“Yes. Alain and I have seen it on…a map. An absolutely reliable map.”
“I’ve always wanted to sail out looking for it,” Banda murmured, his eyes distant.
“We’re not going there now,” Mari said. “It might be completely barren. What else did you learn?” she asked the captain of the Gray Lady.
“I was advised that piracy was unlikely to pay but that if I cared to risk it, running weapons past the embargo might gain some valuable goods in trade. However, just about everywhere on the coast is controlled by bandits or warlords who would more likely slit your throat and take what you have rather than make an honest trade.”
The captain leaned and pointed to one place on the coast of what had been Tiae. “Except here. Pacta Servanda. It’s a town with a decent harbor, on the coast about halfway between Minut and Tiaesun. Somehow it has held out against the warlords. The sailors I talked to claimed that it is the only place along the coast where the old flag of Tiae still flies. They are civilized—they’ll make an honest deal if you don’t try to cheat them—but you still must be very careful with them.”
“Why?” Mari asked.
The captain sat down again, his eyes hooded. “It was explained to me so, Lady. Have you ever seen a dog, one that had been mistreated, beaten, starved, for most of its life? If you saw that dog, would you go to pet it?”
“Such a dog would bite your hand off,” Master Mechanic Lukas said.
“Aye, he would. And if you offered him food? Would the dog wag his tail and be your friend?”
Lukas shook his head, looking grim. “No. He might take the food, but he’d still be ready to bite, because to him everyone is an enemy.”
“And just so are the people of Tiae,” the captain said. “Pacta Servanda has held on to the rule of law, but the people of Pacta Servanda have been marked by too many years of dealing with a world that is full of hurt and death.”
Mari nodded, feeling hurt inside herself as she thought of Tiae and its people. “We’ll have to talk to them. Approach them very carefully. Hopefully we can convince them that we are willing to help, long term.”
“If anybody can do it, you can,” Lukas said.
“I’m not—”
“Oh, stop it, Mari,” Alli said. “How many Mages do you have taking orders from you, listening to you, calling you elder? How many people even talked to Mages before you decided to do it?”
“Even Mages talk to Mages only when they have to,” Alain said.
“There!” Alli said. “See? And you got the locals in Julesport to help us, and the locals in Edinton. Commons listen to you. You know how to talk to them.”
“And Mechanics,” Professor S’san said. “I know of no rebellion that has ever occurred within the Guild. No matter how badly things went, no group of Mechanics ever arose to fight against the Guild. But you are leading such a group. The commons and the Mages may listen to you because of the daughter prophecy, but Mechanics are another matter. Even before the daughter connection, the Senior Mechanics feared your ability to lead and inspire others.”
Mari couldn’t sort out how she felt as the others spoke. Was it discomfiture at the praise? Happiness at being told she was doing a good job by people whose opinions she respected? Fear of letting down them and so many others? “I…I’ll do my best. I assume everyone agrees that we should go to Pacta Servanda? What else do we need to decide?”
Senior Mechanic Gina spoke up again. “As far as I can tell, things aren’t really organized. Everyone just listens to you. But you shouldn’t be deciding everything, or having to deal with everything, especially if we keep gaining people.”
“That’s a very good point,” Professor S’san said.
“I would recommend that Master Mechanic Lukas and Professor S’san be put in direct charge of the Mechanics, reporting to you and passing on important decisions to you,” Gina added.
Mari looked around for objections. “That sounds like a good idea. But I also want Mechanic Alli designated in charge of arms production. She is going to need that authority.”
Lukas nodded judiciously. “Alli would be an excellent choice for that job. If I had my wishes, we’d work on other things first, but we’re going to need weapons to give us time and space to work on other things next.”
“Thank you,” Alli said, smiling. “I’ve found a design in one of Mari’s forbidden texts. It’s a rifle that’s simple and rugged. It uses a clip and semi-automatic feed like Mari’s pistol, so it would have a much higher rate of fire than the Guild’s lever-action rifles, and the barrel is longer and has better specs, so it would also have a significantly better effective range.”
“Sounds like it would need a lot of ammunition,” Mechanic Ken commented.
“It will,” Alli said. “We’ll have to look at mass production of small-arms ammunition.”
“And far-talkers,” Calu said. “Another one of Mari’s texts has some designs that would let us build far-talkers smaller, lighter, and a lot better than the current Guild models. Hey, Mari, do you have any idea why the texts call the far-talkers rah-dee-ohs?”
“No idea,” Mari said. “Those sound like good first priorities.”
Mechanic Kasi waved toward Calu. “I don’t know what his specialty is, but this guy did a great job on that rear guard command. If we need someone to work with the common militaries, I recommend him.”
“My specialty is theory,” Calu admitted.
“Ha! Well, you got your hands dirty in Edinton, theorist!”
“What about the Mages?” Professor S’san asked. “Do they report to Mage Alain?”
“That would mean Alain was reporting to me,” Mari objected.
“Is that a problem?”
“He’s my partner! We’ve made every decision together, and his have equal weight with mine! Alain should be seen as…as…”
“Your executive,” Senior Mechanic Gina said. “The invaluable co-worker who helps get everything done.”
