“A fleet?” Reedis asked, casting a nervous glance to the page who was listening intently.
“A dozen ships at least,” the king said, his eyes gleaming. “Perhaps two dozen.” Reedis’ eyes widened.
“Sire, this is momentous news,” Reedis said, imagining a whole school of eager young — and rich — apprentices hanging on his every word and filling his pockets with gold. He glanced nervously at the page. “Is this secret?”
“From Tirpin?” The King asked, snorting. “He is new to the court but I assure you his loyalty is not in question.” Reedis stiffened, wondering if perhaps the King questioned his loyalty instead. Nervously, Reedis gave the king an understanding nod.
Satisfied, the King continued, “I was wondering, though, why do you use so many balloons? Why not one?”
“For safety, your majesty,” Reedis replied easily. “The smaller balloons are easier to build and easier to enspell. And, of course, we’d never tried before so it was easier to get small balloons made.”
The king motioned for him to continue.
In the end, with the king’s skilful questions, Reedis found himself talking for over an hour, telling the king every little thing he could recall about how he’d discovered the magic, perfected it, and ensured that it was safe.
Finally, King Markel stood. Reedis stood with him.
“Thank you,” the king said. “You have been very helpful.” He pursed his lips, then added, “Just one thing.”
“Your majesty?”
“Who else knows all this?” the king asked. “Have you started training apprentices?”
“No one, your majesty,” Reedis said. He continued, “I’m hoping to start training some apprentices immediately.”
“Wait until your return,” the king advised. “You’ll know so much more then.”
“If your majesty so wishes,” Reedis said.
“I do,” the king said, turning toward his chambers. “You have been most useful.” He gestured toward the double doors at the entrance. “Please see yourself out.”
Reedis bowed and the king waved him away, smiling affably. Under his breath, Reedis blew out a sigh of relief.
#
Inside his office, Mannevy waved Ford to a chair. “Sit, sit!” he pulled a cord as he went to his plush chair behind a huge parchment-covered desk and said to the air, “Tea for two!” A moment later he added, “And some snacks!’
“The help here is marvelous,” Mannevy said as a tray appeared on a side table with a pot of piping-hot tea and several scrumptious snacks. He stood and moved toward the table. “Please, Captain, take your fill!”
Ford rose from his seat and joined the minister.
“My crew wasn’t paid,” Ford said, going straight to the point.
“They were due wages at the end of the month,” the first minister replied immediately, putting a few snacks on a plate. He lifted the teapot and gestured inquiringly to Ford who nodded. Mannevy filled a cup for the captain then another for himself.
“And Lieutenant Havenam died in the King’s service,” Ford added.
“He is due a pension, or at least his widow,” the first minister decided, moving back to his plush chair and placing his teacup on the huge marble topped desk before seating himself.
“The rest of the crew are due wages for the time they worked,” Ford said.
“They’re mutineers, they were under the King’s service, they should be rounded up and hung,” the first minister replied smoothly.
“The prince promised a guinea to the crew and then skipped on the payment,” Ford said. “After that can you not understand why they feared for their wages?”
“The prince shot the beast himself,” the first minister said, raising his cup to his lips once more. “Why would anyone earn that guinea?”
“You know very well, Mannevy, who is telling the truth,” Ford growled. The prince had not shot the wyvern but had insisted on this retelling of events for his own ego. He took a sip of his tea. The tea was hot and it burnt on the way down. He glared at the delicately painted blue cup and put it down, away from his sight.
“I do,” the first minister agreed glumly. “And I know who will sit on the throne one day.”
“‘Makes two of us,” Ford returned with a frown. He raised a brow. “You ever think of emigrating?”
“I am sworn to the King!” the first minister replied stiffly. His brows thundered down as he added, “And so you are!”
“This King, yes,” Ford agreed mildly.
“I… see,” Mannevy said. “But your loyalty is wavering now, I take it?”
“If you mean to say that I don’t look forward to fearing for my life on a daily basis from my crew… yes.”
“And how can we remedy this?”
“Pay my crew,” Ford said. He raised a hand to forestall the first minister’s ready retort. “They earned half a month’s wages, pay them and be public about it.”
“Half of them are at sea!”
“Book the amount and record it on the docks,” Ford said. “They’ll know that they’ll get it when they come back.”
“But they mutinied!”
“Pardon them,” Ford said. With a sour look, he added, “There’s enough blood spilled already.”
“Just a girl’s!”
“Two girls,” Ford corrected. “The one in the grave and the one that’s flown away.”
“Not a girl anymore, surely!”
“Tell that to the other’s grave,” Ford said bitterly. “Better yet, dig her up and have a look yourself.”
Mannevy shuddered.
“Why are you so squeamish?” Ford asked. “You must have more than your share of blood on your hands.”
“Always for the King.”
“This is another,” Ford said. He shrugged, dismissing the issue. “Pay my crew, pay the gunners their guinea, and pay me.”
“How much?” Mannevy asked, his eyes hooded to hide his delight. Now they were getting somewhere!
