Dead reckoning, p.7
Dead Reckoning, page 7
“There’s a set of stairs up onto the terrace straight ahead,” she whispered. “I’d prefer a less direct path that doesn’t tell that Fae where we’re headed, but we can’t let those two fools linger up there.”
“Agreed.”
I glanced back over my shoulder. Thaitheoir was already gone. I wondered how he’d pulled that off, but I decided not to dwell on it. Haershore was a strange place full of even stranger people.
We cut down a branching path cleverly hidden—I refuse to believe anything about that island was an accident—behind a pair of overlapping palm fronds. Fresh footprints in the brown dirt told us we were on the right track. The foliage here was dense and uncannily similar to that in the wilderness back home, with just a few small differences that told me they weren’t the exact same species with which I was familiar. It was like that jungle was a slightly updated version of the one around my former home. Though I had never heard of Brennik’s Reach having an orphanage, I wondered exactly where that grain of sand Orlaith had used to create Haershore had come from.
“They’ve been pulling this garbage since we were kids,” Elenwe grumbled, clearly fed up with the mischievous pair we were tracking. “The elders warned them it would get them both in trouble someday, but they never listened. Idiots.”
“We’ll stop them, and save them from themselves,” I replied, unsure of what else I could offer.
“Thank you for your help with this,” she added a few steps later. “I was worried what the older members of the crew would think, and Blue just shrugged and went back to his nap.”
I chuckled. “He hates the wilderness.”
The humid jungle accompanied us all the way to the stone wall at the end of the trail. A set of stairs carved into the rock led up to the terraced orchards. The tracks we’d followed ended right below the first step. Something in the air here was different, as if it bore a weight other than the cloying humidity.
“Let’s hurry,” Elenwe said, taking the steps two at a time. I followed, climbing more carefully. We wouldn’t be helping anyone if we fell and broke our ankles.
We were both panting when we reached the top of the stairs and stepped onto the terrace. I took a quick glance back the way we had come, looking down at the jungle and out at the rest of Haershore beyond. It was beautiful. The huts in which we’d slept looked so small from up there.
“They went this way,” Elenwe said, pointing at another set of prints in the dark soil. The trail led into an orchard of wispy silver trees. Red leaves trimmed with a slender gold edge dangled from their gently drooping branches.
“You think they’ll actually taste a piece of this fruit?” I asked as we continued.
“I wouldn’t,” she said firmly. “Something in this place isn’t right. It’s forbidden for a reason.”
I was relieved she felt it too; those little trees were very pretty, but I couldn’t shake the feeling we weren’t wanted there.
“Of course,” she continued, “that sense of danger will intrigue Jeen and A’len all the more.”
I realized as we progressed that none of the trees we passed bore fruit. Perhaps they were out of season, or maybe everything in this orchard had already been harvested. Somehow, I knew we wouldn’t be so lucky.
“Do you feel like we’re being watched?” I whispered.
“Of course we’re being watched. Rutting Fae.”
We froze at the sound of voices off to our left—clearly Mana’Olai, and clearly arguing with each other.
“Run!” Elenwe said, and we did.
I prayed we weren’t too late. My thoughts danced with visions of our friends greeting us with smiles, the juice of forbidden fruit running down their faces, just as the ground opened up so Haershore itself could swallow them.
We found the pair deeper in the orchard, arguing beside one of the ethereal trees. This one bore a single fruit, a fist-sized orb that bowed the whole tree almost double. The fruit’s golden rind radiated with light, as if it were a tiny sun.
“Eat it,” A’len said to Jeen, pointing at the fruit. “Just one bite. No one will notice.”
Jeen looked at it indecisively. “Well…”
“Don’t you dare!” Elenwe shrieked. Both men about leapt out of their shoes. With that fire in her voice, I wondered why, exactly, she felt like she needed my help. She stormed right up to the men and shoved each of them right in the chest.
Strangely, they looked to me while stumbling through their embarrassed excuses.
“We wasn’t really gonna do it!” Jeen promised, bowing deeply.
“Just wanted to see what was up here,” A’len added, “an’ make sure none o’ the others were misbehavin’.”
