Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [23]
Hrolf waved the man into silence. "Did you hurt them, lass?"
"She did not."
The words were spoken by a new voice, definitely male but high in pitch and soft as the wind. There was no sign of the speaker, but Hrolf's face lit up.
"Xzorsh!" the captain cried happily. It was an odd word-a click followed by a sibilant zzorshhh-but it flowed off Hrolf's tongue with familiar ease. The captain snatched up a rope ladder and draped it over the side of the ship. "Come aboard, lad, and welcome you are!"
Liriel's eyes widened as the green-haired sea elf climbed aboard. She knew Hrolf to be a rogue, but could he be on good terms with one of the wicked sea faerie? Obviously so. The stranger bowed low to the captain, his webbed hands spread palms-up before him as if to indicate he was unarmed.
"i come with a warning, Captain Hrolf," the elf said in grave, melodious tones. "There is a disturbance in the lower seas. The deep dwellers are rising, forcing lesser predators into bold and desperate attacks. Did you not see the sharks?"
"Some of us did," Liriel said, tossing a quick, arch glance at the first mate.
"i know you sea folk aren't fond of sharks," Hrolf commented, "but they're no threat to the ship. And the creatures from the depths come near the surface every spring." "Not all do," Xzorsh said soberly. "No vurgen has been seen near this area in my lifetime, yet since the last new moon i myself have seen three."
Hrolf stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That is odd," he admitted at last. "Vurgens are rare."
"Well, i've certainly done my part," Liriel put in dryly. Her remark surprised a bawdy chuckle from Hrolf, but his face abruptly sobered as he returned to the matter at hand. "Giant gulper eels, lass," the captain explained, "big enough to swallow a man whole and mean enough to bash small ships to driftwood with their spiked tails. Vurgens are bad business-make no mistake about that-but they're worse omens. Seems as if they come up only when theyre chased by something even bigger."
"That is my fear," Xzorsh agreed. "Sittl has gone ahead to warn the sea folk community nearby."
"Sittl." Liriel folded her arms and glared at the sea elf. "That would be the male who tried to skewer me, i suppose." "Don't take it personal, lass," Hrolf advised cheerfully. "The sea folk believe that your kin had something to do with their loss of magic-seagoing elves don't have any, to speak of-which naturally puts drow on their list of things to look out for. And that's what Xzorsh and Sittl do. They look out for the sea folk who live hereabouts."
"And for the Elfmaid, as well," put in Olvir, one of the crew. Until Fyodor's arrival, Olvir had been the ship's main storyteller. Though the man listened more than he talked these days-so eager was he to learn the new and wondrous tales that the young Rashemi offered-he was quick to jump in whenever an opening presented itself.
"Captain Hrolf is unnatural fond of elves, he is, seeing as how he had him an elf woman some years back. Well, about twenty years past, we come across a pair of Calishite vessels in the shallows, net spread between 'em. Seems theyd herded some young sea elves into the nets, planned to sell 'em down south as a curiosity. Hrolf now, he wasn't having any of this. A good fight, it was," Olvir noted dreamily. "Scuttled both the ships, we did, and fed the southern bastards to the shrimp."
"i was one of those young elves," Xzorsh said with quiet dignity. "i will ever remember this, as will my clan after me. The runes on the bottom of the Elfmaid identify her to the sea folk as Hrolf's vessel. We are pledged to protect him and all his crew."
The sea elf's eyes drifted to Liriel as he spoke, and his troubled expression said plainly that he was uncertain about the wisdom of including a drow in this pledge.
As well he should be, Liriel thought grimly. She would never forget the atrocities faerie elves had committed against her people, nor did she trust this particular male. For a