The Orphans' Promise (35 page)

“By all the gods and their whores!” Rey shouted, momentarily forgetting Lana’s presence. “They’re going to board our ship too! They’re pirates!”

“If we hadn’t changed course, they would have left us alone!” Grigán complained as he went searching for his curved blade.

He came back with his bow and Bowbaq’s mace, but the giant refused, looking nauseated and weak.

“Thank you, my friend. You were right to tell me… that I needed to defend myself. But with a weapon… no. It’s unfair. Animals don’t have any. I want to fight, but without a weapon.”

“If you are barehanded and your enemy has a sword, that’s not exactly a fair fight either!”

“Grigán, have you seen the size of his fists? Is it really that unfair?” Rey hollered.

Corenn and Lana went down below deck, following Grigán’s orders. Léti stood firm, despite her aunt’s pleas for her to follow. Yan armed himself with the broadsword Léti was no longer using. His heart hammered in his chest, like everyone else’s. He thought for a moment that it would all be okay. It’s not like they would just ram right into each other.

Much to Yan’s surprise, the two boats did just that, and after the boats collided, three pirates jumped aboard the
Othenor
. Grigán put an arrow in the first one’s throat, and Rey put a
crossbow bolt into the second one’s stomach. He then stumbled and fell overboard.

Bowbaq grabbed the third by his ankle and lifted him up, flipping him upside down. He could still hear the dolphin’s pain and confusion ringing in his ears. He swung the man around his head twice and flung him overboard, before jumping on board the enemy ship.

The heirs looked at each other, surprised. Bowbaq had never shown such aggression. He had already lugged three men overboard before Rey and Léti could jump aboard the whaling ship and join the fight. Arrow after arrow, Grigán took care of the most dangerously armed pirates, shooting them down before they came near the unprotected giant. With an ease that filled her with a wild joy, Léti injured the first two who came at her. But she quickly regained focus and tried to stay calm.
Sharp mind.

The fight had only just begun, but already only five able pirates remained, and they were cowering away from their enemies on the opposite end of the ship. Léti and Rey came back aboard the sloop, but Bowbaq wasn’t finished. He first freed the injured dolphin, who fled with what remaining strength it had. Then, to Grigán’s dismay, Bowbaq disappeared below deck and out of sight. The warrior could no longer cover him. The giant quickly reemerged, though, and he joined his friends shortly after, wearing a satisfied expression on his face.

The whaling ship sunk below the waves before the
Othenor
had even sailed a half league.

“How big was the hole you made?” Yan asked, amused and happy that they had escaped so easily.

“Just big enough so they couldn’t plug it up,” the giant answered with a wink.

“Don’t you think that was a bit cruel?” Lana said timidly. “Those men will struggle to reach the coast.”

“They only have to ask the dolphins for help.” But Bowbaq wasn’t so cynical and added, “They have a small lifeboat. I detached it before leaving the ship. It will teach them a lesson.”

Corenn commented, “Still, we didn’t need to add this extra risk.”

“But yes! The heroes
always
sink the pirate ship,” Rey concluded, with a sense of humor that only he understood.

The first islands of the Land of Beauty appeared on the horizon at the apogee of the fourth day. If the western islands had been their destination, it would have taken them another two days to get there. Fortunately, according to Grigán’s memory, the island of Collection was located at the southern end of Great Island, the capital and largest island of the archipelago.

The
Othenor
hadn’t quite sailed past the first sandbar when a huge warship, which must have been a carrack, intersected their path and blocked the way. The heirs waited calmly for it to drift in closer.

“What do you think, Bowbaq, how big of a hole would you need to sink a boat that size?”

The giant shrugged his shoulders, choosing to ignore Rey’s joke. After the fact, Bowbaq was ashamed of his violent outburst, but the actor wouldn’t let any opportunity to tease him slip by.

The carrack and its crew were from Jez, but they had been hired by the king to serve the Land of Beauty. When the captain spoke, it was in the Guori tongue. None of the heirs spoke Guori. Grigán chose to answer in Jezac, yet another language he alone knew.

“We wish to go to Collection. The governor is our friend. It’s just a cordial visit.”

Each island’s tenant took the title of governor, which wasn’t far from reality, since each governor genuinely ruled their strip of land and held all the same powers as the Guori king, at least on their own land.

Grigán’s indifference relaxed the mercenaries. “Is he expecting you?” the Jez captain inquired.

“Unfortunately not. But he’ll be delighted to host us; I’m sure.”

Grigán hoped he wasn’t mistaken. It had been two years since he last saw Zarbone. It was possible he was no longer alive.

The mercenary captain volunteered to be their escort, an offer that was more order than courtesy. Yan steered the
Othenor
, trailing closely behind the carrack.

It occurred to Corenn that their small group of heirs didn’t include anyone from Jez. No descendant of Chief Ssa-Vez. Similarly, there was no descendant of Prince Vanamel, nor his counselor, Saat the Treasurer; the three emissaries who had perished during the expedition to Ji. Coincidence? Or was there an explanation, however complex it might be?

Her mind raced, making connections between other pieces of information, combining them to quickly form a new theory. The sudden clarity of it froze her with fear.

The queen had been spared from the Züu’s attacks for a long time. Their enemy might have kept her alive for a few extra dékades with the sole aim of setting a trap for the survivors, who would no doubt gather in Junine. Or then again… perhaps Séhane wasn’t on the blacklist?

