This corridor was narrower than the one below, just wide enough for him to touch both sides at once. Walls and floor were inlaid with colored tiles that sparkled in the light from the vent holes. The tracks were clearly visible in the dust and Jurgis followed them, every nerve stretched. No burglary had ever scared him like creeping through this seemingly deserted building did.
Near the end of the corridor the footsteps entered a room to the left. Light, bright and beckoning, shone out and Jurgis’ heart beat faster. He hurried to the half-open door and looked inside. It was empty. The sun showered the chamber with her light and the cries of the gulls in the blue sky called him with voices of freedom. He stared at the birds, and wept with disappointment. There weren’t any windows to climb out from–the light came through a large hole in the roof, at least two manlengths over his head. Had it been twenty, it would’ve made no difference; escape was out of his reach.
‘Damn!’ he said and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. Then he took a deep breath of fresh air, and hurried back to the stairs. This time, he didn’t try to be silent. There wasn’t anybody around.
In the corridor below, he walked the opposite way; past empty spaces that could have been anything, from offices to dining rooms, until he couldn’t go any further. Here, the whole ceiling had collapsed, blocking the way.
Jurgis stared at the rubble and felt panic rising in his breast. Was there no exit? If Saul had flown him in ... He bit on his lip trying not to cry. ‘Keep calm,’ he said to himself. ‘Think!’ He studied the wreckage and spied a wooden door, half hidden behind a large piece of the roof. He clambered over it and gripped the sides of the door. It opened a hand’s breath and stuck. ‘Damn!’ he shouted, and kicked the door in frustration. It wobbled, and again he kicked. The wood protested, and encouraged, Jurgis delivered a series of hard kicks. At last the door burst inside and freed an opening. Through it, he saw a stair and a glimmer of light. For once, he blessed his slender build. Though he left pieces of his shirt and his skin on the splintered wood, he managed to wriggle through the hole.
He found himself on a little platform with a ladder leading down into darkness. Cautiously, he stepped forward and set foot on the first sport. But the ladder was old and rotten, and it gave way when he rested his weight on it. With a cry, Jurgis crashed down, and went under in stinking, brackish water. Cursing and spitting, he rose. The water came to his midriff, green with algae. A dead rat bumped against his chest and he screamed. Panting heavily, he waded toward the glimmer in the distance.
It was clear he hadn’t been the first one to end up in this sewer. Several times, he stumbled as he stepped on a skull or hooked a foot behind a ribcage.
Then he saw the end of the tunnel. Clear sunlight, the sea, the golden beach, all locked away behind a heavy wooden grille.
‘No! Gods dammit, no!’ He tore at the wooden bars, but they didn’t budge. In despair, he leaned his head against the grille and cried.
How long he’d crouched there, he didn’t know, when voices nearby alerted him. He froze, clinging to the bars in sudden hope. An unseen voice asked something he couldn’t catch, but the deep female one answering made his heart leap.
‘Maud!’ he shouted. ‘Help!’
A babble of Chorwaynie was followed by an authoritative ‘Quiet!’
‘Maud! Get me out of here.’
‘Jurgis?’
He sighed in relief. ‘I’m over here, in a sewer. Get me out!’ He heard his voice break.
Maud must have heard it too. ‘I’m coming,’ she called, her voice jubilant with relief. ‘Don’t panic, partner.’
Jurgis listened to their voices, and then her stout boots and leather-clad legs came into view. He’d have kissed them, had the grille not been in the way.
Maud kneeled and their hands touched. ‘Don’t worry; I’ll get you out, love.’ She turned to the sailors behind her. ‘You, give me that ax.’
A small boarding-ax changed hands. ‘Step back a bit, love.’
Jurgis waded away, and then Maud began to chop. She must’ve focused all her anger on the ax, for the bars stood no chance at all. One after another, they burst into splinters and in a short while, the way was free.
Jurgis splashed forward. With some difficulty, he wriggled through the broken grill onto the clean sand, and into Maud’s arms.
‘You’re whole!’ Basil was there, too, and he gripped Jurgis’ shoulders. ‘Whole, but smelly.’
‘That sewer,’ Jurgis said shakily. ‘Full of dead rats and the gods know what other horribles. I so hate rats!’ He shivered.
‘Why didn’t you use the stone stairs?’ his brother said. ‘That’s how we’ve been inside; we even found your cell. Maud has your knife; you must have dropped it.’
