The Black Shard (12 page)

Instantly, Kristina began to feel better, but even so, she decided not to get up, at least not right away. Instead, she would lie down for a while to renew her strength, so she would later be strong enough to spend time with Werrien. She closed her eyes.
I wonder what the surprise is he has for me,
she thought happily. But her warm, fuzzy feeling soon began to fritter away and in its place came gloom to visit her, and fill her mind with worrisome thoughts.
Why is it that I keep getting so sick? I'm hardly ever sick at home. And what is it anyway that's making me so ill? Is it the sea, or is it the food? Hester and Davina don't seem to be bothered by either one. I bet that they're talking and laughing about me right now.

She fixed her eyes on the five portraits hanging on the wall ahead of her, and before long, her eyes became so heavy that she finally closed them and fell asleep.

For about an hour, she slept peacefully, but then, she began to dream, and she suddenly found herself back at the palace, in the same room that Werrien had brought her to the night before—the one with the large table and the cabinet against the wall. Only now, instead of being night, it was day, and a woman was standing in front of the window with her back to Kristina. The woman was dressed in a long, cobalt-blue gown, and her blonde hair hung down in ringlets to the middle of her back. She stood silently, looking out the window, seeming to be in deep thought. Then a man approached her from her left side and put his arms around her, as if to comfort her. The woman turned to face him, and she buried her face in his chest and began to weep. Kristina recognized the man to be King Sirus, and then she recognized the woman as well; she was Queen Navesa.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became hazy, and the scene in the dream changed. Queen Navesa and King Sirus were no longer in the upper room of the palace but in a small, dark, circular room, standing again with their backs to Kristina. In front of them was a round structure, about four feet high and four feet wide, with a hole in its center. The only thing Kristina could liken it to was an old water well. An almost blinding light shone up out of it. The king and queen were not the only ones in the room. Directly across the round structure stood another person, facing them, wearing a hooded cloak.

Again, King Sirus put his arm around Queen Navesa, and then he kissed the top of her head. The queen turned and looked up into his eyes; both of their expressions were worrisome. Then the king looked at the cloaked figure and nodded his head. Queen Navesa turned forward again and then reached across the round structure to hand something she had been holding in her arms to the hooded person. Then the hooded person dropped whatever it was into the opening of the round structure, and right after, quite suddenly, the light began to flicker, and then spin, reflecting off the circular wall surrounding them. Its intensity became so bright that it hurt Kristina's eyes, and its continuous spinning made her feel like she was in the spin cycle of a washing machine. To add to it, an eerie, high-pitched howl accompanied the spinning light, and its ear-piercing sound grew louder and louder, and the bright light spun faster and faster, until Kristina couldn't take it anymore. She woke up abruptly, with her heart racing and her breathing heavy.

I
n a cold sweat, Kristina sat up and stared at the five portraits on the wall.
I wish that they weren't up there,
she thought. She threw off her covers and got out of bed, only to find that a nasty headache invaded her head. She made her way to the porthole, rubbing her temples to ease the dull pain.

It was dark out, and the Citnalta Sea was a blue-black color with flecks of the stars' light reflecting off of it.

Kristina's reflection in the window revealed she had a tangled mess of hair—a gift given to her earlier from the strong wind out on the main deck.

I look hideous,
she thought and went to the other side of the cabin, to the vanity. Accompanying it was a red velvet, cushioned chair. She sat down on it and looked into the gold-framed mirror. Noticing dark circles under her eyes, she let out a disgruntled sigh.
Of course, when I need it most, I don't have any makeup with me,
she thought. A gold comb lay on the vanity, which she took and began to tackle her untamed mane. When she finally untangled the last strands, she pulled open a drawer and found a jar of face powder rolling around inside it, and a tube of red lipstick.
It's definitely not what I would usually use, but the way I look right now, I'm willing to try anything.
She spattered the powder lightly onto her face.
Wow! Now I look morbid, but at least it covers the dark circles under my eyes.
She ran a thin layer of the lipstick over her dry lips. Then, while scrutinizing her image, a knock came at the door. Hastily, she put the powder and lipstick back in the drawer. "Just a minute!" she called, getting up and trying to straighten her wrinkled clothes while heading to the door. "Who is it?"

"Elzwur," a nasally voice replied.

Oh, great!
she thought just before cracking the door slightly open.

Standing outside in the dark hallway was the crabby, middle-aged dwarf. The cabin's light glinted in his squinty eyes.

"Can I help you?" Kristina asked him.

"I was told to come down and check on you. Will you be in bed the rest of the day?" Elzwur asked, scowling.

"No, actually, I was just about to come up to the main deck," Kristina said, feeling annoyed by his condescending tone of voice.

"Very well then." Elzwur stood stiffly in the narrow dark hall.

"Is there anything else you need?" Kristina asked, feeling uneasy in his creepy presence.

He turned to look behind him, to make sure no one was lurking in the background. Then, when he was sure that no one was there, he turned back toward Kristina and whispered, "Do you really think it was a good idea that you came on this trip, seeing how sick you have been?"

