Cloud Dancer Read online

  Ben nodded, shifting the heavy coins in his hands. “Gold. Solid gold Drakkas.” He’d only ever seen one once and never thought he would touch one, let alone three of them. Forget a kilo of Spira; this was enough to live for decades in the lap of luxury. But he knew better, nothing was free, and all things came with a price. For three gold Drakkas, the price was sure to be high.

  Before he could get too enthralled in daydreams of pleasure, he shifted his attention, almost painfully, back to the piece of paper which had accompanied the coins, knowing that it would name the price and slipped the coins back into the pouch where they wouldn’t distract him as much.

  To whom finds this,

  I hope that your reading this means that you found my daughter Delphi well. My people and I are no more, so I can only hope that you are decent people and implore you to bring her to safety. I know it isn’t much, but with this letter, are three Drakkas. I can’t force you to do the right thing, but I ask that you accept two of them to cover the cost of her upbringing. The third is yours, freely given for rescuing her. Protect her. Please, protect my baby, Delphi. Her birthday is the 2ed of Hoden, Year 837 of Revana.

  Sincerely,

  Ben tried to make out the name at the end, but the ink was smudged and impossible to read except for the first letter, “Z.” He started to pass the letter over to Jesse to read when Jesse suddenly thrust away from the stinky swaddle and baby.

  “Sure, it stinks, but it ain’t that bad. I’ve been on whale barges that were worse.” He frowned at Jesse, who was pale white in the harsh cast of the engine and pointing at the baby. He looked at her, it was clearly a her, and just stared for the third time of the night as he saw something that he never thought he would and chewed the inside of his cheek. “She’s going to need a glove.”

  ***

  After the events of the night, the ride back to Salicia was boring. Even the typical worries about being caught by a patrol paled against the events of the night.

  Not knowing the situation or Delphi’s condition beyond the obvious, they quickly stashed their ill-gotten Spira as well as the coins and tied off the skiff at Ben’s hidden dock on the backside of the island before heading to the plain above and their griffins. Town was a hard day’s flight away, but as they said, “best to keep your transgressions a hundred kilometers from the market.” The cover story was that they had “gone hunting,” and Ben tied a few Rasslebock and a Wolpertinger to his saddle to give truth to the lie.

  As they flew, Jesse pondered how they were going to explain the baby, which was far from the game most would expect them to return with. He was still trying to figure that out when they sighted the plumes of smoke rising from town.

  Ben guided them in low before landing almost ten kilometers short of town as it became clear that all was not well. Delphi squawked, making her opinion of the delay clear, but fussed remarkably little for how tired and hungry she must have been. They had given her some water, but milk wasn’t the sort of beverage one usually took out siphoning, and he admired her composure and understanding in the face of adversity.

  “What do you suppose happened?” Jesse asked as they neared his farm. They both agreed it was for the best to stay clear of town until they had a better idea of what was what.

  Ben shrugged, sneaking a smile at Delphi, before returning to his usual dower frown. “If I had to guess, I’d say an accident or a battle. The smoke seems to be coming from near the harbor and the constabulary, so I’d guess it was the latter.”

  Jesse nodded his head in general agreement. “If it was a battle, then I guess the question is: Who won?” They both shared the same opinion on that question, but the answer left them both unsure. After all, sometimes the Sobek you knew would bite you if you turned your back to it was better than the Rasselbock that went for the throat when you were sleeping.

  Ben opened the gate to the Kursk family farm for them and followed Jesse in, making sure to secure the gate behind them and checking the sky and road to make sure that they hadn’t been spotted. Except for some Hippogryphs and what looked to be a Roc in the distance, it didn’t appear anyone had noticed their arrival. He quickly tied off their Hippogryph and headed to the house.

  Too keyed up, they both jumped as the door to the house flung open before Jesse reached it. They relaxed as Mama Kursk bustled out, but Jesse had to move quickly to keep Delphi from getting crushed by her hug. After several seconds passed, she released him and gave Ben a much cooler nod.

