"Amber Spyglass I" by Lindsay Verde

It felt as though the elements, too, readied themselves to pay tribute to the old healer's passing. A westerner blew, carrying with it gray clouds heavy with the cloying scent of rain.

The burial barge sat outfitted in the island's harbour, Iseult's body wrapped in a place of honour on the prow. Rena stood beside her old mentor in the face of the wind as the oarsmen rowed them out to sea. A small fleet of boats carrying the mourners followed in their wake.

Rena's body was stiff as they exited the harbour's protective embrace and the wind whipped at her face and hair, stealing her words as she sang. As one the chorale and oarsmen ceased, leaving Rena the honour of finishing the final chorus alone. While she held the last note Iseult was sent to her rest.

The clouds made good their promise, pouring down on those assembled to muffled shrieks and cries. Rena welcomed the water that hid the tears sliding down her cheeks. In the weeks before Iseult's passing she had not allowed herself to mourn, knowing she'd be unable to sing with a throat closed from crying. Now she didn't stop the tears. She wept with the skies for the mentor who had been like a mother.

Staring at the basalt cliffs of the coast and white citadel brought a different sort of pain to her chest. This had been her home for the past fifteen years and it hurt to think of leaving. But her leaving was what had brought three of the men who rowed out that day.
She watched her cousin work as the barge glided slowly to its mooring at the far end of the dock. Kris was the son of her father's youngest brother. He'd filled out in the years since she'd last seen him, finally growing into his tall frame. He still wore his long strawberry blond hair back in a horsetail and sported a new scar along his right eye that gave him a rugged appearance.

Beside him, Logan also strained at the oars. He was some sort of distant relation that worked and lived aboard her father's ship. She wouldn't be surprised if it came about that they weren't truly related. Her family wasn't one to turn away weary travelers; even now, when they had not an acre of land to their name.

Kurou was one such addition. Her father had brought him aboard their ship the summer she turned thirteen. She remembered because it was right before the rigging accident that landed her a permanent place of residence with Iseult on the island.

Looking at him still made butterflies dance in her stomach: her first crush. He still kept his hair long enough that his bangs fell over his eyes as he worked, making Rena itch to brush it back.

She was brought back to the present when the first oarsman offered his hand. Startled at the unexpected courtesy, she took it. His eyes shone with silent approval at her singing as he handed her from the craft.

"Rena," a female voice called and she turned to face the headwoman of the citadel's lower caverns. "You'll stay for the afternoon meal, won't you?" Her eyes were red from weeping.

"I'm certain Rena would be honored to stay, Antaidh," Kris spoke up, coming from behind and pulling Rena against his side with a tender smile. "But we need to head out before we're stranded without the wind."

"No," Rena interrupted, glancing between the two of them; Kris with his confused expression and Zora's full of understanding. "Iseult cared for me for these past four years and this is the least I can give to honour of her."

"The tide won't wait," Kurou interjected quietly without looking at them. His gaze was focused on the far off ocean, unseeing. What captured his thoughts?

"Couldn't you leave her with us and come fetch her another day?" Zora compromised, ever the diplomat.

"Well, I don't know," Kris replied honestly, sounding hesitant. "We were sent to fetch her after the ceremony."

"Then tell Athair that I wouldn't go. I don't have a problem staying until the next time you come back this way."

"You're being childish," Kurou stated.

Rena's mouth opened to argue but Kris beat her to it. "It's not childish to pay honor where it's due. She took care of her for four years, Rou. We'll wait for you," he acceded, giving a nod for Zora to lead the way. She did so with a relieved smile.

The citadel was very open, allowing the sea breeze to sweep through the entire upper cavern. Built in and of the white rock of the cliff face, it was easy to keep cool during the heat of summer.

The dining hall was just off of the outer walkway and already full of servants putting out the meal as they entered. Rena chose a quiet corner table with only one other occupant, a waif of a woman with short brown hair and dark clothing. She glanced up at their approach, her welcoming smile faltering as she took in Rena's guests. She made to get up but Rena stopped her.

