The words he left unspoken chilled her. He was obviously considering what would be best for the ship and crew in case of his death. She had avoided thinking of such things. He had not. That, too, was part of command. He pushed the scraps of canvas toward her and she began to leaf through them. His next words to Amber brought her attention back to him.

“Amber. Last night, you were over the side. Paragon was holding you. I heard your voices.”

“I was,” Amber agreed evenly.

“Doing what?”

The carpenter looked extremely uncomfortable. “Experimenting.”

Brashen sighed out through his nose. “I won't tolerate that from Lavoy. What makes you think you can adopt that attitude?” More gently, he added, “If it happens on the ship, and I think it's my business, I'll know about it. So tell me.”

Amber looked down at her gloved hands. “We all discussed this before we left Bingtown. Paragon knows of the work I did on Ophelia. He supposes that if I could restore her hands, I could give him eyes again.” Amber licked her lips. “I have my doubts.”

Brashen's tone was dangerous. “As I do. As you were well aware. I told you before we sailed, this is no time for risky experiments in wizardwood carving. A failure that disappointed him could endanger us all.”

Anger flickered over Amber's face.

“I know what you are thinking,” Brashen told her. “But it isn't something that is between the two of you. It involves all of us.”

She took a breath. “I haven't touched his eyes, sir. Nor told him that I would.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“Erasing the scar from his chest. The seven-pointed star.”

Brashen looked intrigued. “Has he told you what the star means?”

Amber shook his head. “I don't know. I only know that whatever memories it holds for him are extremely unpleasant. It was a sort of a compromise. That encounter with the serpent disturbed him. Deeply. He has thought of little else since then. I sense that he is reconsidering all he is. He's like a boy in adolescence. He has decided that nothing is the way he believed it to be, and is reconstructing his whole vision of the world.” She took a deep breath as if to say something important. She seemed to reconsider it, and said instead, “It's a very intense time for him. It is not necessarily bad, what he's doing, but it's deeply introspective. For Paragon, that means sifting through some very bad memories. I sought to distract him,”

“You should have asked me first. And you should not be over the side without someone watching you.”

“Paragon was watching me,” she pointed out. “And holding me while I did the work.”

“Nevertheless.” Brashen made the single word a sharp warning.

“When you are over the side, I want to be aware of it.” More gently, he asked, “How is the work progressing?”

Amber kept her temper. “Slowly. The wood is very hard. I don't want to just plane it off and leave a different sort of scar. I'm more obscuring than erasing it.”

“I see.” Brashen stood and paced a turn around the chamber. “Do you think it's possible you could restore his eyes?”

Amber shook her head regretfully. “I'd have to rework his whole face. The wood is simply gone. Even if I just carved eyes there, there is no guarantee he could see out of them. I have no idea how the magic of wizardwood works. Nor does he. I'd be taking a great risk, and possibly damaging him more.”

“I see.” Brashen considered a moment longer. “Carry on with the scar, but I want you to take the same precautions I'd expect of any other hand. This includes having a partner of some kind when you are over the side. In addition to Paragon.” He was silent briefly, then nodded. “That's all, then. You can go.”

Althea suspected it was not easy for Amber to accede to Brashen's authority. She rose to his command, not resentfully, as Lavoy had, but stiffly, as if it offended her sense of self. Althea rose to follow her out, but Brashen's voice stopped her at the door. “A last word with you, Althea.”

She turned back to him. He glanced at the door standing ajar. She shut it quietly. He took a deep breath. “A favor. I've put Amber in a bad position with Lavoy. Watch over her-no, that's not what I mean. She's as dangerous to him as he is to her. He just doesn't know that yet. Watch the situation. If it looks as if they will clash, warn me. Lavoy is bound to have resentments, but I won't permit him to take them too far.”

She nodded, then spoke the words. “Yes, sir.”