The Princess and the Captain

by Anne-Laure Bondoux

  ‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ Orpheus told him. ‘But she’s not in good shape. We’ll have to send for the surgeon on board the Mary-Belle.’

  ‘The Mary-Belle?’ said Hob, taken aback. ‘But we’re much too far from her. Look!’

  Orpheus raised his head. In all the excitement he had completely forgotten to watch the ship’s manoeuvres. The sailors had raised the anchor, hoisted the foresail and the fore topsail, and the Errabunda had left the creek, all while his mind had been somewhere else entirely.

  The ship was now beating westwards, followed by the Mary-Belle, whose stocky outline could be seen some way off. Further away, it seemed to Orpheus that there was another small white dot. Was it the sail of a third ship? And if it was, ought he to worry about it? He shook his head and looked again, more intently, but he saw nothing. Exhaustion was probably playing tricks on him.

  ‘I know medicine,’ Lei said softly. ‘Medicine from kingdom of Balmun. Very magic, very good. Already healed Malva’s leg.’

  Orpheus looked back at the Princess. Her lips were moving, but she was barely conscious. Her wet hair, spread out on the deck, crowned her head more beautifully than any diadem.

  ‘She’s thirsty, isn’t she?’ said Hob, anxiously.

  Orpheus straightened up. He felt worn out. ‘Give her something to drink and take her to my cabin,’ he said. ‘She needs to rest, but keep watch on her all the time.’ He turned to Lei. ‘Yes, please use your medicine. I have to go and see the Captain.’

  As Orpheus rose to his feet, he saw mist on the horizon. Bad weather was coming, and that mist boded no good.

  21

  Surprises and Secrets

  When Malva came round from what she had thought was death, she saw two young preunuchs bending over her. They were looking at her with mingled alarm and devotion. Oddly, they spoke to her in Galnician.

  ‘You’ve broken three ribs,’ the first told her.

  ‘And your left wrist is sprained,’ added the second. ‘Does it hurt?’

  Malva tried to raise her head, but this simple movement made her cry out. Pain suddenly shot through her body, and she almost fainted.

  ‘Take it easy,’ murmured one of the preunuchs. ‘Lei said you weren’t to move.’

  ‘Lei,’ repeated Malva weakly. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘She’ll be back,’ the second preunuch reassured her. ‘She’s gone to the galley to find ingredients for her medicine.’

  ‘We’re to keep watch over you,’ the other boy went on. ‘If you feel thirsty we’re to give you a little myrtle brandy.’ He waved a flask full of transparent liquid in front of Malva’s nose. ‘Want some?’

  She nodded. Her throat was so dry, her mind so empty, her body so battered!

  The preunuch helped her to swallow a mouthful of brandy. Malva coughed, choked, felt at first dizzy and then a burning sensation in her stomach. But in the end she felt rather better.

  ‘I didn’t know that preunuchs spoke Galnician,’ she said. ‘In fact I didn’t think they spoke at all.’

  The two boys smiled at her. She was suddenly struck by their likeness to each other.

  ‘You’re twins?’

  ‘Yes,’ said the first. ‘And we’re not … not prunks or whatever it is. I’m Hob. This is my brother Peppe. We rescued you.’

  Malva frowned. Memories were slowly surfacing again. She recalled the harem, the Baths of Purity, and then …

  ‘The Archont!’ she cried, sitting up on the bunk.

  ‘Don’t move!’ exclaimed the twins.

  Malva fell heavily back, racked by pain. Her eyes filled with tears, and it took her some time to get her breathing back to normal.

  ‘The Archont can’t hurt you now,’ Hob soothed her. ‘Peppe and I shut him up in the imperial city, and then the whole place burned down! He must have been roasted like a pig!’

  ‘It was fantastic!’ Peppe confirmed. ‘You missed a terrific sight! There were barbarian horsemen, and flames going up to the stars, and people running all over the place. But Babilas is the strongest giant in the Known World, and he picked up your cage and carried you.’

  All these explanations seemed extremely confused to Malva. But when she heard the word ‘cage’ she remembered the celestial-charioteer and how Temir-Gai had condemned her to be tortured. More tears ran down her cheeks, and she asked for another mouthful of brandy.

  ‘I want to see Lei,’ she moaned. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘She can’t be far away,’ smiled Hob. ‘She’s here, on board the Errabunda.’

