“I suppose it is.” Fritz nodded, apparently satisfied with that, and took a few steps towards Shenk, who was talking to Busch on the far side of the deck. A scattering of boxes still lay on the planking, although Berta and Yullis were taking them below with almost exaggerated care, and Rudi was able to estimate that the rest of the new cargo would be stowed within a matter of minutes. So much the better, the sooner it was done, the sooner they’d be away from here, and from the unwelcome attention that Hanna’s display of sorcery had attracted.
As she began to descend the steep flight of steps to the hold, Berta almost slipped, and the box on her shoulder shifted alarmingly.
“Careful!” Shenk called, looking up in alarm. “That’s pottery, not pickles! Break it and it comes out of your wages!”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking.” The deckhand disappeared below, grumbling under her breath, and Shenk caught sight of his visitor for the first time.
“Ah, here you are.” He took in the sight of Rudi and Hanna accompanying the young bodyguard, and sighed. “And you too. Well at least you made it back on board before we’re ready to go this time. Interesting run ashore?”
“We passed the time,” Rudi said. “Hanna bought a new dress.” Shenk nodded at the garment, still slung over the girl’s shoulder, without interest.
“So I see, very becoming.” His tone became businesslike as he turned back to Fritz. “I’ll get it for you. I’m sure you’re eager to get on with whatever you’re doing, and we’re in a hurry to leave for Altdorf.”
“Good.” Fritz sounded quite unlike his usual self, confident and incisive, his voice taking on the more rounded vowels of a gentleman to match the expensive clothes he wore. Von Eckstein’s patronage seemed to be changing him in all sorts of unlikely ways. “So am I. So, I’ll be staying aboard until we get there. I take it that won’t be a problem?” Even his posture had changed, conveying the automatic expectation that, as the representative of a nobleman, his wishes would be met without question or argument. Shenk nodded slowly.
“I think we can manage to find another hammock, if you can afford to pay your way. You’ll have to share the hold with Rudi and Hanna, though.”
“That would be fine.” Fritz said, with every sign of genuine warmth. “It wouldn’t be the first time his snoring has kept me awake.”
“I don’t snore!” Rudi protested. Fritz and Hanna looked at one another, and shared a knowing smile. “Do I?”
“Like a pig,” Hanna assured him. Shenk sighed.
“I could ask how you all seem to know each other, but I don’t think I want to know,” he said. Hanna nodded.
“Probably best,” she said.
In spite of the apprehension weighing heavily in Rudi’s gut, the Reikmaiden sailed out onto the river again early that afternoon with no sign of either a witch-hunt or interference from Fog Walker agents intent on forestalling her departure. He was at a loss to explain their good luck, but as the sails filled and the sturdy little vessel began the final haul up the Reik towards their destination, Hanna pointed towards the shantytown outside the city walls. Smoke was rising from it in several places, and a cold chill rippled down his spine.
“They must have assumed we went to ground there,” she said.
“Either that, or we sparked another riot.” Rudi sighed. The refugees crowding the city, unwanted and resented by the native Carroburgers, would have become natural scapegoats for any rumours of witchcraft. Small wonder that the watch hadn’t made it as far as the docks—they were probably too busy trying to rein in the lynch mobs and the looters.
“Maybe we did,” Hanna said, not seeming terribly concerned at the prospect. Fritz joined them at the rail.
“So, you’re heading for Altdorf too,” he said.
Rudi nodded. “I came across some papers in Marienburg, which might have something to do with who my parents were.”
“Really?” Fritz looked at him in surprise. Like everyone else in Kohlstadt, he’d known that Rudi was a foundling, discovered deep in the woods by Gunther Walder, who had subsequently adopted him. “I thought nobody knew where you came from.”
“So did I.” Rudi wondered how much to tell him. “But I might be related to a family in Altdorf, the von Kariens.”
“Never heard of them,” Fritz said, “but maybe the boss has. He seems to know everybody.” He shrugged. “I’ll ask him. It’s the least he can do after you rescued his package from river pirates.”
“Thanks,” Rudi said awkwardly. “I’d appreciate that.”
