Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [116]
"I have room aboard for extra crew," she said. "If you'd like, you're welcome. As long as you understand that I'm captain of this ship."
"Aye," Jherek said.
"There must be one other stipulation," Glawinn stated, turning to face her. "As long as we're aboard, there is to be no taking of prize ships, no piracy."
"Making demands like that goes against the acknowledgement of my being the captain," Azla stated.
"Yes," Glawinn admitted, "but you don't know yet how we may help you in your own agenda. As you've seen from the disk and all that this boy has been through to get it here, our fates are tied up in it. I'd think it's better that we worked together."
"You're shipless," Azla pointed out.
"Today," the paladin said, "but not in a day or so. There are some here in Westgate who claim Lathander as their deity. I would be able to find a ship, I promise you."
"Then why want to join me?"
"Because I think you know Vurgrom better than anyone else we'd likely find. If anyone can keep up with him, I'm betting that it'll be you."
Azla pushed her tea away and stood. "All right," she agreed. "You have your bargain. A combination of our talents, skills, and destinies. I won't take any ships while you're aboard, but what do I get in return?"
"If we can manage it," Glawinn answered, "Vurgrom's head on a pike."
"I’ll hold you to that," Azla said, then turned and walked away.
XXII
26 Kythorn, the Year of the Gauntlet
Pacys sat on an outcropping of rock overlooking the sea elf city of Faenasuor. The old bard gave no thought to the two hundred feet of ocean above him, nor to the bluish hue it seemed all the world had taken on. The folk of Seros called all depths between one hundred fifty feet and three hundred feet the Gloom. The Sea of Fallen Stars itself served to stratify civilizations and undersea worlds.
A few tall towers, mute testimony to the hubris of the elves of the ancient empire, stood up from the sea floor, rising over the other recovered structures and the new dwellings that had been built. The city sprawled unevenly across the irregular seabed the elves called the Hmur Plateau. Despite seventy years of reclamation efforts, much of the city yet remained in a state of disrepair. Excavation teams harnessing pilot whales, narwhals, and giant crabs worked to clear more debris in an effort that had been ongoing during the days Pacys had spent there. Brackish clouds of debris and silt, exploded upward from avalanches of resettling rock, sifted constantly in the currents, eventually drawn away.
Besides being an acknowledged center of sea elven history, Faenasuor was also surrounded by oyster beds. Pacys watched sea elves out harvesting pearls from the oysters, clams, and other mollusks that created them. They worked in groups, gathering the sea's bounty, then used the pearls to trade with other undersea races and surface dwellers. The last few days spent there had been highly instructional regarding all of Seros and some of the Taker's legend, but it had also served to remind Pacys of just how much he didn't know.
He turned his attention back to the instrument Taareen had given him. Despite the magical bracelet he wore, he couldn't play the yarting underwater. Communication was fine, but the yarting's notes all suffered. So he'd put the instrument into his bag of holding and decided to wait until he returned to the surface to play it again.
The song kept coming together in the old bard's head. Thankfully, his musical skills weren't limited to the yarting. Over his life he'd found nothing he couldn't play with some skill.
Taareen had given him a saceddar, an alu'tel'quessiran musical instrument Pacys had never seen before. Mounted on a chest plate that hung over the player's neck and shoulders, the saceddar had thirty crystals of various sizes and thicknesses across it. To play it, Pacys wore platinum finger and thumb caps on both hands. The metal was more durable than gold and struck