Before sariya or Saar Ulvo could say or do anything else, a scream from the passenger compartment rent the air. If Sariya hadn't been wearing the earplugs, it may have been enough to drown out the thundering sounds of the lake.
The rich Elf woman, Fyrithe, slammed into the dining compartment hysterically. She made a bee-line for Sariya. "Where is he? Where is my son! Give me back my Jorkie!" she screamed, reaching out to grab Sariya, but did not manage to do so. One was a pampered rich woman whose life is far removed from her ancestors' days of living among nature. The other was a woman who spent most of her life hunting. She dodged aside and pushed at the woman's arms to make her veer off course.
"How dare you! Where's my son!" the woman grabbed her again.
"Madam!" Mr. Saar hastily grabbed the woman. "Calm yourself and explain. Why did attack another passenger?" he demanded.
"Unhand me you yad sawda! You're in this together, aren't you?! Two dami aswadi!" she spat her rude words.
"An ignorant little girl hurling insults can't even tell the difference between Eoduun and Huaesek? I am the first mate of the Lady Orianna. Calm yourself and explain your actions," Mr. Saar said firmly.
Fyrithe fought hard. "Violet or blue, it's all black!" she said fiercely. "She stole my child! Give him back! I won't turn you in, just give him back," she suddenly sobbed.
Sariya traveled different worlds with her family until she was twelve. She knew in some places Eoduun and Elves didn't co-exist peacefully. On Thelessia, they merely left each other alone, neither friendly nor antagonistic but she'd never encountered it on Emphyralis. Many of the logisticians for the witchborn operation were Elves and they treated her no differently than anyone else. Many even seemed to appreciate her archery skills and asked for pointers.
This was the first time she'd faced this type of thing in over a hundred years. Being called a black hand and black blooded? Very insulting, because it implied a devious or deceitful nature. Mr. Saar didn't seem to appreciate it either.
"Where would I have hidden your child when I've been in here eating my food? Many people have seen me," Sariya said coldly. "When was the last time you saw your son? Where?" she demanded. She chose to ignore the behavior of the woman and focus on the missing child.
"You know! You took him!" Fyrithe shouted, still struggling.
Jorke finally came into the dining compartment. He'd been chatting with the captain in the captain's office when he heard his wife's shouting. "Fyrithe? What's wrong? What's happened to Jorkie?" he asked urgently.
Mr. Saar finally let go of the woman when she lunged toward her husband. "That dam aswad took him!" she shrieked, pointing at Sariya. "Make her give him back!" she cried, gripping his clothes.
"Sir, I kindly advise you to help your wife stop speaking nonsense and accusing people. I'm the first mate of the Lady Orianna, Saar Ulvo. Please have her explain what's happened clearly," he said in a calm, mannerly tone.
Jorke was stunned. He looked among his wife, Mr. Saar, and Sariya. He came back to himself. "Say it clearly. What happened to Jokie? Why weren't you watching him?" he demanded.
"I was! I was reading and he was playing with his blocks on the opposite bench! When I looked up, he was gone!" she said and turned to point at Sariya. "Look at her! She could creep up silently and take a child. All her kind are like that!" she accused.
Sariya tilted her head, aghast. "So is your kind!" she returned, dumbfoundedly. All Elf Folk naturally seemed to move around silently. Most Elves were born in forests, and other similar environs, and had evolved for that environment. Even Eoduun and Huaesek had similar beginnings.
Fyrithe stiffened, not knowing how to deny that. Many of the other passengers were also Elves. If that was her stated basis of accusation, then it must be so for any of the other passengers. Her face reddened.
Sariya shook her head and brushed past her. "I don't know where she comes from, but she doesn't measure up to any Elf I've met so far on Emphyralis," she grumbled as she made her way to their shared seating compartment. She saw the blocks spread on the bench and floor. She looked around, wondering what would have interested a child.
She didn't believe anyone took him directly from the compartment, however, the child could definitely have wandered off and been taken later.
She crouched down and looked around, getting a feel for his height. She didn't see anything. "Mr. Saar. Can you smell anything?" she asked. She'd heard him follow her.
Mr. Saar crouched and breathed in through his nose. "Something sweet," he said finally. "No identifying other scent, just sugary," he said, and turned his head, trying to find the source.
"Sugar with no flavor? Even melted sugar turns into caramel," Sariya said.
"Unless you form it before it gets to that point. Flavorless lollies. Very cheap," Mr. Saar said.
Sariya frowned. "Something a man in a threadbare robe would have?" she asked. Where did the poor scholar-mage go? From the time Mr. Saar came up, to the time Fyrithe came careening in. A few minutes? That was plenty of time for someone to lure the child away from his inattentive mother who didn't even want to acknowledge a poor man. The boy was also familiar with the scholar-mage.
Still, she didn't want to jump to conclusions. She stood and walked to the deck, looking for the young man. She saw him standing at the deck railing with the boy, holding his hand. The boy had the stick of the lolly stick out of his mouth happily. It looked innocent enough, but something felt off to Sariya.
