Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders, #3)

by Robin Hobb

You have the courage to follow me into death, ship? I do. The profound wrongness of that gripped Althea. It was not courage to surrender to that oblivion, conceding the world to those who had wronged them. Sudden shame swept her at her cowardly flight from life. Death could make things stop, but it could not make things right. She abruptly despised herself for surrendering to death while the one who had destroyed her life went on living, for embracing death if it meant leaving her ship in darkness. Then pick up your true courage, ship, and follow me back into life.

Althea searched for more strength to draw on, but found nothing within herself. Vivacia, she pleaded. Ship, help me! Silence. Then, Take all I have left. I hope it will be enough. Ship, no, wait! Althea! Hit the deck now! Her father’s familiar command boomed through her mind.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Wood to flesh, a distant voice counted the rhythm for her, Vivacia steadied the beating of her heart. The ship was joined to her, but the connection was tenuous and fading fast. Even so, it was not just Althea’s body she laboured to heal, but her heart. Oh, my dear, my dear. I never thought he would do something like this to you. I misjudged him. I misjudged you. I even misjudged myself. The thought died away.

The ship sailed blind, and yet not blind, for Amber’s eyes were his.

‘Once, I flew. But these were not islands then, but mountaintops. The Great Inner Wall we called the first range. Beyond it were the Lowlands, and then the Sea Mountains, a restless and rumbling place. Some of the mountains smoked and spat and vomited liquid stone, turning summer to winter and day to dusk. But now they are drowned. The tops of the Sea Mountains are what you call The Shield Wall and Old Woman Island and the like. These islands we thread are the sunken heights of the Great Inner Wall.’

Lucto Ludluck saw them. He was Sedge Ludluck’s son. Everyone in the Pirate Isles called him Lucky Ludluck. And Kennit was Lucky’s son. He seized on that name.’ Paragon was silent for a time, his mind roving the years. ‘Luck. It was always so important to him.’ Amber spoke cautiously. ‘When Althea told me your history, she told me you left Bingtown with Sedge Ludluck.’ ‘Lucto was Sedge’s eldest son. He sailed with his father, but the tension between them was constant. Sedge had the imagination of a rock. He bought cheap and sold dear. That was his sole ethic in life, the Ludluck ethic.

‘Lucto, his son, was different. He was a dreamer, a young man who savoured the pleasures of life. Bingtown customs and manners and traditions stifled him. Lucto was the one who talked Sedge into a little side trade in the Pirate Isles. Lucto had a gift with the lawless folk. He relaxed among them, and in turn, they liked him. He helped the family fortune prosper again. That pleased his father. To reward him, he arranged a good match for the boy with the younger daughter of a very proper Trader. But Lucto had a heart and that heart already belonged to a girl from the Pirate Isles. He was about twenty-two the day his father dropped dead at the bargaining table in Divvytown. Lucto mourned him, but not enough to return to Bingtown and take up the dreary life planned for him. He buried his father ashore, and never went home. The crew was glad enough to follow him, for he liked whisky as much as they did, and dispensed it with an open hand. He was a generous lad, but not as wary as he might have been. He married his Pirate Isles girl and vowed he would live like a king in his own little world.’

Igrot already had a reputation as the pirate who would do what other men did not even imagine. He came to Lucky with the fable that they would be partners in trade and piracy. Lucto believed him. But in the midst of celebrating their alliance, Igrot turned on him. He imprisoned my father to subdue me, and took Kennit hostage to control me, and we all had to obey him for fear he would hurt the others. He cut out my mother’s tongue –’ ‘Paragon, Paragon.’ Amber’s voice was gentle but urgent. ‘Not your father. Kennit’s. Not your mother. Kennit’s.’

When Kennit and I killed myself, it was our suicide.’

‘How can one hate oneself so much that one is willing to murder that self?’ The ship shook his head and rain flew from his locks. ‘That is your mistake. No one wants the self to die. I only wanted to make all the rest of it stop. The only way to achieve that was to put death between the world and myself.’

The prisoner spoke over her words. His blue eyes watered as he fixed Brashen with a doleful stare. His head nodded restlessly in an aimless circle. His hands palsied as well. ‘I’m Kyle Haven,’ he rasped. ‘And I want to go home. I just want to go home.’

