Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [27]
"A meal," the drow returned slyly. Now that the danger had passed, her dark sense of mischief returned in full. She ripped the severed tentacle from the fallen sailor and strode across the deck to present it, still twitching, to ibn. "You wanted me to help with provisions? Fine. We will eat as drow do. Have this sliced, dipped in batter, and fried in rendered rothe fat. Calamari. It's quite good," she assured the mate, who was turning sickly green as he regarded the appendage.
"Ship's wizard," suggested a faint, strained voice.
The words came from Fyodor. He hauled himself up to a sitting position and cast a droll look at the first mate. "Consider her… ship's wizard," the Rashemi advised. He spoke with great effort, between ragged gasps for air, but his blue eyes sparkled with wry humor. "it's… safer that way." The red-bearded man nodded, his distrust of magic momentarily thrust aside by the prospect of seeing that twitching tentacle on his plate. "Ship's wizard," ibn agreed fervently.
Chapter 4
The pirate's life
The Elfmaid had been at sea for several days before the northernmost Moonshae isles came into view. Fyodor was heartened by the sight of land and eager to explore. Yet the ship did not make port, but kept a careful distance from shore, cloaked into invisibility by the heavy spring mists.
"With winter's passing, the seas are opening, and the merchant ships will soon sail," Hrolf explained when Fyodor asked about the delay. The two men sat cross-legged on the deck of the forecastle, a torn net between them. Their fingers flew as they retied the knots with a rhythm of practiced ease. Barely missing a beat, Hrolf gave the young warrior a companionable swat on the back. "And after seeing you take on that squid, i'd say well pick off the merchants as easily as taking ripe currants off a bush!"
"i will not fight for you," Fyodor said quietly.
The captain paused, startled. "How's that, lad?"
"i fight only when i must, only to protect my land or my friends," the young warrior explained. "if the ship is attacked, i will stand with you. But i must warn you, if you attack another ship to rob it, i may well turn against you." Hrolf's genial expression did not change, but his eyes turned hard. "A threat?"
"A warning," the Rashemi said calmly, but he cast a questioning glance at Liriel, who, lured by her friend's somber expression, had crept close to listen to the discussion. "Unlike my berserker brethren, i cannot always choose when the battle rage will occur. Did not Liriel tell you this?"
"That she didn't," Hrolf said ruefully as he eyed the wary drow. "Slipped your mind, lass?"
"You started the tavern brawl before i could get to that part of the story," Liriel said defensively. "i would have told you, otherwise. I'm fairly certain of that."
The captain sighed and tugged at his vast mustache. His good spirits returned suddenly, and he winked at the drow.
"Don't look so downcast, my girl! Fighting's all good and well, but there're more ways than one to turn a profit!" Later that day, the captain gathered together his crew to discuss the necessary changes to the usual lurk-andattack strategy. The men agreed to Hrolf's plan readily enough, even though it involved Liriel and her dark elven magic. All of them had seen Fyodor fight; none wanted to face his black sword in battle. Moreover, they were accustomed to their captain's unorthodox methods, and they trusted him, if not Liriel.
it would not be the first time Hrolf achieved through bluffing what might otherwise have cost dearly in blood. In fact, the captain leaned heavily toward a benign form of piracy. If he could scare a ship into surrendering its cargo, so much tile better. Hrolfloved a good fight, but he enjoyed fighting far better when the Elfmaid was well out of harm's way.
So the crew clustered around as Liriel explained the necessary spell. "it is a form of teleportation that will exchange one person for another. One of you will