by Guy Antibes
“I knew I’d be heading west when I saw the orb point toward the departing ship.”
“Then it is settled. I have a sister to visit, and as it happens, she lives in the First Ring. Quist, why don’t you take Jack to the wizard registry, and Helen can come with me.” Tanner looked at the woman. “Unless you’d rather go with Jack. We will meet back at the house tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning.”
“Good. While you are visiting your sister, I have an errand in the First Ring,” Helen said.
“Then let us make sure we have passage to Lajia, first,” Tanner said.
Jack thought about how Tanner jumped to do everything for them. Jack wasn’t that much of a dolt, but he already had other things to worry about, so letting Tanner do everything was fine with him. He wondered why Helen wasn’t more assertive around him, but then perhaps she felt like Jack did.
Once they passed the archway to the First Ring berths, Jack gawked at the difference in the ships. Everything was bigger and fancier, and then there was a stretch of smaller and even plusher ships. They reached berth 1-23. Jack looked up at the three masts and the fancy woodwork on the sides of the ship.
“Maybe we can work our way to Lajia,” he said.
Tanner laughed. “It just might come to that, but I have some resources I can willingly share.”
Jack wondered how he could pay Tanner back, but maybe Fasher could do the reimbursing. He followed Tanner up the gangplank after they tied up their horses. The decking on the ship was bleached white, and every other surface sparkled.
A uniformed man who had to be a ship’s officer stopped them. “You have business aboard The Pretty Penny?”
Jack grunted. Penny? The boat’s name had to be Penny? He shook his head.
“We understand you are headed for Reoja? We are looking for passage.”
“Soldiers of fortune?” the officer said.
“You might say that,” Helen said. “Is there anything wrong with soldiers of fortune?”
“Not at all if you can pay. We have two berths left. One is rather expensive, and the other has two bunks. I don’t know exactly how you are going to split up, but that is up to you.”
Helen looked at Quist and Tanner and frowned. “Me and the boy,” she said.
Tanner smirked a bit and said, “That is the safest pairing for this crossing. We will take them. Do you need payment now?”
“It will require a two-crown deposit.”
Jack coughed. That was just a deposit.
“Do you know of a stable who will purchase our horses and store our tack?”
The officer pointed across the dock. “That is the best and the most reasonable along this part of the wharf.”
Tanner thanked him. “We understand you will depart at sundown tomorrow.”
“Don’t be late or you’ll lose the berths and your deposit. Your names?” He picked up a folder lying on a coil of rope.
Chapter Twelve
~
“I hope I don’t get my throat cut while we sail,” Jack said as he rode alongside Quist to the wizard registry.
“Helen won’t do such a thing unless you try to get a little frisky. A woman exists beneath that gruff exterior.”
“It is the gruff exterior I’m afraid of,” Jack said.
Quist laughed, but before long, he had to ask for directions. “I have been to the First Ring before, but not for a long time.” They made a few wrong turns but finally arrived at a polished, stone-paved square. On the left side stood a massive cathedral to Alderach. The registry was directly across the square.
“How can they coexist?” Jack asked.
“The building is more than a registry. It is the Corand center for the healing arts. I would guess on any day there could be more Alderachean priests being schooled in the healing arts than wizards,” Quist said. “Don’t worry, you aren’t ready to begin to try healing. I never attempted to train to heal. You have to learn all kinds of things about how a body works to avoid doing damage.”
Jack wondered if Fasher was tutoring Penny to be a healer. Jack wasn’t so sure he would be up to spending years to become a healer.
“How long did Fasher train to do what he does?”
“Heal?” Quist asked. “Three or four years, I would say, and I do know he spent them right over there.” The wizard nodded toward the registry.
Jack was very glad he was a helper and not an apprentice at that point. They entered the registry. Quist asked about the woman who had stolen the orb. “We also think that Henry Oppen was an accomplice with her in the death of Derr Mason.”
“Really. We received notice that Derr had died, poor man, but not who might have done it,” the clerk said. She made a few entries in a thick ledger. “How did Derr die?”
“A wand induced lightning bolt,” Quist said, looking sideways at Jack.
The clerk made a face. “Icky, but no blood?”
“No blood,” Jack said.
“And who are you, young man?”
“I am Jack Winder, Fasher Tempest’s helper.”
“A helper,” she said. “My, my. Lucky Fasher Tempest. Where is he these days?”
“Raker Falls,” Jack said.
The woman made a few notes. She looked at Quist. “You are?”
“Ozzie Quist is my name.”
After consulting in another book. “Has your power returned?”
Quist sighed. “Gone, but not forgotten. I can still use an object of power.”
She made another notation. “Good. Not quite gone.” She smiled brightly at them. “Is there anything more I can do for you?”
“Is there a notation how powerful Simara Khotes is?” Ozzie asked.
The clerk pursed her lips. “You ask an awkward question. Don’t spread this around, but there is a note made today that Simara Khotes is suspected of being a member of the Black Finger Society.”
Quist gasped. “That isn’t good news. Has Oppen jumped over to the other side, as well?”