‘Reyn, the longer we are in proximity, the thinner the barriers between us will grow. The Elderlings who could dream-walk were all dragon-friends. I suspect your new-found ability has the same source. Look at yourself. Daily you take on more of my aspects. Were you born with copper eyes? I doubt it, and I doubt even more that they ever glowed as they do now. Your back aches with your growth. Look at your hands, at the thickening of the nails that mimics my claws. Even now, the firelight dances on the sheen of scales on your brow. Even encapsulated in our cocoons, my kind left its marks on yours. Now that dragons are awake and walking in the world once more, those who claim friendship with us will wear the badges of that association. Reyn, if you find a mate, and if you can father children, you will get the next generation of Elderlings.’

‘I suppose this is the destiny you bespoke,’ he challenged Amber in frustration. She gave him an ethereal smile. ‘Oh, yes indeed,’ she promised him. ‘And not just Paragon’s. Mine. And yours.’ She flung an arm wide. ‘And all the world’s.’

‘Once I promised not to kill you. I was mad, and you knew it, and still you believed in me.’ The ship looked around, scanning their situation with cold blue eyes. ‘I’m whole now. Now I make you both a new promise. I’ll do all I can to keep you alive.’

It was very important, to both of us, that he come back at the moment of his death. I knew that. I don’t think Kennit realised it until it happened.’

‘You say she healed him? I know nothing of that. I can only guess at what she did. It is what dragons can do, if they must. They burn the resources of their bodies to speed a healing. If Vivacia did that to Wintrow, he was lucky to survive it. Few humans have such reserves. Kennit certainly did not.’

‘Yes. He loved you.’ He gave her what she needed to hear, without compunction. I have Kennit’s memories, but I am not Kennit. Still, I can lie as well as he did. And for better cause. ‘He loved you as fully as his heart could love.’ That was true, at least. Thank you. As clear and brief as a drop of falling rain, the thought reached him. He groped for the source, but found nothing. The feel of the voice was oddly familiar, almost as if it came from Kennit, yet it was outside himself.

Amber seemed less affected by her first contact with the liveship. It was when she set eyes on Wintrow that her face went slack with shock. ‘The nine-fingered slave boy,’ she blurted out. Wintrow lifted a hand swiftly to his cheek, then dropped it self-consciously. He gave Brashen an uneasy glance as Amber stared at him.

‘Queen Etta, chosen by Kennit to sail beside him, and the mother of his unborn son, will go with us to see that the claims of the Pirate Isles are recognized. She will reign for her child until he comes of age.’ ‘A child? You carry his child?’ Sorcor jumped to his feet, then lunged to engulf Etta in a hug. Tears ran unabashedly down his face. ‘No more swordplay until after the baby’s born, now,’ he cautioned her, holding her at arm’s length, then looked offended when Red laughed aloud. Etta looked shaken, and then amazed. Even when Sorcor resumed a seat, he kept his big hand upon Etta’s wrist as if to keep her close and safe.

A scant year ago, Malta had turned her wiles on Brashen. In her words, he heard her girlish cunning matured into genuine diplomacy.

‘She is full of beauty, in form and movement,’ Amber whispered. ‘I see now what Paragon meant. Only a true-born dragon is a real dragon. All others are but clumsy imitations.’ Jek gave Amber a disdainful glance. ‘Six Duchies dragons suited me just fine. Would have been fine by you, too, if you’d lived with the fear of being Forged. But,’ she admitted grudgingly, ‘She is astounding.’ Reyn turned aside from their incomprehensible conversation.

In a warm voice, she announced, ‘I see you have been well rewarded for your part in freeing me, young queen. A scarlet crest. You will take much pleasure from that.’ At Malta’s puzzled blush, the dragon chuckled warmly. ‘What, not even discovered it yet? You will. And you will enjoy a long life in which to relish it.’ She swung her gaze to Reyn. ‘You chose well. She is fit to be an Elderling queen, and a speaker for dragons. Selden will be delighted that she has changed as well. He has been a bit worried, you know, that she would disparage his changes.’

‘I am a dragon, human. In the greater scheme of things, your dreams, plans and ambitions count for next to nothing. You simply do not live long enough to matter.’ She paused. When she spoke again, Reyn could tell she was trying to make her voice kinder. ‘Save as you assist dragons, of course. When you have completed this task, my kind will remember your service for generations. Could humans hope for a higher honour?’

