Dream of Me/Believe in Me

thought was of the phantom motion of the dragon ship gently rocking her to sleep.
    T WO MORE DAYS THEY SAILED, FIRST EAST INTO THE rising sun, then north. The land changed as craggy hills appeared and pressed in close to the shore. A fewfarms were scattered along the narrow band of flat ground beside the water, their fields stretching up the hillsides.
    Once, Cymbra saw a gaggle of children come running through a field of golden barley, waving to them, their brown legs churning over the rich, black earth. The men waved back and the children's happy shouts were heard far out across the water. After that, it seemed as though the mood on board was at once lighter and more tense as the men counted down the hours to home.
    Cymbra slept poorly that night, and the next day anxiety gripped her. She sat in the bow, watching the passing shore for any sign of their destination. Toward midday, they approached a cluster of islands and shoals that at first glance appeared to be impenetrable. Wolf took the rudder and the men rowed more slowly as they carefully made their way through a narrow channel strewn with huge boulders on either side.
    The channel opened up suddenly into a large bay of deep blue water perfectly reflecting the sheltering hills that rose above it. At the far end of the bay, protected by both land and sea, was a sizable settlement.
    Several hundred small and medium-sized buildings were clustered close together, smoke rising from the peaks of their thatched roofs. In between were lanes filled with carts, people, and animals. Within the town, several large, open areas apparently served as marketplaces. Farther out, three large stone piers reached into the bay. From the one closest to the town, the shore had been faced in stones so as to create a continuous dockage for shallow-draft vessels. Above the town, commanding a sweeping view out over the bay, was a hill fort surrounded by an earthen berm dotted with watchtowers. The whole created the impression of a bustling, prosperous trading settlement well protected by nature but far from dependent on it for its defenses.
    As Cymbra gazed at the town, her anxiousness steadilyincreasing, the deep, drawn-out blast of a signal horn sounded from the shore, followed swiftly by another and another. Watchers on towers along the curve of the bay had spotted the dragon ship and its wolf-emblazoned sail. They called again and again, their tones reverberating off the nearby hills, joyously welcoming the adventurers home.
    By the time the vessel drew up beside the largest pier, men, women, and children lined the dock, waving and shouting. The men on board waved back, spotting loved ones in the crowd, calling assurances that all had gone well and all returned safely.
    Before the anchor was dropped, Wolf leaped across the space between the vessel and the pier, and clasped hands with a man the crowd had parted to admit. Cymbra hid a gasp when she realized that the man was equal to Wolf in size and had something of the same look about him, although his hair was more brown than black. His features bore the pallor of recent illness and he moved with some difficulty, but he grinned broadly, and the pounding he gave Wolf's back would surely have felled a lesser man.
    Just then the man said something that made Wolf frown and reply curtly. Whatever he said drew the man's attention to the vessel and to Cymbra. She felt his gaze on her and turned away, suddenly unbearably self-conscious. She was vividly aware of her nakedness beneath the cloak. The crowd pressed ever closer, the din of their voices ringing in her ears. She wished suddenly that the journey had not ended, that she was still at sea, where time had seemed to hang suspended.
    Wolf stepped onto the deck again and came toward her. The crowd, its attention caught, fell silent. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned in her direction, followed swiftly by a low, avid murmur of speculation.
    Her cheeks burned and her stomach lurched. She could feel their curiosity, their conjecture, feel the wholedark, roiling surge of their emotions flowing over her, pulling her down, making it impossible for her to breathe or endure.
    She couldn't let this happen. She had to find the courage and strength to face with dignity whatever lay ahead. Desperately, she fought to shore up the inner walls that protected her from the tumultuous, chaotic world of feeling. If she could only make them strong enough, retreat far enough behind them. If only—
    “Come,”