“What’s inside it, anyway?” Hanna asked, clearly intent on deflecting questions about her own presence. Fritz glanced around the deck to make sure no one else was in earshot, and dropped his voice.
“Antiquities from Lustria, for the Emperor himself.”
“You’re joking!” Hanna said, although her tone wasn’t entirely disbelieving. Fritz shuffled his feet.
“Well, I don’t suppose he’ll actually collect them in person, but the boss is bringing them back on his behalf.”
“What for?” Rudi asked. Fritz shrugged, and looked a little uneasy.
“Well, I don’t understand all the details.” Rudi could believe that readily enough. “But it’s all to do with the war, and the damage it caused. The northeastern provinces are barely clinging on. Ostland’s the worst.”
“I know.” Rudi nodded. This was common tavern gossip even in Marienburg. “But what’s that got to do with Lustria?”
“Well…” Fritz hesitated again, although whether to order his thoughts or to think twice about the wisdom of discussing von Eckstein’s business, Rudi couldn’t be sure. It was evidently the former, though, because he went on happily enough after a moment. “Years ago, someone had the idea that if you opened up a port on the northern coast you could bypass Marienburg, so the Empire could trade freely with the rest of the world, and cut out the middleman.”
Rudi nodded. He’d heard the same story from Sam Warble.
“It failed, though,” he said. “The elves wouldn’t cooperate.”
“True.” Fritz nodded. “But times have changed, and one of the ports on the northern coast’s the new capital of Ostland, at least until Wolfenberg gets back on its feet. If it becomes a major trading centre, it’ll regenerate the entire north-east. That’s what the boss thinks, anyway.”
“I see.” Rudi nodded too, his head reeling. He’d managed to pick up enough of the way commerce worked during his months in Marienburg to appreciate the magnitude of the gamble. If it worked, investment and capital would flood into the devastated province, and away from the Wasteland. “No wonder the Fog Walkers are so desperate to stop it.”
“You still haven’t explained what the antiquities are for,” Hanna said.
“Haven’t I?” Fritz looked confused for a moment. “Oh. Well I thought that was obvious: to show people that trade with the far reaches of the world is possible. It’s one thing to ask a merchant or a noble to put his hand in his purse on a promise, and quite another to show them something that actually came from Lustria.”
“I see,” Hanna said. Then she grinned at him. “Better make sure you don’t lose the package, then.”
“No fear of that,” Fritz assured her, looking more serious than Rudi had ever seen him. His voice dropped even further. “The Emperor himself is involved, they say. Nothing obvious, of course, but he’s putting a lot of his own capital into this. If it fails, the best hope for the whole of the north falls with it.”
“Lucky they’ve got someone as reliable as you on the job,” Rudi said, vaguely surprised to find the remark lacking in sarcasm. Fritz nodded, with a trace of uncertainty.
“It’s a big responsibility,” he admitted. “I feel a lot happier about it, knowing you’re on board to watch my back, though.”
“We’ll try not to let you down,” Hanna said, although her eyes remained fixed on the columns of smoke in the distance long after the rest of Carroburg had vanished from sight.
“Is that it?�
� Hanna asked, with some surprise. Shenk, still blissfully unaware that Hanna’s witchsight had revealed the location of the hidden compartment in the bulkhead, had retrieved the package from its hiding place while his passengers had been eating their supper with most of the crew. Now, it was lying on the top of one of the crates of earthenware that had replaced the majority of the fish barrels in the hold. Food of any kind was at a premium in Carroburg these days, and Rudi suspected the only reason Shenk had kept any of it aboard at all was to fulfil a preexisting contract. “I was expecting something bigger.”
“Me too,” Rudi agreed, although he spoke mainly to distract himself from the irrational sense of dread that the oilskin packet evoked in him. Until now, he hadn’t given the matter any real thought. It was roughly the size of a conventional belt pouch, like the one he used to keep his snare lines in back in his old life in the woods outside Kohlstadt. Hanna put out a cautious hand, prodding the wrapping carefully.