"It's alright. Brekke, I'd like to introduce you to some of my family. Kris, Logan, Kurou," she indicated each as named, "this is Brekke. We often eat our meals here together."

"Shouldn't you eat up there with Zora and the others?" Logan asked while indicating the head table, his first words since they had arrived.

"I wanted to eat with all of you." She took the chair beside Brekke while the other three arranged themselves across the table. Glancing at the head table, she caught Zora's eye and the older woman's smile was full of quiet mirth. Rena fidgeted, dropping her gaze. Nothing got past Zora, not even Rena's avoidance of the public spotlight.

Brekke was unusually quiet as they ate their meal. Rena caught her glancing over at Kris more than once though she never met his gaze. Kris seemed oblivious to her regard.

Brekke blushed a furious red when she caught Rena watching and Rena couldn't help the small smile that blossomed. She was never one to overlook a chance at mischief.

"Kris, did you know that Brekke was one of the few who crafted the chairs and tables?"

"Did you now?" he asked; turning to face them, interest sparkled in his eyes. "You're handy with a blade, are you?" He fingered the scroll-like design along the table's edge. "Yes, this work's not bad."

"She's more than handy," Rena protested. "She carved these when she was just thirteen and still an apprentice to the craft."

"Rena," Brekke protested meekly, going scarlet.

"No," Rena brushed off Brekke's restraining hand. "He needs to be taken down a peg or two."

The panic in Brekke's face stopped Rena and she gave her a contrite smile while Logan and Kurou chuckle.

"Sorry, Brekke, I couldn't resist teasing you."

Kris was smiling amiably, unperturbed by her teasing.

"Kris was a master craftsman before he took to the seas," Logan explained. "It's in his blood and he hasn't had someone's ear to bend in a long time."

"Oh," Brekke blushed. "I'm sure I'm not as knowledgeable as you but I'd be happy to talk with you if that's what you'd like?"

"They know me well. Carving truly is the trade of my heart."

The two hit it off with that opening and none of the group was able to get a word in with either of them. Leaving Brekke to her work, Rena turned to Logan.

"How have things been on the ship since I left? Is Athair still running you all ragged?"

"He works us, all right." He paused as his face clouded. "He's changed since your accident.

Rena leaned forward, not interrupting as Logan folded his hands and prepared to go on. Kurou listened silently, watching the rest of the hall.

"After you left he kind of withdrew into himself for a bit. He isn't as bad now but for a while there we worried he would do himself harm. He's taking a lot more risks now, going after loads he wouldn't have before and bringing them to the city docks right under the patrol's nose. It's like he has a demon riding him."

"That's enough," Kurou barked, startling both of them. "Can't you see you'll scare her with this talk?" His statement surprised her. She hadn't realized he was paying her any mind.

Suddenly she heard and felt a boom, a crash that shook the citadel and made her senses jangle with alarm. Around the hall a few people shrieked. Others scrambled to their feet with weary glances at the dust raining down from the ceiling.

As the shaking ceased, everyone stood gazing about in confusion at those nearest him or her. Seconds later, the door burst open and an armed guard rushed in, pointing behind him while spluttering, "Rocks ... fire ... it crashed ..."

"Hold, Stefan," Lord Roald called out as he got to his feet. The panicked youth halted. "Catch your breath."

The lad, no more than fourteen, took gulping breaths as colour began to return to his face. There were several seconds of pregnant silence while everyone was too anxious to speak before he continued.

"A ship, it'd caught fire and was off the cliff-side coast. We tried to warn it away, what with the rocks 'n all but it kept coming and rammed bow first into 'em."

Those gathered all looked to their Lord.

"The ship?"

"It looks to be Tyronian though it's flying no colors."

"Send out a barge and a crew to recover as many as possible."

"What of the soldiers?"

"Kill any who refuse to cooperate. They'll learn they're on our seas and play by our rules."

The guard bowed and hurried off to report orders. Many of the citadel's people moved to follow, Rena included.

"And where do you think you're going?" Kris asked with a hand on her sleeve. The quake had managed to interrupt his conversation with Brekke.

