by Guy Antibes
Nakara nodded. “You should keep it learned. A spy or a snoop can’t spout off to strangers, or even to some people he knows.” He looked at Glory, whose eyes widened.
“I don’t know anybody to tell,” she said.
“Didn’t you spend the night at the college? Certainly, you met someone,” Desmon said.
“I’m not going back up there,” she said.
“Then why don’t you go back to the ship? We will take you. I want to make sure the food has been delivered, and we will need some guards to make sure the money gets to the Port Authority,” Sam said.
“Banna might want to return, as well,” Glory said.
“She and Emmy will accompany us,” Sam said it in such a way that Glory couldn’t object.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
~
T he four of them entered the Port Authority headquarters.
“I came to inquire—”
“We know why you are here. You came to pay Smallbug’s fine,” a familiar officer said, walking into the room.
“I did. We will take him to the ship where he will remain until we leave,” Sam said.
The officer nodded. “I’ve never had a prisoner who was so painful to keep. His fine is…” he looked at the ceiling, “three gold coins. Do you have that sum on you?”
Sam pulled out his purse. He had one gold coin and put it on the counter. He looked at Desmon and Nakara.
“People in my profession aren’t made of money,” Desmon said, plunking down a fistful of silver coins. A guard counted the money and nodded to the officer. No change was offered.
“Don’t look at me,” Nakara said. “I had to leave very quickly from Port Hassin, he said. He poured out everything in his purse. “That knife cost me most of what I had.”
Sam sighed. “One more gold. Glory?”
“You are asking me for money? Smallbug’s son keeps all that I have.”
He pulled a gold tip from his purse. “This should do it. It’s worth more than a Toraltian Lion.”
The officer looked at the gold lump and hefted it. “I think you are right.”
He turned to a guard. “Get the prisoner!” he ordered.
Smallbug emerged from the basement cells, indignant as ever.
“My purse?”
“Confiscated. You are lucky we allow you to leave with just a fine, rather than a trial and incarceration,” the officer said.
“I had… I had…”
The officer gave Ziggy an evil laugh. “I know how much you had. Now go!”
Sam watched Glory help Smallbug out the door.
The officer looked at Sam. “Truth be told, I was tempted to pay you to take him away. I pity your having to sail with the man.”
“It is a trial we are willing to bear,” Sam said, regretting that he had given the officer his next-to-last gold tip. “We will be back shortly after four with our ransom.”
“No ransom, young man. We are merely charging you a docking and provisioning fee.”
“Then we will be back with that then.” Sam nodded to the officer, and the three of them left to catch up to Glory and Ziggy.
They stayed a few steps behind when they reached them. Ziggy was complaining vociferously, and from what Sam could hear, the professor was just getting started. How Glory had put up with the man was beyond Sam’s comprehension.
Captain Darter was at the gangway to meet them.
“Another three gold coins for Professor Smallbug’s release from jail,” Sam said. “It seems he was implicated in an altercation last night at the tavern we visited.”
“A story?” Captain Darter said, amused by Smallbug’s protestations.
“Three gold? Is that all?” Smallbug fumed. “My purse had twice that inside.”
Sam had had enough. “And where did you get six gold coins in one day? Did the college pay you to lead the students to us?”
Smallbug’s face turned red. “It was merely a gift among friends,” he said.
Sam was ready to pull out his sword and strike the man down, but he took a few deep breaths instead and looked at the captain. “I would like a guard to help us bring the ransom to the Port Authority. It is a lot of money, and there are plenty of people who would want it.”
“I can spare six more men, a mix of sailors and officers. The food has been inspected and has been stowed. We only have to receive permission to leave.”
~
Sam had to help Banna up the incline to the upper city. Her head still ached from her work defending them the night before. All of them wore weapons as they approached the bank except for Banna, and Emmy’s weapons were firmly embedded in her jaws, ready to bite whoever threatened.
Makan and Creden Clearal stood on the bank steps as they approached.
“We have everything ready. You just need to sign. I’d rather your whole party not enter. The customers and employees might think you are robbing us,” Creden said genially.
Sam entered. A chest with two poles lay just inside the door.
“It is a little heavy for one person,” Makan said.
Sam signed and called Desmon and three sailors to lift the chest.
“A moment,” Sam said.
He knelt down and opened the box, staring at lead bars. “What is this?”
“A ruse,” Creden said, still smiling. “I have four vests for your men to wear.” He nodded to Makan, and the vests were brought in. Three have fifty gold pieces each, and the red one has thirty. You may inspect them. There is a pocket for each coin. We use them all the time, but rarely do they carry gold pieces.
Sam did indeed inspect them. He looked with his spectacles on and off and had Nakara and Desmon help him heft the coins and scratch them to make sure they weren’t gold-covered lead.
He called a ship’s officer in to wear one of the vests. The vest felt like armor when Sam put on the thirty-piece version.
“I’d like to thank you for helping my son gain a little perspective this morning,” Creden said, extending his hand. “The alternate source you discovered will serve us even better.” He winked at Sam.
Evidently, the sword seller had gotten into action quickly. Makan looked a little sheepish, but he thanked Sam as well for his help.
