The Warrior's Tale (42 page)

A
s
you might
imagine, the meeting that followed was grim. We'd signalled by lantern what had happened to Cholla Yi's flagship and the others and called a captain's meeting at first light. It was purely by fortune that predawn light showed a low sandspit about a quarter-mile distant. That would be ideal - the conference had to be for officers only, with no possibility of eavesdropping, since the meeting would almost certainly be acrimonious. And so it was.

Each ship sent her captain and sailing master. We had to use one of the longboats, not only because of the theft of our gig, but I thought it necessary for both Corais and Polillo, in addition to Gamelan, Stryker and Duban, who'd been promoted from rowing master to Klisura's position, to be present. Duban, who I liked no better now than when he was bellowing at the oarsmen as if they were slaves, immediately had to wonder why it was necessary for
three
women to go, especially when two of them ranked no higher than his mates. I didn't answer, since any explanation would've been insulting -
I
wanted at least two people I could trust at my back at a council with these pirates.

Stryker kept muttering aloud that he couldn't believe what had happened. How in all the wet hells could every damned one of us be bound by The Sarzana's spell? Gamelan reminded Stryker he'd already seen greater sorceries - the wall that had been quickly rebuilt around Lycanth or the Archon's last spell that cast us into these strange seas.

'Th't be different,' Stryker said. 'Volcanoes
...
walls
...
but not somethin' like this. One of us should've seen, dammit! Seems t' me, there should've been a moment somebody, anybody could've know'd better!'

'There was such a moment,' Gamelan said quiedy. 'Captain Antero was graced with it.'

Stryker nodded sombrely. 'Guess th't's better'n nothin'. Sure makes yer wonder, what would've happened if'n nobody'd caught on, and we'd a just sailed right into whatever th' devil intended fer the likes of us. And I wish t' hell she'd seen the light back on th't damned island.'

On the islet, the meeting broke into the predicted storm, after I'd given the details on The Sarzana's flight. Cholla Yi alternated between rage and bluster at how Gamelan and I had failed. I pointed out no one had
exactly
shown much second sight concerning The Sarzana, which made Cholla Yi's bellowing louder.

'What of it? None of
us
have pretended magical abilities! None of
us
spent nearly as much time in the company of that damned pretender as you two. None of
us—'

Gamelan interrupted: 'What you say is true, Admiral. But the past is sealed in amber. What happened, happened. It seems our time should be best spent trying to figure out what comes next.'

'Next? How can we be plan anythin',' Stryker said in his near-whisper, 'here on strange seas, knowin' we've loosed a demon? How does we know what Th' Sarzana's got in his noggin' fer us, once he lands on friendly shores. Won't he cast some kind'a spell so's no on
e’ll
know he escaped? Dead men have still tongues.'

'I don't think he'll bother,' Gamelan said.

'Worse yet, then,' Duban growled. 'Wonder how long it'll take before somebody figures out how he got off Tristan and goes looking to scupper whoever cut him free?'

There were mutters from the other captains. One of them, Meduduth, burst into blind rage: 'This gods-cursed expedition is dooming us all! We should've never sailed on this booby's task in the first place! We should've held firm at Lycanth, and demanded our gold and the hell with what the friggin' Orissans and their damned pervert bitches wanted!'

Steel whispered from its sheath, and Corais blurred across the sand. Meduduth yelped and leaped back, but the point of her sword was at his throat. Other hands went for their blades, and both Polillo and I had ours half-drawn.

'O
ne more word,' Corais said tightl
y, 'one more, shitheel, and that shall be your last.'

'Stop!' I shouted, and Corais came to herself, and stepped back, but didn't lower her blade. 'We don't have time for any of this! The
Sarzana is loose, and we loosed him. As Gamelan said, what now? Admiral? What are your suggestions?' Corais calmed, resheathed her sword and stepped back beside me. But her eyes stayed on the ship captain.