  Mama Kursk had never much cared for Ben Sheridan, but, just this once, she was willing to let his dragging her son off slide since it had kept him out of the fighting. She knew Jesse had no love for their leaders, but she also knew he would have felt compelled to fight when it came to protecting their home, and she shuddered to think what could have happened to him given the results of the previous day. But she wasn’t about to tell Ben that. She squared her shoulders as only a disapproving mother could and crossed her arms. “You boys had best get inside before you’re noticed and get cleaned up. There is much to talk about!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they both chorused, obeying her orders. You could take the boy out of the man, but the whooping lasted forever.

  “Now that’s an understatement,” Ben muttered, earning himself a smack upside the head as he passed and a curious, if worried, glance from Mama Kursk.

  Mama Kursk followed them in, her curiosity blossoming as she saw Jesse pawing through her orderly cabinets and pulling out one of the kid’s old bottles that she kept around for when they had visitors and going to the steam fridge to get out the morning’s milk. It was only then that she took note of the wiggling bundle of rags on the table. She rushed over, going full “mommy mode” and scooped it up, brushing the folds aside to reveal the gurgling baby within. “A baby!” she demanded, rounding on Ben as she hip-checked Jesse out of the way and readied the bottle in a one-handed flourish that was pure “mommy magic,” giving it to Delphi who gurgled appreciatively. “What have you involved my son in?!”

  Ben wiped his brow with a rag wishing he was in a bar brawl instead of here because he would have gotten fewer bruises in the brawl. “Well, you see...”

  ***

  It was dark out as the four of them sat around the table in silence. Jesse’s younger brother and sister had made appearances as soon as they realized he was back, but Mama Kursk had quickly sent them on their way, knowing there were some things that you just didn’t talk about around kids. It’s bad enough they know Ben is around. She glared at Ben as he held an ice pack to his black eye.

  Taniya, Jesse’s older sister, who was of age with Ben, had, invited or not, stayed at the table for the explanation of what had happened to them and to help explain what had transpired here at home while they were away. Mama Kursk didn’t much like her getting involved, for entirely different reasons than the others who were simply worried about her safety.

  Ben found Taniya unnerving in that she was as beautiful as he remembered, twice as smart as he would even generously call himself, and had a will to be reckoned with. Worse yet, rehabilitating one Smuggler known as Ben Sheridan seemed to be her enduring hobby to the horror of Ben and the consternation of one Mama Kursk. As to why Taniya’s interest in rehabilitating him so disturbed Mama, he was not sure since she had always seemed to be of a similar mind where he was concerned.

  “So, the war is truly over?” Jesse asked, shocked by the sudden change of their fortunes. Whether it was for the better or worse, was yet to be seen, but where before he was driven to crime to dodge the draft tax, it now no longer mattered. Given the haul they had managed to bring in from their impromptu deep siphon, it could mean a lot for them.

  There was still the issue of them now being under the “gentle” care of the Orlan Federation, but if even half the propaganda was true, it meant things were probably looking better in the long term. Mama had been right to worry, though. Right or wrong, had he been home when the attack came, he would have went to the island’s defense, and, like
most of the constabulary troops and a good size chunk of the militia, he would probably be dead now. The Orlandan may be better than the Russo’s, but they weren’t about to risk their own soldiers in trying to reduce losses by taking it easy on the defenders.

  “It is for us,” Mama Kursk, replied. “From the little news which has gotten in, the Orlandan broke the Russo’s main fleet when they drove their thrust here. Some of the ships managed to retreat like scared cats on wash day, but no one believes they have any fight left in them.”

  “Given that the Orlandan cut loose a goodly sized chunk of their fleet to give chase in pairs after the escapees, most will be forced to vent steam and cut their pennants or be lost to the Storm before the week is out. Sadly, given the quality of those who do manage to escape, we will probably be looking at a bit of a pirate issue for the next few years, but that is nothing new for us.”

