Lord of the Libraries by Mel Odom

family back in Greydawn Moors. Thankfully, none of them had been killed, though he had a son who was injured and a brother who had been crippled.
    “Ye should go with ’im,” Deldar said quietly.
    “Why?”
    “Because he asked ye.”
    “He didn’t ask. He told me to report to dinner.”
    “He come as close to askin’ as I’ve ever seen with anyone outside of Wick.” Deldar shook his head. “Social amenities, they ain’t easy for such a one as Craugh. He’s always been apart from most folks.” He shrugged. “An’ with us chasin’ after the Gran’magister an’ can’t quite catch up to ’im, that’s got to be weighin’ heavy on his mind. Besides that, he saved all of us three days ago.”
    Juhg didn’t speak. They just didn’t know what the wizard was capable of. He still dreamed of Ladamae turning into salt before his very eyes. Sometimes it had been the Grandmagister who had turned to salt in front of Craugh, and the wizard had held The Book of Time just out of the Grandmagister’s reach and laughed and laughed. Juhg had come up screaming from those dreams and the crew had gentled him, thinking he was only remembering the monster’s attacks or that he was worried about the Grandmagister.
    “Look,” Deldar said, “I’ve sailed with ye on more’n one occasion. Been through some adventures with the Grandmagister meownself. This here? When all’s said an’ done, it’ll likely be another.”
    If you live through it, Juhg couldn’t help but think. If Craugh doesn’t betray us all.
    The crew had said their good-byes to the members they’d lost days ago in a short service that Hallekk had conducted, then they’d gotten on with the repairs to the ship. The ship’s cooper had already seen to squaring off the broken mast, both ends, and was hopeful that most of it could be saved. Getting it repaired and set back into place was going to be a hardship. For the night, they were continuing to pump out the cargo hold. In the morning they’d have to see to replacing the cracked planks that were leaking.
    “All I’m sayin’,” Deldar said gently, “is that I don’t think ye’re the onliest one what’s scared right now. Craugh, he can’t turn to none of us. Can’t talk to a one of us about them worries traveling through his head.”
    Realizing that the pirate was making perfect sense and that to turn Craugh’s invitation down would be suspicious not only to the wizard but the crew as well, Juhg nodded. “All right.” He didn’t want the crew asking
him questions about Craugh that he wasn’t prepared to answer, and for the moment he wasn’t prepared to answer any.
    “An’ if things go badly,” Deldar said, holding up a length of rope, “these knots’ll be here a-waitin’ on ye.” He smiled, but the effort was worn and tired.
    “Thank you.” Juhg stood.
    Deldar nodded. “Weren’t nothin’. But ye could do me a favor. If ye still feel beholdin’ after ye sup with the wizard, maybe ye could see yer way clear to bringin’ me one of them biscuits. Cook outdid hisself tonight, he did.”
    Juhg trudged toward the galley, not knowing what to expect. For all he knew, Craugh had been surprised he hadn’t informed the crew and—wanting to make the most of his good fortune—had decided to shove Juhg over the side of the ship when no one was looking.

4
    The Wizard’s Tale
    A s it turned out, Craugh didn’t want to eat down in the galley. He wanted to eat outside on the ship’s deck, saying that two days of sleeping in the small cabin had made him feel too closed up for too long.
    That choice made Juhg immediately nervous. In the dark, shoving someone over the side would be even easier. A number of rigging lines fouled the deck, providing a ready-made excuse for an accident. It was also known that Juhg wasn’t sleeping well. His stomach puckered into a knot as he told the wizard eating out on the deck would be fine.
    Craugh dipped up two heaping bowls of chowder, filled two plates