I'd deliberately turned the discussion to Cholla Yi. If he had any ability to lead, beyond his talent at chicanery and brutality, he'd best show it now. Finally, he forced composure, breathing deeply. I knew he was more angry than any of us not just because all rogues fancy themselves perfect judges of character, even though they're
mostly
the quickest fooled; but also because he must've been counting on The Sarzana's invitation to join his banner for loot and gold. Cholla Yi growled, and plucked at his beard, but the ruddiness faded somewhat from his cheeks, as he thought.

'I see nothing good,' he finally confessed. 'No shining strategies open before me, save one, and that I won't mention, since it's barely worth laughing at.'

'No one will laugh,' I said. 'We are all equally fools, it appears.'

'Very well,' the admiral said. 'My only thoughts are these: what are the chances of The Sarzana making it safely ashore, to a friendly isle? If what you said is right, Captain Antero, and your suspicions sent signals to him, although I must wonder how in the hell you, of all people, managed to slip free from his incantation; he must've fled before he planned, which suggests he might not have ended at his planned destination. Perhaps he fell on a lee shore, or, better, in the company of cannibals.' Cholla Yi tried, and failed, to look hopeful.

'Damned doubtful,' one of the other captains, Kidai, put in. 'I've never known a scoundrel to do anything convenient.'

Cholla Yi nodded soberly. 'Maybe, Captain Antero, you could prepare a spell with Gamelan's help, and confirm whether or not
...'
his voice trailed off. 'No. Forgive me. I wasn't thinking. Even I know that'd be like lighting a beacon in a mist. Forget I spoke of that. Let's do nothing that might attract that demon's sorcerous eye.' He thought again, then brightened. 'Maybe I've put too harsh a face on things,' he said. 'Perhaps no one'll find out we loosed this scourge until we've somehow found our course back towards home.'

Gamelan shook his head. 'I wish I could sustain your hope, Admiral. But that's not very likely. We've got to assume Konya has wizards as powerful as The Sarzana, since they were able to topple him. When someone with his power suddenly reappears, there'll be many conjurations made, and all of them will be trying to find out how he broke his bonds. No, we can't assume we'll not be netted with the blame, at least not for very long.'

'Suppose we turn back now,' Polillo tried. 'Could we resupply back on Tristan, and then sail due east, towards familiar seas? Maybe sail a little to the north, in the hope we can avoid those reefs and volcanoes that blocked us, in the hope of striking familiar land, Jeypur or even Laosia, whose coast we could follow back to Orissa?'

Both Stryker and Gamelan started to say something, and Gamelan indicated the captain should speak first.

'I sure don't want t' throw them dice,' he said. 'You can figure it'll be a long damned sail. On seas we don't know more about th'n a half-a-copper whore knows gold when she sees it. If we had charts, maybe. But th' way she lays, I susp'ct the men won't hold firm fer long.'

I knew what he was thinking and agreed - these officers held their commands by force, luck and consensus. Mutiny could never be further away than one order t
hat rang false to these disgruntled seamen. These rootl
ess freebooters might easily overthrow their officers, murder us, and hoist the black flag. They might think they were as likely to find fortune as pirates here as back in more familiar waters around Orissa. Besides:

'Even if they would,' I said, 'would we be able to find Tristan again? Wouldn't the same spell The Sarzana laid to keep the Konyans from finding the island, assuming he spoke truth, work against us, since we're surely now his enemies?'

'It would,' Gamelan said. 'That was just what I was about to say. No. We can't turn back.'

'We sure as hell can't just sail on blindly,' Phocas, Cholla Yi's sailing master snapped.

'Of course not,' I said. 'We have the stick map, and now we know, since we've seen other islands, it's a true model. If we could manage to decipher it fully, we wouldn't be sailing blind.'

'Still ain't good enough,' Stryker said.

