“You could have fooled me.”
“Which is something too easy to do,” Cueseg said without any emotion, turning to walk out of the office.
Lyrah was shocked. Cueseg had said offensive things before, but this was the first time he had actually sounded cruel. What under the Light had upset him so much?
Lyrah caught up to Cueseg and they walked to the ship, not saying so much as a word to each other.
The ship was crewed totally by Tuerasians in varying levels of undress, a few not even covering their private parts, with one or two women among them.
Lyrah’s anxiety surged. “Oh, Light, really?” she said to herself, purposefully looking at anything other than the crew.
Rubbing her forehead, she sighed. “Cueseg, I need you to sort things out here.”
Cueseg didn’t reply.
Oh, Light, I don’t need this right now.
“I will do,” Cueseg finally said before walking toward one of the crew.
The individual that Cueseg approached wore slim Tuerasian-styled boots that hugged his calves, which the man’s extremely baggy pants, thank the Light, were tucked into. Tuerasians seemed to prefer strong colors in their clothing, and the man was no exception, his pants being a deep red. He also wore a strange yellow half jacket that covered the shoulders and upper back but left the chest, arms, and waist completely bare. Although this Tuerasian had short yellow hair like Cueseg, he wasn’t nearly as fit, which was easy to see considering Cueseg wore no shirt under his mantle, his chest as bare as his countryman’s. The other man’s belly was round and pronounced, sitting happily out in the open for all to see, which surprised Lyrah, for she had expected being fit was a cultural thing. His chest was still smooth, free of any hair, and shimmered in the light as if slightly oiled.
The man was in the middle of loading some sacks aboard the ship. He noticed Cueseg approaching and put down his load. He started to bow but stopped halfway once he looked to Cueseg’s face, his expression blank.
He straightened, still staring at Cueseg’s face, then at the Archknight mantle, and then back at his face. It was like the man didn’t know how to respond.
Cueseg spoke to the man in their native tongue. The man, face still blank, backed away and boarded the ship.
It was a very odd interaction, but then again, everything about the Tuerasians was odd.
Cueseg returned to Lyrah and even though his face was blank, Lyrah sensed a hint of satisfaction in his bearing.
Shortly thereafter, a woman descended the gangplank from the deck of the ship, and she was naked.
Well, mostly naked—for she wore the same styled Tuerasian boots, and there was jewelry all over her body. Brightly colorful embroidered lengths of material looped from bangles at her wrists to thin golden chains around her waist. Yet nothing covered her private parts; and indeed, everything she wore, from the design and shape of the silver jewelry to its positioning, seemed to draw attention to those prominent features. She was slim and toned. Her brown skin was smooth and clean, devoid of all types of body hair, and her straight, shoulder-length, bright-yellow hair was combed back to fall elegantly past her shoulders.
She was beautiful.
Still, the flagrant disregard for modesty made Lyrah feel very uncomfortable, but not nearly to the anxiety-inducing level of the men’s state of undress.
Light, these Tuerasians are backward!
The woman approached Lyrah, utterly ignoring Cueseg, who was standing beside her, and smiled.
A Tuerasian…smiling?
Lyrah hadn’t expected that.
The woman touched her fingertips to her forehead and then opened her arms out before her. When she spoke, it was in a very respectful tone without the slightest hint of an accent. “Lady Archon, your arrival and interruption is irritating, but because of your station, I offer you all the courtesy it deserves and will not express my profound annoyance beyond what I have said. Age has not diminished your physical beauty too much, though you are not as beautiful as I, and you do not appear to manipulate your appearance to influence men to your advantage, as is common among Hamahran woman. Instead, it appears that you rely on the authority of your station for influence. I respect this.”
“Ah…” Lyrah began, nonplussed. “Thank you?”
The captain smiled in a very expressive way, and indeed her face was more expressive than what seemed natural. “Excellent. I see we’re good friends.”
“Um, if you say so.”
“I do.”
Lyrah looked to Cueseg, whose face was blank, and then back to the female captain. “We’re here because we must commandeer your vessel.”
The woman sighed. “This is profoundly irritating and has the possibility of affecting our friendship. In what capacity do you need my ship?”
“We must get to Highdawn as soon as possible.”
“Ah, this is much more acceptable. You’ve chosen my ship because we are already headed to your capital.”
“Yes, and because it’s one of the fastest ships in port.”
“I am very pleased that you know this, and it makes me like you more.”
“Also, we must fly under the Floating Isles.”
“That, my friend, is very troubling. Regularly I would never risk such a flight, but with an Archknight’s protection I see no reason to fear.”
“Two.”
The captain tilted her head slightly. “Two?”
“Two Archknights’ protection,” Lyrah said.
The captain sneered, glancing at Cueseg. “I find it despicable that one as shamed as you is a knight, forcing me to show respect that you do not deserve.”
Cueseg’s face was stone yet his tone betrayed strong emotion. “Yet I am Archon. You will show respect or be shamed.”
The captain continued to sneer. “I will show every courtesy as is expected, but I will continue to despise you regardless, Master Archon.”
