A Voyager Without Magic

by Guy Antibes

  Magic Missing

  Book Three

  By

  Guy Antibes

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Map of the Voyage of Sam Smith

  Excerpt from A Scholar Without Magic

  Magic Missing Character List

  Copyright Page

  Author’s Note

  A Bit About Guy

  Books by Guy Antibes

  Copyright ©2018 Guy Antibes. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of the author.

  ~

  This is a work of fiction. There are no real locations used in the book; the people, settings, and specific places are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons, locations, or places are purely coincidental.

  Published by CasiePress LLC in Salt Lake City, UT, December 2018.

  www.casiepress.com

  Cover Design: www.ebooklaunch.com

  Book Design: Kenneth Cassell

  ~

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ~

  A Voyager Without Magic was an interesting exercise for me. In this book, I had to flesh out the villain in the first two books. We got a hint that there was more to Banna Plunk than a greedy woman, towards the end of the Apprentice episode. Now Sam is stuck on a long voyage with the woman and they have to come to some kind of terms for them both to survive. That part was fun to write and see their relationship develop as I worked on the draft.

  As usual, my small team of editors, artists, and readers have done a great job of keeping my writing readable. Thank you Judy, Bev, and Ken. And my thanks to the people at EbookLaunch for creating the third cover in the series.

  — Guy Antibes

  The Ports of Call for Sam Smith’s Voyage

  Chapter One

  ~

  S am Smith watched two of his friends and his brother Tru fade into the distance as the ship The Twisted Wind sailed out of Baskin’s harbor. He couldn’t stop sighing. All his efforts to become an exemplary apprentice snoop had been blown to bits by the late Issak Bolt. To save his snoop partner and Chief Constable Bentwick, Sam accepted the King of Toraltia’s demand of exile.

  As the ship began to rise and fall once out of the harbor, it reminded Sam of the ups and downs of his young, fifteen-year-old life. As much as he might wish, his existence hadn’t been a constant disaster. He had learned court speech and had met more interesting people than if he had stayed in Cherryton, his hometown. Now, however, he was on one of his downs; he was leaving those interesting people with each breath of the wind.

  “Made your decision yet?”

  Sam turned around to look at Jordi Hawker, the ship’s purser. “We’ve barely left the port. How can I make such a decision so quickly?”

  “Then perhaps Captain Darter can help you with that. Come with me.”

  Sam took another glance at where Baskin would be and followed the purser to the steering deck.

  “Is this the boy?” a woman dressed in a uniform said, looking at Jordi. She was tall and well-built, at least that was how Sam perceived her. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a braided ponytail. He had noticed a few sailors with similar coifs.

  “May I introduce Sam Smith, former snoop in the Royal Constabulary?”

  Sam bowed. “Please to meet you, uh, Captain.”

  Darter waved her hand. “Addia Darter,” she said. “Captain or ma’am will do for now. You come highly recommended by Faddon Bentwick. Perhaps you can tell me why some evening at my table.”

  Sam bowed again. “I would be pleased to do so.” He really wasn’t, but he was scrambling to remember the manners drilled into him by Faran Rubble, a butler of his former acquaintance, and Antina Mulch, a Polistian shopkeeper who had befriended him.

  “He hasn’t made up his mind yet,” Jordi said.

  “His answer is yes. Sam just doesn’t know it yet.” Captain Darter grinned at him. “Better food, complete run of the ship, and a job to relieve the boredom you will surely experience in the months we will be voyaging south to Tolloy. Try it out. You can always resign.”

  The captain had a point. “Better food?” Sam asked.

  “You eat with the officers. Passenger food is a step above what the crew gets, and officers are at least above that.”

  “What about the captain?” Sam said.

  “A bit above that. You get more invitations to the captain’s table as an officer,” Darter said. She smiled with so much confidence that Sam wanted to reject her offer, but he had to be honest with himself. He was on his own, and he needed friends and information. He wouldn’t get either if confined to his cabin for months on end.

  “I suppose I will have to accept.”

  “It is voluntary, but you have made the right decision. I’ll have one of our better sailmakers sew up a uniform coat. Without one, you won’t get much respect from the crew. Good day, Assistant Purser.” With that Captain Darter turned to confer with the helmsman laying out navigation instruments on a cork-covered table.

  Jordi patted Sam on the shoulder. “Good decision. Let’s get you oriented to the ship and measured for your coat.”

  Sam didn’t think he’d get any respect from the sailors, coat or no coat. He’d been thrown in with grown men before. They tolerated teenaged boys, more or less. He spent the rest of the day learning about what made a sailing ship move through the water.

  “How is your stomach?”

  Sam raised his eyebrows. “Should there be something wrong with it?”

  Jordi shook his head. “Some people get seasick, and some don’t. If you’re not feeling queasy, you might be one of the lucky ones. When I made my first voyage, I was sick for three weeks until I got used to the roll of the ship.”