'No,' I agreed. 'But I don't see anyone having a better plan. I suggest this - we sail on, south and west. We should look for the most civilized island we can find. We sail in, boldly, and tell the truth - or at least a bit of it. We claim to be an exploratory expedition that lost its way. We come from a great mercantile empire, and seek to open trading routes with the west. It would be of great benefit for someone to aid us and give us directions back towards our own lands. Also we can hint it'd be dangerous to obstruct us, since our country has powerful magicians who'll seek revenge if harm comes to us. Maybe we can get a spell from one of their wizards, or better yet, since there'll be less possibility of our part in The Sarzana's escape being discovered by magic, sailing directions from a navigator or ship's captain. Perhaps they've got Guilds for deepwater seamen, as Redond does.'

There were mutters of approval. Stryker hissed, a noise that I thought signified support. Cholla Yi looked at the other sailors, and nodded his great head.

'Possibly,' he said. 'Possibly. At least your plan is a bold one, and we won't have to slink around until we're found out. Not at all bad, for a woman, and not dissimilar from what I myself had been about to suggest.'

Corais and Polillo stiffened, but showed no other sign of resentment. It didn't matter at all to me if Cholla Yi wanted to hog credit for this plan - if my vague idea could even be given that much of a name. I also chose to ignore the jab about it coming from a woman. Cholla Yi would never change.

'The most important thing,' I went on, 'is we'll have to move quickly. I sense Gamelan's right - sooner or later, our role in unloosing The Sarzana will be discovered. It'd be best if we were long gone from these islands they call Konya before that.'

So it was agreed. We'd sail on. Any landfall would be compared to the stick map, to see if we could begin triangulating our location and start drawing our own map of these seas and islands.

When we returned to the ship, Gamelan drew me aside. 'I think you did come up with the best idea, Rali, even though it's far from perfect, as you said. There's but one problem we haven't considered.'

'The Sarzana,' I said.

'Yes. I don't need any magic to know he'll begin working to regain his throne as rapidly as possible, by blood and spells, which is another reason for us to be out of this region quickly. Also, there is the blood-debt we've incurred in unleashing him.'

'I know.' That weighed heavily on me. There was a stain on us all, even though we committed our crime unknowingly, under the influence of sorcery. 'How'll we make recompense? Or, at least, be shriven?'

'I don't know,' Gamelan said heavily. 'I don't know. But I do know it will have to be paid.'

As our ships set full sail once more, Corais joined me on the quarterdeck. I n
oticed she had a strip of brightl
y patterned silk tied around her biceps. 'You've sworn an oath?'

Corais nodded. 'I tore this from one of the robes The Sarzana left behind. It'll remind me how I was shamed by that bastard. I vow, Rali, to you, to Maranonia, to Te-Date and to my own hearth god, that when next we meet
...
and I sense we aren't free of him yet
...
that I'll pay him back in blood for what he did to me!'

For several days we saw little civilization. The isles we passed were small and rocky, and the few villages we saw clinging to their sides would hardly give us either the magician or navigator we sought. A few times we chanced hailing fishing boats, and bought fish for our supper with a gold coin. A few coppers would've been sufficient, but we wanted information as well. I invited them on board, and casually chatted about their lives to lead into questions about what we really sought.

There was little to be learned. Each island was independent, and had
little
contact with another, or with what one fisherman called 'the men of the lights' further south and deeper into the archipelago. Sailing was hazardous beyond this island group where the sea was open, with
little
land except the reefs and ship-rending stacks known as the Giants' Dice, where the ocean currents pulled your vessel into their embrace.

They explained why they never dealt with the Konyans further south. Neither had anything the other wanted. No, they knew of no noted sorcerer, and were most grateful they didn't. One fisherman said he'd heard stories of a great war between lords and magicians some time gone, one that had ended in the defeat of the wizards. He told us, and swore it was true, sea demons had been raised to bring them down. I guessed he'd heard tales of The Sarzana's defeat. The only diviners he knew about were the village witches, which were all they needed to call the fish, and maybe provide a bagged wind to drive a boat safely home or, failing that, a
little
weather-luck to keep boats from getting caught in the storms.