"To help. I may not be good at rowing but I know something of bandaging. And I can tolerate the sight of blood, which is a good deal more than many of the people here."

She watched the three of them exchange a long look she didn't understand.

"All right," Kris nodded, wrapping his fingers around her upper arm and towing her along, to her surprise.

"What? No protests?" she asked, stunned.

"No. We'll come too."

"Oh." She glanced at the other two marching along with them.

It was apparent, when they reached the small harbour, that the ship had taken a fatal blow. It listed sharply to one side while smoke billowed from below deck. It was also a wreck - damage that couldn't have been caused by crashing into the rocks alone. The mizzenmast had been shattered in half, its remaining stump a jagged stake for which the entire ship burned. Many of the crew had already abandoned ship, taking their chances among the treacherous rocks and sucking tide.

Those who came to help were organized: individual retrieval groups to man the boats and fish people out of the water, and those who would await the injured for treatment. Rena opted to be one of the latter while Kris and Kurou offered their arms for rowing. Everyone was quick to work, experienced with sea-faring incidents.

The first of the crew arrived for treatment and Rena was busy bandaging a nasty head wound for transport to the medical wing when she heard a sound that made her blood freeze in place.

"Did you hear that?" she questioned the woman working next to her, who stopped and looked askance. Halting her work mid-bandage, Rena held absolutely still, straining to hear over the slight wind. Maybe it was her imagina-no, there it was again - a faint sound, almost like wailing. Before her brain had processed it, she was diving off the pier into the chilling waters. Of their own accord, her feet and arms moved, carrying her toward the sinking ship even as the horrible realization sank in; this was a Tyronian slave ship and the sound she had heard was the screams of the slaves still trapped below decks.

Slavery was outlawed in Killian but it didn't prevent their neighbouring country from transporting slaves along their coast. Now the additional damages made sense. If a patrol had discovered this ship was carrying slaves it would have attacked.

Rena was so absorbed in the task at hand that she swam right past the boat rowed by Kris and Kurou. But they hadn't missed her panicked plunge into the water and Kurou caught her as Kris rowed about and he hauled her into the dingy.

"What are you doing, diving into the water like that with all these people floundering about looking for something to grab onto. What if someone had tried to push you under?" Kurou demanded.

Now that she was out of the water, she could feel exactly how cold her body had become even in that short dip and her teeth chattered as she replied. "It's a slave ship. There're slaves trapped on that ship."

Neither of their faces looked surprised at her news. Both men set to rowing toward the sinking ship without a word.

"I heard wailing over the wind while I was working. I wouldn't mistake that sound."

Again, the two of them shared a look full of silent communication Rena didn't understand. Kurou's mouth thinned into a grim line and Rena suddenly felt nervous sitting next to him. What was going on?

A thought popped into her head that so surprised her she gasped aloud. "Athair didn't have anything to do with this, did he? He wouldn't attack a Tyronian ship - he wouldn't be reckless enough to? If he got caught they'd-" Rena was unable to finish the thought. The patrol ships didn't take kindly to those who thought to take the law into their own hands. She didn't miss the way neither of them would meet her gaze. "Talk. I can tell you know something."

She let precious seconds tick by as they continued to move toward the ship. Neither man made a move to speak.

"I'm going to find out anyway," she stated. Still, neither of them made a sound.

"Fine," she seethed, lurching to her feet. That got both of their attention and they turned as one, stretching out to grab her. But they grabbed at empty air. She was already sailing out over the edge of the dingy toward the water. She was beneath the waves when a second splash sounded and a curse colored the clouded sky.

Rena wasn't a great swimmer but fear and an anxiety close to panic drove her so that though her strokes may not have been graceful, they were still powerful. Reaching the ship, she grabbed the shroud set for that purpose and began the task of hoisting herself up the hull. With the weight of her wet clothes threatening to drag her down, she thanked all of the times Iseult had sent her climbing in obscure places in the mountains for it had built her upper body strength.

