Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe

by James M. Ward

  "Any amount of blast gel going off on that heart would have destroyed it. We really need to see if there is gel under that ice," Griffon said.

  The captain stood up. "Marine, bring Lieutenant Solvalson here. Also, summon Major Aberdeen to the heart chamber. This court will adjourn to the heart chamber to see for ourselves if the prisoner's statements are true. Commander Giantson, you will accompany us and use your magic to clear away the fog of the ice."

  The officers left and Halcyon breathed a sigh of relief for the first time since he walked in.

  "Make no mistake," Chief Fallow said, "you've given them plenty to think about. Your story might just save your life. Look over there at their table. See that big dagger by the bell?"

  "Yes, what's it for?" Halcyon asked.

  "These fine officers are going to come back in here and ask you a few more questions." Bitter sarcasm filled Fallow's hushed voice. He spoke so that the clerk couldn't hear him. "Then maybe they'll ask Solvalson and Commander Giantson a few questions as well. They'll go off to the captain's cabin and decide if they feel you're guilty or not guilty. That dagger's the important thing to your fate. The captain will ring the bell three times with that dagger and place it down on the table. If Olden places the dagger hilt toward you, the sentence isn't going to be hanging. If he places it blade toward you, they're going to hang you, boy. Either way you'll get one chance to make a statement before you hear their sentence. Whatever you say, tempered by which way that blade is pointing, I'll personally make sure your last words get back to your family. Luck to you, boy." The chief's hand gripped Halcyon's arm, lending him strength and courage.

  "Thank you, Ashe," Halcyon said.

  The minutes dragged on to an hour. Lieutenant Solvalson came into the room and sat down in the back. He smiled at Halcyon in a supportive manner.

  Finally the officers came back into the wardroom. With them came Major Aberdeen, the commander of the marine detail on the ship.

  The captain spoke again. "Let the record show that we did indeed find blast gel coating the lower portion of the heart. The record will also show that the ship's wizard still can't do anything to remove the ice around the heart.

  "When I heard that Mr. Blithe was cursed I strongly suspected an angry spellcaster among the crew. This latest testimony and the proof of the blast gel forces me to realize Mr. Blithe stumbled onto a deliberate act of sabotage. Mr. Solvalson, front and center," the captain ordered.

  "Sir, yes sir," Solvalson said.

  "Lieutenant," Griffon asked, "about how long was it after you ordered Mr. Blithe down into the ship that you saw the storm stop?"

  "That's hard to judge, ma'am. It wasn't longer than half an hour. With the waves and the wind beating down on the ship, I couldn't tell you exactly. It might have been fifteen minutes or so," the nervous lieutenant said.

  Griffon weighed Solvalson's words carefully. "Fine, Lieutenant, that's a close enough approximation. You may go now. I also want the record to show that if Mr. Blithe had tried to remove the blast gel on the heart by scraping it off, the gel would have ignited. Also, the quickly beating dragon's heart does indeed generate more than enough heat to set off the gel if the movement of the heart muscle doesn't cause the explosion."

  Wily spoke up. "Major Aberdeen, isn't the blast-gel hold guarded at all times?"

  The major stood up. He was a big man. Graying hair at the temples showed that he was a bit past his prime, but he moved easily for a large man. "The hold is guarded by a marine day and night," he said.

  Wily continued, "Did anyone, including Mr. Blithe here, go into the blast-gel hold on the day of the storm?"

  "No, sir. My guard would have told me if that happened. When I saw the gel on the heart, I asked my men and they told me no one took jars of the gel that day."

  "Major," Griffon asked, "if you wanted to steal a jar of the gel without anyone knowing it, how would you do it?"

  The big officer thought for a second. "Well, if I wanted to do a foolish thing like that, I would get a jar during one of the blast-tube practice times. It would be easy to hide a jar then, what with all the monkeys coming and going from the hold. No one counts how many jars get taken out and used with the leftovers being put back again."

  The captain was red with anger now. "Someone among my crew tried to destroy my ship. Intolerable, I tell you, intolerable! By the gods, I swear the culprit will be found before they can strike against my ship again."

