“You will not gain my favor by insulting the High Priestess, my lady.”
“I don’t want your favor, Anton.” She smiled faintly, experiencing a moment of startling clarity. Everything seemed so clear now that she had nothing to lose. “Don’t you understand? I don’t care any longer. You’ve won. You’ve taken everything you can from me—the man I loved, both my sons, even my country—all of it. I have nothing left for you to take now except my life, so you might as well have that, too. I have no further need of it.”
“You’d die for your sons?” Antonov asked, curiously. “I wonder, would you live for them?”
His question took her completely by surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Give me your youngest son, my lady, and I’ll let you live.”
Morna stared at him in shock. “Dirk? You’re doing this for Dirk’s benefit?”
“I warned him before he left Avacas that his only future was with me. Apparently, he didn’t get the message the last time. I intend to make myself much clearer in the future.”
Morna could not believe what she was hearing. “Even if I wanted to be party to such a monstrous bargain, I couldn’t tell you what you want to know. I have no idea where Dirk is. I’ve not seen my son since you took him from me.”
Antonov smiled. “I’m aware that you don’t know where he is. Trust me, if you’d been in contact with Dirk at any time these past two years, I would know of it.”
“Then what’s your point, Anton?”
“This time it is your life on the line, Morna. I’m willing to bet that he’ll not stand by and let you die if he thinks he can prevent it.”
“Then I trust he has the wisdom to realize that he can’t prevent it, and stays well away from Elcast on Landfall.” She laughed humorlessly. “Do you forget who you’re dealing with, Anton? Even if he was foolish enough to come home, Dirk will take one look at the men you have gathered against him and run like hell.”
“Then I’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t see what I have gathered against him. In fact, I’m quite willing to give him a free run all the way up to Elcast Keep. It will only be after he springs my trap that he will realize he can’t defy me and win.”
“You’re a fool if you think Dirk will fall for anything so transparent.”
“We’ll see who the fool is tomorrow night at the Landfall Festival, Morna,” Belagren said. “By the way, did you have a preference for which sun you wish to represent? I thought the second sun would be appropriate, don’t you?”
She stared at the High Priestess for a moment, wondering at the woman’s callousness, and then turned her attention back to Antonov, deciding that Belagren’s question did not deserve to be dignified with an answer.
Besides, nothing irritated Belagren more than to be ignored.
“Even if you succeed, Anton, what then? Even if you manage to capture Dirk, what will you do with him? You can’t seriously believe that he’ll ever follow you willingly.”
“Why not? Isn’t that the motto of the Royal House of Damita: ‘Whose side am I on this week?’ Your family isn’t exactly renowned for having the courage of their convictions, my lady. Your father took Johan’s side against the Goddess during the Age of Shadows, yet your brother Baston grovels so hard for my favor he’d lick my boots clean if I asked. Your sister Analee took a solemn oath to obey the will of the Goddess when we married, and abandoned it as soon as she was asked to do something that didn’t suit her. Then she killed herself rather than face the consequences. And look at you! You declared war on me for what you purportedly believed in, and then, at the first sign of trouble, you fled your lover and cowered here in Elcast for twenty-odd years just to save your bastard son’s neck and your husband from disgrace. Why shouldn’t I believe that your son will do as I want if I offer him sufficient incentive?”
“My son is better than that!” she declared.
“Your son is a bastard who raped a Shadowdancer, killed his own father and then ran away like a mongrel dog, Morna,” Belagren reminded her cruelly. “I would think the least of our concerns is what it might take to turn him to our cause.”
“Don’t you dare stand there accusing my son of rape and murder!” Morna snapped. “You’re responsible for more deaths than I can count. Both of you! And you hide behind your false Goddess, as if that justifies everything you do.”
Antonov studied her for a moment then shook his head sadly. “I had such high hopes for you once, Morna. In a way, I hope you do die before Dirk gets here tomorrow. I’m very fond of the boy and it would break his heart to see how far you’ve fallen.” He turned abruptly, startling Morna with his sudden yell. “Captain!”
