CHAPTER 28
The Harbor
Cade waited until Elaina was finished with her breakfast of bread and a hard apple before bringing up the harbor. He had decided not to think about the past while he was here, only the present, but it was as hard as he'd suspected to push down the constant stream of memories. It was like a tune in his head, and if he stopped paying attention for a second it would come up again.
"Would you like to go see the wharf—or what's left of it?" He asked, careful to make it a question and not a command. It was never his intent to dominate her as he apparently had at the beginning of their flight together, and he certainly didn't want to remind her of his role in her captivity. His musings were interrupted by Elaina's response.
"Ah. Yes, of course. Lead on!" She stammered quickly. Cade's eye's narrowed, considering. There’s a definite reluctance there. Why is she so shifty-eyed?
"Very well . . ." he said at last when she still wouldn't look at him. Wondering, he tightened his bootlaces and set off out of the house and down to the sea.
The road was a ramp on one side, stairs on the other broken in their descent only by the flat, open squares where other large roads joined in. Walking through the desolation, Cade found his mood was not as dark as the day before, when he'd first considered the ruin of Ashira.
With Elaina's light footfalls behind him, somehow all the destruction seemed more manageable. He tried not to think too much of it; she was a Guardian and hunted by the Drethlords, as was he. There is no time for Antral now. But perhaps, if we live, perhaps we can return one day and restore some small part of what was lost.
Cade finally stopped after the last step, where the road turned into the sea wall that itself curled out to become the pier. Balancing on one foot, he pulled off first one boot, then the other.
"The water's not cold," he assured her as he skinned his shirt over his head.
"What?!" Elaina's voice was muffled by his shirt, but her surprise was clear as soon as his head reemerged. She was staring at him open-mouthed and blushing at his state of undress, he noticed. Cade grinned ruefully. Northerners.
"If you want to fix the dock, you must see what of it is broken, including the part under the surface." He noted. Elaina didn't return his smile like she so often did. In fact, she was rather pale and grim.
"What is it?" he asked. Elaina just shook her head.
Wishing for a moment that she was not quite as stubborn as she was, Cade shrugged. If she'd made up her mind not to tell him, she wasn't going to tell him. In three quick steps, he dove into the water. Elaina didn't follow, he saw when he surfaced. She was standing in just the same spot and had not even removed her boots.
"Come on, not even you could think this cold, I promise." Treading water, he got no response. "Swim in your dress if you will, but kick off those boots and get in!" he called. She didn't respond, shifting from one foot to the other, arms crossed beneath her breasts.
"Elaina!" he cried at last, exasperated.
"I can't swim!" she shouted back at last. Cade blinked in the silence that followed, riding up and down on the gentle waves.
"What?"
"I never learned how." She said defensively. He felt an alarming urge to protect her as she stood there pouting, reluctant to meet his stare.
"Then I'll teach you." said Cade gently, swimming back to the seawall. The look she gave him was extremely doubtful. "Trust me, I've been swimming all my life. I won't let anything happen to you," Cade soothed. "Now take off your shoes and your dress and come sit here," he instructed, patting the edge of the wall.
Casting suspicious glances at the water, and blushing like the sun, of course, Elaina complied. She even smiled a little once she was dangling her feet in the water. Cade tore his eyes from the smooth curve of her ankles to look up at her face.
"Alright, hold on and slide in. I'm right here," he assured her. To his immense surprise, she listened. Her grip on the edge was white-knuckled, but Elaina lowered herself gingerly into the water. She even let go with one hand to keep the hem of her camisole from floating up.
Truth, she’s convinced this will kill her, but still she cares first about her modesty. I will never understand Northerners!
Once her clothes were soaked and drifted around her heavily, she hastily grabbed the wall with both hands once more. Cade's amusement faded at the terror on her face.
"Please don't make me let go," she begged through pale lips. No doubt half of that misery is because I know she’s afraid. Cade suppressed a smile. She’s as proud as a Harsonrim king.
"Not yet," he promised, "First just kick—like this." He grabbed the edge and demonstrated. Slowly, Elaina mimicked him. Cade was fairly sure he had never seen her this scared before, which was astounding. How could water be more terrifying than Keravel or Darin? You bathe in it for Truth's sake!
