"Hello, Ted."
Eknie had crept up to him, almost completely silent with her light footsteps.
"Hello," Ted said warily. "The beast is not doing well."
"I agree. It seems shocked."
"I would be shocked, too, if I cared enough." Ted sighed. "Have you talked with Madorn?"
"He says we don't have a long way to go. The island has a long, narrow southern point that is almost joined to the coast of the Fin."
She delivered this information in a way that suggested the arrival of other news as well.
Ted raised an eyebrow. "And…? What is the bad news?"
"The bad news is that the crew is getting mutinous." Eknie pinched the bridge of her nose.
The gesture made Ted wonder who had been the original nose-pincher.
"They are not satisfied with how things have turned out. Ted, I think your hold on them is loosening."
"I think so too. I don't much like that thought, but it's our reality right now. I have to do something."
