Cold Iron

by Stina Leicht

  FOUR

  Nels woke with one of the worst hangovers of his life. The puzzling thing was that he didn’t remember drinking enough to warrant it. Sitting up, he found himself on the floor in his own room. Appar­ently, he hadn’t made it to his bed. Considering he didn’t remember walking home from Viktor’s in the first place, it wasn’t too sur­prising. Someone, he assumed it’d been Viktor, had given him a pillow and tossed a blanket over him.

  Daylight filtered through the shabby white curtains.

  What time is it? He searched for his pocket watch and dis­covered he’d forgotten to wind it. His back complained, and he had a painful crick in his neck from sleeping on the floor. The ache in his head worsened with each beat of his heart, and his mouth tasted awful. He felt sluggish. He wanted to go back to bed, but he had to decide what he would do about the translations. He didn’t know how late it was, but Colonel Vinter would send someone soon. What the hells did we drink last night?

  He staggered to the bedroom door. “Viktor!” He grabbed his head and winced. He reconsidered shouting. “Are you here? Get up! I need to make some coffee. Now. What time is it?”

  The house was empty. The coals in the hearth were still banked for the night. Viktor must have gone home. He couldn’t have been in much better shape than I was. It was a rest day. Viktor had no need to be up early. But for the translations, neither would he. Nels checked the clock on the mantel.

  Half past ten, he thought. He decided to get cleaned up, and get to work. He’d turned away when the note on the mantel caught his attention. Unfolding it, he saw it was from Viktor.

  By now I’ve resolved your little dilemma. If you don’t do anything stupid, they can’t blame you. Don’t worry about me. That detention barracks is a joke.

  Sorry about the headache. I wanted to be sure you’d stay put.

  Do me a favor and burn this. The Jägerpoliisi around here aren’t all that bright but even they can read, and I’d rather not have risked my neck for nothing.

  —V

  Nels tossed the note into the hearth and stirred the coals. He’d gotten dressed when he heard the front gate latch. Peering out the front window, he spotted Corporal Ekstrom and three Royal Jägerpoliisi dressed in blue-and-green uniforms. He didn’t wait for them to knock but met them in the dooryard.

  “Is there a problem?” Nels asked.

  “Captain Hännenen, we have some questions,” a Jägerpoliisi with a long mustache said. “Where were you last night?”

  Nels couldn’t think of a reason not to answer. “I was with Lieutenant Reini. We were drinking. I don’t know what time I got home. I didn’t think to look. Why?”

  “Come with us, please,” the Jägerpoliisi said.

  “I don’t understand,” Nels said.

  “Overlieutenant Reini is under arrest, and you are wanted for questioning.”

  “Don’t resist, Captain,” Corporal Ekstrom said. “They have orders to shoot you if you do.”

  “All right.” Nels put his hands up in the air. “I’ll go quietly.”

  Surrounded by the Jägerpoliisi, he was escorted to the detention barracks. He already had an idea what had happened but he wanted it confirmed.

  “What did Reini do?” Nels asked. “Can you tell me?”

  Corporal Ekstrom said, “He released the Acrasian prisoners.”

  Nels stopped. “He did what?!”

  A Jägerpoliisi urged him to continue moving with the point of a gun barrel in the back.

  “You heard me, Captain,” Corporal Ekstrom said. “We are now trying to determine whether or not you ordered him to do so.”

  “That’s easy. I didn’t!” Nels dropped his hands and half turned to glare at the Jägerpoliisi.

  “So your lieutenant says,” Corporal Ekstrom said. “At least your stories seem to match.”

  “Why would I do such a thing?” Nels asked.

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Corporal Ekstrom said. “But that is what is to be determined.”

  “Did Reini say why he did it?” Nels asked.

  “He refuses to cooperate. We thought you’d be able to get an answer out of him,” Corporal Ekstrom said.

  The detention barracks was located near the pens where the Acrasians had been kept. The barracks stable wasn’t far. The stench of horse dung was strong. A tall, splintered wooden fence surrounded the barracks, a long redbrick building with no windows. Nels was led inside and taken to Reini’s cell, a small eight-foot-by-eight-foot room with bars for walls. The Jägerpoliisi locked him inside.