“Three month’s wages and half again as bonus,” Ford said quickly. He saw the way the first minister ducked his head and knew that he’d asked for too little. “In advance,” he added. “And when the deed’s done, an earldom with appropriate rents and lands.”
“Done,” Mannevy said, rising from his chair, hand outstretched.
Ford waved him off, adding, “And prize money for the crew.”
“Prize money?”
“Anything they capture and a bounty for the wyvern,” Ford said promptly.
“But they’re all going to be prisoners!”
“And their freedom, all charges dropped, royal pardon,” Ford pressed on. He made a face. “If I can give them that, they’ll think twice about sticking a knife in my ribs while I’m sleeping.”
“But they were sent to jail for a reason!”
“And they’ll be pardoned for another reason,” Ford said. He rose from the chair and turned toward the door. “Those are my terms.” He started toward the door, calling over his shoulder, “Take them or my title and commission.”
“Wait!” Mannevy called, coming around his desk. Ford turned back to him. Mannevy extended his hand once more. “Deal.”
“And the King’s writ on all this,” Ford added. “I don’t trust the prince.”
“All under the King’s seal,” Mannevy agreed. “To be delivered when you return in triumph.”
“Delivered then but signed and witnessed before I leave,” Ford said.
“Of course,” Mannevy said, licking his lips and looking like he had meant that to start with. Ford kept his smile to himself: it was obvious that the first minister had hoped to welsh on the deal when he returned.
“Deal.” Ford shook the other’s hand with a cold, hard grip. “And the prince stays behind.”
“If the King agree
s,” the first minister temporized. He smiled at Ford and twisted their hands to remind the other of their agreement. “We have a deal, captain.”
Chapter Two: Demands
The King did not agree. He looked up as he signed the agreement Ford had hammered out with Mannevy and smiled, passing the signed forms to the prime minister. “There,” he said, “that’s done.”
“Sire,” Ford said, bending his knee and bowing. “You are most gracious.”
The King waved for him to rise. “I only want results, Sir Ford,” the King said, reminding Ford of his new-won title. “Results,” the King continued with a languid smile, “and one other thing.”
“Sire?”
“The prince,” the King said. Ford gave him an inquiring look. “He shall go with you.”
“Sire —”
“He shall go with you, Captain,” the King repeated and there was an iron resolve in his voice. Ford accepted the royal order with a jerky nod. The prince was a coward, a braggart, and the man who had lost Ford his hard-trained crew. The King’s eyes glinted as he continued, “He shall go with you. But I do not expect him to return.”
“Sire?”
“You are no fool,” King Markel snapped. “I have spoken plainly enough. If he returns, you’d best not.” He waved them away with a dismissive gesture.
#
“Well,” Ford said as they left the royal receiving room, “that was unexpected!”
“Captain!” a woman’s voice called from the far end of the hallway. Ford turned even as the first minister standing beside him tensed. It was Queen Arivik, dressed in orange silk with a white coral crown, almost identical to the crowns King Markel and Prince Nestor wore.
“Your Highness?” Ford said, turning toward her. The queen bustled up to them quickly and looked them up and down with a frown.
“To what do we owe this honor?” first minister Mannevy said in a fawning voice.
“You!” the queen snapped at him with a jerk of her chin. “You are to blame for all this!”
“What, your majesty?” Mannevy asked, looking very much like a whipped dog.
“You told me that this airship would convince Markel to accept Nestor!” the queen hissed. She glanced to Ford. “You told me that this man was amenable! That he would listen to reason!”
Ford shot Mannevy a hard look and the first minister winced.
“Your majesty, the planned worked,” Mannevy said. “Everyone agrees that the prince shot down the wyvern —”
“He killed a girl!” Arivik cried in disgust. “And now what?” she jerked her head to the royal chambers. “What did he say?”
“His Majesty has determined that Prince Nestor shall increase his glory,” the first minister said. “Captain Sir Ford has agreed to journey under the Prince’s command.” Ford did his best not to wince at this phrasing. “They shall journey to the north, destroy this wyvern and return covered in triumph.”
Arivik’s nostrils flared and her eyes flashed in fury. “He said that?” she looked to Ford. “And you agreed?”
“His Majesty was kind enough to agree to my terms,” Ford told her.
“I hope you set a high price,” the queen said.
“It was a fair bargain,” Mannevy said.
“You would know,” the queen told him sourly. She glanced back to Ford. “Very well,” she said. “You and the King have terms. Hear mine.”
“Your Majesty?”
“My son goes with you to glory,” the queen said. “And he comes back in glory.”
“There will be glory enough for all, I’m sure,” Mannevy murmured silkily. The queen dismissed his words with a flick of her eyelashes.
“Come back with my son, Captain,” the queen said, “or don’t come back at all.”
#
“There you are, captain, twelve men, all able and sober,” Sykes said as he arrayed the prisoners on deck. The prisoners were chained together in leggings, their arms bound with shackles.
They looked no better in the sunlight than they had in their dank cells the day before. Nor did they smell any better, Ford noted as the wind changed to bring their stench in his direction.
