Adversaries Together

by Daniel Casey

  “They just stole you away, which means Goshen’s on the right ship,” Roth nodded taking in what she had said, “Jena’s ship. She was waiting for you two to arrive.”

  “So she’ll know something is amiss.” Kira said hopeful as she set his hands free.

  Roth shook his head, “I doubt it. I would have seen her before I saw you. I think they pinched you, subbed in a fake so Jena wouldn’t suspect.”

  “But Goshen would know.”

  “You said yourself that the barber put him under. Plus, he was all fever. No position to talk to anyone.” Roth paused; he felt another wave of nausea go through him, the pulse of blood through his system and the dull ache that was sweeping through his body.

  Kira was crestfallen. She gazed at her feet. She then seemed to realize something, “We’re untied now. Can’t we overpower them?”

  “I’m in no state to do so,” Roth said. “You?”

  “I suppose not.”

  “And then there’s the fact there’s not just the guards but the rest of the crew.” He reminded her.

  “We’re at sea too.” Kira sighed. “They just have to keep the door locked and a sword in their hand, huh?”

  “Essentially.”

  “And no one will know I’m gone until Goshen and Jena reach Bandra?”

  “If they reach Bandra.” Roth said in a whisper.

  “You think that…?”

  “I think Goshen and Jena are in danger.” Roth was tired, he was having a difficult time keeping himself awake but he tried to keep talking, "When you're delivering a bounty and it needs to be alive but if it's too dangerous to keep conscious you drug it—unconscious but not dead. You get your bounty but usually begrudgingly, because there is some dam..."

  Kira blinked and stared at Roth with a look of slight incomprehension, "I...guess so... You know a bit about this sort of thing?"

  “I know enough." Roth rolled his head side-to-side, "The question is why don't they just kill me?" "They'd do that to us?"

  "No, not us. You’re the bounty. They don’t want me. They don’t want Goshen. I put Jena in their path.” Roth’s voice was airy, distant sounding, “They want you. And my question now is…why you?" Roth lolled his head toward Kira, his eyes glassy.

  “I’m sorry I thought you were with them.”

  “No worries.” Roth closed his eyes, the throbbing was intense and he just wanted to sleep.

  Kira’s tone was one of shame, “You didn’t need to come after me. You shouldn’t have. Hey, hey are you still with me?”

  Roth snapped his head up, “Yeah. I guess.” The darkness of the hold had become a soft brown. Roth felt the ship moving at a good clip but he could barely focus.

  “Kira…”

  “Yes?”

  “You’ve got to tell me more about you and Goshen. Your…thing…crusade, no…your mission…I guess.”

  “Are you alright, Roth?”

  His head hung down again, “No. No, I’m more than a bit out of sorts. You gotta keep me from falling asleep, Kira.”

  “Are you going to even remember this?”

  Roth nodded ever so slightly, “I’ll remember. Just make sure I don’t doze off.”

  “I don’t know if I can make it interesting.”

  “Not the point. Just don’t let me doze off.”

  Kira nodded, “We left Sulecin about a week after Lammas Day. It was going to be my first mission and I was going with my oldest friend…”

  The bow of the Kopis rose and crashed with certainty as the frigate made its way from Anhra as it had done a hundred times before. The sea was rough, the sky a steely grey as the churn of the whitecaps was all that signaled where the sky met the sea. The Kopis had left Anhra harbor nearly three days ago. Its only trade, two units of soldiers meant to reinforce The Blockade. The crew was thin, whittled down to only the most necessary in order to make room for the marines. As far as anyone knew, it was a standard contract. But Asa knew he had precious cargo for this run, cargo that would leave him flush and able to dictate his next move.

  Asa loathed being a ferry. The pay was low and the cargo was always brutish and easily seasick. Troops were routinely a cacophony of egotistical bravado and retching. Most were barely men, boys who had just finished their initial training. His men took a particular delight in watching the green soldiers actually turn green as they experienced the motion of the sea for the first time. Asa took little joy in it; it was all he could do to endure. Until the Spires lifted The Blockade and Rikonen was open again to legal trade, this was his life, ferrying troops and supplies for the Spires. Some black trade but not nearly enough to make a difference. He was being drawn into an ordinary existence, slaving like some sad dues payer in the Merchant Fleet.

