Twin Soul Series Omnibus 1: Books 1-5 (Twin Soul Series Book Sets)

by McCaffrey-Winner

  “As well it should,” King Markel replied evenly. He frowned, his face clouding. “I see no reason for the interruption.”

  “She brought prizes!”

  “Prizes?” King Markel repeated rising from his chair in surprise. “What ships and how many?”

  “There’s a Sorian merchantman and a frigate,” the page replied. “I was sent by the watch commander as soon as it was reported by the signal towers, sire.”

  “You were, were you?” the King muttered. The page, wide-eyed and attentive, nodded. The king glanced toward Mannevy. “Have someone send for Captain Ford.”

  “It shall be done,” Mannevy promised with a low bow.

  The King looked around the room, frowned and beckoned to another page. “Tirpin, I shall want some lunch,” he announced. “You may have it brought here.”

  #

  “March the prisoners to the jail, Sykes,” Ford said as the gantry was raised to the ship, “I’m sure you know the way.”

  “Aye sir!’ Sykes replied, knuckling his forehead and smiling to himself.

  “Captain Nevins and Master Parvour will accompany me, I think,” Ford said. He turned to Knox. “Secure the ship, reload our supplies.” He pursed his lips. “Give the men a tot of rum and see about getting fresh food onboard.”

  “Aye sir,” Knox allowed.

  “And me, sir?” Reedis asked.

  “See if you can help Mr. Bennet with his… problems,” Ford said with a sigh. The apprentice appeared much worn by his exertions and went red with shame at the captain’s words. Ford glanced to him and started to say something reassuring but couldn’t find any words. To Reedis he said, “Perhaps our murderous apprentice might be of use.”

  “Angus?” Reedis replied in surprise. He glanced toward the younger man and nodded. “He was a smith, I suppose we could do worse.”

  “It’s worth a try, at least,” Ford allowed. He finally found something to say to the apprentice engineer. “It’s not that you haven’t tried, Mr. Bennet. It’s just that… well, perhaps an airship isn’t the best position for you.”

  “Sir,” Bennet responded feebly.

  The lad had done his best but once the ship had fired her guns, he’d run for the depths of the ship’s hold and had to be coaxed out by his anguished and ashamed stokers, led by a very angry self-appointed Sykes who’d muttered loudly, “Ain’t no coward going to lose me my prize money!”

  After that, Christian could only whimper and moan. There was a chance that Reedis or Reedis and the smith’s apprentice, might calm the lad but Ford doubted it.

  With a shake of his head, Captain Sir Ford parted his ship.

  #

  “Your Majesty,” Captain Ford said, crouched in a low courtly bow, “I wish to present you the captains of the prizes Warrior and Parvour.” He rose and turned to the two captives. “Your Majesty, I have the honor of introducing you to captains Nevin and Martel. Gentlemen, may I make you known to His Most Noble Majesty, King Markel?”

  “Mannevy?” King Markel said, glancing imploringly to his first minister.

  “Captain Ford was, with your permission, in search of his mutineers, your majesty,” Mannevy explained. “He found them aboard Warrior just as she was engaging the Sorian merchantman under your letter of marque.”

  “So I took them both,” Ford added suavely. “Warrior as she was clearly harboring fugitives of your majesty’s justice and Parvour as she was a ship of our enemy.”

  “I haven’t declared war on them, captain!” King Markel replied wearily.

  “Your Majesty, if that were so, Captain Nevins wouldn’t be operating under your letter of marque,” Ford replied. “Instead, he’d be a pirate.”

  “I’m no damn pirate!” Nevin bellowed. He glanced toward the King and wilted when he saw the royal expression.

  “No,” Markel replied with a sigh, “you’re not.” His eyes flicked to Ford. “You are correct, we are at war with Soria.” He sighed. “Although I had not planned to announce it widely just at this moment.”

  “Your Majesty,” Ford said, bowing deeply in penance.

  The King snorted and gestured for Ford to rise. “However, Sir Richard, you’ve ably proven that your airship can easily take two ships simultaneously.” He glanced toward Mannevy. “Award him his prize.”

