From Whence You Came Read Online Free PDF Page B

spell.” Neither of those was true, in the absolute sense: a Vineart lived and breathed spellvines from the time they were bought as slaves until the day they died; the vines were on his skin, in his breath, in his blood. And a decantation was merely the key to a spellwine’s use – for a Vineart, those doors were never locked. But he had not lied: he had used no spellwine, decanted no spell.
    â€œThose beasts worked together.” The Captain accepted Bradhai’s denial, and moved on to more pressing concerns. “Serpents do not do that, Shipsmaster. They do not school, they are solitary creatures. And they are not that large!” He seemed offended, as though their size was a personal affront to him and his ship.
    Bradhai was slightly relieved to hear that those monsters were oddities.
    â€œLarger?” Hernán asked.
    â€œBy a length, at least. Mebbe more. And two of them? Two, working together, like hunting dogs!”
    He wasn’t going to let go of that branch any time soon, it seemed.
    Bradhai was suddenly, unutterably weary – pulling blood-magic had a cost, always – and in no mood to listen to the two of them squabble over what was and was not possible. “You brought me here to prove that my spells worked, that they were not responsible for the loss of your ships. I might suggest, Shipsmaster, that you look to these larger, fiercer beasts as the cause – had a ship, unprepared, been caught between two or three such…”
    He did not want to think what might have happened to the ladysong , had the creatures decided to attack it as they had the leviathan.
    â€œHaving done my service, and proven myself,” he said, “I will leave you to find your solutions. If you would return me to shore, I will make my own way home.”
    â€œNo.”
    Bradhai licked his lips, tasting the sea-spray still on his skin. Or perhaps it was sweat. “Shipsmaster…”
    â€œYou did something. You drove off that beast, ended the attack. Whatever you did, even if you don’t know how, saved us. I need to know what it was. I need to be able to share it with the rest of our ships.”
    â€œYou cannot hold me here.”
    They could, of course: he had no way of getting to shore, and the thought of trying to steal one of the lowboats they used for ferrying while in port, and striking out on his own.... Even without the recent demonstration, the ocean was a fearsome thing for a man alone. Knowing what lurked below the surface? No.
    He looked to the Captain, not expecting an ally, and was not surprised to see a frown on that weathered face. He clearly was not comfortable with the idea of restraining a Vineart, but neither would he argue with the Shipsmaster.
    â€œYou would keep me here against my will?” Bradhai had no idea how to sound menacing, but he tried to imply the very many ways that this would be a bad idea. He had no access to firewines, unless he could get hold of the ones already shipboard, but certainly if they tried to keep him here, he could ensure that their sails were becalmed for weeks.
    â€œOf course not.” Hernán seemed horrified that Bradhai could think that. The Vineart’s tension eased, and then the Shipsmaster said “But if you abandon us, we will have no choice but to admit that our ships were lost…because spellwines could not protect them, and the Vineart who supplied them turned his back on us.”
    Shipsmaster Hernán could play the not-quite-a-lie game as well. And he wagered Bradhai’s reputation on the throw. The Guild would rather blame Vinearts than accept that the seas had become too dangerous for single ships to transverse.
    They stared at each other, and Bradhai broke first.  
    o0o
    â€œHarini!” 
    Her companion’s voice was low, sweet, and well-modulated. It also carried like the fog’s horn on a winter morning. 
    â€œHarini, slow down. You walk too