The Black Shard (11 page)

Kristina glanced around her cabin and noticed a key lying on the bed.
Werrien must have left it for me,
she thought. She took it, exited her cabin, and quietly locked the door behind her. Then she tiptoed down the narrow hall and climbed the ladder that led to the main deck, hoping Davina and Hester wouldn't hear her, luckily, they didn't.

It was chilly outside; the sun had disappeared behind a blanket of gray clouds. The wind was blowing hard enough to entwine Kristina's long hair about her face. She pushed it out of her eyes to view the crew, busily tending to the sails. Some of them were below, shouting out orders, while others were high up on the masts, tightening the ropes and tending to the sails.

THE KRISTINA
was heading west, her large hull listing to the right as the wind ballooned her sails.

Kristina leaned her body into the unyielding gale and stretched out her arms. She was just closing her eyes when she felt a cold hand touch her shoulder. "Werrien?" She turned around quickly. But it wasn't Werrien. "Oh, hello, Heerzek!" she said, caught off guard.

Heerzek pushed his billowing hair out of his face and grinned. "Hello, my lady. Enjoying the strong wind, I see," he said.

"Yes, it's fun, leaning into it," Kristina said, though she felt a little awkward for doing so. "I'm supposed to meet Werrien out here. Is there any chance that you might have seen him?"

"He's around somewhere," Heerzek said, smiling again. "Hey! Since you're just waiting here, why don't you let me show you around?"

Being that it was chilly standing in one place, and she was eager to explore the ship, Kristina took him up on his offer. "Sure, that would be great," she said.

"Come on, then," Heerzek said merrily, and he began walking in the direction of the stern. He stopped at the midsection of the ship. "This is her widest point," he said. "Do you know what it's called?"

How am I supposed to know? I've never been on a ship before,
Kristina thought. "I'm not sure," she said, smiling politely.

"The beam," Heerzek said, squinting and grinning behind his jet-black locks.

They continued to the starboard side of the ship and then looked out at the choppy sea.

"Is it your first time?" Heerzek asked Kristina.

"You mean, being on a ship?" Kristina said.

"No ... I mean being in love." Heerzek looked strangely serious.

"What?" Kristina said, wrinkling her brow, surprised as well as slightly annoyed at his abrupt question.
Have I been acting like I have a crush on Werrien? I sure hope not!
she thought.

Heerzek tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't, and he broke into a laugh. "I'm only pulling your leg, my lady," he joked, patting her on her shoulder. "Of course I meant being on a ship."

"Ha, ha! Very funny," Kristina said, smirking at him. "Yes. This is my first time." She felt a little more at ease but smiled cautiously. She could kind of see why Hester liked Heerzek. He was jolly, like one of the Hobbits in
The Lord of the Rings
movies she had seen, only Heerzek was slightly taller. His brother, Sepel, on the other hand, who was presently up on the mast doing something to the sails, had light-brown, shaggy hair and soft facial features that gave him the look of having no chin and half-moon eyes when he smiled. He didn't look like anyone in particular. All Kristina knew about Sepel was that he seemed to like Davina.
That alone would make him pretty weird,
Kristina thought.

"How long will it take us to get to Tezerel?" Kristina asked.

"We'll sail all night, then all through tomorrow and tomorrow night. Then the next day after that, we should arrive in Tezerel by early morn."

"Have you been there before?"

"Oh, yes, my lady. This is my ninth time," Heerzek said.

Kristina shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Heerzek patted her gently on the back. "Come on. I'll show you the galley—that's the kitchen. It's nice and toasty in there," he said.

"But I told Werrien that I'd meet him out here."

"No worries. Sepel will inform him that I have taken you to explore the ship." Heerzek waved to Sepel, who was standing below the mast, and Sepel waved back.

