Scimitar Sun (42 page)

*I do not know the stars as well as you, Quickfin. I would not know if a whole new god was born in the sky this night! Do you really think the sea goddess aided the flaming one?* Chaser asked. He doubted that Tailwalker had actually felt the power of the gods.

*I don’t know, but it would be interesting; sea and fire in truce.* He gave a flip of his tail and moved to follow the ship north. *Next we will hear of seamages and firemages mating!* He fluttered his gill slits in laughter, enjoying the idea of such a fanciful jest.

Chaser laughed also, but his thoughts would not be silent. He surfaced again and looked long at the stars, wondering.

Aboard the ship they followed, a seamage sat comfortably on deck looking up at the stars. There was, indeed, a new star in the sky; it shone at the tip of Odea’s tail, just north of the circle of fire that crowned Phekkar’s brow.

And she also wondered.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Danger Below

Starlight filtered down through the clear water, the only light from the world of the landwalkers. Eelback scorned it as he led the school toward their goal. Mer could see by the flash and glitter of phosphor-glow alone, accustomed to the deep places in the sea where no light ever came. They needed nothing from the world of the landwalkers and had no trouble navigating the waters west of Plume Isle, edging along the reefs to the narrow gap that led to the seamage’s bay. Here they found their quarry; the smaller of the two warships floated overhead, blocking the entrance to the channel. Two great hooks on heavy hawsers had been dropped onto the reef, gouging the living coral.

Eelback called his six school leaders together. Their schools massed behind them, and his own cadre hovered nearby. All awaited his orders.

*The landwalkers see fit to defile our home with their iron hooks? So be it!* He motioned to one of his leaders, and signed, *Brightfin! Bind their hooks in place! Jumper, take your school and place the augers deep in the sand, there and there. Blacktail, your task is most critical! Assemble the drake killer there, on the sand flats. Gilly, take your group and tie ropes around the ship’s rudder, but be very careful that the landwalkers do not see or hear you. Tie them to the north auger bolt.*

The four school leaders swam off, marshaling their schools and seeing to their tasks. He turned to the last two leaders and signed, *Drakebite and Speckletail, take your schools and follow the larger ship. It sails in a pattern. I must know this pattern to time our attack. We must draw that ship in close for our attack to succeed. Do not be seen!*

*Yes, Eelback!* they signed, taking their schools into deeper water.

Eelback looked around at the activity, the flurries of phosphor-glow with the flipping tails and fluttering fins, and an irrepressible smile of satisfaction spread his lips. Kelpie swam up from behind him, commanding his attention.

*You have taken us to war, Eelback,* she signed, a heavy sadness evident in her posture. *Many will die this day. I hope it is what you wanted.*

*Many
landwalkers
will die, priestess of Odea, but you know that this has little to do with what I truly want.* His smile remained undiminished as he watched her. *You know what that is, Kelpie. I want the mer to be what they once were; I want us to be great once again!*

*And to do this, you ask me to betray a friend.* He could see the indecision and conflict in her.

*The seamage will come, and you will see with which school her loyalties swim.*

*Yes, Eelback, we will see,* she signed, her luminous eyes never leaving his. *As we will see where your own loyalty swims.*

She swam away before he could reply, and he felt a tug at his tail. He turned to his three most trusted allies.

*She is dangerous,* Slickfin signed, flicking her tail in anger. *You should not have told her of our plans. She will divulge them to the whole school!*

*She will not betray us, Slickfin. Not until it is too late, and then it will not matter.* He gestured patience, quelling the angry flicks of Sharkbite’s tail and the nervous twitch of Redtail’s gill slits. *We need her, but we must time this properly. She must be near us when the seamage arrives. Then we will act, and she
will
be with us.* He nodded to Sharkbite, and signed, *Whether she wants to be or not.*

≈

“Lots of sea faeries tonight, sir,” the officer of the watch said, saluting as the captain of the
Fire Drake
came on deck. “I was just about to call you about it.”