  Malva started with surprise. ‘Are we on a ship?’

  The twins spluttered with laughter. There were so many things to tell her, so many nice surprises to come.

  ‘Wait till you see her – she’s a big three-master frigate,’ Hob explained knowledgeably. ‘She’s fast. It took us only seventy days to get here from Galnicia! The voyage home should be about the same.’

  Malva dared not move a muscle, but her eyes were wide.

  ‘Voyage home?’ she said in alarm. ‘Are you telling me that I’m being taken back … back to Galnicia?’

  ‘Of course!’ said the twins enthusiastically. ‘That’s our mission!’

  Malva closed her eyes. Her dismay was boundless. Now that she had collected her wits, her thoughts were racing like wild horses. She saw moments from her journey again: the shipwreck on the reefs off Sperta, her wound, her long trek to Gurkistan with Philomena, their meeting with Uzmir, the Amoyed attack … so much suffering, so much fear, so much hope and so many dreams still to be realised! And all that, just to be taken back to Galnicia by force?

  ‘No! No!’ she shouted.

  The twins were so surprised that they flinched, protecting their faces with their arms.

  ‘I won’t go back!’ Malva shouted. ‘Leave me alone! Go away! Get out!’

  ‘But –’ Peppe protested.

  ‘We’re supposed to –’ Hob stammered.

  ‘I said get out!’ Malva interrupted furiously.

  The two boys beat a retreat to the cabin door. They could make nothing at all of this sudden violence. Wasn’t the Princess supposed to embody the precepts of Tranquillity and Harmony? They remembered the portrait that had gone all around Galnicia: the Princess calm and smiling, her hands in her lap, painted in front of the sumptuous gardens of the Citadel. Just now the likeness wasn’t very striking. Malva was pale, her features ravaged by anger, her legendary hair all greasy and tangled.

  ‘If you ask me …’ murmured Peppe.

  ‘… she’s going too far,’ Hob finished his sentence.

  Offended and disappointed, they left the cabin.

  Once on her own, Malva heaved a huge sigh. Not only was she crippled by pain, she was a prisoner once more! She closed her eyes and began to sob.

  Suddenly she felt something warm and moist touch her hand. She jumped. What now? Leaning a little way out of the bunk, she saw a large dog lying on the floor. He looked placidly up at her, tail hanging down, while a dribble of saliva frothed around his chops. Malva smiled.

  ‘Hello, what are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘Did I wake you up yelling like that? Poor big dog … it was those two idiots’ fault! They made me cry, you see.’

  Putting out her hand, she patted the dog’s head.

  ‘At least you don’t talk. You don’t have any bad news to tell me, do you? And I’m sure you understand me. You can’t be happy on this ship either … I’m sure you’d rather be running about in the open air, wouldn’t you?’

  She went on patting the dog. Ears pricked, he seemed to be listening to her attentively.

  ‘I know a wonderful country,’ she told him. ‘Its name is Elgolia. You’d be happy there, old boy. You could run around the meadows and chase the red birds. You could swim in Lake Barath-Thor and come to the Bay of Dao-Boa with me …’

  Malva felt a lump in her throat. Why did everything conspire to keep her from realising her dream? Why was the Known World full of greedy, cruel people? She didn’t ask
much: just to be allowed to go away to the east. She was about to collapse in tears again when Lei entered the cabin with her arms full of jars and bags.

  ‘Malva! You wake up! How you feel?’

  ‘Oh, Lei!’ Malva groaned. ‘I’m so glad to see you!’

  They began laughing and weeping together, hugging each other, before the eyes of the startled Zeph.

  ‘I thought you die in Cage of Torments. But now I make new medicine,’ said Lei, once she had calmed down. ‘Cook not happy give me different foods, but too bad!’ She glanced at Zeph. ‘Dog very useful too,’ she added, tapping his head. ‘In medicine of Balmun, we use hairs and saliva of animals.’

  Malva made a face, but she didn’t protest. Lei’s talents had already healed the wound in her leg; she trusted her to do anything now. And once on foot she was sure she’d find some way to leave the frigate before it landed in Galnicia.

  While Lei began mixing the ingredients of her recipe, Malva asked her what had happened in the harem. ‘And who were those horsemen who started the fire?’

  ‘Riders from Great Azizian Steppes,’ replied Lei.

  ‘From the steppes? Are you sure?’