"Good," he murmured encouragingly. "With your whole leg, not just your feet. Don't bend your knees so much, that's why you're splashing. It wastes your energy."
"Alright," Cade began once she was kicking confidently. "There's a boulder out there," he gestured out into the bay, "That's where I stood with Corin when our father taught us how to swim. We would rest there when we played in the harbor." Cade said, remembering how his father had ordered all the ships to wait out that day anchored outside the arc of the pier so they could learn with the whole of the bay to themselves. It had turned into a spontaneous holiday for the whole city.
Grey eyes flicked out over the unbroken surface of the water and back to his face, bringing him back to the present. Now we are trying to bring ships into the harbor instead.
"You are taller than I was then, so you'll be fine standing there while I show you what to do." Cade explained.
"But I can't get there." She protested, throwing one elbow over the lip of the wall for a better grip.
"I can, and I'm going to help you." Cade replied as confidently as he could without sounding patronizing. "Hold onto me and kick, just like you were doing with the wall," he instructed, holding out his hands to her. "Come on, I won't sink."
As baffled as he was by her fear—it isn’t as though I would let her drown!—Cade could see the depth of it in her eyes. This wasn't a wholly rational terror, but it was real enough. He almost cheered when she shoved herself away from the wall and leapt to him.
Cade didn't flinch at the painful grip she had on his forearms. Clearly, her concern for his shirtless state ranked below her concern for the water, though she still blushed every time her eyes brushed him. Honestly, are the married women up there any better? They must be—they’re managing to have kids . . . Best leave that chain of thoughts alone.
"I've got you," he promised, "Keep kicking." Cade backed away from the wall, bringing Elaina with him. Her breaths came in short gasps bordering on panic. He let her move them through the water, kicking only enough to keep them at the surface. It was slow progress, but eventually, he put his feet down and touched the algae-covered rock.
"Put your feet down, Elaina. You made it," said Cade with a smile. When her feet found the stone, her weight left his arms, but her hands didn't.
"It's okay to let go now, the rock isn't going anywhere." He reminded her lightly. She didn't even glare at him or blush, just closed her eyes for a few deep breaths and pried her fingers off his forearm. Then she opened them and smiled, relief and pleasure sparking in her eyes.
Cade sucked in a quick gasp, finding himself suddenly, inexplicably breathless. Hair half-wet and escaping from a loose braid, camisole clinging wetly, and that vibrant, victorious expression—she was exquisite.
Pushing off the rock, Cade created a span of cool, unruffled water between them. He tried to collect himself, fixing a grin on his lips to answer her genuine one. That was far too easy, far too warm there in the water so close to her. He felt himself reacting to her nearness and it was . . . disconcerting.
"See there? Well done!" He said quickly, trying not to sound as breathless as he felt. Must be more out of shape
than I thought, tiring out this way from just a little swim, Cade told himself. "Let me show you a few strokes," he offered, eager to have a few moments away from those brilliant eyes.
Even before she nodded, Cade was drawing a deep breath. He sank beneath the surface and kicked out hard, fluttering his feet and plunging first one arm, then the other into the water and drawing himself forward. Right-pull, left-pull, right-pull, left-pull, and on and on. He had just flipped over in the water and turned back when he got the strangest feeling of urgency.
Swimming faster, the water around him suddenly hardened, and he found himself crashing through a thin layer of ice that cut at his arms and chest. Jerking to the surface, Cade was just in time to see the ice covering the harbor disappear in a flash of steam as the water became scalding hot for another blink of the eye.
Elaina.
He couldn't see her in the thick mist that filled the harbor, but he felt her shifting in his head, moving. Moving down. Surprising, searing fear flooded into his mind as Cade dove forward. The Link between them flickered and faded as he swam feverishly forward. Please, true spirits, don’t let me be too late!
Elaina knew she was going to die. Water swirled everywhere. She hadn't managed to take a breath when she'd slipped off the slimy boulder, and now she struck out blindly for the surface or the rock. It wasn't working. It isn’t working.
Her lungs burned, she fought the urge to breathe in. Can’t breathe, don’t breathe. Have to breathe! I’m going to die.
I’m going to die.
Something closed around her waist, pulling her backwards, dragging her under. No! Elaina tried to scream, but there was no sound, only a cold rush of black water into her lungs.
