207Twenty-one years later
3472 AF, 21 MW
Chase cursed continuously under his breath, shivering in the cold; secretly, Jessica was forced to agree with his sentiments. While the soothing warmth of nearby buildings beckoned, the elder Healer was forced to ignore them in favour of getting to their destination on time. Ahead of her, the captain chattered idly, unbothered by the bitter wind that tousled hair and plucked at cloaks. Barely controlled alarm lent his voice a high, nervous tilt, but Jessica ignored that, too. The man spoke of the weather and the winds and how he hoped the honoured Healers would find their quarters comfortable, while shying away from asking any real questions concerning their destination or their intentions there. This suited her just fine.
Low walls, built of mortar and stones, ran everywhere in the city. Similarly built, the streets were constructed from grey cobblestone that clicked lightly against their boots. None of the structures were painted, for although such decoration would have improved their looks it rained too often to be viable. Most of the buildings had their doors shut—thick doors of a wood that didn't swell and rot in the humid summers, and would keep the bite out of the air in the colder rainy seasons. Whenever one opened to release a person from the edifice's depths, raucous chatter followed that person out. After all, this was a port city, and thus a haven for sailors on shore leave.
Discomfited by the captain's tone, Chase continued to look about nervously. The Master Healer knew her apprentice was leery of strangers, especially those who were leery of him. For a Krae'set, unfortunately, that meant nearly everyone; commoners were all too easily intimidated by a hint of psychic power. Making a mental note to be sure both she and Chase stayed out of the way of the captain while on board, she turned her attention back to repressing her own flutters of anxiety.
Light spray from the sea washed over their faces every so often, a sign they were nearing the docks. Bright but still young, the morning sun cast a sharp relief on the ground, creating a clear shadow from the stunted wall running beside the road. The day would have been warm if it were summer, but this late in the year the days were bitter, even if they were never completely frozen. Tossed by the uncompromising wind, leaves tumbled around the Healers' feet, crumbling as they spun gently along the downward sloping road, leaving the open inns and taverns behind.
Because they were walking so quickly, the three—the Healer, her apprentice, and the captain—almost strode right past a darker patch of shadow, hidden in the lee of the tall harbour wall. They would have, if the shadow had not detached itself from its surroundings, melting out of the darkness to reveal a robed and hooded figure. With easy, cat-like grace the being, who was quite a bit taller than Jessica, glided over to join them. Stressed nerves already playing havoc with his wandering small talk, the captain's voice jumped and then gave out entirely, reflecting the Master Healer's own feelings.
Swiftly, Jessica schooled her agitated thoughts to calm, though she remained wary. Long before they had come to this point, she had already decided a bit of caution wouldn't hurt her on this trip. Beside her, Chase was bubbling over with discomfort, not practiced enough to be able to control his emotions the way Jessica could, although his expression was neutral enough. Nonetheless, the boy's jittery nerves were clearly showing through his meagre mental shields, even to her. Inwardly the Healer cringed a bit at his clumsiness. She would have to have him work on that.
The newest member of their party didn't change his expression at their reactions, although Jessica was sure he'd caught every nuance. He was a tall man, easily recognized as one of the psychic Krae'set. Flowing black robes wrapped around him, just as bothered by the wind as Jessica's or Chase's brown ones—but unlike the latter two, he didn't seem to care. With his hood pulled up against the wind, his eyes were partly shrouded from view, even as his emotions were hidden from scrutiny. When the Master Healer tried to meet them with her own blue ones, she suddenly found herself carefully watching the captain's expression instead, noting the nervous tick on the seaman's blocky face.
Idly, fear blocked off by her skills, the Healer wondered if the other was reading her mind as well as her appearance. No alien presence made itself known in her thoughts, but this particular Krae'set could probably command her to start dancing in the street right then and there, and she might never know who had placed the compulsion, despite him standing right before her.
The extent of his abilities was a thing of legends, not of fact. Upon reflecting for an instant or two, Jessica found she didn't really care to ascertain how powerful he truly was.
