After a long while she glanced off to the west, and caught her breath sharply in surprise. But still she did not speak.

He said, as though from far away, "What is it you see, love?"

"A shape out there. A dragon shape, I think."

He made no reply.

She said, "Can it be possible, Valentine? They told us there wouldn't be any dragons in these waters at this time of year. But what is it I see, then?"

"You see a dragon."

"They said there wouldn't be any. But I'm sure of it. Something dark. Something large. Swimming in the same direction we're going. Valentine, how can there be a dragon here?"

"Dragons are everywhere, Carabella."

"Am I imagining it? Perhaps it's only a shadow on the water—a drifting mass of seaweed, maybe—"

He shook his head. "You see a dragon. A king-dragon, one of the great ones."

"You say that without even looking, Valentine."

"Yes. But the dragon is there."

"You sense it?"

"I sense it, yes. That great heavy dragon-presence. The strength of its mind. That powerful intelligence.

I sensed it before you said anything."

"You sense so many things, now," she said.

"Too many," said Valentine.

He continued to look northward. The vast soul of the dragon lay like a weight upon his. His sensitivity had grown during these months of stress; he was able now to send his mind forth with scarcely an effort, indeed could scarcely keep himself from doing so. Awake or asleep, he roved deep into the soul of the world. Distance no longer seemed to be a barrier. He sensed everything, even the harsh bitter thoughts of the Shapeshifters, even the slow throbbing emanations of the sea dragons.

Carabella said, "What does the dragon want? Is it going to attack us, Valentine?"

"I doubt it."

"Can you be sure of that?"

"I'm not sure of anything, Carabella."

He reached toward the great beast in the sea. He strived to touch its mind with his. For an instant there was something like contact—a sense of opening, a sense of joining. Then he was brushed aside as though by a mighty hand, but not disdainfully, not contemptuously. It was as though the dragon were saying, Not now, not here, not yet.

"You look so strange," she said. "Will the dragon attack?"

"No. No."

"You seem frightened."

"Not frightened, no. I'm simply trying to understand. But I feel no danger. Only watchfulness—surveillance—that powerful mind, keeping watch over us—"

"Sending reports on us to the Shapeshifters, perhaps?"

"That may be, I suppose."

"If the dragons and the Shapeshifters are in alliance against us—"

"So Deliamber suspects, on the evidence of someone who is no longer available for questioning. I think it may be more complex than that. I think we will be a long time understanding what it is that links the Shapeshifters and the sea dragons. But I tell you, I feel no danger."

She was silent a moment, staring at him.

"You can actually read the dragon's mind?"