covey.”
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, sliding off my bed and taking a step forward. Drusilla’s head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and she seemed genuinely startled by my presence. I had the sense she was not often startled, and it was testimony to how much the situation was upsetting her that she had not noticed my presence in the room.
“Mister Escher, no, you should not be here.” She span around, deftly tugging a pair of curtains closed around the bed to hide the girl from my sight, but remaining on my side, for the moment at least. Her hand stayed on the divide, ready to pull it back and step through as soon as she was able. “What are you doing in here? Are you unwell?”
She sounded genuinely concerned, although whether it was for my health, or the fact I had clearly seen something she would rather I had not, I could not tell.
“No, no I’m quite fine. At least, I will be thanks to your doc– er . . . Teddy.” I smiled. “I’m sorry, I’m in the way. I shall go. I do hope . . . Mae, is it? Yes, I do hope she recovers.” I raised a hand to tip my hat to her, realising too late I was not wearing it, having lost it in the waters. That brought the ghost of a smile to her lips, but it was quickly chased away when her eyes fell on the bottle of elixir in my hand.
“You’re certain you are well?” she enquired.
“Quite sure.” I smiled again. “Only a precautionary measure, after my impromptu swim.” She frowned, glancing over her shoulder to where Teddy could be heard barking orders behind the curtain.
“Well, I should go.” I said.
“Yes, you should.” She looked back at me over her shoulder. “But be well, Mister Esher.”
I nodded and turned to leave.
“Be well,” I heard her whisper once again as I walked out of the medical bay.
*
There was no doubt I felt welcomed aboard Captain Everett’s vessel. That said, there was much of the ship that had been kept from me, and I was unsure if Axel was aware that I knew this. He had shown me the obvious places readily enough. The command bridge, bustling with sailors, was crammed with far more controls and gadgetry than I had ever seen aboard an airship, and piloted by a man, reclined as if for a repast, with the most elaborate set of bronze goggles I had ever seen covering his eyes and much of his head. They would, I knew, feed into the navigation systems and allow him to see where he was going, although not in the literal sense. I had seen similar devices elsewhere, but never had I imagined they could be used to pilot a vessel upon which you could see nothing that took place around you with your own eyes.
The engine room was much the same, but grubbier, populated by both humans and encante, while command had held only the former. Axel made a brief gesture towards the crew quarters as we passed, although I would not be staying there; as an honoured guest, the captain had ordered the third mate to give up his officer’s accommodation for the duration of my stay. He was a surly man by the name of Reuben Williams, and I had the distinct impression he was more inclined to have me keelhauled than let me sleep in his bunk. I’d found enough sense of direction and order, however, to orientate myself and realise there were large areas of the Narwhal that had been left out of my tour, and if I wasn’t mistaken, at least one lower deck that both the captain and his nephew had done their best to conceal entirely.
The notion of a secret underbelly to the already rebellious submarine heightened my curiosity to such a degree that I found myself willingly accepting an invitation to stay for the duration of the expedition. Cecelie would, of course, be furious when I returned home so late, but the possibility of an ally on Idele, a world on which we currently had few truly reliable sources, let alone friends, was something I would have been unable to walk away from, even if it had not come with the possibility of a place that