“We didn’t have that on his profile, but we do now,” She scribbled on another page.
“Thank you,” Quist said. “I trust we have made a good trade of information.”
“You have,” the clerk said beaming, but her countenance saddened. “I did know Derr. I am sad he is gone.” She looked at Jack. “Fasher and Derr were friends years ago.”
“I came to Dorkansee with a message from my master,” Jack said.
The woman scoffed. “Helpers have no masters, but whatever.” She shrugged. Another wizard cleared his throat behind them. “I wish you well during your stay in the capital,” she said.
Jack knew that for a dismissal. They walked out into the foggy sunshine. Jack looked at the cathedral. He didn’t think anything could dwarf the one at Bartonsee, but he was wrong. “Let’s go in for a few minutes, then head back to the Fourth Ring.”
“Sure,” Quist said.
The cathedral had both aspects of Alderach sculpted in a single statue that revolved on a plinth. Jack stared at it in total awe of the place.
“Are you a follower?” Quist asked.
Jack shook his head. “I have a relationship with the Raker Falls priests, but there is nothing between a statue and me.”
“Statues are merely manifestations of the god,” Quist said.
“And you follow Alderach?”
“A little. Call me a little believer,” Quist grinned. “I need every bit of help I can get.”
They walked around the cathedral marveling at the opulence. The cathedral was so different from the little temple at Raker Falls.
Jack saw a column of priests across the nave. The patriarch argued with two priests at either side of him. The high-ranking priest glanced over at them, and Jack could see the flash of recognition. The column swerved into the nave and ended up where they were.
“Jack Winder, if my memory serves,” the patriarch said. “Did you complete your errand?”
“No. A tragedy occurred, and it looks like we will be heading in
another direction. Is this your cathedral?”
The patriarch laughed. “Oh, no. I just came from a meeting with the archbishop. He has just agreed to permit me to bring the blessings of Alderach to the people of Lajia. I won’t be preaching, but meeting with their religious leaders.”
Jack was leery of what the patriarch’s answer would be to his next question. “You are taking a ship?”
“I am. The Pretty Penny. I sail tomorrow at dusk.”
“We are on the same ship,” Jack said.
The patriarch didn’t look very surprised. “What a coincidence. I look forward to renewing our acquaintance aboard ship. If you will excuse me, I must prepare for the trip.”
Jack watched him resume his dispute with the priests accompanying him. He soon left the building.
“That is the patriarch, isn’t it?” Quist said.
“We had a long chat at the duke’s dinner in Bartonsee, if you recall.”
“I do, now that you mentioned it. It is strange that we will be traveling the Northern Sea with him.”
Jack nodded. “We will have to tell Tanner and Helen. It can’t be a coincidence, but is it because of Simara Khotes, the Serpent’s Orb, or something else that they took with them?” he said.
~
Tanner and Helen had beaten them to the house. Jack had thought that Tanner would be spending the night in the First Ring at his sister’s house.
“She wasn’t in,” Tanner responded to the same question from Quist, “So Helen and I did a little banking. That was her errand. She put something in the bank, and I took some funds out.”
“You—”
“Fasher will be good for it, have no doubts. Did you find out anything about Simara Khotes?”
“She is rumored to be Black Finger,” Quist said.
Jack heard an intake of breath from Helen.
“How will we deal with that?” she said.
“The same as ever. She won’t be the first Black Finger we have encountered,” Tanner said. “We treat her just the same.”
“What is the big deal about the Black Finger Society?” Jack asked.
“They are a force for evil in the world,” Tanner said. “They want to become immortal, although none of them have done so. Once that happens, they think the countries of the world will bow down to them.”
“Just because they are superior?” Jack said.
“Even immortal, they aren’t superior. They are just twisted, looking at the world through a lens of their own making,” Helen said. “But they are very dangerous, having no scruples.”
“There is another thing we learned,” Jack said. “The Alderachean patriarch will be on the ship with us.”
“What?” Tanner looked at Jack. “That is no coincidence. What interest does he have in your errand?”
“I guess we will have plenty of time to find out. I didn’t think the church had any interest in wizardly things. That’s what he told me.”
Helen grunted. “Generally not, but where the Black Finger Society is concerned, they see wizards as allies against a gathering evil.”
“Should we be following someone so dangerous?” Jack asked.
“Should we?” Tanner said, throwing the question back at Jack.
Jack looked at the faces of his three companions. “Yes. But we will have to be careful. We should all wear metal cuirasses to protect us from her wand.”
“Not a bad idea,” Tanner said. “I wonder if they make one suitable for Quist’s frame?”
The wizard scowled at the man. “I know they don’t make helmets big enough to fit your head.”
~
Jack stowed his possessions in the storage area beneath his bed. There were two tiny sleeping cabins connected by a sitting room in the suite that Helen and Jack shared. Tanner and Quist knocked on the door.
“Can we store our bags in your suite? Our little cabin has a bunk bed and two small bins topped by a flat surface the mate laughingly called a desk.” Tanner said. “Quist and I will be relaxing in here often enough,” he said looking around.