  “Your majesty,” Mannevy replied suavely.

  “Leave the prisoners here, if you would,” the King said waving Mannevy and Ford out of the room. As Ford crossed the doorway into the hall beyond, the king called after him, “I presume, Sir Richard, that you are in all respects ready for your next mission?”

  Ford turned back and bowed deeply. “As your Majesty commands.”

  “To the north, then, captain and remember my words earlier,” the king said with a final dismissive wave.

  Chapter Six: Payment Made

  When the double doors shut once more, King Markel turned to the two captains.

  “Sire, it was my fault,” Captain Martel said with a low bow. “I saw the letter of marque and assumed the worst.”

  “Jacques,” the King said with a wave of his hand. “I understand. I am sorry that you did not trust me at my word, however.”

  “The letter of marque was a ruse if we were spotted from land,” Captain Nevins explained. “Only that… bastard Ford screwed it all up!”

  “Indeed,” the king agreed sourly. “However,” his expression changed, “he has demonstrated rather remarkably the efficiency of my royal airships.”

  “There’s only the one, your majesty,” Nevins observed in a tight voice.

  “For now,” the king agreed with a wag of his finger. A moment later, he added, “I fear that Captain Ford won’t be returning from his trip north.” He watched Nevins as his expression changed from sour to smiling. “And you are right, Captain Nevins, I will need more airships.”

  “Your Majesty,” Nevins said, catching on immediately and going to one knee in a bow. “I am yours to command.”

  Beside him Captain Martel also went to one knee. “As am I, Your Majesty.”

  King Markel rewarded the both of them with a broad smile.

  #

  “There!” Mannevy said crisply, “Now that we’ve agreed on the prizes and their cargo, when can you leave?”

  Ford gave him a sharp look up from the large bags of gold on the table in front of him.

  “I’ll need stores,” Ford said.

  “Done.”

  “And I’ll need winter gear,” Ford added.

  “Winter?” Mannevy’s brows furrowed.

  “It’s cold in the air,” Ford said. “And we’re going north.”

  “Oh! Yes, quite,” Mannevy said. He pursed his lips. “Winter gear?”

  “Fortunately, Parvour was well-equipped with such,” Ford said. “There’s enough to fit out my crew.” He paused. “The prince, however, might not take to the quality of the clothing.”

  “The prince’s needs will be met by the King,” Mannevy said. He rose from his plush chair. “So, captain, when can you leave?”

  “Tomorrow at the earliest,” Ford said. “We’re getting more stores aboard and we want to be sure we’ve got the bunkers full of coal.”

  “Of course,” Mannevy said cheerfully, “there’s no problem with that. Wouldn’t want your magic to run out mid-flight, would we?”

  “The boilers, you mean,” Ford corrected. Mannevy waved a hand, dismissing the distinction as pointless.

  “So we’ll have the prince prepare for a royal departure tomorrow at noon,” Mannevy said. He gestured to the heavy bags of gold. “Where do you want these?”

  “I’ll bring them with me,” Ford allowed. “I know a place to store them.”

  “We could store them here in the royal vault,” Mannevy offered. “Well-protected, of course, and we would insure you against any loss.�
��

  “I’ll take my chances,” Ford said, lifting the heavy bags that he’d tied together and throwing them over his shoulder. “Besides, I’ll want to pay the crew.”

  “And the mutineers?”

  “I’ll pay them, too,” Ford said, nodding curtly to the first minister. His lips twitched as he added, “You can be sure that I’ll pay them all that they earned.”

  Mannevy’s brows twitched in understanding. “I’m certain you will, captain!”

  #

  “Very well, Angus, let us see what you know,” Mage Reedis said to the nervous looking young apprentice as they moved to the boiler and the steam engine.

  “I watched him pretty carefully,” Angus said. Reedis and Ford had singled him out as the most promising candidate to take over the apprentice engineer’s position if anything untoward accord — as it had. They’d asked Angus if he thought he could manage and he’d given them a diffident smile and suggested that he spend time observing the apprentice. Reedis was pretty certain that Angus would have been observing even without orders. Now, he gave the mage a wry smile. “I’ve always had a thing for coal and fire, from when I was little.”

