Beyond the Pool of Stars

by Howard Andrew Jones

  “If she’s a spy, why hasn’t she simply killed us all?” Kellic asked.

  “She might yet,” Mirian said.

  “She’s left the lizardfolk free.”

  “They’re confined to the forward deck,” Jekka said. “Mirian, is he always this blind?”

  “He didn’t used to be.”

  Her brother scowled.

  “Kellic, listen to me. Lady Galanor suspected Sylena was a spy. That’s why I kept our destination secret from you.”

  “That’s why? You thought I was a spy?”

  “No, but I thought you’d tell her where we were going. She found out anyway. Doesn’t that seem suspicious? Don’t you see that we’re—” she was starting to finish the sentence with the word “prisoners” when her eyes lit on the ring that still glinted on Kellic’s hand. The one Sylena had given him.

  Finally her thoughts seemed to tumble into place at something like normal speed. She knew powerful wizards and witches could spy upon people at a distance—she and her venture-captain, Finze Bellaugh, had once hired a wizard to do exactly that to help track a thief into the wilds. The job of scrying, the tanned old man had explained, was far simpler if the spell’s subject carried something belonging to the spellcaster.

  Mirian wasn’t versed enough in magic to know exactly what was possible. Could the ring act as a magical beacon? Was it letting Sylena eavesdrop on them even now? She decided explaining further wasn’t worth the risk. Their lives might depend upon Sylena wishing to remain in Kellic’s good graces, though she wasn’t sure why the woman thought Kellic worth the trouble. If Mirian convinced him Sylena was a spy, she might well end up getting all of them killed.

  “That we’re what?” Kellic demanded. “How could you say anything against Sylena? You’ve never even met her!”

  “Maybe you’re right,” she said.

  Kellic’s eyebrows drew together peevishly but he held off speaking. Mirian glanced at Jekka, found his expression unreadable.

  “Lady Galanor would have said anything to get the expedition moving,” Mirian said, which was almost true. Mirian improvised as she went. “She wanted me in charge, not you, because you weren’t giving her what she wanted.”

  Kellic nodded slowly.

  So she was convincing him at least; but if Sylena were listening, would she be fooled? Mirian forced a smile, hoped it was reassuring. “It’s hard to think clearly. I’m sorry if I insulted you.”

  “You need to take the medicine, Mirian.” He reached over and patted her shoulder gruffly, but there was honest concern in his eyes.

  If nothing else, Kellic’s worry was sincere. He might be a coward and a dupe, but he wasn’t a traitor. She took small comfort in that. “How far out from Crown’s End did you say we were?”

  “Only a few hours.”

  “You should wait,” Jekka said.

  “I’m going to pray,” Mirian said, “before I do anything else.”

  “Pray?” Kellic repeated in astonishment. “Since when did you get so religious?”

  “I lost two women under my command. I haven’t prayed for them yet, or asked the ancestors for guidance.”

  He didn’t sniff his disapproval, but it was writ large on his face.

  “You have as much Bas’o blood as I do,” she said. “You should honor both traditions.”

  He frowned.

  “But you’re in charge, Kellic. You need to make sure the lizardfolk are well cared for. Check in on them and see that they have water. They may be too polite to ask for it.”

  Kellic’s frown deepened.

  “And you have to look in on Gombe and Rendak and Lord Galanor.” Strange to refer to Ivrian like that.

  “I don’t want to get sick,” Kellic protested.

  “Then check on them through the door. And take Sylena with you so that if they have any needs she can help them right away.”

  “Are you really sure that’s necessary?” Kellic sounded as though she’d just asked him to cross through the deepest jungle in monsoon weather.

  “You’ve got to take care of your people,” Mirian said. It was something they’d heard their father repeat countless times, and he nodded glumly.

  “Very well. So long as you get some medicine into you when I get back.”

  “I’ll consider it.”

  He sighed and climbed to his feet. He seemed to find a little more of his spine as he stepped to the door of the narrow cabin. “Are you going to keep loitering there?” he asked Jekka.