  With a visible effort of will, the captain calmed down, but his face was still flushed red. "Mr. Blithe, is your testimony that you used the wish potion because you thought your ship and its crew were in deadly danger?"

  At first Halcyon didn't know what the captain was getting at. Halcyon had just testified to exactly what the captain was saying. He wondered if he hadn't made himself clear enough.

  "Mr. Blithe, I just asked you a question," the captain said.

  "Sir, yes sir. I thought the heart was going to explode and I did what I thought best, knowing it violated Article Three, sir," Halcyon was aghast at what he was saying.

  Wily interrupted. "Master Griffon, surely there are many ways to safely remove that gel from the heart?"

  "No, there aren't," Griffon said. "Currently I'm thinking it would take the facilities of a port, and even then, I'd wager, no matter what the engineers did, the gel would explode."

  Wily, clearly not believing what the master blast-tube officer was saying, went to Giantson with a question. "There must be many ways to magically remove gel. Blithe could have come to you to save the ship, could he not?"

  "The ice is the best of all solutions, but my ice spell couldn't last and I'm sure I couldn't have gotten down into that hold before the heart exploded. The ice also stops the gel from contact by any outside forces. Clearly, the high magic is keeping the dragon unusually strong. I suspect if Halcyon concentrates on the ice when we reach a port, the high magic will remove the gel as the ice vanishes."

  "Do you have anything else to say, Mr. Blithe?" Wily asked.

  "No, sir."

  "We have the information we need. We will confer in my cabin and come back with a sentence." The captain rose and the three of them left the wardroom.

  Halcyon sat in his chair sadly shaking his head. His heart beat heavily in his chest as he wondered if he would live or die.

  It wasn't many minutes before the three officers came out of the captain's cabin. They took up the chairs again, and the captain rang the bell three times. "The prisoner will rise and receive the sentence of the court-martial." The captain placed the hilt of the dagger toward Halcyon.

  He thrilled at the sight. He was going to live!

  "Before the sentence is passed, does the prisoner have any last words?" the captain asked.

  With a new energy, Halcyon snapped to attention. "Sir, I only acted to save the ship in time of danger. I realize that my weather spell placed this good ship in peril and for that I'm truly sorry."

  The captain looked Halcyon in the eyes. "Mr. Blithe, this court finds you guilty of violating Article Three of the naval Articles of War. As the captain of this ship, I'm permitted a great deal of leeway in your sentence. Through your testimony, I have determined that your actions were fitting considering the circumstances. I am hereby pardoning you for the article violation. Navy protocol requires me to present you with five hundred bars of gold in payment for the wish spell you used on the heart. For damages to ship and crew as a result of the storm your action caused, I'm fining you five hundred bars of gold. This court is adjourned."

  Fallow and even Solvalson slapped Halcyon on the back in congratulation.

  The captain coughed and the men quieted down.

  "Mr. Blithe," the captain said, "I would have a word with you in my quarters."

  "Aye, aye, sir," Halcyon replied.

  As the captain went into his cabin, Halcyon followed.

  "Close the hatch behind you," the captain ordered.

  "Sir" was all Halcyon said as he did what he w
as told. The captain's cabin was large, with blast-tube ports on three sides. The guns didn't interfere with the space as the cabin had plenty of room for the captain's things. Halcyon was amazed to see the captain offer him a glass of wine.

  "I wasn't pleased to discover that you used high magic on my ship. Don't let it happen again," the captain said as he took a sip of his wine and waited for Halcyon to taste his.

  "No, sir, I truly won't, sir," Halcyon nervously said.

  Olden took another sip of the wine, this time savoring the smell as he swirled the liquid in his glass. "We won't even go into the stupidity of you using that weather spell. Commander Giantson is an excellent teacher in the arts magical. Follow his lead and you can't go wrong."

  It was impossible for Halcyon to relax in front of his captain. Each of the captain's words hit him like a hammer blow. "Sir, yes sir." Only a great effort of will kept Blithe from snapping to attention with every one of the captain's statements.

  "The reason the navy has rules against the use of high magic is simple. Such spells are wildly unpredictable. You could have turned the Sanguine into a goose as easily as putting that ice around our old dragon's heart. For that reason, I feel the need to change your duty station for the length of this tour."

