by Simon Archer
“ O h!” Mary exclaimed. “I almost forgot something.” She was halfway to the door, with Ligeia trailing behind her as she said that.
I paused and turned back. “The case?”
“Aye.” My witch nodded. “Since ye were gone, I got distracted. I did not even tell the other captains, I’m afraid.”
“That may have been a good decision. What did ye find?” I asked.
“Orders, as ye suspected,” Mary explained. “Though it seems as if ships have been dispatched to try to find some fellow I’ve never heard of: Eustace Brill. They’re to take him alive, on pain of death. Apparently, Winemaker’s Run was one of the places he’d been spotted.”
“Where else?” I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and scowled.
Mary closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then replied, “Potter, Caber, and Tarrant.”
“Bloody hell,” I grumbled. “Do ye remember the meetin’ we had when The Black Cat joined us?”
“Aye,” Mary trailed off, then swore soundly. “Bloody fucking hell, Cap’n. Eustace… Potter… The bastards are after the old man, too!”
I nodded and then took a deep breath. “We need to speak with the captive. I’ll go ahead and send word to the others, an’ start gettin’ the crews back aboard ship. The town’s loadin’ supplies for us, and we ain’t rushing off before that’s done.”
“Right,” my witch said with a nod. “We’ll have to put a lot of wind behind us, though.”
“Actually…” I paused and looked to Ligeia. “You an’ Tiny are the fastest damned things in my fleet, love. Can ye go ahead and take a rush for Red Cliff Isle an’ see if any Admiralty ships await us?”
“Shall I deal with them, my captain?” the siren asked musically.
I shook my head. “No. Trail them if they leave. We can contact you by hex or somethin’ when we get there.”
“Of course.” She smiled thinly, then pressed in against me for a kiss before she slipped out of the cabin and hurried off.
“Gods damn it,” I muttered. “Would have liked her at the interrogation, but I’m sure ye’ll be enough.”
“Oh,” Mary laughed. “I will be.”
The Hullbreaker’s brig only had four cells, and right now, three of them were occupied by the Imperial commander and his two musketeers. None of them were much the worse for wear, eating a sparse breakfast under the watchful eyes of two orcish guards.
“I’ve some questions for ye,” I said when I stopped in front of the commander’s cell.
He looked up slowly and nodded. “I may have some answers.”
“What’s yer name, commander?” I folded my arms across my chest and regarded him.
“Abel Carter,” he replied. “I fear that I am not pleased to make your acquaintance, however.”
“Feelin’s mutual, Mister Carter,” I said with a nod. “Now, will ye answer my questions truthfully, or does my witch get a crack at ye first?”
Mary smiled as she leaned around me to fix the man with her mismatched gaze. “I’d like to play, my Captain,” she purred.
Abel swallowed hard and sighed. “You have the scroll with our orders. What more do you want to know?”
“What can ye tell me about Eustace Brill?” I asked.
The Imperial commander scratched his head. “We had orders directly from the admiral to bring him back to Avion alive. We weren’t told anything more than that.”
“When did ye set out, and from where?” I demanded.
“Avion, about a week past.” He quirked his head and studied me. “We were the only part of the fleet with an order to take the town. The ships going to Tarrant would not have been able to overwhelm that particular bastion, and Potter still pays lip service to loyalty to the Admiralty. What is your interest in the man, Brill, Captain?”
“Curiosity,” I replied. Better to feed the enemy a bit of falsehood at this point. “If ye want him, he’s likely a criminal or valuable, aye?”
“I really do not know,” Carter said. “All we had was a description, and that Admiral Layne wished to speak with him.”
“Hrm,” I grunted. “How many ships to Tarrant, and how many to Potter?”
Abel glanced at Mary for a moment and paled, then looked up at me. I wasn’t sure how I felt as the thought crossed my mind that my witch was scarier to these people than I was.
“Five ships to each,” he answered finally. “Of course, we’ve another standing order across the whole of the Admiralty fleets that you may find interesting, especially if you seek a bargaining chip with Layne himself.”
“And what might that be?” I asked with another growl. The man wanted to bargain but seemed afraid to ask for anything.
