Robin Hobb - Mad Ship

Reyn's sister was still in her doorway. "Did the healer take Malta somewhere?" Keffria called to her.

Tillamon shook her head.

Keffria tried not to be frightened. "It's just so strange. She's gone. She's too ill to be out of her bed yet. And she is never an early riser, even when she feels well." She would not look at the railings by the walk. She would not wonder if a dizzy girl could stagger up from her sick bed and…

The woman cocked her head. "She was out walking with Reynie yesterday," she volunteered. A small smile came and went from her face. "I heard they had made up," she offered apologetically.

"But that doesn't explain why she isn't in her bed… oh." Keffria stared at her.

"Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that. Reynie would never… he's not like that." She was falling over her own words. "I had better fetch my mother," she proposed awkwardly.

There was something going on here, Keffria decided. Something she should have known about. "I think I had best go with you," she replied with a sinking heart.

It took more than tapping to waken Jani Khuprus. When she came to the door in her house-robe, her eyes were both weary and anxious. For an instant, Keffria almost pitied her. But Malta was at stake here. She met Jani's gaze squarely as she said, "Malta is not in her bed. Do you know where she might be?"

The fear that ghosted across Jani's face told Keffria all. She looked at her daughter. "Tillamon. Return to your chamber. This is only for Keffria and me."

"But, Mother," her daughter began, trailing off at the look her mother gave her. She shook her head, but turned and left. Jani's eyes came back to Keffria. The fine lines on her Rain Wild face suddenly stood out more clearly. She looked ill. She took a deep breath. "It is possible she is with Reyn somewhere. Late last night, he became… very worried about her. He might have gone to her… This is not like Reyn, but he has not been himself, lately." She sighed. "Come with me."

Jani led the way swiftly. She had not paused to dress properly or veil herself. Even powered by anger and fear, Keffria could barely keep up with her.

As they neared Reyn's chamber, misgivings assailed Keffria. If Malta and Reyn had settled their differences, they might… She wanted suddenly to stop and think things through more carefully. "Jani," she began as the other woman lifted her hand to knock. But she didn't knock. She simply pushed the door of Reyn's room open.

A heavy smell of brandy and sweat hung in the air. Jani peered in, then stepped aside to allow Keffria the view. Reyn sprawled facedown on his bed. His arm hung over the side, the back of his wrist against the floor. His breathing was hoarse and heavy. He slept as one exhausted, and he slept alone.

Jani's fingers were on her lips as she pulled the door shut. Keffria held her apology in until they were well away from his chamber.

"Jani, I am so—" she began, but the other woman turned to her quickly with a twisted smile.

"We both well know that we have cause to worry with those two. Reyn has come to this passion late in his life. Malta has been distant with him since she arrived, yet I do not believe her heart is cold toward him. The sooner they come to an understanding, the easier it will be for all of us."

Keffria nodded wearily, grateful for her understanding. "But where could she be? She is too ill to be out and about alone."

"I share your concern. Let me send out some runners to see if anyone has seen her. Could she have gone off with Selden, perhaps?"

"Perhaps. The last few weeks have brought them closer. I know he has been longing to show her the city." Keffria lifted her splinted hand to her forehead. "This behavior makes me wonder if I am wise to leave them here. I thought Malta was maturing, but for her to go off like this, with no word at all…"

Jani halted on the narrow walk and took Keffria's arm. Her eyes, still unveiled in the morning's haste, met Keffria's squarely. "I promise I shall care for them as my own. There is no need to foster Selden anywhere else but with us. It will do Reyn good to have the care of a young boy, before he has sons of his own." Jani smiled and the hope on her face took away much of the Rain Wild strangeness. Then an almost pleading look replaced it. "What you offered to do for us yesterday is incredibly brave. I feel selfish to urge you toward it. Yet, you are the only one so uniquely suited to spy for us."

"Spy." The word sat oddly on her tongue. "I suppose—" Keffria began, but her words were broken by the bronze tones of a great bell. "What is that?" she asked, but Jani was staring, stricken, toward the ancient city.

"It means that there has been a collapse, and folk may be trapped. That is the only time the bell is rung. All who can work, must. I have to go, Keffria." Without another word, the Rain Wild Trader turned and sprinted away, leaving Keffria gaping after her. Slowly she turned her eyes toward the buried city. She could not see much of it through the trees, but the panorama of Trehaug was spread out in levels before her. People were calling to one another, men dragging on shirts as they crossed catwalks, while women came after them carrying tools and water jugs. Keffria resolved she would find Malta and Selden. They would go together, to help wherever they could, if Malta was up to it. It might provide an opportunity for her to tell them she was returning to Bingtown as soon as the Kendry sailed.

Malta had lost track of how many dead ends they had discovered.

It was maddening to watch the phantom inhabitants of the dead city vanish down the collapsed tunnels. The apparitions simply disappeared into the cascades of earth and stone. Each time she fetched up against a barrier of damp earth, the Satrap and his Companion became more distressed.

"You said you knew the way!" he accused her.

"I do know the way. I know all the ways. All we have to do is find one that is not blocked."

She had concluded long ago that he did not recognize her as the girl from the dance and the coach ride. He treated her as a rather stupid servant. She did not blame him. She was having a hard time holding on to that Malta, too. Her memories of the ball and the accident seemed hazier and more distant than the memories of the city around her. Her life as Malta seemed the tale of a frivolous and spoiled girl. Even now, escape and survival did not drive her as hard as her need to find her brother and return with rods so they might free the dragon. She had to find a way out. Helping them was incidental.

She passed the theatre, then abruptly turned back to the entrance to that vast chamber. The door gaped blackly in the wall. She held the wavering lantern high to see how it had fared. The once-magnificent chamber had partially collapsed. Efforts had been made to remove the earth, but the great blocks of stone that had once supported the lofty ceiling had thwarted the diggers. She peered hopefully and decided it was worth a chance. "This way," she said to those following her.

Kekki wailed, "Oh, that is foolish. It has already mostly fallen down. We need to find a way out, not go deeper into ruin."

Easier to explain than to argue. "Every theatre must have a way for the actors to come and go. The Elderlings preferred that they remain unseen, to better preserve the illusion of the play. Behind the stage, which yet stands, there are apartments and a means of egress. Often have I come and gone that way. Come. Follow me with trust and you may yet be saved."

Kekki looked affronted. "Don't give yourself airs with me, little maid. You forget yourself."

Malta was silent for a moment. "More than you know," she agreed in a stranger's voice. Whose words had those been, whose diction? She did not know and there was no time to trace a single memory. She led them to the stage, up and across it and then down behind it. Some debris blocked the hidden door, but most of it was wood rather than stone. No one had been this way in a long, long time. Perhaps the Rain Wild folk had never even discovered this door. She put the lantern down and set to work clearing it while the Satrap and his Companion watched. She worked the latch by tracing the sign of the actors' guild upon the light panel. When that did not work, she kicked the door. It swung slowly into darkness. The lintel above groaned threateningly, but held.