The man with the plate carried his burden to the central fire.
"Nannon gives you manhood," Wilan intoned. "What do you give in return?"
"Our childhood!" they cried.
The man dumped the plate over the fire. The blood and fluids sizzled on the coals. The odor of burning flesh wafted outward. As it permeated his nostrils, Alemar acknowledged what he had felt the first dawn after thepulstrall began. He had been marked by Zyraii. The scars would remain, for better or worse, physical and emotional.
The youths were led one by one to the Menhir of T'lil. There, each spilled a drop of blood from their wound onto the stone, which was encrusted with the remains of many such offerings. When Elenya's turn came, the surgeon pricked her finger with the ceremonial knife.
"This is the blood of T'lil, joined with the blood of T'lil. Let the sons be one with their fathers, and their fathers' fathers. Blood is the force of Nannon within the living body."
"Emat ha temi,"they all replied. "The truth is known."
Wilan raised his arms slowly toward the stars. "God is watching you," he said.
Alemar saw merely points of light and filigin blackness, but only a small part of him doubted that Nannon was out there.
"Now your souls are awake. Now you play the game for full stakes. A sobering thought." Behind Wilan, two pair of men brought forward near-bursting goatskins sloshing with liquid contents. The men/boys began to smile.
Wilan at last smiled, too. "Let's not let it be too sobering."
XX
Keron climbed onto the poop deck for a better view. "What is it, Shel?"
"A sail, sir. I see the colors now. It's Lieutenant Enret's skiff."
Keron stared in the direction indicated and before long was able to make out the flash of cloth just above the swells. Enret had made good time.
Keron paced the deck. Sniffing the air, he caught the aroma wafting from the galley. Lobscouse again. At times it seemed the stew was the cook's only recipe. He picked up a belaying pin from its holder and spun it in his grip. Its hardness soothed him. He had always favored the kevel as a weapon. Coupled with the strength of Alemar's belt, its impact was devastating, and it could be used in extremely tight quarters. He slapped it against his palm. He hated waiting. He never liked working through intermediaries.
One more short wait should have been easy to bear, after the months he had already endured, but it was not. It had been almost a year since he had left Cilendrodel. The trial of Warnyre was history; the spy network within the navy's upper ranks had, so the loyal hoped, been uprooted. Keron had been promoted to Warnyre's old position as admiral of the northern fleet and was highly favored by the king. The time had not seemed to drag then, but, he reminded himself, there had been plenty to do at the capital. Now, back in northern waters, he could think of only one thing.
Would she still be there? Had she forgotten him in the way of impressionable young women?
Did she forgive him?
He lost himself in reverie until he heard the bump of the skiff against the hull ofKing's Ransom. The ladder was flung over the side. Others began hoisting the small craft aboard. Enret's young but balding head appeared above the railing.
Keron himself extended an arm and helped his junior officer aboard. Their greeting was warm. "You look weary from your expedition, Lieutenant," Keron stated. "Share a glass of apricot brandy with me in my quarters while you give me your report."
The light bouquet of fermented fruit filled the stateroom, vaguely reminiscent of the perfume used by Lady Nanth, who had not accompanied her husband this trip. The glass snifter clinked against Enret's teeth.
"I'm not sure how to tell you this," Enret said.
"Spit it out, man!"
"I'm sorry. You…might want to take a healthy swallow first."
"What is it? Is Lerina well?"
"Oh, quite. I saw her myself, from a distance. I admire your taste, m'lord."
"Well then?"
"She was almost flushed with health, you might say. A trim and spry young mother."
Keron tilted his brandy snifter back and took three large gulps.
Enret tried not to, but smiled anyway. "She had twins, a boy and a girl, about two and a half months ago."
Keron did some calculations. He had been gone for eleven months. "What do the locals say about the birth?"
"Well, that was a difficult subject to broach. Apparently it's one of the choice bits of gossip in Garthmorron at the moment. No one seems to know who the father is. The little lady isn't telling. It seems she disappeared for a week last year. Everyone seems to agree that timing is significant."
"I'm afraid it is. Anything more?"
"I didn't think a stranger asking questions about it would be a good move. Someone did comment that the babies were just as black-haired and beautiful as their mother." He glanced involuntarily at Keron's midnight locks.
Keron left his seat and opened the door to his chamber, making sure no one was outside. He told Enret, "You and Obo are the only two people besides myself who know of my connection to this maid of Garthmorron. If it were critical to keep it secret before, it is now triply so."
"Of course, m'lord. Your reputation at court means as much to me as it does to you."
"It's more than that. Half the nobles in Elandris have bastard children; I wouldn't lose much, except, of course, in my relationship with Lady Nanth. No, this is more grave than that. These are children of the Blood. The Dragon will want them dead. The fewer who know the truth, the fewer who can endanger my offspring."
"I understand."
"This news changes my plans. I will have to go to Garthmorron."
"Is that wise? As you implied, many eyes are upon you."
"I will be gone less than a night. In the meantime, we set course for the Thank River delta."
"Why?"
"I have some pearl diving to do."
The Thank River drained most of Cilendrodel, as well as the wilderness to the north, spewing out into the northwest corner of the Dragon Sea. Its muddy effluent stretched far out to sea – a ship could be completely out of view from the coast and still know that the river was near. Creatures unknown elsewhere in the world inhabited the microenvironment where fresh and salt water met. And farther offshore, where the silt plateau suddenly dropped into deep ocean, lived a creature famous to every jeweller of ten nations – the amath oyster. It fed on the nutrients dumped by the river and grew the largest and finest pearls known to civilization.
The amath did not surrender their treasures easily, however.
Keron handled the tiller of the skiff while Enret sat toward the prow. King's Ransomwallowed at the horizon, near the crag that had identified the spot where Keron wished to go. Rowboats and a small sloop lingered at various places throughout the area – other crew members trying their luck.
Keron was certain his real motives for coming here were hidden. The Thank River delta lay within the normal patrol area of the northern fleet, and to stop and hunt for pearls was common. No member of the present crew had been with him when he had visited the location ten years earlier.
"Furl the sail and drop the anchor," Keron announced. "This looks like the right spot."
"Deep water here, Admiral. Are you certain?"
"Yes."
They put on their vests, weights, and airmakers and leaned backward into the ocean. Once under the surface, they fastened a rope to one another. At Keron's signal, they began to descend. He could see the submerged cliff already. He was right. This was the place.
Ten years fell away. He had been an ensign. His royal blood was thin enough that it had won him only two things – an officer's commission and the belt of Alemar, and his mind was full of ways to make his fortune and fame. He had spent two years with the northern fleet, smuggling and living a sailor's life, before he had thought about the amath. He and another ensign named Brenck had laid a plan.