“There are several things in here,” she said. Indistinct lumps could be seen through the slick fabric, forming under the pressure of her probing fingers. She shot a glance at Fritz, trying to seem casual, but Rudi could tell she was desperate to find out what the magical item among them might be. “Aren’t you going to show us what we’re supposed to be guarding?” To Rudi’s silent relief, Fritz shook his head.
“The boss said to deliver it unopened,” he said. He turned the package over, to reveal the wax seal keeping the contents enshrouded. “Sorry.”
“Probably just as well,” Rudi said, trying to keep the conversation light. “I’d hate to drop something and break it. Lustria’s a long way to go to get another one.”
“I suppose it is,” Hanna said, and yawned widely. She’d seemed tired ever since they’d got back to the boat, and Rudi supposed that the strange stone hadn’t entirely sustained her during her magical duel with Alwyn, if she’d even had to draw on it at all. Her powers seemed to be growing again, and he wondered, not for the first time, just how much control she really had over them. “Well, I think I’ll turn in.”
“Me too,” Fritz said, stowing the package carefully inside his doublet. “Coach travel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I may never get the feeling back in my arse again.”
“I think I’ll get some air,” Rudi said, trying to wrest his attention away from the faint bulge in Fritz’s impeccably cut jacket. The sensation of fear that he’d felt at the first sight of the package had diminished to an oppressive sense of unease, although he still couldn’t understand why. Perhaps it was just because Hanna seemed so fascinated with it, although how it appeared to her magical senses he could barely imagine.
“All right.” Fritz rolled into the hammock that Pieter had slung for him, and pulled his cloak over his face. “Yell if you see any pirates.”
“I’ll do that,” Rudi assured him. The comment had been made purely in jest, he was sure, but now that it had been voiced, he found himself inclined to take it seriously. He picked up his bow, and ascended the steep flight of steps to the deck.
“Having trouble sleeping?” Shenk asked as he emerged, and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the weapon.
“A little,” Rudi said, letting the frosty air clear his head with a sense of exquisite relief. The stars shone down hard and sharp again tonight, their faint blue radiance limning the deck. Mannslieb was barely above the horizon, still too low to cast much light, and the baleful green glow of Morrslieb was nowhere to be seen. Out in the open, the sense of dread he’d felt at the sight of the package seemed irrational, and he let it go gratefully. “You?”
“My watch,” the captain explained. “We’re running under a skeleton crew again.” He sighed. “I’ll be damned glad to get to Altdorf tomorrow. The sooner your friend and his parcel are off my boat, the happier I’ll be.”
“That makes two of us,” Rudi said fervently. Shenk nodded at the bow.
“Expecting trouble?”
“Always,” Rudi said. Since leaving Kohlstadt, that was the one thing in life he’d found that he could constantly be sure of. “If the Fog Walkers are going to try again before we get to Altdorf, it’ll have to be tonight.” Shenk nodded.
“The same thought had occurred to me,” he admitted. Despite their mutual trepidation, however, the night wore on without incident, and after the watch changed and Ansbach replaced the skipper at the tiller, Rudi found a convenient corner and tried to get some sleep.
He was woken shortly before dawn by a faint splashing sound, which echoed in his ears long after the actual noise had vanished. Sitting up cautiously, he reached for his bow, and looked around, allowing his eyes to adjust to the meagre light levels. Mannslieb was higher in the sky, but the deck was still shrouded in shadows, made all the more deep and dark by the faint radiance it gave. He listened hard, stilling his breath, as he used to do in the woods when he was trying to locate game by the rustling in the foliage.
Just when he was beginning to convince himself that he’d imagined it, the sound came again. Nocking an arrow, he turned, moving as stealthily as he used to do in the forests he’d called home.
His instincts hadn’t let him down: a patch of shadow moved by the rail, shimmering and indistinct. He gazed at it, trying to bring it into focus, but it refused to resolve itself. The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle. Could this be sorcery?
There was only one way to find out. Trusting his archer’s instincts, he drew back and let fly, without trying to distinguish a target. He was rewarded with a cry of pain, and suddenly the patch of concealing shadow was gone. A young man stood there, clad only in a pair of sodden britches, the arrow through his shoulder, dripping water and blood onto the deck. Both fluids looked equally black in the moonlight.