I didn’t know how to respond. No one in Brennik’s Reach had ever looked to me for direction. I really didn’t like the way they’d ignored Elenwe—but I realized then that they were idiots, and that to them she was just the girl they’d grown up with, while I was the newcomer with the magic journal and the captain’s ear.
“She told me she wanted to skin you both alive,” I said as strongly as I could. “Maybe she should.”
Their eyes nearly jumped out of their skulls. Another round of platitudes ensued. Elenwe favored me with a smirk.
“Let’s go, kids,” she growled. “There’s sails to mend, a larder to reload, an’ all manner o’ tasks just beggin’ for the attention of two strappin’ young lads such as yourselves.”
We turned back the way we came, content with a job well done. I sure felt accomplished. Not only had I kept my promise to Tarik and Apo, but I’d impressed Elenwe and shored up my standing with the rest of the crew in the process. All it had taken was a few stern sentences.
This being a leader stuff didn’t seem so hard. I couldn’t wait to tell Nicolette.
Behind us, something wooden snapped. Leaves rustled. Elenwe and I turned back once again. A familiar looming presence manifested at my side.
“Oh,” Thaitheoir said sadly, “he really should not have done that.”
Jeen held the tree’s lone fruit in his guilty hand. He shrugged. “Figured I could eat it at sea.”
Ever been in an orchard when every tree around you decides to shiver and wail? Please trust me, Your Highness: it is a most unsettling experience. Rattles the bones, it does. Doubly so when the fruit your crewmate is holding opens its own mouth and joins in on the noise.
Yes, Your Highness, that fruit was indeed a Fae child. I fail to see why you think that is so funny.
All around me, the strange trees rose out of the soil and twirled. It would have been beautiful if it hadn’t been so obviously threatening. Where the trees came to rest, they were suddenly shaped like lij—with bark for skin, gold-red leaves where they should have had hair, and deep pits for eyes and mouths. They shrieked again, louder this time, and even Thaitheoir flinched.
Jeen, clearly scared beyond all comprehension, dropped the fruit child.
The Fae went silent. The sudden lack of noise could not have felt more ominous. What would they do to Jeen—to us—if their child had been injured? For several long moments, no one, mortal or not, dared move.
“Vardallian,” Theo hissed, “these feirnann are very, very angry…”
And then the fruit child shrieked. That ear-piercing scream was a relief, but also a final warning.
“Run!” I screamed. And we did.
— CHAPTER EIGHT —
Luckily, those Fae were much more concerned with the safety of their child than with enacting justice upon its would-be kidnapper. The few that gave chase simply couldn’t keep up. Wooden joints are not made for speed.
Or perhaps they knew that the lady of Haershore would take care of the vengeance part for them.
“We must tell my mistress,” Theo insisted as we descended the staircase, confirming my earlier suspicions. “Honesty could earn mercy.”
“Then that’s our next stop,” I declared, mostly because I was very, very afraid. “Jeen, A’len, I hope you know how to grovel.”
When we reached the forest floor, Elenwe smoothly slapped each of them in the back of the head. “I will skin the two of you after you get the rest of us out of this,” she snarled, “and I will sew your hides together an’ wear them on my wedding day!”
I didn’t want to think about that, so I leaned in close to Thaitheoir. “Thank you for being helpful,” I said, fully aware that he’d had every reason not to be.
“You are my crew now,” he replied proudly. “Even the stupid ones.”
The Fae really are full of surprises, Your Highness.
And so, we returned to the spire, my throat tightening with every step through that sort-of-familiar jungle. Though I agreed with Theo that it was best to deal with this problem head on, I still dreaded the upcoming confrontation. What unspeakable Fae punishment awaited Jeen? How many of the rest of us might be dragged into it? Worse, what if the child Jeen had attempted to steal and save for a mid-voyage snack turned out to be related to Orlaith? I shuddered at every thought. Jeen, to his credit, marched steadily forward, prepared to meet his fate.
