Blood Under Water

by Toby Frost

  “I can have my people look into it.”

  Praxis folded his arms. His fingertips were cold. “Please do. They certainly wrecked Azul’s operation well enough. A freelance knight and a woman with duelling scars. From what I’ve heard, they sound like Teuts or Anglians.”

  “Scars? I know her,” Nuntio said. His voice was flat and hard. “Warn Leth.”

  Praxis looked around, surprised by Nuntio’s tone. “He’s not easy to contact.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Warn him. I mean it.”

  “She’s dangerous?”

  “Very. They both are, her and the knight. Her name’s Giulia Degarno.” Nuntio scowled. “Make sure Leth has her killed right away. Tell him to execute the pair of them.”

  “I will.”

  “Let’s go back. It’s doing neither of us any good standing out in the cold.”

  They walked back across the square. Praxis rubbed his hands together. “I’ll be glad when spring comes. Winter seems to be going on forever this year.”

  Nuntio grunted.

  Praxis said, “So, Giulia Degarno, then. What’s so special about her?”

  “Well,” said Nuntio, “how long have you got?”

  ***

  “Bloody hell, it’s freezing,” Giulia said. “I’d go mad living here.”

  Hugh nodded. “You know, some call it the City of Lovers.”

  “I suppose people have got to do something to keep warm,” she replied, and he laughed.

  They stood on the harbour, looking out across the lagoon. It was still cold, but the sun warmed their faces when the wind was low. She looked at the waves and the nodding prows of the little boats tied to the pier, then out to the Margaret of Cheswick. On the deck, men were getting ready to untie the ropes.

  A door opened behind them and Giulia glanced around. Edwin and Elayne stepped onto the dock, their heavy cloaks stirring in the breeze.

  Edwin walked straight over to them. His arm was still in a sling.

  “Well, goodbye,” he said.

  “Goodbye,” Giulia replied.

  “Goodbye, old fellow,” said Hugh. “Safe journey, eh?”

  “You too. If ever you’re in Anglia, come and see me.”

  The merchant stood there for a moment, as if uncertain whether anything more was expected of him, then stepped back and Elayne stepped forward.

  She smiled, and her clever eyes met Giulia’s before she leaned in and kissed her on either cheek. “Thank you for everything,” she said. “For coming to rescue me. And for making our stay so… interesting. It’s been lovely to meet you.”

  Giulia smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s been good to meet you too. I just wish it had been in different circumstances.”

  “You should come to Anglia some time,” she replied. “I promise you won’t be arrested.”

  Giulia laughed, but it felt forced. I was wrong about you, she thought, and she felt unhappy that she had mistrusted Elayne just because she was honest and kind.

  Or maybe I wasn’t.

  The chances were that Edwin and Elayne were good, decent people, whose only sin had been to want to live quietly and make a profit from their trade. That was the most likely thing: that they’d got caught up in all of this and been victims all along.

  And then there was the suspicion that wouldn’t go, the feeling that, at some point, they’d realised something was wrong and looked the other way. Had they known about Azul and Cortaag, suspected where their money came from, but still done business with them? Of course, they’d never wanted to be detained by the Watch, or for Elayne to be kidnapped, but Giulia remembered Edwin on his ship, shaking hands with Cortaag, and wondered about the glass that Elayne had showed her back in the Old Arms, all that time ago.

  She saved me from the griffon. The rest doesn’t matter now.

  Giulia said, “I don’t mean to be rude, but will you do something for me?”

  “Of course,” Elayne replied, a little surprised.

  Giulia reached into her bag and took out the tile that she had stolen from Orvo’s office. Now she knew what the figures on it meant. The standing man was one of Azul’s hirelings, and the body at his feet was one of the pagans in the New World, whom Azul’s men had massacred for their gold. She wondered if Father Coraldo had stolen the tile, or whether the natives had given it to him to bring back, so that someone might know what had happened to them. Whatever it was, she knew what the New World Order was now: take the gold, and leave no witnesses.

  “Both of you,” she said. “Please take this back with you, show it to someone. Tell them what Azul’s men were up to. Maybe that wizard you mentioned, Doctor Dorne. But take it to someone important, right? If nothing else, you can tell them it’ll make their New Church look good.”

  “I will,” Elayne said.

  “Promise me you’ll do that.”

  “I promise.” Elayne reached out with one well-kept hand and took the tile. Giulia felt a strange pang on giving it up, as if someone she’d only just come to know was going away.

  Elayne said, “And you too, Hugh. Goodbye, and thank you.”

  “Not a problem,” Hugh said. “Happy to help, you know. I, ah, I’ll miss you, Elayne. A lot.”

  “I know,” she replied. For a moment she looked sad. Then she smiled and said, “Make sure you come and visit us in Albion. No more of this cavorting about abroad, all right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Take care, both of you,” she said. “God bless you both!”

  Edwin and Elayne walked up the gangplank, and two sailors pulled it up behind them. Giulia and Hugh watched the crew cast off. A wind blew in from the east, filling the sails, and the ship pulled away from the dock. After a few minutes, a figure appeared on deck: golden-haired, her dress billowing around her, Elayne raised a hand and waved at them.