“Then who deals with the Mages on everyday matters?” S’san asked. “Assuming that everyday and Mages belong in the same sentence?”
“Mage Dav,” Alain said. “He has shown a gift for speaking to other Mages.”
“Mage Dav is cool,” Alli agreed.
“That’s settled, then,” Mari said, hoping that Alain had taken well what she and others had said. It had proven unexpectedly difficult to put a title on the role he played for her and with her. “What else?”
Professor S’san pushed a piece of paper toward Mari. “I went through the Guild Hall Supervisor’s files before we left Edinton and found this. It’s the latest warning the Guild sent out about you, a few days before you showed up in Edinton. I would advise you not to bother reading the parts about your mental, emotional, technical, and moral failings.”
Mari picked up the paper, skimming through the first part despite S’San’s warning. “Clearly insane, huh? Fanatical. Paranoid. Pro—promiscuous?”
“You didn’t think they’d avoid saying that about you, did you?” S’san asked.
“I didn’t— Unqualified?!” That stung worse than the charge of promiscuity.
“Nobody who knows you would believe any of that,” Alli said.
“Yeah, but first the Mage elders claim I’m some seductress trying to ensnare Alain, and then—” Mari stopped talking, realizing too late that she had never told even her friends about that embarrassing charge. “Let’s just forget that last part.”
“Fat chance,” Alli murmured.
Mari did her best to focus on the last part of the report. “Seriously? The Guild leadership is reporting that I may be in Altis again, and in Syndar, and in Amandan en route to Kitara, and off Daarendi, and in Gullhaven, Kelsi and Jacksport. The Guild also has reports that I’ve got armies in Amandan, Kelsi and Jacksport.”
“Wow,” Alli commented. “You sure get around, don’t you? Why didn’t you tell us about all of these armies of yours?”
“It must have slipped my mind.” Mari rea
It was quiet for a moment after Mari had finished, then Calu shrugged. “No surprises there. The Guild first tried to kill you just on suspicion that you were doing something wrong or might do something wrong someday. They would have done the same to us, eventually. Mechanic Dav told me about the evidence of Guild purges that he found in old records.”
“There is good news in that report,” Captain Banda said. “They’re not thinking about Tiae. The Guild is seeing you behind every tree, but they’re still not imagining that you’d be going to Tiae. It doesn’t occur as an option to the Senior Mechanics.”
“That’s good for us,” Lukas agreed.
“May I ask something?” Mechanic Kasi spoke up. “Mechanic Calu is suffering from a bullet wound. So are some other Mechanics. I understand that one of the Mages was badly hurt in the fight with the dragon. Why haven’t the Mages healed any of them?”
Mari indicated Alain. “He can explain.”
“Mages,” Alain said, “can do nothing to another directly. I can create heat in the air which will burn someone, but I cannot set a fire inside them. I can create the illusion of a hole in a wall, but I cannot create the illusion of a hole in the heart of another. No Mage can.”
“Why are there so many stories about Mages doing those kinds of things to people?” Banda asked.
“Because the Mage Guild has encouraged such stories,” Alain said. “They served to increase the awe and fear with which shadows regarded Mages. But the truth—and you must understand I was taught that there is no truth but have rejected that—is that no Mage spell can directly change another, for good or for ill. Mage elders claim that the reason for this is because no Mage has ever been able to totally disassociate themselves from others, that even in the wisest Mages to date there has always been a trace of belief that others are real and not just shadows who mean nothing.”
“What do you think?” Calu asked.
Alain remained silent for a moment. “I think it is because all others are real. The world is an illusion and may be changed. But others are, they are reality amid the illusion, and cannot be altered. Perhaps we all create the illusion together. This is my theory.”
Master Mechanic Lukas smiled. “I hope you’re right, Sir Mage. If we’re real, then that might mean there’s more to the story even after we die.”
“We go from this dream to another dream,” Alain said. “The story never ends.”
Senior Mechanic Gina gazed at Alain with a shocked expression. “I wondered how you could have fallen in love with a Mage,” Gina said to Mari. “Now I know. Are there any others like him?”
Mari grinned. “There is no one else anywhere like him.”
Later, alone, she held Alain close. “What am I doing giving orders to the likes of Professor S’san?” Mari asked, resting her head against his shoulder.
“They do not have to obey you,” Alain said. “They have made a choice to obey you.”
“Was Edinton as messed up as I thought it was? Because everybody else seems to think it went great.”
“You achieved everything you set out to do,” Alain pointed out. “Despite some major threats which surprised everyone. I have seen an experienced and talented military commander in the face of such a surprise, Mari. You did as well as he did.”
“You are so delusional!” Mari drew back a little and shook her head at Alain. “I’m sure General Flyn would love hearing that I’m as good a commander as he is!”
“He is already sworn to your service.”
“And I wish he was here! If we face any fights in Tiae, everybody is going to look to me, aren’t they?” Mari stepped away from Alain, rubbing her face with both hands. “Where is this going to end, Alain?”
“With the overthrow of the Great Guilds,” he replied.
“And then what? What happens to me if I’m still alive at that point?”