“I’ll not let the rest of you take the heat for this,” he said sadly as we emerged from the jungle. Elenwe clapped him on the shoulder. The rest of us stayed right in step with him, saying what we needed to without uttering a word.
Across the empty clearing, Orlaith’s spire awaited, sturdy and strong and ready for our arrival. My time with the lady of Haershore had been too brief, and I’d hoped to return under better circumstances. I wondered if Thranax had seen that episode in the orchard through the mark on my chest. Had he found it funny? Assuming the shuen have a sense of humor, of course.
Several steps later, the door at the base of the spire swung open. A familiar form in a big red coat hobbled out. It was good to see Ulysses on his feet again, but I couldn’t help worrying about what his appearance portended. That coat appeared to be swallowing him.
He greeted us with about three-quarters of his usual smile. “I needed to get out,” he said warmly, “and I have news.”
“So do we,” I said, taking a deep breath.
We wound up talking over each other. “Thranax and L’Vaillee are here and demanding an audience,” he explained as I said, “There was an incident with the feirnann in the orchard.”
A beat passed as we digested each other’s words.
“Hmmm…” he said, that familiar mischievous twinkle sparkling to life in his tired eyes.
— CHAPTER NINE —
Though I hadn’t been on Haershore long, seeing Count L’Vaillee step onto its dock felt just like the day Rocher and his men had invaded my home.
“Greetings and salutations!” our nemesis called out as he strode off the craggy shuen vessel and onto the dock. I couldn’t see what manner of sea creature supported that little coral platform, but there was no doubt that something was under there. The count wore a crisp military uniform and held his hands behind his back. The rapier with which he’d dueled Ulysses swung at his hip. Behind him, a trio of shuen watched from their little vessel, alien and mysterious.
This was not an alliance I’d been expecting, but I knew exactly where he and Thranax had found a common enemy.
“Count L’Vaillee,” Lagash said brusquely at my side. “I’ve heard much about you.”
It had been decided that the captain and I would greet L’Vaillee together, with a dozen well-armed men and women on the shore behind us if we required assistance. Our honor guard was all older pirates—which made me worry that the incident in the orchard had led to the newer Mana’Olai sailors falling out of favor. My role, so I’d been told, was to be a silent reminder of our previous victory over the count. I wasn’t sure I felt up to that task.
The Nefazo lord bowed dramatically. “And I, of course, have heard all about the daring exploits of the Black Yonnix and her infamous captain and crew. Had I known such esteemed guests were planning to visit my home, I would’ve prepared a more appropriate welcome—but alas, events proceeded as they had to.”
Something in his tone left no doubt in my mind that his idea of an appropriate welcome would have resulted in our heads being paraded across the dance floor atop tall pikes.
“What do you want?” Lagash asked gruffly.
“Payment for what was stolen and what was damaged. Satisfaction for the harm inflicted upon my name and my family.” He paused. “And my niece, I suppose.”
Nicolette would have gelded him for that. I wondered where she was. She hadn’t been at our huts when I’d returned, and Blue and the others had been suspiciously evasive about where she’d gone. Surely her disappearance right upon her uncle’s arrival wasn’t a coincidence, though I dared not guess what it meant. I only hoped she was safe, and that she hadn’t also been tempted by the otherworldly orchards.
“You can have the girl,” Lagash said. “The rest is up for discussion.”
I barely suppressed a very unmanly squeak. After everything she’d done to help us in the palace, was Lagash really going to just hand Nicolette back to her scumbag uncle, who had executed her parents to acquire his title? There was no telling what he’d do to her. Nicolette’s disappearance became all the more worrisome. I wanted to ask about her, but I bit my tongue.
“It’s a start,” the count replied. “Can we continue our negotiations somewhere more comfortable than this dock?”
That sent a shiver down my spine, but Lagash didn’t miss a beat. “It would be an honor to welcome you into my home port. In fact, we’re about to begin a ritual you may want to see.”
“Excellent! I do so enjoy traveling to exotic locales and learning the ways of foreign peoples! Lead on, lead on!”
