Fate of the Free Lands

by Jack Campbell

  Grapnels were already coming across, hurled by the crew of the Bright Morning, but as the two ships came together with a thump Tora’s sailors hesitated, already thrown off by seeing Jules herself facing them, poised to charge but frozen by the sudden appearance of so many opponents.

  “What’s the matter?” Jules called to Captain Tora, who on his own quarterdeck was only a few lances from where she stood on the railing of the Prosper. The two ships were locked together by the grapnels. “Aren’t you coming over?”

  “I didn’t expect betrayal!” Tora called back.

  “Betrayal? None of my crew have left the deck of this ship. But if you want to talk betrayal, let’s speak of the Evening Star.” Jules was close enough to see the ripple of unease among Tora’s crew at that ship’s name. “You left them, didn’t you? You left them to die on Imperial swords and swinging from Imperial nooses. But such acts have a way of coming back on those who commit them. Raise your swords, sailors of the Evening Star! Show these brave pirates where you stand.”

  Artem, Mad, and the others raised their swords.

  “Have you nothing to say to them, Captain Tora?” Jules called. The more she thought of the Bright Morning sailing away and leaving the Evening Star to its fate, the angrier she got. She’d had to hold a lot in over the last few weeks. And every time she thought of Imperial officials and Mechanics and Mages mistreating anyone they wanted because no one could stop them, the heat inside of her grew worse. Maybe it was time to let it out. “Your reputation comes before you, and it fills the air with a foul smell. You’re a coward, a cheat, and a liar, not fit to command a boat hauling garbage from the cheapest tavern in Beldan.”

  That was as close as anyone could come to calling out someone else. And she’d done it in front of Tora’s crew, the insults heard by all of them.

  Tora’s face formed a mask of rage. “Brave words from someone hiding behind a big crew!”

  “Clear a space and I’ll say it within sword’s reach of you,” Jules yelled back. “Or do you fear to face me? Will you run away again as you did when Captain Orin and his crew had need of you? How many have you stabbed in the back, you spineless worm?”

  Tora’s hands were gripping the railing of his quarterdeck so hard that Jules wondered they didn’t splinter the wood. He said nothing, his mouth working but no words coming out.

  Jules noticed someone climbing up beside her on the rail of the Prosper. It was Artem, glaring at Tora.

  “Captain Orin was a good man, who died because you ran,” Artem said. “I lost a lot of shipmates because you ran. Maybe you fear to fight Captain Jules because she has a destiny that arms her, but I’m just a common sailor. Nobody special to anyone but my friends, many of which are dead! Face me, Captain Tora! I demand you face me to pay for your betrayal.”

  Jules glanced at Artem. “He might be a good fighter, and he’ll be desperate. Are you sure you want this?”

  “Aye, Captain, I do want this.” Artem’s mouth tightened. “I owe it to my friends who died.”

  “What do you say?” Jules called back to Tora. “Face this sailor. Or face me.”

  For the first time, one of the other pirates on the Bright Morning spoke up. “If our captain fights that man and wins, will you call it a fair ending?”

  “Aye!” Artem shouted before Jules could reply.

  The pirates on the Bright Morning were looking at their captain now. “Our ship and our captain have been insulted,” the same pirate said. “Will you take a stand?”

  “Their words mean nothing,” Tora shouted. “I laugh at their slurs.”

  “You won’t defend the ship’s honor?” another pirate of the Bright Morning yelled. “I didn’t like leaving the Evening Star that way! A lot of us didn’t. And now you won’t even stand up for us?”

  “He’s nothing!” Tora cried. “Just a worthless deck—” Too late, he realized that he was insulting his own crew with his words.

  “Clear a space,” a pirate on the Bright Morning ordered the others. They moved away from the railing, leaving an open semicircle over two lances across, the edges lined with pirates. “You’ll face this man from the Evening Star or we’ll put you across and let them do with you as you will.”

  “You can’t give such orders!” Tora yelled.

  “I call for a vote! Sailors of the Bright Morning, shall Captain Tora face this sailor from the Evening Star in a fair fight, or else give up command and leave the ship he has shamed?”