Cade hauled her limp form to the sea wall twice as fast as it had taken them to get out there. She'd been swimming down and fought him when he tried to take her to the surface, but she wasn't strong enough to stop him. Bracing himself with one arm, he lifted her onto dry land with the other in a single desperate lunge. Scrambling up to kneel beside her, he searched her wet face.
"Elaina, come on," he urged, touching her face. "Elaina," she didn't move. The Link was as thin and weak as the sound of a single violin from a high tower. Death is coming.
"Elaina!" he shouted, and the walls and cliffs sent his voice chasing itself off the stones. Cade laid a hand on her chest. There was nothing. Each precious second that passed, he knew he was losing her. Desperate, he brought his fist down on her chest in anger and fear, willing her heart to beat.
Elaina convulsed, water pouring from her lips. He watched in shock as she rolled to her side and coughed, gulping in great gasps of air in between until finally she lay still. Cade leaned over her searching her face. Her eyes were closed and her skin white.
"Elaina?" he murmured and laid a hand to her throat. Under that cold skin was a rapid, uneven pulse. She took a thin, shuddering breath and opened her eyes. They looked up at him in dazed recognition.
"True spirits, I thought you were dead." He breathed, pulling her to him when she shook her head. Cade held her as he had by the creek after he'd killed Darin, only this time he was the one who wept. His shoulders did not shake, and he didn't sob, but tears ran down his cheeks for the second time in as many days. Cade didn't care. She was alive.
Elaina wouldn’t touch the water for days after her disastrous swimming lesson. Cade didn’t press her. Instead, he showed her around the city, telling her what it was like before the Invasion. As they went, Elaina fixed what she could. Mostly she scrubbed things clean of the grime of neglect and the smoke stains from the fall of the city.
The fountains and gardens were easy enough as well. The fountains ran from a cistern at the top of the cliff and had only stopped when the pipes became clogged. With a simple web, she unclogged them, and the sound of falling water soon joined the crash of the waves in Ashira again. Elaina was less adept with plants, but even if she was not as strong at it as Miranya, simple gardening was no obstacle.
Cade told her not to worry over the roofs and walls of the houses, but was privately delighted when she quickly restored his old home to its former beauty.
In the moments he spent lost in bittersweet memories of this place and the people who would never return to it, Elaina thought of Hetarth. So much had happened since then it was another lifetime, but she didn't think she would ever be as happy as the days after the Changing, at home in Tar Haviel with Hetarth and Landon.
It hardly seemed like Tar Haviel was home anymore. Its hold on her had faded with time, with distance, and with Hetarth. She couldn't see herself living there again, even if she ever got the chance. Not without Hetarth there.
Watching Cade trail his fingers along a doorway or across a railing, Elaina wished she could feel the same way he did—that there was someplace that felt like home, even if the loved ones that made it important were gone. She knew it was hard for him to relive it, but still she was jealous.
"You'll have to show me Tar Haviel sometime," Cade interrupted her reverie, coming through the door of Sarina's room from the garden. Elaina blinked at him. Can he read my mind?
"It isn't much," she replied with a shrug, "just a little town, one inn, one blacksmith, one butcher, and farmers. We didn't even live there, really. Our house was off in the Wilds."
"You and your family? Tell me about your mother and father." He pressed, "You know all about mine." Cade's easy smile faded when she did not return it.
"I don't remember very much about them. They were taken to Hurndrith when I was ten, before I lived in Tar Haviel. Agents." She explained shortly.
"Who took care of you after that?" He asked.
"My mother's brother, Hetarth Aridal."
"He is a Guardian as well?"
"He was." Elaina looked away, but he waited for her to go on. "After my Changing, agents came after us in Tar Haviel, Landon and Hetarth and I,"
"Landon?"
"Yes, of Loth Daer. Apparently, he's the heir to the throne, but he didn't tell me that at the time—" She explained.
Cade frowned a little. "You seem to attract princes," he noted. Elaina rolled her eyes.
"You're interrupting." She said, exasperated, "so when the agents showed up, we fled north. They caught Hetarth at Donlin." To her surprise, Elaina's voice caught. She thought it had been long enough that she could speak of it . . .
Cade didn't have to ask what had happened.
