“Are you all right?” Olivier asked, helping Darcy up.
“No!” she cried. “No, I’m not all right! I need your help. I need the help of Mosh Zu Kamal!”
“All right,” Olivier said. “You’ve come to the right place.” Seeing the urgency in her eyes, he dropped the pushcart. “Come with me!” he said, taking her hand. Over his shoulder, he called to the guard. “Luka, please put the pushcart away, rescue what you can from the baskets and saddle up two of the mules. Fast as you can!”
Luka nodded, springing into action, as Olivier raced away with Darcy.
“I was here once, long ago,” Darcy said as they stopped running and slowed to a fast stride down the corridor toward Mosh Zu’s rooms.
Olivier nodded. “And since then you’ve been traveling aboard The Nocturne?”
“Yes,” she said. “The captain’s been so good to me. So good to all of us. I can’t bear to think . . .”
“Try to stay calm,” Olivier said. “You need to tell Mosh Zu what’s happened. Look, his rooms are just ahead.”
The door was ajar and, knocking briefly, Olivier pushed it open. He saw Mosh Zu and Grace beginning, or perhaps finishing, a meditation. They broke off and rose to their feet as the others entered the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Olivier said.
“It’s all right,” Mosh Zu stepped forward. “Darcy Flotsam.” He smiled warmly at her. “Welcome back to Sanctuary.”
“Darcy!” Grace exclaimed. She ran to hug her friend. “How good to see you!”
“Oh Grace, it’s good to see you, too!” She glanced up at Mosh Zu. “And you as well, Mr. Kamal, of course! But I’m not here on a social visit. I have terrible news. Simply terrible!”
“Sit down,” Mosh Zu said, helping Darcy to a chair. “Have you come up the mountainside alone?”
Darcy nodded. “I had to. I had to! The captain couldn’t. Oh, it’s so horrible. Just so horrible!”
“Can we get you some tea?” Mosh Zu asked. “Something to restore you after this journey?”
Darcy shook her head. She looked on the verge of collapsing into tears again but managed to stop herself. “I must tell you what has happened,” she said.
“Yes,” said Mosh Zu. “In your own time.”
“There’s been a rebellion on The Nocturne. Not just one or two Vampirates this time. It was bigger, much bigger, than that. Thirty or more of them. Sidorio set it all up. He sent one of his . . . one of his lieutenants, I suppose you’d say, onto the ship. Jez . . . Stukeley . . .”
At his name, Darcy and Grace exchanged a look. Grace instantly realized the depths of Darcy’s pain.
“He came aboard the ship and pleaded with the captain to help him. The captain made him welcome and we all thought Jez was a good . . . well, a good guy. He was very charming. I was taken in by him. I was so stupid! It seems all the time he was talking to other members of the crew, seeing which of the vampires were most likely to rebel, planting seeds of discontent in their weak heads, telling them about this other ship where things would be different.”
Mosh Zu shook his head grimly. “I feared this day would come. But I hadn’t expected it so soon.” Grace shivered. It must be a grave threat indeed to have taken both the captain and Mosh Zu by surprise.
“It all came to a head tonight,” Darcy continued. “Jez . . . I’m sorry, Stukeley — Stukeley killed his donor, Shanti —”
“Shanti is dead?” Grace was deeply shocked. There was no love lost between her and the donor, but still, it was a terrible jolt to think of her as dead.
“Killed for her blood. And another twenty of the donors, massacred by their own blood partners. Others escaped with bad wounds. They came up onto the deck. I was there with the captain. At first, we didn’t understand. It was just awful. Then the Vampirates followed, the ones Stukeley had recruited. You could see they’d taken too much blood. They said terrible, vicious things to the captain.” She took a deep breath. “And then this other ship pulls up alongside . . .”
“Sidorio!” Grace said.
“Yes.” Darcy nodded. “The exiled Lieutenant Sidorio. He shouts out to the others to come and join him. And so they do, flying through the air to him, like he’s put a trance on them or something. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty.”
“And the captain?” Mosh Zu asked.