  “As for the Peoples Republic of Russo, the war is all but over. If the capital is smart, they will surrender, but if this war has proven anything, it is that our dear and beloved leaders are about as bright as using lanterns in a methane plant.” Her words dripped acid strong enough to reduce the hull of a battleship to sludge. The good men who had been lost, she would grieve, but for their nation, good riddance. “Now, we’ll see if life in the Federation is any better.”

  Agreeing with Mama’s sentiment, they sat in silence, letting it sink in that the war was over. Delphi broke the silence, giving a little coo in her sleep, drawing their attention to her and the deadly threat that she represented.

  “What do we do about her?” Ben asked, broaching the topic they had been avoiding.

  Mama frowned at Delphi, but as she looked at her, she couldn’t help smiling. “The laws and the Taboo, if you put stock in such things, are pretty clear on that: over the edge or to the Constable she goes. But given that you brought her here and your cavalier attitude about the laws, I take it that you have already decided to ignore them?”

  Ben nodded his head with fire in his eyes. “It’s just not right. She’s a baby, and it ain’t like she’s done anything to deserve that,” he argued, clawing at some vague feeling in his gut. After his father’s passing when he was seven, he’d grown up an orphan and knew how hard that road was even on a quaint island like Salicia. “You read the letter. She ain’t got no one to return to. So yeah, if there is some way that I can manage it, I mean to let her grow up as safely and happily as possible!”

  Mama was hard-pressed not to laugh at the obstinate pose, Ben struck. “Oh, relax and stop saving spit. It makes you look like you’re four,” she scolded. “For what it’s worth, I agree. But it’s going to be dangerously tough to explain, and we can’t have people asking the wrong questions or even thinking them, because those same laws and the Taboo are clear on what to do with those who are harboring one of the Touched, so we are going to have to keep her left hand covered.”

  Taniya surprised them all by laughing and relieving her mother of Delphi, holding her to her bosom. “You are all overthinking this,” she said, smiling at Delphi. “You have kept me cloistered in this house and out of the city for the better part of six months for fear of what the troops might do, but that offers us an opportunity.” She smiled and looked across the table at Ben with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

  Mama Kursk swore under her breath and tried not to feel sick as she realized what Taniya had in mind. She was a good girl, but there were some things about her which Mama would never understand. Jesse, for his part, just looked confused.

  Rascal

  Celestia the 37th of Argoth

  Year 842 of Revana

  “Come back here, you miscreant!” the Smith yelled as Deft-Hand Delphi Sheridan blitzed around the corner and out into the traffic main. It was Celestia and a slow day, but she still had a few hours left in her penance for “borrowing” some of his tools the week before without asking. He debated chasing her but let her go with a shrug. She’d done better work than most her age were capable of and helped him get a lot more done than he usually could have. She just needed to learn to ask before “borrowing” things. Then again, given who her father was, there was little surprise that she was an irredeemably mischievous sort. Thankfully, her mother tended to balance it out with solid penance terms when she did get caught, and most of the shops had enjoyed her free labor as penance for one thing or another over the years.

  Delphi knew she should have stayed the extra hour, but the shop was clean, the tools, including the few she had “borrowed” while helping there, were put away, and it was unlikely that there would be more customers today. Everyone knew there were more important things to be doing today than shopping, and she needed to get ready for them.

  Today was the day the war had officially ended, and they’d joined the Orlan Federation. Some of the old fogies still grumbled about it, but everyone could see that life as an Orlandan subject was far better than it had been under the PRR. Not that she could compare the two since she had been a baby in her mother’s arms when the war ended. No, for her, it meant the Alignment Party, and that meant fun. Which, in her informed opinion, was something this rural island was sorely lacking.

  She might have set a new speed record on her race back to her family’s small repair shop and home, but that was little compensation for the arched eyebrow her mother speared her with as she screeched to a halt like a frog which had just accidentally jumped into a sleeping Sobek’s mouth.

  “A little early today?” Mama Taniya asked from the entry to the boat bay where she was bouncing the newest baby in their family on her hip. “Gregor must be getting soft in his old age if he’s letting trouble like you sway him.”

