It took Mav more than an hour to get home, as it always did. He spent the whole hour wondering which of them it was.
He knew what rank D meant for a Subject, because Quill had taught it in his second week. From rank D, the creatures of a World could speak. It was the reason why the cities of the great houses had markets and schools, and why a second-year never called his Subjects beasts.
But Quill had been talking about a normal species, and Mav already knew that the rule wasn’t that simple. Log had been a rank D- beast since long before Mav took him. He had never said a word. Mav didn’t know what the rule meant for a fish with a seaweed in its neck.
He came out of the arch at the bottom of his sea, and he swam to the gate.
Two was waiting for him in front of the dens. He hung in the water without moving, as he always did when he had something to report.
"You are late."
Mav stopped so suddenly that he turned over in the water.
This time, it was a voice, not a feeling or a picture. It had spoken inside his head, in the same place where he felt the points of his Subjects. It was flat, dry and a little tired, like the voice of an old officer.
’Two?’
"Yes. The letters came more than an hour ago. I have been waiting to try this." The needlefish turned one eye toward him. "I have wanted to tell you three things for a long time. May I?"
Mav’s heart was beating so hard that he could hear it. Two had been his first host. He had taken that fish in his first week under the sea. Since then, it had led his army for three months without a single word.
’Yes. Please.’
"First, the south dens are too small. I have 146 needlefish and room for 100. I have told the builders with my tail, but they do not understand me."
’I’ll tell Sela today.’
"Second, you were not sure about Twelve. I saw it. You thought that she was too small to lead. I chose her because she is never afraid at the wrong moment. I was right, and I wanted you to know it."
Mav laughed. It came out of him as a cloud of bubbles.
’You were right. I’m sorry that I doubted you.’
"Third." The dry voice became quieter. "We lost six young ones on the causeway. They were too young to be there. Next time we fight on land, I choose who comes."
Mav didn’t answer at once. He had chosen who came to the marsh that day, and he had chosen badly.
’You’re right. From now on, you choose.’
"Good," Two said.
Mav had a question of his own, and he had been carrying it since that first fish.
’Can I ask you something? When you talk to me, who is talking? The fish, or the seaweed?’
"Both," Two said. "I remember being a fish in the swarm, and I remember the rock before that. But the fish only ever wanted to eat. Everything else is me."
Mav thought about that. It wasn’t the answer that he had feared.
’Thank you, Two. For all of it.’
"I do my work," Two said. But his point in Mav’s head was warm.
-----
Seven reached rank D- the next evening.
Mav found her in her trench, coiled around a rock. She had been the most dangerous creature in this sea on the day he took her. He had always wondered what she thought of him.
"So," a voice said. It was slow, cold and very dry. "You can hear me now."
’Hello, Seven.’
"I remember being the eel," she said. "I hunted alone at the bottom of the slope for years, and nothing ever fought back. Then you came, and you trapped me in a hole." She moved her long body a little. "I am not angry about it. I like what I am now better."
Mav had wondered for a long time how much of the eel was left. Now he knew. Her memories were still there, but the one who remembered them was his.
’Is there anything that you want from me?’
"Bring me something that fights back. The lizards in the mud were good. I want more of that."
She turned back to her rock, and he understood that the conversation was over.
-----
Six took a week longer, because he had been one rank behind the others.
Mav was sitting on the roof of his cabin when it happened. The letters came, and a moment later, something heavy began to climb the path to the base. Six stopped in front of the cabin. He raised one great claw, slowly, as if he were about to say something important.
"Lobster," Six said.
His voice was deep and slow, like a stone rolling.
’What did you say?’
"More lobster."
Mav waited, but nothing else came. Six lowered his claw, and he seemed very pleased with himself.
Mav laughed until he couldn’t breathe. Sela came out of the nearest house to see what was wrong with him. He sent her a picture of it, and she made her annoyed little sound. She was rank E, so she couldn’t speak yet. She clearly thought that it was unfair for a crab to go first.
That evening, he opened his Status.
[Maverick Silkborn. World: Submerged. Rank: E.]
[Subjects: 288]
[Subjects at rank D-: 4/100]
[Development: 34%]
[Heartstone: 60%]
The line for rank D- had moved for the first time. One, Two, Seven and Six were there, and he needed 96 more.
Three more lines had come with those ranks. A host rose when its seaweed outgrew it, so the needlefish, the eel and the crab had each reached rank D-. The jump had changed their bodies, and each kind had found something new.
[You have borrowed a skill: Vortex.]
[Skill: Vortex]
[The user spins the water around it into a whirlpool five meters wide, which pulls in and holds whatever is inside. Many needlefish swimming together make one far larger whirlpool. Duration: 30 seconds. Recharge: five minutes.]
[You have borrowed a skill: Overload.]
[Skill: Overload]
[The user’s next Discharge is three times as strong. Afterward, the user is stunned for 10 seconds. Recharge: 10 minutes.]
[You have borrowed a skill: Molt.]
[Skill: Molt]
[The user leaves its shell or its outer skin in one piece to escape a hold. The empty shell stays behind as a decoy, and a new one hardens within a minute. Recharge: one hour.]
One needlefish made a small whirlpool, but he had 146 of them.
Log wasn’t on that line, and now Mav understood why he was still silent. The Status only looked at the seaweed, and the seaweed in Log’s neck was still far below him. An ordinary wild beast never spoke, whatever its rank. Quill had once said that a few very old and very strong ones could, but nothing like that lived in the marsh. Log would talk on the day his seaweed caught up with him.
The rest of his World had grown too. The 30 eggs had opened, so he had 74 Reefkin, and the smallest ones were learning to carry stones. Six of the 10 roots around the dome had grown new sprouts, which gave him 35 seaweeds, and six of them were free. He had bought two more canteens at the Great Market after the marsh, so all six went into canteens. He no longer left free seaweeds in the cracks, because a seaweed in a crack was no use to him on a hunt. He also wasn’t going to repeat what he had done with Log. Before any of the six took a strong host, he would raise it first.
Sela’s builders had finished the second air hall, with its pool in the floor, and the three wolves had moved into it. So Mav had his own bed again.
Far to the east, on the ridge of rock, the first stones of the island were already in place.
He sat on the roof until the light faded. Below him, Two was giving orders to the young needlefish, and Six was still asking for lobster.
Mav had lived at the bottom of this sea for three months, and it had always been silent.
Now his base was full of voices, and most of them wanted lobster.