The Soldier's Lotus (27 page)

“
You don’t have to do
this,” said Saerileth. “You don’t have to prove anything to him.”

“
Yes, I do.”

“
Make sure you come
back safely,” said Saerileth. “I don’t want to have to explain to my Master why
his best friend was taken by the enemy.”

“
I promise I will be
back. Ulen trusts me because he knows how much I hated you.”

“
Do you still?” asked
Saerileth.

“
No.” He did not look
at her as he walked away, and Saerileth was left alone in the midst of the
Vadal
host.

Chapter Sixteen

The crash of sea-waves was a welcome sound to Darien. He
crouched atop the sheer cliff and peered out into the depthless night of the
ocean. The overcast sky muted everything and cast the shore in deep shadow. If
his old ship was out there, he would have to wait until dawn to see. Darien
looked around at the tufts of rough and thirsty grass that grew out of the
rocky soil. The coastline got more rain than the parched inland, but compared
to places up north, even here the precipitation was scant. It was not as cold
here as it was in the desert at night, so Darien did not bother to unpack his
wool blanket, instead making do with a thin cloak. He lay back and stared up
into the black sky, and he wished at that moment he could see the stars and the
twin moons rising above the sea to make their customary journey. He would spend
the night in peace and dream of Saerileth, she who was that brilliant moon
risen over his horizon.

Sleep claimed Darien with an alacrity that amazed him, for
when he woke with a start, he found that the sky had cleared, and the moons
hung directly overhead. The soft glow of their blue and red commingled light
was like dessert after a succulent main course. He had been dreaming of his
Lotus. But his nocturnal bliss vanished almost as quickly as he shook the
grogginess of sleep from his brain, for his soldier’s instincts alerted him to
the reason why he had suddenly awoken. Voices carried on the wind, and Darien
rolled over to look. A contingent of soldiers marched up the coast along the
cliff’s edge. They would be upon Darien in moments.

He counted over twenty men, all armed, most likely on
patrol. If they caught him, they would press him into service, or they would
kill him if they knew who he was or discovered what he was about. Darien
considered standing and unfolding himself, appealing to these men to turn
against the usurping dog Ulen and join his right and just cause. The soldiers
drew nearer, and Darien laughed to himself. His optimism would get him killed,
and though he would have loved nothing more than to cut down anyone who lowered
himself to march under Ulen’s flag, he knew he could never have defeated so
many single-handedly. So, Darien took the only course available to him: he
jumped off the cliff.

He knew the land. One time his ship had taken pirates here,
and when the sea-rats fled, he, Kamen, and a few other sailors who had proven
themselves in battle had taken a boat to shore in pursuit. They had chased the
pirates across the beach and up the coast to this very cliff. There was no way
up except to climb. The pirates had been cornered, and they had known it. They
had no choice but to try to climb. Some had stood their ground and died. The
pirate captain and his mates had climbed. Darien and Kamen had pursued, and
once they reached the top, they had chased the thieves down and slaughtered
them. The gold and jewels Darien took off the captain that day had bought him
his country house. As he hung by his fingers on the jagged rock-face, he chuckled
at the memory. And then he thought of Kamen. His smile disappeared.

The sounds of the soldiers’ marching boots faded away north
along the cliff, and Darien began his slow descent. He did not want to risk
sleeping up top; he would find some place to rest his head on the rocky beach
below. The moonlit beach was beautiful, and the foam of the waves glowed purple
in the night. From his altered perspective, Darien spied the mast of a ship
hidden in the nearby cove.

“There she is.” Darien’s heart burned in anticipation of
seeing
Mirsa’s
Crown
again.

Natural rock walls rose out of the sea, creating a small
entrance to the sheltered cove that a warship could barely sail through. Most
captains would not dare try the passage, for one slip would send the ship
crashing against the walls, and the hull would splinter and crumble. No one
wanted his ship at the bottom of the sea. But Darien had made the pass several
times, and he had taught his men how to do it, to sail in against the ebb and
leave against the flow. Counter-intuitive to be sure, but it worked. He was
pleased to see that Ruben, his former second-mate, captained the
Crown
so proficiently.

There was no way into the cove by land, for the same sheer
cliff upon which Darien had slept wrapped itself around the harbor like a city
wall. Darien would have to swim. He stripped naked and threw everything in his
pack, which he then tucked under one arm, and he waded out into the black
water. Sharp rocks jabbed into the soles of his feet, but his flesh was calloused
from years of marching. Once he was standing waist-deep, he stretched out and
swam. The cold ocean water thrilled him, invigorating him. He was home again.
He swam out far enough to swing around and bypass the wall, after which he
turned landward. The
Crown
sat glowing in the moonlight. Her sails were
furled, and all was quiet. She slept like a baby, and the subdued waves of the
cove rocked her like a gentle mother. Darien’s glee lent him strength to swim
faster, and he could not reach his ship soon enough.
His
ship?
No, indeed, for he had retired.
Though he
did not regret his decision – Saerileth was a greater good than any military
career – he longed for the sea again.

A voice cried out in the dark, and Darien was happy to see
that his men had not lost their vigilant edge. “Man overboard!”

The
Crown
came to life with activity, and soon a
dozen faces were peering over the edge, trying to make out who swam toward
them.

“Who goes there?”

Darien recognized Ruben’s voice.

“It is I, Darien.” He treaded water near the briny hull.

“Captain?”
Ruben’s face disappeared, and Darien heard him give order
to lower a net.