This new world of men and dragons would be ordered by negotiation rather than wars. Here, in this room, they set that precedent. Suddenly, she understood, and she tried to catch Amber’s eye to acknowledge that, but the carpenter contemplated Wintrow ruefully.

As he watched the storm, gripping the wet doorframe, lightning had struck a tree nearby. As the blast split the oak, a sensation of power had darted through him and left him sprawled on the earth in the falling rain. A similar feeling shocked him now. The woman twitched as if he had poked her. For an instant the distant flames of the bonfires leapt in her eyes. ‘A bed unslept in, and a woman unbedded. The bed is yours by right, but the woman, though she may come to you in time, never completely belongs to you. Yet the child is yours, for this child belongs not to he who makes him but to he who takes him.’

Etta pushed her hood back. Her dark hair was plastered to her skull and her eyes were huge. She caught her breath. Her voice came from the depths of her soul. ‘Wintrow. I have something to tell you.’ She drew another breath. Her face suddenly crumpled. Tears ran with the rain down her face. ‘I don’t want to raise this child alone.’ He did not take her in his arms. He knew better than that. But the words came easily. ‘I promise you, you won’t have to.’

She took a breath. She had never imagined that she’d have to force herself to endure his touch. But just this time, just this once, she would, for both of them. She could relax and tolerate it. He needed this reassurance of her love. And she needed to prove to herself that Kennit had not destroyed her. Just this once, she could pretend desire. For Brashen’s sake. She turned her mouth up to his and let him kiss her.

‘Something troubles you?’ Reyn asked. He took her hand and set it firmly upon his forearm. The warmth of his hand secured her clasp there. ‘I hope my brother grows taller,’ she murmured. ‘Malta!’ he rebuked her, but then smiled. She had to look up at him, and she loved that she did.

‘More interesting to me were the changes in Ophelia. Or the lack of them, rather. She is the same ship she has always been. Grag claims she has no memories of being a dragon. That for her, life began as Ophelia. The same is true for Goldendown.’

‘My suspicion is that some of the dragons in the wizardwood logs had perished before we used them. Ophelia and Goldendown, perhaps, have no dragon memories because the creature inside had died and taken its memories with it. They may remain as they always have been.’ He paused. ‘Grag, at least, is grateful. He says that Kendry has become

He spun her the second time, faster and closer to his body. ‘Do you not regret waiting?’ she asked him daringly in the privacy of the dance. ‘I would regret more risking the legitimacy of my heir,’ he chided her seriously. She rolled her eyes at him, and he pretended a scowl at her prurience.

The floor was cleared in a great circle around them as other couples paused to watch the Elderlings dance.

‘They say that hunger is what makes the meal so savoury,’ he added by her ear. ‘I warn you. By the time we reach Bingtown, I shall be as a starving man.’

I’ll be glad to get out on the water again, and gladder still to see Divvytown. I knew it was my home port that first time I saw it.’ ‘The pirate town? Sa save us all. Does someone wait there for you, dearie?’ Ophelia asked. Jek laughed aloud. ‘They all wait for me. They just don’t know it yet.’

As Jek padded softly away, the liveship shook her head. ‘Mark my words. She’ll regret it if she doesn’t settle down soon.’ ‘Somehow I doubt it,’ Vivacia replied, smiling.

Astonishingly, she felt the same for herself. She smiled at Ophelia. ‘Jek is too busy living. She won’t waste time on regrets. And neither shall I.’

That the serpents fed upon their own dead, however pragmatic that practice might be in conserving food and inherited memories, horrified her.

One hundred and twenty-nine serpents entered the river mouth with them. By the time the tangle reached the river ladder the Rain Wilders had constructed, their numbers had dwindled to ninety-three.

From Selden, Althea had learned that not all the cocoons would hatch. There was always some mortality at this stage of a dragon’s development, but these weakened creatures were dying at far higher rates than normal. Selden seemed to mourn them as much as Tintaglia, though he could not completely explain to Althea how he knew which ones had perished unhatched.