  “Aye,” many voices said.

  Artem jumped down onto the deck of the Bright Morning. He pulled off the leather helm of a prisoner guard, then sheathed his short sword and removed the leather chest armor as well. “A fair fight,” he said. “I’ve only ever fought with a cutlass, though.”

  A pirate from the Bright Morning stepped forward, offering a cutlass to Artem, who nodded and took it before facing Tora. “Come on, then.”

  Tora, with the look of a cornered rat, pulled a cutlass from the rack on the front of the quarterdeck, then after hesitating yanked a second one free with his other hand. Ignoring the murmurs of disapproval from his crew, he came down the ladder to the main deck, his crew opening a lane into the semi-circle cleared for the fight. For a moment Jules lost sight of Tora as he was surrounded by his crew, his over-sized hat gliding along as if moving on its own until Tora stepped out into the cleared area.

  “Is it to the death?” another sailor on the Bright Morning asked, her voice easy to hear in the silence that had enveloped both ships. Only the wind in the sails and the rush of water alongside the two ships and the creaking of their hulls as they touched could be heard in the quiet after the question.

  Artem finally answered. “To the death, or he yields his weapons and admits to his cowardice.”

  “To the death,” Tora said, his face a rigid mask. Even before the last word had finished coming his mouth, Tora hurled himself at Artem, both cutlasses slashing.

  Using his cutlass to fend off Tora’s attacks, Artem fell back fast until he hit the edge of the cleared area. Unable to step back any further, he leaped to the side, swinging a cut at Tora.

  Tora tried to fend off the blow with one cutlass while slashing with the cutlass in his other hand and pivoting to keep facing Artem. An expert might have managed all of those moves at once, but Tora lost his balance, falling sideways, his big hat falling off and making him seem much smaller without it.

  Before he could get up, Artem planted a foot on one of Tora’s cutlasses, pinning it to the deck. As Artem stabbed at him, Tora let go of his second weapon, rolling away until he hit the rail and scrambling to his feet. He barely made it before Artem caught up and swung at him again. Pressed back against the rail, crowded by Artem, Tora swung back his remaining cutlass for an overhand blow. But his blade caught in the shrouds behind and above him, snagging for a critical moment.

  Artem’s cutlass went completely through Tora, nailing him to the railing.

  Pulling back the cutlass, Artem let Tora fall. He didn’t look happy or triumphant. “I can’t bring back the others, but I’ve avenged them.”

  The Bright Morning’s healer ran forward, kneeling beside Tora and shaking her head. “Bring me a bottle.” She popped the cork, offering rum to Tora. “Anything I do will keep you alive only a little longer and in pain the whole time. Drink as much as you can to make it easier.”

  Tora’s eyes searched about, finally resting on Jules where she still stood atop the rail of the Prosper. “See you die as well when the time comes. I’ll be waiting,” he said, his voice thin and high with pain.

  “You’ll have a long wait,” Jules said. “And if I were you, I’d be more worried about who’s been waiting for you.”

  Tora didn’t answer, shuddering as rum spilled from his mouth, his eyes closing.

  The pirate who’d called the vote on the Bright Morning stepped forward. “Captain Jules, we need to elect a new captain. Is it done between us this day?”

  “It’s done between us,” Jules sai
d. “I wish you fair seas.”

  “Fair seas to you as well. It’s said that you always play straight. You saved those sailors from the Evening Star?”

  “She did,” Artem said as he prepared to climb back aboard the Prosper. “Killed five guards, set us free, and got us through Landfall and every Mage, Mechanic, and servant of the Emperor who tried to stop her.”

  “Then we owe you thanks for doing what we did not,” the pirate said to Jules. “Is it true about the lands to the west?”

  “It’s true,” Jules said. “Free lands. The Emperor’s hand will never fall on them.”

  “Who will stop him?” the pirate asked. “The Great Guilds?”

  “No,” Jules said. “I will. With the help of free men and women like those on these two ships. If I ever call for help, I hope you’ll come.”