  Sam shrugged. “I must be lucky,” he said, although he didn’t feel very lucky. His primary focus at this point was to absorb all the newness. His thoughts drifted to Baskin if left alone for any length of time. Perhaps rather than being seasick, Sam was afflicted with a strain of homesickness. He didn’t know which one would be worse.

  ~

  Sam woke up in the middle of the night. The lantern in his tiny cabin was swaying more than at any time during the week he’d been at sea. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and decided to go up on the deck to see what the ocean looked like. The changes in the sea fascinated him.

  He staggered along one of the corridors he didn’t frequent often. He had found that the ship only had a half-complement of passengers. He heard a dog bark behind one of the doors. Sam didn’t believe his ears.

  He had to knock on the door. “Hello, this is the assistant purser,” Sam said. “Is everything all right in there?”

  The door cracked open, but Emmy jumped out, knocking Sam down and then procee
ded to lick his face. Her tail cracked against both sides of the narrow corridor. A face appeared at the opening.

  Sam looked up in amazement. “Banna Plunk!”

  The woman scowled. “I didn’t know the ship carried an assistant purser,” Banna Plunk said. Her look of displeasure didn’t leave her face. “But I did find out you were aboard once we were well away.” She looked down at Sam who was still under Emmy’s body. “Perhaps we might call a truce.”

  “If we can share Emmy, I’m all for it,” Sam said.

  Her face softened a little. “I’m all for that. She needs to get out of this cabin. We have been stuck in here for days to stay away from you. I have one condition,” she said.

  Sam nodded as Emmy finally stepped back, allowing him to get up. “Why are you on this ship? It is a big coincidence.”

  Banna pursed her lips. “I didn’t know you were taking The Twisted Wind. I just took the first ship to Tolloy that could carry my cargo.”

  Sam knew what cargo she meant, but he didn’t mention it, since he didn’t know how strong their truce would be. Banna Plunk didn’t have access to red deer, but there were a few sheep on board.

  ~

  Jordi looked past Sam at Emmy standing next to her reunited master. The rolling seas seemed to have gotten tired of the rolling during the evening, and Banna said she needed to do some cleaning up after being cloistered in her cabin with the Great Sanchian.

  “That dog quickly made friends with you. I never got past the low growl. She seems friendlier outside,” the purser said.

  “As it happens, I am acquainted with Banna Plunk and with Emmy. I didn’t know they were aboard. Miss Plunk will let me take Emmy out on the deck from time to time.”

  Emmy barked, as she usually did after Sam talked about her to someone else.

  “I like the bark better than the growl,” Jordi said.

  Sam smiled. “I am very happy she is with me on this trip.”

  “Banna Plunk? Her ticket says she is going to Tolloy. She will be with you for a long time. We have two other ports on our way, Carolank and Port Hassin on the Wollian continent. Our expected arrival in Tolloy is in about four months. You’ll get to experience a lot of happiness before we dock in Vaarek.”

  “The ‘she’ I meant isn’t Banna, but Emmy,” Sam said, scratching behind the dog’s ears. He wasn’t sure at all what Banna Plunk’s presence on The Twisted Wind meant to him. He had to admit he felt a little fear from the woman who had stolen enough gold to make thousands of Toraltian Lions, the most valuable coin in his former country.

  ~

  Sam sat across from Banna Plunk at Captain Darter’s dining table, wearing his assistant purser’s coat. She kept looking at him, so Sam had to give her the barest of smiles and either look down at his plate or at whoever talked at the table. They were four days from Carolank, their first port, and this was the first time the Captain had invited passengers for dinner. Sam had eaten a few meals with the formidable woman captain, along with the ship’s officers.

  The Captain’s questions finally came around to Banna. “Miss Plunk, I haven’t had the time to do other than greet you in passing on this trip. What takes you from Baskin to Vaarek?”

  Banna raised her chin a bit. Sam was very interested to hear what kind of lie the woman would have to tell.

  “I traveled to Toraltia to see my sister, who died while I was there.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Toraltia has a strong Vaarekian connection, but the two countries are so far away from each other,” Darter said.

  Banna nodded. Sam could see Banna’s eyes redden. Her sister, Ionia Plunk, the owner of a brothel, died while trying to escape from the rebels during the Summer Revolt. Sam had his own indirect role in her death.

  “I needed funds for a project in Toraltia and spent most of my time procuring them.”

  “Were you successful?”

  Banna nodded. “I was. Raising money in a foreign country when you have no real connections isn’t easy, but I managed. The cargo on your ship is a result of my efforts.”

  Captain Darter crinkled her eyes and smiled. “Good for you. It is harder for a woman to successfully accomplish ambitious projects in our world,” she said.

  “You seem to have done so,” Banna said.

  The Captain pursed her lips but still smiled. “Owning The Twisted Wind wasn’t without its challenges, and keeping her still isn’t.”

