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"I can say no ue cleaves to my mouth when I try to speak more of it These nize your face anywhere I knoho you are You bidto Dahomey this very o there and torture those fools and haunt them instead of me I have a shiphly, staring at her with anguish "I areat Deep, I will do it Most captains fear to sail beyond the outer island, but I fear it not There is a stirring in me that says I will sink into Sheol, or else brave the seas beyond those islands ‘ere I die This ship was built to ride the high seas There is no distance too great It lures me It whispers to me If you bid me sail you there, I will, lass I fear it not"

"I do not doubt it, To with the i her true, she was standing before a man who had known her rinoutraces the Holk of Doviur"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Crossing the Stornities from the crew, Tomas Aldermaston offered her his quarters while he went up on deck and made ready to sail Lia opened the bolted shutters and watched the port of Doviur recede frousty and the ship had an odd sway that , the creak of floorboards, the whine of ropes all flooded her with sounds and sensations The captain’s chamber was decorated with fine workmanship, the furniture fashioned ooden pins to lock the pieces to the ground and keep thereeary of waiting and so went to the door and slowly opened it A mass of bodies moved about the deck, but there was a man stationed at the door It was the one she hadthe rope He looked at her and shook his head slowly "Stay hidden, lass Best if the crew do not see you"

She realized that he had taken to guarding the door to prevent otherher while the captain was distracted with other duties He nodded to her to go back in and she obeyed

With nothing to do, Lia cleaned up the e of the bed The lurch and roll of the ship made her drowsy

She ahen thunder booh it was still daylight, she reasoned Rain cah the open hich she hurriedly fastened shut Enormous storm clouds filled the skies and the ocean was a cauldron of boiling water Lia lost her balance as the ship suddenly pitched forward and she had to grab the table to keep frorateful she had not eaten in a while Her stomach was horribly upset

The floor contained puddles of seawater which had sloshed in from under the door Another violent pitch the other way made Lia desperate for a handhold to brace herself Each rise and fall iddy and then sick Thunder booers Shouts froe and even the keen of fear Lia ain and opened it Her protector was no longer there Water sluiced through the passageway and soaked her boots Foa onto the wet creho struggled to tas were nailed into each wall, so she gripped them carefully and forced herself out of the dim corridor to the main deck There were only a handful of crew about She reckoned the rest were below deck to spare theed as she watched the sea drop perilously in front of her and the nose of the great boat went down at a steep angle She gripped the rods hard, using her feet to brace herself between the talls as the ship sliced down the trough and up the other side Seawater subed the prohen it struck the valley of the wave Hand over hand, she pulled herself forward The as thick with salty water and soon her hair hung in clumps

A body appeared in the corridor It was the black-haired sailor, the one who had scowled at her when she first boarded The look he gave her was lethal "Go back to the roo us because you are on board Go back at once!"

Lia cowered frory, but his countenance was terrified The ship plunged again and Lia started to slip, so she used both hands to grip one rod