The Sea Devils Eye (8 page)

Jherek kept a ready hand on his cutlass hilt as he brought up the party’s rear. They marched up the narrow, inclined path to the cave the big man indicated.

A handmade sign hung beside the cave mouth that simply proclaimed DIVINER. A thick carpet of sea lion hides stretched across the cave mouth, hung from a length of rope. The hides possessed the maned heads and forelegs of great lions, but the body and tail of a fish. The bottom of the carpet of stitched hides was rolled up and sewn around rocks that weighted it to the ground.

Azla dismissed the big man with a turn of her head. He went quickly, muttering beneath his breath.

“Dehnee,” the half-elf captain called out. “I’ve got coin if you’ve a mind and skills enough to earn it.”

The hides slid to the side, revealing the torchlit interior of the cave. A woman no older than her late twenties stood at the entrance. Her hair was mousy brown, long and pulled back in a ponytail. Gold eyes regarded the party and showed no fear, set deeply in a face that was chiseled and translucent as if she seldom saw the sun. She wore a gown of good material that showed age as well as care.

“I’ve always got a ready use for coin,” she said, smiling, “but I’m not a desperate woman.”

“I don’t particularly care for the desperate,” Azla said. “They have a tendency to tell you what you want to hear.”

“It’s the truth you’re after then?”

“Aye, and we’ve come a far way to get it.”

Jherek watched the woman, remembering the times he’d seen Madame Iitaar work at home in Velen over a man’s hand or an object yanked up from the sea in a fisherman’s net.

Diviners could tell of things yet to come upon occasion, as well as the past of objects that were brought to them. Those who lived on the sea, depending on the gracious bounty of the waters, learned to respect people like that.

Dehnee looked at them coolly and said, “My home is small, and I like my privacy.”

“Only four of us.” Azla pointed out Sabyna, Glawinn, and Jherek.

The diviner’s eyes raked casually across the ship’s mage and the paladin, but came to rest on the young sailor.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I can see that the four of you are tied. Some in more ways than the one you came to see me about.”

The announcement surprised Jherek, but he said nothing.

“Enter.” Dehnee stepped back and held the folds of sea lion skins back.

Jherek entered last, his mind and eyes seeking danger everywhere. He hadn’t forgotten the story about the diviner sharing her cave with a ghost.

The cave evidently divided into three or more rooms. Some of the division was natural but the young sailor could also detect scars and markings from tools and stone cutters.

More hides taken from sea creatures decorated the walls along with mounted fish on lacquered wooden plaques. Shells and bits of coral of different sizes and colors strung on sections of net in designs and patterns hung from the uneven ceiling. Red, blue, and green lichens clung to the walls in whirlpool patterns, evidently carefully directed in their growth.

Two clam shells more than a foot across hung upside down from more nets. They were filled with blubber and burning wicks to fill the cave with light.

Dehnee passed her hand over a small net with silver bells and shells that tinkled and rattled. The sensation of clawed feet crawled over Jherek, causing him to shift his shoulders.

“It’s all right,” Sabyna said in a soft voice. “The spell was intended as protection only.”

“I have been hunted before,” the diviner said. “I like to make sure that no one enters my home while bewitched by a charm, and that I have no unseen guests.”

She sat cross-legged on a sea lion hide that had the creature’s head still intact.

Jherek’s hand tightened as he stared at the maned head. The itching sensation grew even stronger. Dehnee turned a hand palm up and offered seating on the piles of hides in the center of the cave.

“If you don’t mind, lady,” Glawinn said, “I’ll stand. The armor becomes rather cumbersome.”

“Of course, Sir Knight. I know merely being here must be troublesome to you. Some of the objects I use in my divinations would not be comfortable to you, but they are necessary in what I do.”

“Thank you, lady.”

Gazing at the paladin, Jherek saw that Glawinn was a little paler than normal and held his lips tightly as a man at rough sea might. The young sailor didn’t feel well himself and was experiencing a throbbing behind his eyes.

Sabyna and Azla sat in front of the diviner.

Dehnee looked up at Jherek with dark, liquid eyes. “I can attempt this without you,” she told him, “but my best chance of success will be with your assistance.”

“I don’t understand,” Jherek said.

“You come here seeking an object,” Dehnee told him. “Of all, you are the most closely tied to it.”

