The Black Shard (13 page)

THE KRISTINA
sailed softly over the placid, indigo waters, and only a few crew members were to be seen on deck, leisurely tending to her.

Kristina scanned the deck in search of Werrien, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Follow me," Looper said to her, and he continued to fly in the direction of the stern. He led Kristina down another opening in the deck floor, leading to the next lower deck. Then he flew to a trap door in the floor and asked Kristina to lift it. Kristina did so but this time found only a ladder leading down into darkness. Looper swan-dived down into the darkness, and Kristina carefully climbed down the ladder behind him to the hold, which was the bottom compartment of the ship, where the cargo, livestock, and food supplies were kept. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned and saw Looper fly to a vertical wooden beam, his soft glow giving off just enough light for her to see an unlit lantern hanging on a hook from it. Looper landed on top of the lantern. "Can you come here and light this?"

"Sure," Kristina said. When she reached for the lantern, Looper pushed a box of wooden matches off the top of it. She caught them and lit the lantern, its light revealing a large amount to dust floating in the air, which caused her to sneeze and cough.

She took the lantern off the hook and followed Looper through a maze of wooden crates and barrels. The dirty floor boards creaked under her feet as she went along. Looper stopped momentarily between an intersection of ship supplies, and he glanced left, then right, trying to figure which way to go.

"So, where's Werrien?" Kristina asked him, puzzled.

"It's funny that you ask me that, because I was about to ask you the same thing," Looper said.

"Oh? In my cabin, you said that he wanted to see me."

"I did?" Looper said, looking confused. Then the aura of light that surrounded him surged as he figured out what she had meant. "You thought it was Werrien that I was talking about? Actually, what I said, was
someone
wants to see you. I guess that I should have been more specific on who that someone was."

"Who is it then?" Kristina asked, now feeling uneasy in the dark hold and desperately hoping that it wasn't Elzwur. She heard a snort, followed by a horse's low whinny.

"It's Taysha ... and Lisheng that want to visit with you!" Looper said merrily.

"Why didn't you say so?" Kristina said, relieved.

She followed Looper as he took a left turn around a wooden barrel. As soon as Kristina took the turn, she collided with someone. "Kurdy?" she said, surprised.

"You about gave me a heart attack!" Kurdy said.

"I'm sorry! I had no idea you were down here, too."

"I was on my way to feed the horses."

"And Looper was just taking me to visit them."

Looper, who had dashed behind a crate to hide, suddenly came out into the open and sheepishly waved to Kurdy.

Not very fond of fairies, as many gnomes aren't, Kurdy smirked at Looper before responding to Kristina. "I'll show you where they are; follow me," he said. Carrying two pails, one in each hand, he walked briskly down a path between the ship supplies. Then he turned another corner, and the horses made enthusiastic grunting sounds and pawed their hooves on the wooden floor.

Kristina caught up with Kurdy just as he was pouring the contents of one of the pails into Taysha and Lisheng's feeding buckets. "Taysha, Lisheng," she said to the horses. She set the lantern down on a crate and went to pet them.

"Hello, Kristina," Taysha said.

"Are you enjoying the trip so far?" Lisheng asked, his voice echoing out of his bucket.

Kristina pet Lisheng. "Other than the fact that I haven't been feeling too hot, it's been great," Kristina said, running her hand over Lisheng's soft yet muscular neck.

"I'll be back in a minute—got to go fetch their hay," Kurdy said. Then he disappeared down a dark trail between some crates and barrels.

Kristina suddenly heard a creaking sound—the trap door leading to the above deck was opening. A dust-filled beam of light shone down from it.

"Who's down there?" It was Elzwur's suspicious voice calling down.

Kristina stared at Looper, who was sitting on a nearby beam, looking like he was in a daydream. "Pssst," she said, to get his attention. He looked at her and shrugged his little shoulders, not knowing what to say. Kristina sighed discontentedly and rolled her eyes. "It's me! Kristina!" she hollered.

"Why doesn't this surprise me," a disgruntled Elzwur said. "Get back up here this instant!" he called angrily.

Kristina looked at Looper again and shook her head. "I'm coming!" she yelled. Then she carefully made her way back to the ladder to the midsection of the ship. When she stood on the next deck, she dusted herself off and then turned around just as Elzwur slammed the trap door shut, causing more dust to fly everywhere. Startled, she gasped and flinched at the same time.

"Who said you could go down there?" Elzwur hissed through his crooked clenched teeth.

Looper, was now suspended in the air behind Elzwur's head, looking worried. His hands were in prayer mode to let Kristina know not to tell Elzwur that he had brought her down in the hold. Kristina waved the dust out of her face and coughed.

"Look at you. You're becoming ill again," Elzwur said disdainfully.

"No! I'm not!" Kristina said adamantly, just before sneezing and coughing again.

"You can't hide it," Elzwur said, walking briskly to her. He took hold of her arm. "I can't have you snooping around the ship!"

Kristina felt her temper rising, and she pulled her arm out of his grip. At that moment the ship tottered over a large swell, and she fell back onto her bottom. As she sat on the dusty, wood-planked floor, the door leading to the main deck creaked opened.

"Elzwur?" Werrien called down. "Are you down there?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Elzwur called back. Then Elzwur turned to Kristina and said, "If you are in the least bit wise, you will not mention this little incident to Werrien, for I know full well that he does not appreciate young girls who are tattle-tales—nor, I might add, girls with frail health."

Werrien came down the stairs just after Kristina stood up. He looked curiously at both her and Elzwur.

"The young lady wanted to visit with the horses," Elzwur said.

Werrien's expression changed to a smile. "Okay, now this scene makes more sense," he said. "It was good of you, Elzwur, to take her. I know how you hate to go down in the dusty hold of the ship."