  Viktor was lying back on the narrow bunk with his hands pillow­ing his head. He sighed. “I was having a lovely dream about Helmi and her friend Tanja.”

  “What in the name of all the gods were you thinking?” Nels asked.

  “I don’t suppose I could ask you to go away?”

  “I’m serious!”

  “This isn’t your problem any more.”

  Nels leaned in closer. “You’re my korva. Of course it’s my problem. They think I sent you to—”

  “I told them you weren’t involved.”

  “Why would they believe that?” Nels asked. “I was with you last night, and I don’t exactly remember what we talked about.”

  “There’s a reason for that.”

  Nels paused. “And that reason would be?”

  “I drugged you.”

  “You did what?!”

  Viktor whispered, “Keep your voice down. I don’t trust that the Jägerpoliisi don’t have great hearing.”

  “Why would you—”

  “I didn’t want you involved. I’ll tell them I drugged you. They’ll find the bottle where I left it and confirm it for themselves. I used something easy to smell, just in case. This way, you’ll be sent back to your company. The Acrasians go free. And you don’t have to send them to fight against their will.”

  “There are a couple of problems with your plan.”

  “Oh, I know,” Viktor said. “The first being, you couldn’t have commanded the prisoners to fight in the first place.”

  Nels blinked. “I wouldn’t have wanted to—”

  Viktor shook his head and lowered his voice even more. “I know. You can’t.”

  “That isn’t true.”

  “Nels, stop it,” Viktor said. “The others are idiots.” He shrugged. “To be honest, you’re not too bad. I still don’t know how you managed to pull off that stunt at the hospital in Jalokivi. That said, would I be a very good korva if you could fool me?”

  Sighing, Nels pulled up the lone stool and sat. “How long have you known?”

  “Since Almari,” Viktor said. “Anyone with command magic wouldn’t have let that fat bastard get the better of him. No matter how principled they are, no one with the power to keep from being knifed is going to allow themselves to die just because they don’t agree with the method used.”

  “And you didn’t tell anyone?”

  “It wasn’t anyone’s business but yours,” Viktor said. “If I couldn’t keep your secrets, I wouldn’t be a korva.”

  “You still agreed to work for me?”

  “With what your sister was paying, why wouldn’t I? Anyway, I don’t know if you’re aware of this,” Viktor said, “but you actually care about what happens to your troops. That alone would make you better than most officers. And, well … since you do a credit­able job of faking magic, who am I to disabuse people of their assumptions? We all have our little flaws.” He shrugged. “That said, you couldn’t release the Acrasians.”

  “Why not?”

  “Do you have any idea what Vinter would’ve done to you? It’ll make what Pesola did look like a summer holiday.”

  “Us. What Vinter will do to us.”

  “Ohhhh, no. You’re going back to Major Lindström.”

  “You think I’ll be better off? Are you forgetting Pesola? Please, Viktor. I can’t let you—”

  Viktor got up and went to the bars. “Hey! Time to let the nice captain go home. We’re done here.
”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You are.”

  “Stop this. They’ll hang you.”

  “They won’t hang me,” Viktor said. “I’m a korva. I’m far too valuable to the army to hang.”

  SUVI

  ONE

  Stationed on the poop deck, Suvi used a spyglass to scan the horizon for trouble. Others were on watch, but she preferred to look for herself. The afternoon wind harbored a chill, and the seas were growing restless. It was a beautiful day. The sun was high, and the sky was a calm blue with only a few scattered clouds. She breathed in tar-and-sea-salt-laden air, and reveled in Otter’s graceful speed. They were making swift progress. It’d been a few days since the previous encounter, and things had been quiet, but there was no telling how long that would last. Not only was summer over, but northward progress meant trickier weather. She was of two minds about the change, of course. On one hand, it meant she’d be home soon.

  On the other, it meant she’d be home soon.

  Piritta had been able to get everything their prisoner knew. With the restriction of the water, it’d taken longer, but that was all. She’d used his fear of kainen magic against him, and in truth, that had done most of the work for her. Thus, Suvi knew the Acrasians had been informed that she would be in the area, but Bradford didn’t know the source.