L’Vaillee fell into step beside us as we turned toward the shore. I carefully kept Lagash between us. I wasn’t sure what the count was up to—or why the captain seemed content to go along with it—but I knew for sure it would be wise not to get too close.
I glanced back over my shoulder at the shuen. They returned my stare with their big, bottomless eyes. It dawned on me then that they’d managed to navigate Haershore’s treacherous entry with their simple craft, which I later felt naive about. The shuen were the masters of the sea; of course they’d be capable of traversing its most dangerous parts. I thanked Yuin that their own religion mandated they avoid the land at all costs, lest they sully themselves forever.
“You know, Kensey, that I harbor no hard feelings,” the slimy Nefazo lord said, leaning around Lagash. “Several witnesses told me that what happened to my nephew and his teacher was purely an accident.”
My chest hardened. I should have known he would try to strike that wound. I’d done what I’d had to do, with no intention of killing or injuring anyone, but L’Vaillee’s words reminded me that I hadn’t quite forgiven myself. “I am deeply sorry for your losses,” I muttered, even though I’d been ordered not to speak. I hated the man, and I was damn glad that pig, Rocher, was gone, but I still regretted my role in his son’s demise.
“Losses?” he asked, confused. For a moment, I thought he was about to explain to me how neither Rocher nor Rensalier had ever meant anything to him. “My son survived and has joined me on this voyage. He is back on my flagship, with his nose buried in a book.”
Relief washed through me, and I hoped I’d be able to bring that news to Nicolette. “I am glad to hear that.”
“It’s all water under the bridge, my friend, even though Rocher is no longer among us.” He paused. “I suppose now we’re even.”
Memories of Grandfather’s death rushed forward unbidden, summoning a hot flush to my cheeks. I hoped Thranax could sense exactly how I wanted to respond.
The waiting pirates fell into step around us as we stepped onto dry land. I’ll admit I found the count’s courage unsettling. Here was a man unafraid to walk alone into his enemy’s home, cut off from any sort of assistance. He’d certainly proven himself more than capable with that poisoned rapier on his hip during his duel with Ulysses, but even such a fine swordsman didn’t stand a chance against a dozen angry pirates.
Clearly, he had a plan.
Rather than head inland the way we’d travelled upon our own arrival, Lagash took us along the shore, using a narrow path through the jungle I hadn’t noticed before. Our guard shifted to follow us, giving L’Vaillee extra room to strike if he so chose.
He did not. It made me want to run. I hoped the captain was picking up on that same thing.
I hated not knowing where we were going or what we were going to do when we arrived. I hated that I hadn’t been told about this ritual, that I didn’t know where my friends were, and that I didn’t know what fate was going to befall Jeen and A’len for their transgressions in Orlaith’s orchard. Most of all, I hated that Lagash and his advisors seemed to have intentionally left me out of the loop. That didn’t feel fair.
And I especially hated emerging from that jungle to find Jeen bound, gagged, and chained to a post on the beach.
“For me?” L’Vaillee asked, his voice dripping with slime. “You really shouldn’t have.”
In a way, the count’s stupid joke couldn’t have been better timed—it stopped me from rushing forward and attempting to free the man I’d failed. Though Jeen showed no outward sign of having been physically harmed, the tears streaming from his desperate eyes as he watched us from his knees told me all I needed to know. Despite our hope that honesty would stay Orlaith’s judgment, the lady of Haershore had sentenced him to some horrible punishment.
Worse, Captain Lagash was going along with that decision and using it to gain leverage with L’Vaillee.
“This man ignored our warnings and walked a path of selfishness and greed,” the captain said. “He will reap what he has sown.”
“Ah, so it’s an example of your wrath you’d like to show me,” the count replied with a bored shrug. “Let’s get this over with.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Our guard had formed a defensive line at the edge of the beach, blocking the path back into the jungle. None of them would meet my gaze. I scanned the perimeter, weighing my options. That tiny beach couldn’t have been more than forty paces across, and the surrounding jungle looked impossible to move through quickly. Behind Jeen, the waves lapped gently at the white sand, and on the far side of the harbor, the waterfall inexplicably streaming over a portion of Haershore’s wall roared.