The Mother quickly gathered her friends to debate the idea. From the very beginning of their journey, the heirs had learned to respect Corenn’s intelligence, and they listened to her attentively.

“Only children conceived after the wise ones’ return were invited to the reunions on the Day of the Owl,” she announced,
excited. “Were there heirs who were never invited? Let’s proceed by a process of elimination. The wise from Goran, Vanamel, and Saat never survived the expedition, and neither of them had children. Their case is easiest. But the others?

“Arkane of Junine and Chief Ssa-Vez of Jezeba were the only ones who were fathers before they set sail for Ji. Vez never came back. His descendants always avoided the reunions, and the current generation of his descendants surely knows nothing about the whole story.

“Which leaves Arkane. He had a son, Thomé, Séhane’s father, and no other children. Thomé participated in a few reunions, but he kept his children from them. Séhane wouldn’t have known anything about us if it weren’t for her grandfather’s legacy.

“She wasn’t a target for the Züu. She was in danger only after meeting us! She might even still be alive if we had avoided Junine… no amount of tears and regrets will change the past.

“The rest of us here, apart from Yan, are descendants of children who were conceived after the emissaries returned. Our enemy is trying to kill off only heirs like us. I think that Séhane was killed only as a preventative measure, to keep her from helping us.”

“What does it mean?” asked Lana.

“I don’t know. When we figure it out, we’ll know how to fight back. Still, it’s just an idea. If Vez’s offspring were attacked, the whole theory falls apart.”

“Unless our enemy wants to cover his tracks. Or maybe he has incomplete information. Perhaps he doesn’t want to take any risks,” Rey remarked. “In fact, we don’t know any more than we did before, no offense, Corenn.”

“There are so many things we don’t know,” the Mother said with a sigh. “Who is the Accuser? And why? Where do the portals lead? How do they work?”

“What did our ancestors live through?” Lana added.

“And who was Nol?” Léti continued. “And the Mog’lur?”

“And why is Bowbaq so huge?” Rey joked.

His interjection relaxed them all a little, and it was rewarded with a few smiles. Still, it was as if their minds were being swallowed up in a heavy, harrowing fog. If they didn’t find a few answers quickly, they might disappear into the fog forever.

The carrack, with its enormous sails, led the
Othenor
at a brisk pace. The Jez crew knew the archipelago’s waters well, its currents, reefs, and sandbars, so they could navigate easily through the maze that was presented by the Land of Beauty. They passed through stretches of water that the heirs would have hesitated to sail into alone.

The whole time, the mercenary captain didn’t speak a word to them, except once. Lana shuddered when Grigán translated. Had the Jez read their minds?

“They forbid us from going to that island over there,” the warrior repeated for his companions. “It is, of course, the Sacred Island of the Guoris.”

“I thought it was forbidden to step foot on any of the islands, anyhow?” Rey said.

“It is. They warned us to not even get close. It’s an extremely dangerous place. Not like that’s a surprise or anything,” he replied.

They all stared at the solitary island. It was covered in thick vegetation, and the only point of elevation was a bare hill that rose a few hundred yards above the greenery.

Yan added, “It’s becoming a habit of ours, visiting forbidden islands.”

“A specialty, even,” Rey clarified with a stilted air. “At least there won’t be any Züu on this one.”

They tried to not think about what they might find instead. Not all of the popular legends about Usul ended dramatically, but there was still a common theme of death and madness.

Lana had read somewhere that mortals would sometimes fall victim to the god’s vast knowledge, to his divine knowledge. Usul was He Who Knows. Eurydis was She Who Guides. The Maz couldn’t understand how Knowledge, one of the Eurydis cult’s three virtues, could be a source of torment.

Surprised, Corenn said, “The island isn’t guarded? I don’t see any ships, and there’s no sign of any structures on the island.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Grigán remarked. “The last time I came through, the place was teeming with ships. I wonder what this could mean?”

Bowbaq said with conviction, “It’s better this way. It will be easier.”

“Don’t be so sure…” the warrior said, scrutinizing the island with his eagle-eye vision, hoping to see some movement. But it was in vain. Soon the island disappeared behind another, and the mysterious place fell out of view.

Near the end of the day, they arrived at Collection. A Jez sounded a horn announcing their arrival, and an old man with a white beard wearing nothing but a loincloth appeared shortly thereafter. He walked along the beach to the little dock. Two Jez in a dinghy pulled in and announced the visit of a certain Ramgrith. The man waved excitedly to the
Othenor
. Their duty fulfilled, the two Jez men left shortly after. If Zarbone had denied knowing Grigán, or refused to host them, the Jez would have chased the heirs from the Land of Beauty.

“His island is enormous,” Léti exclaimed as Yan maneuvered the boat toward the dock. “It’s one of the biggest we’ve seen so far.”

Grigán confirmed, “He is very, very wealthy. Oddly, apart from pursuing his passion for collecting, he lives here like a Guori. He’s the strangest man I’ve ever met. Of course, that was before meeting you, Reyan.”

“I must return the compliment,” the actor responded, taken by surprise.

The
Othenor
slowly drew alongside the dock, and Grigán jumped out to tie up the boat. With the knots in place, he turned toward the skinny man, his skin bronzed by years of sun. Zarbone hugged him enthusiastically.

“It’s been a long time, you foul-mouthed Ramgrith, sword dragger, old pirate, you! I thought Aleb had finally caught up to you! You could have come to visit sooner!”