  The pirates of the Bright Morning exchanged glances. None said yes, but none said they wouldn’t, and she couldn’t ask for more than that.

  “Have you seen the Sun Queen?” Jules asked.

  “She was in Caer Lyn,” one pirate answered. “But left before we did, and wouldn’t say where they were bound.”

  The ships finally separated, Jules watching the Bright Morning veer off to the northeast.

  Captain Aravind nodded to Jules as she came down off the railing. “They might tell the Imperials where they saw you.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jules said. “But if they do it’ll give me their measure.”

  She saw Mad walk up to Artem and punch his chest. “You’re lousy with a sword, as always,” the female pirate told Artem. “Lucky for you that scum was worse.”

  “I love you, too, Mad.” Artem turned to Jules. “Thank you for letting me take that stand,” he said.

  “It was yours to take,” Jules said. “What are your plans now?”

  Artem and Mad looked at each other, then back at Jules. “We haven’t got a ship any more, but we’ve got a captain,” Mad said. “Wherever you go, Captain, we’ll be there.”

  “Like those guards the Emperor has,” Artem said. “The Eternals. We could be them to you.”

  “The Guards,” Mad said, gesturing to her prisoner guard outfit. “I mean, something better to wear than this, but that’d be a good name.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Jules said.

  “Hey, Nico,” Artem called. “Do you want to serve the captain from now on?”

  “Can we do that?” Nico came up, grinning. “I was wondering what to do with myself. I’ve never been happier than since she almost killed me.”

  “I don’t need a little army following me around,” Jules said. “And there’s the Mages. Have you louts forgotten the Mages?”

  “I’ve faced Mages,” Mad said. “Once. It wasn’t so bad.”

  Jules looked them over, reluctant, but thinking how useful such a group might be in the future. She’d gotten used to having people like Ang and Liv at her back. Being alone in the cell of the Hawk’s Mantle, and while fleeing afterwards, had been rough. Looking back, she realized how much easier things had felt once there were others with her. And the former pirates of the Evening Star had every reason to be loyal to her. “We’ll talk later. It’ll take us a while to get to Dor’s. None of you are committed to anything until we get there.”

  * * *

  They sighted other ships occasionally as the Prosper continued on toward Dor’s over the next several days, but to Jules’ disappointment none were the Sun Queen. The other ships did serve as an indication of how quickly trade was growing between the established cities of the Empire and the new settlements in the west, despite such trade being forbidden by Imperial law and decree. Like the metal smith Jules had overheard, artisans in the Empire needed new markets for their goods.

  “It’s odd,” First Officer Daki said as they passed another merchant ship on its way back to Imperial waters. He and Jules were standing on deck watching the other ship sail past. The sun was setting at the end of a lovely day, the winds fresh and strong but not too strong, the sea playful but not dangerous. “For so long, everything was the same. And then things started happening. Why do you suppose the Great Guilds allowed that?”

  “I’m not sure the Great Guilds could stop it at any price they were prepared to pay,” Jules said. “From what I’ve heard Mechanics say, they don’t know what to do, so they’re trying to control what they can’t stop.”

  “I never heard of Mechanics admitting they can’t do something,” Daki said.

  “They didn’t say it to me,” Jules said. “They talk in front of commons like you and me as if we’re not there.”

  “So they’re just letting things change?”

  “For now,” Jules said. “I think they’re debating what to do, and so far the ones that want to avoid killing too many commons like us are winning the argument because they want to keep the Empire off-balance. At some point, they’re going to realize how much stronger commons are going to become, and try to put a stop to it.”

  Daki gazed morosely out to sea, one hand resting on the nearest shroud line. “What happens then?”

  “I try to make a deal that will work out to our best interests in the long run,” Jules said. “Not that I want to make such a deal, but I don’t think anyone else will be in a position to do it.”

  “I never knew Mechanics to do anything except it profited them,” Daki said.

  “Yeah. Whatever deal we get is going to cost us,” Jules said.

  Daki made a face. “I’ve thought sometimes about being a captain, and always decided that I wouldn’t want it.”

