The Ruby Knight

the bow and took hold of her.
    ‘Stop that,’ she said. She lifted her pipes to her lips, but a sudden lurch of the ship made her loose her grip on them, and they fell from her hands into the sea. ‘Oh, bother,’ she said. Then she made a face. ‘Oh, well, you’ll find out soon enough anyway.’ Then she lifted her small face. The sound that came from her throat was the sound of those rude shepherd’s pipes. Sparhawk was stunned. The pipes had been simply for show. What they had been hearing all along had been the sound of Flute’s own voice. Her song soared out over the waves.
    The whale rose again and rolled slightly over on one side, his vast eye curious. Flute sang to him, her voice trilling. The enormous creature swam closer, and one of the sailors aloft shouted with alarm. ‘There be whales here, Captain Sorgi!’
    And then there were other whales rising from the deep as if in response to the little girl’s song. The ship rocked and bobbed in their surging wake as they gathered about the bow, sending huge clouds of mist from great blow-holes in the tops of their heads.
    One sailor ran forward with a long boat-hook, his eyes filled with panic.
    ‘Oh, don’t be silly,’ Flute told him. ‘They’re only playing.’
    ‘Uh – Flute,’ Sparhawk said in an awed voice, ‘don’t you think you should tell them to go home?’ He realized even as he said it just how foolish it sounded. The whales were home.
    ‘But I like them,’ she protested. ‘They’re beautiful.’
    ‘Yes, I know, but whales don’t make very good pets. As soon as we get to Thalesia, I’ll buy you a kitten instead. Please, Flute, say goodbye to your whales and make them go away. They’re slowing us down.’
    ‘Oh.’ Her face was disappointed. ‘All right, I suppose.’ She lifted her voice again with a peculiar trilling sound of regret. The whales moved off and then sounded, their vast flukes crashing against the surface of the sea, tearing it to frothy tatters.
    Sparhawk glanced around. The sailors were gaping open-mouthed at the little girl. Explanations at this point would be extremely difficult. ‘Why don’t we go back to our cabin and have some lunch?’ he suggested.
    ‘All right,’ she agreed. Then she lifted her arms to him. ‘You can carry me, if you’d like.’
    It was the quickest way to get her out from under the awed stares of Sorgi’s crew, so he picked her up and carried her to the companionway.
    ‘I really wish you wouldn’t wear this,’ she said, picking at his mail-shirt with one small fingernail. ‘It smells absolutely awful, you know.’
    ‘In my business, it’s somewhat necessary. Protection, you understand.’
    ‘There are other ways to protect yourself, Sparhawk, and they’re not nearly so offensive.’
    When they reached the cabin, they found Sephrenia sitting, pale-faced and shaken with a ceremonial sword in her lap. Kurik, who looked a little wild about the eyes, hovered over her. ‘It was Sir Gared, Sparhawk,’ he said quietly. ‘He walked right straight through the door as if it wasn’t even there and gave his sword to Sephrenia.’
    Sparhawk felt a sharp wrench of pain. Gared had been a friend. Then he straightened and sighed. If all went well, this would be the last sword Sephrenia would be forced to bear. ‘Flute,’ he said, ‘can you help her to sleep?’
    The little girl nodded, her face grave.
    Sparhawk lifted Sephrenia in his arms. She seemed to have almost no weight. He carried her to her bunk and gently laid her down. Flute came to the bunk and began to sing. It was a lullaby such as one would sing to a small child. Sephrenia sighed and closed her eyes.
    ‘She’ll need to rest,’ Sparhawk told Flute. ‘It’s going to be a long ride to Ghwerig’s cave. Keep her asleep until we reach the coast of Thalesia.’
    ‘Of course, dear one.’
    They reached the Thalesian coast at about noon the following day, and Captain Sorgi hove to in a small cove just to the west of the port city of Emsat.
    ‘You have no idea how much I appreciate your help, Captain,’ Sparhawk said to Sorgi as he and the others were preparing to disembark.
    ‘My pleasure, Master Cluff,’ Sorgi told him. ‘We bachelors need to stick together in these affairs.’
    Sparhawk grinned at him.
    The little group led their horses down a long gangway and out onto the beach. They mounted as the sailors were carefully maneuvering the ship out of the cove.
    ‘Do you want to come with me into Emsat?’