The power was still there, Tal perceived. But it had somehow retreated into the depths of the stone. He had to bring it out, open it up, before Milla threw him off the mast. As he thought that, Tal felt her hand grip his ankle. Her fingers tightened, ready to pull him away.
"Light begets light," Tal heard his father's voice say, echoing up from the depths of his memory. That was one of the first lessons learned by every Chosen. Tal had heard it on his father's knee, when he was no older than Kusi was now.
Light begets light.
But he had no light. Milla was prying his foot away from the mast. He had to create some light to restart the Sunstones. He had to do something!
One foot came free, and Milla gave a shout of triumph. Tal kicked at her, but that made his position even worse. He slipped down a rung, and the chain around his neck broke. He still held the Sunstone, but that left only one hand for the mast.
"Quick as a Sunstone spark," said another voice in his mind. Great-uncle Ebbitt's voice. "Quick as a Sunstone spark."
"Light!" screamed Tal. Balancing solely on one foot, he struck the two Sunstones together. A huge spark shot out as they met, and all of a sudden his Sunstone burst back into glorious light. A moment later, so did the Icecarls' stone. It was brighter than it had been before, and the color was even, without flickering.
Milla put the foot she held back onto a rung and silently began to climb back down.
Tal looked and saw Icecarls everywhere, dropping back down onto the deck. He swallowed and took several very slow breaths.
"Thank you, Father," he whispered to the wind. "Thank you, Great-uncle Ebbitt."
Then he slowly climbed down, too. It had been a narrow escape.
On the deck, the Crone was waiting. Forkbeard stood next to her, his ax in its sheath upon his back.
"You have done as you said," she said. "So we will do likewise. We will not give you to the ice."
Tal nodded. Then, without knowing why he bothered to tell her more, he said, "I've only mended it for a while. The Sunstone is old. It will fade in time, and there is nothing I can do to make it last longer."
"Yes," said the Crone. "It is known that Sunstones die, as do all things upon the ice. But you have helped us now."
"And you have shown that I accused you falsely!" said Forkbeard. He raised his voice and added, "I,
Grim Forkbeard, say it so all can hear. You spoke truly, Tal. To mend my wrong, I I… I offer to adopt you as my son and take you into the Clan of the Far-Raiders, blood and bone."
Tal stared at him. Obviously these people weren't really Underfolk, so the offer wasn't a complete insult.
But I
don't want to be adopted; I have to get back home!
He started to answer, then saw the Crone narrow her eyes at him, as if in unspoken warning.
That made him think, and pause. Among these savages, Grim Forkbeard seemed quite important. He was also extremely large and fierce-looking. It was best to be polite to him, even if he wasn't one of the Chosen.
"I thank you, Grim Forkbeard," he said, bowing and raising his Sunstone, though he only let it spark out a little light. "But I have my own family in the Castle, and I must return there as soon as I can."
Forkbeard nodded. He looked a bit relieved, as if he'd been forced to make his offer out of good manners. Tal was surprised, because he wouldn't have thought the Icecarls had anything like manners.
The Crone nodded, too.
"Wisely spoken, Tal," she said. "Let us go below. We will eat Selski meat, drink vitska, and talk of what your future holds. Milla, you will come, too."
The Crone picked up the urn with Tal's shadow-guard and led the way to an open hatch.
Tal was surprised to see that below decks was a large, open space. All the Icecarls lived together down here. Light was provided by tall tubes of some clear material, filled with water and floating clots of jelly that shone with a yellowish light. As Tal passed by one of these tubes, he tapped it. The clots of jelly rushed to his finger, and he saw that they were marine creatures.
"Glowjellies," said the Crone. "Hard to catch, under the ice."
She led the way between sleeping Icecarls who were just lying against the curved ribs of the ship, wrapped in their furs. Tal was careful not to step on any of them, for all lay with their weapons by their hands, and he saw that many opened one eye as he approached.