"Okay," Kristina said, and she followed Heerzek to the forecastle at the bow. Inside the forecastle was the galley, and as soon as they stepped inside it, the smell of freshly baked bread and seafood filled their senses. Straight ahead of them, standing on a wooden bench, in front of a brick oven, stirring something bubbling in a large black pot, was Leacha, humming her tune. Her face was barely visible due to the hot steam billowing up at it. To Kristina's and Heerzek's right was Kurdy, sitting at another bench, peeling potatoes.

"It's about time you came to pay us a visit," Kurdy said, his eye patch bulging forward as his unshaven face grinned delightedly at Kristina.

A basket of fresh-baked buns sat on a counter beside a jar of Leacha's bright yellow syrup. Heerzek noticed the buns and quickly snatched one up and drizzled a little of the syrup on it. Then he shoved it in his mouth. "Hungry?" he asked Kristina, with his mouth full and chewing.

Kristina felt her stomach grumble. She'd only eaten two bites of Leacha's pancakes and syrup earlier that morning, which had made her sick. "A little," she admitted.

"Well, then you're going to need to eat more than a bun," Leacha said. "You're as light as a feather, and we surely can't have you blowing off the ship like one." She walked over to a cupboard on her right and grabbed two bowls out of it.

"I think you could feed her the whole pot, and she'd still be at risk of blowin' away," Kurdy said, winking at Kristina as he began chopping the potatoes with precision speed.

Leacha ladled the off-white, thick substance from the caldron into the bowls. Then she plopped the bowls down on a small table and then went back to the bench.

"Have a seat," Kurdy said as he used his knife to sweep the diced potatoes into a pot.

Heerzek and Kristina sat down at the table.

"Mmm!" Kristina said, smelling the fumes rising up off her bowl. "What is it?"

Leacha wiped the moisture off her face. "It's my own recipe," she said proudly.

"Only the best clam chowder you'll ever taste," Heerzek said, just before shoveling a glob of the hot soup into his mouth.

Noticing Heerzek was eating fast, Kurdy gave him a strange look. "Where's the fire, boy?" he asked.

"I need to get back and relieve another one of the crew," Heerzek said. "My ten minutes have already turned into twenty." He slurped up the last of his soup, pushed his bowl away, and stood up. Kristina quickly ate another spoonful of her soup and then stood up as well.

"You've hardly eaten, child. Sit down and finish," Leacha said to her.

"Actually, I'm already full," Kristina said. "Anyhow, I told Werrien that I'd meet him out on the main deck."

Kurdy winked at Leacha. "Well, then, you'd better not keep the strapping lad waiting," he said.

"I know that boy hates to wait," Leacha added.

"Ah, but she's worth it," Kurdy said, winking again at Kristina."Don't be a stranger. Stop by soon again," he added in his gruff, friendly voice.

"Thanks for the soup," Kristina said.

Back on the main deck, Kristina eyed Werrien, standing near the stern end of the ship. Excited to see him, she quickly went to greet him, but just as she reached him, she swooned and fell toward him. Luckily, he was right there to catch and steady her.

“S
ailing mustn't be agreeing with you," Werrien said.

"I'm fine," Kristina said, not wanting to admit that she felt like she might throw up the three bites of soup she had just eaten.

Werrien placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Are you sure? You're awfully pale," he said, looking very concerned.

"Yes, I'm totally—" But before she could finish her sentence, Kristina swooned again. Werrien caught hold of her and brought her in close to his chest and held her there. She could feel his heart beating fast. He wiggled his coat off and then wrapped it around her.

"I think it would be best if I take you to your cabin to lie down," he said.

Kristina felt dizzy. "I was thinking the same," she agreed. Werrien took hold of her hand and began leading her, but she was very weak and after a few steps, it was obvious that she was feeling too sick to walk—so he picked her up and carried her.

Kristina turned her head and saw Hester and Davina standing on the deck by the galley with disgusted looks on their faces as they stared at Werrien and her.

"This is so embarrassing," Kristina said weakly to Werrien.

"I think it'd be more embarrassing if I let you fall and crack your head open," Werrien said.