  Halcyon didn't know the course the captain was heading in, but he doubted he would like it.

  "Your new battle station will be the heart chamber of the ship. I want you to stand guard inside the chamber and under no circumstances are you to leave that guard post while we are in battle. Have I made myself perfectly clear in my order?" the captain asked.

  "I am to guard the dragon's heart at all cost to my life. I understand perfectly, sir." Halcyon's disappointment must have revealed itself in his tone.

  "I realize that for a young fire-eater like yourself, and a Blithe at that, you might think such a post lacks the glory of a blast-tube officer or even a boarding-party officer. I'm telling you I have a problem on my ship. There is a hidden enemy here. That enemy will strike again at the dragon's heart. I want a good man protecting that heart. Are you such an officer, Mr. Blithe?" the captain asked.

  "Sir, I will not let you down. As long as I breathe, no one is going to harm that heart." Halcyon's tone was certain and determined.

  "Good answer, sir. Finish your wine and report to your wardroom. I only have two bottles of that Aim wine left and it's certainly too good to leave any in the glass." The captain's tone was almost jolly.

  Halcyon feared that the captain had only one bottle of that wine left, but he wasn't going to say anything. He closed the hatch softly behind him, leaving the captain to his own thoughts.

  his majesty's articles of war: article xvii

  All murders committed by any person in the fleet shall be punished with death by the sentence of a court-martial.

  Eleven bells rang out the start of the late-night watch. Halcyon was there early, as was his habit. "Lieutenant Durand, Midshipwizard Blithe reporting for duty, ma'am."

  "Get your name in the ship's log, Mr. Blithe," Jillian Durand said. "Then I want you to take a glass and climb to the topgallant. It's good to have you back in action. I have all sorts of scutwork I need you to do. First, I want you to look nor'west along our course. That little storm of yours blew us farther east than we planned. I'm thinking I've seen the glow from a ship's stern most of the evening. I put on some more sail just to see if we could see something interesting in the distance. Get a move on, Midshipwizard, and find that ship for me."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am," Halcyon said, also glad to be back in action. He opened the storage locker below the course cabinet and took out one of the ship's telescopes. It came in a leather case, which he attached to his belt. It wouldn't do to break a piece of the king's equipment. After all, the captain might want to fine him a hundred bars of gold to replace it.

  Smiling at his own jest, Halcyon used the ratlines to move up past the mainsail, maintopsail, and the main topgallant.

  Force-two winds at best, he thought as the ship's sails billowed and shook in the very light gusting breeze, but never filled to their full capacity. It's not likely we can catch much tonight if the wind doesn't pick up, he thought.

  He reached the crow's nest on the mainmast. Hooking a safety line to his belt, he sat down on the platform and allowed his feet to hang on either side of the rigging. With the harness on, he wasn't going to fall even if the ship tacked suddenly. Halcyon enjoyed the clean, crisp night air. It was a dark night, with no moon, and the stars appeared dim in the night sky.

  Only the lantern by the great wheel allowed him to see the deck below in the darkness.

  For just a second he thought of raising a small wind to push the ship along faster, and then realized the foolishness of the idea. "There's no way in the world I'm ever going to cast a wind spell again," he chided himself. "Let's just see if we can find this phantom ship of Miss Durand's."

  Halcyon was in no hurry to climb down, and there was no time limit put on his searching the horizon.

  Taking the glass out of its leather case, he wrapped the attached cord around his wrist as he brought the glass up to his eye. The academy had taught him not to close the other eye when he used the glass so focusing with it was easier.

  "There's nothing to the north," he said to himself after minutes of searching. He turned to the northwest.

  " 'Ware the crow's nest," came a voice from below.

  Halcyon looked down, but could only make out a dark shape on the ratlines. The shape turned into Seaman Hunter.

  "Welcome, Seaman Hunter. What brings you up to this rare perch?" Halcyon asked good-naturedly.

  "Durand's idea. Two sets of eyes have twice the chance of sightin' the enemy," Hunter told him.

  "Welcome aboard the good ship Crow's Nest," joked Halcyon.

