Deceptions (Ascendant Book 3)

by Craig Alanson

  With fog so thick the masts above their heads were lost in the mists, there was no lookout above, all the crew posted as lookouts were lining the bow rail as the Hildegard drifted along on the surging current. Everything possible had been done to make the ship utterly silent, yet Reed winced whenever a swell caused the ship to roll and her timbers creaked. The crew had used grease, even cooking oil that was no longer needed, and painted the lubricants in gaps between the great timbers of the ship. Still, the ship’s structure groaned softly as it flexed, and neither Reed nor his dedicated crew could do anything to make the ship completely rigid. Captain Reed was certain no ship the size of the Lady had ever been made more quiet, and he took comfort in Lord Salva’s assurances that the fog conjured by the master wizard muffled sounds like a thick pillow.

  Reed shuddered slightly, as a tendril of unnatural mist curled around the back of his neck, the damp chilliness making him flinch. “I hear it also,” he whispered back, and strode carefully across the deck to the tall, dark-skinned wizard. “Lord Mwazo, we hear-”

  “I hear it too,” Mwazo replied in a barely audible whisper, standing in the center of the bow, eyes closed. While Lord Salva was at the stern of the ship, in a deep trance as he struggled mightily to subtly extend his powers far from the ship, Lord Mwazo was using his own magical senses to prevent the ship from stumbling into the jagged, unseen rocks that were strewn across their path.

  Cecil stood tall and silent, eyes closed, arms raised slightly to each side. In each hand, he held a string that ran back along the deck and down a hatch. When he sensed an obstacle to port, he moved his right arm forward, the string tugging on an indicator below the main deck. Down there, men stood ready at great oars called ‘sweeps’, a pair of them held out to each side. The sweeps themselves were well padded with sailcloth and old rope, and the crews moved slowly and carefully not to make any splash as the sweeps dipped into the water. The crew at each sweep walked their great oar along the side of the ship, lifting it slowly out of the water and letting water drip off before very carefully walking the sweep back and holding it ready for the next action. Thus far, the sweeps had threaded the Hildegard past numerous rocks more than halfway down the channel, but the narrowest part of the channel lay ahead.

  “Two boats out there, both to starboard,” Cecil whispered. “I can hear their crews talking and arguing, they do not like being out in this fog. We should glide right past them, as they are headed south while we go east, but-” He took a deep, calming breath and allowed his senses to flow outward. “There are two large rocks ahead to port. We will need to risk using the sweeps to steer around them. Captain, if the sweeps make any sound-”

  “I know. Guide us, master wizard, and I will see we make no more noise than-” he had been about to say ‘the grave’ when he caught himself. Any mention of death would be a bad omen. “A mouse crossing a carpet,” he finished.

  Leaving the deck to Alfonze, though the first mate could do little to assure the ship didn’t crash into the rocks ahead, Reed went below to supervise the sweeps. He did more than supervise, when the wizard tugged on the indicator to command the ship to starboard, Reed himself took the end of one sweep. Based on the position of the indicator, the wizard needed a substantial turn to avoid the rocks. “Gently, easy now,” Reed ordered as he lowered the sweep into the water, then began walking it backward. “And up, slowly, slowly,” he whispered. All four sweeps moved gently, carefully, one pair pulling the ship to the right, the other pair pushing the ship away from the left side. Twice, three, six times the sweeps went silently back and forth before the makeshift indicator attached to the ceiling went back to its neutral position. Reed left the sweep and stuck his head out the porthole, holding his breath. He could not hear anything, and to his chagrin realized he could not know anything as long as he was below the main deck. His ship was carried along the current while her captain was a mere passenger. Should he go back to the bow? No, that would only satisfy his own curiosity and show a lack of faith in Alfonze and the two wizards. The crew at the sweeps were heartened to see their captain with them, he needed to remain there until the danger was past.

  “Cap’n,” a sailor whispered harshly from another porthole. The man gestured forward to starboard and Reed peered out into the gloom.

  Something was out there, something big and dark and dangerous. It was only a darker shadow in the enveloping gloom of the night fog, but it was there surely as if the night had been clear. A rock! A massive rock that threatened to tear the bottom out of his ship, leaving the crew to scramble into boats, to- To what? To row for their lives until they were inevitably chased down by the pirate guard ships, and then spend the rest of their short, miserable lives as slaves chained to an oar aboard a pirate ship? Better to go down with the ship, Reed thought to himself as his heart leapt into his throat while the dark rock drew closer. Going down with the ship is what Reed resolved to do, unless he saw a chance to kill a pirate before he died.

  The rock now loomed above the ship, Reed imagined that without the interference of the fog, he could reach out and touch it. Had the wizard guided them too close to the rock? Did the wizard understand how deep the Hildegard’s keel lay beneath the waves, even unburdened by cargo? Reed knew he should trust Alfonze to advise the wizard, but he chafed to be on deck, having to will himself not to race up the ladder. At that point, there was nothing he could do but display false confidence in front of the crew.