Wearing the same unreadable visage as before, the man—who appeared to be young, though it was hard to tell with his cowl up as it was—bowed, and Jessica stepped forward automatically to do likewise, before turning to make introductions. Tangent, distracting thoughts wandered through her head, and the Master Healer pondered for a moment whether or not she would have known who this tall, dark Krae'set was, if she had not been told. While she could easily tell he was a member of one of the higher-ranked Krae'set castes—no one else would dare to wear black Krae'set robes—she doubted if she would have suspected his exact identity. One did not expect to meet demigods, after all.
"Captain Havred, may I present Psion Genen Krae'set. Psion Genen Krae'set, this is our captain for the voyage, Jeffar Havred," Jessica said, placing the correct inflections on the titles, as only a Krae'set was truly capable of doing.
Silently, the Psion bowed again, this time to Havred, and the captain glanced nervously at him for a moment. When he caught himself staring, he hastily looked back to Jessica, eyes pleading for guidance. Despite her detachment, the Healer found herself sympathizing with the seaman. Genen Krae'set had a reputation that unnerved most full Krae'set, let alone a non-gifted commoner, and now that she had met him, Jessica felt the full force of that reputation at work. Utterly blank, his expression didn't help matters.
For a long minute, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air while the four stood staring at one another—or, in the Psion's case, gazing calmly with strangely dead eyes. Overhead, the harsh cry of the gulls echoed down, the ungainly birds shrieking as they looked for cold-loving fish in the chill waters of the harbour. While shouts and calls could be heard from nearby docks, floating over the short quay wall, the people who passed them also fell silent, unconsciously becoming uptight as they felt the tension in the air.
Distracted by the jerky movements, Jessica let her attention be diverted to one of the brown leaves that twitched its way across the cobbles. Breaking slightly each time it hit one of the stones, it nonetheless managed to make its way to the foot of her russet Healer robes, getting caught in the folds of her long cloak and hanging there on the rough outer wool. Finally, a stronger gust of wind blew past, rippling the three Krae'set's robes further, and forcing the leaf to untangle from Jessica's. Carried on the wind, it whipped over the harbour wall and out of sight.
The smell of salt permeated the air, and gradually, the tension began to diffuse into a more relieved silence.
"To the ship, then," the captain said hastily, when he realized the three Krae'set had shifted their attention to waiting for him.
Jessica focused on the seaman for an instant or two, feeling the waves of apprehension radiating from him. Unable to gain anything more than that, she reverted to blocking him out after a few seconds. When they set off once more, Jessica wondered what the Psion thought of the man's nervousness, using the thought to distract herself from her own unease.
Because her skills with telepathy were pitiful, Jessica long ago had been placed in the Krae'set's Healer caste; there, she focused on the finer arts of kinetics, only using empathy on occasion. She didn't often have to worry about what someone was thinking—she just had to make sure they were in one piece when she was done with them, even if they'd come to her in two or three. Usually, the only reason the Master Healer would use empathy would be to keep from accidentally projecting her thoughts or emotions towards others who were sensitive to them.
But for someone like Genen Krae'set, she supposed every thought would feel like someone was shouting at him. Of course, the Psion was probably used to it, just as he would be used to reactions like Havred's. Common folk might tentatively accept Healers, but other Krae'set were avoided like the plague.
Walking as briskly as they were, the four soon arrived at Havred's ship, which was floating serenely at the deep end of the docks. It was a large boat, built to carry nobles and designed to make sure everyone knew it. Fresh, pristine paint coated the hull, and the sailors were well dressed while they were in port. Furled and lowered sails were tugged at by the persistent wind, but the Falcon proudly ignored its aggravating demands. In some ports, such a large ship would have been forced to throw its anchor over the side farther out and send a longboat back and forth for passengers, but the sea floor here dropped straight down from the shoreline, leaving the passenger ship's large hull plenty of room. Indeed, the docks were the only spot along the shore where the coast became gentle enough for structures to be built; around the rest of the bay, it simply dropped off into cliffs.