Jherek hesitated only a moment, wishing there were some other way. “What do I need to do?”

“Sit.”

Dehnee pointed to a place before her. The young sailor pulled his cutlass from the sash at his waist so that he could sit in comfort. As soon as the blade came free, the sea lion’s eyes glinted with unholy light and tracked his movement. The massive jaws unhinged and loosed a coughing roar of warning. Skin prickling and heart hammering in fear, Jherek stepped back.

The sea lion’s body rose from the carpet, magically transforming and coming fully to life.

VI

Half formed from the diviner’s carpet, the sea lion glared at Jherek with hot hatred in its emerald green eyes. In life the creature had been easily a dozen feet long. Light danced on the shiny scales that began just behind its forelegs as it slithered protectively in front of Dehnee.

“Narik!” Dehnee cried, tugging on the fierce mane. “No!”

Slowly, the sea lion shifted its attention from Jherek to the diviner. The coughing growls subsided and changed to a plaintive whining that filled the whole cavern.

“He means no harm,” Dehnee stated, continuing to pull on the ensorcelled beast. “He thought you were going to hurt me. He’s not been around many such as you.”

As if in grudging obedience, the sea lion glided back to the cave’s stone floor and became inert. The green eyes continued to follow Jherek’s movements.

The young sailor swallowed hard, discovering he had a death grip on the cutlass.

“This is an uneasy place for us, young warrior,” Glawinn said softly. “As you sense danger about this cave, so it senses danger from you. Trust the lady to hold the balance.”

Jherek let out a tense breath, reminding himself why they were there. He sat slowly, offering no threat, watching the green eyes that watched him. He sat with crossed legs, his cutlass across his knees.

“Believe in me,” Dehnee told him, offering her hands.

“Lady,” Jherek said in a tight voice, “as much as I am able.”

He held his hands out and she took them. Her touch felt almost too warm, too exciting. Emotions and desires that he kept carefully bottled up slapped at the sides of his restraint, threatening to explode. He tried to yank his hands away, feeling shamed.

Dehnee tightened her grip, but he pulled hard enough to bring her to her knees before him. He gazed into her gold eyes.

“It’s all right,” she told him. “Your feelings are natural.”

“No.” Jherek shook his head and kept pulling at his hands. Nothing that strong and heady could ever be natural.

“An innocent,” Dehnee breathed in quiet wonder. “By Umberlee’s favored sight, I’ve not touched an innocent in decades.”

“Have a care with him, lady,” Glawinn warned softly. “I’ll not have him hurt in any way.”

“I know what I’m doing, Sir Knight.”

All Jherek’s ability to struggle deserted him in a powerful surge that left him weak. He still felt the woman’s hands on his, still felt the unaccustomed and unacceptable desire that flamed him, but he couldn’t move.

Then Glawinn’s strong hand dropped to his shoulder, anchoring him and putting some of the feeling at bay. “Patience, lady,” the paladin said. “He’s never been around one such as you.”

“What did you come here seeking?” Dehnee asked, her eyes totally focused on Jherek’s.

Jherek’s thoughts ran rampant. It was hard to concentrate. “Lathander’s disk,” he said.

“Picture it in your mind.”

Unbidden, Jherek’s thoughts ranged only on the woman before him. He saw her naked, her body trim and gently rounded, her small breasts heavy with desire. He closed his eyes tightly against the vision and whispered, “No.”

“What you’re feeling is normal,” Dehnee said.

Jherek didn’t believe her. Nothing like this could ever be normal-or acceptable.

“Picture the disk.”

Calming himself as much as he was able, Jherek built the image of the disk inside his head.

“Good,” Dehnee whispered. “I can see it as well. What do you wish to know?”

“Vurgrom took it,” Azla said beside Jherek. “We want to know if he still has it.”

Lathander’s disk tumbled in Jherek’s mind.

“Yes,” the diviner said. “It is still in Vurgrom’s possession.”

“Where?”

Filmy black patterns ghosted over Jherek’s vision, like rotten spots on fruit. They cleared momentarily, revealing a glimpse of a ship. He managed to peer closer and see her name, then the image slipped away. He recognized the ship from the confrontation at the Ship of the Gods.

“Maelstrom” he gasped.

“Do you know where she is?” Azla asked.

Jherek shook his head, too weak to say anything.

“It is far from here,” Dehnee replied.

