Pirate of the Prophecy

by Jack Campbell

  “But-”

  “I’ll make it an order, since you’re still the most junior sailor on the ship even though you’re always on the quarterdeck nowadays calling out orders to the crew like you’re the Emperor himself. Attend to the captain, Jeri. Talk to him.”

  “All right. If you really think I can help.”

  Jules paused to open the revolver and carefully load each cartridge. Six of them. Each worth far more than if it were made of solid gold.

  If that male Mechanic showed up again, he wouldn’t get another chance to shoot Mak.

  Tying the revolver securely into its new holster, she went aft, weaving her way between the other crew members rushing to bring in lines and make sail, feeling awkward not to be helping. She reached the door to the captain’s cabin and paused, reluctant, before finally rapping softly. No answer came, so Jules nerved herself and opened the door.

  Mak lay in his bunk on his back, his gaze straight up, his expression the same as if he was still looking at the Mechanic who’d been his daughter.

  “Sir?” Jules said. “Can I come in? Can I talk to you?”

  He said nothing.

  Uncomfortable, her own emotions a swirling mess, Jules closed the door and sat down at the small table, facing Mak in his bunk. “Sir, is there anything I can do?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Captain, she still loves you. I could see it. They’ve done something to her, twisted her mind, but she knew you and she cares about you. She argued to keep that guy from killing you, and she prompted me to help. She still cares.”

  Mak said nothing, his eyes still fixed on the overhead.

  Jules sighed, listening to the sounds of the ship getting underway and feeling odd not to be part of it. But she was needed here. Liv was right about that. “Sir, I don’t know the right things to say,” Jules began in a low voice. “I don’t know a lot about having a family. About how that feels. I don’t remember much about my father. I was only five when he died on campaign. I remember that he was big, and that he smelled of leather and horse. Because he was legion cavalry. I like to think he loved me and tried his best for me and my mother. I don’t know because I have nothing from him except those few memories. But I remember that when he was there I felt…safe.”

  She sighed, trying to avoid tears that the old memories threatened to bring. “Sir, since he died, and my mother died, I haven’t known that feeling. I haven’t ever felt really safe. But since I came to the Sun Queen, when we’re underway and you’re in command, it’s the closest I’ve felt to that. Talking to you, I know someone cares about me. I know it’s just because I’m crew, but I hope you’d care about what happens to me even if I wasn’t crew. I don’t know what I’m trying to say there, except that you’ve made me feel wanted, and not in the way a lot of men have since that prophecy. In a comforting way. Despite knowing about the prophecy and everything else, being on the Sun Queen is the closest I’ve felt to safe since I lost my mother and my father. And I know that’s because you’re the captain. Thank you, sir.”

  Mak finally moved, rolling his head to look at her. “Stars above, Jeri, stop calling me sir.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Is what you just said true?”

  “Yes, sir. All of it. I’m sorry I didn’t say it very well.”

  “You said it very well. Thank you, Jeri.”

  “Sir…my real name is Jules. Of Landfall. You should know that. Because…you should know.”

  “All right, Jules. That’s a good name. A strong, graceful name. It suits you.” Mak looked back up at the overhead of the cabin. “You saw it, too? That she still cared?”

  “Yes, sir, I did. It hurt her to see you and not be able to talk.”

  “But there was anger there, too. Anger at me. I saw that.”

  “Yes, sir. I don’t understand what that was about.”

  “I guess there’s no way for us to know, is there? The barriers between me and my daughter have grown too large. Someday that daughter of your line will change that. Change things so the Mechanics Guild, and the Mage Guild, can no longer take children from their parents,” Mak said. “No longer turn them against their parents.”

  “I hope so,” Jules said.

  Mak rolled to his side and sat up, rubbing his face where he’d been struck. “Jeri…Jules…I long ago learned how little power I have to influence what happens in this world. But this little part of the world is mine, and I will do what I can. Whenever the Mages find you, no matter where or when, I will stand between you and them. You have my promise.”