The scholar-mage took a stone out of his pocket. Suddenly a bubble wrapped around the deck shimmered. Immediately the wind knocked everyone over. Sariya barely managed to stabilize herself. Mr. Saar was right behind her. He hastily touched a stone at his wrist and the acceleration of the ship began to slow.
It all happened at once. It was already too late. As soon as the bubble came down, the scholar-mage grabbed the boy and jumped over the side. Sariya ran to the railing, already pulling out a small device she slung over her shoulders.
She saw the scholar-mage holding the now struggling child on what looked like a small canoe with fan blades attached to it, speeding away from the ship.
She narrowed her eyes and pulled out her bow and a quiver. Fyrithe was screaming. Jorke was holding on to her.
"What are you doing?" Mr. Saar asked.
Sariya didn't reply, she pulled an arrow from her quiver. She first shot the blades on the canoe, slowing the vessel. When the scholar-mage turned to see what was happening, he let go of the boy. He hadn't even considered the possibility of someone shooting an arrow at him.
The arrow hit him in the shoulder with such force, his body fell over the side of the canoe, screaming. Sariya put her bow and quiver away and jumped over the railing.
Wings unfolded from the device she'd put on. They were a pair of the fake wings Britiana had made for the fake angels on Terranthea. She'd been given a pair just for fun. She'd practiced with them a few times, so she jumped without hesitation even as Mr. Saar tried to reach out to stop her.
Everyone was surprised when she grew wings and flew toward the now cock-eyed and veering canoe. She landed in the canoe. "Let's get you back to your mother," she told the little boy.
He sobbed and threw himself at her. She wrapped him up in her arms and jumped out of the canoe and flew back to the airship. She landed and crouched, putting the boy on the ground.
Fyrithe ran over to him and gathered him up. "Get away from him!" she shouted, sobbing and checking her son over.
Sariya paid her no mind as she put her wings away.
"A nice way to thank someone for saving your child," Mr. Saar said sarcastically.
"I didn't do it for thanks. I would just want someone to do it for me if I was in that situation," Sariya said and patted her slightly bulging stomach. She meant what she said.
After confirming the safety of the child, the jovial Jorke came to her. "Thank you so much, madam. I don't know how to thank you. Let me reward you!" he said.
Sariya firmly shook her head. "That would make me no different than him," she said. It was fairly obvious why someone would kidnap a child.
"Master Jorke, a word of advice. Don't go around bragging about how much money you have. Others may not have noticed, but I did. You're new to your riches. I suspect your mine is a new discovery. Don't forget your humble origins. If your wife insists on being a walking sign board for 'We have too much money and no common sense', perhaps she's not the one for you," Mr. Saar said.
Jorke was feeling thankful. Now he felt embarrassed. Mr. Saar was right. He didn't have a private yacht yet and his Draconite mine was indeed new.
"In fact, if that man was smart, he would simply have taken your wife. She's wearing enough jewels to fund a single person a good life for many years," Mr. Saar added.
Jorke was even more embarrassed. "She's just spoiled," he muttered.
"Spoiled is just another word for childish and immature," Sariya said. "I won't tell you how to conduct your life. You seem like a sensible man. This incident will either change things or they won't. Go to your child," she said calmly and then walked away from the situation. "Mr. Saar, may I have a word?" she asked.
"Please, call me Ulvo. Mr. Saar seems so formal," he said jovially as he followed her, smiling at her winningly.
"I'm a married woman, Mr. Saar," she said flatly.
Ulvo sighed. "A lucky man. Now, what do you wish to discuss?" he asked when he noticed no one else around.
She nodded toward his wrist. "He had one of those. I don't know much about magic, but I would assume those things aren't universal," she said.
Ulvo frowned and looked at his wrist. "Hmm. I'll speak to the captain. It appears you either suspect us, or think we have a traitor somewhere," he said.
Sariya looked him up and down. "Considering the route you run, you probably have many contacts in Weston to sell his batch of cargo. Even if he doesn't have money yet, he probably will. But, you'd lose many customers if rich ones kept having bad things happen to them," she said simply.
"Therefore, you think someone in our crew helped him. A shame we can't retrieve his body. It's probably not even intact anymore. Hitting Thunder Lake from this altitude," he shook his head, not even able to imagine the condition. "I'll talk to the captain," he said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Golgfelaket Sariya," he said and gave her another gallant bow and smiled charmingly, a lock of hair falling in his eyes.
Sariya nodded to him and walked away. She didn't care whether the crew of the Lady Orianna were grifters or not. If they were, they'd get caught eventually. If they weren't, then it was fine. Still, she'd tell Britiana and Darius all about this incident. They'd know what to do.
Until then, she'd just try to enjoy the rest of her airship ride. Soon the dome came up and they were accelerating again. She sat in the dining room, watching the ground go by, peacefully drinking some lemonade.