  A strong breeze tugged unruly light brown curls from her hastily tied ponytail and blew the strays into her face. Her ­shoulder was healing. It felt good to be without the sling. However, her left leg reminded her that she’d been standing entirely too long with a cranky pain that shot up through her knee and lodged itself in the back of her skull. She winced and shifted her weight to her right leg. At least she didn’t have to use the cane as much any more.

  The afternoon watch had been called. There’d been fresh fish for lunch, and her belly was full. That was when she spied a flicker of white on the horizon. She waited until she was certain it was a sail. “Ship to the fore!” She couldn’t help a little pride over having spotted it first. She wasn’t sure if it was a friendly ship or not. She couldn’t make out the flag at the top of the distant mainmast.

  A shout from the mainsail topgallant verified her call. It wasn’t long before the ship’s whistle indicated a sister ship. However, they were still a week or two from the Eledorean port of Mehrinna. Suvi didn’t think her messages had had time to reach Jalokivi, not yet. She wasn’t expecting an escort. It wasn’t like her father to send a ship into the Waterborne Sea—most Eledorean vessels weren’t equipped for ocean travel. She gazed through her glass and picked up a few more details.

  “Are we sure she’s not a Waterborne ship?” she asked Captain Hansen. “I don’t recognize her.”

  Squinting into her own spyglass, Captain Hansen finally said, “She’s flying an Eledorean flag. Three masts. Looks like a frigate. She must be new. I don’t know her either.” Her tone mirrored Suvi’s own confusion. “Her paint is fresh. Her construction is Ytlainen. You can tell by her figurehead.”

  Suvi could make out a carving of the lithe form of a half-nude woman on the frigate’s bow. A wreath of flowers crowned her windblown hair, and decorative vines draped across the statue’s bare breasts. “You’re right.” Eledorean ships used sculptures of animals or even males, if they had figureheads at all. Eledorean sailors tended to be more traditional in their beliefs and such depictions of women were considered unlucky.

  She moved her focus to the main topgallant mast again. There she spied a long, thin banner just below the Eledorean flag and frowned. “She’s flying mourning purple.” There was only one reason why an Eledorean ship would fly a purple banner with silver trim. Someone in the royal family died. Is it Father? Uncle? Please don’t let it be Nels or Mother. Please let it be Uncle. She felt a twinge of guilt for wishing such a thing, even upon her uncle.

  “Can’t read her side. Not yet,” Captain Hansen said. “That’s interesting. I count twenty-eight guns. Ports are closed.”

  “She’s new,” Suvi said. “They’re too far from home.” Something about the ship bothered her. “I don’t like this.” If Father is dead, then would Uncle send a warship? She had to admit it was a solid possi­bility. I’d do it if our roles were reversed. Her next thought was a quick prayer for her mother and brother. “What are they doing out here?” As she asked, the frigate let fly a new series of signal flags.

  Hansen said, “They’re requesting to board passengers. We’re close enough that they could send a bird. Everything else is aboveboard—on the surface, anyway. I can’t think of an excuse to refuse. Can you?”

  “Tell them we’ll accept the passenger.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Let’s heave to, Captain. And call action stations, but let’s do so quietly. I want the marines ready just in case she makes a move we don’t like. Inform Indomitable to do the same,” Suvi said. “We don’t want to make trouble where there isn’t any.”

  The frigate indicated she’d be boarding on Otter’s port side. Hanging aft, Indomitable gently moved to port as well. As a precaution, Suvi intended to trap the frigate between Indomitable’s and Otter’s guns. She held her breath and inwardly cursed the slow pace of ship movements until it was apparent Captain Björnstjerna received her instructions. As the stranger ship drew nearer, Suvi could finally make out the name The Winter Rose. Shadowy kainen on Rose’s decks went through the motions of preparing to heave to, but it was impossible to make out individual uniforms. Hunting for some sign of trouble or reassurance, she caught a silhouette that gave her a start. Is that sailor’s hair twisted into spirit knots?

  That was when she recognized what had been wrong. Their ship isn’t entirely dependent upon the wind. They’ve a waterweaver on board, a powerful one too, by the look of it.

  That’s a good sign. Right? No Waterborne would serve on one of Uncle’s ships. The thought didn’t stop the creeping chill raising the small hairs on the back of her neck.

  “Maybe you should get below,” Hansen said.

