The Black Shard (22 page)

They stopped abruptly, and Davina dipped Sepel backwards. Kristina and Werrien couldn't help laughing at the sight of them.

"It figures that Davina would be the one to lead," Werrien said.

The crew joined in the dance as well, happily hopping around, locking elbows with one another and swinging each other to and fro.

A young gnome man politely approached Werrien. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked him.

Werrien looked at Kristina for her approval, and when she nodded yes—only out of politeness—he gave her to the gnome to dance with. Then, not even a minute later, Heerzek approached them and cut in as well. As Kristina danced with him, she could see Hester standing nearby with her arms crossed and looking very jealous. Heerzek was a very spirited dancer, and Kristina began to quickly feel out of breath. He spun Kristina around, and as she twirled, she felt her stomach cramp up, and she became dizzy. She began to fall backwards, but in the nick of time, Werrien was there to catch her, and he steadied her. "I think it's time for you to take a little break," he said, leading her back to the pail to sit down.

"I guess that I should have waited a little longer for my food to settle before dancing," Kristina said.

Still filled with an abundance of energy, Heerzek quickly captured Hester by the arm and swung her onto the dance floor.

"You're quite the popular girl around here," Werrien said to Kristina.

"I guess that's the perk I get for being 'the chosen one,'" Kristina joked between breaths.

Werrien laughed and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"It's more than your being 'the chosen one.'"

"Oh, yeah? How so?" Kristina said, blowing a strand of her hair out of her eyes.

"They think that you're the prettiest girl they have ever seen. I'm constantly overhearing them talking about you." Kristina was sure she detected a slight bit of jealousy in Werrien's voice.

They spotted Hester dancing with Heerzek, her face redder than a ripe tomato. The two of them were dancing a jig—at least Heerzek was; Hester hopped around like her underpants were filled with fire ants.

When the song ended, the band continued to play very slowly, and the dancers stopped dancing and became spectators again.

"I think it's time to tell them an old seaman's tale," Kurdy said to Razkin, while playing his accordion slowly.

"I was just thinking the same thing, Kurdy," Razkin replied in his gravelly voice. Razkin took his bow and made a screechy sound on his fiddle.

"I don't know if they can handle it," Eemiel said, blowing a few notes on his whistle.

The trio kept playing at a slow pace.

"Maybe not," Kurdy said, trying to get a reaction from his audience. A few spectators in the crowd mumbled to each other.

"You're right—I think it's too dainty of a crowd," Razkin added.

"Probably too scary a tale," Eemiel said, making a funny face and at the same time wiggling his fingers at the audience.

"Oh, come on! It's a great tale. Tell it!" Sepel hollered. The trio began to play together, and Kurdy and Razkin started to sing.

Once there was a valiant ship, she went sailin' out to sea
The captain of her thought she'd never face calamity
But great Yolen cast he a frown, and the ship she began to drown
Flubbering, thubbering, bubbling to the bottom of the sea

Eemiel lowered his whistle and joined in for the chorus.

Down down down she went down ... down ... down
Dragged down by the old hag of the sea
Captain and his crew, they just couldn't believe it was true
The old hag dragged the ship down in the sea

Even though it was a perfectly warm evening, Kristina began to feel cold, and as she stared at the trio, their voices began to fade, and a flashback of the gruesome old hag, pulling her down in the dark water behind the waterfall, infected her mind.

W
errien noticed the grim expression on Kristina's face. "Still feeling unwell?" he asked, placing his warm hand on top of her cold one. She didn't answer him, but instead stood up and walked to the stern to be alone.

Staring out at the halcyon sea, Kristina could still hear the trio singing and the crew laughing and cheering. Mixed emotions filled her mind. On the one hand, she loved being with Werrien and longed to stay in Bernovem, Tezerel, or any place where he would be, but on the other hand, she was perpetually disturbed by the dreams and horrifying visions she had experienced. She hadn't told Werrien about the strange dream of Queen Navesa, King Sirus, and the cloaked, mystery person in the strange round room, or about the last vision of the frightening hag that came through the mirror and tried to strangle her. She figured that there wasn't anything Werrien could do about it, and besides, if he didn't believe her the first time when she was attacked behind the waterfall, why would he believe her this time? She knew that time for her in this mystical world was short and precious, and if she did tell Werrien, he would most likely only worry about her sanity.
That would be too pathetic and nothing but a waste of the short time we have left together,
she thought.