  Impossibly, miraculously, the ship glided past the rock, moving swiftly as the current was squeezed through the narrow passage between cliff and the offshore jumble of rocks. With Reed forcing himself to take even breaths, the slightly darker, indistinct blob of the rock fell astern and Reed joined the entire crew in an unspoken prayer of thankfulness. “Cap’n!” A sailor whispered from the hatch above. “Wizard wants you on deck.”

  Reed snapped a salute to the sweep crews, and those who had hands free returned the gesture. The Lady Hildegard was not a naval vessel, but many of the volunteer crew had served in the Royal Navy or the navies of allied lands, and Reed thought the grim nature of their current mission fully warranted a salute to his fine crew. Without haste that might create noise, he climbed the ladder through the hatch and strode to the bow, nodding to acknowledge the relieved grins of crewmen along the way. It was good for the crew to celebrate now, he considered, for they might all be dead within the hour. “That was too close for comfort, master wizard,” Reed muttered, his continued tension overcoming his manners for a moment. “Ah, I beg your pardon, Your Lordship. We were all a bit frightened below decks. That rock looked close enough to touch.”

  “It couldn’t be helped,” Cecil replied with eyes closed, not breaking concentration. “I sensed rocks extending just below the surface to the side of one rock, so I steered us closer to the other. Sorry if you were-”

  “You have no need to be sorry for anything, Lord Mwazo,” Reed bowed slightly. “If my comfort is what I cared most about, I would never have chosen a life at sea.” He laughed to ease nervous tension. “We’re past those two big rocks,” he remembered from the map that those two large rocks almost marked the inner end of the channel, with only a few widely-scattered rocks to avoid before the channel opened into the great bay of Tokmanto harbor. Sticking his head over the railing, he did not need to check the ship’s progress against landmarks on the shore that was shrouded by fog, his long years at sea told him the water rushing past the ship was already slackening, and the ship slowing with it.

  “Yes,” Cecil acknowledged. “Beneath my feet I can feel the current dispersing around us, your eyes tell you the same?”

  “They do,” Reed agreed with worry. Already, the Hildegard was turning sideways to the current, as the rudder lost its effectiveness in the slower current. “Can I hope you and Lord Salva have another trick up your sleeves?”

  “We do not have any other tricks to play. Lord Salva is growing weary and the spell is weakening, the fog will begin to lift soon.” Cecil still had not o
pened his eyes, he dared not break his concentration until they were safely past the last of the rocks

  “Weary?” Reed exclaimed in a voice louder than he intended. Of course the wizard was weary, enveloping half of Tokmanto harbor and the cliffs to the north must take tremendous effort. For three days, the Hildegard had lazily sailed back and forth just over the horizon, waiting for what the court wizard considered the correct weather conditions to create a fog without the enemy knowing it was an unnatural event. Conditions did not have to be perfect, merely good enough for fog to be possible. Above all, there needed to be little wind, and for the first two nights after they arrived off Tokmanto, the onshore breeze was blowing too hard for the wizard’s liking. Each morning before the sun rose, the Hildegard added sail and raced south into the open ocean, straight away from the enemy harbor. Each night as the sun set, the ship crept closer to the harbor, making ready to dash in under cover of darkness. Captain Reed and his experienced crew of volunteers fretted all day, every day, as they lingered too closely to the pirates’ lair. Even with sails furled and the Hildegard well over the horizon, beyond known routes used by pirate ships, there was still risk of discovery. Twice, Lord Salva had tested his ability to create fog without being detected by enemy wizards, declaring himself satisfied although dismayed by how much creating the spell drained his energy. The court wizard had slept past Noon after each time he attempted the spell. To maintain the spell for hours, and spread the fog widely around the ship, was almost more than Paedris could bear. When Reed had checked on the wizard as they approached the headland to enter the channel, the man’s face had been ashen, his lips dry, his hands trembling. There would be a price to pay for it later, Reed feared, a terrible price.

  And that severe effort would all be for nothing if the fog lifted while the Hildegard was drifting slowly on the slowing current. “Lord Mwazo, surely there is something you can do. For us to be caught now-”

  “There is nothing I can do, and there is nothing any wizard need do now. What are your own senses telling you, Captain?”

  Reed bit back a sarcastic reply, telling himself to trust the wizard once more. His feet told him the deck was swaying even more gently side to side now they were through the channel and into the open bay, where the ocean swells were dampened by the reef that formed the harbor’s natural barrier. His ears told him nothing, even the few, faint sounds coming from the ship’s creaking timbers was muffled. His eyes saw only gloomy mist in all directions. There nothing-

  No! He felt the fog caressing his face and neck as he saw a particularly thick swirl of fog curling in front of him, around him. Reed took in a sharp breath while looking over the rail at the oily surface of the water. Other than the remains of swells rolling in from the open ocean beyond the rocks, the sea around the ship was flat calm, the heavy fog acting as a blanket. Then, he saw what the wizard meant, a ripple teasing the surface of the water. Then, another ripple, and the fog danced across the water. Turning his head, he felt a light puff of wind stir the droplets of water clinging to his beard. “I understand, master wizard. Alfonze!” He waved the first mate to him. “Raise sails and make ready. That night wind Jofer spoke of is indeed coming down that gap in the hills. It will blow this fog away as it reached the bay, we must take full advantage of it before it is too late!”

