Lioness of Kell

by Paul E. Horsman

  Maud frowned. ‘What’s the bad?’

  ‘The enemies aren’t pirates; they’re soldiers. Looking like us.’

  Maud frowned. ‘Us? You mean like you and me?’

  ‘No. Like me and Basil; only their accent was strange.’ Jurgis paused for a moment. ‘I think they’re from the continent.’

  Maud stiffened. An invasion? This was bad indeed. She dropped the torch and killed its light under her heel. Quickly she repeated Jurgis’ report for the men and women behind her. ‘Listen to my orders. Boats two and three secure the rooms to the left; the others follow me to the right. Let’s go.’ Her voice was soft, but carried to everyone and without a word, the silent fighters followed her.

  As they neared the doors at the end of the corridor, the center one opened, and Maud got a glimpse of a starry sky as a man came in. He whistled, unbuckling his sword like one going off duty. Then he noticed them coming and his tune died on his lips. Maud sprinted toward him. The man yelled and fumbled to free his blade of the sword belt wrapped around the hilt. Maud saw the realization hit him that he wouldn’t make it. With a cry of despair, the man tried to run. Then his body was flung into the mess hall, his skull split.

  Chaos followed with cries and falling chairs as some twenty men went for their discarded weapons. Maud paused for a moment, while yelling Jentakans streamed past her. Jurgis was right, they were soldiers. Males in plain leather uniforms, looking not unlike the Vanhaari she’d met. One of them, some underofficer with an unfamiliar badge on his sleeve, jumped onto a table and sprang at her. The lioness’ big sword flashed, and the man’s triumphant shout changed into agony as she spilled his guts.

  Close by, Jurgis rammed his spear into another soldier, narrowly escaping being skewered himself.

  ‘So that’s why it has a pointy end!’ he shouted and Maud caught an edge of hysteria to his voice.

  Kaltir had picked up a fallen sword and used it like a club, bashing around like a runaway windmill. He was sobbing and screaming as he ran, adding to the confusion without doing much damage.

  The fighting was fierce, but the attackers had the majority and after a few minutes, the enemy soldiers lay dead.

  ‘The first battle is ours,’ Maud said, grinning at her troops as she lowered her sword. With her sleeve, she wiped away the sweat from her forehead. Around her, the fighters stared at each other and at the fallen enemy soldiers.

  ‘My niece was killed,’ an older Jentakan said.

  Maud looked at him and felt cold gripping her heart. ‘Your niece?’ Two fighters laid the body of a young woman on a table, a look of total astonishment on the stilled face.

  ‘Damn,’ Maud said, her feeling of triumph draining away.

  ‘She was my sister’s daughter,’ the man said. ‘Kallianura called her.’

  Maud touched his shoulder for a moment, at a loss for words.

  ‘The guardroom and the stores are ours,’ a warrior reported. ‘It was easy enough; there were but two enemies.’

  ‘Very good,’ Maud said. ‘Let’s see what is behind the main door.’

  Jurgis came, swinging an enemy helmet by its chinstrap. ‘Camouflage.’ He donned the helm and left.

  Maud saw him go and swallowed, seeing the surprised face of the fallen girl. Gorm and Otha, not him! she thought, biting her lip in anguish. Stupid, she hadn’t prepared herself for death on their side. The enemy, yes; but not them! Not ...

  Then Jurgis slipped back into the corridor.

  ‘There are three terraces,’ he told her. ‘The two below us have five cannons in total. They’re manned, but the crews are resting at their posts. I counted about twenty gunners. On both ends of the terrace are steps leading to the next one.’ He grimaced. ‘There’s no ship.’

  ‘Damn. That means we’ll have to wait. I hope the Daisee is safe. Let’s go and secure the fort.’

  Silent as nightspirits, the Jentakans streamed onto the upper terrace and then, bursting out in mad screaming, they rushed down the stairs. Half-seen shadows in the dark of night, they hacked away at the surprised gunners. On the lower floors were more doors and like a spring flood, the inlanders spread out through the fort, killing and maiming.

  ‘Here’s an officer!’ A trio of Jentakans dumped a bleeding man at Maud’s feet. The lioness stared down at the kneeling enemy. He had a narrow face, like the others, with his hair shaved short, and sporting a thin mustache. Even now, battered and defeated, his face bloody from a scalp wound, he sneered at her.