This was Waterhaven: port of the A'y'shl Spire, which had long been the heart of Krae'set society. Telekinesis had ages ago deepened the harbour and extended its natural cliffs, ensuring a safe haven in any storm and giving the city its name. Because of the sheer traffic Waterhaven received, in and out, the port city throve, despite many captains being superstitiously afraid of lowering anchor under the shadow of the Spires.
Even the gangplank is carpeted, Jessica noted with mild detachment, observing the elaborate decorations. While the passengers who paid fare to sail on the Falcon might not be rich enough to afford their own ship, they were vain enough to pay extra for some of the luxuries of a private vessel. Ornately carved railing decorated the sides, lending a further air of extravagance, while fitted glass windows dotted the sides of the hull. Bemused, the Master Healer just shook her head.
As they boarded, she noticed as the crew took note of their captain's jumpiness, which was obviously too great to have been caused by the mere presence of a few Krae'set. This ship was built to carry important people, after all, and every sailor would have seen folk from the Spires before. Winding their way below-decks to the passenger cabins, Jessica spotted a few of the noble passengers through open cabin doors, and knew they were being noticed in return. Finally, Havred reached their suites—each had been assigned their own room, probably the best on the ship—and disappeared above decks, trailing a feeling of relief. Bowing to the Healers, who bowed back, Genen Krae'set vanished into his own room.
"I wonder if the other passengers know of the company they're keeping," Chase said dryly when the Psion was gone, leaving the two Healers to stand in the carpeted hall outside the rooms the Krae'set had been assigned.
He trailed after the Master Healer as she returned to her room and gave it a cursory glance. With a flick of her arm, Jessica slid her small bag from her shoulder and dropped it on the bed, which was luxuriously opulent for a ship. Containing only a change of clothes and a few packets with various powders used by Healers—the traveling pack was unusually small for any normal person, but not so for a Krae'set, as those raised to Spire-life travelled light. When they needed something, they could get it. If their clothes required washing, then they could always find a washwoman willing to provide the service. The only times they couldn't manage to get clean robes were when they had far more urgent things to worry about. Food was likewise.
"You need to work on controlling your emotions," Jessica murmured after a few moments of comfortable silence in which she reassured herself that the contents of her pack were in order. When he recognized the distracted tone in her voice, Chase's eyebrows shot up. Taking careful note of her inflection, he carefully schooled his expression, trying with minimal success to achieve the same expressionless look he'd seen on the Psion's.
"I've never been good at wards," the boy replied finally, his voice neutral.
Her long, dark auburn hair gleamed as Jessica shook her head, soaking up the pitiful warmth from the morning sunlight streaming through the open windows. Even though it was merely a wan glow, it still managed to light up the dark blue carpet covering the floor of the lavish cabin, turning it to an almost royal blue. Because of the necessary restriction on size, the room didn't actually contain too many items beyond the bed and a small mahogany desk, but due to the horizontal lines that could be faintly seen on the walls, it appeared rather larger than Jessica suspected it actually was.
"That is no excuse, and you know it. I expected such anxiety from the captain, but not from my apprentice. You have been around Psions before."
"Once or twice. I was nervous then, too." There was a touch of impudence in the boy's reply, carefully calculated to be just the amount the Master Healer would tolerate in her current mood.
Half smiling, Jessica turned to her sandy-haired apprentice, eyes glinting with repressed amusement at his antics. "That was several years ago, and the situation was entirely different."
Chase visibly relaxed as he realized she wasn't entirely disappointed; his boyish charms hadn't failed. Though he usually succeeded, Jessica didn't always take kindly to impertinence, and the distant tone in her voice had been worrying him—she easily could tell that, at least. Mentally sighing, the Master Healer regretted her inability to concentrate. Frightening her apprentice, or making him more nervous than he already was, had been the last thing she wanted to do.
Another few minutes passed in silence before she finally concluded, "Work on your shields."
Hearing the note of dismissal in her voice, the apprentice bowed, and left. With a thought, Jessica sent out a small wave of telekinetic energy to close the door behind him, before pushing her bag aside and settling on the bed to think.