Elaine Cunningham: Honor Bound

Fox was not certain which of thethree would present the biggest problem. Probably not Delgar. Theyoung dwarf stood taller than most of his kind, near the midpointof five feet and six, and although his natural coloring was anunrelieved shade of gray, he could change the hue of his skin andhair at will. His frame carried more muscle than most men couldboast, but his face was clean-shaven and handsome. He could passfor human.

So could slim, winsome Vishni, aslong as no one looked too closely at her eyes. She had prettyeyes-big, dark eyes that sparkled with childlike delight-but whatshone through them was not even remotely human.

Oddly enough, it was Avidan, thehuman alchemist, who stood out. In a land where most men were talland broad and blond, his dark southern skin, black hair, and hawk'snose proclaimed him a stranger. And Avidan was very, very strange.He was brilliant-Fox never doubted that for a moment-but notentirely sane.

Even the longest night musteventually end. The moon was sinking into the western sea when Foxcaught sight of Nightsails, the nearest and largest of the island'sports. As befitted its name, the little seaport bustled withactivity. Torchlight glimmered against narrow wharfs. More torchesbobbed along the stairs leading down the cliff as people hurriedtoward the docks. A bank of fire blazed along the shore, coaxinglong shadows from the piles of boxes waiting to be loaded aboardthe boats or raised cliff-top by ropes and pulleys. "Kronhus" camefrom an old word for "time," and the islanders seemed determined tomake good use of every minute.

It was not quite sunrise, butalready smoke rose from the city's forges. The main business ofKronhus was glass and the things that could be made from it. Forreasons no sage or storyspinner could explain, Kronhus and theislets surrounding it were rich in quartz ideal for glass-makingand further blessed by an abundance of sea coal for fuel. Many ofthe islanders made a livelihood from gathering the glittering blacknuggets that strewed the coasts after each tide and everystorm.

Vishni perched on the bow, her armsspread wide and her face lifted to the spray. Silhouetted againstthe torchlight, she looked like a bowsprit, or perhaps a sea nymphwith sails for wings.

"Best get down," Fox called. "We'realmost there."

The fairy scrambled into the boatand gave his hair a tug. "Best tuck this fox tail under your cap.Things could get awkward if you were recognized, what with youbeing dead and all."

Delgar snorted and reached for theline securing the jib. He coaxed the knot free with deft fingersand let some of the wind out of the sails. Another tug released themainsail's starboard line. He shifted over to the wooden bench onthe port side. The little vessel came around, slowing as it changeddirection. Delgar secured the rope with a few twists as he reachedwith his other hand for the crank that raised the keel. There wereno deepwater ports on Kronhus, and even the small vessel they'd" borrowed" from the fishermen who'd caught Vishni's attention couldeasily run aground.

The fairy watched Delgar withinterest. "None of the stories about dwarves describe you assea-going folk. When we're out to sea and the smugglers take overthe work of sailing, you can tell me where you learned to do allthis."

"No."

"Are there ballads about it? Iwouldn't mind hearing a new ballad. You should sing more. I've onlyever heard you sing when you're stoneshifting. Why is that? Whodoesn't like singing ballads?"

"Me."

"Sea chanteys would also be good,"she mused, "but they usually don't tell much of a story. Of course,I suppose you don't really have to sing. You could just tell me thestory with plain words. I can add improvements after."

Delgar turned to Avidan, who sat onthe rear bench, one narrow brown hand resting on the tiller. "Howmany languages do you speak?"

"Seven with fluency," he said,"though I can read several more reasonably well."

"Do any of them have a word for 'no'that a fairy will understand?"

The alchemist gave this question farmore deliberation than it deserved. "Not as such." Fox paid scantattention to his friends' talk. His gaze searched the dock, theshore, the cliffs, looking for anything that might complicate theirescape from Sevrin.

Beyond the dock, torchlightglimmered on purple sand. Fox glanced at the sack of amethysts thatlay at Avidan's feet. They'd been collecting the purple rocks fornearly four years now, on the alchemist's advice. Before Avidancame to them, Fox hadn't known the name "amethyst" or dreamed thatin some lands the colored quartz might be considered a gemstone. OnKronhus, it was used for making bottles. Cheap bottles.

But Delgar had agreed with Avidan,and he assured Fox that a sack of amethysts would buy them passageon a smugglers' ship.

It was Vishni who'd suggested thatthey leave from Kronhus, reasoning that smugglers tended to mindtheir own affairs. Sailing from Stormwatch would have made moresense under most circumstances, but that had been Muldonny'sisland. And since Muldonny's death was being widely attributed tothe City Fox, the young thief found it prudent to avoid thatisland's ports.

The adept's death weighed heavily onFox. He owed his life to Honor, and when she'd asked him toinfiltrate Sevrin's greatest stronghold to retrieve the Thorn, he'dagreed without hesitation. The fact that Muldonny was known tosurround himself with clockwork constructs rather than human guardsmade the decision easier. Fox had no qualms about destroyingmachinery, but he didn't enter the stronghold with intention tokill.

Nor had he imagined Muldonny's deathmight be the spark that kindled the rebellion he had long dreamedof leading.

A sharp jab from Delgar's elbowbrought Fox's attention back to the moment. "Look at the peoplegetting off that boat," the dwarf said in a low voice. "Seeanything familiar about them?"

The torchlight suddenly seemed apale thing compared to so many heads dyed bright, fiery red. As themen swaggered down the wharf, dock hands and fisherfolk stopped towatch them with narrowed eyes.

Vishni beamed and pointed. "Look atthat! A whole flock of foxes, here on Kronhus! My City Fox storiesare spreading like warm honey."

Fox caught the fairy's hand anddragged it down. "Don't draw attention."

"And strictly speaking," Avidan saidwith equal sternness, "a group of foxes is called a troop or askulk."

"They're not doing much skulking,"Vishni said as she jerked her hand out of Fox's grasp. "And come tothink of it, I don't recognize any of them. Not that I know all thefoxes and vixens, but there's at least twenty men there. You'dthink I'd recognize at least one of them."

"This couldn't be good." Fox turnedto the dwarf. "Turn this thing around. Move fast. Don't make itlook like we're running."

"Pick any two," grumbled Delgar, buthe set to work bringing the boat about.

Fox pointed northward. "There's asmaller wharf by the observatory. We should be able to find a boatthere."

"Why don't we just take this oneout?" Vishni asked.

"It's a big ocean," Delgar said."You think it's easy to find a ship in the open sea?"

"From the air?" she retorted. "Icould do it."

"Without getting distracted byseagulls?"

Fox sent a warning scowl in Delgar'sdirection. "Thanks for the offer, Vishni, but it wouldn't work.Smugglers from the mainland are used to dealing with certain ships,certain captains. They'd have no reason to trust us."

"Nor we them," Avidan said. "Were weto approach one of these ships, what would keep them from takingthe amethysts and sailing on? No, their desire to maintain anongoing arrangement with Kronhus smugglers will purchase ourpassage more securely than any gemstone."

"That's sound thinking," Delgar saidwithout a hint of his usual sarcasm.

"Your approval fills me with joy,"the alchemist said without a hint of anything resemblingemotion.