3

She had no answers and nowhere to turn. So she swam, heading to Voalidru because there was nowhere else to go.

"Lady, I do hope that Glawinn was right and that you can hear me,* Jherek whispered.

He took a fresh compress from the water pitcher by Sabyna's bed and placed it across her fevered brow. Even the paladin's daily attempts to heal her and Arthoris's attentions with his waning supply of healing potions didn't stave off the infections that wracked her body. She enjoyed a brief respite from the fevers, but the bite marks deepened, turning black around the edges, drawing in the flesh around them as they consumed her. Both of the wounds were the size of one of his hands now. It had been seven days and still she had not regained consciousness.

Azla had ordered Azure Dagger to sail north but they lingered still around the Whamite Isles. At present the nearby seas were filled with drowned ones, morkoth, koalinth, and sahuagin. Once they'd even been turned back by a merman patrol claiming the waters as something called "Eadraal's."

The young sailor ministered to Sabyna with care. Tears filled his eyes as he listened to her harsh breathing and his hands shook as he touched her hot flesh. Over the days he'd cared for her, he'd found he talked incessantly. He'd told her of his life aboard Bunyip and in Velen, of Madame Iitaar and Malorrie, and of the mysterious voice that had led him this far by speaking the cryptic, Live, that you may serve. And he'd talked of her; what she'd shown him, what she'd come to mean to him.

In the quiet moments of the long nights when he'd sat by her bed working to keep her fever down, he couldn't help recalling how her face had looked before the drowned one had grabbed her and dragged her into the sea. Had she been about to forgive him, or about to condemn him? He didn't know and the waiting was unbearable-only second to knowing whether she would ever awaken.

"I love you, lady," Jherek whispered.

He told her that several times a day, hoping that she might seize onto it and return to them. That was the declaration she'd challenged him for, but he felt it wasn't enough to truly turn her from the dark path she walked into the shadowlands. Still, he told her because she'd asked and because he did love her and wanted her to know even if she was taken from him.

A knock sounded at the door, then Glawinn's voice said, "Young warrior."

Jherek brushed his eyes free of tears and cleared his throat. "Aye."

"May I enter?"

"Aye."

Glawinn entered the room carrying a plate of food. He didn't ask if she'd awakened, and Jherek was grateful for that. If Sabyna opened her eyes, the young sailor didn't doubt that everyone on the ship would know.

"I brought you something to eat," the paladin said.

"I'm not hungry."

Glawinn put the plate on the chest of drawers against the wall and asked, "When was your last meal?"

"Not long ago," Jherek answered, applying a fresh compress to Sabyna's fevered forehead.

"Not long for a camel, perhaps," Glawinn replied. "I know you've not eaten in two days. It will do no good for you to get sick as well."

"I won't get sick. I haven't so far."

"When was the last time you slept?"

Jherek looked at the man's eyes and said, al don't remember."

"This isn't healthy. Others can care for her."

"I know," the young sailor whispered, "but I would rather."

For a moment he was afraid Glawinn would argue with him, then the paladin got down beside the bed on his knees and prayed to Lathander, asking for the Morninglord's guidance and succor.

Jherek joined him on his knees but couldn't join in the prayer. No gods were interested in him. He was cursed by the fates, and now that curse had spread to Sabyna. He only wished that he might die soon after she did. He truly believed he wouldn't be able to live after that.

Before the battle was joined at Voalidru, Laaqueel sensed that Vhaemas the Bastard's loyalties would not stay with Iakhovas. She saw the pained look in the eyes of Thuridru's ruler as they marshaled the skirmish lines just south of the merman capital. His father hadn't abandoned the city as the regular citizens had, and stood proudly among the army he'd assembled.

Vhaemas the Bastard held Thuridru's forces to the west, awaiting Iakhovas's signal. The drowned ones marched in first, shoving the front line of the mermen back and opening holes that the koalinth rushed to fill. The killing went on in the lowlands for more than an hour before the merman line really began to cave. Still, the warriors didn't run, staying in and doing battle as the drowned ones and koalinth ground them down. Bodies floated in the water, drawing marine scavengers that weren't too afraid of the combatants.

Iakhovas rode Tarjana's forecastle deck as the mudship bore down on King Vhaemas's waiting forces in the second wave of battle. Laaqueel stood beside him. They hadn't talked since earlier in the day, and she was comfortable with that.

Sahuagin packed the deck around them, armed with heavy crossbows.

King Vhaemas controlled his army from a rock shelf, relaying orders through his commanders. Even as Tarjana raced for him, the merman king held his ground, staring back at Iakhovas.

The line of attacking koalinth hammered into the mermen at the same time Iakhovas gave the order to fire the crossbows. The heavy quarrels took down rows of merman warriors.

Iakhovas leaped over the mudship's side and swam toward the merman king. The sahuagin followed him, advancing rapidly on the royal guard.

Having no heart for the battle, Laaqueel still followed and defended herself as she needed to.

Flanked by one of his daughters, Vhaemas swam to meet Iakhovas. The merman king had been in his share of battles while holding Eadraal together, and it showed in his ability as he engaged Iakhovas.

A merman wearing Voalidru's colors attacked Laaqueel.

Distanced from the danger, the malenti priestess battled flawlessly, turning the other man's trident then using her finger talons to open his throat. Survival still took precedence over the absence of fear.

When she glanced back at Iakhovas, she wasn't surprised to see Vhaemas the Bastard had joined his father in battling Iakhovas. Merman king, son, and daughter all swarmed on Iakhovas, who barely held his own against their combined might.

The koalinth and merman warriors spread out, battling around the four of them.

Little malenti, to me.

Laaqueel felt the black quill next to her heart quiver demandingly. She gutted the latest merman warrior that had engaged her and swam toward Iakhovas.

The trident Iakhovas used was magical in nature. Through it, he'd been able to affect the outcome of past battles, affecting the luck that his army had. It had been one of the many items his searchers had found for him around the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Waiting for a chance to reach his side, Laaqueel darted in and engaged Vhaemas while his son and daughter sped toward Iakhovas. Vhaemas the Bastard caught Iakhovas's trident in his own even as his half-sister, Princess Jian, swam in with her sword.

Jian swung the sword as she passed, breaking the trident haft with a thundering crack that rolled over the hills. When the broken trident fell away, Vhaemas the Bastard pulled his own back and rammed it at Iakhovas.

"No!" Iakhovas shouted in rage.

His shape blurred, becoming the thing Laaqueel remembered from the cave near Coryselmal. Fins appeared on Iakhovas's head and face, arms and legs, back and chest. If she hadn't already seen the form before, the malenti priestess knew she would have thought it was a trick of the sediment and sand swirling around Iakhovas.