“He wants your witch, Captain,” the man replied. “Rumor holds that he was quite displeased with the Commodore for losing her.”
I scowled and glanced at the other two captives. Both of them were watching intently, their meal forgotten. “Any idea why? Or why the Sisterhood would be willing to kill her?”
“The Sisterhood sees her as an oathbreaker for joining you,” he explained. “As for the Admiral’s interest? Well, he’s been collecting the most powerful talents that he can get his claws on for years now.”
“I told ye I was the best,” Mary preened, a teasing tone that I’d grown to know well in her voice.
“Are ye saying they’re at cross-purposes, then?” I asked, pondering the man’s statement.
If the Admiral was collecting witches, sorcerers, warlocks, and what have you, that meant that he was violating the Emperor’s edicts on the subject. Only the Sisterhood was officially sanctioned for use in the armed forces of the Empire, with occasional exceptions made if something beyond their capabilities was needed. Necromancy and some darker aspects of sorcery were completely outlawed.
Abel shrugged. “I do not know.”
“Traitor,” one of the musketeers spat.
“I mean to live through this, idiot,” the commander shot back.
“I could just hand all o’ ye over to yon townsfolk,” I said flatly. “Ye might make a good fertilizer for the grapes they grow. I rather doubt they’d make it quick, either.”
“Better to die with honor,” the soldier asserted. “We know nothing, orc. Either kill us or let us go, but be quick about it.”
“Mary?” I said.
Her evil eye flashed, and the man keeled over face-first into his food. The other one blanched, and the commander just shook his head. “What will ye do with him?”
“What should I do with him?” I countered. “If I maroon the three o’ ye, would ye live the first night?”
“He’s not dead?” Abel asked, surprised.
“Asleep,” Mary said with a laugh. “I’m not half as murderous as I’m made out to be.”
The other musketeer and the commander stared at her in silence. My own thoughts drifted to my witch, covered head to toe in enemies’ blood, dancing madly with her flashing blades. Still, I’d not seen her just kill anyone without cause.
“Fair enough.” The Imperial commander raised both of his hands in a placating gesture. “I fear we do not know much that would be useful to you but know this: Layne is a fearsome man. He will stop at nothing to bring the Archipelago to heel.”
“A demon comes to his call,” the musketeer whispered. “So I’ve heard.”
“Rumors,” Abel grumbled. “The Emperor’s eye is not on the Archipelago, and news of the homeland is sparse, Captain. So rumor and tales of the sea propagate and grow unchecked among the crews with little to correct these fancies.”
“I ain’t so sure that yer man is speaking falsely,” I said, then looked to Mary. “Have ye any questions for Abel, lass?”
“Not for Abel,” she replied and pointed at the one conscious musketeer. “Rather, I've got a question for that one.”
He blinked and inched back from the bars of his cell as she drifted close on bare, silent feet. The commander started to say something, but I raised a hand for silence and fixed him w
ith the darkest look I could muster at the moment. He shut his mouth smartly.
“Tell me of this demon,” Mary told the man, leaning on the bars and gazing intently at him.
“‘Tis only a rumor, lady-witch,” he pleaded as he shook his head. “I’ve not seen it myself.”
“Still,” she purred, “I would hear of it.”
“‘Tis a man,” Abel interrupted, and both Mary and I swung to gaze at the commander. “The warlock that sailed with me spoke of him and named him Lack. He’s a sorcerer of some kind, and the man you killed feared him immensely.”
“Lack…” Mary tasted the name. “I’ve heard that name before, but no sorcerer is he, rather a demonologist and a necromancer of the vilest sort. His history was taught by the Sisterhood as a warning to any witch seeking to pursue the dark arts. I thought he was dead and gone, but if this is true, Admiral Layne is walking a dark path indeed.”
She stepped back from the bars and touched my arm. “I think we need to speak with everyone, my Captain.”
“Aye, we do.” I nodded to the guards, turned, and stomped back out and up to the main deck with Mary following me. “First, though, what can ye tell me of this ‘Lack’?”