  “I remain until Mirian dismisses me,” Jekka replied tonelessly.

  Kellic glared, then opened the door and departed. It clicked shut behind him.

  She spoke quietly to Jekka. “Thank you.”

  “I have done right?”

  “Oh yes. I’m just not sure how to get us out of here. Are we truly on course for Crown’s End?”

  “I cannot say. I do not know the ways of ships.”

  “Is the coast on our port side? I mean, the left side of the ship?”

  “Yes.”

  Mirian pushed covers aside and discovered herself in her sleeping gown, white and rather conservatively high-necked. She had left it with her dunnage, expecting it to be carried back to Sargava with her brother along with the rest of her clothing. “Is my chest in this cabin?”

  “Your chest?” Jekka sounded confused.

  “A wooden container. With clothes.”

  “Oh. I am sitting on it.”

  Mirian climbed uneasily to her knees so she could look out the narrow porthole. Evening. They were making east, with a good wind. A long coastline loomed to the north, only two or three miles out. A hard swim, but with their gear, not an impossible one.

  If she were in her normal shape.

  She almost asked Jekka to turn around while she dressed, then realized the absurdity of the request. What would a lizard man care about a naked human? His people barely even wore clothes. Her arms felt leaden and her vision occasionally swam as she moved, but she forced speed.

  Her gear belt had been returned to the chest, though not her sword, or her wand. Or, she realized, her rings. How stupid was her brother? Hadn’t he been suspicious that all her tools were kept from her? Or had he kept those things for himself?

  “What do we do, Mirian?” Jekka asked.

  “First, you’re going to go to the weather deck and create a distraction. Not a violent or dangerous one. Just something that will attract a lot of attention.”

  He didn’t ask why, which she appreciated. She didn’t have a lot of spare energy to explain. “What should I do?”

  “I bet if you and your brother and cousin sang it would draw all kinds of attention.”

  “Shall we sing our death songs?”

  “Your death songs? No. We’re not dying today. Any of us,” she added with a conviction she hoped would make her declaration true. “I just need all attention pulled from me. I’m going into Sylena’s cabin to get our gear.”

  “And then?”

  “Then we go over the side.”

  “What about the others?”

  “No one gets left behind. I just don’t know how to free them yet.”

  “You will make another distraction.”

  “Probably.”

  “If someone can do this, it is you,” Jekka told her, which brought a brief smile to her lips.

  “Here’s hoping. I’m going to try and get my brother out of here as well. It’s not his fault he’s stupid.”

  “My brother disappointed me, too, Mirian.”

  “You and me both.”

  Jekka hissed and tilted his head to one side. “When Kalina said that Ivrian claimed her friendship, I told her he lied. But I do not think so now. Do you think humans and lizardfolk can be friends?”

  “I know it,” she said. “Now let’s get moving and save our team.”

  25

  Complications

  Sylena

  “It doesn’t sound as if you had much success.” Sylena leaned against the back of
her cabin chair and carefully watched Kellic’s face.

  The Sargavan waved the criticism away. “She’s agreed to think matters over. And she apologized.”

  “Apologized?’ Sylena pretended ignorance. She’d naturally been listening via the ring.

  Kellic cleared his throat, glanced at Atok standing silently beside Sylena. “She’s a little suspicious of you because of your Chelish heritage, but she’s starting to rethink her opinion.” He laughed, a little strained. “I guess she saw the hypocrisy.”

  “Indeed.” Sylena settled back in her chair.

  “I’m sure it’s all because of her illness. She said she needed to pray, but I fully expect her to take your ministrations soon.”

  “We can hope.” Sylena doubted Mirian’s change of heart. She studied Kellic, who stood uncomfortably in front of her.

  “She reminded me of my duty as head of the family business. She suggested I check in with the lizardfolk and the salvagers.”

  “They’re being taken care of. You can’t visit the salvaging team without exposing yourself to fever. Not only is the disease contagious, they’re likely to be raving.”

  He nodded. “All the same, it’s my duty.”

  Sylena tapped fingers on the surface of her desk. This was an irritating time for Kellic to insist upon anything.