  Banna kept asking the Captain questions, enough that the Captain finally had to ask Sam, the most insignificant person present, “What do you intend to do once you reach Tolloy, return to Baskin?”

  Sam shook his head. “My fare has its condition not to return to Toraltia.”

  Captain Darter shook her head. “Indeed, I forgot.”

  “I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I have a scholarship waiting in Tolloy. I’ll see where that takes me. I only have compulsory-level schooling, plus over eight months as an apprentice.”

  “But a distinguished one,” Jordi Hawker said. “I understand you solved a lot of crimes.”

  Sam nodded. “I walked behind Dickey Nail, of the Royal Constabulary Investigative Division—”

  “Snoops,” one of the officers said.

  Sam nodded again. “He solved the crimes, but I was able to help as much as an apprentice is able.”

  “You certainly caught the attention of Faddon Bentwick. We have a few mutual friends in Baskin,” Captain Darter said. “The way I hear it, you were responsible for solving some high-level jewelry thefts and even killed the Minister of Justice to save your friend, Nail.”

  Sam glanced at Banna, who exhibited a neutral face. He had avoided talking to her about the events in Baskin. “It is true, the Minister had it in for Dickey, and he let his emotions get ahead of common sense. Dickey and I had to fight our way out of an ambush that the Minister had set up.” Sam didn’t want to talk about the details, so he shrugged, effectively ending his story.

  “You know your pollen,” Banna said. “I heard that was the key to your success.”

  Sam pressed his lips together. He didn’t want to talk about his disability, but he couldn’t let Banna’s question go unanswered in front of the diners.

  “I know a bit. I have these spectacles,” Sam pulled a pair out of his pocket, “that help me see pollen better than others. The pollen used in the thefts was very fine, actually harvested, by some method we never found out, from a small herd of Polistian red deer. The pollen has the unique quality of erasing very short-term memories. Seeing as how you are from Vaarek, you are probably familiar with the animal’s properties.”

  Banna blinked hard, but her face otherwise remained passive. “I have heard of the effect somewhere,” she shook her head gently, “someplace.” She stopped at that.

  Sam hoped she understood that he wanted his disability kept secret, just as she wanted her role in the gold theft of the Baskin Precious Metals Exchange not mentioned.

  “How do you like your duties as our assistant purser?” Captain Darter said, keeping the attention on Sam.

  “You could just as well call me an apprentice purser,” Sam said, smiling. Indeed, Jordi had given Sam jobs that he didn’t want to do, like checking on passengers and inventorying the food and water stores.

  Darter looked at the purser. “He isn’t your servant, Jordi. That wasn’t part of our agreement.”

  The purser blushed and frowned. “I use him where he doesn’t need much training, but he gets lots of free time to be a passenger.”

  Sam nodded. “I do indeed.” He hoped he hadn’t made Jordi an enemy with his flippant comment.

  The Captain seemed placated, and the conversation turned to what everyone thought the upcoming weather would be like. Sam let out a silent sigh. The conversation reminded him that he had no solid friends on board the ship, and he couldn’t afford to make another slip.

  Jordi was nice enough, but Sam’s assignments were not much different than what Jordi would have a servant do rather than an a
ssistant. Apprentices received more training than what Jordi had provided, but then Sam realized that he hadn’t been seeking to improve himself. His focus was on survival, and survival alone wouldn’t get him anywhere.

  He remembered Harrison Dimple, who survived in his cottage outside of Cherryton, his hometown. It seemed the man survived for most of the year and then went out every summer as an itinerant healer to help the mountain villages. Sam had rejected that kind of life when Dickey Nail, his snoop trainer, mentioned doing something like that in Toraltia.

  Sam seemed to be falling into that mentality of being too passive. That wasn’t the path he wanted, and he decided, as he looked at those sitting at Captain Darter’s table, that he would have to change his behavior.

  Chapter Two

  ~

  S am started his new attitude with a focused exercise program. He hadn’t touched a sword since Baskin, and he vowed to practice every day. The problem was he had no practice partner. He sought out Captain Darter.

  “I used to practice swordsmanship most days when I was at the constabulary. I found it to be good exercise, but I don’t have a partner.”

  She looked out at the open expanse of the ocean. “We occasionally practice with weapons. There are pirates on the sea, you know, but I’ll ask the officers to see if someone will play with you. Are you any good?”

  “I’m good for a fifteen-year-old, but middling for a man.”

  Darter nodded. “Is it exercise you want, or swordplay?”

  Sam fiddled with his fingers, not knowing quite what to say. “Both, I suppose.”

  “I can have you paired with a sailor who works the sails, if you don’t mind physical work.”

  Sam shook his head. “I won’t lose my position as assistant purser?”

  “Not at all. You aren’t the first passenger we have enlisted to help.”

  Later that day, a young seaman, younger than Dickey Nail, walked up to Sam.

  “The Second Mate told me you wanted some exercise. Is that right?”