Ateway must have been waiting just outside. He hurried back into the guardhouse and saluted smartly. “Sire?”
“You are to strip Lady Morna’s cell. Remove everything, including the bed. If she needs to relieve herself, she can ask for a bucket. She will only eat what you yourself have sampled. You will also remove her outer garments and post a guard in this room at all times. She is not to be left alone. If she tries to harm herself, you will restrain her. Is that clear?”
Ateway spared Morna a rueful glance but did not question his orders. “Of course, your highness.”
“Are you afraid I’ll kill myself before you can, Anton?” she asked with a weary smile. If only I was so brave as to eat that loaf Helgin sent me ...
“It’s not an unreasonable fear. Your family is rather fond of suicide, my lady.”
“Only when they’re forced to deal with you, Anton,” she replied.
Chapter 32
Dirk watched the eastern horizon nervously as the Makuan sailed toward Elcast, watching for any hint of yellow or blue staining the sky. He was not sure how long it was until the first sun would set. While the sky was red, while there was still no sign of the second sun rising, he could still pretend he had another day. He could still imagine it was not too late; still convince himself that they might make it to Yerl in time to save his mother.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the deck if you keep pacing like that,” Tia remarked, turning from watching the smudge in the distance that was the southern tip of Elcast.
“What time is it?”
“About five minutes since you asked me the last time.” She glanced at the eastern horizon. “We’ve got an hour, maybe less, until second sunrise.”
“We’re not going to make it,” he concluded grimly.
“We might,” she shrugged. “Don’t be such a doomsayer.”
Dirk didn’t answer her. Tia’s sudden decision to take his side in this dangerous enterprise was vaguely unsettling, but he was too familiar with her mercurial mood swings to question it closely. He didn’t know what drove Tia to do anything, and had long ago given up imagining that he ever would.
“Have you seen Eryk?” he asked instead. He hadn’t seen the boy since the night Kirsh was beaten, and was a little concerned. They had departed Nova in such haste that at least two crewman he knew of had been left behind.
She shook her head. “Kurt probably knows where he is. Why?”
Dirk glanced back over his shoulder toward the stern where the first mate was standing behind the helmsman, yelling orders to the men clambering over the rigging. Since he saw him work Kirsh over so efficiently, Dirk had little inclination to even acknowledge the mate’s existence, let alone get into a conversation with him.
“I want to explain to Eryk what’s happening. I don’t want him hearing it from anyone else.”
“The chances are he knows by now, Dirk,” Tia reasoned. “It’s the worst kept secret on the ship. Everyone knows why we’re so unexpectedly rushing off to Elcast.”
She was right, Dirk knew. There was not a man aboard who had not somehow discerned the reason for Porl Isingrin’s sudden decision to depart Nova and sail for Yerl, an insignificant port they rarely visited in the normal course of events. He wondered how many of the crew thought as Tia did. None of them, he guessed, had any particular a
ffection for Morna Provin, but they were all quite happy to be doing something that might result in someone being saved from the sacrificial fires of Landfall.
The wind was brisk and the ship cut through the choppy straits between Grannon Rock and Elcast bathed in the red sunlight of the first sun. Gripping the railing as he walked, Dirk headed toward the stern, sidestepping the sailors who scrambled to obey Kurt’s bellowed instructions. The Makuan was a tightly run ship, and there was little effort wasted as the sailors went about their duties.
Kurt glanced up and saw Dirk. He was not a particularly tall man. His eyes were brown, like most Dhevynians, but his hair was so blond it was almost white, which made him appear much older than his thirty-five years.
“We’re already doing eight knots,” Kurt informed Dirk as he approached. “Which is faster than I thought this bucket could move. Don’t waste my time asking if we can go any faster.”
“I was looking for Eryk, actually.”
“He’s working. You can socialize with him when he’s finished his watch.”
Dirk was a little taken aback by Kurt’s brusque retort. “I just wanted to check that he got back to the ship ...”