  Until now, almost everything had proceeded according to plan. Once she arrived she sent the rest of the sailors away via the Ijo boats with assurances she’d pick up the salvage party, and Kellic had reassured their leader there was no need to send Lady Galanor’s letter along. She’d easily tricked Kellic into thinking the salvagers were sick by casting a minor spell shortly after they boarded, then locked them away.

  She’d thought of several contingencies for the lizardfolk, but two proved so interested in the black cones they’d brought back that Sylena left them on deck without restraint. Once night fell she’d render them harmless with a sleep enchantment. They’d fetch a good price at the Crown’s End arena.

  The one wrinkle had been the lizard man who refused to leave Mirian’s side or permit her consumption of any food or liquid until she was seen by a mainland healer. That made poisoning her problematic unless she killed the lizard man, which might rouse Kellic’s suspicions. As would refusing his current request.

  “I understand, of course,” she said finally. “I’ll have Atok escort you below. You can talk with your salvagers through the door, if they’re even awake. Atok will check on them first. Gillmen are immune to sensun fever.”

  Kellic looked the gillman up and down, as if searching for signs of his immunity. He had never liked Atok, and she knew the feeling was mutual.

  She gave Kellic her best smile. “We’ll arrive at Crown’s End in only a few hours, and then they’ll receive the finest care. For now, please, you must only check on them through the door. We can’t risk you becoming infected as well. And when you’re done, you can meet me on deck to talk to the lizardfolk.”

  Kellic nodded.

  “You also might want to stop by your quarters and grab something to use as a face mask. A scented kerchief, perhaps, that you can press over your nose and mouth when you get close, just to be safe.”

  “Oh. Of course.”

  He bent and raised her hand to his lips, then departed, closing the door behind him.

  Atok listened to his footsteps retreat, then bowed to her. He couldn’t quite mask his surprise. “You really want me to take him to the men you’ve imprisoned, mistress?”

  “I want you to go in first and stress to them their lives depend upon their answers.”

  “Very well, mistress. I don’t think I’m actually immune to sensun fever.”

  He could be so literal. “Good thing they don’t have it, then.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Is there something else?”

  “No, mistress.”

  “Perhaps you think I go to too much trouble for him?”

  “If you still believe you might be better placed as a landholder in the new Sargava with Kellic Raas twined about your finger, then it’s probably worth some trouble.”

  “But?”

  “But perhaps not too much more.”

  He was probably right. She had to be honest with herself: marriage to Kellic was no guarantee his property would remain hers after Sargava’s reconquest, though she was certain it would help legitimize her claim.

  The uncomfortable truth was she had grown fond of Kellic. He was simple and pleasant and thoroughly devoted. He was no Chelish title-seeker who’d start sparring over money and land the moment they signed betrothal papers. He simply enjoyed her company.

  Why couldn’t she hold on to him? Didn’t she deserve a little something extra after all of her hard work? She frowned at Atok. “You may go. Don’t give him much time before you lead him back to the lizardfolk.”

  “I’ll do my best, mistress.”

  26

  Chains and Challenges

  Ivrian

  To have come so far and suffered so much, only to end up chained in a smelly ship’s hold … When I saw Kellic and the shore party, I’d assumed we were safe at last, but the Chelish sorceress worked her magics upon us while our backs were turned. The next thing I knew, I was waking to the shake of Gombe’s hand, chained and manacled to metal plates bolted to the deck!

  —From The Daughter of the Mist

  It was very dim in the cramped space beneath the orlop deck. Intensely focused shafts of bright sunlight streamed in through gaps between two planks overhead. All else in Ivrian’s world was dark, and everything stank of sweat and urine and sea brine.

  “What do you think’s happening to everyone else?” Ivrian shifted, and the chains rattled as he tested the manacles around each wrist. Neither was remotely loose, and the right one bit into his skin.

  Rendak’s voice was grim. “I think that pretty little captain threw a spell on us. Leovan’s boy sold us out. The gods alone know what they’ve got planned for Mirian.”