“Nakara helped as much as I did,” Sam said. “Good luck.”
“We will need it, but keep some good luck for you,” Creden said.
Sam walked out of the bank, not quite as light on his feet as when he had entered. Banna sealed the chest with chains of pollen just before Desmon and three sailors lifted the lead-filled chest with poles on their shoulders. They were about to exit out of the square when twenty or thirty students attacked them. Sam didn’t know where they had come from, but one of the sailors was slain immediately before Banna drove them back with wards on pollen sticks.
More students boiled up from the direction of the lower city, but the chest had been dropped and the poles withdrawn. Sailors made sharp pollen tips, and the fighting began. Banna did most of the work, but the rest of them fought off the masked students.
Sam fought with a student, but the robed figure didn’t fight like one, and he feared the man would overpower him. Nakara jumped in to help, and the student ended up dying on the pavement. Sam leaned over and pulled down the mask. He looked into the face of one of the port authority officers. He found another student and pulled down the mask. It was definitely the young face of a student. The Port Authority had joined forces with the College of Cathartics. He would have to find a way to tell Creden Clearal.
One of Banna’s bigger wards blew up ten bunched ‘students,’ and that was the end of the attack as the few students remaining fled. Another group of students came running through the college gates, so Sam called for them to leave the chest and run for the ship.
The students stopped at the chest, letting them flee. Sam’s party ran down the incline toward the port, careful not to trip with the extra load on those with the gold-filled vests. The dead sailor had to be left behind. He didn’t know
how Captain Darter would take that, but their lives depended on getting out.
Sam stopped at the inn just long enough to scratch out a message for Creden. He handed it to the innkeeper, but Sam had no idea if the message would find the banker.
The students didn’t pursue them into the lower city, so they walked to the Port Authority. The excitement of the attack had begun to wear off, and they slowed their progress since most of the party were injured.
The principal officer stood in the lobby. “You arrived!” he said with astonishment on his face.
“Yes, we did. It appears some of your men decided to become robbers. Not all of them survived. They are dressed as students in the upper city,” Sam said. “We had to defend ourselves.”
The officer waved his hand casually. “What happens in the upper city is not our concern. But we had an arrangement…”
“The gold coins? They are here. Sam took his coat and shirt off to reveal his vest. “One hundred thirty coins as promised.”
Desmon and the officer removed their vests. Sam looked down at the pile of cloth and coins. He saw a few dents in the coins on his vest. The golden armor had indeed protected him. He put on his coat and noticed the holes. Even so, they all had suffered cuts from the fight.
“Count them,” Sam said.
The officer motioned his men to inspect the vests.
“It is all here,” one of them said after minutes of counting.
“Then I will scribble out an order. Leave Pundia as soon as possible,” the officer said, looking a bit disgruntled.
Sam took the paper and read the order before leaving the headquarters.
“We need to hurry before the Port Authority changes its mind.”
Sam handed the order to the waiting pilot, who jumped aboard The Twisted Wind and steered the ship to the entrance to the bay. The captain looked back and pointed out that the little ships with their smoking with projectiles had begun to set sail. The man gave Captain Darter a leer and a little bow as he descended to a waiting skiff below.
The wind began to freshen as Darter looked up into the sails, filling with the stronger breeze. “Let us get out of here,” she said.
Sam anxiously waited for the ship to gain speed as it plowed ahead towards the open sea and freedom. Flaming balls of oil-soaked pollen flew up from the ships, but all landed short as The Twisted Wind fled from Pundia.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
~
C aptain Darter’s eyes scanned those sitting at her table before speaking. “We eat well, but only for two weeks, and that is not enough to get us all the way to Tolloy, so we will have to put in at Bliksa, just like we planned, but we won’t run into the delays we have at the other ports. The food suppliers are excellent, and since we are only bringing on provisions to get us to Tolloy, we will be in port for one turn of the tide, at most. Any questions?”
Sam raised his hand. “Captain, I think we have enough food to get to Tolloy. It might be a little tight, but not worse than what we experienced after the pirates attacked.”
“I’d like to remind the captain that the sailor and the second mate injured in Pundia demand further medical care. Shall we drop them off at Bliksa and return for them?” The ship’s surgeon continued, “We can still bring on food supplies.”
“I think that would be the best. All our passengers are scheduled to terminate their voyage at Tolloy. Would you mind staying in Bliksa until we return?”
The surgeon nodded. “I will.”
“It’s settled. Not that I need your permission,” she paused to let Smallbug grunt his disapproval, “but I wanted concurrence. We will make port at Bliksa and then proceed to Tolloy.”
Smallbug shook his head. “There is nothing I can say to dissuade you?”
“Do you remember how you wailed when we were rationing, Professor Smallbug? I would think you would be more sanguine if the table were better furnished.”
“Uh, there is that, Captain Darter. We won’t lose more than a day?”
“Two at most, Professor,” Darter said.
Smallbug made a disagreeable face but nodded his assent in the end.
The captain stood up, and everyone filed out except for Sam.
“The injured crew doesn’t look in any danger to me,” Sam said. “I’m not one to question your orders, ma’am, but I don’t see the reason why we have to make the stop.”