“That’s the very worst of it,” Darcy said. “I thought the captain would take charge. But it’s like he’s been wounded, very deeply. He seems so weak. He collapsed on the deck. He’s barely spoken a word since. He told me to bring the ship here . . .”
“You navigated the way here?” Grace asked.
Darcy nodded. Grace was at once tremendously proud of her friend and now even more deeply concerned for the captain.
“He gave me the directions, but when we arrived, he was too weak to climb up here, so I came alone.”
“The other Vampirates,” Mosh Zu said now, “the ones who remain on the ship. Is there any danger that they will rebel, too? That they might try to harm the captain?”
Darcy shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, they are looking after him. They love the captain. We all love the captain. The rebels are gone. It will be a better ship now. If only . . . if only you can help him.”
“Yes,” Mosh Zu said. “Of course we will.” He turned from Darcy. “Olivier, take Dani and go and fetch the captain. Saddle up the mules!”
“Already done,” Olivier said, turning and running out of the room.
Her story out, her work done, Darcy slumped back in the chair, utterly exhausted. Grace went over and held her. Darcy’s body felt limp with exhaustion.
“Darcy Flotsam,” Mosh Zu said. “You have been a real hero tonight.”
“I only did what I had to to help,” she said.
Mosh Zu shook his head, “you did more than that, Darcy. You may just have saved the captain from the end. Thank you!” Now, he turned to Grace. “I think Darcy should rest. Perhaps you would take her to your room and make her comfortable? Some berry tea might be a good idea, too.”
Grace nodded. “No problem.”
“Thank you, Grace. I’m going to prepare the healing chamber for the captain. We may need to act very fast when he gets here. Once you’ve settled Darcy, come back to me if you will. I’d be grateful for your help.”
“Yes,” Grace said, nodding. Then she took Darcy’s hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you somewhere you can rest.”
When Grace returned to Mosh Zu’s rooms, she found him busy in the healing chamber, lighting candles and strewing the edges of the room with sweet-smelling herbs.
“How is Darcy?” he asked, turning as Grace entered.
“She’s sleeping now,” Grace said. “I gave her a little tea and we talked for a bit. Then she quickly fell asleep.”
“Good,” said Mosh Zu. “It’s what she needs after her ordeal.”
“She did good tonight, didn’t she?” Grace said.
Mosh Zu nodded. “I think she surprised herself,” he said. “But not me.”
“Nor me,” said Grace. “I always knew she had it in her.”
She glanced around the room, her eyes taking in the long bench on which the captain would lie for the diagnosis. She felt a sudden panic. “Do you think you can save him?” she asked.
“I must be honest with you,” Mosh Zu said, “I just don’t know. I won’t know what I’m dealing with until he arrives.”
“You said that he was in danger,” Grace said. She shuddered. “You said that a new time was coming and that he needed to be stronger for it.”
“Yes,” Mosh Zu said. “But even I hadn’t realized how quickly things were going to change.”
The preparations complete, they walked out of the healing chamber into Mosh Zu’s meditation room.
As they did, they heard sounds out in the corridor.
“Are they back from the ship already?” Grace asked.
They stepped out int
o the corridor and found Olivier striding ahead, while three of the others carried the captain. Grace could hardly bear to look. Just the sight of the captain’s cloaked body, slumped over their shoulders, was terrifying to her. He looked so weak. So near the end.
“Good work,” Mosh Zu said. “Bring him to the healing chamber.”
Grace watched as they carried him away. She lingered in the corridor. It was then that she heard a bell. It was the tiniest of sounds but as her ear tuned into it, she heard it more and more clearly. It was Lorcan’s bell — the one that sat on his nightstand in case he needed help.
She turned to Mosh Zu. He nodded. “It’s all right, Grace. Go to him. See what he wants and report back to me.” She nodded and set off. “Wait!” Mosh Zu called after her, stopping her in her tracks. “One thing, Grace. Whatever’s wrong with him, don’t tell him about the captain, you understand?”