"He taught you the pillars?" he said at last. Elaina nodded,
"The casting, creation, and everything else. To read and write, to cook, to chop wood . . . everything but swimming." She finished with a little smile. Cade studied the floor.
"They took everything from both of us, then." He said quietly. "Here I am telling you about my life, not knowing anything about yours."
"Well, there isn't much to tell. And they don't have us." She said stoutly, "I intend to take it all back. If we lost everything, so do they. And then we can rebuild." Cade smiled at the thought, but said,
"You can't rebuild everything."
Elaina could see he regretted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but she didn't mind. It was true. Lives cannot be restored, people cannot be rebuilt. There will never be another Hetarth, and I will never speak to him again. Not in this world, at least.
"No, but I can make sure no one takes it from me again." She said seriously. Cade looked up, considering.
"You have to take the chance first," he observed, "there’s risk of losing everything all over again."
Elaina snorted. "There's always that risk, most people just don’t know it. I'm not going to live a half-life, never getting close to anyone just because I might lose them someday—then they'll have won. They'll have taken away my past and my future."
Cade nodded, but didn't go on.
The next morning, Cade woke up first, as always. Elaina wouldn’t want to go, so he made his way down to the harbor before she woke. Leaving his shirt and boots in a pile, he dove in and began swimming
back and forth between the sea wall and the last pillars of the pier.
On the fourth or fifth lap he surfaced at the pillars for a break and saw Elaina sitting on the sea wall, feet dangling in the water. Waving, Cade smiled to himself and plunged back in to join her. He dove deep and surfaced right beside her, making her gasp and laugh in surprise.
Cade smiled. Her laughter had that effect on him. Even if her broad smile lit up her whole face and his only lightly touched his lips and his eyes, it was more than he'd shown since the last time he was in Ashira fourteen years before.
"I thought you were avoiding the water." He said, bobbing in the waves by her feet. Elaina rolled one shoulder.
"A little." She admitted, "but I have an idea." Cade watched her curiously and climbed up beside her when she patted the wall.
"I tried something like this once before, but this is a little more complicated with all the water," she began, "so I might need your help." Cade gave her a puzzled nod, wondering if she really wanted to try to swim again. The thought scared the skin off of him, but if she wanted to, he wouldn't stop her. Not living half-way, indeed!
"What I need you to do is not touch me." She explained.
"I think I can handle that,” Cade agreed with mock seriousness, "at least for a while." She smiled,
"Unless things go badly. Then I need you to take the Pillars away, and don't let the wave get me." Elaina finished.
"The wave?" he repeated.
"You'll see what I mean." She assured him grimly. Turning her attention to the harbor, Elaina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, all the humor and mischief were gone, replaced with focused intensity.
A lull between the waves left Cade's feet dry, and he looked down. The water was falling, falling and not rising again. Glancing over at Elaina, he followed her stare out to sea and gaped.
On the edge of the harbor an enormous wall of water was forming, towering halfway up the cliffs and growing. She was damming off the harbor, draining it. Cade couldn't believe it.
He had seen the Drethlords work, had seen what made them tired, so tired sometimes that they couldn't stand without help. Any one of them would have been on the ground before the harbor was half emptied. And they’re strong.
The seafloor was slowly revealed. Little orange and purple anemones that dotted the rocks, and the boulder in the middle covered with treacherous black and green algae reared its head as the water level dropped. At last, only little pools remained in the deepest valleys of the seafloor, teeming with fish. Cade swallowed. She isn’t even breathing hard.
There was more. The crumbled piles of white stone that had formed the pier shifted and moved, rising in the air and rotating back into place with the deep, grinding groan of stone against stone. Watching, Cade had absolutely nothing to say, even if he had been willing to interrupt her concentration. Which I certainly am not.
He eyed the wall of water that towered above them at the harbor mouth, and he badly wanted to get to his feet just so he wouldn't feel quite so tiny and vulnerable. Getting to your feet won’t help, fool. If that wave comes down. . .
His eyes flickered to his Wielder, sitting calmly beside him with a grey stare that could have bored a hole through iron. It’s flattering she thinks I can save her from that, but if she loses control, we’re both dead. With that nervous thought bouncing around his mind, Cade looked back to the harbor.
