“I’m sure he did,” Althea replied smoothly. “But all the same, I’d appreciate it if you declined any other invitations.” She paused as if she were finished speaking. Then, as Alise turned and tried to bustle her skirts out of the way to descend the ladder, she added in a quieter voice, “He’s a good ship. He has a great heart. But no one ever knows in advance what topics might upset him. Not even him.”
“Do you truly believe that he has forgotten his dragon memories?” Alise dared to ask.
Althea pressed her lips tightly for a moment. Then she said, “I choose to believe whatever my ship tells me about himself. If he tells me he has forgotten, then I don’t ask him to recall anything about it. Some memories are best left undisturbed. Sometimes, if you forget something, it’s because it’s better forgotten.”
Alise nodded. She was turning to put a foot on the ladder when a man spoke below her.
“Paragon all right?” Captain Trell asked, looking up. Alise blushed. She had very nearly stepped off the deck and onto the ladder. Her skirts would have been right over his head.
“He’s fine now,” Althea assured him. Then, as she noticed Alise’s dilemma, she smoothly suggested, “Brashen, would you offer Trader Finbok some assistance to descend?”
“Of course,” he replied, and with his offered hand she was able to descend in a more ladylike manner. In a moment, Sedric had joined her on the deck. He put out his arm and she was glad to take it. The events of the last hour had left her flustered, and for the first time she had serious doubts about the advisability of her journey. It was not just that the ship had told her she could not think of the young dragons as dragons, and implied that they would have no ancestral memories. That was daunting enough, but she suddenly also felt that perhaps she had badly underestimated how intimidating it might be to deal with such creatures. Her conversation with Paragon had rearranged her concept of dragons. She had been, she realized, thinking of them as youngsters. They weren’t. Not any more than Tintaglia had been a youngster when she emerged from her case. They might be smaller or crippled, but dragons came out of their cases, usually, as fully formed adults.
The captain had not moved away from her. Now, as his wife, Althea, joined him on the deck, they stood side by side, almost blocking her from moving away. The captain spoke courteously but firmly. “Perhaps in the future, it might be better if one of us accompanied you if you wished to speak with the ship. Sometimes those unfamiliar with liveships or with Paragon himself can find him unnerving. And sometimes he can be a bit . . . excitable.”
“The lady had no intention of alarming your ship,” Sedric informed Captain Trell, a bit stiffly. He put his hand firmly over Alise’s, a protective gesture that she found oddly reassuring. “The ship invited her forward to speak with him. And he was the one who brought up the topic of dragons.”
“Did he?” The captain exchanged a glance with his wife. She nodded slightly, and he shifted his feet. Alise felt that he granted them permission to move away. His tone was a bit more kindly as he admitted, “Well, I’m not surprised. We’ve had troubling news about the hatchlings almost every time we visit Trehaug. I think they weigh on his mind. We encourage Paragon not to dwell on things that he finds upsetting.”
“I understand,” Alise replied faintly. She wished the conversation were at an end. She did not do well at confrontation with strangers, she abruptly decided. With her own husband, she had barely been able to take a stand and feel courageous about doing so. But out here in the real world and almost on her own, she felt she had not done well at facing her first challenge. Even as she felt grateful for Sedric’s support, her gratitude shamed her.
“I think you might warn your passengers before they stumbled into such a circumstance,” Sedric said firmly. “Your ship is not the only one that might become alarmed. Neither of us sought conversation with him. On the contrary, he invited us forward.”
“So you’ve said,” Captain Trell replied, and his voice warned of patience wearing thin. “You may recall you were told that we do not often take passengers, only cargo. Usually those who ride with us are family or friends. They’re well aware of Paragon’s quirks. I do recall that Trader Finbok was quite insistent that she had to book immediate passage.”
Alise tightened her grip on Sedric’s arm. She wished only to go back to her tiny stateroom. Her vision of herself as an intrepid explorer braving new experiences and acquiring firsthand knowledge of dragons was fading. She felt sure that if Sedric had not been by her side, she would have fled. Or worse, burst into tears. At the thought of it, her eyes began to sting. No. Oh, no, please, not now.