"Stay behind me," Arai told Lillandra and Shell, sliding his own sword out of its scabbard.

Yaqui took a single, sliding step forward. His stance was odd; he held his blade in his right hand, while keeping his left hand stuffed within the folds of his robe.

"You mean to fight me one-handed?" Arai asked.

"One hand is all I need."

Arai took a calming breath and studied his opponent. Yaqui was perhaps an inch shorter than himself, but very stocky and strong; the bare arm which held the sword was extremely muscular. Unlike Arai, he wore no armor, only his robe, which was wrapped around his torso, and which fell over his legs like a long skirt. He was wearing sandals rather than boots.

His blade, like Jerade's, was long and slender, with a single edge and a slight curve. Instead of a proper crossguard, it had some kind of circular disc fixed between the blade and the grip. The blade itself had been polished to a high sheen.

"You've seen me fight," Arai warned him. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

"I've been watching you very closely," he said, taking another one of those sliding steps forward. He almost seemed to glide over the ground. "Your technique is excellent, and your style is certainly...interesting. But it won't be enough. I am a disciple of Aquillian, the Golden Blade, the finest swordsman the world has ever seen...and I have taken your measure."

Arai frowned. It was true that Yaqui had the advantage of him; the swordsman had seen him spar with Jerade dozens of times, and had listened while Arai had explained the principles behind the Three Waves style. Arai, meanwhile, had never seen Yaqui fight at all. He had no idea what to expect.

He really, really didn't want to fight this man.

Perhaps, he thought, he could appeal to the swordsman's conscience. "Do you know what Lord Jerade just tried to do to Lillandra?" he growled.

"I can guess," he admitted, rather wearily. "But it doesn't matter."

And then, without another word, he attacked.

Arai had instinctively fallen into the Rising Tide stance, and he managed to catch the man's sword as it came forward, but Yaqui was very fast, and that first attack was merely a deception -- as soon as their blades made contact, he slipped to Arai's left and came at him with a horizontal slash. Arai saw it coming and leaned out of the way, but he was a second too late, and the edge of Yaqui's sword slashed his forehead, just below his hairline, above his left eye. He managed to parry the bodyguard's follow-up attack and push him away, but blood began to flow out of the cut almost immediately.

He was not particularly worried about the cut itself, which was shallow, but the blood was now getting into his eye and obscuring his vision. He had been extremely lucky; if Yaqui's blade had come in just a few inches lower, or if Arai had not leaned away, the man might have slashed his eyes out.

He took a step back, while Yaqui squared his shoulders, raised his blade back into position, and gave him a considering look. Arai, too, considered his opponent. The man was almost superhumanly fast, and that attack had been very precise.

Arai slipped into the Rising Tide stance once again. Almost immediately, Yaqui attacked again, with another one of those lightning-fast strikes. This time, anticipating the deception, Arai managed to successfully counter, but Yaqui, whirling around on his sandals, somehow managed to reverse his grip on his sword and come at Arai from a different, lower angle. Surprised, Arai hopped back a step, narrowly avoiding the blade -- the slash missed his abdomen by inches -- and parried a second blow with the Net of Steel, one of the defensive techniques of the Rising Tide. Yaqui scurried back, failing to press the attack.

Arai wiped the blood out of his eye. He couldn't win this with the Rising Tide, he decided; Yaqui had seen too much of it, and had developed a kind of strategy to counter it.

But Arai was beginning to get a feel for Yaqui's style as well. The swordsman relied on quick strikes and slashes, coming in fast and retreating after a few touches. It was a good way to win a tournament, Arai supposed, and it was effective against the Rising Tide, but how would it serve him against the overwhelming pressure of the Crashing Waves?

He decided to find out. Before Yaqui could leap forward with another one of those inhumanly fast sword-slashes, he attacked him with the Crashing Waves, employing the Shark's Tooth, the Great Flood, and several other advanced techniques which he had not taught Jerade and which Yaqui had not seen. The swordsman successfully parried his blows, but after four or five clashes he started backing up, trying to disengage. Though he bore it well, Arai could tell that the man was uncomfortable with this kind of sustained action; he clearly wanted to drop back and get into a position to deliver more of those quick slashes.

But Arai didn't let up; he continued hammering away at the man. Finally, he managed to feint his way through Yaqui's guard and stab him in the left shoulder. The swordsman batted away his blade before it could bite any deeper, but it was a serious wound, and Arai could see the blood begin to dampen his dark robes.

He finally disengaged from Yaqui at that point, but more for his own sake than for his opponent's; he had to stop and wipe more blood out of his eye.

"I underestimated you," Yaqui admitted, wincing.

"You still think you can beat me with one hand?"

"Yes. The question is, can you beat me with one eye?"

"I guess we'll find out."

And Arai lunged, attacking him again with the Crashing Waves. Yaqui parried one strike, then another, and then ducked low, the tip of his sword aimed straight at Arai's heart. His breastplate stopped the sword, but the impact of it knocked him back a step, and Yaqui immediately took advantage, suddenly leaping up with another one of those horizontal slashes that could have easily cut his head off. Arai had no choice but to stop the sword with the vambrace affixed to his forearm. The armor caught the sword, but the blade slid down and cut into his arm, just below the elbow, and Yaqui drew his blade back quickly, which made the cut even deeper. Arai winced, but was able to level a backwards slash of his own a second later, forcing Yaqui to retreat.