The deck was a mess when she hauled herself over the rail and smoke rose to choke her as she got her feet beneath her. Blaze-balls. She'd seen them only once but it had been enough to understand their deadly force. Constructed by mages, they were similar to cannonballs but smaller and lighter in weight; they were riddled with holes, filled with blazebaum, and ignited. The blaze-balls were lightweight so they wouldn't pass through both sides of the hull and once inside the ship, the fiery blazebaum oil would leak from the shell, setting the wood ablaze. The ocean was about the only thing that would be able to put out a blazebaum fire. There would be no salvaging this ship.

The cries of the people were louder and with the smoke stealing her air, Rena could understand their panic. Finding the stairs, she barreled headlong down them, missing some in her haste and catapulting herself to a heap at the bottom. Biting her lip to distract from the pain, she pulled herself up and continued. She was on the main deck, where the lighter guns were kept. If the next deck was a gun deck, and she discovered that it was, she had one more deck to go before she'd find them. She checked each deck just to be sure and as she searched the supply deck she was glad she had.

Many of the blaze-balls must have hit this deck, as it was where the smoke was the heaviest. Reaching down, she used her boot knife to cut a piece of cloth from the hem of her tunic to wrap about her face before setting off.

Rounding a stack of barrels, she could just make out a huddle of people against the far wall through the smoke. They cried louder as they caught sight of her, yanking at the chains that bound them to the hull. She was trying to make out what some of them babbled as she wove her way toward them when a thin voice called out.

"Behind you!"

Rena whirled, shifting to the balls of her feet as training from years ago kicked in. She reacted before she realized what she faced, springing forward to grab the arm descending toward her and stop the hand with the blade it held.

The force behind the descending blade was great, too much for her unsteady footing and it overbalanced her, sending her backward to land on a coiled rope on the floor. She rolled to her back in time to see the crazed gleam in the man's eye as he raised the sword over his head.

With nothing to defend herself, Rena watched the blade in a sort of trance. Somehow, meeting death wasn't as scary as she'd always imagined. The man gave a staccato-like laugh as the floor beneath her vibrated. As he moved to finish her a loud rapport echoed through the air and she stared at her attacker's stunned face as blood soaked through his tunic. She scrambled to get out of his way when he toppled forward, the sword he held nicking the edge of her thigh as it embedded tip first into the floor.

Glancing over, she was shocked to see Kurou lowering a smoking blunderbuss from the doorway. He was backlit by the faint light filtering from above deck. She was still staring when he marched over and grabbed her by the arms.

"And just what were you planning on doing if I hadn't followed you?" She could see his gritted teeth as he gave her a shake. "You little fool," he whispered vehemently before enveloping her in a hug that squeezed the air from her chest.

Rena used shock as an excuse to enjoy being in his arms for a second longer than she should have before she pushed for freedom. "The captives," she reminded him. He reluctantly released her. Turning, she made her way over to them, hoping he hadn't seen her red face. She would blame the heat of the fire if he brought it up later.

Huge eyes stared at her from emaciated faces as she approached the captives. One woman cautiously shuffled as far forward as the shackle about her neck would allow, crying something in Tyronian. Her hands moved to cover her flat stomach in a gesture Rena recognized.

"Baby?" Rena questioned, stupefied. The woman stared at her blankly until Rena mimed rocking a child. Seeing this, the woman's face lit with hope and more words poured from her mouth in a frantic rush as she stretched beseeching arms toward Rena. Unable to understand, she turned to Kurou for help but he was busy ensuring there weren't any more soldiers hiding amongst the stores.

"She's asking for her baby," a heavily accented man with a gruff voice spoke up. He shuffled forward so Rena could identify him.

He was probably the oldest of the group, with dark hair graying at the temples and crows feet at the corners of his eyes. His rough beard and unkempt hair attested to their long confinement.

"She has a baby?"

The man spoke to the woman, presumably asking about her child.

"She says they took him from her before she boarded the ship."

"It's dead." Kurou's voice carried from where he crouched inspecting a pile of crates.

"You found the baby?" Rena asked, surprised and horrified.

"No," he snapped, annoyed. "They wouldn't have carried it on board. They threw it away and the thing's probably picked bones by now."