Brashen made a low sound. There was fury in his voice as he asked, ‘Did he blind you before or after he selected this place?’ The figurehead didn’t flinch from the question. ‘After,’ he said quietly. ‘He never trusted me. With reason. I lost count of how many times I tried to kill him. He blinded me so that I could never find my way back without him.’ He turned back to the awestruck crew on his deck and dropped Amber a slow wink. ‘He never thought that anyone might recarve me. Neither did I, back then. Nevertheless, here I am. Sole survivor of that bloody crew. It’s mine now. And hence, yours.’ A stunned silence followed his words. No one spoke or moved.

Some of his booty had not survived.

Teehee

He held her in his arms, still half-amazed that he could do this. He swept her closer. ‘Don’t ever go away from me,’ he said thickly into her hair. She turned her head up to grin at him. ‘Why would I leave a rich man like you?’ she teased. She put her hands on his chest and pushed gently free of him. ‘I knew you were after my fortune,’ he replied, letting her go. He held back a sigh. She always wanted to be clear of him before he was ready to let her go. It was her independent nature, he supposed. He refused to worry that she was wearying of him.

‘This booty will fill Paragon’s hold.

bahaha im a child

‘Who?’ she pressed him earnestly. He held it out to her and she took it back again. She shook her hair from her eyes, and then set the rooster crown on her head again. ‘Someone like me?’ she asked hopefully. ‘Oh,’ he paused, striving to recall her. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, shaking his head at last. ‘She wasn’t an Elderling. That’s all I can recollect of her.’ The woman who wore it had been pale as milk. Not like Amber at all.

Her fingers tracked the details of the carved bird heads. ‘I am tempted. Perhaps I will. But eventually, I think I must go north again. I have friends there. I haven’t seen them in a long time.’ She lowered her voice. ‘A suspicion itches at me. I think I should go interfere in their lives some more.’

‘How did they all die?’ He knew exactly what she meant. Pointless to pretend he didn’t. And pointless to keep it a secret any more. It almost felt good to share it with someone. ‘Wizardwood. Kennit kept a chunk from my face. One of his chores was to help with the cooking. He boiled it with the soup. Almost all of Igrot’s crew died from it.’ He felt her cringe. He tried to make her understand. ‘He was only finishing what Igrot had started. Men had begun to die on the ship. Igrot keel-hauled two sailors for insubordination. They both drowned. Two others went over the side during a stormy night watch. There was a stupid accident in the rigging. Three died. We decided Igrot was behind it. He probably meant to do away with anyone who knew where the treasure was hidden. Including Kennit.’ He forced himself to unclench his hands. ‘We had to do it, you see. To save Kennit’s life.’

‘Kennit beat him to death. Belowdecks. You’ve seen the marks down there. The handprints of a crawling man.’ He took a breath. ‘It was fair, Amber. Only fair.’ She sighed. ‘Vengeance for both of you. For the times when he had beaten Kennit to death.’ He nodded above her. ‘Twice he did that. Once the boy died on my deck. But I couldn’t let him go. I could not. He was all I had. Another time, curled up belowdecks in his hidey-hole, he died slowly. He was bleeding inside, growing so cold, so cold. He cried for his mother.’ Paragon sighed. ‘I kept him with me. I pushed life into him, and forced his body to mend itself as best as I could. Then I put him back in his body. Even then, I wondered if there was enough of him left to be a whole being. But I did it. It was selfish. I did not do it for Kennit. I did it for myself. So I would not be left alone again.’

‘There was no such line between Kennit and me.’ ‘And that was why you had to have him back?’ ‘He couldn’t die without me. Not any more than I could truly live without him. I had to take him back. Until I was whole again, I was vulnerable. I could not seal myself to others. Any blood shed on my deck was a torment to me.’

But what if, for lack of guidance, we take the wrong paths? Take Wintrow for instance. What if he was meant to lead a different life? What if, because of something I failed to do or say, he became King of the Pirate Isles when he was meant to be a man leading a life of scholarly contemplation? A man whose destiny was to experience a cloistered, contemplative life becomes a king instead. His deep spiritual meditations never occur and are never shared with the world.’

‘Give it back to me, Althea. There is no reason for you to keep it. It was never even his to give you. Do you understand that? He passed it on to you. He tried to get rid of pain by giving it away, but it was not his. It should have stayed with me. I take it back from you now. All you have to do is let it go. I leave you the memory, for that, I fear, is truly yours. But the hurt is an old hurt, passed on from one to another like a pestilence. I have decided to stop it. It comes back to me now, and with me it remains.’