“He’s fine, Dirk. He looked so happy when he came on board I thought he must have got laid. Now, unless you have something useful to tell me, I’m busy trying to get this lumbering bitch to pretend she’s the Calliope.”
Feeling rather chastened, Dirk returned to the bow.
Tia grinned when she saw his frown. “Did I forget to mention that Kurt’s in a foul mood?”
“Why?”
“He has a sister on Nova who’s about to have a baby. This desperate dash to Morna Provin’s rescue has seriously interfered with his plans to be there for the child’s birth.”
He glanced back at the first mate, suddenly feeling a little guilty. “I didn’t realize ...”
“You never do, Dirk,” she shrugged. “Like most of your kind, you think the world begins and ends with your problems.”
“My kind?” Dirk stared at her, wondering what he had done in the few minutes it had taken him to walk to the stern and back that would make her turn on him again.
“The highborn. You’re all the same. You think an accident of birth makes you better than the rest of us.”
“That’s ridiculous. Anyway, what’s this ‘better than the rest of us’ nonsense? Your mother was highborn. Even worse, you were born of Senetian nobility, right in the Hall of Shadows itself! If you want to start keeping score on who’s got the most dubious ancestry, Tia Veran, you might want to take that into account.”
Tia didn’t look pleased at the reminder. “It’s not the same thing. I was raised in Mil.”
He nodded in understanding. “Ah . . . I see. And in your eyes, that makes you better than me, doesn’t it?”
“No, Dirk,” she said, meeting his eye defiantly. “I didn’t kill my own father. That’s what makes me better than you.”
She pushed past him and headed aft, leaving him staring after her, wondering what it would take for Tia to ever forgive him. Then another thought occurred to him. Why did he care anyway? It was not as if he needed her forgiveness. The truth was, even if she got down on her knees and thanked him for killing Johan Thorn, it made no difference.
Dirk would never forgive himself.
It made the urgency of his present mission even more pressing. He had been able to do nothing to save his father. Dirk was fairly certain he would not be able to live with himself if he did not at least try to save his mother.
The second sun was rapidly overtaking its companion before they were close enough to Yerl to lower the longboat. Dirk was chafing at the delay, but did his best not to let it show. He knew Porl Isingrin and his crew had worked miracles to get them to Elcast as fast as they had, and he would achieve absolutely nothing by complaining that it still had not been fast enough.
Kurt relented and sent Eryk to say good-bye to Dirk as he was waiting for the sailors to winch the longboat down to the water. The boy looked tanned and fit, and much happier than when Dirk had seen him last. Perhaps Reithan had been right. Left alone to find his place in the crew, he was starting to settle into his new life.
“Kurt said you wanted to th— see me, Lord Dirk,” Eryk said, consciously correcting himself as he came up behind him.
Dirk sighed as he turned around. He had given up trying to break Eryk of the annoying habit of referring to him as “Lord Dirk” a long time ago. He studied the boy closely for a moment, but he seemed none the worse for his time as a sailor. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, Eryk.”
The boy shrugged. “I’m all right.”
“They’re not picking on you too much, are they?”
Eryk shook his head. “Not really. Derwn was worse.”
Dirk had not spared the son of Elcast Town’s butcher a thought since he had left home. It reminded him sharply that he was about to face more than the threat of Antonov’s wrath. His whole life had been spent on Elcast, and he was not sure what it would be like to suddenly find himself home again, a stranger and an outcast.
“Well, you keep working hard, and if it gets too much for you, make sure you tell Captain Isingrin.”
“Don’t tell him that, Dirk,” Tia scolded, coming up behind Eryk carrying her knapsack and her bow. “Snitching is the worst crime a sailor can commit.”
“I thought that was mutiny?”
“Only if you get caught. Hello, Eryk.”
“Are you going with Lord Dirk, too, Tia?” he asked, taking in her traveling garb.
“Yes,” she replied with a smile. “Lord Dirk needs someone to keep an eye on him.”
The boy nodded thoughtfully. “That’s good, Tia. Lady Morna was really nice to me. I’m glad it’s going to be you that saves her.”