Kristina went to stand beside Werrien and with a disturbed look in her eyes, she leered at Elzwur.

Werrien looked at Kristina. "I was actually going to take you myself," he said, "but now that Elzwur already has, would you like to go back up?"

"Yes, actually, I'd really like that," Kristina said. She thought that her tone sounded harsh, but Werrien didn't seem to notice.

"Well, then, I'll need to get back to my other duties as well," Elzwur said, trying to move things along a little faster.

"All right then," Werrien said. Then he led Kristina back up the stairs, toward the main deck of the ship.

About halfway up, Kristina looked down at Elzwur and saw his flinty eyes staring up at her.
Creep!
she thought.

Once back on the main deck, Werrien turned to face Kristina. "By the way, how are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes searching hers.

I hope he doesn't notice the dark circles under my eyes,
Kristina thought, and she quickly broke eye contact with him and looked out at the sea. Werrien waited patiently for her to answer. She turned to look at him again, and mustering up the little confidence she had left in her, she said, "I feel very well, and I intend on staying this way."

By the look in her eyes, however, Werrien instantly sensed her insecurity. He smiled warmly at her. "Come with me," he said, and he offered his hand to her. Surprised at this gesture, she did a double-take. "It's just a hand," he said light-heartedly. She placed her hand in his, and they began walking toward the stern of the ship. This was the first time that she had held a boy's hand. She found it warm and strong, yet a little rough and even callused.

Soon they arrived at the base of the poop deck near the stern. There was a set of stairs attached to it, leading up to a higher deck.

"After you," Werrien said.

Kristina climbed the stairs, and Werrien followed her. When she reached the top, she was struck with awe, because on the upper deck was a small table set with a white linen cloth, a couple of candles and cutlery settings for two.

“W
hat's this?" Kristina asked, her pale cheeks suddenly regaining color.

"This is where I planned for you and I to have dinner," Werrien said, pulling out a chair from the far end of the table for her to sit down.

"Really?" Kristina replied in a slightly hesitant tone. Then she remembered.
The surprise,
she thought excitedly.

"Or ... if you'd rather, we could join Davina and Hester in the galley."

"No!" Kristina said quickly. "This will do fine." She sat down, and Werrien went to sit across from her.

All was quiet except for the sound of the
THE KRISTINA,
sailing smoothly over the restful sea. The air had warmed; in fact, it was warm enough that Kristina stood up to remove her jacket. Seeing her do so, Werrien quickly got up and went to help her.

"Thank you," she said, in awe at how gentlemanly he was acting.

After Werrien sat back down, he started to say something, but he was quickly interrupted by the sound of music coming from below on the main deck. Werrien and Kristina stood up and went to look over the railing. Kurdy was walking toward them, joyfully playing an accordion. He came up to the base of the poop deck, and swaying to and fro to the beat of his melody, he nodded and smiled up at them. Not even a minute later Elzwur appeared, walking briskly on the main deck toward them as well. Noticing him, Kristina's smile quickly disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Werrien asked her, looking confused at the bleak expression on her face.

Should I tell him? I don't know whether I should or not. He seems to really like Elzwur, and besides, I've been nothing but a pain, getting sick like I have. He'll probably think that I'm complaining over nothing.

Elzwur stood at the bottom of the stairs and with an unenthusiastic expression on his face, he glanced up at Kristina.

Kristina looked at Werrien and smiled.
I'm not going to give Elzwur the satisfaction of ruining my evening.
"Nothing's wrong," she said.
I'll show Elzwur that I'm no weakling and that his rude behavior doesn 't faze me in the least.
Her eyes met Elzwur's, and he cracked a thin grin, which she didn't return.

Werrien went to the top of the stairs to talk to Elzwur. Then a moment later, he went back to Kristina, and Elzwur went away as well. As he was leaving, Werrien called down to the servant dwarf, "Oh, and by the way, Elzwur, since you've worked so hard today, and on top of that, took Kristina to see the horses, why don't you go ahead and take the rest of the night off."

Worked so hard—yeah, right, at being an annoying jerk to me,
was Kristina's thought.

"Lovely, thank you, Your Highness," Elzwur responded.

Werrien turned to Kristina. "By the look you just had on your face, I was beginning to wonder that you might not be feeling well again."

"Werrien," Kristina said, feeling slightly frustrated. "I told you I'm feeling very well."

Leacha came out of the galley and also headed in the direction of the poop deck, carrying a tray with two plates on top of it. While swaying to and fro to his music, Kurdy happened to glance her way, and seeing her carrying the heavy tray, he promptly put his instrument down and hurried to her. "That's very heavy, Madam. Let me carry it the rest of the way for you," he insisted.

"Oh, pish-posh," Leacha said. "I might be old, but I'm certainly not feeble. Now go back to your playing." She rolled her eyes and smiled, her fat cheeks blushing.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kristina asked Werrien.

"That Kurdy has a thing for Leacha?"

"Well ... yeah." Kristina smiled gingerly.

"What makes you think that?"

"Look how nice he's treating her, and by the look she just had on her face, I'd say that it's quite obvious she likes him as well."

Werrien chuckled. "So are you saying, because a guy is nice to a girl it means he has special feelings for her?"

Oh, great! You would have to put me on the spot, wouldn't you?
"You're a guy; why don't you tell me?" Kristina challenged back.

Werrien's smiled cleverly. He seemed to like the provocative question and was about to give his come-back, but Leacha was already at the bottom of the stairs, and so, he promptly went to fetch the tray from her.

Leacha followed Werrien up the stairs and then took the plates off the tray and placed them on the table. She rubbed her hands together. "All right, you two—time to eat," she said adamantly.

"It smells delicious," Kristina said, welcoming the interruption of Werrien's and her playful yet awkward conversation.