Kristina swallowed nervously. She had been thinking the same thing, but she surely wasn't going to give Elzwur the satisfaction of knowing it. "I know that the food and possibly the sea haven't been agreeing with me, but I'll have you know that I'm feeling much better now, and I'm sure that I'll be staying this way from here on."

Elzwur let out an annoyed sigh. Then without saying another word, he turned on his heel and left.

Kristina shut the door, leaned her back against it and stared up at the ceiling. A dry lump filled her throat.
Elzwur's right. How am I to be so sure that I won't get sick again?
She felt like she might cry.
If I would have known beforehand, I would have never come on this trip and humiliated myself like this.
Her eyes trailed down the cherry wood wall and when they reached the porthole, she sighted something moving on the outside of it. She quickly went to it, to get a closer look. To her great surprise, sitting in the porthole's outer rim was her little fairy friend, Looper. He smiled and vigorously waved his little hand at her. Then he pointed to the cabin door and then to himself, but before Kristina could respond, a brisk wind came at him, and he had to grab on to the rim of the porthole, so as not to be blown away. His little feet lifted in the air above his head, and as soon as the wind passed, they went down again.

"You want me to let you in?" Kristina asked, talking slowly, so that he could read her lips through the window.

Looper nodded and then flew away. Kristina quickly went to her door, cracked it open slightly and waited for him to arrive. A couple minutes later; he came toward her, down the hallway, in the form of a small, glowing ball of white light. He flew into the cabin, landed on the bed, and jumped up and down a few times. "Pretty nice digs," he said, his curly auburn hair bouncing as well.

Kristina sat down on the edge of the bed, and he bounced again, did a few loops in the air, and landed on his feet in her lap.

"Have you been on the ship this whole time?" Kristina asked him.

"Actually, I just got here about a half hour before I came to your window."

"I'm so glad you could make it. Did Clover come as well?"

"No," Looper said, with a tone in his voice like he wished she would have.

"Why not?"

"She hasn't been feeling very well; plus, she's not too keen on flying over the sea."

"That makes two of us."

"Hey, I didn't know you could fly," Looper said, with a curious look in his eyes.

"What?" Kristina said, at first not getting why he had said that, but then she caught on. "Oh! No! I meant that I haven't been feeling well either."

"Oh ..." Looper said, beginning to chuckle at his mistake, but then he suddenly stopped, for he thought that Kristina might think he was laughing at her not feeling well. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Why is it that you haven't been feeling well?" he asked, sympathetically.

Kristina smiled at the fairy.
Looper, you're so cute,
she thought. "That's what's frustrating. I don't know why. It could be that the food isn't agreeing with me, or it could be that I don't do well at sea."

"Hmm ..." Looper said, scratching his head while trying to figure out which of the two might be the culprit.

"It must have been some trip for you, flying over the windy sea. I can't
even
imagine what it would be like," Kristina said.

"Yeah! It was a little rough, but I've had a lot of practice, flying so many times over the Indra River; it can get pretty treacherous as well."

"You're not kidding. The time before this time when I was in Bernovem, I almost drowned in its raging waters."

"Oh, yeah—that's right! After that happened to you, Clover and I sat for hours by your bedside, waiting for you to wake up. You had us really worried."

Kristina stared up the portraits on the wall again, seeming not to have heard what Looper had just said.

Looper lifted off her lap and flew in front of her face. "Yoo-hoo?" he said, waving his arms in front of her nose to get her attention. Unfortunately, she still didn't respond but only seemed more entranced by the pictures. "What's that white stuff all over your face?" he finally asked.

Now, that did get her attention. "What?" Kristina said quickly.

"That white stuff on your face? It makes you look so ... so ..." Looper scrunched up his little nose and tapped his fingers on his chin, trying to think of a good word to describe it.

"Ugly?" Kristina said, disappointedly helping him out.

"Well no—just different."

"Great!" Frustrated, Kristina jumped up from the bed and headed to the vanity. "Is it really that noticeable?"

"Kind of," Looper said dubiously, now hovering at her shoulder.

"It's face powder, Looper!" Kristina said in an irritated tone, rubbing it off. "I was only trying to make myself look ... a little decent."

Looper landed on the vanity and stared up at her. "Why would you want to change something that is already perfect?" he said meekly.

Kristina stopped rubbing her face and looked down at him. "You are
too sweet,
Looper," she said, tickling him under his chin with her finger.

Looper chuckled and blushed. Then, feeling bashful, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Yes, well, I forgot to tell you the reason why I was sitting in the porthole to begin with."

"So why were you?" Kristina asked, now smiling because she could tell that she had embarrassed him.

"Someone wants to see you?"

Kristina's blue eyes lit up. "Why didn't you tell me?" she replied happily.

"I just did, silly," Looper said, just before taking to the air and heading for the door. "Are you coming?"

Kristina stared in the mirror at her pale complexion. "I guess this is as good as it gets," she said under her breath. Then as she followed the fairy out of the cabin, she thought,
I can't wait to see the surprise Werrien has for me.

W
ith his soft glowing light, Looper lit the way for Kristina while she climbed up the ladder that led to the main deck of the ship. The outside air smelled of the dark vast sea, and instead of the strong wind Kristina had experienced earlier, in its place was a pleasant warm breeze.