  “You could do it,” Jules said.

  “Maybe I could, but I don’t want that. Having to make those decisions. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and I’m happy as a first officer. I wouldn’t want to face what you have to do. Deciding deals like that. I’m glad someone is doing it, but I’m glad it’s not me.”

  Jules shook her head, frowning, her eyes on the dwindling shape of the passing ship. “You have to step up. Everyone has to. You have a voice in what happens. We don’t need another Empire on this world. We need free lands.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Daki said, giving her a sidelong look, “but I also like knowing we have an Empress to face off against the Emperor.”

  She made a rude noise, waving off his words. “If a leader is needed, and if that prophecy forces the role on me, I’ll do it. But I’ll never be an empress. If that’s what you want, find someone else.”

  “There’s no one else,” Daki said. “No one else the common folk would look to.”

  Not for the first time, Jules wondered how much the prophecy itself influenced what happened in ways that made the prophecy more likely to come true. Whether that ever happened or not, there wasn’t any doubt that her own efforts had barely kept her free and alive. It’d be nice to think that some unseen force was protecting and guiding her, but if so that force had a tendency to cut things mighty fine. Better that she assume it was all up to her, no matter what others thought.

  * * *

  The sky and the wind promised stormy weather as the Prosper reached Dor’s, standing in to port with a brisk wind at her back. Jules stood on the quarterdeck, off to one side to give plenty of room to Captain Aravind, feeling a strange sense of dislocation. So much had happened since she’d last been on a ship here. It felt as if too little time had passed or too much had taken place.

  “The Storm Rider’s in port!” the lookout called down as the Prosper rounded the last headland.

  “That’s good,” Captain Aravind called to Jules.

  “Yes,” Jules said, trying not to look disappointed. If only it had been the Sun Queen waiting here for them.

  * * *

  “Blazes!” Captain Erin of the Storm Rider said, staring at Jules as if she were a ghost. “How?”

  Jules and Dor were already in the small, private room at the back of the tavern. , Erin standing in the doorway. Jules, seated with a mug of wine before her, smiled. “My enemies managed to
foul each other’s course,” she said. “The Mages kept trying to kill me, the Imperials to capture me, and I slipped away while they were fighting over who’d have me.”

  Erin shook her head, closing the door and taking another chair. “And how’s his highness the Emperor doing in his palace in Marandur?”

  “Since I declined his invitation to visit, I really couldn’t say,” Jules said before taking a drink.

  “Are you sure you’re not really that Mara person? What was it, the unkillable?”

  “Undying,” Jules said. “Mara the Undying. And no, that’s not me. I doubt the Emperor would want me in his bed if I was.”

  Erin nodded, waiting as Dor poured her a drink. She took a long draw, sighing afterwards. “Who was that lot who came off your ship, Jules? They didn’t look like the usual escapees from the Empire.”

  “Former prisoners,” Jules said. “They were on their way to Umburan.”

  “Didn’t pay for their passage, then, eh?” Erin shrugged. “Are they going to be trouble?”

  Dor shook his head. “None of them were violent felons. All sentenced for crimes like poverty, petty theft, and the like. It’s funny how people who are starving end up stealing food, isn’t it?”

  “I can understand their motivation,” Erin said. She glanced at Dor. “So, Jules, has he told you?”

  Jules shook her head. “Only that there was something important that had to wait until you got here.”

  “There’s an Imperial sloop of war off the coast.”

  “This far west? It must be looking for me.”

  “No,” Dor said. “They stopped in a few days ago and informed us that the Emperor was pleased with our progress, but we were behind in our taxes.”

  Jules sat down her mug, staring at Dor. “They made a claim to this place?”

  “They did.”

  “After what happened at Western Port,” Erin added, “the Empire must’ve decided to try grabbing an already established town.”

  “I didn’t see any legionaries,” Jules said.

  “There are none here,” Dor said. “But the sloop is supposed to return in a couple of days for the demanded taxes or tribute, as well as our oaths of fealty.” He spat into the corner. “They wanted to give us a few days to realize we couldn’t fight.”