This was a much worse injury than the one on his forehead; the blade had cut him almost to the bone. He could already feel the blood trickling into his sleeve.

The two of them began circling each other. Lillandra and Shell came into view, out of the corner of his eye; Shell was wide-eyed; Lillandra looked worried.

There was something almost funny about that. Lillandra, the Queen of the Night, was worried about him.

But seeing the two of them standing there gave him strength. He wasn't just fighting for himself; he was fighting for them. He had to defeat this man, if they were to have any chance of escape.

The Rising Tide was useless and Yaqui was capable of fending off the Crashing Waves. So, ignoring the pain in his arm and the blood in his eye, he took a few steps forward, and then surged forward with the Roaring Seas. This was the third of the Three Waves, and the strongest offensively, but it was also rather dangerous to employ, for it was a reckless, heedless style, full of heavy axe-blows and wide swings, and some of the techniques left the user wide open. It was best suited for wild melees. Arai's father had warned him not to use the Roaring Seas unless he was wearing a full set of armor.

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He had to try something, though -- something surprising, something that Yaqui would not expect.

Yaqui parried his first blow, but the strength behind it shook him and he was unable to counter. Arai continued, hitting him with the Surging Breakers, driving him back even further. The bodyguard then spotted an opening and tried to leap forward, and if Arai had been slower he might have succeeded in plunging his sword into his abdomen. But Arai had half-expected him to find this opening. He slipped around the thrust, forcing Yaqui to whirl his sword and move in close for another strike. But the maneuver left him off balance. Arai slapped his sword away and stepped in close, stabbing the man through the heart.

The swordsman's eyes went wide. Arai quickly withdrew the blade, and Yaqui crumpled to a sitting position, his lifeblood spilling out of him. He looked up at Arai, surprised.

"You were a worthy foe," Arai told him.

Yaqui nodded seriously, grateful for that. But then his eyes glazed over, and his head lolled on his shoulders, and he died.

Arai wasted no time. He shook the blood off Silus and sheathed the sword, then waved to Lillandra and Shell. "Let's go."

They headed for the gate. They hadn't gone more than ten steps, however, when they suddenly began to hear shouting, coming from behind them -- the servants, evidently, had found Jerade, tied up in Lillandra's room, and now the palace guards had been alerted.

Lillandra started for the front gate, but Arai caught her wrist, stopping her. "They'll have that covered," he said. "We'll have to find another way out."

"There is no other way out," she hissed back at him. "There's only one gate."

"I can get us out," Shell piped up.

Arai looked at her. "How? Where?"

"The gardens. There's a high spot near to the walls on the northern end; we should be able to climb up and over there."

He nodded. "Lead the way."

And so they ran for the gardens, sticking to the shadows, doing their best to avoid being seen in the half-light. The sun was rising fast; the eastern sky was aglow now, and they would soon lose the cover of darkness. They could hear shouting in the distance, and barked commands; the guards were undoubtedly after them.

Shell knew exactly where to go, however, and it only took a minute to find the spot she had talked about. The walls surrounding the palace were around ten feet high, but there was a hill adjacent to the wall here that made it possible for them to reach up and grab the edge of it. Arai threw their belongings over the wall first, then gave Shell and Lillandra a boost, helping them over it. With the two of them safely up and over, he made a running start of it, and though his arm was still bleeding badly, he managed to catch the edge of the wall and haul himself over.

And not a moment too soon, for the palace guards spotted him just as he clambering over the edge. "Over here!" someone shouted.

But Arai had already dropped down onto the grass beyond the walls, and ten minutes later, the three of them had escaped into the city. But they ran on anyway, rushing through the streets and alleys of Addisport, fearful of pursuit.

"Do you think they'll come after us?" Shell asked, when they finally stopped to catch their breath.

"I just killed Jerade's bodyguard," Arai said. "What do you think?"

"The Cockatrice will be departing soon," Lillandra reminded them. "We have to hurry."

"We don't have the money," Arai said.

She blinked in surprise. "I thought you had already booked our passage."

"I told Captain Burt to save a space for us," he said, "but Jerade was supposed to pay me before we left this morning."

"No worries," Shell said, digging into her little backpack. "I have the money." And she pulled out a leather pouch full of Addish crowns.

Arai stared. "Where did you get all that?"

"I stole it from the treasury," she said matter-of-factly. "What do you think I've been doing all month?"

"You've been casing the joint?"

"Of course! Opportunities like this don't come along very often, you know."

Arai snorted at the elf girl's brazenness. "This is a bad habit you have. But we can discuss it later. Lillandra's right -- we have to get to the Cockatrice."

They made their way down to the harbor, just as the sun came glaring up out of the blue horizon. To their relief, they found the Cockatrice still in its berth, but her sailors were already beginning to pull the gangplank up.

"Stop!" Arai shouted, waving to them.