“Only if you behave,” Helen said.
Jack looked out the small window punched out on the side of the ship. He looked across the wharf at the stable where the horse he had bought when he first set out ended up. He would miss the beast, but the price of the five horses had gone toward their passage. Jack feared they might be gone longer than the two months Fasher gave him, but that wasn’t entirely in his control at this point.
“I’ll go up on the deck and watch the ship depart,” Jack said. “Make yourselves at home,” he looked at Helen, “on my side of the suite.”
Tanner laughed. “I’ll do that. I don’t need to watch. This isn’t my first voyage.”
Jack nodded, left the three of them staring at each other, and walked onto the deck. He watched the sailors preparing to leave. The sun was just about setting when there was a bit of a commotion on the wharf. A procession of priests followed far behind the patriarch, who walked with two men quickly across the pavement. The procession caught up with the patriarch, and a scuffle ensued at the gangplank.
Sailors were instructed to help the patriarch up the gangplank, but the scuffle turned into a fight. Jack felt at his hip. He had left his sword in the cabin, but he had his wand, that might be enough to help. He ran down the gangplank and began poking the priests that were trying to capture the patriarch. A group of men marched into the square and pointed as they began to run toward The Pretty Penny. Jack adjusted the wand in his hand and began shooting bolts into the feet of those trying to restrain the patriarch. It was just enough to give the Alderachean enough of a break to run up the gangplank.
Jack pushed the patriarch’s two companions up the incline, and the sailors and he retreated up to the deck. The gangplank was raised just as the group of men arrived.
“You come back here!” one of the attacking priests said.
“I am going to Lajia, and you won’t stop me. This is a matter bigger than the Corandian church!” The patriarch ducked a missile thrown by one of the men.
Jack shot two bolts into their midst. “I am a wizard,” he said. “Back up!”
The men did just that while Jack pointed the wand at them.
“Cast off!” a voice cried out from the steering deck.
The sails were let down, and the ship shuddered as it slowly slid along the dock and turned out to sea. The men on the shore shook their fists, but soon their cries couldn’t be distinguished from the other sounds on the ship.
The patriarch turned to Jack. “You continue to surprise me,” he said. “Why did you come to my aid? Aren’t we enemies?”
The statement surprised Jack. He had never thought of the patriarch as an enemy. How could the man have come up with such a notion? “Have you declared war on me?” Jack asked.
The patriarch laughed. “Not at all. We will have to come to an understanding though. Alderach does not approve of that wand you wield.”
“I don’t think the god approves of priests fighting priests, either.”
“He doesn’t.” One of the other priests whispered something in the patriarch’s ear. “We have to see if our luggage made it on board. If you will excuse me.”
Jack nodded and watched the three men disappear into the ship.
The gray-haired captain stepped down from the steering deck. “You know the patriarch?”
Jack looked at the door the churchman had used.
“I’ve met him more than once,” Jack said.
“You have? You are the wizard boy. Why would you help him?”
Jack smiled and turned to the captain. “Why not?”
Chapter Thirteen
~
“W hat were you thinking of getting involved with that priest of all people?” Tanner said to Jack when he reached the cabin. “We could see most of what happened. You even used magic against them. If you are branded a heretic, you may never be allowed peace in any corner of Corand.”
“But I saved the patriarch,�
� Jack said. “Doesn’t that count for something?”
Tanner shook his head and looked at Helen. “Your turn.”
She glared at Tanner as he left the suite. Quist sat in an easy chair bolted to the floor trying to look small.
“Mercenaries are told time and again to stay away from priests and especially any disagreements between them. Right, Quist?”
The wizard nodded but kept his lips sealed.
Helen shook her head. “Maybe you will be lucky, and the patriarch’s departure will draw attention away from you,” she said. “I would have let that little drama play out, Jack. You didn’t need to get involved. No, you shouldn’t have been involved. Who knows which side was right or which side was wrong? Maybe they were both wrong.” She lifted her arms and let them fall in exasperation.
“Why don’t we find out before Tanner and you continue to act just like my parents?”
“What?” Helen said with a confused look on her face.
“My father used to scold me at least as badly as this regularly. I am not one of Alderach’s heavenly attendants, you know. The patriarch has been nice enough to me. I trust him more than the kind of people who would hire thugs to drag him back to the cathedral or wherever,” Jack said.
Helen put a hand on her hip and the other to her forehead and then laughed. “A mother? Me?”
“Were you even listening to what I just said?”
She put her hand out. “I did. You think the patriarch is a good guy and those that wanted to drag him away were bad guys.” She nodded and brushed some hair out of her face. “I will withhold any more matriarchal scolding until after we have had a few words with the patriarch. Will that be acceptable?”
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. “Very. If the patriarch thinks I made a huge mistake, I will mend my ways.”
Quist laughed in his corner. “And how do you intend to do that? Do you think we will punish you?”
Jack looked at Helen. “Won’t you?”
“I’ve made worse mistakes, onion boy,” she said. “It is just that we all think you did a dumb thing, but you are right. We should find out just how dumb.”