Cueseg’s mouth curled into the slightest grin, a triumphant shout by Cueseg’s standards. “Good,” he said in satisfaction.
What was going on? Why was Cueseg shamed? This was all very odd. Lyrah had been expecting this woman to be the same as Cueseg; but, Light, she couldn’t have been more different and yet so distinctly Tuerasian at the same time. She used expressions in a very pronounced yet calculated way, whereas Cueseg rarely used them at all, and she voiced every thought. Cueseg never hesitated to tell her what he was thinking, but compared to this woman his comments were positively subtle, something Lyrah never would have considered to be a possibility.
The captain looked back to Lyrah. “Please, come aboard. I am eager to reinforce your knowledge that Tuerasian skyships are the best in the world. I’ll see that we embark at once.”
They followed the captain aboard the ship and Lyrah had to keep her eyes on the deck as they walked to their cabin with so many privates on exhibition.
Once inside and alone, Lyrah spun on Cueseg. “All right, what under the Light is going on?”
“It does not matter. It is a thing of my people.”
“She said you’re shamed. What does that mean?”
“That I am shamed.”
“You know that’s not what I’m asking!”
Cueseg walked past her and sat cross-legged on one of the large cushions, facing away from her. “I will not talk.”
“It’s that branding on your forehead, isn’t it? None of the other Tuerasians have it.”
“This is my shame, Lyrah. I will not talk.”
“Okay… Fine.”
Cueseg didn’t reply, and Lyrah collapsed on one of the low and heavily cushioned beds, totally fed up with backward Tuerasians and their strange customs.
Chapter Twenty-Four
My stewards noticed that I enjoyed the younger girls more than any others, so that’s whom they sought.
Some of the girls grew attached to me, misunderstanding my lust like Deena had. They were naive, and apart from my own actions they were treated very well whilst in the palac
e at first. Those that came from poorer homes were overwhelmed with its luxury. But as soon as I noticed their attachment, I discarded them and called for another. And it wasn’t just attachment that caused me to want the next; all it took was for me to grow bored, something that happened more often as time progressed. Toward the end, I even forced the girls into depraved acts with one another and denied them clothes, no matter the setting or who was present, only letting them wear jewelry and ornaments like the outfits of some Tuerasian woman so that their appearance would please me at all times.
* * *
You want to go to their hideout?” Ahrek asked dubiously.
“That’s what I said,” Daylen replied as he stood at the Maraven’s helm.
“Daylen, these girls need to be taken to safety.”
“They are safe.”
“Taking them into the Floating Isles most certainly is not!”
“With the two of us it is. Look, Ahrek, when I fought Blackheart…”
“Blackheart! That was Blackheart?”
“Oh, so he is famous.”
“Uh, yes!”
“Not anymore,” Daylen said, and held out Blackheart’s sword. “Ahrek, his sword is sunforged, and his shield was too. During the fight I shattered the shield. It didn’t affect him. The bastard said he had linked the daughter of some senator he had kidnapped. Said his name was Terain. Ahrek, if he had linked some poor innocent girl to it, she’s either dead from the link or in a whole world of pain right now.”
“You’re right, yes,” Ahrek grumbled. “If she’s alive, we have to help her. This most certainly takes priority.”
“Not only that, this sword didn’t shatter upon his death, so it too is linked to another. Judging by his actions, it’s likely another innocent person he’s using as leverage.”
“Agreed,” Ahrek said, “we need to find them. Shall we scuttle the pirate ship?”
“And lose a whole ship? Light, no! I’ll just rig the core so we can tow the switchback from the Maraven.”
“You can do that?”
“I’m good with that kind of thing,” Daylen said, handing Blackheart’s sword to Ahrek. Leaving, Daylen walked over and grabbed Sain by the arm. “You’re helping me,” Daylen said, dragging the boy over to the switchback.
Daylen didn’t need Sain’s help; he just didn’t want to let the little snot out of his sight.
Daylen reached out to feel for the light around him and found he could sense every living person aboard both ships. Thus even while not looking at Sain, Daylen knew where he was and what he was doing. I really need to use this sense all the time, Daylen thought to himself.
Sain took a step toward the cabins.
“Don’t even think about it,” Daylen said.
“Think about what?”
“Running to the stores in the ship to grab a skimmer and escape.”
“So you can read minds, too?”
Daylen turned to Sain and, with the authority fostered from his years as Emperor, said, “Yes. And I can see all things around me, so if you put one foot where I don’t want it, I’ll know.”
Once Daylen turned to walk to the helm, he sensed the boy make a rude gesture at him with his hand.
Daylen turned and slapped the boy off his feet.
Sain rubbed his jaw as he rolled to look at Daylen in horror.
“Do you want to test me again?”
Sain shook his head.
“Good,” Daylen said. “Now, stay within five meters of me at all times or I’ll introduce you to some exotic levels of pain. Got it?”
Sain nodded quickly.
The helm of the switchback was much like that of any other skyship: a series of identical control rods. When pulled, these levers opened specific sunstone hubs around the darkstone core of the ship and thereby controlled every which way the ship moved.
