Fractured Loyalties

by Greg Alldredge

  “We found their bosun dead. She’d been dead for some time. They flew no quarantine flag, but most of the officers fled the ship. Before we take the ship and clean it up, I want the surgeon to tell us what we’re dealing with.”

  “The safest thing would be to set it aflame and leave everyone here that might be contagious.” Talen needed to brace himself as the launch bobbed in the water.

  Kanika smirked to herself, Landlubber. “Good thing it’s my prize and not yours. If you think it is wise to leave these people here to die, then leave my crewman, and we will fend for ourselves.” Kanika didn’t like challenging another captain in such an obvious way, but Talen was getting on her nerves.

  Talen sat back on his bench. “No need to get testy. I was just checking your resolve.” With a wave of his hand, his crew rowed the longboat the final distance to the slave ship.

  Kanika kicked the Jacob’s ladder over the side next to the dinghy.

  Before long, Doc’s red-cheeked face lifted over the gunwale, his voice raspy with strain. “A little help here?”

  Kanika took the step and helped lift him onto the deck. “You need to work more, you’re getting flabby.”

  In between breaths, the doctor sputtered, “And you need to stop being so reckless. You’re going to kill us all one day.”

  “It is your place to worry about the things we can’t see. It’s my place to take care of the bigger things. Come here and tell me what you think of this.” Kanika led the way to the bosun’s locker, with the doctor shuffling a few paces behind her. She opened the door before he reached her, the blowflies made an escape toward the sunlight in a cloud.

  “Yes, that is a dead body.” The doctor swatted at flies as he stood some distance back.

  “But what did she die of?” Kanika stood holding the door, keeping the flies at bay.

  “Could be any number of things. She’s been dead much too long for me to make any observations from this distance. And by the number of flies coming out of that room, even if I got closer, her body will be too damaged for me to decide.”

  Kanika closed the door, trapping most of the swarm in the locker. “Before I claim this ship, I need to know if it’s going to kill us all. Something chased the captain and most of the officers off the ship. If it is cursed, we need to burn it. If it isn’t, I aim to claim it.

  Doc shook his head. “I must’ve given you the wrong idea. Most times people die, and I have no idea why. Their bodies just don’t leave any clues behind.”

  “Then let’s check this crew below. I believe they were alive until we ended them.” Kanika took the doctor’s arm and led him towards the forward hatch. Below, they found six crew who died in their sleep.

  The surgeon moved about inspecting each of the bodies without touching any of them. “I can’t tell for sure, but I see no signs of pox or a plague. I think they died of or contracted the bloody flux.”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Kanika surveyed the dead. “Why you think that?”

  “These men show the signs of malnutrition and dehydration, yet we are close to land and freshwater. These buckets you see about the deck are full of discharge I would expect to see with the flux.”

  “These men died from bad food?”

  “It might be in the food. It’s probably in the water. If we’re going to take the ship, I would suggest throwing out anything that can be eaten or drunk and restocking it. Restocking it after the ship has been cleaned from top to bottom. What’s below decks?” Doc shifted his eyes to look at his feet and the cargo hold below.

  Kanika, in her rush to secure the ship, hadn’t checked the hold. Last night in the dark she never inspected the water line to see if the ship rode heavy or light. “I haven’t checked yet. I hope it isn’t a cargo like the Phoenix.” Her memories of the cages filled with humans she once found herself locked in caused her body a shudder.

  Fear and loathing filled her when she found a set up with a locked hatch leading to the cargo hold. The key, hung on a hook for the entire crew to reach, gave her more pause. Jerking the key from its nail, she unlocked and threw open the hatch leading to the dim hold. Before she reached the ladder, she found the top cages similar to the ones that once held her. Alone, she crept step by step down the ladder. With each footfall, she spotted more of the cages and realized they had been empty for some time. Kanika needed to be sure. At the bottom of the ladder, she started an inspection of the filthy hold.