“Thank you, Mister Lafferty.” Captain Altan returned the salute and surveyed the deck. All seemed in perfect order; the night watch was stationed at intervals between the shrouded catapults, facing outward or walking short circuits. None were lounging or dozing. A glance told him that the
Lady Gwen
and
Clairissa
were both on station, the former anchored securely about half a mile to the north, well out of danger should hostilities break out, the latter sailing her circuit, tacking ponderously back and forth to leeward. All was well.

“Let’s have a look, then, shall we?” He nodded to the young man, a lad of about twenty whose father was a ranking priest in some temple or other.

“Yes, sir.” The young ensign gestured toward the starboard rail. “They’re brightest over here in the deeper water, sir.”

The captain strolled to the rail and leaned out over the thick bulwark to look down into the dark, crystalline water. Green glowing lights flickered, and even with only starlight he could see large shapes moving. He noted the tidal flow and the set of the riding sails, and looked again down into the depths at the luminous shapes. It was a captain’s job to worry, and Altan was a good captain: cautious, skilled and not afraid of sharp action when the moment called for it.

“Well, the tide’s ebbing, so it’s probably just fish feeding on whatever flows out of the bay. I’ve seen the like outside Tsing Harbor on occasion.” He nodded to the ensign and clapped him on the shoulder. “Good to bring it to my attention, Mister Lafferty. We are, after all, in hostile waters. Call up Sergeant Torrance, please, and have him put a double watch on deck. And signal
Clairissa
of our findings, also.”

“Aye, sir! What should I tell them, sir?”

“Signal ‘ware below, possible danger.’ That ought to get their ears perked up.”

“Aye, sir!”

The ensign dashed off to relay the orders and Captain Altan turned back to the rail, placing his broad hands on the oiled wood and gazing down into the depths, exercising his captain’s prerogative to worry.

≈

“You must understand how this seemed to me when I first arrived,” Count Norris said, handing his empty cup and saucer to one of the keep’s staff and resuming his stroll back and forth across the expansive balcony. He looked down at Timothy as he passed one of the two broad papasan chairs; the boy was dozing, having tried diligently to stay awake, but the adults’ conversation had lasted all of the afternoon, through dinner, and well into the late evening. He brushed the boy’s sun-bleached hair and smiled. “I came to this place and saw a stronghold, fortified and defensible, the home of a powerful mage rich enough to build her own fleet of ships. Ships that could out-sail anything on the sea, mind you, including the emperor’s warships. I saw an even more powerful heir to Bloodwind.”

“I do see, Emil,” Camilla said, sipping her blackbrew and breathing in the soothing night breeze. “And I appreciate your position. You are the emperor’s eyes and ears in a potentially hostile territory. You believed Cynthia Flaxal was a threat, and I could not convince you otherwise. You did what you thought best.”

“I did what I thought
imperative
!” he said, unapologetic. “But now…” he waved a hand at the bay before them, glittering in the starlight, calm and serene. “With all you have told me, and all Timothy has said about Cynthia Flaxal, I feel that I made a grave error.” He turned to her and stopped; admittedly she was a lovely creature, and with a wit as sharp as any marine’s cutlass. Conversing with her was a delight, regardless of whether she agreed with him or fought him tooth and nail on every word. This place, his son, and this…this amazing woman had made him see things so differently than he had seen them only that very morning. “I feel as if I have woken from a dream…no, from a nightmare! And I have you to thank for it, Camilla.”

“I just hope that your revelation is not too late.” She stood and put her cup and saucer on the server’s tray, stifling a yawn. “Cynthia will have to deal with the mer, but we should be able to act before things get out of hand. She tells me that they are often rash, but a swift action should preempt their wrath.”

“I hope so.” He turned to look out over the bay once again, and she joined him at the balcony’s railing, her slim hands on the smooth stone. “I will contact Commodore Twig in the morning and recommend that the
Clairissa
and
Fire Drake
return to Tsing. We will bring the
Lady Gwen
into the harbor to avoid any anchoring problems.” He turned to her and smiled, genuinely amazed that he felt so changed; so honestly renewed. “Will that suffice?”

“Yes, milord Count,” she said, smiling at him, her face a vision in the subdued light. “That will suffice quite nicely. And now, I must say goodnight.”

