Retribution

by Benjamin J Boswell

  Yima knew a little bit about those competition daggers, and they were only earned by taking them from their former master’s in combat—and those that had them were often challenged for their daggers, and thus were some of the most skilled warriors. There was a sensitive side to his Queen as well. The tight, burgundy, Ardmorran style dress she wore emphasized the small swell of her abdomen where the heir—or heirs if rumors were true—to the empire grew within her. The dress accentuating her natural beauty, its golden trim and almost chin high neck complementing her natural skin tone and the perfectly applied eye makeup, highlighting the exotic angularity of her bright brown eyes. Perhaps she didn’t have the traits of someone as classically beautiful as the Lady Adeline, but there was something about her that simply outshone anybody Yima had ever met—and he had met a lot of very beautiful people while working with his aunt and uncle back in Al Farnaka. They were in the fashion business designing clothing for Hadiq’s wealthy merchants and nobility.

  There was no trace of any wounds from the attempted assassination and Yima didn’t notice any hesitation of movement, or discern where her wounds might be. He knew she had been wounded, but no one would be able to tell just by looking at her. He was amazed that she could remain so calm and confident, even after almost being murdered. He shook himself. He needed to focus his attention back on what she was saying.

  “…will not deter us or cause us to hesitate from doing our duty. As you can see,” she said, gesturing to the windows showing the clear blue sky and clouds passing by as they sailed north, “we are on our way towards the lands of the Northern Kingdoms, where we plan to negotiate their addition to the alliance against the Madrausan threat. We are fortunate to have Lady Adeline with us as she helped create this alliance.” Adeline nodded her acknowledgment. “I called us together to first, show you that I’m still alive and whole.” Warm chuckles rolled around the room. “And two, to let you know that despite whatever obstacles are thrown in our path, and whatever trials we may have to pass through, you have my commitment and resolution to see it to the end. I will do whatever I can to stand up to this Madrausan aggression, and I will fight whatever enemy I must, whether external or internal, to see it through.” She looked around the table, peering into each of their eyes and Yima could feel her commitment, and felt himself committing to her in response. She didn’t exude the classical charisma that he had felt from good leaders and naval officers he had known—this was something different. He wasn’t sure what it was, for she didn’t have the same leadership presence that an exceptionally charismatic person had, but it drew the same level of zeal and devotion from him that traditional charisma did and his heart felt light in her presence.

  After looking them each in the eye—as if drawing that commitment from each in turn—she nodded and seemed to relax a little. “And of course, the third and most important reason I called you here,” she continued, “is to feed you.”

  Another round of chuckling came from those present at the table. The door opened and the Queen’s steward entered, followed by several crewmen with plates in hand. They set the plates down in front of each of them and the Queen stepped around to the front of her chair and sat. The food smelled delicious and Yima’s stomach growled with anticipation. To sit down and dine with the Queen was an honor that he never thought he would. He looked around the table at the individuals he was privileged to sit among—the captains of the Queen’s escort vessels, Commander Najafi, Lady Adeline, and of course the Queen herself—and he felt very grateful and humbled.

  - - -

  The luncheon was winding down and Esther tried to relax as best she could in the large wooden chair. She lounged against the right armrest of her chair, feeling a bit guilty for not maintaining a more dignified posture, but lounging like this helped alleviate the pressure on her abdomen as well as her wounded left wide. Lately she swore she could feel the babes moving, although she thought it was a little too early for that. It didn’t keep them from causing her to be uncomfortable already, however, especially in these wooden chairs. Esther’s hand had absentmindedly gone to rest on her abdomen and she noticed Adeline staring before she looked quickly away. Esther sighed and sat up. Lounging was one thing she was sure the Lady Adeline would never do, no matter how pregnant or uncomfortable she was. Esther wasn’t thinking that in a mean way—she actually respected Adeline and her accomplishments, and it was just one more reason why she felt intimidated whenever Adeline was around. She just felt frustrated by the way Adeline had treated her previously.