She nodded, then turned and began running. The ringing of the bell was growing more and more urgent. What fresh trouble was he in? Had he sensed the chaos happening on the floor above? Had his wound somehow deepened? She couldn’t bear to think of him suffering more. But she had to put all such thoughts out of her mind. She gritted her teeth and ran along the corridor down to his room.
She passed the rec room. Was Johnny inside? She saw the chessboard set up for a game but her brief glimpse indicated no sign of Johnny. She didn’t have time to go in and look. The bell rang again. She had to get to Lorcan, to save him from whatever new hurt he was feeling.
At last, she made it to his door and pushed it open.
“Lorcan! I came as quickly as I could. It’s me, Grace.”
He was sitting up in bed. As she entered the room, he let the bell fall from his hand. It landed on the bedclothes, next to his torn bandages.
“I can see who it is, Grace,” he said with a smile. “I can see exactly who it is.”
“You mean?” She couldn’t believe her ears.
“Hasn’t your hair grown long since I last had a proper look at you! Very pretty!”
“Oh, Lorcan,” she said, rushing to embrace him. “You can see me! You can see me!”
“Yes,” he said, taking her hand. “And now I think I finally understand that old expression — a sight for sore eyes.”
45
THE MENTOR
Connor stepped into Cheng Li’s room and immediately ducked out of the light. “Can you close the shutters?” he asked. “I don’t want to be seen.”
Without missing a beat, Cheng Li drew the shutters. “I can dim the lights too, if you feel that’s necessary,” she said.
“I just don’t want anyone to know I’m here,” Connor said.
“I’ll try not to take that personally,” she said, staring intently at him. “I must say, you’re the very last person I expected to walk into my study tonight.”
He stared back at her, remembering the last time he had seen her, shortly after his fight with Jacoby on the Lagoon of Doom. He had been angry with Cheng Li. He had felt betrayed by her. She and Commodore Kuo had toyed with him — with his ambitions and his emotions. He remembered the words she had spoken back then. “You may not like me very much at the moment but there are things you don’t understand.”
“What are you thinking about?” she asked him now.
“The last time we met,” he answered.
She nodded. “You were angry with me then, Connor,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Tell me, are you still angry?”
He shook his head. “No, not with you.” It was true. Somehow the issue of whether or not she had betrayed him back then was of little consequence now.
“Good,” she said. “But just for the record, there was no dark and devious plan to maim you. All we were doing was testing your fighting skills, seeing what you were made of. Commodore Kuo thought — indeed, he still thinks — that you’d be a great asset to the Pirate Federation.”
“Yes,” he said. “I see that now.” It didn’t mean he liked it one bit, but he accepted what she was saying as the truth.
“And, in fact, it did tell us what you were made of,” Cheng Li said. “You not only proved your ability at combat. You also showed how important loyalty and honesty is to you.” She smiled. “You might say you taught us a lesson.”
Connor was a little taken aback, both by Cheng Li’s words and her smile. She was so changable. Every time he met her again after a separation, she seemed to have shed one skin and evolved into something just a little different. It was impossible to predict quite what she’d be, where she’d go, next. It made her fascinating and not a little dangerous.
“Are we done with the past then?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes.” He had much more important things to talk to her about now. If only he could find a way to begin.
She smiled once more. “Well, whatever’s brought you here, Connor Tempest, it’s good to see you.”
Connor was still searching for the right words. But glancing around the room, he found himself distracted — drawn into Cheng Li’s world. It was, in many ways, a welcome distraction. He had been wrestling with his inner demons for a long time now. It was good to be thrown into someone else’s world — a world where, as usual, there was so much going on. Looking about the room, there were piles of paper everywhere — jottings, charts, notes pinned onto the wall and piled up in stacks on the floor, table, and sofa. Organized chaos — very organized chaos.
“It looks like you’re busy,” he said, indicating the papers.
“That’s an understatement,” she said. “You’re lucky to catch me. I’m about to take a week’s leave. I have a business trip tomorrow. Well, to be more accurate, a shopping trip.”