  “It looks like they threw the cargo overboard at the first sign of sickness. It might’ve started down here days ago. More than likely, it didn’t burn itself out, and it spread to the crew.” Doc stood on the top step, bending down and inspecting the hold.

  Kanika looked at the surgeon from the far side of the hold. “How can you speak about human beings with such dispassion?”

  Doc shook his head. “More often than not, my patients die. If I didn’t distance myself from most of you, I would drink myself to death.”

  Kanika nodded, not in agreement but at least in understanding. She knew many of those they rescued from slavery wouldn’t last very long. Their bodies would be too worn and sick to continue living, like those that died after they took over the Phoenix. If they continued this fight, some of her crew would surely die. The more attached she became to them, the harder their deaths would be. Perhaps that was why Talen acted as such a cautious pain in the ass… Or he was just a coward.

  “Doc, in your opinion, can we salvage this ship and my crew not die as a result?”

  The doctor rubbed the graying whiskers on his unshaven chin before speaking. “If you do what I tell you, we should be safe.”

  Kanika slapped her hands together. “Then it is settled. We will split the Phoenix’s crew, Bran takes charge of this ship, and we will divvy up the freed slaves between the two.”

  “I noticed this ship wasn’t named, either.” Doc headed back up the ladder. “You have anything in mind?”

  “Yes, this is the Black Death.”

  “Sounds scary. I assume you have plans for it.”

  “Why, yes, I do.” Kanika’s wicked smile only hinted at the mischief brewing between her ears.

  Chapter 15, Hope Shoemaker:

  Hope sat at her desk taking meticulous notes. She stopped for a moment, the quill still held between thumb and finger. It became an excellent pointer when she said, “If you hadn’t been spying, this would’ve never happened.”

  The woman she spoke to didn’t make a sound. She just stood there a blank look on her face.

  Hope scratched a few more letters on a scroll. If anyone bothered to look at what she wrote, they wouldn’t be able to read it. Long ago, Hope created her own alphabet to keep her brothers from spying on her. She used it now and whenever she needed to keep secrets.

  “Did it hurt…? Did it hurt when you had all those tattoos put on your body?” Hope motioned with the quill as one might with a wand, or an instructor would with a pointing stick. The woman just stood there motionless.

  Hope was sure it would take forever to copy all those tattoos of runes and symbols that covered the woman’s body. She would need to think of a quicker way. Her focus returned to the scroll, where she only scratched out a few letters before she spoke again. “You know I don’t believe you. I don’t believe you need to be a virgin for magic. If I did, I would need to kill Meyers for getting me drunk and stealing my virginity.”

  Hope stood and walked around the table that sat cluttered with all sorts of strange metal tools, her scroll, and her inkwell. The woman she spoke with didn’t follow her movements. Strapped to a vertical board, she was helpless as Hope questioned her. Using the tip of her quill, Hope traced one of the tattoo’s fine detail. It became easier as the woman’s body grew cold and pale. It allowed more of the artistry to show through. Lost in thought, trying to decipher the meaning of the markings, she jumped when there came a knock at the door.

  “Who is it?” she asked in a singsong voice.

  “It’s me, Meyers. Let me in.�
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  Hope did a quick check around the room, deciding not to hide anything since her brother was technically her partner in crime. “Come on in.”

  She heard Meyers trying the door before he shouted, “The damn thing’s locked. Will you stop playing games already?”

  She snickered to herself. Since the affairs of this afternoon, she felt almost lightheaded. Giddy might be a term to express her mood. If not for the whole virgin news, many might have considered her happy. She floated on tiptoes to unlock the door and let her brother in.

  In an instant, she could tell Meyers wasn’t nearly as happy as she was. “I don’t know why you’re hiding in here. The Council’s going to meet shortly to decide the fate of the throne. We need to prepare our arguments to make me Principal.”

  Hope danced to her seat, facing Meyers and the woman’s lifeless body, which her brother hadn’t noticed yet. She smiled before saying, “I have more chance of becoming Principal than you do. You know our father’s wishes, why must you keep beating this one-note drum?”