The stone necklace suddenly warmed on her neck, and just as she took it in her hand, someone gently touched her shoulder.

"Any changes yet?" It was Werrien.

"It's still the same," Kristina said.

Werrien stood beside her, and they both stared out at the tranquil sea. "So, why'd you get up and leave?" he asked.

Frustrated, she didn't answer. Instead, she thought of how she used to be bolder—maybe not overly courageous but at least not as insecure as she was now.
Why do I have such a hard time sharing my feelings?

"So, why'd you leave?" Werrien asked a second time.

She sighed and said, "I just don't understand how the crew could enjoy such a depressing song about a ship being pulled down by an old sea hag."

"I know; it's kind of strange. They sing it—well, at least different versions of it—almost every time we sail somewhere. My thinking is, it's because
THE KRISTINA's
voyages have been nothing other than perfect sailing, without the slightest bit of danger."

"But aren't they grateful for that? Don't they think that singing something so tragic could possibly be a bad omen?"

"Honestly, I think that they're so bored of having everything always run so smoothly that they would actually welcome danger. There's an old sailors proverb:
Engrafted in the heart of a true seaman is the lust for danger.
"

Kristina shook her head, still not understanding the crew's strange mentality.

For a while, the teens stood silent, gazing out at the dark sea, a path of the moon's light shimmering upon it.

"Werrien?" Kristina finally said softly.

"Yes," he answered.

"Earlier today, behind the waterfall, what did you see in the Black Shard that fascinated you so much?"

Werrien's demeanor suddenly went from relaxed to rigid. His expression was serious as he gazed upon the dark water. An awkward silence clogged the air between them, and Kristina looked up at him and saw his jaw muscle constrict with tension. She swallowed nervously, now regretting having asked him the simple question. The only thing she wanted to do was turn and walk away, and when the weight of the silence became too heavy, she did just that. But as she took the first step, Werrien took hold of her arm. "I owe you an apology," he said softly, his eyes looking forlorn.

Kristina didn't look at him but instead stared down at the wooden deck, taking a moment to think. She drew in a breath to calm herself. "For what?" she finally said, slightly agitated and not finding this high-strung emotionalism between them very fun to deal with.

"I could have dived in sooner than I did to rescue you."

She looked up into his eyes that were reflecting the star-speckled sea, and she actually felt relieved that all that was bothering him was the fact that he hadn't paid closer attention to her. "It's no big deal, Werrien. I'm here, and I'm fine. I'm just happy to be with—"

"Kristina, the reason I didn't dive in sooner to save you," Werrien interrupted her, "was because my mind was preoccupied with someone else."

"What do you mean?" Kristina said, her brow frowning with confusion.

Werrien looked up at the sky and shook his head. Then he looked at Kristina again. "She's someone very dear to me."

Kristina suddenly felt like her heart had become a pin cushion, and that Werrien had just jabbed a very sharp pin into it.
Really? I could have sworn that just a few hours ago, you'd said that there was no one you were interested in. It sure didn't take you long to change your mind,
she thought and abruptly pulled her arm out of his grip.
Why am I doing this?
She turned and began walking away briskly.
He never promised himself to me, but I'm acting like he has.

"Wait a minute," Werrien said, promptly going after her and catching hold of her arm again. "Hey," he said, "you have absolutely every right to be angry at me. I should have kept a better eye on you."

With glazed over eyes, Kristina turned to face him. "It's all right. You don't have to try and make me feel better, and besides, you don't owe me any explanation anyway."

Werrien's eyes narrowed as he stared into Kristina's. He just couldn't understanding why she was acting so distressed.