‘I never saw any stone stair. Damn, I must’ve missed a corridor, then. I ... I was scared as the hells by that time. Don’t know why.’
‘Reaction, probably,’ Maud said. ‘You did some crazy things today, love. Now take off your clothes. Go into the sea and wash that smell off your body.’
Jurgis nodded, swallowing his tears. ‘I have a surprise for you, Basil,’ he said, while he pulled his shirt over his head.
His brother cocked an eye at him. ‘You have? Well, it won’t beat Darquine’s surprise, that day at Alfway.’
‘It will.’ Mother-naked, Jurgis walked into the surf and then turned. ‘We’re triplets.’
‘What!’ Basil dropped his staff and waded after him, soaking his robe. He gripped Jurgis’ shoulders and shook him. ‘That’s–not–funny!’
Jurgis just stood there, his face so tired that Basil dropped his arms and stared at him.
‘I met Saul. He dragged me from the beach when I was unconscious, and locked me up in some storeroom. Then he came, and we talked. You know we said he’d be another surplus warlock son? He is.’
‘Saul? That little bastard? That ....’ Basil’s face grew all red and screwed up. ‘He is my brother?’
‘Eldest brother, he said. By ten minutes. He’s got a lot of your mannerisms, and perhaps mine, which I don’t recognize. Kelwarg had him spirited away after birth and brought to his place in Vanhaar. He hates Kelwarg, but he’s under some spell of binding.’
Basil growled. ‘I know of those do-or-die spells; they’re nasty.’ Slowly, the red leaked from his face. ‘I can’t stand the guy.’
Jurgis gave a lopsided grin. ‘I believe that’s mutual. He is jealous of you being the Spellwarden.’
‘Damn,’ Basil said, while he slapped the sea, sending up a spray of water. ‘This changes everything.’
His brother ducked his head in the surf. Then he straightened and rubbed the slime off his face. ‘Saul can lay his hands on the Tome of Old Ways,’ he said, his voice muffled. ‘The counterspell to his curse is on a slip of paper inside the book. And yes, he lives at Bitter’ights. And no, he didn’t tell me where that is. In return, I didn’t tell him we have the key to the book.’ He slapped Basil’s shoulder. ‘Cheer up, gloomy face. Saul told me he’d go back to Bitter’ights. I’d say we should follow him.’
‘We’ll talk about that later,’ Maud said. ‘We’re going back to the ship. You need soap, clean clothes, food and rest. Oh, and here’s your spear. Hala’s spirit must’ve guarded it for you; we found it sticking into the main mast.’
Gratefully, Jurgis put the weapon away. ‘Thank you, old Veteran,’ he said. ‘You are gracious to someone you never met.’
Wordlessly, Maud gripped his shoulder for a moment.
They returned into an orderly chaos. The torn sails lay spread out over the beach, with old Hamui and a sailor checking which were salvable and which weren’t. On deck, other hands were replacing damaged planks and bits of railing, and hoisting the spare sails. All paused to applaud Jurgis’ return.
‘There’s our wyrm rider,’ Yarwan cried, jumping down from the afterdeck with a big smile on his face. ‘I’m so glad to see you safe!’ He hugged Jurgis and kissed him on both cheeks. ‘Welcome back, dear!’
Jurgis colored, but he laughed. ‘Thanks; there were some moments I didn’t think I would. But then I saw Maud, and my brother’s ugly mug, and I knew I was safe.’
‘Ugly mug?’ Basil said. Then he shook his head. ‘The ordeal damaged your eyes.’
Jurgis sniffed. ‘I need a drink. Or two.’
‘You’ll get it,’ Maud said, half-dragging him to the hold ladder. ‘Let’s go below. It’s hot and airless, but at least we won’t be constantly pushed aside or stepped upon.’
At this time of the day, their cabin was hot and stuffy, but it offered some privacy. They rarely drank anything stronger than lemonade, but now Maud uncorked a bottle of wine. Sharing a hammock, they drank, talked and cried their fears away.
‘We must know more,’ Jurgis said after a while, with his head resting against Maud’s shoulder. ‘We must know more of Kelwarg, of his clan, and his tower in Unwaar.’
‘Yes.’ Maud sighed.
‘We must go to Kell.’ Jurgis twisted his neck to look at her. ‘What are you afraid of? You have my father’s orders, so they can’t recall you.’