  “You have no chance of being named Principal. You know it’s always a male heir. Since Hayline announced his abdication, and with Ollie in Zar, that leaves me as the only male heir.”

  “You and I both know either Uncle Usborne or Roddie will be named Principal before you, just relax.” Hope spotted the anger growing in Meyers’s eyes, but it was all right—he needed to sweat a little bit.

  Before the vein burst in his neck, he shouted, “Dammit, woman, do something!”

  “Yelling at me will do no good.” From her desk, she picked up an envelope with Ollie’s seal on it. “It seems our brother Ollie has good intelligence being fed to him in Zar. This arrived today.” Hope fell into a playful mood. She held the envelope out for Meyers to take then snatched it from his grasp twice before relenting and letting him take it the third time. The seal had been broken by Hope, which was fine, since it was addressed to her. Even their younger brother Ollie didn’t recognize Meyers’s claim to the throne. She had never noticed before, but her brother’s lips moved when he read. If they were lucky, their children would get her intelligence and his strength, because if those two were swapped, she might need to drown them to put them out of their misery.

  “You can’t seriously be considering this?” Meyers said after taking far too long to read the short missive.

  “I most certainly am, and you are going to back me.” Hope used her quill as a pointer again, annunciating each word as she spoke the last bit.

  “Got to be kidding me, we could slaughter Ollie in a fight.” He slapped the envelope down on the table, threatening to upset Hope’s inkwell.

  “You must think of the big picture. In single combat, yes, you could slaughter your half-brother. Do you think he will come challenge you alone? He will come with the backing and blessing of Zar. Father ended that battle because he knew we couldn’t win. You should learn from our father’s actions.”

  “Would you please stop reminding me that we are blood-related?”

  Hope knew that small fact bothered the hells out of her half-brother, but it gave her great pleasure to remind him from time to time. She smiled broader and ignored his comment. “Even if Ollie were to not bring Zar’s army, he is the rightful heir to the throne. Since he is now considered a hero for ending the war, who do you think the population and the nobles will back in a civil war?” She could see the realization that Meyers wasn’t that well liked in the Citadel or amongst the general population.

  “After Soto’s unfortunate accident, maybe the population is tired of having a Shoemaker as Principal. Maybe it’s time for a change to the line of Shepherd.”

  “That’s an interesting euphemism you use to describe our father’s head popping like an overripe grape.”

  “Please stop calling him our father. Can we just call him Soto?”

  “I still don’t understand how Hayline pulled it off. Or if he didn’t, what spell that crippled priestess used to cause that much damage.”

  “That’s immaterial. Soto is dead, Hayline has abdicated, it’s time for us to swoop in and take charge.”

  “And that’s what we’re going to do. Ollie offered us the perfect opportunity—”

  “For you,” Meyers interrupted her.

  “For me,” Hope corrected herself, “to take control of the city as regent. Once I am in place in the regency, we can work to consolidate our power. With the emergency situation going on in Zar, Ollie might never return.”

  “Are you praying for an accident?”

  “From what I understand, Ollie finds himself in a dangerous position. Do you know who delivered this message?” Hope didn’t wait for an answer, as she knew he had no way of knowing. “Joti, his personal bodyguard. I have detained him here on the pretense of a return message. Ollie will be defenseless for many weeks if I have my way about it.”

  “It’s been less than a week. How did he learn about Soto’s death and get a messenger back so quickly?”

  “The other day, I had tea with your mother. I might have let it slip during an innocent discussion what might happen once Ollie found out about Soto’s death.”

  “You did what? How could you undermine my efforts like that?” Meyers clenched his fists and struck her table, the metal instruments clanging as he did.

