Seamaster

by C. E. Murphy

  Chapter 4

  "But—it—what?" Rasim stumbled over his questions as much as he stumbled over his feet. Keesha kept him going in the right direction, Guildmaster Isidri's braid flicking them toward the Guildmasters' Hall. Rasim had only ever been through even the Captains' Hall arch once or twice, and had never dared the Guildmasters' Hall. He wasn't certain an apprentice could even cross the entrance way without bursting into fire or something equally horrible. They challenged each other to try sometimes, but no one was ever quite brave enough.

  And this was not how things were done. Decision Day was a festival, a ritual. All the apprentices coming into their thirteenth year and all the journeymen coming into their eighteenth were to scrub clean, dress as well as their rank permitted, and present themselves to the masters, captains and guildmasters at the tenth bell. Their advancement to the next rank, and the masters under whom they would study, would be announced to each hopeful. The remainder of the day was spent moving from one hall to another and feasting.

  Their placements were almost never a surprise. Even Rasim, who wanted desperately to be a cabin boy and sail on Asindo's ship, knew the chances were much better that he would become shore crew or a shipwright. His witchery was well-controlled but not strong, and the most adept magics were needed at sea. But even so, there was ritual to how it was done, and being shooed into the Guildmasters' Hall at a bell past midnight was not it.

  He only knew of ritual being changed once, and that had been after the fire. Before then, Decision Day was held on the first of the new year. But the guilds were built from Ilyara's orphans, and after the fire there had been hundreds. Rasim had been snatched from the Ilialio itself. He and others like him, saved by the river, were clearly meant for the Seamasters. Others found buried alive beneath fallen buildings went to the Stonemasters, and those thrust into the Sunmasters' temples had become Sunmaster apprentices. The children found wandering outside the city had been taken in by the Skymasters' Guild, and all four guilds had nearly burst from the influx of orphans.

  So a second Decision Day had been added. On the anniversary of the fire, apprentices and journeymen were now also promoted, because for more than a decade there had been too many to teach at once.

  Rasim and Desimi were among the last of the Ilialio's gift to the Seamasters' Guild. They had been babes in arms, lucky to float instead of drown on the day of the fire. After today, there would be no more Decision Days held on the anniversary.

  Perhaps that was the reason for this change. Perhaps they were all being awakened and informed of their fate before morning. Perhaps that had always happened, unbeknownst to the apprentices not yet old enough to be elevated. Rasim clung to the idea as tightly as Keesha clung to his hand. Together they were ushered into a warm bright hall filled with men and women who looked not at all as if it was the middle of the night.

  Rasim knew them, of course. All of them by face and name, and most to speak to. His gaze still sought Captain Asindo, whose ship he knew best, and upon whom his fate most likely rested. He was there, one of many but also one of a few: he sat at the head of a large table, as did two or three others at different tables. These were senior captains, commanders in fact if not in name. Captain Lansik—the one who had laughingly cursed Asindo that afternoon when Asindo had lifted the water wall into the air—Captain Lansik sat at the head of another table, and Captains Elissi, Midrisa and Narisa headed the others. They were all pleasantly engaged with their tables, chatting and arguing while pushing maps and cups of wine around. Their air was both jovial and business-like. Rasim, barely a step past their threshold, wondered if all captains' business was conducted with such good cheer.

  Isidri pushed Rasim and Keesha forward and stepped into the hall behind them. She neither said nor did anything Rasim could see, but the hall fell quiet within seconds of her arrival. It wasn't only the apprentices who were awed by the Guildmaster. Quickly enough to seem choreographed, dozens of captains and guildmasters turned toward the door, and saw Rasim and Keesha.

  Captain Asindo stood, his eyebrows quirking at Rasim's companion, but he addressed the Guildmaster behind them: "Guildmaster Isidri. I see you've found our wayward apprentice, and another besides. An unusual task for someone of your rank."

  "I like to keep on my toes," Isidri said dryly. She pushed between Rasim and Keesha, striding past tables and scattered chairs to take a seat at the top of the hall. "Are we all here, then? Finally?"

  "We are, Guildmaster." Asindo began to sit again, but Isidri stopped him with a wave of her hand.

  "He's your crewman, Asindo. You do the talking."

  Rasim's heart lurched in his chest so hard he hiccuped. Isidri wouldn't use the word crewman lightly. Keesha edged toward him, and this time he was certain she was offering support, rather than seeking it. He gave her a watery smile and tried to focus on Asindo.

  The stout captain was looking at Keesha again. "If you don't mind, Guildmaster..."

  Isidri waved her hand again. "I'm too old for niceties, Asindo. Get on with it."

  Everyone in the room chuckled except Rasim and Keesha, and their nerves made those closest to them grin even more broadly. Asindo, evidently more at home with words in the captains' hall than on board a ship, said, "I'm not sure I recall an apprentice ever crossing into this hall with a trader before. Who are you, young woman?"

  "Keesha al Balian. My family owns the Crossroads Bakery."

  "Ah." Asindo's face lit with recognition. "Your grandfather used to give us pastries when we were your age. I'm glad to see the fire didn't damage your family business. What are you doing here?"

  "I saw something and Rasim said you would listen." Keesha eyed the other gathered captains, and muttered, "He didn't say anything about whether they would," loudly enough to hear. Then she kicked Rasim's ankle, making him stand at attention, and Asindo looked at him curiously.