  “And the lizardfolk?” He wanted to ask if they were still alive, but he couldn’t bear to do it.

  “No idea.”

  Ivrian reflected on that glumly for a moment, then pushed the thought from his mind. Right now there was only mental space to worry about their own situation. “So what do we do?”

  Rendak rattled his chains.

  “Are you saying we’re trapped?” Ivrian asked.

  “I’m not saying that at all,” Rendak said. “This ain’t my first dance.”

  There was enough slack in the chains that they could raise and lower their arms, and Rendak fiddled with his belt buckle.

  “What are you doing?” Ivrian asked.

  “Well,” Rendak answered, huffing a little with effort, “one of the things a salvager has to be an expert with is locks. Think on it, lad. A lot of chests and doors and such bar our way when we’re in the middle of a drop.”

  “It’s not just about glamour and grateful, gorgeous women,” Gombe added.

  Ivrian felt hope dawning.

  “So.” Rendak paused to grunt. “A simple wrist lock like this”—he waved a hand in the air, now bereft of chain—“ain’t no problem at all.”

  “Isn’t any,” Gombe corrected.

  “Isn’t any what?” Rendak asked.

  Ivrian breathed out in relief. “Sweet, sweet Shelyn. How did you do that?”

  “Years of practice.”

  “Plus a lock pick hidden in his belt buckle,” Gombe added.

  “You’re going to give the boy all our secrets.” Rendak was already hard at work on his second manacle.

  “So what’s the plan?” Ivrian couldn’t keep the excitement from his voice.

  “Well, first…” Rendak paused, concentrating. Ivrian heard a faint click as the second manacle opened. “We get ourselves free, although if any sailors come with slop for us we’ll have to pretend we’re still chained. We’ll stay in this fine hotel until things get dark. Come the dog watch, that’s when we make our m
ove.”

  “What’s our move?” Ivrian asked.

  “He has no idea,” Gombe explained.

  “There you go, giving away our secrets again.”

  “Seriously,” Ivrian insisted, “what’s the plan?”

  “Lad, we’ve got to free Mirian. We’ve got to free the lizardfolk, and we’ve got to get our gear.” He leaned over Gombe, who offered a chained wrist.

  “Don’t forget the treasure,” Gombe said.

  “Aye, and we’ve got to get the treasure. Somehow we’ve got to sneak out in the darkness and get all of that done without getting caught.”

  “Or killed,” Gombe added.

  Rendak grunted, bore down on the lock. “That goes without saying.”

  “I think it needed saying.” Gombe lifted one hand free of a manacle, flexing his fingers as Rendak moved to the next.

  “I think not being killed should always be first on the list,” Ivrian said.

  “You’re wrong there.” Rendak was suddenly serious. “The way I see it, we owe Mirian for pulling our fat from the fryer.”

  “She ran into a boggard village to get me,” Gombe said.

  “That she did. And poor Tokello too. And then she took a spear for us on the way out. And I’ve lost count of how many times she saved your ass, Lord. No disrespect intended.”

  It still felt odd being referred to as “lord,” though Rendak, Gombe, and even the lizardfolk had called him that over the last days. “No offense taken,” Ivrian said, although not getting killed still seemed important.

  Rendak finished with Gombe’s second wrist manacle. He set it gently on the floor. “My point is that goal one is getting Mirian out alive. We owe her that. Second is getting the treasure out of here and away from Sylena and Kellic. ’Cause if they get the money, Sargava’s got nothing to pay off the pirates with.”

  “You don’t know that,” Gombe objected.

  Rendak had moved over to Ivrian, who held his wrist upright on his knee. The salvager clasped the metal in one hand and dug with his pick.

  “Then you tell me why Lady Galanor headed into the Kaava Lands. The boy here will tell you the truth of it.”

  Ivrian felt Gombe’s eyes on him. “There might be other ventures in the works,” he said. His mother’s absence was like a great pressure upon his heart. “But no. You’re probably right. I think Mother was one of the few people of sense the baron had, and I think things must be really desperate or she wouldn’t have gone out to manage things.” He fell silent, lest his voice crack.