  “I can’t ask that of you,” Jules said.

  “You’re not asking for it. I’m giving it.” Mak looked at her, speaking with firm resolve. “I couldn’t protect another girl. I’m going to protect you, no matter the cost.”

  “But, sir-”

  “Blast it, girl, my name is Mak!” He looked up as feet and tackle thumped on the quarterdeck above their heads. “Shouldn’t you be out there helping get the ship under way?”

  She stood up. “Yes, si- Mak. Captain. Captain Mak.”

  “That’s something,” Mak said, waving her out. “Go on, Jules. Take charge up on the quarterdeck until I join you. And stay safe. Neither of the Great Guilds will kill you while I live.”

  “Sir, please-”

  “You have my promise. Get out of here, Jules.” He smiled at her. “I’ll always be calling you that in my head from now on, even though in public my voice will still be saying Jeri.”

  “Yes, sir.” She ran out and up the ladder, smiling, happy to have heard her real name spoken again by someone who was a friend.

  * * *

  In light of the Senior Mechanic’s warning, Mak had ordered the Sun Queen about and headed back north, thinking that Kelsi’s settlement would be safe with so much attention focused on the south. Jules stood on the quarterdeck the next morning as the Queen beat her way north, trying to occupy her mind with details of the ship and the set of the sails. But her eyes kept going to a patch of the sea off the port side, where the water looked as if it were boiling, seagulls swooping down to strike at fish near the surface. “What’s happening there?” Jules asked Keli the healer.

  Keli looked over. “There’s a big school of smaller fish being driven to the surface as they try to escape bigger fish down below. The gulls see it and know there’s plenty of food, so they sweep in, too.”

  “The small fish are caught between big fish below and the gulls above? Both trying to eat the small fish?” Jules shook her head. “It’s sort of like being a common, isn’t it?”

  Keli nodded. “We’re the small fish in the sea, sure enough.”

  “Maybe not forever,” Jules said. “Good morning, Captain,” she added as Mak come up onto the quarterdeck.

  Keli excused himself, leaving Jules and Mak together. “Captain? I’ve been thinking about what the Mechanics told me. Why do you think the Emperor and the Mages would work together to get me?” Jules asked. “One wants me, and the other wants me dead.”

  “You can bet that both are planning to double-cross the other,” Mak replied. “But the Emperor is being particularly foolish in thinking he can get away with that. Like the Mechanics, he’s seeing what he wants to see. I know the odds against you seem pretty daunting, Jules, but you do have the advantage that your three main foes are all working for themselves and against each other. As long as you can play the Great Guilds and the Empire each against the others, you’ll have a chance.”

  Jules smiled at the irony. “The prophecy says that a daughter of my line will unite Mages, Mechanics, and common folk in one cause. But in order for me to do my part I need to ensure that Mages, Mechanics, and the Empire keep fighting each other. She’ll need to unite, but I need to sow chaos.”

  “I can’t think of anyone more qualified for the task of sowing chaos,” Mak said.

  “Thank you, sir. I appreciate your confidence in me.”

  When they reached Kelsi’s settlement a few days later, the decision
to head there seemed to be proven a good bet. No Mages, Mechanics, or Imperial forces were to be seen when the ship tied up. The crew had grumbled a bit at the sudden reversal of course, but cheered up when told they’d have a few more days at Kelsi’s to enjoy themselves.

  Jules had actually gotten off the ship that morning to run some errands with Captain Mak, surprised to be bothered by the now unfamiliar feel of solid land under her feet. She felt more secure with six cartridges loaded into the revolver, yet also nervous about Mages or Imperial agents, and was relieved to once more return to the Sun Queen.

  Mak called her to his cabin again as night fell. “Jules, I’m going ashore for a while. I want to see what I can learn talking to people in the taverns. Maybe even figure out which one of them is the one feeding the Mechanics Guild information.”

  She looked in the direction of the town distrustfully, but nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “You’ll be in charge of the ship while I’m gone.”