As Tal's eyes adjusted more to the dim light, he saw that while it was a large, open space, there were partitions here and there. But even these only had thick curtains instead of doors. Curtains of fur and shiny black hide.
The Crone led Tal to one of these curtains and pulled it back, revealing a small chamber. A low table was in the middle, surrounded by cushions of all shapes and sizes.
"Sit," said the Crone as she placed the urn down. Tal sat down next to it and touched the smooth side, as if he might feel his shadowguard through the fired clay.
Milla sat down, too, as far away as she could. The Crone went back out, leaving the two of them alone.
For a while Tal tried to meet Milla's stare, but after she went for several minutes without blinking he got tired of that and looked away. She laughed, a scornful laugh that made him mad. But there was nothing he could do. She wanted him to attack her with his Sunstone, Tal knew.
She wanted an excuse to fight him.
CHAPTER SEVEnTEEn
Before Milla or Tal cracked and started to fight, the Crone came back in, carrying a bowl of something that steamed and smelled rather disgusting. She put it on the table and gave Tal an object that he supposed was meant to be a fork, though it was made of bone and only had two tines.
"Selski meat," the Crone said. "The lifeblood of our people. Where the Selski go, we follow, taking their old, the ill, and the weak. Selski meat fills our stomachs, Selski skin gives us clothes and sails, Selski bone our tools and weapons, Selski gut the strings for our harps."
"It tastes better than it smells," she added, pushing the bowl toward Tal. She must have seen his nose wrinkle.
Reluctantly, Tal jabbed at a piece of the meat and put it in his mouth. Suddenly, as he tasted it, he became ravenous. It did taste all right, but mostly he was just incredibly hungry.
The Crone left while he ate, but Milla sat there, staring. If she blinked, she did it while Tal wasn't looking. She didn't eat, either.
"Why don't you have some?" Tal asked when he had eaten his fill. He pushed the bowl toward her tentatively, almost like a peace offering.
"A Shield Maiden does not eat in front of a prisoner," Milla said stiffly. "A Shield Maiden does not sleep in front of a prisoner. A Shield Maiden -"
"Tal is not a prisoner," interrupted the Crone, who had come back in. She held the curtain back to let whoever was with her in.
It was a very old woman, Tal saw. A hunched over, wrinkled, and faded lady, who was not much bigger than Gref. She looked at Tal, and he saw that her eyes were milky, without pupils. She was clearly blind.
The effect she had on Milla was striking. The girl leaped to her feet and pushed her clenched fists together in salute.
"Mother Crone!" Milla exclaimed.
Tal got up, too, since it seemed to be the thing to do. From Milla's exclamation, he figured that this blind old lady was more important than the Crone.
"This is the Mother Crone, most ancient and wise," said the Crone, leading the old lady over to Tal. "She has come to see what your future holds and help us decide what must be done with you."
The old lady did not speak. She took Tal's hands in her own and turned the palms up. Then with one long, very yellow fingernail, she traced the lines from his wrist across the palm.
Tal let her do it, but only because Milla was there and he knew she would do something to him if he tore his hand away. It felt really weird having this ancient fingernail drag across his skin. He couldn't help staring at it, so long and yellow, more like the talon of an animal than a human fingernail.
Then the Mother Crone lifted his
hand to her face and pressed his fingers against her milky eyes. Tal flinched, and his disgust must have shown on his face, for Milla took a step forward, anger in her eyes.
Anything might have happened then, but the Mother Crone spoke, and at the sound of her voice, everyone was still. It wasn't loud, but it seemed to echo inside Tal's head. Even when the voice got softer, Tal found that he could hear nothing else. All the background noises of ship, ice, and Icecarls faded away.
There was only the voice of the Mother Crone.
Far have you fallen Yet not so far
Long must you travel Yet not so long
Home is the Castle Yet it is not home
Shadows befriend you Yet are not friends
Shield Maiden stands by you Yet not back to back
Light warms you Yet shadows fall
Blood binds you Yet binds you not