‘I know,’ Maud said. ‘It’s not that.’ She hesitated for a moment. ‘They won’t accept you.’
Jurgis stirred. ‘Why not? Because I’m no Kell?’
‘Yes. No Kell ever breeds outside the clans.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because if we did, we would stop being Kells. We’d become like Garthans, who don’t care about their origins.’
Jurgis wriggled out of her arms and walked to the table. He poured himself some wine and stood there, with his back to her.
Maud looked anxiously at him. She saw the rigidity of his muscles and fear gripped her heart. ‘Are you angry?’
For a long second, Jurgis didn’t react. Then his stiffness drained away. ‘No, I was just thinking.’ He filled a second glass and gave it to Maud. Then he sat back down beside her. ‘I see what you’re afraid of. That your people would lose their strength, their awesomeness.’ He took a sip, looking at her over the rim of his glass. ‘I think it’s up to you. Do you want to live your life with one of those “soft and meek Kell men” –your words–or would you break out of the mold and live with me?’
‘Breaking out, would mean breaking with my clan,’ Maud said, and there was a world of misery in her voice. ‘They would cast me out like they did the M’Arrangh.’
Jurgis put his free arm around her. ‘What a fucking choice. Let’s keep it for another time; now we’re tired and not all that sober. There’s no hurry. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t planning to be a father at seventeen. We can go to Kell and behave, you know. No kissin’ or holdin’ hands; sleepin’ in separate rooms, the works.’
Maud sighed and nodded. He was right, she worried too much. They’d go to Kell; they’d behave and be damned with it all. She dropped her glass and pulled him to her. All her troubles disappeared as they kissed, made love, and finally, slept.
CHAPTER 20 - TAR KELL
To Yarwan’s surprise as five days later the Daisee limped into Towne-Harbor, they found the Magonaut moored to a pier in front of a large warehouse.
‘She looks good,’ Jurgis said. He leaned against the afterdeck railing and stared at the big ship.
Yarwan didn’t answer. He walked to the railing and let his eyes roam over the blue steam sloop’s strong lines. ‘To me, it’s a he. A big, tough, beautiful he.’ Then he looked at Jurgis and his face broke into a smile. ‘But I’d better keep saying she, or Basil will have my ears.’
Flags ran up her mast. ‘Welcome home,’ spelled the lookout on the afterdeck. ‘You look like you need a cuddle.’
‘Answer, We do,’ Yarwan said. Then he saw the slender figure of Darquine, her bad arm in a sling, sitting on a bollard, waiting for them. She raised her good arm and pointed to the empty berth opposite the Magonaut. Yarwan waved and ordered the helmsman to the new spot.
When the little brig came alongside, Darquine rose. With a pang, Yarwan saw she had cut off her pigtail. As she moved it was as a stooped, thin shade of the agile pirate girl she’d been before the murder attempt. But she smiled as she came on board, and her eyes were eager.
‘This is Daisee’s new berth,’ she said. ‘The whole pier’s ours now, just as the warehouse beyond.’
‘But that’s Hinguy’s property,’ Yarwan said, giving her a hard stare.
‘It was,’ the girl said grimly. ‘You can see Hinguy on Gallows Tip. They hanged him two days ago. The high merchants were very good; they voted and gave me the warehouse with its pier as compensation for my stupid arm. It’s now the Towne office of the Malgarth & Continental Trading Company.’
‘Who are they?’ Jurgis said, puzzled.
Darquine made a stiff little bow. ‘That’s us, boy. At least, as soon as you all sign the necessary papers.’
‘Well,’ Jurgis said, and he took a deep breath. ‘Me a merchant? Isaudor’s ghost will like that. I used to wonder sometimes if he’d be ashamed about my being a common thief.’ He shook his head. ‘Life is funny. How’s the arm?’
Darquine shrugged her good shoulder. ‘Finished. I’ll never lift a blade again. Not that mine helped me much; without you and Maud I would’ve been fish bait. I’ll miss sailing my dinghy, though. For the rest, I’m learning to write with my other hand, and I’ve engaged a clerk for the business.’ She grinned. ‘I can’t go adventuring with you, mates, but if you’re done with the Daisee, at least I will make you all very rich.’
‘That’s nice,’ Jurgis said. ‘I happen to love being rich.’