  Giulia and Hugh waved back.

  “So,” Giulia said, “are you going to visit them in Albion?”

  Hugh kept waving. “No. I’m done. I… it’s not that I’ve stopped caring about them – about her – but they’re gone now. Their world is different to mine. They’re not the people I remembered them as being. Not quite.” He sighed. “I’ve been thinking about what you said in that farmhouse, the night when they took Elayne. She’s not mine to care about. Not to care about like that.” Elayne waved one last time, turned and went below. Hugh blinked, as if he’d only just realised that he was speaking. “That sounds bad, doesn’t it?”

  “No.” Giulia watched the ship become smaller, because she didn’t want to look at Hugh. “You know, back in the old days, before I killed Publius Severra, I used to think about him all the time. I mean, every day I’d think about that bastard, how I was going to pay him back. He— he owned my thoughts, you know? He really did, without ever knowing it. And you know what he said, when I finally caught up with him? He said, ‘Is that all you’ve been doing, thinking about me?’ I couldn’t believe it when I heard it.”

  Hugh looked down at her. “Is that what I’ve been like, with Elayne?”

  “No, not really. It’s not the same at all, of course, not anything like it, but—”

  “The point stands.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. The thing is, you’re free now, whether you want it or not. Elayne’s gone, Azul’s gone, Severra’s gone. We’re both free. It’s what we do with that freedom that counts.” She looked at him. “So, then, what’s it going to be?”

  “I think we should head out,” Hugh replied. “Take to the road again.”

  “Good. I’ve got to say, I’ll be happy to leave. Averrio’s a beautiful city, but… not for me.”

  “True,” he replied. “We’d best get ready, I suppose.” He paused. Giulia waited, knowing that he wanted to say more. “Damn shame you’re not a man, Giulia. You’d have made a very good squire.”

  “
No, I’d be useless at that sort of thing. Too many rules to follow,” Giulia said. “Anyway, we need to get out of this city before they throw us out. And if I remember rightly, it’s your turn to choose.”

  “Wyverns it is, then,” said the knight, and he turned back towards the land.

  NINETEEN

  Even in the sunshine, everything felt brittle. The winter light made the edges of rocks seem razor-sharp, made the long-bladed grass on the hillside look as if it would shatter if the wind blew hard enough.

  Like glass, Giulia thought. God, I’ve seen enough glass for now.

  She peered up the slope of the hill, trying to seem professional. To her left, Hugh had drawn his sword. Three mercenaries waited behind them, a little way apart.

  We should have hired more men.

  Giulia looked at Hugh. His cuirass shone like a mirror. “How’s your Lexmas present?” she asked.

  “Very good, thank you.” He patted his steel stomach like a fat man after a meal. “I pity anyone who tries to fight a well-equipped fellow like me!”

  “It’s so shiny they’ll go blind long before they reach you.” She looked up the hill. “I’m not seeing anything, you know. Maybe we should go back.”

  “Nonsense. We’ve hardly been here an hour.”

  Giulia shrugged and pulled her new cloak tighter. It, and the long scarf heaped around her neck, were gifts from Hugh. “Well, if that’s—”

  “Down!” Hugh said. He looked behind him, at the men. “Down!”

  Giulia wondered what he’d seen – then spotted it. High on the hillside, something was moving in loose, awkward bounds. From here it looked like a large green tent, half-collapsed and blown along the hilltop by the wind, all folded canvas and bent poles. Her body tensed.

  “Get down!” Hugh hissed.

  The thing on the hilltop opened up. The tent seemed to burst before them, and what had looked like folded canvas was suddenly a pair of outstretched wings. A body rose up, and a massive tail swung out behind it. The wyvern threw back its long neck and screeched.

  Giulia dropped into a crouch and pulled her hood up. The beast bounded into the air. Its wings beat furiously, hauling it up into the sky, and then it stretched them out and soared over their heads. She turned and watched the wyvern fly over fields and trees, its shadow chasing it towards the horizon.

  Hugh was smiling like a child. He stood up, brushed his knees down and grinned at the hired men. One of them clutched a musket like an oar in a storm. Another, an old Landsknecht mercenary, let out a slow, wheezy laugh.

  “Magnificent,” Hugh declared.

  For a little while, nobody said anything.

  “Well, then,” Giulia said, “let’s get started.”

  Side by side, they began to climb the hill.

  Acknowledgements

  Several people have helped me get Blood Under Water from its first draft to publication. In particular, I’d like to thank Alex Smith, Bryan Wigmore and Owen Roberts for their help with the early drafts; Ian Cundell for his advice on writing and website matters; my literary agent, John Jarrold; my editor, Sam Primeau; Claire Peacey at Autumn Sky for the cover art; and everyone at Verulam Writing Circle and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Chronicles forum for all their assistance over the years.

  Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed it and have a moment to spare, I’d be very grateful for a short review, as this helps new readers find my books. For more information about what I write, including free stories, find me at:

  www.Toby.Frost.com

  www.SpaceCaptainSmith.com

  Giulia will return in her third adventure, Legion of Bone, in early 2020...