Having no doubt that he was indeed facing a wizard, with abilities similar to the ones he’d seen Alwyn display, Rudi drew another arrow from his quiver.
“Stand to!” Ansbach bellowed, but the warning hardly seemed necessary. Alerted by the intruder’s scream, the crew of the Reikmaiden was piling out of the cabins onto the deck, clutching whatever makeshift weapons they could find. A moment later, Hanna and Fritz appeared too, Hanna’s dagger in her hand, and Fritz flourishing his sword ready for use.
Rudi tensed, expecting the cornered mage to unleash a barrage of phantom knives, the way that Alwyn had done, but the intruder clearly felt that the odds against him were far too great to make a fight of it. Turning, he leapt over the side of the boat. Rudi expected him to fall, and wondered how he was hoping to swim with an arrow through his shoulder, but to his astonishment, the young mage kept rising, almost to the height of the mast, making an impossible leap across scores of yards of water to the bank.
Rudi tried to track him for a moment with the bow, drawing back the string as he did so, but decided against taking the shot. Whoever he was, the young man had been driven off, and there was no point injuring him any further; or wasting another perfectly good arrow, come to that. A moment later, he heard a crackling of vegetation from the bank, as the luckless wizard made it to dry land, and a muffled curse echoed across the water. Evidently, his landing hadn’t been a comfortable one.
“What the hell was that?” Shenk asked, his face pale in the moonlight. Hanna shrugged.
“Shadowmancer,” she said. She shot a look of silent complicity at Rudi. “He must have swum out to the boat, hoping to get aboard, hidden by magic.” Rudi nodded.
“We had one burgling houses like that when I was in the watch, back in Marienburg.” That happened to be true, although since the felon in question had confined his activities to the richer quarters on the other side of the river, he’d only heard about it through gossip with the other Black Caps from neighbouring wards. Apparently, the magician in question had disappeared without trace shortly after being taken into custody. Rudi had a sneaking suspicion that the Fog Walkers had known a useful recruit when they saw one and cut some kind of deal to keep him out of Rijker’s Island, the vast stone fortress that dominated th
e mouth of the Reik, protecting the city from seaborne marauders and its own indigenous criminals alike.
“Well, there’s one good thing,” Fritz said, “it’s nearly dawn. At least they won’t have time for another try.”
“Not until we get to Altdorf, anyway,” Hanna pointed out.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rudi’s first sight of Altdorf was a massive stone wall, looming up on both banks of the river and stretching away into the distance on either side, diminishing with the perspective as it went. From this far away, the effect was uncannily like a single vast building, into which the mighty Reik disappeared as if it was nothing more than an irrigation ditch, or the sewage outflow of a palisaded village. He couldn’t help but be reminded of the Vloedmuur, which surrounded Marienburg, however, this barrier was clearly built to resist armies rather than the elements, squat and monolithic compared to the coastal defences that kept the sea from swamping the mighty coastal port, at least for most of the time.
The pressures of commerce and a growing population had pushed a few buildings out beyond the walls, but unlike the ragged shanty town clinging to the skirts of Carroburg, the structures he could see were mainly constructed of solid stone, clearly meant to last. Almost since sunrise, and for the first time since the travellers had left the Wasteland behind, the trees that had fringed the riverbanks for most of the journey had receded into the distance. In their place, fields had appeared, scattered farmsteads at first, and then modest agricultural villages that reminded him all too vividly of Kohlstadt.
“You wouldn’t think it,” Fritz remarked at his elbow, “but that’s all part of the city’s defences. They cleared the trees from around the walls so the enemy couldn’t sneak up on them, and the farmers just kept on felling them to get more growing space.”
“What enemy?” Rudi asked, unable to imagine any foe foolish enough to lay siege to these mighty walls. They reduced the riverboats entering and leaving the city to the scale of toys, like the chips of bark he’d sent gurgling down the forest streams as a child, and nothing he could conceive of would be capable of breaching them.
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