  There for a second, Hope was sure she would need to defend herself against his anger, but her brother stayed on his side of the table. “It looks like my read of Ollie’s personality was correct. I believe he will do anything to avoid conflict. If he thinks the loss of life will be too great, he will fold. Once we have gained in power and placed our own people—people loyal to us—on the Council, I believe we can convince Ollie it would be in the city’s best interest for him to stay in Zar.” While she talked, the best way to document the tattoos on the witch’s body struck Hope. “Do me a favor, go to the door and ask the guard to call for Tanner. I need to speak with Tanner.”

  Hope could see Meyers’s face scrunch up as he tried to connect all the dots that Hope laid out for him. At the door, Meyers did call for the Tanner and returned to stand across from his half-sister.

  “What does Tanner have to do with securing our power base?” Meyers pulled up a stool and sat across from his fiancée.

  “It’s funny you should ask that. I spoke with a friend of your mother’s, and she said some interesting things.” Hope pointed to the dead woman strapped to the backboard behind Meyers.

  When he turned and saw the naked woman before him, he fell out of his chair while trying to back away, nearly upsetting Hope’s worktable. If she hadn’t been prepared for his reaction, she was sure the table would’ve gone for a tumble. Instead, it just scooted across the floor with her on it.

  “By the gods, what have you done?” Meyers scrambled to his feet and inspected the body before him. “I know this woman! She works for my mother.” He closed his eyes and stepped away from the naked woman.

  “I caught her spying on me. No one knows she’s here, except you. As long as you don’t tell anyone, we will dispose of the body once I’m finished with her.” Hope tapped her fingers on the table. She hated explaining the obvious.

  “If she spied on us, you could’ve reported her to the guards. You didn’t need to kill her.”

  She found his pacing irritating, that was a habit she would need him to break. “I’m not a monster, I didn’t kill her on purpose. She was just more fragile than I imagined. You would think the witch would be able to survive much more intensive questioning than I performed.”

  Meyers went and inspected the woman’s right hand. Hope was sure he would start finding the little bits of damage she caused. “Where are her fingernails?”

  “They were the first thing to go when she wouldn’t answer my questions.” Shaking her head, not understanding his concern for the little witch.

  “Did you tattoo her as well?” Meyers moved in closer to inspect the marks that covered her body. This confirmed to Hope that the woman’s story was at least p
artially true. Her half-brother had a reputation for sneaking into every woman’s bedroom he wanted. The witch swore, literally with her last breath, that she remained a virgin. She even used Hope’s sex with Meyers as a taunt. That’s probably why Hope went too far… the witch just kept taunting her.

  “I guess you never saw her naked before. As far as I can tell, she’s always had those markings. I find it rather interesting. I need to document them and keep them safe. This gives us an outstanding opportunity. I need to inspect her body more deeply.”

  Hope watched as Meyers fought convulsions of his stomach while fighting sickness. “What do you mean more deeply?”

  Hope spoke calmly. “I want to compare her organs to another virgin. I want to see if there are any differences between what’s going on inside a virgin witch and a regular virgin.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. Why not go all the way and find a non-virgin as well?” Meyers wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She spotted a light dew of sweat forming on his forehead and upper lip.

  “That’s an excellent idea. Once you bring me a virgin, you can bring a woman you are sure has laid with a man. Pick one of your former conquests, that way we can be sure.”

  “What do you mean once I bring you a virgin?”

  “You really don’t think I would have a chance enticing a single woman to step into my private chambers, now do you? From what I’ve heard, it should be simple for you to bring a woman here. Just make sure she’s never slept with a man.”

  Meyers couldn’t take it any longer. He found a basket not far from where he stood and bent over and filled it with his vomit.

  “Stop being such a big baby. Not long ago you were ready to kill tens of thousands to become Principal of our city. Now you’re all squeamish over a little scientific research. Haven’t you ever taken something apart to see what makes it work?”

  Meyers spit into the basket, Hope assumed to clear the taste from his mouth. “I have, just not humans.”

  “If you really love me, and you want to gain control over the city and what lays beyond, you will help me with my studies.”