The sailors saw them, stopped what they were doing, and called for Captain Burt, who appeared on the deck. "You're late," he grumbled. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Arai's bloody face, but did not comment on it. Instead he asked, "Where's my money?"

Shell dumped a whole handful of Addish crowns into his meaty, calloused hands. He counted them, nodded, and motioned for them to come aboard. A few minutes later the rigging was up and the ship was sliding out into the sea.

"I think we're safe now," Arai told Lillandra. Jerade's men did not appear to have followed them.

"You're bleeding," she informed him.

"I know."

"Sit down."

He sat down on the steps leading up to the forecastle, and it was only then that he realized how tired he was, and how badly his arm was hurting. A moment later Lillandra returned, having apparently collected some salve and bandages from the ship's surgeon. She had also found a needle and thread.

"What are you doing?" Arai asked.

"What do you think? Take off your armor."

He removed his armor, and his shirt, and allowed her to examine him. She washed the wound on his arm, applied the salve, and then, very carefully, used the needle and thread to sew the wound shut. She worked quietly, and Arai watched her quietly, wondering at what he was feeling. Though they were surrounded by hollering sailors, it was a strangely intimate moment -- Arai, sitting there with his shirt off, while Lillandra tended to him, close enough that he could smell her hair.

"Where did you learn how to do this?" Arai asked her.

"Stay still. I'm almost done."

He allowed her to finish her work. When she was done stitching him up, she bandaged his arm, then inspected the cut on his forehead. This was an even more intimate scene; their faces were very close. Their eyes met.

"It's a shallow cut," she said at last, pulling away from him. "You don't need stitches for this one. Keep it clean, though, or it'll inflame."

"Thank you," he said, still looking into her eyes. Lillandra, he thought. The Night Queen.

* * *

Exhausted, and probably a little weak from blood loss, Arai spent most of that day sleeping in the little cabin Captain Burt had given them. By the time he finally emerged, in the late afternoon, they were well out of sight of land.

Shell was seasick. Lillandra, however, was unbothered by the rocking of the boat; he found her standing at the railing, lost in thought, looking off into the distance.

He joined her the railing, and for a long time neither of them said anything. "I'm sorry," Arai finally said.

"About what?"

"Jerade. You were right about him." He shook his head regretfully. "I didn't see it. I knew he was impatient, but..."

"You only ever see the good in people," she said. It wasn't a compliment, exactly, but it didn't sound like a criticism, either, coming from her. She turned to him and asked, "Why do you keep coming to my rescue?"

"Is that what I've been doing?"

"I'm the Night Queen. We're supposed to be enemies. You're going to have me killed when we return to Velon, or lock me away for the rest of my life, at the least. I'm a monster, aren't I? If someone like Jerade tries to force himself on me...well, what difference does that make to you? Why did you even bother to save me from him?"

"You called out to me."

She blinked at him. "I did?"

"You shouted my name."

She thought back. "I did," she remembered.

"But I couldn't have just stood by and let him do that to you. You know me, Lillandra."

"You're the hero," she muttered.

They both went quiet, and for a long moment all that could be heard were the sounds of the sea: the wind, rustling in the sails; seabirds, in the distance; the sound of the water lapping against the hull of the ship. "We're supposed to be enemies," Arai said at last. "But I don't think we are. Not anymore." He turned to her. "You're no longer my prisoner, Lillandra."

She started. "What?"

"You're free to leave me whenever you like. I'm not going to march you across the world against your will. I'm not going to force you to do anything, any longer. If you want to part ways with me when we reach Tax Trium, I won't stop you."

She looked at him as though she couldn't believe what he was saying. "Really?"

"Yes. Only...I hope you will stay with me. I think we'll have a better chance of making it across the Scarred Lands if we stick together...and you know Shell will be heartbroken if you try to leave her again."

"What about your friends? The ones I turned to stone?"

"You said I only ever see the good in people," he said. "Well, that must be true, because I've seen the good in you." He got down on his knees before her. "Please stay with me. Return with me to Velon, and reverse the spell on Odo and Maya -- not because I ordered you to, but because I asked you to, because I begged you to, and because it's right thing to do."

She stared at him. "But...we're enemies," she managed.

"No. We're starting over from here. I would be your friend, Lillandra, if you'll have me."

"Is this...is this some kind of trick?"

"I'm totally sincere. I'm on my knees here."

"Yes, I can see that. Get up, would you?"

"Not until I have my answer."

She sighed and turned her eyes back to the sea. "Friends?"

"Friends."

She nodded slowly. "All right. I'll consider it. Now get up, before someone sees you."

He got to his feet, but was still unsatisfied. "You'll consider it?"

"I'll stay with you until we reach Velon," she decided. "And I'll try to reverse the spell on your friends. I owe you that much. Beyond that..." She shrugged. "We'll see."

He smiled. "We'll see," he agreed.

And they went back to gazing at the horizon. Arai thought that they were finished with the conversation, but a moment later Lillandra spoke up again: "You remind me of him," she said quietly.

"Who?"

"Julien," she said, her voice softer than the sea breeze. "My love."