  Most of her guests had finished with their wine glasses and were sitting making light conversation. Wine was one thing Esther missed now that she was pregnant. Some of the best wines came from the east coast of Hadiq, and she had grown spoiled in the short time she’d had easy access to them.

  Esther stood, forcing herself not to wince from the pain in her left side. “Gentlemen. Ladies.” She nodded her head at Adeline and Marigold. “I’d like to thank you all for coming. I would have liked to extend this gathering and enjoyed your company longer into the afternoon, but there is still much to do to prepare for our arrival in the Northern Kingdoms. If I could excuse everyone but Commander Najafi and Captains Alwari and Hyam, we have a few things to discuss. My steward, Mr. Jeffries, will be serving a small dessert to the crew momentarily—something special we picked up in Lancaster as thanks for all of their hard work and diligence. If you would like to join them, I’m sure they would be happy to regale you with a jolly tune or two until we are finished.” Her officers chuckled and stood. Crewmen entered and quickly gathered the dishes while her guests began to file out.

  Esther noticed that Adeline didn’t follow the rest of them out immediately. Instead, she started making her way towards Esther. Sudden nervousness descended upon Esther as she began to dread what the young Ardmorran noblewoman might have to say.

  “I just wanted to say how relieved I am that you are well,” Adeline said, stopping in front of her. Esther couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. This was not what she had been expecting. “I’m glad that nothing worse happened,” Adeline continued, “I also wanted to say thank you for transporting me north with you. It is a great honor for me to be a member of the Ardmorran delegation responsible for these talks. If not for you, I would not have been able to get there in time to accept my place and would have been replaced. Therefore, I am sincerely grateful for both the transportation and your gracious hospitality.”

  Esther nodded. “You are most welcome. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to get settled yet, but Mr. Jeffries can get you squared away if you haven’t.”

  “Thank you,” Adeline said, turning to go. Esther wasn’t sure what to think about the conversation, but she hadn’t had to suffer any of Adeline’s insinuations this time at least.

  It took a few more minutes for the crewmen to finish clearing the remaining dishes. When they were done, they departed, closing the door behind them, leaving her alone with her First Officer and the Captains of the Piruz and Achaemenes. This unexpected trip North would mean an extension to the Piruz’ tour.

  “Gentlemen, as you know, and as your crews probably know by now, it is likely that someone aboard our ships—and most likely aboard the Retribution herself—provided the assassins with information on exactly when and where I was going to be. I didn’t even know myself until just prior, which means that they were able to get that information to the attackers very quickly. While it is possible that the assassins could have obtained the information through close observation or other indirect means, I believe that to be highly unlikely. Therefore, Lt. Ben-Ezra will be conducting an investigation and I would like you to give him your full cooperation.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” they each responded.

  “Finding this traitor has to be our primary objective right now. We can’t allow suspicion and distrust to destroy our crews…” Her voice faded out and she felt suddenly very faint.

  “Esther…!” Najafi stood abruptly, his voice
rising in alarm.

  Esther looked down and noticed a dark spot slowly spreading on her dress where it lay over her wound. She brought her hand up and pressed it against her side and quickly sat down. “Well gentlemen,” she said, trying to put strength back into her voice, “I think we’d better adjourn for now.” She pulled her hand away and stared down at her bloody palm for a moment before pressing it against her wound again. “Abdel, fetch Dr. Scott and Mrs. Stolman, the midwife, if you would. Send in Marigold, as well. And do it quietly please. I don’t want to alarm anyone. I think I’ll just go back to bed,” she said with a wan smile. Her officers chuckled nervously, but they did seem a little relieved by her nonchalant attitude. They each bowed, then left.

  Esther hoped it didn’t take Abdel too long to find Marigold or Mrs. Stolman. She wanted to make it back to her bed before she passed out.