We paused as she leaned on the railing, her eyes on mine. “Lack is the name of a man, a sorcerer, who was hunted down by the Sisterhood in the early days of Blackburn’s reign. Our records say that he was killed by the strongest members of our order, but only after he slaughtered half their number.” She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and frowned, her brow furrowed. “If this is truly him, then we must tread carefully.”
“Could he raise a ghost ship?” I asked.
She let out a little gasp and nodded. “Aye. If half the stories are true, then he could.”
I let out a growl. “Damn it all. I’ll wager my tusks that Arde will be heading for us.” Then I paused, “I’ve another question, Mary.”
“Ask away, my Captain.”
“That spear we took from Arde, would it be called the Huntsman’s Spear?” I asked, watching her reactions.
The little witch closed her eyes and nodded slowly. “It is. Ye broke its haft, but not its power, and I wish that we’d drowned the damn thing when we had the chance.”
“What does it do?” I pressed.
“It kills,” she replied simply. “It was made to hunt the fae, but it turned out to be useful against any who wield magic…” She trailed off as a thought hit her.
I had the same thought, I was certain. “We can use it against Arde and Lack, aye?”
“I believe we can, my Captain,” Mary surmised. “‘Twill need a new haft, but it should make a useful weapon against the Admiral’s hounds.”
“I wish ye’d told me more of this thing,” I said with a sigh. “Why did ye not?”
“I feared it, my Captain, and what it might do to you. Could you have looked me in the eye and swore you’d not use it?” She gazed up at me, her eyes glittering.
Could I? Likely not. I could use a spear, though I favored the axe, and a magical weapon was extremely tempting. So what if it contained the soul of some long-dead warrior?
“I understand, lass, and ye be right,” I said. “Will ye help me with it?”
“Aye.” She nodded. “Much as I hate the idea, I’ll trust you, my love. Now that you’ve been awakened, you should be able to control the thing.”
Awakened. I didn’t feel like I’d been awakened. Sure, I was learning more about my own possible magic, but would it work?
Who was I kidding? Of course, it would.
I grinned at my witch. “I reckon we’ll need to have a haft made, then. Maybe Bord would be willing to do it if we can tear him away from that cannon o’ his.”
Mary nodded and managed a wan smile. She was worried and likely unwilling to believe me when I said that I’d be fine. I’d just have to prove it.
“Well, we’ve the start of a plan, then,” I mused, then yelled out for the officer of the watch.
A moment later, one of the orcs pounded up to me and saluted. “Cap’n!”
I saluted right back. “Easy, Targak,” I said to him. “Get messengers out to the other ships. I need to meet with the captains as soon as they can roust themselves. We need to sail soon, an’ I need to explain a few things to them.”
“Aye, Cap’n!” the orc shouted, then paused as if waiting for something.
Bloody hell. What possessed my men to act like bloody Imperial sailors sometimes?
“Get to it,” I growled and waved my hand off in the direction of the other ships docked and riding at anchor. “I’ll be waitin’ in the War Room.”
16
I t didn’t take nearly as long as I expected for the other captains to gather aboard The Hullbreaker . Jogrash had a couple of trays of food brought, mostly smoked meat, cheese, and fruit, though he added a bowl of various pickled items that ran the gamut from actual pickles to eggs to pig’s feet.
Mary and I made small talk with Tabitha, who arrived first, Kargad, who was second, and then Shrike, who slipped in last. He was the only one whose ship wasn’t sitting at one of the Winemaker’s Run piers, after all.
“Well, ye’ve said a whole lot of nothin’,” Tabitha said with a weak grin, though I could see she was smiling through a hangover. Shrike seemed to be in the same situation. “What do ye actually want to speak of?” the Ailur woman continued as she nibbled daintily at a piece of cheese.
“I’ve a few things to discuss,” I replied. “First, the Admiralty is seekin’ Eustace Brill. Ye said he was in Potter, aye?”
Tabitha went very still for a moment, and her ears backed. “Aye…?”
“That was one o’ the places on their list. Five ships here, five there, an’ five to Tarrant,” I told her. “The fleet left Avion about a week past, so likely, the other’s are already at the towns.”
“We need to sail, then,” Tabitha said firmly. “Soon as we can once everything’s loaded.”
