Chapter Eighteen – Good fishermen
Finals week wrapped up quickly. Most of the students sailed home for the long recess. Pria and her crew were given a month of leave. An officer from the central fleet came to keep watch over Andin and Fake’s activities. Luckily for the boys, the peculiar man was wholly disinterested in his job.
“It’s a stroke of luck really,” said Fake.
“With Lady Pria at least we had to try to be subtle, this guy is clueless,” chuckled Andin.
The officer from the fleet had an inordinate amount of luggage. He exaggerated the effort of loading his bags onto the courier ship in the hopes someone would pity him and lend a hand. The crew milled about smartly, ignoring the man. Fake, Andin, and Percaphia boarded last.
The courier ship shoved off from the docks and sailed east. One of the students from Andin’s class walked up to him, “Hello professor.” It was the same boy who told the prince about the Prestle family at the beginning of the school year.
Andin remembered he was a bit of a slacker, “Hello Pejo.”
“Why are you going to the Silver Chain?” asked Pejo.
“Your parents asked me to continue your studies over the recess,” answered Andin.
Pejo’s eyes widened in fear, “Really?”
“No, but you should at least open a book during the break.”
Pejo was still tense; Andin’s stoic nature made his sarcasm even more cutting. “What discipline should I take as my second?” Pejo asked hoping to escape any more threats against his vacation.
Andin thought about it for a moment and said, “That’s a hard decision for anyone, I’ll tell you what one of my old professors told me.” Andin envisioned Svoi’s triumphant smile – the smile he surely would unleash if he knew his favorite pupil was quoting him. “He said quite simply, pick the one that is the most fun.”
Andin could see that Pejo was thinking which that was. “Do you know what it is?” asked the fire prince.
Pejo nodded, “Yes professor, lightning – but it’s so unwieldy.”
“To a novice,” corrected Andin. “If you enjoy it, you’ll enjoy becoming better at it. When you get home see if anyone on your island practices lightning magic; when you get back to school go see Professor Olston. Talk to them and find out more. How the element behaves for others is important, but more so is how it interacts with your own abilities.”
Pejo left to rejoin his schoolmates. Andin cracked open a book and tried to pass the time. The wind steadily drove the vessel east. By nightfall the courier ship was in the open ocean, out of sight of land. Andin and the other night owls on board watched as a pack of lunis whales travelled alongside them. Their backs striped with curling glowing lines.
Perc’s tone was fittingly romantic and flowing as she spoke, “They say the old lunis whale king didn’t have stripes. He was so enamored by the moon’s beauty he pleaded with her to give him a token of her majesty that he might enjoy it in the black depths where he hunted. The moon agreed to bless the whale king and his people, but at a price.”
More than just Fake and Andin were listening to Perc’s addictive voice. She went on, “So the moon sent a jewel to the whale king – the moonstone. The moonstone was an object of jealous beauty, refusing to shine anywhere she could be rivaled. So the whale king dove to the inky abyss. As he dove deeper and deeper the stone grew more radiant and intoxicating.”
The clouds parted letting the moonlight through. It seemed as if even the whales moved closer to hear Perc’s story. “Finally, in the darkest and deepest hole in the ocean the moonstone settled on the bottom. With no rivals to challenge her, the moonstone shone like nothing the whale king had ever seen before. He understood now the price of this gift; only he would ever know the true brilliance of the moonstone.”
“It was an object of such incomprehensible beauty the whale king dare not let it escape his sight. The mighty whale king circled the stone reverently for hours. The king knew this place would be his grave. Choking on the stale air in his lungs he collapsed the rocky cliffs surrounding the rift in his death throes. Buried with his treasure the whale king died. Knowing the dark nature of her moonstone the moon wept at the death of the whale king.”
Nothing but Perc’s voice filled the air, “But such passion and such beauty cannot simply be buried. From then on there would never be another lunis whale king, but all would bear the mark for his sins. Once mighty hunters the lunis whales became scavengers as their own radiant shine warned away any prey they might desire.”
With mouths closed and eyes open the gathered souls on the moonlit deck of the ship watched the lunis whales. With steady rhythm the whales curved against the surface taking breaths of air. With the weight of understanding all now knew the price of their beauty.