  Maud returned his sneer with her fiercest scowl. ‘We’ll hang him later. Undress him and lock him in one of those cells we passed.’

  Without another word, the Jentakans stripped the officer of his fine breastplate and other accouterments, and dragged him naked off to the cells.

  ‘Guess what? We’ve done it!’ Jurgis cried, emerging from the darkness. ‘The fort is ours.’

  Maud slapped his shoulder and nearly knocked him off his feet. ‘Good!’ She leaned over the balustrade and raised her voice. ‘Well done, folks. Now drag those scumbags aside and man the cannons. You, Daisees, show your gunners how it works. Sponge, load, run out, the works. When that blue ship comes, we’ll welcome her heartily.’

  CHAPTER 16 - THE BLUE SHIP

  ‘Sail in sight!’

  It was well into the morning when the yell woke Maud from an uneasy doze on the hard cot in the soldiers’ quarters. Through the open door, the breeze brought the hubbub of Jentakan voices and over it the curt command sequences of the gunners. Excited, she jumped to her feet and ran to the uppermost terrace.

  ‘It’s a white sail,’ Jurgis said, appearing at her side.

  Maud stared at him as if he’d slapped her. ‘Then it’s not the enemy.’

  ‘Sail is the Daisee!’ The lookout crouched precariously on a small ledge above them, where she had a good view of the bay’s inlet and the bit of sea beyond it. ‘There’s a second sail. Blue sail ... I see a flash of gunfire.’

  ‘It’s a chase, curse it!’ Maud leaned over the stone parapet. ‘All guns stand by! Gun captains report when ready.’

  An older seaman waved his cap, laughing. ‘Number Two ready, Lioness.’

  She smiled back and waited, as one after another, the others followed. All in all, it took two minutes. Not bad for an untrained crew, Maud thought.

  ‘It is the Daisee,’ Jurgis said, beating the parapet with his fists. ‘Ratla’s Aid, that blue ship; she’s a big one! She’s gaining fast. But why is Yarwan coming into the bay?’

  Maud’s hands gripped his shoulder. ‘He’s gambling on us. Damn, he’s hoping we’re here to protect him.’ She leaned over and hollered, ‘All guns; fire as you bear.’ Wait, we don’t want to sink her. ‘Aim for the masts,’ she called. ‘For the, eh ...’

  ‘Rigging!’ Jurgis cried quickly.

  ‘As he said; aim for her rigging!’ Below her, the gun crews sprang into action. What more? ‘Boarding parties. Jurgis, be a dear and get those damned canoes into the water.’

  She jumped as the first gun fired. ‘Damn!’ A ragged hole appeared in the blue mainsail and the sailors aboard the Magonaut waved their fists in anger.

  ‘They think someone over here is fouling it up,’ Maud said with a wild grin. ‘Divine Gorm! Look at the Daisee!’

  The little cutter made a smart half-turn and anchored under the walls of the fort. While she was still moving, her port guns popped, all three of them, hitting the blue ship’s deck in mid-turn. The enemy’s sails fluttered, and she faltered as men ran to replace fallen comrades. The Magonaut lost speed and then, with a shudder, she stopped in her tracks.

  Open-mouthed, Maud stared at the blue ship, motionless in the water.

  ‘She ran aground!’ she cried, waving her sword. ‘She ran bliddy aground! Well done, Yarwan!’ Her voice reached far, for on the cutter’s afterdeck a small figure looked up and raised his hat to her.

  ‘The boarding parties are ready,’ Jurgis said, panting from running up the stairs.

  ‘I’m com
ing. Gun captains, reload. You’ll have time for another round or two. Then stop; we’ll be boarding her.’ Maud followed Jurgis down the stairs and stepped into the nearest canoe. Excitement sent her heart racing. ‘Make for the Magonaut’s bow.’

  ‘Why the bow?’ Jurgis said, as they sped across the water.

  Maud took a deep breath to steady herself. ‘See the netting hanging over the side? They must’ve been doing repairs to the bowsprit as well as to that mast. Anyhow, it’s our door to the deck.’

  From the Daisee came a single ship’s boat, with Yarwan and a handful of sailors, and set course for the blue vessel. Maud waved and Yarwan touched his hat to her, smiling broadly.

  A fluting noise passed them overhead and everybody ducked instinctively.