“We’ll try, Eryk,” she promised, a little uncomfortably, and then she looked at Dirk. “You ready?”
He nodded. “We’re just waiting for Reithan.”
Tia said good-bye to Eryk and squeezed past them to the longboat where the sailors had almost finished launching it. Dirk turned back to Eryk. “The captain said he’s going to try to meet up with the Orlando in Kalarada. He seems to think he can get you a permanent berth with Captain Falstov’s crew.”
“They visit Mil pretty often, don’t they?” Eryk asked hopefully. “I’ll be able to see Mellie again, won’t I?”
“Eryk ...” Dirk began uncertainly. How could he explain it? How could he tell Eryk to leave Mellie alone without breaking the boy’s heart? “About Mellie.”
“It’s all right, Lord Dirk. You don’t have to tell me. I understand what I did wrong.”
“You do?” he asked in surprise.
Eryk nodded. “I won’t do it again. I know that now. Next time, I’ll know what to do.”
“Dirk!” Tia called. “Are you coming or not?”
“I have to go,” he explained. “But I’m glad you understand about Mellie.”
“Dirk!” Reithan bellowed, adding his impatience to Tia’s cry.
“Good luck, Lord Dirk.”
“Thanks, Eryk.” He ruffled the boy’s head fondly and hurried over to where Reithan was waiting for him with Porl Isingrin. Tia was already in the longboat with the crewmen who were manning the oars.
“We should be in sight of Elcast harbor a few hours after first sunrise,” Porl was telling Reithan as his stepbrother tossed their packs down to Tia. “I’ll have the longboat waiting where we arranged to meet. We’ll hang around as long as we can, but if you’re not at the rendezvous by the time the second sun rises tomorrow morning, we can’t risk waiting for you.”
“If that happens, we’ll make our own way back to Mil,” Reithan agreed. “For that matter, you should run at the first hint of trouble. I don’t want you risking your whole ship for this.”
“Don’t worry about me, Reithan,” the pirate assured him, grinning crookedly. “I was dodging the Lion of Senet’s excise men while you were still sucking on your mama�
�s tits. I know how to keep my head down.” The captain turned to Dirk. “Good luck, lad. Don’t be too hard on yourself if this all comes to naught.”
“I appreciate your help, Captain.”
“I’ve not done much but get you here,” the pirate shrugged. “It’s up to you now.”
“Are you two coming, or are you planning to stand up there gossiping all day?” Tia called impatiently from the longboat.
Porl smiled. “You take care now. Both of you. And don’t let Tia needle you too much, Dirk.”
Dirk climbed over the railing and slid down the rope ladder, jumping the last few feet into the boat. Tia caught his arm as he almost overbalanced.
“Careful!” she snapped. “You nearly capsized us!”
Up on the deck of the Makuan, Porl watched Dirk take his place in the bow and turned to Reithan. “I’m letting him go against my better judgment.”
“He’ll be all right, Porl.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I think he’s a good lad, but that’s not my point. We can’t afford to send him back to aid our enemies. Do whatever it takes, Reithan, but don’t under any circumstances let that boy fall into the hands of the Lion of Senet or the High Priestess.”
“You worry like an old woman, Porl. I’d kill Dirk before I let that happen.”
Porl Isingrin frowned and replied in all seriousness, “You may have to, Reithan. You may just have to.”
Chapter 33
Dirk was not so well known in Yerl that his presence would raise suspicion, but just to be on the safe side, Tia insisted that he keep out of sight while Reithan arranged to purchase horses for their journey. He was not happy leaving the task in Reithan’s hands. Unquestionably, of the three of them, Dirk was the most knowledgeable when it came to horseflesh. Tia had rarely ridden. Reithan was a little more experienced, but he was still a sailor first and foremost. Despite Dirk’s objections, they overruled him, and it was left to Reithan to find them mounts. There was not much available. Yerl was a fishing port, and a small one at that, but he was able to find three average-looking beasts that seemed to have the legs required to get them across the island.
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