  "Huh?" the sailor said, clearly not getting the little joke.

  "You look nor'west; I'll scan the west for a bit. Let's see if we can find Durand's ship," Halcyon ordered.

  Minutes turned to an hour as both men scanned the night and the horizon.

  "See anything, Hunter?" the midshipwizard asked.

  "I think I've spotted her, but she's right on the horizon," Hunter observed. "The only reason you can see her at all is that I'm bettin' she's a first-rater and has more than her fair share of runnin' lights. Look when the Sanguine is at the top of the next crestin' wave. She's just at the horizon and we can only see her stern lights when she and the Sanguine are both at the top of a wave's crest."

  It took several minutes for the waves and the ships to be just right again.

  "There she is, thirty-five miles out at least. Just at the horizon. Well done, Hunter," Halcyon said enthusiastically.

  "She must be with other ships. That's why she has those runnin' lights on," Hunter remarked.

  "I'll go tell the lieutenant, you keep watch until relieved. Call out if the ship changes direction or more ships appear on the horizon," Halcyon said excitedly.

  The midshipwizard almost flew down the ratlines. The thought of facing an enemy ship excited him, making his heart beat faster.

  Hitting the deck, he ran to the wheel and Lieutenant Durand on the quarterdeck.

  He came to attention in front of Durand. "Ma'am, there's a ship on the horizon, just as you thought. Seaman Hunter and I believe it could be a first-rater by its running lights. There could be..."

  "Blithe, calm down," Durand interrupted. "Since it took you more than two hours to find it, you can take more than two seconds to report it. Begin again; give me all the details as you know them."

  Halcyon came to parade rest with his feet firmly planted wide on the deck and his hands behind his back. He took several deep breaths. "Ma'am, Seaman Hunter and I scanned the horizon for almost two hours. Approximately five points off of north and to the west along our current course, we spotted the running lights of a ship. We speculated that it was a first-rater by the configuration of the lights and the fact that a merchantman wouldn't advertise its presence at night
to the enemy.

  "We don't seem to be catching up to it, as we can only see the lights on the horizon when our dragonship and their ship are both at the top of the sea's roll. I have ordered Seaman Hunter to call out if the course of that ship changes or more ships appear on the horizon.

  "Should I sound battle stations, ma'am?" Halcyon asked.

  In the light of the lantern, Halcyon could see the woman make a face of disgust.

  "Of course not," she replied. "Waking the captain and Major Aberdeen with battle stations at this time isn't how lieutenants like myself get promoted in this king's navy. We're in a stern chase, Mr. Blithe, and the wind's not helping at this moment. It could be two days before we're in firing distance and that's if the ship in front of us wants to dance to our tune. We'll hold our course and look at the situation tomorrow afternoon. You get a reprieve from me; Lieutenant Commander Giantson requires your presence in the heart chamber. Get down there and see what he needs."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am," Halcyon said. Suddenly, he wasn't so excited about the coming battle. He'd momentarily forgotten that his battle station was to be in the heart chamber. There'd be no blast-tube shooting for him.

  It took only a few minutes to go from deck to deck into the depths of the ship. There were now more marine guards posted in key positions in the ship. The heart and liver chambers had two marines at each hatch. The ones at the heart chamber came to attention when Blithe appeared.

  "At ease, men. Is Commander Giantson in there?" Halcyon asked.

  "Yes he is. He told us to let you in as soon as you came down," one of the marines said. He opened the hatch for the midshipwizard.

  Halcyon walked into the heart chamber and once again marveled at the huge dragon organ beating at the center of the chamber. This time he smelled something different in the area. Sniffing the air, he couldn't quite make it out.

  "It's a summer meadow," Giantson said as he came around the heart and noticed Halcyon.

  "What, sir?" Halcyon asked.

  "That odor you smell is the fragrance of a summer meadow." Giantson was looking at the heart, minutely inspecting the ice edge. "I myself know little about pixie magic. It's a mystery to most magical scholars. Pixies and giants don't get along at all, which makes me with my giant heritage especially curious about them. The magic you've set loose in this chamber has the odor of the pixies that made it.