  ‘I know customs and habits of all peoples,’ said Lei. ‘They wearing fur caps and oryak-skin coats.’

  Malva felt her pulse beat faster. ‘Baighurs!’ she exclaimed. ‘The Baighurs came to attack Temir-Gai! Did you see … did you see their leader?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Lei. ‘Man strong, very agile. He stand on his horse.’

  ‘Uzmir!’

  ‘You know him?’

  ‘It was Uzmir!’ hiccupped Malva. ‘He came looking for me, and perhaps Philomena …’

  So strong were her emotions that she lost consciousness again.

  Meanwhile, on the fo’c’s’le, Orpheus was standing beside the Captain and scanning the horizon.

  ‘Those mists will lift,’ the Captain repeated. ‘Believe me, I’m experienced and I know.’

  Orpheus reddened on hearing the word ‘experienced’. Was the Captain telling him that he’d seen through him, and his inexperience was as plain as the nose on his face? Orpheus dared say no more. However, the mists still troubled him. They seemed to be rising further and growing denser the higher the sun rose in the sky.

  ‘Good!’ said the Captain, folding up his telescope. ‘It looks like a fine day, and we can boast of bringing our mission to a satisfactory conclusion. How’s the Princess? I didn’t want to bother her, but I hope she wasn’t too badly treated by that barbarian Temir-Gai.’

  ‘Well …’ Orpheus began. ‘I hope she’ll recover quickly too.’

  He was gazing at the horizon with growing concern, but the Captain seemed to take no interest in it. He appeared to be in a chatty mood.

  ‘In any case, quartermaster, let me congratulate you on the courage and skill you’ve shown. I’ll admit it now: I wanted to give you a challenge to face when I entrusted this mission to you. The lads didn’t seem to appreciate your merits, but I think you’ve scored points. Even Babilas seems to think highly of you now!’

  Orpheus took his eyes off the horizon. These words were very encouraging, and he managed to smile.

  ‘Do you think they’ll go on calling me “Greenhorn”?’

  The Captain laughed uproariously and placed a hand on Orpheus’s shoulder.

  ‘Seamen are often suspicious, you mustn’t bear them a grudge. Be that as it may, your father would be proud of you! I heard that he died, but if he could see you now …’

  Orpheus imperceptibly turned pale. ‘You knew my father?’

  ‘Who didn’t know Hannibal McBott? You’re not very like him physically, but I can tell that you have the same determination, the same desire to succeed. Am I wrong?’

  ‘Well, I … I have to say that –’

  ‘Come, come,’ murmured the Captain into Orpheus’s ear. ‘Don’t act the innoc—’

  He was interrupted by an irate voice calling to him. ‘Captain! Do something or I’m handing in my notice! This is organised looting! A raid!’

  Orpheus turned and saw the cook Finopico appear. He was gesticulating and stamping his feet, while his nervous hands twisted his apron.

  ‘First that dog and the herring-thieves, then you take aboard a … a foreign girl who looks like a witch! It’s just too much!’

  ‘Lei is not a witch,’ said Orpheus. ‘She’s nursing the Princess. I authorised her to take everything she needed.’

  ‘My pork lard! My preserved lemons! My date cream! My brimble jam and my myrtle brandy!’ said Finopico, enumerating these items in pitiful tones. ‘And to cap it all, she’s just gone off with my chicken’s-tail soup with beans! What’s she going to do with all those things? It’s against all the rules of Culinary Harmony!’

  In his fury he tore off his apron, trampled it underfoot, and, when the Captain said nothing to calm him, turned on his heel and marched away, shouting back, ‘And don’t blame me if it’s dry ship’s biscuit to eat all the way back to Galnicia!’

  The Captain heaved a sigh of resignation before resuming the conversation where he had left off. ‘Listen to me, McBott,’ he said. ‘If you’re as ingenious and intelligent as your father, we can do business, you and I.’

  Orpheus had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. All these references to Hannibal were making him deeply uneasy. He had left Galnicia to forget his father, and now the memory was coming back to haunt him.

  ‘Just think,’ continued the Captain in confidential tones, ‘just think how much the Coronador would be prepared to pay to get his daughter back …’

  Orpheus opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. The Captain’s crafty smile was bringing him out in a cold sweat.