“I do not know,” Alain said. “But I will be with you, wherever you are.”
Somehow, that made everything feel all right.
* * * *
Two days later, in the late afternoon, Captain Banda led Mari’s small fleet past the city of Minut. “It’s necessary to fix our position here before we turn south again,” he insisted.
Mari stood on the deck of the Pride, gazing on what had once been one of the largest cities in the Kingdom of Tiae. From a distance it looked all right, if oddly pristine. “Marandur was like that,” she said to Alli, who was standing beside her. “Cities always have this cloud of smoke and dust above them from fires and people and everything. But Marandur had nothing above it but blue sky. It looked so clean from a distance. Because Marandur was dead.”
“How do you sleep?” Alli asked. “You’ve seen more than your share of nightmares.”
“Sometimes I don’t sleep,” Mari said. “Other times I don’t sleep well.” She raised her far-seers to her eyes and scanned the city. “I can see some people, not nearly enough for a city of that size, and a lot of the buildings are still intact but some are beat up and falling apart. It’s like the city is on its way to becoming like Marandur.” She passed the far-seers to Alli.
“Everywhere is going to become like Marandur if we fail, right?” Alli asked as she studied Minut.
“Yeah.”
“How long exactly do we have?”
“Not very long. That’s as exact as I know.” Mari paused. “Alli? Why are Mechanics like you and me and Calu leading this? All right, I know why I am, but why you two when we have people like Professor S’san and Master Mechanic Lukas also with us? They’re in charge of Mechanics, but you and Calu are running the two most important projects almost independently. And why are Alain and Asha playing leading roles with our Mages? Mage Dav guides the other Mages, but he does what Alain says.”
“You want to know why older and wiser heads aren’t calling the shots?” Alli lowered the far-seers and shuddered. “That is an awful sight, isn’t it? My theory, Master Mechanic Mari, is that the Great Guilds are at least partly designed to operate like lathes. Over time they grind down Mechanics and Mages alike, taking off the hard edges and the other parts that stick out, and eventually shearing away anything like rebellion and free thinking and initiative. Mechanics like S’san and Lukas are smart and capable, but when faced with something bad they look around for someone to tell them what to do. You and me and Calu haven’t been under the lathe too long. We’ve still got all our nonconforming and inventiveness attached to us.”
“I actually wasn’t expecting an answer,” Mari said, “but that’s a really good one.”
“Want another?”
“I love your answers, Alli.”
“And I love your humility, your daughterness.” Alli went on speaking before Mari could finish getting her glare on. “Everybody is like, whoa, Mari has figured out how to get Mechanics and Mages to work together! Isn’t that totally amazing? But for me, what’s amazing is how you get us young types to work well with the older-and-wisers. You remember how yesterday I came to you all ticked off because Master Mechanic Lukas was telling me something about the production process for the new rifles and I am Mechanic Alli and I already know everything about weapons? What did you do?”
“Umm.” Mari had to think. There had been a lot going on that day. “I asked you…”
“’Is there something we’re missing because we’re not seeing it?’” Alli quoted. “And I thought, how can I miss it if I can’t see it? And then I realized that I can’t notice a problem I’ve never seen or thought about. But Lukas is older than dirt. He’s seen all kinds of stuff. And he’s willing to talk about it. At great length. Which can be annoying. But I went back to him and listened and, yeah, I was missing something.”
“It just seemed like the right thing to ask ourselves,” Mari said. “Alain has really made me think more about our assumptions and how we shape what we see by how we expect to see it.”
“You’re starting to sound like Calu and his observer-effect stuff,” Alli commented. “Not that I mind. I do love him. But that stuff is weird.”
“How is Calu doing?” Mari asked, taking back the far-seers and looking at the harbor of Minut. There were forlorn masts rising out of the water where ships had sunk, some rotting wrecks still tied up to the piers, and a long stretch of brownish water that Captain Banda said probably marked silt from the river which was slowly choking the decaying harbor.
“He’ll be fine. Complains that his arm hurts more now that it’s healing than it did when he was shot.” Alli squinted at the city. “How is Mage Asha doing?”
“Half of her is a glorious tapestry of blacks and blues,” Mari said. “She must hurt every time she breathes. But not a word of complaint. The healers say she’s doing well, but it’ll be a while before her ribs mend.”
“I had no idea Mages were so tough,” Alli said. “Hey, what’s that?”
Mari had spotted it too and was focusing on the distant activity. “People running to some boats. I think I see sun glinting off weapons. They’re pushing off from the pier. One…two…three. Three boats. All three are raising sails.”
“These are ugly-type pirates, right?” Alli asked. “Not nice daughter-of-Jules pirates like us?”
“That’s what I understand,” Mari said. “Do you have to keep using that word?”
“Yes. Yes, I do. Is there any chance we could just wait here until those three boats catch us and then show them how bad a mistake they’ve made?”
Mari stopped to think, lowering the far-seers and gazing at the sad remnants of Minut. “That’s tempting. I’ve noticed something, Alli. Whenever something is tempting, it turns out to be something I shouldn’t have done or tried to do.”
“How can it be wrong to take out those pirates?” Alli asked.
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