“In the morning, then,” he said, taking her hand and bending over it, brushing his lips against her smooth knuckles.

“In the morning.” She curtsied, color rising to her cheeks as she turned. She reached down to rouse Tim, but Norris touched her arm.

“Let him sleep here. I’ll be nearby if he wakes.”

She looked up at him, her face unreadable. “He’s been through a lot, you know,” she said, and he could hear in her voice that she knew more about what his son had been through than anyone should know. He knew more about her now, too: the hell that Bloodwind had put her through, and the revenge she claimed by putting a dagger into the pirate lord’s heart.

He also knew what Bloodwind had promised her.

“We’ve all been through a lot, milady,” he said, remembering the years of bitterness at his loss. “And we’ve all survived it.”

“Yes, Emil, we have.” She smiled up at him, then turned and left him standing in the waning lamplight next to his sleeping son.

≈

The entry grotto stood open, only a single sentry swimming guard to confront Tailwalker as he arrived, gills pumping with exhaustion. Looking past, into the main grotto, he could see few lights; even for this late at night, the place was unduly quiet. The guard recognized him and moved aside, his lance dipping out of the way.

*Welcome, Tailwalker.*

*Thank you, Blackscales,* he signed to the guard, gesturing curiosity with a cock of his head. *The grotto is quiet. What has happened?*

*The grotto is
empty
, or very near so,* the other signed, his own posture showing a hint of irritation. *The Voice spoke and we are at war with the landwalkers. Eelback takes our school to the grotto of the seamage where warships have anchored. Only a few remain here, those who have young broods and those who must guard.*

*Eelback leads them?* he signed, realizing what must have happened: while he, Quickfin and Chaser were absent, Eelback had taken the opportunity to martial the school to his cause. At the guard’s nod, he signed, *My father, the Trident Holder?* he asked.

*Broadtail is in his grotto, Tailwalker. The Voice allowed him to stay with his new brood. The warships are strong, and we would not risk our Trident Holder in the fight.*

*Thank you, Blackscales. I regret that I was not here for The Voice.*

*And I regret that I was chosen to stay and guard,* he signed with a nod and a tail-flick of irritation.

Tailwalker nodded his understanding and darted off to his father’s grotto. The channels and tunnels of the mer city were eerily quiet, and he wondered how large a force had been sent to confront the landwalker warships. He knew how persuasive Eelback could be.

Outside Broadtail’s grotto he made the deep thrum of announcement and waited. He fidgeted nervously, wondering if his father had decided to go to battle after all. He made the call again, and almost instantly the draping curtain of woven weeds was swept aside and his father swam there, his colors flushed with irritation.

*Tailwalker!* The Trident Holder’s colorations swept through the spectrum, from irritation to joy to anger, then back to a more subdued displeasure. *Your jaunt to follow the seamage to the burning island went well, I hope?*

*Father, much has happened, both here and at the burning island.* He ducked his head in respectful submission. *I regret not informing you that I was going with Chaser, but let us put that in our wake and discuss matters. The firemage that Seamage Flaxal’s Heir has befriended has gained Odea’s blessing as well!*

*Odea’s blessing!* Broadtail backpaddled his fins, retreating into his grotto and motioning for Tailwalker to follow. *How could Odea give her blessings to a firemage?*

*I do not know, Father,* he signed as he entered, noting immediately the disarray of a home with a new brood of finlings. Items that were usually carefully stored in nooks and crevices of the coral walls were strewn all over the floor, or floated about on the eddies of current. The tiny faces of a dozen or so of the finlings, almost as long as his hand now, peeked out from behind some of the items, and from the nooks where the items belonged. The sight lightened his heart — his sisters and brothers were growing quickly — but the matters at hand still weighed heavily on him. *I felt Odea’s power come with that of the fire god, Father. I do not know why it happened, but when the sun was but a crescent, their power came together and the mountain’s fire rose up on the winds.*

*This is news indeed!* Broadtail signed, swishing his tail in thought. *This could mean…*

*That Seamage Flaxal’s Heir was right!* Tailwalker finished for him, flipping his tail excitedly. *Odea has befriended the burning god, as she has befriended the firemage!*