large, brilliantly colored fish impaled on his harpoon. The fish was almost as long as he was, blue on top and yellow beneath, with a domed head and a slender body. *These fish lurk beneath the mats of weed just waiting to be speared!*
*Good catch, Cutter!* Eelback signed, drawing his long knife to cut the carcass free of the harpoon. *We need the food if we are to reach Akrotia.* With a few deft strokes he separated the head, with its succulent eyes and cheek meat, and gave it to Cutter as reward. The rest he cut into strips and doled out to his school.
*Cutter, where are Kip and Fah?* Kelpie signed with difficulty, burdened as she was by the baby in her arms. *I need them here.*
*The dolphins obscure the blood trail of my catch, Kelpie,* Cutter explained. *I did not want any sharks following me back. They will return soon.*
*How is your charge, Kelpie?* Eelback signed after handing her several strips of tender fish.
*He only lives by the grace of Odea,* she signed back, swallowing the meat without pleasure. She folded back the covering of woven silkweed to uncover the round face of a landwalker baby. The child turned its face from a sudden ray of light, its mouth gaping like a fish’s. *He struggles to breathe, even though Odea’s blessing keeps him pink and warm. Food is my main concern. He is hungry, and Fah’s milk is not healthy for him.*
*But he is surviving, and you can keep him alive, yes?* Eelback’s motions signified worry. *We cannot resurrect Akrotia without him.*
*I can keep him alive, Eelback,* she signed, irritated that his concern was not for the child itself, but for the role it must play in his plan, *but you must let me feed him more often.*
*It slows us down,* he complained. *Can you not feed him while we swim?*
*No, Eelback, I cannot. I must invoke Odea’s blessing to calm Fah so she will hold still. Otherwise the baby does not swallow well, and he takes in water and regurgitates. Only by—*
*How can anything so large at birth be so fragile?* Eelback interrupted, his fins waving in frustration. *Mer finlings are fully weaned and swimming out of their grotto by the time they are this big!*
*This is not a finling, Eelback! This is a landwalker infant, and it will not be weaned for several seasons.* She covered the baby again and held it close, calming its agitation with the grace of Odea.
*Seasons?* Eelback gaped in shock. *How can an offspring eat nothing but pap for seasons?*
*I do not know, Eelback. That is simply the way it is. Landwalkers grow more slowly than mer. If you do not let me feed him more often, there will be no Seamage Flaxal’s Heir.*
He stared at her long and hard, then gestured acquiescence. *The heir must live to reach Akrotia. We will stop again when Kip and Fah return. You can feed the child at that time, and call for a stop whenever you must feed him again. Now, we swim!*
Kelpie fluttered her fins in resignation as she resumed her place in the formation, and the school started off at a brisk pace. Bits of bone and brightly colored fish skin fluttered in their wake and slowly sank into the depths.
≈
“Destroyed? What the hells do you mean, destroyed?” Admiral Joslan’s fists hammered the top of his broad desk, and his face flushed the color of a ripe pomegranate as he surged out of his chair. “The schooner attacked without provocation?”
Huffington stood behind the captain of the Lady Gwen , out of the line of fire of the admiral’s wrath, trying to remain inconspicuous while observing the encounter over the captain’s shoulder. Beyond the men, the great cabin’s open windows provided an impressive view of the armada and admitted an occasional feeble breath of air that did little to diffuse either the oppressive heat or the tension of the discussion at hand.
“No, sir. The schooner was still miles to the south when the Fire Drake came under attack by a large school of merfolk, sir.” Captain Veralyn’s rigid bearing demonstrated his years of
*Good catch, Cutter!* Eelback signed, drawing his long knife to cut the carcass free of the harpoon. *We need the food if we are to reach Akrotia.* With a few deft strokes he separated the head, with its succulent eyes and cheek meat, and gave it to Cutter as reward. The rest he cut into strips and doled out to his school.
*Cutter, where are Kip and Fah?* Kelpie signed with difficulty, burdened as she was by the baby in her arms. *I need them here.*
*The dolphins obscure the blood trail of my catch, Kelpie,* Cutter explained. *I did not want any sharks following me back. They will return soon.*
*How is your charge, Kelpie?* Eelback signed after handing her several strips of tender fish.
*He only lives by the grace of Odea,* she signed back, swallowing the meat without pleasure. She folded back the covering of woven silkweed to uncover the round face of a landwalker baby. The child turned its face from a sudden ray of light, its mouth gaping like a fish’s. *He struggles to breathe, even though Odea’s blessing keeps him pink and warm. Food is my main concern. He is hungry, and Fah’s milk is not healthy for him.*
*But he is surviving, and you can keep him alive, yes?* Eelback’s motions signified worry. *We cannot resurrect Akrotia without him.*
*I can keep him alive, Eelback,* she signed, irritated that his concern was not for the child itself, but for the role it must play in his plan, *but you must let me feed him more often.*
*It slows us down,* he complained. *Can you not feed him while we swim?*
*No, Eelback, I cannot. I must invoke Odea’s blessing to calm Fah so she will hold still. Otherwise the baby does not swallow well, and he takes in water and regurgitates. Only by—*
*How can anything so large at birth be so fragile?* Eelback interrupted, his fins waving in frustration. *Mer finlings are fully weaned and swimming out of their grotto by the time they are this big!*
*This is not a finling, Eelback! This is a landwalker infant, and it will not be weaned for several seasons.* She covered the baby again and held it close, calming its agitation with the grace of Odea.
*Seasons?* Eelback gaped in shock. *How can an offspring eat nothing but pap for seasons?*
*I do not know, Eelback. That is simply the way it is. Landwalkers grow more slowly than mer. If you do not let me feed him more often, there will be no Seamage Flaxal’s Heir.*
He stared at her long and hard, then gestured acquiescence. *The heir must live to reach Akrotia. We will stop again when Kip and Fah return. You can feed the child at that time, and call for a stop whenever you must feed him again. Now, we swim!*
Kelpie fluttered her fins in resignation as she resumed her place in the formation, and the school started off at a brisk pace. Bits of bone and brightly colored fish skin fluttered in their wake and slowly sank into the depths.
≈
“Destroyed? What the hells do you mean, destroyed?” Admiral Joslan’s fists hammered the top of his broad desk, and his face flushed the color of a ripe pomegranate as he surged out of his chair. “The schooner attacked without provocation?”
Huffington stood behind the captain of the Lady Gwen , out of the line of fire of the admiral’s wrath, trying to remain inconspicuous while observing the encounter over the captain’s shoulder. Beyond the men, the great cabin’s open windows provided an impressive view of the armada and admitted an occasional feeble breath of air that did little to diffuse either the oppressive heat or the tension of the discussion at hand.
“No, sir. The schooner was still miles to the south when the Fire Drake came under attack by a large school of merfolk, sir.” Captain Veralyn’s rigid bearing demonstrated his years of
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