Rena was distracted from her revulsion by the mother's anguished wail. She turned just in time to catch the woman using what little was left of her chewed nails to claw at her throat, her eyes wild.

"Stop her!" she shouted, lurching forward to yank one of the woman's arms away. The man caught hold of the other and together they pinned the woman. When they had her secured she seemed to give up, going limp as a pitiful keen rose from her throat. The commotion seemed to set the other prisoners on edge as they shifted from foot to foot, the whites of their eyes showing. Rena could also distinguish the crackle of a fire, which was getting louder the longer she stood there.

"We need to get out of here," she announced. "Is there a key or something to break the rings with?"

"There," the man pointed to a stack of barrels. On top sat a rusty hammer the sailors had likely used to seal the barrels with. Grabbing it, she set to work.

Each of the chains was bound to one of two hooks in the wall. Using the hammer, she set to work on one, trying to knock it from the boards of the hull.

It was beginning to wiggle and she wound up to give one last blow. As she did, the boat lurched to one side and her hit went wide, glancing off the edge of the hook and breaking the hammer off. The metal hook fell to the deck with a dull thud as she was left staring at the flecks of rust remaining in her palm, all that remained of the hammer. Around her, a cry rose from the captives. Those whose chains were freed pulled themselves loose and ran for the stairs. The cries of those still trapped became more desperate.

Determined, Rena ignored the pain as she wielded the handle, driving the rusted slivers deep into the palm of her hand. But the handle couldn't do the job - it was taking more damage from her blows than the remaining hook.

"Here." She was pushed aside as Kurou stepped in, using the butt of his gun to strike the hook. "We've got to get out of here," he stated quietly so only she would hear. "They've stores of gunpowder in those crates."

"The ones closest to the flames?" Rena gasped, her eyes meeting the frightened gaze of a small child.

Kurou's mouth thinned in confirmation as, with one last hit, the second hook fell from the wall. Straightening, he yanked the chains out before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the stairs leading to the upper deck.

The people ran past them, shoving to escape. As they climbed, Rena caught sight of the small boy, still huddled upon the floor with a pile of rags cradled on his lap.

"Wait," Rena called, pulling her hand from his and running back. As she neared, she realized it wasn't a pile of rags but a toddler that he held. His eyes narrowed at her approach and he leaned forward, protectively covering the child.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she cried in a voice choked with smoke before realizing. "Oh, I don't know if you can understand me. But we need to get off this ship now; there's gunpowder that's going to explode. We have boats waiting to take you to safety."

The bundle of toddler in his lap stopped crying as a chubby tearstained face poked out. "Bwot?" he asked in a childish voice.

"Yes, boat." Rena smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging way, extending her arms. When the toddler smiled and reached for her she scooped him up to the child's cry of protest. Before he could do more than that she'd grabbed his hand, forcing him to run with her. The baby in her arms coughed at the smoke, burrowing his face into her neck as he tightened his arms about her.

Kurou was anxiously waiting at the stairs for them and he took the child while pushing her to go up ahead of him. The smoke was much thicker as they came out onto the main deck and Rena cradled the toddler against her tunic to protect him.

A loud groan shuddered through the ship as they reached the rail. Rena knew their time was up. It felt as though a great pressure were building in the bowels of the ship, kind of how your chest felt when you held your breath too long.

In a split-second decision, she slammed into Kurou from behind as he stood contemplating their escape route, over-balancing him into tumbling over the rail and into the water. She'd seen him swim once when they'd docked to bring her to Iseult. She was confident he wouldn't drown.

Putting the baby down, she grabbed the boy as he tried to run, hefting him up. He struggled and she got an elbow in the face and almost dropped him.

"Stop it!" She growled, her eyes watering.

"No! I ain't goin' with you!"

He cursed as Rena managed to hold onto him long enough to get him over the rail. His face became frightened then.

"Don't drop me, I don't know how to swim."

Rena felt guilty as he screamed when she let him go. But Kurou would grab him and they were already out of time.

Scooping the small child up, she knew they weren't going to make it. Curling herself around him as best she could, she launched them over the edge as the explosion sounded.