Crystal Gorge. David Eddings

in their way, and the extra weight would slow their horses down. Speed is very important in Malavi war-tactics. In many ways they’re very much like your people, Rabbit. They rely on speed.’ Keselo smiled briefly. ‘Now that I think about it, the Malavi are almost a land version of the Maags, and the horse is very much like the Seagull here.’

      ‘I think we’ll get along with them fairly well then,’ Rabbit said. Then he sighed. ‘I guess I’d better fire up my forge. Longbow told me that the archers up north will probably want bronze arrowheads as soon as they see the ones he has.’

      ‘Wouldn’t iron be even better?’

      ‘Maybe, but not all that much. Bronze is almost as good as iron when you’re talking about arrowheads, and it’s a lot easier to work with. The fire in my forge doesn’t have to be as hot to melt down bronze. I can turn out ten times as many bronze arrowheads in the same amount of time as it’d take me to make a few out of iron.’

      ‘Do you have that much bronze here on the Seagull?’Keselo asked, sounding a bit surprised.

      Rabbit grinned at his friend. ‘There’s quite a bit down in the hold,’ he said. ‘Trogite ships usually carry spare anchors just in case they happen to break the rope on the main one, but those spare anchors have been disappearing here lately for some reason. Isn’t that odd?’

      Keselo laughed. ‘You’re a pirate, Rabbit,’ he declared.

      ‘Of course I am. I’m a Maag, after all, and piracy’s what we’re all about. Everybody knows that.’

      It seemed to Rabbit that there was a kind of dusty quality about the air as the Maag fleet sailed along the southern coast of Veltan’s Domain. He’d noticed that on several occasions in the past. Autumn was often pretty when the leaves were turning gold or red along the coast, but there was a kind of sadness about the season that followed summer.

      ‘You’re looking sort of gloomy today, Bunny,’ Eleria said as she joined him near the bow of the Seagull.

      ‘Winter’s coming,’ Rabbit said. ‘That’s the gloomy time of the year.’

      ‘We could ask the Beloved to make winter go away, if you’d like,’ she said with one of those sly little smiles.

      ‘I don’t know if that would be a very good idea, baby sister,’ Rabbit replied. ‘If she starts playing with the seasons, Mother Sea might send her off to the moon like she did to Veltan that time.’

      ‘Mother Sea wouldn’t do that to the Beloved,’ Eleria replied. She held out her arms. ‘I need a hug, Bunny. Everybody’s so busy talking in that hut where we’re staying that they don’t have time for me.’

      ‘It’s called a “cabin”, baby sister, not a “hut”.’

      ‘What’s the difference?’

      ‘I’m not really sure,’ Rabbit admitted, ‘but I think “hut” would upset the Cap’n almost as much as when somebody calls his ship a “boat”. That sends him right straight up the wall.’

      ‘You’re not hugging, Bunny,’ she scolded.

      ‘Sorry, baby sister. I’ll get right on it.’ He picked her up and wrapped his arms about her.

      ‘That’s so much nicer,’ she said, kissing his cheek.

      Later that day, Longbow came out on deck and joined Rabbit at the bow of the Seagull. ‘It’s good to be moving again,’ he said quietly. ‘I was starting to get a little tired of all that bickering.’

      ‘What was that all about, anyway? I never did get the straight of it.’

      Longbow shrugged. ‘Zelana’s older sister wanted all of the outlanders to defend her Domain, but her big brother wouldn’t hold still for it. He feels that his Domain is just as important as hers – if not more. Zelana and Veltan thought that they were both being a little silly. We sometimes forget that the Elder Gods are nearing the end of their cycle, and they’re starting to get just a little strange.’

      ‘More than a “little”, sometimes,’ Rabbit said. ‘Eleria’s going to take over for Zelana before long, isn’t she?’

      ‘I believe so, but the gods might have a different definition of “before long” than we do. I’d imagine that the younger gods will have to grow up before their elders can hand things off to them.’

       2

      ‘Isee that you’re working again, Rabbit,’ the farmer Omago said when he came forward later that day.

      ‘Just trying to stay a little bit ahead of Longbow,’ Rabbit said. ‘He thinks that the Tonthakans will want bronze arrowheads when we reach Lord Dahlaine’s part of the Land of Dhrall. I’m not really doing anything very important now anyway, and if I’m banging on my anvil, Ox and Ham-Hand won’t be sitting around trying to come up with things for me to do.’ He laid his hammer down on the anvil. ‘What’s Ara been doing here lately?’ he asked. ‘We haven’t seen very much of her.’

      ‘She’s in the kitchen, of course,’ Omago said with a faint smile. ‘She’s been giving that one called “the Fat Man” some cooking lessons.’

      Rabbit laughed. ‘I should have known she’d do something like that,’ he said. ‘The Fat Man’s not really one of the world’s greatest cooks, that’s for sure. He usually gets grouchy when somebody goes into his galley, though.’

      ‘Nobody stays grouchy very long when Ara stops by,’ Omago said. ‘After she’d tasted a couple of the meals he’d served up, she decided to educate him. I’m almost positive that he’ll be a much better cook by the time we reach Dahlaine’s part of the world.’

      ‘That won’t hurt my feelings very much,’ Rabbit said. ‘I’m not sure how much she’ll be able to teach him during this trip, though. There isn’t much stored down there in the galley except beans, and there’s only so much you can do with beans.’

      ‘I think you’re in for a pleasant surprise, Rabbit,’ Omago said. ‘Ara is the finest cook in the world, after all, so I’m sure she’ll find some way to make beans taste better.’

      The fleet rounded the last peninsula on the south coast a few days later and turned north. There was a good following wind, and the long ships seemed almost to fly. Rabbit found that to be quite exhilarating. This was what sailing was all about. He spent most or his daylight hours out on the deck near the Seagull’s bow heating bronze in his forge.

      ‘Breezy, isn’t it?’ Longbow said as he joined him at the rail.

      ‘It’s a fair wind,’ Rabbit agreed as he tested the iron pot filled with pieces of bronze on his forge. ‘If it keeps this up, we’ll make better time than the Cap’n thought we would. Have we reached Zelana’s territory yet?’

      Longbow squinted at the coast. ‘Not quite, I don’t think. Give it another day or so.’ He glanced at Rabbit’s forge. ‘Your bronze is starting to melt.’

      ‘I know,’ Rabbit said. ‘I want it to get a little soupier before I pour it into the molds, though. If I pour too soon, there’ll be lumps sticking out of the arrowheads. How far would you say it is to the Bay of Lattash?’

      ‘About two days, I think.’

      Then the bull-shouldered first-mate Ox came forward to join them. ‘Lady Zelana’s brother’s going to tell us some things about his part of this country,’ he said, ‘and the Cap’n wants you two to sit in. I guess things on up north are just a little different from the places we’ve seen so far.’

      ‘It wouldn’t be much fun if it was all the same, would it?’ Rabbit said.

      ‘We’re