It was the wrong tone to take with Kyle. Althea could have told her that. Setting herself up directly against him would only bring out the worst in him. It did.

“Fine. As soon as he conies round, I'll take him down to the ship. He can learn his manners there. Actually, that's probably for the best anyway. If he learns a bit of the ship in port, he won't have to scramble so hard when we're under weigh. And I won't have to listen to women argue with every order I give him.”

“Aboard my ship or in my home,” her mother began, but Kyle cut across her words with words of his own that made Althea both cold and hot with anger.

“Keffria's ship. And mine, as I am her husband. What happens aboard the Vivacia is no longer your affair, Ronica. For that matter, I believe by Bingtown laws of inheritance, this house is now hers as well. To run as we see fit.” . ....

There was a terrible silence. When Kyle spoke again, there was an offer of apology in his voice. “At least, it could be that way. To the detriment of all of us. I don't propose a splitting of our ways, Ronica. Obviously the family will prosper best if we work together, from a common home toward a common goal. But I cannot do that with my hands tied. You must see it is so. You've done very well, for a woman, all these years. But times are changing, and Ephron should not have left you to cope with everything on your own. As much as I respected the man . . . perhaps because I respected the man, I must learn from his mistakes. I'm not going to just sail off into the sunset and tell Keffria to mind things and manage until I return. I have to make provisions now to be able to stay home and run things. Nor am I going to let Wintrow come aboard the Vivacia and behave like some spoiled prince. You've seen what became of Althea: she's willful and thoughtless of others to the point of uselessness. No, worse, to the point of doing damage to the family name and reputation. I'll tell you bluntly, I don't know if you two can draw the lines with her that need to be drawn. Perhaps the simplest thing to do with her would be to marry her off, preferably to a man who does not live in Bingtown. . . .”

Like a ship under full sail, Althea swept around the corner and into the room. “Would you care to mouth your insults to my face, Kyle?”

He was not at all surprised to see her. “I thought I saw your shadow. How long have you been eavesdropping, little sister?”

“Long enough to know that you intend no good for my family or our ship.” Althea tried not to be rattled by his calmness. “Who do you think you are, to speak to my mother and sister so, calmly telling them what you plan to do, how you intend to come back and 'run' things?”

“I think I'm the man of this family now,” he proclaimed bluntly.

Althea smiled coldly. “You can be the man of this family all you like. But if you think you're keeping my ship, you're mistaken.”

Kyle sighed dramatically. “I thought it was only your so-called Rain Wild kin that believed that saying a thing often enough can make it so,” he observed sarcastically. “Little sister, you are such a fool. Not only does the common law of Bingtown recognize your sister as sole heir, but it was put into writing and signed by your father himself. Will you oppose even him in this?”

His words disemboweled her. She felt that everything that had ever given her strength had been torn from her. She had almost managed to convince herself that yesterday had been an accident, that her father could never have consciously intended to take the ship from her. It had only been that he had been in great pain and dying. But to hear that it was in writing, and sealed by him . . . NO. Her eyes darted from Kyle to her mother and then back again. “I don't care what my father was deceived into signing on his deathbed,” she said in a low but furious voice. “I know that Vivacia is mine. Mine in a way you can never claim her, Kyle. And I tell you now, I will not be stopped until I have her under my command-”

“Your command!” Kyle gave a great bark of laughter. “You command a ship? You're not even fit to serve aboard a ship. You have this great conceit about your abilities, this self-deception that you are some kind of a seaman. You're not! Your father kept you aboard to keep you from getting into trouble on shore, as near as I can see. You're not even a good sailor.”

Althea opened her mouth to speak, but a groan from Wintrow, sprawled on the floor, turned all eyes that way. Keffria started forward, but Kyle stopped her with a gesture. Their mother ignored both his look and his hand, however, to go to the boy. He sat up, obviously dizzy, holding both hands to the sides of his head. With an effort he focused his eyes on his grandmother. “Am I all right?” he asked her dazedly.