For the most part, the weather continued to favor them. There Were storms, but they did not cause the ship damage or ship’s company to fear. A few were severe enough that ship and passengers sought shelter in an island’s protective cove or windward bluffs. Once or twice they were badly lashed by heavy winds and rain while still aloft, but the Jerle Shannara was well made and able to endure.
Certainly it helped having the ship’s builder aboard. If something malfunctioned or failed, Spanner Frew found the problem and fixed it almost instantly. He was ferociously loyal to and protective of his vessel, a mother hen with teeth, and he was quick to reprimand or even assault anyone who mistreated her. Once Bek watched him cuff one of the Rover crew so hard he knocked the man down, all because the crewman had removed a diapson crystal improperly.
The only one who seemed able to stand up to him was Rue Meridian, who was intimidated by no one. Of all aboard ship, save Walker, she was the coolest and calmest presence. Bek remained in awe of Little Red, and when he had the chance to do so, he watched her with an ache he could not quite manage to hide. If she noticed, she kept it to herself. She was kind to him and always helpful. She would tease him now and then, and she made him laugh with her surreptitious winks and clever asides. She was the airship’s navigator, but Bek soon discovered that she was much more. It was apparent from the beginning that she knew as much as her brother about flying airships and was his most valued adviser. She was also extremely dangerous. She carried knives everywhere she went, and she knew how to use them. Once, he watched her compete against the other Rovers in a throwing contest, and she bested them easily. Neither her brother nor Furl Hawken would throw against her, which told Bek something. He thought she might not be as skilled at the use of weapons as Ard Patrinell, but he would not have wanted to put it to a test.
Much of his time was spent with Ahren Elessedil. Together, they would walk the ship from end to end, discussing everything that interested them. Well, not quite everything. A few things, he did not share with anyone. He still hid, even from the Elf, the presence of the phoenix stone. He still told no one of his meeting with the King of the Silver River. But it was growing harder and harder to keep these secrets from Ahren. With time’s passage, he was becoming as close to the young Elf as to Quentin, and sometimes he thought that Ahren would have been his best friend if Quentin hadn’t claimed the position first.
“Tell me what you want to do with your life, Bek,” the Elf said one evening as they stood at the railing before sleep. “If you could do anything at all, what would it be?”
Bek answered without thinking. “I would find out the truth about myself.”
There it was, right out in the open without his meaning for it to happen. He would have swallowed the words if there had been a way, but it was too late.
“What do you mean?” Ahren looked sharply at him.
Bek hesitated, seeking a way to recover. “I mean, I was brought to Coran and Liria when I was a baby, given to them when my parents died. I don’t know anything about my real parents. I don’t have any family history of my own.”
“You must have asked Quentin’s father and mother. Didn’t they tell you anything?”
“I asked them only a little. Growing up, I felt it didn’t matter. My life was with them and with Quentin. They were my family and that was my history. But now I want to know more. Maybe I’m just beginning to realize that it’s important to me, but now that I find it so, I want to know the truth.” He shrugged. “Silly to wonder about it, out here in the middle of nowhere.”
Ahren smiled. “Out in the middle of nowhere is exactly the right Place to wonder who you are.”