  “Indeed,” Reedis said. “So show us you know how to work this engine, if you please.”

  Angus frowned for a moment, then glanced to the now-cold boilers. “First thing, you’ve got to make sure that you’ve got enough water in the boiler —”

  “And if you don’t?”

  “Well, no steam, that’s for certain,” Angus said. His brows furrowed. “And I can’t imagine it’d do the metal much good to be heated without something inside.”

  “So the boiler’s got water,” Reedis allowed. “And then?”

  “The stokers start the fire,” Angus said, gesturing to the loose coal in a bucket beside the boiler.

  “And how do they do that?”

  “Well, if they’re smart, they ask you,” Angus said. “But if your busy they can see if the cook has coals or they can use the oil and a spark to start it themselves.”

  “So they’ve got the fire started?”

  “They’ll need to fan it with the bellows,” Angus said, pointing. “Bring it as hot as possible so that the steam gets to the engine.”

  “And in the engine…?”

  “The engine pushes a piston back and forth which turns the sails,” Angus said.

  “You mean the propellers?”

  “If that’s what they’re called,” Angus allowed. The sound of hooves distracted him and they both turned to see Captain Ford gallop up beside the ship, dismount and retrieve two heavily-laden saddlebags.

  “All right, Captain?” Knox called from the stern.

  “Couldn’t be better, Mr. Knox,” the captain replied with a huge grin. “How stands the ship?”

  “We’re ready in all respects, Sir,” Knox called back cheerfully, then turned to Angus and Reedis. “Excepting we need a new engineer seeing as how the last one’s bolted.”

  Ford paused on his way up the gangplank and then pressed on.

  “Mr. Reedis?” Ford called. He moved to join them. He glanced at Angus. “And how does he fare?”

  “He can do the job, captain,” Reedis said. Angus gave him a startled look. “We all know he doesn’t get sick at heights and he knows his stuff.”

  Ford nodded and turned his attention to the apprentice smith. “Are you up for this, lad?”

  Angus brought himself upright and gave Ford a smart salute. “Ready, captain.”

  Ford’s eyebrows shot up and he gave Reedis one more inquiring look. Reedis met his eyes and nodded.

  “We’re going to be putting our lives in your hands,” Ford told the apprentice in a low voice.

  “You’re safe with me, captain,” Angus promised.

  Ford gave him one more look, then nodded in approval. He turned to Knox, “Have the master-at-arms mustered and place these in the safe.”

  “Sir?”

  “Our prize money, Mr. Knox,” Ford said. He glanced about. “Who’s our master-at-arms?”

  “That’d be Sykes or Jenkins, sir,” Knox said after a moment’s thought.

  “Sykes, then,” Ford said with a sour look. He turned to Reedis. “What do you know of locks and magic?”

  “Sir, I know something about them,” Angus spoke up hesitantly.

  “And how do you know about them?” Ford asked in a voice that was suspiciously pleasant.

  “Ibb, sir,” Angus said. “Before he got me set with Master Zebala, he took me in for a bit.”

  “He did, did he?” Ford said.

  Angus nodded. “And he taught me a fair bit about locks.”

  “Opening them or securing them?” Ford asked with a stern look.

  Angus reddened. “Both sir. You can’t know one without the other.”

  Ford pursed his lips. “I see,” he said. “And did you learn how to make a lock unbreakable?”

  Angus shook his head. “Mr. Ibb never taught me such a thing. And I don’t that it can be done.”

  “It can’t,” Reedis agreed. “But it can be made very hard.”

  “Could you add some magic to it?”

  “I could but then I’d be the only one able to open the lock,” Reedis warned.

  Footsteps distracted them as Sykes and Jenkins ran up. “You sent for me, sir?” Sykes asked before Jenkins could draw breath. He glanced at the heavy saddlebags. “Something needing guarding?”

  “Only for the moment,” Ford said, tossing the sacks so that they landed evenly between Jenkins and Sykes. “Mr. Knox will escort you to the armory and the safe. This is our prize money.”