  ‘You’ll keep your mouth shut, won’t you? I understand you! What a fine chance! The Princess is at our mercy … if you ask me, we ought to put the ransom at millions of galniks!’

  ‘The ransom …’ repeated Orpheus, utterly stupefied.

  ‘Of course!’ said the Captain, laughing. ‘That’s what your father would have done, I feel sure! When I knew that you were coming aboard, I saw you as my future partner at once. Like father, like son, I always say. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!’

  Fortunately another interruption meant that Orpheus didn’t have to reply. This time it was the lookout man, scrambling down from the shrouds as fast as he could.

  ‘Captain, see that! Right ahead! There’s a terrible squall coming!’

  Orpheus turned at the same time as the Captain. The entire horizon was covered by an enormous dark mass of cloud, stretching over an impressive distance. It was like a gigantic octopus hanging in the air above the water. The Captain’s face hardened.

  ‘Take in the mainsail!’ he shouted. ‘Every man to his post!’

  22

  The Master of the Errabunda

  All at once the wind rose. The ocean, which had been rocking gently, began to pitch and toss beneath the hull of the Errabunda. The sky grew darker still, and larger and larger waves rolled in. Lightning tore through the darkness, thunder made the sky tremble and a pitiless rain began to hammer down on deck.

  Orpheus hurried to his cabin. When he got there, dripping and breathless, he found Malva and Lei huddling together on the bunk. There was a strange aroma of mingled lemon, alcohol, pork lard and wet dog in the air. He sneezed several times before asking Lei if her medicine was ready.

  ‘Malva already drink brew,’ replied Lei in a whisper. ‘She get better now. But I afraid ship sinking …’

  ‘It’s only a storm,’ smiled Orpheus, picking up his waterproof cape. ‘Where are the twins? And Zeph?’

  ‘Dog go away. He not like it when I pull out hairs. And twins gone too.’

  Orpheus felt Malva’s anxious gaze resting on him. She was very pale, but her legendary beauty illuminated her features, marked by exhaustion though they were.

  ‘Are you the Captain?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh no!’ said Orpheus, blushing. ‘
Only the quartermaster. Welcome on board, Princess. I am deeply honoured to –’

  The ship lurched violently, throwing him suddenly off balance. He caught hold of the table.

  ‘The storm’s getting worse,’ he said. ‘I must get to my post, but I’ll be back to see you. Keep calm and don’t worry. The Errabunda can stand up to this.’

  He left the cabin, taking care to close the door after him, and went up on deck again, shrugging his shoulders to shake off the slight embarrassment that Malva’s glance had caused him. It wasn’t every day that a Galnician spoke to the Crown Princess, but this was not the time for bowing and scraping and pretty words.

  In the pouring rain the crew were running about in all directions, hauling in the sails. The men raced along the foremast, took the main topsail by force and strapped down everything they could. The Captain went from one part of the deck to another, shouting orders. His voice could hardly be heard above the howling wind and the creaking of the ship.

  Orpheus made his way to the wheelhouse. The storm was raging all around him, but he was not afraid. And he wasn’t seasick either! On the contrary, he felt a kind of intoxication at finding himself here, under this angry sky, with the enormous arms of the sea rocking the ship like some demonic nurse. He had dreamed of experiencing such moments all his life.

  The ropes slapped on the deck, the masts groaned. The sea was breaking against the ship’s sides with fearsome regularity. Orpheus made for the poop with determination, like a matador entering the arena to pit himself against the bull.

  Despite their number and agility, the men had no time to take in all the sails. The wind grew stronger yet, and the sky merged with the furious mass of the water so that soon it was hard to say whether the ship was floating or flying. It rose and fell, it rocked from port to starboard.

  When Orpheus finally reached the poop the sails had torn like pieces of paper. He climbed the steps, slipped, and crawled over to the helm … the pilot was no longer at his post! The Errabunda had no helmsman!

  ‘Get under cover! Go down to the hold!’ shouted the Captain, making for the central hatch.

  Orpheus seized hold of the tiller and, bracing his legs, tried to right it. The rain lashed his face, sticking his hair to his forehead and blinding him. Hands welded to the helm, he stared at the waves as if to hypnotise them. All the sea stories he had read as a child flashed through his mind in searing visions superimposed on reality: he saw the heroes of the past who had discovered the distant Lands of Aremica and the Orniant, he saw their hard faces, their fevered eyes, and at last he felt close to them.