A shopping trip? This didn’t sound at all like the Cheng Li Connor knew.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Commodore Kuo’s giving you a week’s leave from the Academy to go shopping? I’m surprised the Academy can even spare you for a week.”
Cheng Li leaned back against her desk. “They’re soon going to have to spare me for a lot longer than that. I’m leaving the Academy, Connor.”
“But you’ve only just come back here!”
“I move fast, Connor. I’m ambitious. This was only ever a temporary teaching post. A stopgap, really. Besides, the Pirate Federation prefers Academy staff to have been captains.” She paused. “Can I get you some tea?”
Suddenly, Connor put together the jigsaw of papers strewn around the room — the charts, the plans, the pile of CVs right under his nose.
“You’re going to be a captain, aren’t you?” he said. “The Federation’s giving you your own ship!”
Cheng Li nodded, unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face.
But Connor didn’t need to see her smile to know how happy she must be at this news. It was the goal she had been working toward all her young life. Her post as deputy captain of The Diablo was supposed to have been her apprenticeship, but that had ended badly and now, he realized, the Federation itself had called her away to the safe harbor of Pirate Academy. But teaching had never been Cheng Li’s forte, not on land at least. She was itching to get out onto the oceans and build a reputation as glorious as that of her father — the great Chang Ko Li, “the best of the best.” And now, she was poised to set off on that epic journey. In spite of his own torpor, he felt overwhelmingly happy for her. He had a sudden urge to reach out and hug her. If she had been Grace or Jasmine or even Cate, he might have. But somehow hugs and Cheng Li didn’t quite go together. Instead, he lightly punched her shoulder and said, “Well, that’s great. Really great! Have you decided what to call your ship?”
“I’m still thinking,” she said, pointing to a small notebook labeled Ship Names. “If you have any good ideas, I’ll add them to the list.”
“Wow!” he exclaimed. “This is big news. So when do you take up command?”
“In another couple of weeks, maybe sooner. It all depends when the ship is ready. That’s out of my hands, which is a good thing because
there’s so much else to get organized.” She barely drew breath before continuing. “And, right now, I have no crew, so everything falls to me. Well, at least that way we know it will all be done properly. That’s why I’m leaving the Academy early tomorrow morning. I’m setting sail for Lantao Island to collect the weapons the swordsmith has made for me . . .” Cheng Li broke off for an instant and looked him up and down. “Where is your sword, Connor?” she asked.
He glanced away, feeling awkward again. “Actually,” he said, “I think I will have that tea.”
“Excellent,” she said, not pushing further for answers. “A break from my work will do me good. Clear a place for yourself on the sofa, but don’t mess up any of those piles.” She padded off toward the small kitchenette, but turned back and smiled uncharacteristically warmly at him. “Oh, it’s very good to see you, Connor. I do so love it when a friend pops by unannounced.” Then she disappeared around the corner to prepare the tea.
After relocating Cheng Li’s meticulous towers of notes, Connor sat down on the sofa. This meeting wasn’t going anything like he had planned it out in his head. After the way he’d exited Pirate Academy, he’d expected a difficult atmosphere between them. He certainly hadn’t expected her to make him tea and call him her friend. But then Cheng Li didn’t operate the way other people did. She was honest, often to the point of brutality. She didn’t cling onto unnecessary emotion. Instead, like a ship, she sailed on. She had said it herself — she moved fast. So fast that, sometimes, it was hard to keep up with her.
He picked up the notebook of ship names and began scanning her list. Typically, there were not just three or four names but pages and pages of them, all written in her immaculate script. Some had been crossed out; others given one, two, or three stars. Clearly, it was very important to her to choose exactly the right name.
He was still poring over the list when she returned to the room, carrying a tray bearing a small iron teapot, two tea bowls, and a plate of temptingly chunky cookies. “I’m so going to miss the cooking here at the Academy,” she sighed. “I did think about doubling Chef Hom’s wages and taking him with me but I don’t think that would put me in Kuo’s good books, do you?”
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