  “Sir?” Jules pointed out the front of the cabin. “Ang is here. He-”

  “I want you in charge,” Mak said. “Can’t you handle it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jules said. “I can handle it.”

  “Stay up here in the stern cabin so if any big visitors show up you can receive them properly. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  “Be careful,” Jules called after Mak. “Sir. Please.”

  He paused to look back at her, smiling in the flickering light of the lantern hung outside the cabin door. “I’ll try. You stay out of trouble.”

  “I’ll try,” Jules said.

  It felt a little strange to be in the cabin without Captain Mak here. Jules wandered about, fighting the temptation to look inside drawers.

  She’d never realized how few personal mementos Mak kept in his cabin. A reddish rock that must have some significance sat near the head of the bunk. A drawing labeled “View of Lake Bellad north of Severun” hung where Mak could see it from his bunk. And a thin book entitled “Wildflowers of the Northern Empire” rested on the small desk next to the bunk. That was all. If not for the promise ring that Mak still wore, there would have been nothing to serve as a clear reminder that he’d once been married.

  Since it was lying out, Jules opened the wildflower book to look inside. It seemed to consist entirely of facing pages, one of which showed a hand painted image of a flower while the other contained a description and facts like the range of the plant.

  She noticed that some of the pages had long-dried samples of the flowers they described pressed between their picture and the written description. Someone had once collected those flowers.

  Jules stood looking down at one of the dried flowers, delicate petals of a blue faded to almost white, the leaves and stem disintegrating to grayish-green dust. She wondered whether it had been Mak’s wife, or his little daughter, who had found that flower and pressed it into the book.

  She closed the book softly, wanting to be sure she didn’t harm any of the contents.

  Since the day she became an orphan, her world had felt full of things and people intended to make her cynical and distrustful. That had only gotten worse after the prophecy was spoken. At times she wondered if the world was worth freeing.

  But then there was Mak. Loyal still to a love long dead, and to a daughter who’d disowned him. A world with even one man like Mak in it was surely worth sacrificing for. Not to mention people like Liv and Ang. Maybe, if she kept trying, that daughter of her line would be born, and a future Mak wouldn’t lose his daughter, and a future Ang wouldn’t lose his father, and a future Liv wouldn’t lose her mother.

  She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a soft knock came at the door. “Jeri?” Ang called through the closed door. “Captain Vlad of the Star Seeker just came aboard.”

  What had brought Vlad here at this late hour? “Tell him that Captain Mak is ashore and we don’t know when he’ll be back,” Jules called.

  “I did. He says he has a deal he needs to discuss with you.”

  Oh, blazes. She and Mak had been over to the Star Seeker that morning, at Vlad’s invitation. The ship had been neatly kept, but hadn’t struck her as happy, and Captain Vlad had spent an uncomfortable amount of time looking at her instead of at Captain Mak as they discussed possibly working together. But Vlad’s terms had been too weighted in his favor, so despite the size of the Star Seeker and the number of her crew, Mak had politely declined.

  And now Vlad was here wanting to speak to her. Jules wanted to tell Ang to send him off, but Mak had been emphasizing to her how important it was to deal fairly and respectfully with other ship captains. And she had been wrong in her first opinion of Captain Erin. It would be wrong to condemn Vlad on her impressions from one meeting. “All right. Send him in, please.”

  A few moments later the door opened and Vlad came in, dressed in the same sort of fine shirt and trousers and gleaming boots that he’d been wearing this morning. He must have multiple outfits. A two-handed straight sword swung at his side, so long that the scabbard and the elaborate guard came up well above Vlad’s waist, something much better suited to impressing other people than it was to fighting in the constricted quarters of a ship. Vlad smiled at Jules as Ang closed the door.

  “What can I do for you?” Jules asked. “Captain Mak isn’t aboard, and I can’t make any deals on behalf of the ship.”

  “This isn’t about the ship,” Vlad said, eyeing her with another smile. “What is it you’re calling yourself? Jeri?”