  “You’ve no worries with us,” Sykes promised. “We’ll keep it safe, sir.”

  Ford nodded to Knox who led them off. When they were out of earshot he said, “Ah, but from whom?”

  “If you wanted it safe, sir, I would have recommended Mr. Ibb,” Angus spoke up. Ford turned to him. “He knows ways to keep things safe.”

  “I’ve no doubt he does,” Ford agreed. “But as he has disappeared from under the eyes of his guards, I doubt we’ll be able to call upon his services for the foreseeable future.”

  Angus said nothing but shook his head. Ford noticed the lad’s unsurprised reaction and guessed that Angus had learned quite a bit from the now-missing mechanical man.

  Ford jerked his head toward the hatchway. “Go after them, then and see what you can do.”

  Angus drew himself up and saluted again before darting back to the hatchway and down into the gloom of the ship.

  “Mr. Ibb seems to get around,” Reedis said to Ford as the lad went out of earshot.

  Ford gave him a sharp look. “You noticed that, did you?” He shook his head. “I suspect we’ll be seeing our mechanical friend again soon.” Then he asked, “And your project, mage, has does that prosper?”

  “I’ve got three of them,” Reedis said. He pulled a small belt from around his waist and passed it to Ford. Ford took it in surprise and noticed that Reedis wore a purple belt around his waist. “You put it on.”

  Ford obliged him and gave him a look. “And then?”

  “I’ve set it so the spell takes just one word to cast,” Reedis told him with a wink.

  “And the word?”

  “Can you read?” Reedis asked, reaching into a pocket in his robes. Ford nodded. Reedis passed him a piece of paper. “Read it but don’t say it.”

  “Can I spell it out?”

  “Yes,” Reedis said. “You must say it to cast the spell.”

  “A-L-T-U,” Ford read carefully. He glanced up from the paper to Reedis. “And that’s it?”

  “Hopefully,” the mage replied.

  “Hopefully?”

  “Well,” Reedis said with a shrug, “I haven’t had time to test it, you see.”

  Ford gave
the belt around his waist a long look, then shook his head. “Let’s hope we don’t have to use them, then.”

  “I, for one, shall endeavor stoutly to that end,” Reedis agreed.

  Ford turned to Knox, eyeing the former boatswain thoughtfully.

  “Send the hands to dinner, sir?” Knox suggested.

  “Indeed,” Ford agreed. He looked to Reedis. “Care to dine with me?”

  “I shall be honored,” Reedis said with a nod.

  “Have our dinner brought to my quarters,” Ford said.

  “Aye sir,” Knox replied, knuckling his forehead. He turned to the ship at large and bellowed, “First watch to dinner! Second watch take stations.”

  #

  “By the gods that smells good!” Reedis exclaimed as an airman bustled in with a tray of food, a bottle of wine dangling from a strap at his side.

  “Put it there, put it there,” Ford said, pointing to the captain’s table. The airman obliged, setting the two plates at either chair and pouring two large glasses of red wine. “That’ll do, I’ll call when I want it taken away.”

  The airman saluted and left quickly.

  “Must be the cook’s mate,” Reedis said, seating himself with relish at his place. He leaned in and sniffed his plate. “Captain Ford, sir, I believe you’ve been deceiving us!”

  “What?” Ford asked, laying his napkin in his lap and reaching for his fork and knife.

  “I don’t recall smelling anything so tempting on our maiden flight,” Reedis said before filling his mouth with the mound of food on his fork. “Mmm! It tastes as good as it smells!”

  It was gruel, which was a usual dish on any sort of ship. But instead of just wheat or oat flour, this dish also featured spices, and bits of fish, corn, and peas.

  Ford eyed the meal suspiciously, raised a small bite to his face and sniffed. His expression changed to one of alarm and he dropped his fork, reached across the table and swiped Reedis’ fork out of his hand.

  “What?”

  “It’s charmed, don’t eat it!” Ford warned, rising from his seat and grabbing his sword. He raced through the door, muttering, “That witch!”

  “What witch?”

  “Get ready to freeze someone,” Ford said. “And follow me.”