  Using hand signals, Alfonze ordered the crew into action, and everyone moved silently, so different from the usual routine of orders shouted repeatedly from one man to another. Men climbed the rigging, shaking out sails, and soon Reed could see sails beginning to billow as the barest zephyr of a breeze wafted across the deck and built into a steady wind. Not yet enough wind to fill the sails, they were still mostly luffing, with the spars creaking against the masts. The Lady Hildegard began to respond to the increasing strength of the wind, gaining enough headway for steering control, then a gust caused a gap in the surrounding fog and the ship heeled over slightly as the sails caught the wind. Despite their discipline and the continued need for silence, a whispered cheer rose from deck to the topmast.

  Cecil opened his eyes and slumped forward against the bow railing, his knees buckling. Reed caught the wizard, holding him up. “Steady, Lord Mwazo, easy.”

  “It is done,” Cecil gasped. “We are past the last rock, wind and current are carrying us safely away.”

  “Has our presence been noticed?” Reed peered fearfully toward the shore, where glowing lights atop the cliffs were just becoming barely visible. The enemy lit watch fires above the cliffs at night. In the fog, the fires only blinded the enemy lookouts and made it easier for the crew of the Hildegard to judge their distance from shore. The ship was exactly where Reed had hoped to be, with the wind carrying her around the last inner headland of the bay, toward the docks where pirate ships were tied up for the night. If they could get around that headland before being detected, they would be too far inside the harbor for the guard ships to catch up with them. Or so Reed hoped. Now that he was able to judge the night wind, it was not nearly so strong as he wished, and that last headland would create a wind shadow, beyond which the Hildegard’s sails would go slack. He needed to change course to build up speed before rounding the headland. “Are you able to stand, master wizard?” he asked, and after Lord Mwazo nodded wearily, Reed waved a crewman over to help the wizard. “Quickly, prepare a boat for the wizards. Pass the word aft, I must tend to the wheel.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  “No!” Reed cried out in anguish, and pointed back toward the ship. In the swirling current at the far end of the harbor near where the pirate ships were docked, the Lady Hildegard began to veer off course, the wind pushing her unguided hull toward a sandbar to the right of the docks. The sailors had allowed for some drift across the current, but movement of the water was swifter than expected, and as the ship sailed farther into harbor behind the headland, the breeze had less and less effect on the ship’s progress. As her crestfallen former crew watched helplessly, their old ship presented her port quarter. “She’s going to miss the docks!”

  After the ship rounded the last headland and had built up good speed, Captain Reed had personally taken the wheel and steered straight for the largest of the two pirate docks. There was one pier extending out from the eastern shore where three pirate ships were docked, but Reed’s target was the main pier and dockyard structures at the bottom of the bay. At first, steering of the ship had been guided by Lord Mwazo, as the patchy fog still made it impossible to see the shore clearly. Then the wizards had been hustled away into a boat rowed by four of the ship’s strongest crewman, and Reed had been able to rely on his instincts, until the freshening wind began to tear rents in the fog and he could see the light of torches lining the docks ahead. At that point, Alfonze took most of the ship’s crew away in boats, leaving only Reed and eight others to guide the Hildegard on her final voyage. They had steered the ship toward the docks, set the sails properly and lashed the wheel so the ship was making way directly toward her target.

  With the pirates on the docks and aboard the two guard ships alerted to the totally unexpected danger, Reed had ordered his remaining crew into the last boat and they pulled with all their might for the east shore of the harbor. Behind them, the two guard ships were racing in after the Hildegard with all sails set and oars furiously churning the water on each side. The guard ships had been near the harbor entrance, becalmed and enveloped by fog when the Hildegard entered the open bay behind them. When the fog dissipated enough for the danger to be seen, the intruder ship was already past the headland and the pair of guard ships had no chance to catch her, but the guard ship captains knew the penalty for failure in Acedor, so they bellowed and cursed and whipped both their crew handling the sails and their slaves chained to the oars.

  And now Reed’s plan was all going to fall apart, for the unpredictable current was pulling the Hildegard off course! With the ship falling off toward the sandbar, Reed feared one of the guard ships would turn to chase his boat, if they spotted the small, dark craft in the
patchy fog. “Pull, men, pull!” Reed shouted in alarm. Perhaps the Hildegard could still crash into one or two of the pirate ships that were frantically being cut loose from the docks or being readied for sea, but that left far too many swift and deadly enemy ships to chase Reed and his crew. Pointing toward a bank of fog laying low on the water, Reed exhorted his crew. “We must make for the-”

  “Look!” A sailor interrupted, grasping his captain’s arm. “Who is that?”

  Across the water, a figure could be seen on the Lady Hildegard’s deck, holding onto the wheel. The figure swayed side to side violently as its arms sawed back and forth. “He’s cutting the wheel loose!” Reed exclaimed in anger. “A pirate! He wants to make sure the Hildegard misses the docks completely! How did a pirate get aboard her so quickly? I wish we could-”