  ‘So that’s how it sounds,’ Maud said and saw another hole appear in the enemy’s sails.

  Jurgis straightened, blinking. ‘What was it?’

  ‘A cannon ball, love.’

  The young thief swallowed. ‘At least it was happy; it whistled,’ he said weakly.

  Maud stared at him. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Jurgis rubbed his face. ‘It got me there for a moment.’

  Maud looked closely at him. She saw the set of his jaw, the strain in his eyes, and she remembered he wasn’t a warrior born.

  ‘You’re doing fine, partner. For a male, that is,’ she added deliberately. It worked, for she saw him stiffen.

  ‘For a male!’ he bristled. ‘Girl, I’ll have you know ....’ Then he grinned ruefully. ‘All right, I get the message. Yes, this is a far cry from burgling Brisan merchants. Don’t worry; I’ll not crack on you.’

  ‘I know,’ she said soberly. Then the looming shape of the enemy ship hung over them.

  ‘At them!’ Roaring the ferocious battle cry of the lioness, Maud rushed hand over hand across the net. She swung a leg over the railing, and then a bearded sailor attacked her. His shorter cutlass was faster than her big twohander and for a moment she limited herself to the defense. After a flurry of frenzied blows, the man had depleted his energy. Wild-eyed, he stared at her and then she struck. With his scream severed by death, the man collapsed and Maud hurried after the others.

  The main deck was full of fighting bodies. A glance told her there were nearly twice as many enemy sailors, like the soldiers dressed in strange uniforms. But the Jentakans were defending their homes and families, and their need made them fight for two.

  ‘Daisee! Daisee!’ The yell told her Yarwan and his handful of people had joined the party. They made enough noise for another fifty fighters, and together, they drove the enemy sailors further and further back toward the quarterdeck.

  ‘Give up!’ Maud roared, climbing halfway up the quarterdeck ladder. She saw the enemy captain beside the wheel, a tall man in a gleaming breastplate and a plumed helmet. He brandished his sword and shouted endless commands into the melee. Maud fixed him with her eye and bellowed, ‘Give up, you can’t win!’

  ‘We’ll see about that!’ an unnaturally hollow voice answered, and a hooded figure walked to stand beside the captain. ‘Behold my power!’

  He waved his hands and a greenish mist wafted over Maud, chilling her to the bone, and making her gag with its stink of death and spilled blood. It formed a sluggish fluid on the main deck, spreading into all corners of the ship, and every fallen combatant of either side touched by it rose and attacked the Jentakans.

  Maud’s forces screamed in horror and turned to flee.

  ‘Hold!’ Maud cried in her loudest voice. ‘By Kallianura I command you, stay and fight!’

  Her warriors obeyed, but their courage was gone and they reacted like automatons.

  The hooded figure lifted his arms. ‘Despair! You will all join the dead! I’ll ...’

  ‘Forbidden!’

  The one word cut through the bedlam, silencing all.

  The hooded figure stiffened. ‘Who dares ...?’

  A blinding flash turned all eyes to the redheaded boy with the dragon staff, standing at the foot of the smoke stack amidships. ‘I dare you, child!’

  ‘Basil!’ Jurgis cried. ‘Watch out!’

  The Spellwarden raised his arms over the green and his voice was deep, laden with authority. ‘By the power of the Council, your magic is forbidden! Begone, foul spirits!’

  A frightful black light sprang from his staff, spread out and like two spills of wine on a tabletop, it met the enemy’s green. There it stopped.

  The hooded figure near the wheel laughed derisively. ‘You want to oppose my might, foolish boy?’

  To and fro the green and the black rolled, but neither won a foot’s length. Then Basil lifted his left hand, waving a heavy silver branch as long as his arm, and cried something terrible that defied Maud’s hearing. The black light shooting from his staff turned to purple and so did the substance covering half of the deck. A heady smell of lilies wafted over the ship, a drowsy aroma that filled Maud with lethargy. The sweet purple spread, drinking up the green and returning blessed death to every fallen fighter. Finally, it reached the foot of the quarterdeck ladder and started upward.

  With a yell of rage, the hooded figure clapped his hands. ‘This isn’t over!’ He jumped high up in the air, and something caught him. It carried him away from the ship, seaward into the blue sky. His last shout of rage and frustration rent the air. ‘I’ll be baaack!’