  - - -

  Lt. Asher Ben-Ezra had been pouring over the logbooks for the crew and the documents for the interviews that had been conducted thus far. With something this important, he only trusted a handful of men to help him with the questioning, which limited his ability to quickly interview everyone. He sighed, rubbing his eyes, and began squinting at the logbook again. He knew the answer was in here—he just needed time to find it. With a potential informant, saboteur, or assassin onboard, however, he felt the pressure building within him to find the answers more quickly.

  Another man may have felt it his duty to protect the Queen, but for Asher, it was more than that. It was a compulsion, and he knew that it stemmed, in part, from his heritage. He didn’t know if Esther knew—though she likely did at least peripherally given his surname—but he was of Caldean decent, and just like the Mehin Clan that had assisted Esther in saving King Asserius from assassination, he was an active practitioner of his lineage’s religious beliefs. Also like the Mehin clan, his family had been in the service of the Hadiqan monarch’s for generations—as far back as Asher could find records—and they took their duty to the Crown seriously.

  Asher felt even more duty bound because he believed in Esther, and believed that she was bringing that special something to the Royal Family that it had been missing. The way she carried herself—her forceful personality with its fresh vitality—combined with a sense of duty and honor that drew his loyalty more than anyone ever had before. Regardless of the reason, he had been pouring over these books for hours and he needed to find an answer quickly. In just the short time that he’d known her, the young Queen had come to mean more to him than any other member of the somewhat vast royal family—even King Asserius.

  Asher rubbed his eyes again and turned the page. Hopefully, he would—

  He stopped suddenly, his heart beating faster as he re-read the information. Able-Airman Halil was a replacement for another crewman who had fallen ill. He hadn’t been chosen by Commander Najafi. That didn’t necessarily mean he was guilty, but it was a good place to start. He had a hard time believing that someone Mr. Najafi had personally chosen to crew the Retribution would be an accomplice to assassinate the Queen.

  Asher marked his place in the log and closed the book. It was time that he and Able-Airman Halil had a talk.

  Chapter 21

  Cards

  “I told you to take it easy,” Geoffrey was saying as he stitched the wound in her side again. This time, Esther was conscious however, and though his hands were deft and the needle small, it still hurt. She clenched her teeth as the needle bit into her skin yet again.

  She lay in her bed on her right side, her left side exposed from just below her left breast down to her hip where a sheet was draped across her legs. She would have thought that being so exposed under Geoffrey’s gaze would have made her feel self-conscious, much as the time when he had first examined her for a concussion, but so much had happened since then, and her privacy diminished to such a large extent after becoming Queen that it registered only intellectually in her mind. Besides, the stitches hurt. She inhaled sharply as he inserted the needle into her skin yet again.

  “You have to hold still, Esther,” Geoffrey said firmly. She turned her head to glare at him. He didn’t notice, however, as his eyes were focused on the wound he was stitching up again.

  “I’m trying,” she said exasperatingly. He looked up at her briefly and she saw the look of concern and affection in his eyes before he looked back down. That only made her blush and feel more exasperated. Maybe she wasn’t as immune to self-consciousness in front of the young doctor as she had thought. Fortunately, Mac stepped into the room just then, distracting her mind from both the pain of the stitches, and the young doctor.

  “Lt. Ben-Ezra is in the ante-room, Your Majesty. He says he has urgent news regarding the investigation. I told him that you were indisposed at the moment, but he seemed most urgent and excited. Should I have him relay the message to me, Your Majesty?”

  “Mac, you know I hate it when you call me that in private. And yes, I consider this in private,” she said, waving dismissively at Geoffrey and Marigold. “Go ahead and let him in. It seems half the ship has seen me in some state—Owe!” The needle poke had been especially painful that time.

  “Sorry,” Geoffrey said, looking up at her briefly.

  “You did that on purpose,” she said, glowering at him. He only smiled and continued to stare down at his work.

  “Anyway,” she continued, looking back at Mac, “go ahead and let him in.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Mac replied with a bow.

  “Is everybody trying to aggravate me today? It’s Esther, Mac, Esther!”

  “As you say, Your Majesty,” He said before stepping out the door.

  Esther heard Marigold snickering and turned to glare at her as well.