Darien was pulled aboard in short
order,
and all the men he knew so well crowded around him. They asked him a thousand
questions at once. Some smiled, others shouted for joy, and still others stood
silent and confused. Darien stood naked and dripping wet before them, and not a
few of the sailors stared with appreciation at the size of his pendulous cock.

Ruben silenced the commotion. “Quiet!” When things calmed
down, he embraced Darien. “What brings you here, Captain? We all thought you
died. We heard about your house.”

So Ulen had given out that he was dead. “Let’s talk alone,
if you don’t mind,
Captain
.” Darien leveled a knowing stare at Ruben,
hoping his former second-mate understood that there could only be one captain
aboard ship.

“Of course, Darien.”
Ruben held out his hand to lead the way to his
cabin.

Darien threw on some clothes. It was strange for him to
walk into his old quarters and realize they were not his. The decor was the
same, but the personal effects of the room gave it an altogether different
look. This was not Darien’s chamber anymore.

“A beer?”
Ruben closed the door.

“Yes, that’d be nice.”

Ruben gestured to the divan. “Have a seat, Captain.” It was
the same black velvet seat where he had first made love to Saerileth. “Sorry,
but you’re Captain of the
Crown
.”

“Not anymore.” Darien took the mug of beer offered him,
toasted the ship, and downed his beverage in two big gulps. “Congratulations on
your promotion. It gives me no end of joy to see that the navy was smart enough
to give you your own ship.”

Ruben drank his cup empty, too, put his hands on his hips,
and looked up and around the room. “I just hope I do well by her.”

“You have.”

Ruben nodded. “So, what are you doing here? You’ve got
something planned.”

“We need to neutralize the Zenji blockade of Arinport.”

Ruben nodded again, this time chuckling. “I figured you
might say something like that.” He tossed Darien an apple, which Darien deftly
caught.

Darien bit into the fruit, but he did not bother swallowing
before he continued speaking. “We need to take the
Crown
out and gather
other ships. They’re out there, just waiting for us, waiting for a leader to
take the fight to the enemy.”

“Of course, the ship is yours.”

Darien waved away the comment. “That’s not necessary. This
is your ship.”

“
Was
my ship.
The moment you came aboard, it became yours
again. The men will follow you up
Veirakai’s
asshole
if you ask them to.”

Darien sat forward on the divan. “They respect you, Ruben.”

“Respect me, sure.” Ruben came over and sat down beside
Darien. “But they love you. They worship you. Adore you.”

“That’s taking it a bit far.” Darien could not help but
think of Kamen.

Ruben reached over to the low table before him and took a
handful of dates in his hand. “I don’t think so. Regardless, the men will sail
into battle if you tell them to, even against Arinport itself. They need your
kind of leadership.”

Darien did not want to stand on false modesty. “I’ll take
the
Crown
if you want, but as soon as we take Arinport, she’s all yours
again.”

“Deal.”
Ruben extended his hand, and Darien shook it. “I’m going
to call common quarters tonight if we’re sailing out tomorrow. Want to join
us?”

“No, thanks.
You go ahead.”

Ruben slapped Darien on the knee and rose. “I’ll be back
soon.”

****

The next morning, all the men were assembled on the main
deck. Darien looked out over them from the quarterdeck and knew every face,
every name. The blue waves of the ocean and the clean sunlight that rained down
on Darien’s brown shoulders made it hard to believe that there was a war going
on, that men were going to die, and that the
Sunjaa
homeland was in the hands of a usurping murderer.

“Men of the
Crown
,” Darien called out, his voice
carrying above the roar of the sea. “Our home is held captive, our homes in the
hands of a homegrown enemy. Never have
Sunjaa
fought
Sunjaa
, nor do I plan to start a civil war today. Arinport
is blockaded by a Zenji fleet. I plan to strike the harbor and destroy the
foreign rats infesting our waters. Once the sea is ours, the city will be ours,
and we shall make Ulen
Ahnok
pay for his regicide. He
has shamed us in the eyes of the nations, and we must redeem our
Sunjaa
name and pride! Are we so weak that we resort to
knives in the dark and the murder of women? King
Jahen
is the rightful heir, the legal heir. We
Sunjaa
are
people of law. We always have been. If we lose that, we become less
Sunjaa
than if we interbreed with other races. Ulen is less
pure a
Sunjaa
than King
Jahen
is because Ulen is a usurper.”

The sailors nodded their heads and muttered to one another
in agreement.

“Ulen consorts with foreigners and uses them to terrorize
the populace.” Darien knew this was not true, but he could imagine how the
people of Arinport hated the Zenji fleet. Ulen obviously had had some Zenji
connection before the coup, for no one could have so quickly recruited an
entire fleet of foreign ships. He had something sufficient for the Zenji to
have gone to war for him. “What say you, men? Will you fight?”

The sailors roared out the affirmative.

Darien looked at Ruben, indicating that he may proceed.
Ruben, now first mate, raised the banner of King
Jahen
,
the royal seal of the snake eating its tail, and everyone looked on the flag in
silence.

****

Darien spent the next few days sailing up and down the
coast, rallying ships and men to King
Jahen’s
banner,
making the same speech more times than he ever wished to. But he did his duty,
and with every day that passed, his desire to see Saerileth grew. Darien never
took part in common quarters
;
 
he
had never much cared for it even before he met Saerileth, but
he had done it because it was the
Sunjaa
way. This
was temporary duty, however, and soon he would be back in Saerileth’s arms. He
had won his glories for the kingdom; he had taken pirate booty to last a
lifetime. All he wanted, after Ulen was defeated, was to live in peace with his
precious Red Lotus.