Daylen knelt down to open the cabinet just under the levers.
“What are you doing?” Sain asked.
“Looking at the levers.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Why?”
“Huh, so now you’re trying to make conversation?”
“If I had any say in it I’d like to never speak to you again… I was just wondering.”
Daylen glanced at him thoughtfully. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why were you wondering?”
“I thought you could read minds?”
“That’s only when I split open their skulls and write words with their brain matter.”
“You’re sick.”
Daylen chuckled. “I thought it was quite funny.”
“You’re proving my point.”
“Oh, Light, you’re as high strung as the Bringer.”
“Better to be like him than you.”
“I won’t argue there. So are you going to answer my question?”
“What question?”
“Why were you wondering what I’m doing here?” Daylen said, pointing at the lever mechanics.
Sain suddenly looked embarrassed. “I was just wondering. No one’s ever told me how this stuff works.” Sain suddenly laughed bitterly. “Because no one I’ve ever known knew anything about them in the first place. Raidaway doesn’t exactly have schools or anything.” Sain glanced around and scratched his head. “I guess I figured I could get some information out of you but now that you know I want to know, I can guess you’re not going to say anything.” Sain looked to his side and added under his breath, “Bastard.”
Daylen stared at Sain for a little while, mostly to let the wave of anger at the insult subside. It was true, after all. He turned back to the lever mechanics—a system of rods, springs and cogs under the main helm counter—and spoke as he inspected the configuration. “Most people understand the basic principles of darkstone mechanics,” Daylen said as he worked. “No light, and the darkstone is locked in space. Directional light makes it move in the direction the light is shining, whereas uniform light or the touch of the right sized sunstone makes it behave like a normal rock. Which is odd, because if light applied force to darkstone, you would expect uniform light to lock it in place, having equal force from all sides. But no. Darkstone doesn’t exactly conform to classical mechanics.”
“Classical mechanics?”
“The laws that describe how things move. Darkstone throws most of those laws out the window and functions under its own set of equations. What most people don’t know is that darkstone is actually affected by levels of luminosity; the larger the darkstone, the more light it takes to move it.”
“Yeah, I don’t get it.”
“A hunk of darkstone the size of, say, the core of this ship, isn’t going to move from a small beam of light, if that’s the only light touching it. Such low levels of luminosity aren’t strong enough to reach that stone’s specific luminous threshold. Every stone has one, determined by its overall mass. L equals M times 1DL squared.”
“What?”
“You’ve never been taught math?”
“What do you think, smartass?”
“That’s the light-to-mass equation in determining a specific stone’s luminous threshold. It can also calculate the minimal sunstone size needed to nullify the darkstone’s luminous repulsion if it touches.”
“Why does this matter?”
“Because when you shine light on a stone just under its luminous threshold, it’s still locked in place. It’ll float, but an external physical force can now move it. The closer to the luminous threshold, the easier it is to move. So what we’re going to do is lever the sunstone hubs around the ship’s core equal to a little under the luminous threshold, subtracting any force already on it, like the weight from the frame of the ship, and in so doing the Maraven will be able to tow this ship without having to carry the whole thing on its back.”
“You can tow a skyship?”
“Yep. The math can be tricky as you have to be very precise, otherwise there’ll be way too much drag, or the ship will slowly fall out of the sky. Because
you have to work so close to the threshold, there’s always a danger you’ll cross it entirely, and when doing so on the vertical plane the stone will be affected by gravity in all its normal ways.”
“Which means we might plummet to the surface.”
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, this is a great idea!”
It took a few more minutes to figure things out. Daylen also took Sain to inspect the darkstone core, to see if there were any broken hubs. There were a few.
Sain, of course, tested how far he could push things, falling back to just under five meters and eventually going over to see if Daylen truly could sense it. Daylen gave him a good thump in the gut, which dropped the snot like a sack.
“How do you do that?” Sain forced out as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Magic—and next time you’ll get a broken bone.”
Returning to the helm, Daylen drew out the math with a pencil on scrap paper he got from Blackheart’s cabin.
Sain was watching with avid curiosity.
Daylen returned to the internal mechanics of the control rods.
“What are you doing now?” Sain asked.
“These ships are made to not fall out of the sky, and what I’m doing is close enough. Each ship has safely locks and redundancies inbuilt, such as gradual hub shifts.”
“What’s that?”
“Darkstone will move as proportionally fast as the strength of light shining on it. Too much light and the acceleration will be nearly instant. Any idea what could happen?”
“Sudden speed without gradual acceleration?”
“Yep.”
“Whiplash?”
“Keep going.”
“If you’re not in a seat, you could get pancaked on the back wall.”
“Better, but keep going.”
“What, the core couldn’t rip free of the ship, could it?”
Daylen nodded. “I’ve seen it happen. If the sudden speed of the core is greater in energy to the strength of the braces holding it to the ship, the core will rip free. The same will happen if you try and slow the ship too fast when in flight.”
“In that case the ship would rip itself free of the now stationary core,” Sain said.
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