  A few seconds later, the door opened again and Lt. Ben-Ezra stepped through. He took one glance at her and immediately looked up and stared straight ahead at the far wall. “Um…Your Majesty. I…uh, are you alright? I thought that the doctor had already…I, mean—”

  “It’s alright, Asher. The wound re-opened while I was conducting the luncheon. Dr. Scott is just fixing it up. Mac said you had urgent news about the investigation?”

  “Uh…yes, Your Majesty,” he replied, still keeping his eyes pinned to the bulkhead behind her. “I was examining the crew logs and, as you know, Commander Najafi had hand-picked most of the crew, but there were a few that he selected who weren’t available, or were replaced just prior to leaving. There was one able-airman Halil that replaced a fellow by the name of Kentish, who had suddenly become ill.”

  “And we can guess that that illness probably wasn’t accidental?”

  “No, Your Majesty. I just finish interviewing Halil and he is definitely our man. Right now, he’s not saying a lot, other than admitting that he provided the assassins the information. He’s in the brig at the moment.”

  “Good, thank you Asher. Is there any indication that he was working with anyone else on the ship? A co-conspirator perhaps?”

  “I don’t think so, Your Majesty. The other crew replacements don’t seem to have any ties with him and everyone I’ve talked to says that he pretty much keeps to himself. He did talk a bit with the cook, a Petty Officer Tomyris, but both Commander Najafi and I have known Tomyris for several years. He was one of those that were hand-picked for this ship—he’s a good cook,” Asher said with a smile. “From what Petty Officer Tomyris said, Halil and he had a common acquaintance—a cousin of Tomyris’.”

  “Alright, well if he really was working alone, that’s a relief then. Try and get him to talk. Figure out why he did it and if he knows anything else.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” said Asher. He bowed slightly, never lowering his eyes, then turned and left.

  “Alright, done,” said Geoffrey at last, sitting up straight. He put the needle and forceps on a small metal tray lying on the bed next to her sheet-covered form. “I’ve used a thicker thread this time, so it should hold better, but you should still take it easy—and even then, it’s still going to
leave a pretty good scar.” He leaned over, placing a new dressing on top of the stitches, then pulled a cloth bandage around her torso to secure it with.

  “I can live with a scar,” said Esther. “I’d just rather not start bleeding again.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” said Geoffrey, gently tying the bandage over the dressing, “I’m the one that has to stitch up the Queen of all Hadiq, and I doubt Asserius will be too happy with me for leaving a scar.” The mood in her bedchamber turned decidedly awkward.

  “Alright, I think that’s enough discussion about scars for today, Doctor,” interjected Marigold brusquely, stepping up next to the bed. “Why don’t I help you gather your things and then I’ll make sure she stays in bed for the next few hours.”

  Geoffrey nodded and placed his tools and supplies in his satchel. He hurried out without looking back at her.

  After he had gone, Esther turned her head to Marigold. “That was pretty harsh, don’t you think?”

  “Well, he deserved it after that comment,” replied Marigold. “Here, let me help you finish taking off that dress.” The long sleeves and nearly chin high neck collar made it a little difficult to get off laying down as she was, but they finally got it up over her head and Marigold held it up in front of her. “Well this is going to be fun to try and get out,” she said, staring at the dark stain on the left side of the dress. “Fortunately, blood and burgundy share the same hues, but it’s still going to be a pain to avoid leaving a darker area.

  “Sorry,” Esther said, adjusting to lay flat on her back while being careful not to loosen the bandage wrapped around her torso.

  “Do you want me to help you get into your nightgown, or are you just going to stay in your underclothes?” asked Marigold.

  “I think I’ll just sleep like this for now.” Feeling a bit breathless and thirsty, she took a long drink of water from the cup on her bedstand to try and replenish the fluids she had lost. After she drained the cup, she set it down and pulled up the sheet, closing her eyes. She didn’t see Marigold smile down at her, or see her shake her head in admonishment for wearing eye makeup to bed—she was already asleep.