“Lieutenant Knox!” Ford called. “Mr. Newman, Mr. Reedis, if you will!”
The three men so named came to stand beside him. Knox looked resplendent in his new officer’s clothing and his face was fit to burst with the grin on it. In fact, the former boatswain had found it nearly impossible to keep his face straight ever since Ford had surprised him with the promotion.
“It’s the least I could do,” Ford had said to the newly-minted officer.
“I never thought —! Sir, it’s the greatest treasure —” here Knox ran his fingers down the dark stripe on his new trousers which marked him as an officer “— I cannot begin to thank you —”
“It won’t be easy,” Ford had cut across him. “I’m not giving you a simple job, you know.”
“Oh, I know, sir! I know!” Knox had assured him. Then his face broke out into a grin. “But I never expected —! Never hoped —!”
“Indeed,” Ford had said, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. “You’d best go tell your wife, I’ll need you back here first thing in the morning.” Knox brought himself to attention and saluted sharply. Ford returned it with a grin of his own. “Oh! And see the agent at the dock.”
“Sir?”
“He’ll give you your pay,” Ford told him with a grin. Knox’s eyes went up in astonishment. “From the King. For the past fortnight as mate and the next month as lieutenant.”
Knox’s eyes threatened to pop out of his face, he was so amazed. Ford had waved him away with a grin. “First light, Knox! At the goal!”
“Aye, sir!” And then the former boatswain was gone.
Newman and Reedis had been not quite as overwhelmed by their appointments but they’d been grateful and excited all the same.
And now all three officers stood by while Ford eyed the men before them. The worst dozen of the collected scum of the kingdom.
His new crew.
Ford took a deep breath, regretted it for the stench, and called in a loud voice, “You men! You are here at the King’s pleasure!”
The twelve looked back at him with an array of expressions: disbelief, hope, incomprehension, and outright fear. Sykes grinned evilly at them until Ford added in a lower voice, “You too, Sykes.”
“Captain?”
“You’re part of the crew,” Ford told him. He patted his pocket and the royal orders it contained. He pulled them out, selected a particular sheet and started to read, “By order of His Most Excellent Majesty, King Markel, I do hereby accept you into the crew of the royal airship Spite. From this moment forth, your care, your health, your lives are bound to this ship until the end of our voyage.” He paused for a moment to let the shock wear off. “At the completion of this voyage all past crimes will be pardoned and you will be free men.” Some of the prisoners looked at him in surprise. “You will receive pay equal to your work as well as a daily allowance of food and such clothing as you need.” Ford had had to fight hard with Mannevy over that last — they were going to the cold north, there was no way these men would survive in the rags they currently wore.
“In three days time we will receive Prince Nestor aboard and shall depart in pursuit of an albino woman formerly known as Krea Zabala and the wyvern to which she is bound,” Ford continued. “By the King’s commission we are required to return with her body. Dead or alive.”
A murmur now from the prisoners as they began to understand the dangers of the journey,. Before they could burst out in protest, Ford continued, “By order of the King, each man, upon our return, who aids in the King’s justice will receive a bounty — in addition to regular pay — of two guineas.”
“Two guineas!” Sykes burst out. The prisoners were now all looking at Ford
, wide-eyed and amazed.
“Two guineas each man,” Ford said. “To receive this bonus, each man must obey all orders and be in good standing with the captain and his officers.” Some of the crew looked confused, so Ford rephrased himself, “The money will be paid to those who work, not those who shirk.”
“Let’s hear it for the Captain!” Knox shouted out. “Hip hip hooray!”
He was joined by only four of the prisoners and Jenkins, the other guard. Ford glared at Sykes who glanced to the ground and then up to prisoners. “Let’s try that again, shall we?” Sykes said, raising his whip to their eyes. He paused a moment, then bellowed, “Let’s hear it for the Captain!”
“Hip hip hooray!” the air shivered with their cheers.
“See?” Knox said, nudging Ford in the ribs, “they just need a bit of encouragement!”
Captain Sir Richard Ford nodded feebly, suppressing an anguished groan.
It would not do to dampen their spirits.
Chapter Three: First Flight
“All hands, all hands!” Knox shouted the length of the ship two days later. “Prepare to lift ship!”
“Are we ready, Mr. Reedis?” Captain Ford asked the purple-robed mage as they strode along the rear of the deck.
“I am,” Reedis said, pointing to another man. “I don’t know about him.”
‘Him’ was the replacement for Mr. Newman, the master of the steam engine that powered the ship.
“Mr. Newman assures me that his apprentice is up to the task,” Ford said calmly.
Reedis shot him a look. “If he’s so sure, why isn’t he here with us?”
Ford suppressed a sigh. “As you know, he’s ill.”
“Sick of not being paid,” Knox muttered with a sour look.
Ford suspected that the mechanic’s ‘illness’ was not money-related but he was also rather certain that it had nothing to do with his health.
“Either way, Mr. Bennet is now our engineer and we will shortly see how well he performs, won’t we?”
Twin Soul Series Omnibus 1: Books 1-5 (Twin Soul Series Book Sets) Page 13
