The wind had picked up and Captain was forced to lower the sail to spill air, so it didn’t rip apart. I went to where he clung to the tiller and watched Will holding the other side. When one of the larger waves rolled past, it took both of them to keep the boat on course.
“Can I help?” I called from a couple of steps away.
Both shook their heads. Despite the wind, the bow of the boat took the waved head-on, busting through some while riding over others. It didn’t feel as if the boat was in any danger and if it was, I felt confident Captain would steer us to shore and wait for it to pass.
I settled down next to Anna again, placed my arm around her shoulder and we rolled with each wave while trying to catch a little sleep. Well before midnight, I woke to the gentle movement of the boat. The sail was all the way up, the wind had died down, and we moved along at a nice pace.
Will was sleeping on my other side. Captain smiled my way and I went back to sleep.
Morning came with a burst of intense sunlight. The first thing I noticed was that its position had changed. The sun was directly ahead of us, so we’d rounded the bottom of Dead Isle. If the wind held, we’d reach Landor in the afternoon.
Nobody had slept well at the beginning of the night, and short tempers flared more than once. We ate and I noticed the water kegs were nearly empty so amused myself with filling them. I squirted water from my index finger, my thumb, two fingers, and even my wrist-bone. I made a larger stream, then three small ones, and finally moved my hand back so the water hit the small opening in a high arc, before noticing I had an audience. Everyone in the boat was watching.
I sat back down and tried another magic trick as I attempted to keep my face from showing my embarrassment. That magic trick didn’t work. Anna giggled. Elizabeth covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Even Will was amused.
Anna said, “I need another letter for my reading.”
I gave her the next letter after testing her memory for the previous three.
Elizabeth moved to my side. “What do you think will happen when we reach Landor?”
“We will be ignored by the city and kingdom.”
“So, I will have to make an official notification and request an audience with the king. To gain his attention in the traditional manner, I could have impressed him by arriving in a vessel with an entourage and letter of introduction, as well as a minister to negotiate a meeting. I have none of those. A request might take months for a response.”
“There are other ways.”
“Your crown of light. Maybe you can make a few rumbles of thunder, too. My point is, nobody will notice us if we do nothing to draw attention.”
I said, “That was the intent of the crown.”
“Not at first. You’re too smart not to have figured out the Young Mage has already sent his representatives there, probably years ago. They have laid the groundwork for his invasion, as was happening in Dire. My plan—for now—is to enter the city quietly and listen to the people. They talk. They tell what is really happening. All we have to do is listen. Then we adjust to what is important.”
“So, a royal entrance is out?”
“Not completely. After we find out what we need, we can then ‘make’ an entrance suitable for a princess. It may take us a day or two. Or more.”
“I did think of the same things as you, but not sneaking into town and skulking around for information. That is a good idea.”
She gave me a playful punch on my arm. “Not sneaking or skulking around. Information gathering is more accurate.”
I didn’t laugh. “It’s not going to be as simple as striding up to a welcoming king and asking for his support in your war, is it? Telling him you’re a stranger but want him to commit all his treasury and resources to help a princess from somewhere up north.”
She punched me again, harder. “No. It’s never as simple as it seems from afar. When the ship sails closer, the urgency and danger will increase proportionally.”
That last could have come directly from one of her many books and may have. I turned to watch the shore pass by and think. Did she want me to warn the others, or to give them instructions? A quick look at the determination in her face told me that was not what she wanted. Trying to solve her problems for her wasn’t either.
She wanted to decide what to do. She was in charge. Kendra and I had our new powers to prop us up, but Elizabeth had her royal position. The three of us made an impressing combination.
I looked over her shoulder at Anna. Knowing I could silently talk to her in her mind gave me no idea of the other powerful magic she controlled. Or those that she would one day control. Anna was growing on me. Whatever might lie in our future, she’d be part of it. It was a determination I couldn’t make alone. Both Elizabeth and Kendra had to be part of it—but our band of three was to become four.
Anna was also a puzzle. She was our puzzle. Without discussing her future with her, Kendra, or Elizabeth, I knew she had somehow managed to become part of our pseudo-family and would remain so.
My attention turned to Will. He was a good man, strong, honest, and he had been a warrior. He was now on a mission to serve his king. For all of his good qualities, he was not one of us, not like family. Neither was Captain, of course.
Three women and a man. And a dragon, if Kendra could get it to obey her again. Our small group had a mission of its own. We were going to defeat the strongest mage of all time. That might be a little intense but felt true. There may have been stronger mages, but we hadn’t heard of them, so they didn’t exist in our world.
My magical powers were nonexistent as far as trained mages were concerned. They had spent years and years teaching and learning about their powers, how to best use them, what was possible and what was not. I knew a few tricks that were probably equivalent to the first month of their first year of study.
The Young Mage should have killed me on the mountain pass where we’d first encountered the Blue Lady. There were chances he should have taken. The trails had wound along the side of a cliff. He should have either sheared off rock above or spooked my horse.
I said, “The Young Mage didn’t kill me when he could have.”
Elizabeth turned to face me, her face as serious as I’d ever seen it. “He’s scared of you, Damon.”
“Me? Why?”
“He had great power or perhaps is ruthless enough to carry out this great plan of his, I don’t know which. But there is something about you that scares him. Maybe he thinks your powers are so great that he is afraid to antagonize you. If you lash out with your mind, what damage to him can you do?”
Elizabeth went silent for a while, then said, “Do not take this the wrong way, or as fact, what I’m about to say. I’ve been thinking. No, dwelling about it is a better word. Obsessing on an idea. The more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense. Either that or maybe I’m totally wrong and reading into it things not there.”
Her tone and the words pouring from her mouth in a spew so fast they ran together scared me. I drew a breath and said, “Whatever you’re talking about, you’ve managed to say nothing. Tell me without the hysterics.”
“I think the Young Mage has known about you always. Certainly, after you arrived in Dire, however, that came to be. Maybe he learned of you later, but the point is that he knew. His plan with Emma and Anna was not hatched like an unexpected chick from an egg several weeks old. It was the culmination of planning.”
“Why didn’t he just have me killed, if that was his objective. We didn’t even suspect while growing up so it would have been easy to assassinate me.”