Kristina stared back at him, trying to read his thoughts through his eyes, but she couldn't.
He's clueless,
she thought.
He really has no idea that the reason I'm throwing a fit is because I'm crazy about him.
She became embarrassed.
Oh, my gosh, I'm acting so immature, and he thinks it's because he wasn't a good enough babysitter for me.

"Before you continue being so upset, would you at least let me explain something to you?" Werrien said, his demeanor serious.

"Sure," Kristina said somberly, feeling about two inches tall and keeping her gaze toward the deck floor.

"The girl I saw in the Black Shard is from the city of Ezeree," Werrien said calmly. "She's someone that I've gotten to know during my past few visits there."

I knew there was someone you liked,
Kristina thought.

"Her father is dead, and her mother treats her quite cruelly."

Puzzled, Kristina looked up at Werrien. "What?" she said.

Werrien's expression was melancholy. "I know that it's still no excuse for my not paying closer attention to you, but what I saw in the Black Shard captured all of my attention."

Kristina swallowed what felt like a prickly bur lodged in her throat. "What did you see?" she asked sullenly.

"I saw Jabela—that's the girls name—crouched in a corner of her shabby little house. Her mother was in front of her, holding a broom in her hand, and she was yelling at Jabela. Then she started whacking Jabela on her head with the stick end of the broom. Jabela was screaming."

Kristina suddenly felt worse than she had before. She knew firsthand what it was like to be bullied by her peers at school, but to be abused by a parent—that was something that she couldn't even fathom. "I feel like a fool," she said softly.

The musical trio was still heavily involved in their music playing, and the crew was still energetically dancing and celebrating in front of them.

"It's really noisy here," Werrien said. "Want to go somewhere where it's a little quieter?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Kristina said. She was in no mood for the festive music.

Werrien led her in the direction of the bow of the ship. They passed by Leacha, who was sitting quietly by herself at the food table next to the galley, eating a bowl of her soup.

"Wait a minute, you two," Leacha called to them. "Before you go any farther, would ya come here first?" They walked over to Leacha, and she handed Kristina a bundled-up tea towel. "Go ahead—look inside it," Leacha said as she swabbed a chunk of her bun across the bottom of her bowl, sopping up the last of her soup.

Kristina carefully opened the tea towel and found six freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, still warm and soft. "How'd you know chocolate chip was my favorite?" she asked.

"They're Kurdy's favorite, too. I make them for him as a reward—that is, if he does a good job helping me in the galley," Leacha said, smacking as she chewed her bread. "But this time, I kept a few for the two of you." She smiled warmly, revealing the few teeth she had left.

"Thank you, Leacha. We'll definitely enjoy these," Werrien said.

As they started to leave again, Leacha added, "Wait—one more thing!"

They turned toward her again, just as she was bending down to pick up something from the floor. She arose with a small glass bottle of milk and two mugs. She handed them to Werrien.

"Of course! Can't have one without the other," Werrien said, flashing the familiar smile that never ceased to melt Leacha's heart.

Werrien brought Kristina to the very inner tip of the bow, just on the inside of the figurehead, where there was a small built-in bench. In front of it was the galley's back wall. It was a private little nook, shielded off from the rest of the ship. They sat down on the bench, and Werrien reached under it and brought out a lantern and lit it.

"I love this little spot. It's so cozy," Kristina said, gazing all around. She unwrapped the cookies, handed one to Werrien, and took one for herself.

"It's just another one of my private hideouts," Werrien said.

Kristina smiled at Werrien, and a memory suddenly flashed through her mind of when she was at home, in her neighbor's tree house, years ago. Jeff was the neighbor boy's name. He was ten; she was nine. What great times the two of them had, reading comics together and chewing Big Chew bubble gum. They used to compete to see who could blow the largest bubble and then let it pop over their faces.
Jeff was a lot of fun,
she thought. But then his father got a job transfer to another state, and Jeff had to move. Once again, Kristina was reminded that what she had with Werrien would soon be gone as well.