‘You can have the cutter,’ Yarwan said, his eyes wandering to the steam sloop. ‘Old Hamui will be a great skipper for her. Now you must excuse me; my ship is waiting.’ Without another look at the Daisee, he strode across the pier to the Magonaut’s gangway.
Next day, the Magonaut woke from her sleep with her belly filled by a burly stoker girl and her engine belching smoke. Steamships were enough of a rarity even in Towne-Harbor, and a small crowd had gathered to see her off.
Yarwan gripped the enameled speaking tube that connected him with the engine room. ‘Slow Ahead, Chief,’ he said.
‘Certainly, Captain.’ Their engineer wasn’t a seagoing man by profession, and he refused to use the familiar aye aye. His precise tones grated on Yarwan’s ears, but he knew he’d been lucky to get a Thali at all, so he was determined to get used to it.
The deck quivered and the ship steered away from the quay, to the applause of the onlookers.
Once they passed Mole Lighthouse, Yarwan ordered the topsails raised, to assist the engine and conserve coal. He looked out over the length of his command. The masts, the gleaming stack, the neat rows of powerful guns, and the sailors busy at their various tasks; he sighed with pleasure.
Maud turned to face him. ‘It’s a grand sight, isn’t it?’
Yarwan nodded. ‘I’ve dreamed of this, all those hard years on the Willowdrake. Never believed I’d make it, and certainly not in a ship like this. I don’t think there are many vessels at sea bigger than the Magonaut. At least I haven’t seen them.’
‘The Mermion?’
‘Wallanck’s flagship? That old tub’s bigger, but with her bottom foul with barnacles she’s slow. In a fight I’d sink her.’ He sniffed. ‘Both ship and captain are way past it.’ Then he colored. ‘I shouldn’t criticize a superior officer.’
‘Not even if you’re right,’ Maud said sternly, but her eyes twinkled.
The Magonaut was a fast ship. Her copper-sheeted bottom was clean and her overhauled engine gave her twenty knots at least; three times the Daisee’s speed. Even so they were surprised when at dusk the second day, as they sat down for dinner, Yarwan made an announcement.
‘I’ve a surprise for you,’ he said, meeting Maud’s eyes. ‘We’ll be at Tar Kell tonight.’ ‘Tonight?’ she said. That was far faster than she’d counted on, and she swallowed.
‘Yes. Nine hundred sea miles in two days. How’s that for speed?’ the captain
said proudly.
The others reacted with appropriate awe, though Maud’s heart felt heavy. Tomorrow she’d be back. She ate without tasting anything, as she thought of home, the army, her superiors and Jurgis. The army regulations about non-Kell relationships were clear as the glass goblet in her fist and she knew there would be trouble. She’d broken about every rule in the book with Jurgis and only her infertility spell protected her from the ultimate disgrace of pregnancy. “But I love him!” her heart cried. “I want his baby.” “The clans will kick you out,” said her brain. “What then?” She felt the touch of Jurgis’ hand and saw his big gray eyes full of understanding.
‘You’re doing it again,’ he said. ‘Worrying.’
She sighed. ‘I know.’
He motioned to refill her glass, but she shook her head. ‘No more; I must keep my head clear.’
A knock on the door heralded their newest crewmember. Midshipman Lannard of Towne-Fastness; a young boy in an overlarge blue uniform. ‘Midshipman of the Watch, Captain,’ he said, saluting. ‘The second mate’s compliments and we’ve sighted Tar Kell to the northeast.’
‘We did? And it’s not yet six bells!’ Yarwan slapped the table in uncommon excitement. ‘That’s even faster than I estimated. Thank you, Mister Lannard. Tell the second mate I’ll be up in a minute.’
Maud rose and left the great cabin, with Jurgis following silently in her wake. She wove her way through the busy sailors, till she stood at the large bowsprit. There, in the distance, was the looming shape of the Tar, the mountain that housed Kell’s capital.
‘Is that it?’ Jurgis said, putting his elbows on the railing. ‘I can see the lighthouse; now where is the town?’
‘What?’ Maud looked down at him. ‘The town? It’s inside, of course.’
‘Inside what?’
Maud opened her mouth, but then she took a deep breath. ‘Sorry, I forgot you’ve never been here. Tar Kell was built inside a cave. Everything, even the port itself, lies within the mountain.’
Lioness of Kell Page 21