“I have my reasons, Smith. I do not wish to share them with you or with Smallbug. Do you understand?”
Sam managed a smile. “I do. Is there anything special you’d like me to prepare for?”
“Don’t know a purser in Tolloy, do you? I am of a mind to return to Bliksa to pick up crew replacements anyway. Leaving the surgeon off with the patients gives me an idea. Perhaps she can do some preliminary looking for new crew. I’d rather not spend a great deal of time in Tolloy, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t trust any Tolloyans who would volunteer for the voyage.”
“But what if I want to travel back to Holding on The Twisted Wind?”
The captain pulled at her lower lip. “I’ll probably be in Bliksa for awhile scaring up cargo. If you can get to Bliksa before I leave for Holding, you are welcome aboard. I’ll keep a berth open.”
Sam sighed. “Thank you,” he said, bowing to the captain before he left.
He returned to his cabin and pulled out the vest that Nakara had worn from the bank to the ship. The vest contained a couple of coins with deep scratches like the others did. Sam thought of golden armor, as he removed the fifty coins and distributed the money into various articles of his clothing.
Some of those coins would go for more gold tips. The small legacy his father had left him was strewn across the world, it seemed, now that he was down to a single one. He could use a coin much like a tip, but Sam had liked using his wand to disable wards.
He quickly put everything away when there was a knock on the door. Glory Wheeler and Tera Barako stood outside.
“Can we come in for a moment?”
Sam nodded and let the two girls sit on his bed while he took the only chair in his small space. “What is it?”
“We wanted to warn you,” Tera said.
“Professor Smallbug might offer to take you on as a student,” Glory said.
Sam sputtered. “What made you think I wanted to study under him?”
“You are getting off at Tolloy, aren’t you? Glory said you wanted to attend the University.” Tera looked at Glory, who nodded.
“I haven’t made up my mind,” Sam said. “What makes you think I would want to join your study group? I can’t make a fiber of pollen.”
“Smaller,” Glory said with a sly smile, “told me that his father was grudgingly impressed with you at Pundia. He might be willing to overlook your inability to create wards since you have an extraordinary ability to disable them.”
“Has he been talking to Desmon or Nakara? I’m sure the professor hasn’t had a chat with Banna Plunk. I find it hard to believe that Smallbug would think that way,” Sam said. He wouldn’t dream of being in a training program for Kreb’s military.
“It is true, he still holds a grudge, but you have unique qualities,” Glory said.
“Not interested,” Sam said. “He could have gotten us killed in Pundia. He could have told us the Port Authority is allied with the College of Cathartics when we left Pundia, but he never did. I suspect now that the performance in the guard office was staged to get him off the hook and lull us into thinking we were going to glide out of Pundia.”
“That might be the case,” Tera said, and then sighed. “It was the case if you want to know. Smallbug is an awful man. He was so smug when he announced how he had fooled the captain and her thugs. I don’t know if I can endure studying at Tolloy University without you there to make things more tolerable.”
“I agree,” Glory said.
“Tera, you had your reasons for leaving Wollia, I understand. Perhaps things can change in Tolloy, and you can get another instructor once your
scholarship is set.”
Sam knew what kind of scholarships they were. “Thank you for the warning,” he said. “I have other options,” he said, “should I choose to stay in Vaarek.”
“If you do reject Smallbug’s offer and stay in Tolloy, please visit us from time to time,” Tera said. “You can remind us of home.”
“I will remind you of Wollia?”
“Your sword, silly,” Tera said.
Glory rolled her eyes, but the pair of girls stood and left Sam somewhat speechless. What brought on that? They still had weeks to go before landing in Tolloy. Perhaps they needed to say what they did. It took a bit of courage to tell him of Smallbug’s deceptions.
Sam sighed after they filed out of his small cabin. He truly didn’t understand girls at all. He thought back to Winnie Bentwick. She was as strong as Glory but as feminine as Tera, an ideal combination in his eyes, but he’d never see Winnie again. He pushed those thoughts aside as he looked about his room, and with his shredded coat in hand, he left to find the ship’s sailmaker.
~
Smallbug’s son, Smaller, found Sam with Emmy looking at the rolling waves. The wind had freshened, and they were making good time.
“Smith, may I have a word?”
“More than one, if you choose,” Sam said, pushing back his windblown hair.
Smaller cleared his throat. “Father heard that you want to enroll at the University of Tolloy.”
“I am considering that, if I choose to stay in Tolloy,” Sam said. “I’m uncertain if I want to get off there. Polistia isn’t very stable, it seems.”
“You can’t judge an entire continent by the situation in one city. Pundia has been a wreck for decades, if not centuries,” Smaller said. “In your mind, you are exaggerating what is happening in the world. Tolloy isn’t the same as Pundia or Port Hassin in Wollia. You have to give Tolloy a chance.”
“Maybe you are right, but I have no desire to enter into Viktar Kreb’s army. Isn’t that the ultimate goal for your students? I can pay my way at the university and don’t need a scholarship.”
Smaller looked lost for a moment. “You are a penniless exile. How can you reject an offer for a scholarship and a career after obtaining a degree at the University?”