The white stone began to glow and waver around the edges until it became a rosy pink. Bursts of steam rose off the molten stone where water remained, clouding the view of that immense wall of water. Slabs of liquid rock moved together with searing heat until they formed one solid piece—the walkway of the dock. That enormous piece settled gently atop the newly re-forged pillars.
The great arc of the pier gleamed dully in the mist that filled the harbor. A sudden breeze swirled down the cliffs, lifting the clouds of steam and cooling the stone until it was pure white and brilliant in the sun.
It also revealed the enormity of the wave that waited at the entrance of the harbor. Cade felt his skin tingle with fear that it would now pour down on them. Every moment he expected her strength to give out.
But the moment of disaster never came. Slowly, the towering cliff of the displaced sea washed back into the harbor, splashing and hissing against the still-hot pier.
In a matter of minutes, the bay of Ashira was as calm as before, only now with a long, curled finger of white stone jutting out into it. Cade couldn't take his eyes off it while the waves reached up again to lap at their feet.
Beside him, Elaina's shoulders slumped as she sighed. Blinking at the vision before him, Cade turned to its creator. She watched him with a tired smile.
"I can't believe," he began, peering at the harbor then tearing his eyes away stare at her again, "I didn't know a person could do such a thing.” He shook his head, “To move the water, even, was more than I could have imagined. To do all of it at once . . ." he ran out of words. Elaina smiled, rising to her feet.
"Is that about right? I know it's probably not as you remember—"
"Not as I remember!" Cade cut her off, standing as well, "Don't be absurd! That was the work of hundreds of men for years, and you've done it in an hour! Theirs was bits of rock expertly fit together, yours is a single piece! This will last a thousand years—more!" he cried in disbelief. Her smile broadened,
"So you like it?" Shaking his head, Cade grabbed her around the waist and picked her up to spin her around in the air. When he set her back down she managed to stammer in surprise,
"What's gotten into you?" Cade laughed, which only made her stare the more.
"I don't know. You, maybe." He replied, "Every time I think I know something, you prove me wrong. It makes me wonder what other impossible things can be done tomorrow."
"I'd hate to disappoint you, but that is just about the most I can do," Elaina began, and he burst out laughing again. Here she’s done the impossible and apologizes because that’s her limit!
Just then she was looking at him like he'd lost his mind, but Cade didn't care. How could he explain that he wasn't just talking about the Elements? She'd lost as much as he had, but instead of shutting down and stepping back, she threw herself into life with twice as much energy, twice as much feeling.
Watching her live was enough to make him want to come alive, too, something Cade hadn't felt since his life collapsed with Antral. It’s madness. It’s wonderful. Smiling crookedly, he took off down the pier pulling Elaina with him. When he got to the end, he let go of her hand and dove into the water on a whim.
When he surfaced, tossing his wet hair out of his eyes, Cade looked back for Elaina, expecting to see that indulgent, contented expression she always wore when he did something expressive. His jaw dropped so fast he came up sputtering sea water.
She was wearing just the expression he expected, but instead of being on the dock, she was lounging on the top of the water not a span away from him. When he swam closer, she raised a hand in warning.
"Careful, if you touch it I'll sink like a stone."
"Touch what?"
"The web. I just made myself a little boat of Air to lay on here, so don't make it disappear on me." She informed him. Cade blinked and wondered why that hadn't occurred to him before. Now that he was looking, he could see the waves lapping of the sides of the invisible vessel.
"That's brilliant," he said appreciatively. "It's a perfect solution."
"I should have thought of it when I was drowning,” she grimaced, “but it does have one enormous flaw." Elaina admitted.
"What?"
"One ashendari and I'm fish food." She pointed out. Her grey eyes locked on his, and Cade found himself wishing for something to hang onto himself. She had purposefully put herself in a situation where all the power was in his hands, after trying it once had nearly killed her. Having just seen what she could do, Cade fully understood how unusual that had to be for her.
A slow smile grew on his
lips. How had he been so lucky as to end up the Watcher for a Wielder like this? While he floated there wondering how he had come to care for her as much as he found he did, she looked past him and gave a start of surprise.
"Excellent timing." She said, and a stiff breeze sprang up to push her back to the pier. Cade tilted his head at her, confused, but then he followed her gaze out to sea. Entering the harbor under full sail was a thin, graceful ship of the Seviade Cotar.