  The rules of the pirates of the Sea of Bakre were not exactly concerned with fine points of etiquette, but one of them was that no one should refer to anyone else’s name as false. The name given was supposed to be accepted, no questions asked and no skepticism displayed. Jules didn’t call Vlad on it, though, not wanting to give him any excuse to explore the topic of her real name. “What was it you needed to talk about?”

  She’d deliberately avoided inviting him to take a seat in hopes he’d keep the visit short, but Vlad walked to the small table and sat down in one of the chairs, facing Jules. “Who you really are is a poorly maintained secret. You know that, I’m sure. Your actual name, and…the actual Mage prophecy about you.”

  “I won’t discuss either,” Jules said, trying to keep her voice polite but firm enough to make it clear the topic was closed. “Is there something else?”

  “That’s quite a role that fate has in store for you,” Vlad continued as if Jules hadn’t spoken. “This morning, I was looking at you and thinking how fortunate the man would be whose blood made that prophecy eventually come to pass.”

  Great. Another man who thought she was irresistible because she’d someday have a child who’d continue her line toward that daughter. And a man who, like the Emperor, wanted to hijack the prophecy by linking his blood line to hers so he could claim credit for the outcome. “I told you I won’t talk about that,” Jules said, dropping any pretense of politeness from her voice. “You said you had a deal to discuss. Lay it out, or take your leave.”

  Instead of answering her, Vlad brought out a small leather pouch with a dramatic flourish. He opened the pouch with careful movements, giving her a smile as he did so, then poured out onto the table a half-dozen gems that winked in the lantern light.

  She reached to pick up a gleaming emerald the size of a small marble, turning the polished green stone in her fingers. “Impressive.”

  “All that,” Vlad said, waving to the gems. “It should be more than enough.”

  “For what?” Jules put down the emerald, picking up a ruby that glowed in the lantern light like a large drop of crystallized blood.

  “One night for each gem.”

  She frowned at the ruby, bothered by Vlad’s gaze and choosing to avoid it. “One night?”

  “It can be for more nights, if you desire.”

  “I’m missing something,” Jules said, finally looking at Vlad again. She saw the smile on his face, a smile that held a quality she recognized and didn’t lik
e. “One night of what?” she asked even though that smile held the answer for her. “Playing innocent?” Vlad said with a laugh. “One night of you. Sunset to dawn. I promise you’ll find each one a memorable evening, and I’m certain that those nights are all I’ll need to ensure myself a place in that prophecy.”

  Her fingertips tightened painfully on the ruby as Jules tried to control her voice. “You want to buy me?”

  “I’m sure that no one else has ever offered so much for you! Or for any other woman!”

  Don’t lose your temper, she told herself. Don’t do anything that would embarrass Captain Mak. Jules put down the ruby, using her forefinger to shove it back with the other gems. “No. I’m not for sale. Not for one night. Not for one moment.”

  “You’re bargaining?” Vlad demanded. “When I opened with an offer like that?”

  “ ‘No’ is not an opening for bargaining,” Jules said, feeling herself getting angry despite her efforts to control it. “I said no, and that’s all there is to it.”

  “You can’t be serious! Just one of those gems would buy me a month with a dozen of the finest courtesans in Marandur!”

  “Then I suggest you use it for that purpose,” Jules said, giving him a warning look. “Because you’re not going to get anything from me for it.”

  Vlad leaned forward, his eyes on hers. “I know where you came from. You don’t have to give me this act like you’re some virginal innocent. I don’t mind that you probably had a lot of guys before you even left that legion orphan home. All that matters to me is that you’re not pregnant now, and I get to put my mark on the child you end up having. I’m offering you a very good payment for that!”

  Jules fought to keep from trembling with the anger that filled her. “You’d better leave.”

  “Wait. Is that it? You’re already pregnant? I’m too late? There’ll be another, won’t there?”

  “Get out.”

  “I won’t be treated this way! I’ve made a very generous offer!”

  Her dagger was in her hand even though Jules didn’t remember drawing it. She held the point near Vlad’s throat. “Leave now.”