Fontagu joined the queue not far behind the three youngsters.
‘What's he doing here?’ Amelia grumbled. She did not share Tab's peculiar affection for the trickster.
Then all of a sudden the thrumming of the great propellers vibrated beneath them. Tab's heart beat faster. She needed to get down to the world below right now! She wanted to see that Tattoo was all right.
She shifted from foot to foot, trying to count how many people were in the line before them. The thrumming intensified. The flames on the torches in the wall sconces all shifted at once. Quentaris was on the move. Tab wondered about the baby dragon too. How long would it last without food? She knew it wasn't possible, but somehow she wanted them both to be all right.
Eventually they were at the front of the queue and the three were called into the throne room to be heard.
Tab cleared her throat. ‘We want to return the equens to the world below.’
‘There is no need for that,’ the Archon declared. ‘Our scouting party has recently returned. The world below is not as promising as we thought. Besides, no one can accompany you. Even as we speak the guilds make ready to leave.’
‘Respectfully, sir,’ Tab began. ‘It wouldn't take very long. One scout and one vessel is all we would need… and our friend Torby. We don't even need the scout really – just the vessel.’
Stelka narrowed her eyes. ‘Why would you take Torby?’
‘It's said that the equens who live on the world below have healing powers,’ Amelia said.
Stelka sighed. ‘Some people will believe anything.’
‘If there is hope to speed up Torby's recovery, isn't it worth trying?’ Amelia countered. The Chief Navigator fixed her with a glare and Amelia's glance dropped to the floor. ‘There's no harm in trying,’ she mumbled.
‘This is a waste of our time,’ Florian said, inspecting his fingernails. ‘Next!’
‘I'll take them,’ offered Fontagu from the doorway. ‘If a scout vessel can be spared.’
Everyone looked over the three friends’ shoulders to where he stood.
‘You?’ snorted Verris. ‘Out of the goodness of your heart?’
‘I don't suppose one more look around would be too much trouble, since we're not likely to come back,’ Drass said, suddenly sitting forward. ‘I could join them also – to make sure that they're back promptly.’
Tab could have laughed. Of course, Drass was interested now. He knew Fontagu wouldn't offer to escort them unless there were gold royals in the venture.
Florian took his feet off the council table. ‘You're needed here, Drass, to prepare for the journey, and finish the hearing. But I could probably fit it in to my schedule.’
‘Surely nannying a few children and ponies is a task too low for the Archon's own nephew?’ Drass retorted. ‘And who will chaperone the chaperone?’
‘I'll take Vrod,’ Verris said, standing.
Both Florian and Drass began to protest.
‘Want to fight me for it?’ Verris asked, half drawing his sword from his scabbard. Florian closed his mouth. ‘Didn't think so.’
Drass stood, drawing his sword.
‘I say!’ the Archon spluttered. ‘Have you lost all sense of etiquette? There will be no fighting in this chamber.’
Drass narrowed his eyes at Verris, and then sheathed his weapon.
Fontagu hovered in the doorway rubbing his hands together and making a pathetic low bleating noise to attract attention.
‘Yes, you can come too, Fontagu,’ Verris said. ‘It's probably best for the city if you stay within my sight.’
‘… And Torby?’ Tab asked.
Verris and Stelka exchanged a glance. The Chief Navigator sighed again. ‘I suppose it can't do any harm.’
Amelia and Philmon went with Verris to gather the two equens from the ostler, while Vrod escorted Tab to the Navigators’ Guild to collect Torby. Tab was almost skipping. She felt as though she hadn't talked to Torby for ages!
Vrod waited outside while Tab entered the room in which Torby had been convalescing. It was a comfortable space with a warm fire. She was pleased to see that there was a table and chairs for drawing and toys on the floor. Tab knew that Stelka would have chosen a magician with strong skills to help Torby contain his gifts, but she was happy to see that the scholar who attended him had a kind face and a soothing voice.
He was pale, but Torby didn't seem unhappy, or afraid.
‘Have you seen ponies before?’ she asked him.
‘Only in the street,’ he whispered back, pointing to the window.
‘Would you like to see one up close?’ the nurse asked him, smoothing his hair away from his face.
Torby nodded shyly and held out his hand to Tab.
The nurse followed them along the corridor and when they got to the front door she placed her hands on Torby's shoulders. ‘Do you remember everything we have practised?’
Torby nodded again.
Tab could see the strain on the nurse's face. ‘He will be fine,’ she said, but she seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Tab.
Verris had already loaded the equens on the scout vessel when they reached the harbour. They seemed to be much more nervous about their proximity to Vrod than about being in the confined space. Tab could feel from them that it was the smell of meat fat that oozed through his pores. It made their muscles twitch and their eyes wide. She did what she could to send calming thoughts, but she was nervous herself about what she might find on the world below.
Amelia and Philmon didn't seem worried at all. They were quizzing Torby about what he was learning from the magicians, and Tab was pleased to hear Torby answering. They were slow, halting answers, but it was progress.
When they first boarded Torby rubbed the scars on his hands fretfully with his thumbs, but the more questions his friends asked the more relaxed he became. He sat close to the equens, and one of the drones reached out to gently nuzzle his hand.
The boy grinned with delight. ‘Tickly whiskers,’ he said.
Tab caught Fontagu watching the boy with an indulgent smile.
She sat next to him and dug him in the ribs with her elbow. ‘If you go near him I will set Vrod onto you,’ she whispered from the corner of her mouth.
Vrod's ears waggled. ‘Simesian actors make good stew,’ he mused, smacking his lips. When Fontagu shuddered, the troll grinned at Tab. Tab smiled back, but inside she shuddered too.
Verris steered the small craft down below the cloud layer and then began searching for the gouging trail left on the surface by the mighty anchor on their last visit.
Tab leaned her chin on her elbows. As they passed over a vast desert there was not much to see except undulating dunes. Tab squinted ahead. Beyond the dunes was the shimmering savannah, similar to the place Tattoo had shown her in her vision. She watched as the distant objects on the surface changed from faint blotches of colour to recognisable shapes.
She spied a dark lump half-buried in the sand.
‘What's that?’ she asked Verris.
He shrugged and handed her the spyglass. She placed it to her eye and swung it this way and that, trying to find the shape again.
When she found it she wound the focusing ring, and when she had it trained on the dark-coloured mound, she gasped and dropped the spyglass. It clattered as it rolled across the floor. The two equens started at the sound. Tab sat down quickly and tears sprung into her eyes.
‘What is it, Tab?’ Philmon asked.
‘It's…’ She tried to speak through the lump in her throat. ‘It's Melprin.’
On the Edge of the Savannah
Tab jumped out of the vessel before it had even landed. Her feet sunk into the soft surface. When she sprinted across the sand she swung her arms, trying to haul out her half-buried feet with each step. Warm sand slid over the tops of her boots and slipped in between her toes.