“We want to find it,” Azla told her.

“Of course you do. And you will. It is meant for this boy to find.”

The diviner released one of Jherek’s hands but not the other. The young sailor watched as she reached into the sea lion’s open mouth and pulled out a complex device.

“An astrolabe. It’s used by a ship’s navigator,” Azla said. “With it a captain or anyone learned enough to take readings from the azimuth of the sun, the moon, or certain stars can determine where a ship is on the sea.”

“This is no ordinary astrolabe,” Dehnee told them. She cradled the instrument in her lap with one hand. “This device is ages old, and its origin is almost completely unknown to me.”

The whale oil light glistened off the astrolabe’s surface. Only then did Jherek realize it was cut from some kind of yellowed crystal that held only minute fractures.

“I was given this by a sea elf in exchange for information,” the diviner continued. “I can enspell it to track Vurgrom’s ship for you.”

“At what cost?” Azla demanded.

“Only that you bring it back when you’re finished,” Dehnee replied. “And I would ask a favor.”

Azla’s eyes narrowed. “What favor?”

“Not from you, Captain.” Dehnee’s eyes locked with Jherek’s. “From this boy.”

Glawinn interrupted before Azla could respond. “He is only a boy.”

The diviner nodded. “And what he faces will make a man of him.” She glanced at the paladin. “You know this as well as I. That’s part of the reason you’re here. I won’t ask a favor of the boy. I will want a favor from the man.”

“He’s too young to know what you ask,” Glawinn interrupted. “A promise from him-“

“Is all that I will settle for,” Dehnee said. “Otherwise, you are on your own.”

“You know of the portents and magic that surround the Sea of Fallen Stars,” Azla said. “Some are saying that ancient prophecies are being fulfilled, that an old evil is descending upon us.”

“That’s not my concern.” The diviner stared at Jherek and he felt the pull of her gaze. “What is your answer?”

“Young warrior,” Glawinn said gently, “don’t agree to these terms. Wait until a more proper time.”

“Time is against us.” Jherek spoke clearly, but his words sounded distant.

“There is much for you to learn,” Glawinn persisted.

“It’s only a favor,” Jherek said. “I owe a debt to the temple of Lathander …”

“Do you accept?” Dehnee asked.

Dehnee took his hand back in hers, holding both of them again. “Swear to me that you will honor my request, and that you will never lift your hand against me.”

In the periphery of his vision, Jherek saw Glawinn’s stony face and knew that the paladin didn’t approve.

“Lady,” the young sailor said, “I swear that I will honor your request and will never lift a hand against you.”

“Swear by your god.”

Jherek’s throat tightened. “Lady, I’m sorry. I recognize no gods. I am adrift in my beliefs and hold no anchor.”

The diviner’s eyes studied his face, searching.

“He speaks the truth,” Glawinn stated coldly.

“I can see that. Yet he’s no stranger to falsehood.”

Shame burned Jherek’s cheeks. The only things he’d never been completely forthright about concerned his heritage and his true name-and those he’d hidden primarily from Sabyna.

“Not in this matter,” Glawinn said.

“It’s strange to think of one such as him without strong beliefs.”

“As may be, lady,” the paladin said, “but so it is.”

Dehnee tightened her grip on his hands and said, “Then name something you believe in, boy.”

An incredible weight seemed to descend on Jherek’s chest. It felt impossible to breathe. He had confessed to Glawinn that he believed in nothing. The paladin swore to teach him to believe again, but hadn’t told the young sailor what he was supposed to believe in. Only now there was a huge gaping emptiness where his faith in the gods had once been.

“My eye and my sword arm,” he croaked in a tight voice, remembering what Glawinn told him he would believe in first. “I believe in those.”

“No,” the diviner said. “Those things you trust in, but that is no real belief. Search yourself, boy, tell me what you believe in.”

Jherek thought furiously, trying to find some quote, some philosophy Malorrie had taught him that he could cling to in that moment. Memories piled in on him, breakfasts shared with Madame Iitaar, battle sessions with Malorrie, sunsets he’d seen sink into the waters off the western coast of Velen.

He recalled the smell of the blueberry pies Madame Iitaar made for him, the feel of the paper of the books Malorrie loaned him, the satisfaction he got the day he first finished mending Madame Iitaar’s roof, already knowing the woman had more work for him and a bed as well.