Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [95]
Because the King wanted him nervous…or wanted him off guard.
He thought about that. And he reminded himself of several important truths. That this was Katya’s father. That he needed to make an ally of this man. No matter what happened in life, you came with either the burden or the support of your parents, and that never changed, no matter what else did.
He knew what his own father’s reaction would be; the King of Led Belarus would welcome an alliance with the Sea King with open arms. Sasha’s father would think Katya was adorable, and probably consistently underestimate her, which was not a bad thing at all.
But what of the Sea King?
The room looked as if it was used more for storage than as a prison. It was lined with chests made of shell and metal—or at least, he thought it was shell. He wondered if there was anything in them that would be of any use to him….
He sidled over to the first one and opened it. The guards paid him no attention at all, so there probably wasn’t anything here that they would consider a weapon. Yes, well…if ever he got out of this, he would have to have a word with their trainer.
The first two were empty. The third contained odd bundles, soft cloth drawstring cases that contained—strangely lumpy objects. Well, he thought the cases were cloth. It was hard to tell, really—would cloth disintegrate down here? This was a more surreal world than that of the Queen of the Copper Mountain. He pulled one out, and pulled open the drawstring and looked inside.
He gaped with astonishment to see a balalaika.
Quickly, he slid the instrument out of the bag. It was a balalaika, all right. But such an instrument! It was carved of pearly yellow shell, and he couldn’t imagine the clam or oyster that was large enough to have supplied the top and bottom of the instrument. All the frets and the tuning keys and pegs were ivory. The sounding hole was a delicate lacework cut into the shell. It was a stunning piece of work. And he discovered by trying it that it was perfectly in tune.
At this point he didn’t even trouble to wonder how the sound could carry underwater. It just did. That was all that mattered.
He held very still for a long moment, letting everything settle into his mind; what he knew, what he did not know. This moment was important. He sensed that he was at a crossroads of sorts and that what he did now was going to set the tone of his life for a very long time indeed.
Now he could use this instrument for any number of purposes. He was a Songweaver, and the fact that it had fallen straight into his hands could only mean that The Tradition was working powerfully in his favor. He was, with no doubt, intended to use it.
The question was for what?
He could probably put his guards to sleep and escape, trusting to whatever spell made it possible for him to breathe underwater to keep him from drowning. He could definitely make for the surface. He might be able to escape pursuit. He might even survive on the surface long enough to find land or be rescued by a passing ship.
He could most definitely subvert one of more of the guards to his aid, as he had done with the Goat and the Wolf. In that case, with allies, his escape would certainly be a success. He could get to land. His new allies might even know where Katya was.
Or—
Or—
He could do the honorable thing.
Katya was out there somewhere and probably in need of help. Her father knew where she was because he had sent her himself.
If Sasha made a clean breast of it, told her father what had gone on between them, and told the truth, that he was trying to find Katya to help he—
Well, the Sea King probably would not kill him until Katya was safe again.
It would be hard to do. It might be dangerous. There might be costs and repercussions he had not dreamed of. But that, and not escape, was the honorable thing to do….
With a sigh, Sasha searched for words and music in his mind, and began to sing. This song was going to take all of his craft as a Songweaver.
He sang of how he and Katya had met, how they had felt their spirits