  Delphi did her best not to look guilty but knew Mama saw straight through it. It was so unfair that mothers seemed to come with a built-in sensor of some type, which drew them to exactly where you didn’t want them, exactly when you didn’t want them there. “Well, today is the Alignment Party, and it wasn’t like we were going to get any more customers,” she replied, trying to evade answering Mama’s unspoken question. “Hmm,” and an arched eyebrow was all the reply Mama gave her.

  Delphi’s shoulders sagged, and Mama was hard-pressed to maintain her stern face as she watched her wayward wild child crack. “Okay, I might have assumed that I could leave early. But, honestly, there wasn’t anything left to do, and...” her excuses died off as Mama continued watching her and bouncing Nick on her hip. “I’ll go back and apologize and work the rem..” Mama cleared her throat. “The remainder of the time and some extra,” she hedged, earning a calculating look from Mama but no further correction, “tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure Gregor will be glad to see you. In fact, he mentioned that if you wanted to, he might consider an apprenticeship,” Mama replied, approving of the idea. “Generator smithing is a highly respectable profession,” she added, watching Delphi closely, her eyes only falling to Delphi’s gloved hand for the briefest of moments. She was used to seeing it, as was everyone in town. They all knew of the “disfigurement” it covered, even if none of them had seen it and how it was a sore spot for Delphi. They all did their best not to dwell on it, but their very lack of paying attention created a stigma which had sadly spread to the rest of Delphi as she became a shadow to them and she had taken to those shadow with an alacrity which made for many a sleepless nights as worry ate at her.

  Delphi ignored her mother’s glance. “Maybe. But it doesn’t make much sense to choose anything permanent until I come of age. Depending on what Ether I get, what work I should do could change a lot. If I get fire, like dad, then being a Smith might be okay, but if I’m a water Ether like you, it would be tough,” she quibbled, not that she didn’t have a valid point. Please don’t let me wind up as an Earth Ether. Being stuck as a digger or a farmer like uncle Jesse and Gran ain’t my cup of tea. She noticed Mama twitch ever so slightly like all her elder family did when she talked about such things and wondered once again why it was such a big issue to them.

  Taniya reco
vered quickly but knew Delphi had noticed. Delphi was sharp as the wind, and little got past her inquisitive and piercing gaze. The silver fleck in her emerald-green eyes had grown into streaks that were either mesmerizing or disturbing to anyone who stared for too long and only added to the mystique around her. It was another sign like her flame-red hair, which showed how she was different not just from the other people in her family but from everyone on the island. She loved Delphi as much as any of their children, and even more in some ways because she was their child by choice, not blood, but she had never been able to work up the courage to tell her the truth about how she had come to them - always vowing that she would tell Delphi once she was older. “You never know, you may be a Cloud Dancer,” she speculated, trying to shift the conversation in a cheerier direction.

  “Right, like that is ever going to happen,” Delphi scoffed, waving the idea off like a crumb and trying not to look at Mama like she had gone daft. “I could never become one of the Spira users and dance in the sky.” Her voice was bitter while her heart yearned desperately for the impossible. She pointedly didn’t look at her gloved left hand. Someone broken like me could never become someone amazing like that.

  “You never know.”

  They were saved from an awkward silence by Daddy Ben strolling out of the slip with a grease rag in his hands and a smile on his lips as he playfully reached out for Taniya. “What did I miss?”

  “Keep those greasy paws off of me, you scoundrel,” Mama warned, slipping away from him but with a smile and a sway to her hips.

  “Ooo, scoundrel. I like it. I’ll have to show you how much later,” he warned, bouncing his eyebrows suggestively and earning a smiling scowl from Mama, who pointedly glanced aside at Delphi in embarrassment.

  “No need to get embarrassed, mom. It ain’t like I don’t know that you two are talking about sex. The walls are thin, and, if you haven’t noticed, there are five of us kids. I figured out what you were up to after helping Uncle Jesse with the heifers when I was three. Have fun with dad tonight, but all the same, I’ll be staying out late,” Delphi assured, slipping past her parents and up the stairs into their home.