  In addition, by such a sad looking navy. What the Silvincians had pieced together, ships bought from Adrenia filled with queasy Spire troops all crewed by mercenaries like himself, it mystified him how The Blockade had lasted this long and been this successful. Then again, Asa knew that a stifled Rikonen meant the Spires could to as it pleased. The only seafarers able to break this blockade would have been the Adrenine shipbuilders in Dystos, since the other Essian cities only had whalers at their disposal. All of those merchants were now occupied trying to bring in enough trade to offset the loss of Rikonen. Perhaps the Merchant Fleet could have broken it but they were too little impacted. The free traders like Asa, like the men of the Kopis were left in the lurch. Either smuggle, whale, or get contracts with the Spires. He smirked, proud of himself for his solution.

  Asa gazed through his monocular eying the horizon; the Kopis sliced though the rough waves carving a clean path. He knew it wasn’t just the ship; it was the work of his first mate and navigator Riv. However, he couldn't help but feel a love and pride for the ship itself. Asa turned up the aperture of his scope and followed the gray sky that beat down on the churning sea as he made out a thin black line—the dark wood of Adrenine triremes locked side-by-side in a continuous line seaming the horizon. The Blockade, a simple tactic, had cut the greatest city of Essia off from the rest of the world. Five hundred Adrenine ships in one long chain choking off the Rikonen bay.

  These marines would relieve soldiers that had been on the chain since Mabon. The Kopis would drop off new faces and take on the tired taking them back to Anhra. Maybe an aureus for each marine, just enough to keep the crew satisfied with this mindless merchant work. There was the promise of more out there, more out in The Deep, and Asa wanted it. The girl below would get it for him; she’d be his way out of this monotony.

  Kira had kept Roth from falling asleep, but she could now barely keep her own eyes open. The guards had opened the door only once since they had been thrown into the hold. When the door opened, the flood of light blinded both of them. Then, abruptly the door was closed. All of a moment, leaving Kira confused.

  “So, what was that about?” Kira whispered.

  Roth leaned forward crawling to the door, his equilibrium still askew. Kira heard the distinct clang of a metal plate skittering across the floor. Roth slowly stood and shuffled over to her, knelt, and put a tray on her lap.

  “They’ve fed us.” Roth turned back to the door and picked up a second tray.

  Kira could only make out dark shapes and none of the food had any real scent she could identify, “What is it?”

  Roth lifted a few fingers to his mouth, chewed and nodded, “It is dhal. Bland, but it’ll fill you. Eat up.”

  “Do you have…” Kira hesitated as she looked toward the door and then Roth’s tray.

  “You’ll need to use your hands, m’lady.” He said with a bit of bitter mirth.

  Kira scrunched up her face, but it was doubtful Roth could even see it; she probed her tray with two fingers and found a cold paste.

  “But what…is it…”

  Roth dropped his tray to the floor, his hands held up in exasperation, “It’s the food you need to eat.”

  “I was just asking what it was.”

  “I
t’s mashed lentils. Just fucking eat it. We have no idea where we’re going or when they’re going to feed us again. Take what is given to you.” Roth was assertive, not bullying but definitely close to it to Kira’s mind. Cowed, Kira began to lick at her fingers. The paste wasn’t distasteful but it lacked any real flavor. After a few dollops, she realized just how hungry she was and she began to eat with vigor.

  Roth nodded watching her, “It usually tastes better than this but these are sailors, not known for the extravagance of spice. Maybe the salt kills their sense of taste; all their food is bland.”

  Kira looked at him, “It’s not so bad.”

  He smiled, “When we’re out of here, I’ll make you some proper dhal so you know just how bad this is.” He held up his tray, and Kira laughed a bit.

