The Sea Devil's Eye - Mel Odom [101]
"Maybe he is."
"I don't know whether to wish that was so or not."
"Why?"
"I hate not knowing if he's all right," Sabyna answered honestly, "and I don't like missing him-but we're so uncomfortable around each other."
"I know."
"I just don't see that changing."
"It won't," Glawinn said after a short time. "Not until the young warrior himself changes. But tell me, lady, when you imagined him, how did it feel?"
Sabyna thought about her answer. There were so many things she could say. "I like thinking about him."
"Then accept that as it is for now, lady."
"It's not that easy."
"No."
Sudden irritation at the paladin dawned in Sabyna, and her mind seized on something he'd said. "How did you know about my brother? I never mentioned it to you."
"Jherek told me," Glawinn said.
"Why?"
The silence drew out between them and Sabyna wished she could see the man's face.
"I would rather the young warrior tell you that."
"Is that part of the secret he won't tell me?" she asked. "How could it be?"
"Lady, as I said-"
"He's not here for me to ask him myself."
Sabyna grew more frustrated. If not for Arthoris's invisibility spell she could pin the paladin down with her gaze.
"The things I was told were told to me in confidence."
"Glawinn, I will have the truth. From you or from him, I will know what you both hide. I'm too deeply involved in this not to know." Sabyna made her voice harder. "Tell me, Glawinn. What is it about my brothers death that so concerns Jherek?"
XXI
3 Marpenoth, the Year of the Gauntlet
Myth Nantar.
Even the name evoked magic and a sense of incredible history.
From the moment he saw the sea elven city in the shallows of the Lesser Hmur Plateau, Pacys was at a loss for words. Thankfully, music came to his fingers. Still a quarter mile from the City of Destinies, the bard stopped swimming and settled on the foothills of Mount Halaath.
"This a pretty thing, isn't it?" Khlinat, who swam to the bard's side, asked.
"Yes," Pacys whispered.
Around them, the sea elf caravan came to a stop along the foothills. From the behavior of most of the warriors, it was the first time they'd seen the city as well.
The pale blue glow of the ancient mythal illuminated Myth Nantar against the dark black of the sea. The City of Destinies sat on a tableland that rose up from the ocean floor above the Lower Hmur Plateau, three hundred and seventy feet below the surface.
During the centuries of its isolation, coral had invaded Myth Nantar. Thick clumps of aqua-colored cryscoral grew in crystalline plate formations and clung to the exteriors of the ancient buildings. Pale blue ice coral dominated the upper reaches of the city, strung together in knobby clusters that reminded Pacys of spiderwebs draped over the upper reaches of the mythal. Bright patches of glowcoral had set up colonies throughout the city, creating shadows that twisted and turned in the currents.
"By Marthammor Duin, the Finder of Trails," Khlinat whispered solemnly, "never had I dreamed I would ever see such a sight as this!"
Pacys drank in all the sights, letting his fingers pluck notes from the saceddar. The music he wrung from the instrument was bittersweet memories mixed with the sharp euphoria of hope and dreams yet unfulfilled. Tears came to the old bard's eyes as the song possessed him.
Elven city, pale and cold,
Shaped by hands strong and bold,
Vessel and shaper of destiny,
Care-taker and leader of unity,
Lost Myth Nantar lay wrapped in her own shroud,
Broken but unbent, humbled yet proud.
Promise of life had not deserted her,
As proven by those who sought succor.
The words and the notes flowed around Mount Halaath, and there were none among the sea elves who weren't touched by the emotion stirred by the old bard's song. After a short time for reflection and prayer from the clerics among them, who asked for guiding and blessing from Deep Sashelas, Reefglamor gave the order to swim to Myth Nantar.
The warriors went first, flanking the