Hester and Davina had no success at getting into Kristina's cabin. Davina even tried to pick the lock on the door but was caught red-handed by Dargin, one of the king's servant dwarfs, and as punishment, Dargin brought the two of them up to the galley to be put to work. Hester, of course, complained the whole way there, saying that she had absolutely nothing to do with trying to break into Kristina's cabin and insisted that it was all Davina's idea. And so now, they waited by the galley for their assigned chores.

Davina elbowed Hester in the forearm "Can you believe this?" she grumbled.

"Ow!" Hester griped loudly, rubbing her arm where Davina had whomped her.

"She's sick again!" Davina hissed.

"Or, more likely, faking it, to get his attention."

"I wonder what it is that he sees in her. She's such a wimp."

The door to the galley suddenly pushed open, and Kurdy poked his head out of it, along with a load of hot steam. "Come 'n in. I've got plenty of work to keep you two out of trouble," he said.

Lazily, the girls stepped inside the humid galley, and Hester was instantly disgusted with the smell of the shark roast turning on a spit in the brick oven.

"I'll have one of ya wash dishes, and the other will dry," Leacha said from a wooden stool pushed up to a counter. She was kneading a large blob of dough and had flour up to her elbows.

Both girls stood slouching, with their mouths gaping as they viewed the huge, tilting stack of dirty dishes in the sink.

"Don't you have servants to do your grunge work?" Hester asked snootily.

"We do now," Kurdy said, throwing her a dish towel and laughing.

Davina crossed her arms defensively. "At least give us something to eat first!" she demanded. "All that we've had for breakfast were a few measly pancakes."

"Oh, really! As I recall, you had about eight, and then you polished off most of the cinnamon rolls as well," Leacha said crossly.

Davina wanted
so
badly to give Leacha a piece of her mind, but she dared not, fearing that she might be given even more work.

"When you are finished, and if you've done a satisfactory job, then both of you will be rewarded with a bowl of soup," Leacha said as she watched Hester and Davina literally drag themselves toward the sink.

"What kind of soup?" Hester asked without hesitation.

"Octopus eyeball," Kurdy said, winking at Leacha.

Hester looked like she might cry as well as throw up.

Meanwhile, Werrien had gotten Kristina to her cabin and had just taken off her jacket and boots and laid her in her bed. Though she felt sick, she could still appreciate the soft silk sheets, as well as his kindness. "I'm so sorry, Werrien," she said weakly.

"Sorry for what?" Werrien asked as he tucked her under the covers.

"For getting seasick and being such bad company for you."

"Oh, yes—for that! I know, you've been such a drag," Werrien said, lifting one eyebrow and looking intently at her.

Kristina pulled one of the pillows over her face. "I know," she moaned in a muffled voice. "I'm really sorry."

Werrien sighed. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed beside her and pried the pillow out of her clutched hands. He looked at her earnestly. "Hey," he said. "I'm kidding." He reached out and gently moved her hair out of her drowsy eyes. "You've no need to be sorry. I'm the one who is sorry for not taking into consideration that you might not fair well at sea."

A knock came at the door.

"That must be Elzwur, with a little something to settle your stomach. Hurry up and get better, because later, I have a surprise you," Werrien said softly. Then he left the cabin and Elzwur entered it, carrying a cup of fizzing tonic.

Elzwur stood by Kristina's bedside and said nothing but only cleared his throat to get her attention. Kristina's eyes opened and shifted to look at him.

"If you would please, sit up to drink this," Elzwur said, with no compassion in his voice or expression on his face.

It took all of her energy, but Kristina managed to sit up, and Elzwur handed her the tonic. She drank about a quarter of it, and then tried to hand it back to him, but he pushed it back toward her. "My orders are to make sure that you drink all of it," he said, not making eye contact with her.

Though not feeling up to it, Kristina drank the rest of the concoction, and then tried again to hand the cup back to Elzwur. This time he took it, and without saying another word, he turned and left the cabin, shutting the door behind him.