  “If the message is what I think it is”—Suvi collapsed her spyglass with a quick slap—“we both know it’s for me. There’s no sense in hiding.”

  “If you say so, sir.”

  “I do.”

  Suvi watched Rose draw closer with ever increasing unease. At the last possible instant, Rose took a dangerous and normally impossible turn across Otter’s bow. Winter Rose’s gun ports opened, and Suvi felt her guts turn to ice water.

  No, no, no! Oh, Goddess! You should’ve known! They’ve a waterweaver! My fault! “They have us! Call the alarm!” She braced herself on the poop deck rail. This is my fault! I don’t know what I’m doing! I should’ve let Hansen take—

  The first shot was a solid hit down Otter’s bow. The bowsprit disintegrated in a cloud of splinters and smoke. Crew members screamed. The nine-pounder stationed at the bow flipped on top of a marine. The rest of her gun crew died in a shower of wood slivers and blood. Bar shot rolled and bounced across the decks. It cut one man in half, took the head off another, slammed into Otter’s port rail, and vanished. All at once, another round of bar shot slammed Otter. The foremast split with a loud crack just above the fore yard, sending the mast to the deck in a long, tangled arc of ratlines, sails, and shrouds. Marines stationed in the yards fell to their deaths. A cold shard of terror pierced Suvi’s heart. The violence with which the Rose’s cannon punched the boards sent quakes through the Otter that Suvi felt through the souls of her feet. My fault! My fault!

  Think! Everyone will die if you don’t! It was at that moment that she remembered her mother’s advice. A good leader knows when to delegate.

  But dumping responsibility on Hansen would be cowardly!

  Hansen knows what to do. You don’t.

  Winter Rose was now gliding past Otter’s starboard side. Suvi was relieved she’d been at least suspicious. “Captain, give the marines the order to fire!”

  “Fore guns first! Wait until she’s in your sights, blast you! F
ire! Fire! Fire!”

  Otter’s starboard guns hammered Winter Rose’s broadside. Caught with Otter between itself and Winter Rose, Indomitable was unable to assist. Winter Rose sent another volley into Otter’s side as she slipped past. Otter rocked violently to port and then starboard. Small fire peppered the boards. A sharp pain in Suvi’s weakened leg unbalanced her. She landed hip first on the poop deck with jaw-jarring force and bit her tongue. If she hadn’t had a grip on the rail, she’d have been thrown over the side. She saw three of the crew do just that.

  Otter righted herself, and Winter Rose sailed on. With Otter’s foremast destroyed, she couldn’t give chase. Suvi scrambled to her feet. The deck was slick with water and gore. Her leg ached but that seemed to be due to the old wound and not because of anything new. She looked to the captain. Hansen’s uniform was covered in blood and a splinter protruded from her upper left arm.

  “You’re bleeding.” Suvi pointed to Hansen’s arm.

  “I don’t have time to bleed.” Hansen turned to the nearest lieutenant and shouted. “Damage report?” Her voice was calm. Firm.

  Suvi was shocked at how powerful that was, even without command magic. I’ve no healing powers. Even if I did, they probably wouldn’t work. The surgeon is below. I need Hansen on her feet. She knows what to do. Suvi glanced around, searching for a moment of clear thought. She’d watched a healer deal with a similar injury once. What did he do? Chaos filled her senses with loud creaking sounds and screams. Your uniform coat. She slipped off the coat, rolled it as best she could, and handed it to Hansen. “Tuck this under your arm and press down. The pressure should slow the bleeding until the surgeon gets here.”

  Hansen only paused for a moment, then accepted the jacket. “Thank you.”

  It would take some time in the chaos for the second mate to report. In the meantime, Indomitable signaled for permission to pursue Winter Rose.

  “What are your thoughts, Captain?” Suvi asked.

  Hansen gave the question some thought before answering. “I’d keep her here, sir. I don’t like the looks of Rose. She’s tricky and fast. I believe in Björnstjerna. He’s very good, and he could take her. But if you’re the target, Rose will be back soon enough. She may even bring friends. We have to be ready to move if she does. Right now, we’re dead in the water. We don’t know for how long. Worse, we don’t know how bad things are below. We don’t know how much stress Otter can take. I’m not touching the guns until we know the situation. Long story short, we may need Indomitable to keep our noses above the water.”