  He tried not to sound too serious, but they needed to figure out what to do next, “I’m not sure where we’re headed. They’d want to put as much distance between you and Goshen as possible.”

  “When Goshen wakes to find me gone and him in Bandra, how will he even know where to go?”

  “Well, I’d imagine at the very least he’ll demand to head back to Anhra. That is, if he’s alive or allowed.”

  “You think these men have killed him?” Kira’s voice was small.

  Roth shook his head, “No. I think that would be worthwhile to them, but there’s no way Jena would let that happen.”

  “You have a lot of faith in her.”

  “She’s better than me.”

  “I’d hope so, you’re being held captive.” Kira said nonchalantly and Roth laughed.

  “True, true.” He leaned back, “She’ll make sure Goshen is put in The Cathedral’s hands but I get the feeling it’ll be messy.”

  “But once they find out what happened, surely...”

  Roth cut her off, “They’ll accuse Jena of some kind of heathener crime? Hold Goshen for a needless inquisition that will allow more leagues to be put between him and you? Yeah, I think so.”

  “I don’t necessarily think that’ll happen. Once Goshen reveals what’s happened a force will be dispatched to rescue me.”

  Roth scoffed, “Amazing how pompous you sound.”

  He couldn’t see it, but Kira blushed a bit, embarrassed. She tried to hide it by sounding shocked, “You think The Light would abandon us?”

  “Now it’s ‘us,’ is it?” Roth said, immediately regretting his tone. He continued in a kinder voice, “You’re not wrong. They will send someone. Whatever your mission, your value, a crusader wounded by highwaymen and an alm kidnapped will not stand.”

  “You see!”

  Roth rolled his eyes, “Let’s assume we live to be rescued.”

  Kira paled and swallowed hard, the dhal in her mouth turning bitter. Roth kept talking, “We’re alive, but where are we? We have to figure out what they want, where we are, and where we’re going.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “How would I know? If you’ll recall I have been hit on the head rather hard and have had to have you keep me from passing out. Grant me some ignorance, eh? Where do you think we are heading?”

  “How would I know?”

  “What do you think they want with you?”

  Kira was uncomfortable, “I told you we were envoys to The Aral.”

  “Yeah, but why would they go through such trouble to disrupt such an ordinary mission? You had nothing worth enough to steal. So that leaves them wanting you, specifically. Why would they want you?”

  “Alright, alright.” Kira gave in.

  “And.”

  “My father, well, my guardian really, is rather…high up in the ranks of the Cathedral.”

  “How high up?”

  “A Vicegerent.” She said meekly.

  Roth let out a long sigh, “How much do you think you’re worth?”

  “What? What do you mean?” Kira stuttered.

  “How much do you think The Cathedral would pay to ransom you?”

  “I don’t know, I’m just an alm, I’m nobody.”

  “You just made it clear that you’re not. You’re somebody.”

  “I’m not his real daughter. I’m just a ward. I’m not worth leveraging.” Kira shook her head in denial.

  “So let’s be generous in our estimation…”

  “You can’t put a price on a person.” Kira whispered shaking her head.

  Roth brushed her statement aside, “I know of several Elvosi flesh traders that would disagree with you. And if we are being kidnapped, we’re being delivered to someone somewhere or being held until someone pays for our safe return.”

  “I know that.” Kira rubbed her face with her hands and clenched them under her chin, “You might as well have just told me we were being held prisoner in a boat.”

  His tone was hard-edged, “Then think it through,” he snapped.

  “Fine! I don’t know…a thousand aurei.” She snapped.

  “Good. Now if The Cathedral pays that out then these mercs will definitely brag about how they got a good pocket of coin for snatching an alm. You all go out all over the world peddling your Light.”

  “I don’t peddle anything.” Kira said defensively.

  “Right sure, no soul soliciting,” Roth humored her, “You all are all over everywhere by chance.” Kira said nothing and Roth continued, “So, what’s to stop other mercs from doing the same? Nothing. They’d be poaching nobodies like you left and right, then The Cathedral would soon find its coffers thinned.”