  On deck, the green mist evaporated. Basil made a sweeping move with his staff around the ship and then returned the rod to his belt. The purple turned into black again, rolled back toward him and disappeared into his staff. When all was gone, he staggered, caught by his brother’s arms. Around them, the fighting resumed.

  ‘Look at those sailors,’ Maud said in a voice filled with stupefaction. ‘They’re forcing our people to kill them.’ The remaining enemies fought with blind fatalism, and gave the Jentakans no option but to kill them all. Shortly, the battle was over.

  ‘We’ve got the ship!’ An exuberant Yarwan came running down the quarterdeck ladder, and, forgetting his dignity, hugged both Basil and his brother, then pumped Maud’s hand. ‘We did it! We conquered a steam sloop. Whoo!’ Then he visibly brought himself under control. ‘The enemy captain shot himself. I don’t know how many enemy survivors there are, but it won’t be a lot. They seemed to give up when that warlock fled.’

  ‘Don’t call him a warlock,’ Basil begged. ‘Warlocks are us, and he wasn’t. He was a sorcerer. A dabbler in unhealthy knowledge.’ The tone he used was full of disgust.

  Yarwan gripped Basil’s hand and brought it to his lips. ‘Whatever you want, love. You saved us all today.’

  Basil blushed. ‘I did?’

  ‘You certainly did, brother,’ Jurgis said. ‘You’re pretty powerful for a toeless ugly, you know.’

  For a moment, Basil seemed ready to explode. Then the anger leaked from his face and he burst out laughing. ‘That ... that’s what I said. Now to prove it to the Council.’

  ‘We’ll do that, don’t worry.’

  Basil looked around at the still dead and clenched his fists. ‘He was strong. Dammit, who was that guy? He can’t be one of us; no warlock would use disgusting tricks like that.’ He waved his staff, nearly poking Maud in the face with its dragon top. ‘Our spells were matched; mirror images. I had to use Kelwarg’s wand to give mine a twist, and I’m not happy about that.’ He growled softly. ‘Luckily I had mastered its protective ward already, making it safe to handle. Still, it has too many powers I don’t understand yet. Who was that sneaky bastard? Who?’

  Jurgis shrugged. ‘He wasn’t very tall; no bigger than you and me. The last cry of his ... he sounded young.’

  ‘How did he get away?’ Maud shook herself; all this magic distorted an otherwise simple fight.

  Basil looked at her, his eyes far away. ‘He had a magic carpet.’

  Maud sat back on her heels. She remembered that floor warden in Argyr’s tower explaining the doors. ‘Then the knowledge of carpet weaving isn’t lost.’


  ‘No.’ Basil glanced at her but left it at that.

  Yarwan looked around the bay. ‘The tide is turning. I’ve sent men below to check for leaks. If we’re lucky, high tide will float us off; else I will use the Daisee and drag the Magonaut from her bed. Meanwhile I’d like some extra hands to gather the fallen. I’ll take those of my kinsfolk back to Maiwar. The Unwaari dead I will bury at sea; I won’t pollute this bay with them.’

  ‘I’ll go back to the fort,’ Maud said. ‘You can have half of our people, and our fallen.’

  The water of the bay was smooth as a well-polished tabletop, and it was hot. Patches of gray fog hung motionless and as their canoe passed one, Jurgis sniffed.

  ‘Gunsmoke?’ he said, surprised.

  Maud nodded. ‘In this weather it will take a while to disappear.’

  The rowers brought them to the foot of the stairs leading into the fort.

  ‘Thank you,’ Maud said. The air was heavy with the sweet smell of blossoms hanging like flaming orange tapestries from the walls of the fort. She took a deep breath. ‘Better than smoke.’

  ‘Says the warrioress?’

  Maud looked at him. ‘There you have it. We females can tolerate gunsmoke if it protects sweeter smells. Our old males delighted in gunpowder for the power it brought them. Give me the fragrance of these blooms anytime.’

  At the top of the stairs, one of the Jentakan guards came up to them, navy fashion.

  ‘Bad news, Lioness.’

  Maud halted, her foot on the top step. The man’s face was filled with anxiety, and it gave her a shock. An overland counter-attack? Or had they sighted another enemy ship?

  ‘What is it?’

  The man shuffled his feet. ‘It’s that bastardly officer, ma’am. He tried to kill himself.’