“Aye, we plan to,” I told her. “I sent Ligeia and Tiny ahead to Potter to scout the situation. We’ll meet them soon once we head out, an’ we’ll overtake an’ rescue the bugger should we need to.”
“They want him alive?” Binx demanded.
“That’s their orders, aye.”
“Bugger me with my own tail,” she swore. “How the hell did they know about the old bastard?”
“That brings me to another question, Cap’n,” I said quietly. “How much do ye know o’ Drammond Screed?”
Tabitha fell silent along with the rest of the table. “I know he’s got no love for the Admiralty,” she said after a minute.
“He gave ye the manifest, did he not?” I asked.
She nodded slowly. Shrike leaned over and whispered to Kargad, who scowled darkly.
“Kargad,” I asked. “Have ye had any trouble with him?”
“Nay, Cap’n,” the big orc replied. “He’s a model sailor.”
“Keep an eye on him, then, an’ listen out for him stirring up shit,” I warned. “The man tried to sell me on a mystery agenda on yer part, Tabitha, so I wanted to air that out in front o’ everyone here.”
The Ailur sighed. “Aye, I understand, Cap’n Bardak. I swear on me mother’s milk that I’m not leadin’ ye astray. Likely, Drammond mentioned the Black Mirror, aye?”
I nodded.
“Items o’ magic fascinate him. They’ve quite a bit o’ value on the black market back in the Empire, an’ this particular piece o’ booty was reckoned priceless during ol’ Corso’s time. He made specific to point the damned thing out to me when we cut a deal for the manifest.” She sighed and looked at me with a worried expression, her tail twitching with agitation. “I offered to help him find a berth with ye in return for it.”
“Do ye trust him?” Kargad spoke up, his eyes on Tabitha.
“Nay,” she replied. “He warmed me bed for a bit before I took to sailin’ with all women. Bastard was a bit too ambitious, but it’s not like he incited mutiny. He just liked to make him
self important.” The feline woman shrugged. “I didn’t like him, but he wasn’t a bad crewman, so I didn’t think he’d cause ye trouble. If ye want, I’ll disappear the bastard an’ ye won’t have to worry about him.”
I grunted as the others exchanged looks. “Ye don’t need to go that far. Mostly I’m just concerned that he might try an’ undermine Kargad or me with the crew o’ Sirensong. ”
Tabitha fixed me with her bright green gaze and said seriously, “Let me know if he does anythin’ o’ the sort, an’ I’ll deal with him.” She looked over to Kargad. “I’ll fix my own mistakes if ye please.”
My old friend shrugged and looked at me.
“If it comes to that,” I said. “So ye’ve no designs on this mirror?”
It really didn’t cross my mind that the Ailur woman would lie. I had safeguards, too. Mary had prepared a hex before the others arrived that let her tell if someone were speaking the truth or not. So far, she’d not signaled me of any problems.
Tabitha shrugged. “‘Tis valuable, and I’d not turn it down as a share, but my witch ain’t the kind to want it. At least, she’s not told me she does, an’ it might be more useful to ye.”
I drummed my thick fingers on the table for a moment. Once again, no sign that Tabitha had been lying, and that was enough for me. “Alright, then,” I said with a nod. “On to other matters.”
“Kargad,” I looked sidelong at my former first mate, now the captain of the first ship we’d captured, Sirensong, and asked, “Do ye believe Adra’s everything she claims to be?”
The rest of those gathered exchanged glances while Kargad mulled over the question. “Aye, Cap’n. She be a shaman, alright, an’ right powerful. Why?”
“She told me I had the gift, an’ that my sense o’ distance an’ direction was a gift o’ the spirits,” I began. “Then, she proved it to me. When I left Winemaker’s Run with her, she took me outside o’ town an’ helped me make my first spirit walk. The elementals I met showed me some things, an’ I wanted to share them.”
I let that settle in with the crew before I continued. “First, spirits of air carried me to the Aigon Straits an’ showed me a man in a small boat. He called up the wreck o’ The Indomitable , along with her crew an’ the Commodore. We’ve a ghost ship on our trail, me hearties, so this little expedition’s become somethin’ of a race.”