  “The Cathedral won’t pay.” Kira mumbled as she realized what Roth was getting at.

  “And where does that leave us?”

  “Dead.” Kira said with finality.

  Roth shook his head and put his bound hands on her shoulder, “They wouldn’t steal you away just to kill you. They aren’t just kidnappers, is my point.”

  “We’re being taken to someone.” She nodded.

  “It needs to be more than just coin. They have to be looking to get something else from The Cathedral or your guardian or someone who wants to get an in with either. Those are the only reasons I can think of why going after you would be something worthwhile. Especially since a botched run would bring the wrath of the Cathedral and even a successful run would still enrage it.”

  “I don’t know,” Kira’s eyes welled up, she squeezed them closed in frustration, and pressed her fists to her eyes. “We were going to Lappala to proselytize, to entreat with the city’s leaders.”

  “For what?”

  “Increases in the amount of bithumin allotted to the Lakes. A mission run twice a year. It was all too plain.”

  “It has to be you then,” Roth turned toward the wall pressing his forehead to it, “I don’t really see it being anything else.”

  “I don’t…” Kira was close to full on weeping.

  “It’ll be okay, Kira.” Roth was uncomfortable but tried to be as consoling as possible, “We’ll make it through.” He reached out and rubbed her back.

  “I don’t see how.” She shook her head and got control of herself. “I’m sorry I pulled you into all this.”

  “You didn’t, don’t feel guilty.” Roth was assertive, “I chose to help you and Goshen. I chose to send you on alone. I’m responsible for where you are not and where he is.”

  Kira pulled her hair back, balled it up, and tied it with what had been the rags that had bound Roth. He pulled at her shoulder and made her look at him, “You’re tired, you’re sore. Just rest, just sleep.”

  She nodded and stretch out, then laid down on her side. Roth unbuttoned his jerkin, took it off and folded it over a few times. He held it out to Kira who took it, rolled over away from him, and used it as pillow. He leaned back against the hull and closed his eyes, “I’ll figure something out. We’ll get out of here. I’ll get you back with Goshen.”

  Western Novostos Sea, 45th of Lammas

  The pirates were rough with them both but seemed to take special delight in knocking Roth around. They had made it a point to give
him a fast kick every time they came into the hold, to feed them or to take their waste bucket. When they came in this time, they yanked him up, nearly pulling his arm out of its socket. They had no qualms about checking him into the walls of the ship’s corridors or letting his head strike low hanging beams. When Kira and Roth were brought on deck, he was punched in the small of the back before his eyes could adjust to the sunlight. Roth fell forward and cracked his face on some quarterdeck crates. Jerking him back to his feet, Kira saw he had a wicked looking cut above his left eye and a split lip.

  She hadn’t realized how large the ship was. In fact, she hadn’t even considered what kind of ship it was. Having been brought aboard hooded, she now looked over the frigate and took in its baffling array of rigging, masts, and sails. There were maybe fifty men on the various decks never ceasing in their work.

  “So these are pirates.” She whispered to herself

  “Corsairs, perhaps. Privateers, I think your Cathedral calls them.” Roth mumbled to her, “No one says pirates.” He stood next to her. He looked horrid, his face tight with pain, but his tone was still a detached, almost mocking, casualness.

  “It’s not my Cathedral.”

  “Right. It’s ours whether we want it or not.” Roth never looked at her; he was scanning the ship and then seemed to be lost in staring out to sea.

  “Where are we?” Kira was tired and her tone was that of lost child.

  Roth nudged her, and when she looked, he nodded towards her left, “That’s the Stony Shore.”

  Kira squinted and saw only water at first but then she could make out a low, darker blue line. It was land, “How far out are we?”

  “Not far. Maybe three leagues. Maybe less.”

  “Why are they running so close to shore?” Kira would have thought that the Spires’ ships would have found them.

  “We’re heading to Rikonen. No need to go out into the sea proper.”

  “Rikonen? But The Blockade.” Kira was confused.

  “Yeah, I’m kinda getting the feeling that we’re going to see that up-close.”