A Trip To Tuanaki

Chapter 9

The Nameless drops anchor not far from another airship, a personal craft just big enough for two, perhaps three in a pinch. Mal throws a rope ladder over the rail and offers a hand to Alice. She stands momentarily frozen, her hands clutching awkwardly at the straps of the pack she's slung over her shoulders.

"I guess this is it, huh?" she asks no one in particular. Mal gets a sidelong glance, and then she comes up with the courage to ask, "Could I, uh... possibly get some company?"

He frowns, slowly turning to his first mate. "Gunny?"

She sighs, caught between irritated and amused. "I have the watch," she says dryly, and Alice actually shoots her a grateful look.

"Thanks," she says, sort of to both of them.

"After you," Mal says, and so she finally climbs over the edge. By the time she makes it to the ground, an elf has emerged from one of the buildings in the small compound. Judging against a human standard, he barely looks old enough to be her father, but Alice knows aging is a different thing for elves. However, there's an undeniable family resemblance. Staring back at her out of his face are her own eyes — almost eerily-light grey-green. Alice suddenly understands why so many people have been taken aback upon seeing her own.

"Lifahrn?" Alice asks hesitantly.

"Please, just Fahrn," he says. "Lifahrn sounds so... formal."

"So you're my father, then," she says. "So I am... half elf."

"Assuming you're Helene's daughter, yes," Fahrn says. "Unless, of course, you're by another man. But you're, what, hmm, twenty? Give or take? And two decades ago was when we were in school. So, yes, there's a decent chance you're our child. She was pregnant when I left."

"You left when she was pregnant?" Alice asks, confused. Something about his story isn't lining up — at least, not with any of the stories she's been told over the years. But the question is, which ones should she suddenly doubt? There's no good reason Fahrn would lie to her, but he wouldn't have any particular need to tell her the truth, either. "What I mean is — why?"

Fahrn shrugs. "She knew I was never going to stick around. It was just an affair. I told her that from the beginning. She's the one who convinced me she'd be able to take care of anything that happened because of it... and I'd believed she had, until today. I suppose you're here to tell me she's dead?"

Alice feels a tiny shiver go down her spine, because she suddenly realizes that she can't be sure that's not true. "No," she says. "I just wanted to — meet you."

"Well, then, congratulations," Fahrn says, sounding incredibly unamused. "You've met your father. Now, will you leave me alone?"

Alice is silent for a moment, and at first, Fahrn takes this as a response and heads for the cabin. "Wait, I just — I don't understand."

Fahrn sighs and stops in the middle of the dirt yard between his buildings. "Alright, go on, ask whatever question's burning on your mind," he says.

"If you knew she was pregnant, didn't you — care? I mean, sure, you didn't plan it, but couldn't you have stuck around? Where'd you have to go, anyway?"

"To get married," Fahrn says matter-of-factly. "I'm sure you've met Rhai by now. That fire the captain spoke of earlier is just her idea of a good time. Anyway, I had already been betrothed to her mother when I went to the Institute and met Helene. And I was upfront with Helene about it from the beginning. She was the one who pushed the relationship."