“This is absurd,” Benthor Kell said. “The law is clear, Ula Drakenvaal. You-and the rest-must accompany us to Berann.”
“The Code of Honor is older than your order’s laws,” Ula said, never taking her eyes off Misa. “If you’ve abandoned it, say so.”
Benthor Kell’s rugged jaw tightened, and he frowned. “We would no more abandon honor than we would the law.”
“Then I demand my rights,” Ula said.
“Very well,” Lord Kell replied, hefting his lance. “Clear the decks!” he called. “We will give this elf her trial.”
“No, Benthor,” Misa said. “It is I who was challenged-and I who will accept.”
“But, sister-” Lord Kell began.
“Ula challenged your sister, not you,” Mik improvised. “Only the challenged can accept. To do otherwise is to forfeit the challenge.”
Lord Kell glared at Mik, and then at the sea elf. Mik smiled, knowing the lord was trapped.
“If I win,” Ula said, “you will release the castaways to me and take us to Darthalla. There my people will judge our worthiness to stay in the Dragon Isles.”
“And if you lose?” Mik whispered.
Ula winked at him. “Then we all go to Berann and stand before the Order.” She turned to Lady Kell and in a louder voice said. “Do you accept the terms of the challenge?”
Karista Meinor looked from Ula to Lady Kell. She seemed to be weighing her options, but said nothing. Trip clapped gleefully in anticipation of the fight.
“I accept,” Misa Kell replied through gritted teeth. “Clear the deck and we’ll settle this.” She loosened her brass-handled sword from its scabbard and tossed the sheath toward the stem deck.
The crew moved away from the center of the trireme’s midship platform, leaving the women plenty of room to fight. Ula glanced at Mik. “Have Shimmer make sure they play fair,” she said loudly.
Mikal Vardan nodded, as did bronze knight. Ula turned back to her opponent, spear at the ready.
With a snarl of rage, Misa charged forward. She swung at Ula’s head, but the sea elf ducked out of the way.
Ula flipped her spear and clouted the brass-armored woman in the lower back. Misa staggered and barely ducked aside in time to avoid Ula’s follow-up thrust. Lady Kell brought her sword up against the spear’s haft and turned the weapon aside.
“You fight well,” Misa snarled, “for someone dressed like a camp follower.”
Ula laughed. “So do you.”
Misa chopped at Ula’s midsection, but the sea elf stepped back, her bare feet moving gracefully over the ship’s smooth wooden deck. She pirouetted, spun her weapon, and clouted Lady Kell on the side of the head with the spear’s butt. Misa reeled from the impact.
“She’s fast!” Trip whispered, admiring Ula’s grace.
“She’s used to fighting in the pressure of the deep,” Mik whispered back. “Above water, she’s much quicker than any of us. Stronger, too, probably.”
“Stronger than Lady Kell, I hope,” Trip replied.
Misa Kell waved her sword before her as she staggered back. The brass weapon turned aside two of the sea elf s thrusts-more by luck than design. Ula stabbed at her again, and this time the blow got through, tracing a long cut down Misa’s pale ribs.
“That scanty armor is just slowing you down,” Ula noted. “You should design your next set for protection rather than show.”
“Elf witch!” Misa snarled. “Stand still and fight!” She lunged forward suddenly and got her sword under Ula’s guard. Ula turned Misa’s blade aside, but they crashed together and the two of them fell to the deck in a heap.
Their arms and legs tangled as they wrestled across the deck, each trying to position her weapon for a telling blow. Misa smashed the pommel of her sword into Ula’s hip. The sea elf grunted and clouted the brass lady on the chin with her fist.
Blood spurted from Misa’s mouth. She tried to grab Ula’s arm, but only ended up with a handful of jewelry from the sea elf s sparse clothing. A few tiny gems rolled across the planking and briefly settled onto the deck before finding their way into Trip’s pockets.
Ula rammed her knee into Lady Kell’s exposed gut. The air rushed out of Misa’s lungs and Ula rolled out from under her. The Dargonesti quickly scrambled to her feet. Bloody-faced, Lady Kell did the same.
Panting, the two women regarded each other across the blood spattered deck.
“Slippery as a scavenger eel,” Misa growled.
“And with twice the bite,” Ula countered. “Submit. You’re outmatched.”
“Never!”
Ula lunged forward, stabbing at Lady Kell’s midsection.
Misa parried, but that was exactly what Ula wanted.
The sea elf allowed the shaft of her spear to skid up Misa’s sword blade. Ula heaved hard, pushing the sword to the left, then thrust right.
She drove the spear point up, into the unprotected flesh just below Misa’s shoulder guard. Lady Kell gasped. Her eyes grew wide, and her sword went limp in her hand. Ula gave her spear a final twist and thrust her opponent to the floor.