  "Keesha noticed it, not me," he started, but she kicked him again. Rasim scowled, then turned his attention back to Asindo, leaning forward a little to emphasize what he said. "The bonfires today, the way they went out of control, that wasn't an accident, Captain. Keesha saw it, and she's right. We have to listen to her." Hands clenched with intensity, he explained the peculiar scars on the walls and the magic-born fire that hadn't been extinguished by water. "Captain, she's right. You have to listen. You have to believe her. Someone did this on purpose. And if this was on purpose, the Great Fire might have been too." He bit his lip until it tasted red, and stared at Asindo, willing the captain to believe him.

  "Rasim." Keesha put her hand on his wrist and drew his attention from Asindo, who looked serious, to the rest of the captains and guildmasters.

  They were more than serious. Their mouths were held tight, expressions guarded as they glanced between themselves grimly. Unspoken concern weighed the air as heavily as magic.

  Rasim's stomach dropped and his hands went clammy as he realized his and Keesha's fears were not a surprise to the guildmasters. Not just their certainty about the bonfires that day, but their suspicions about the Great Fire too. Rasim looked back at Asindo, whose gaze was locked on Guildmaster Isidri. Asindo said, "You see?" into the silence.

  Isidri looked to Rasim before nodding once, deeply and slowly. As if the exchange had released the rest of them, chatter started up amongst the other captains again, lower and more worriedly than before. A few glanced at Rasim and Keesha, but their news, not their presence, was what held the guildmasters.

  "Apprentice Rasim," Asindo said, cutting off the murmurs as they rose toward shouts. Surprise filtered through the guildmasters' faces, but they remembered themselves and gave Asindo their attention.

  The blocky captain's face was distressingly gentle. Bad news swam with that kind of expression. Rasim sucked in his gut, waiting for the blow. "Apprentice Rasim," Asindo said again, "your witchery is of no particular regard. A decade ago, before the fire, your talent for desalinization might have been enough to win you a place on a ship, but with so many al Ilialios," chil
dren of the river, or of the goddess, "with so many of us after the fire, you have no magical skill that many others can't best."

  Rasim's shoulders caved, his stomach not hardened enough against the blow after all. He had known. Had suspected, at least, but hearing the words carved out an empty place in his belly. Bile filled it, making him sick, and blood rushed his ears more loudly than the tide. He barely heard Asindo continue.

  "I've discussed this with Guildmaster Isidri at some length, Rasim. There is no disagreement. You should graduate to the shipwrights or the shore crew. However."

  The word came as a bell across the water, a beacon through fog. Rasim lifted his gaze, blurred with tears he wouldn't let fall, to stare at Asindo and wait on hearing his own fate.

  "You did something extraordinary this afternoon," Asindo said softly. "We're hidebound, Rasim, though I hadn't thought it until you broke through the bindings and made us all see something differently. Controlling fire is a sun witch's job, not a sea witch's. We didn't think to command the sea against the Great Fire. Perhaps if we had we couldn't have done it. We were too accustomed then to our greatest magics being shaped by the royal family, and without their guidance we might not have been able to lift the wave against the flame. We've grown more independent since then, but not more clever. You, with your unremarkable water weaving, were the only one to see how our stronger magics could be used to save the city.

  "And then you brought this young woman, a trader, into the heart of our guild, because she saw something you believed in. Something that took cleverness to see, bravery to believe, and boldness to tell a hidebound group of old men and women—"

  A choking laugh ran through the captains then, objection at being called old, though to Rasim's twelve-year-old eyes, they ranged from merely old to positively ancient. Asindo smiled, but didn't let their humor silence him. "—and we may need that kind of wit and willingness in the coming days. You'll sail with me, Rasim, and we'll sail on the morning tide."

  The strength left Rasim's knees so suddenly he dipped, and only kept his feet because of Keesha's strong hand at his elbow. His heart pounded so hard the sick feeling rose in his stomach again, but this time it was fueled by joy instead of despair. His voice cracked, first promise of its change, as he gasped, "Really, sir? I'm to sail with you? Today?"

  "A third of the fleet sails at dawn," Asindo said. "The other apprentices have already been informed of their positions. We couldn't find you," he said with mock severity, "but now I see why. Desimi will be on my ship too. I trust that will not be a problem."

  "No! No, sir. Of course not." And if it was, Rasim thought rashly, he would find a way to pummel sense into Desimi without getting them both thrown to the sharks. Then the rest of Asindo's words caught up to him and he gaped at the captain. "Everyone's been told? But the festival—and by dawn? Why?"

  "Because you and this girl are right. These fires, and perhaps the Great Fire, were deliberate, and if someone is seeking to attack Ilyara, she will need her fleet. The Seamasters' Guild is vulnerable, Rasim, more vulnerable than the other guilds. Our ships are wooden. A wiser enemy would have burned them rather than attack the city, but we've been given a chance. We cannot all go—the harbor needs protection, and the city needs fish for food—but if the steadiest of us slip away now, we'll have time to gather ourselves in safety and hunt our enemy down. But we must go now."

  Rasim jolted forward one step. "I'm ready. What are my orders, Captain?"

  Asindo smiled and the gathered guildmasters suddenly went into motion, getting to their feet and exchanging reminders of necessary duties with quick, certain command. "Be at the Wafiya by the third bell," Asindo ordered through the growing clamor. "We sail on the tide."

  "Wait," Keesha said, voice clear and strong in the hubbub. "Wait. I'm coming too."

  Chapter 5

  Keesha might have thrown a stone into a still pond, the way surprise rippled out from where she and Rasim stood. More than one captain brayed laughter, but Guildmaster Isidri leaned forward, elbows on her knees and fingers steepled with interest. Humor creased the sun-deepened lines on Asindo's face, but he spoke politely enough. "Are you, now. What do you know of life aboard a ship, baker's daughter?"

  "Nothing," she said defiantly, "but I bet you don't know much about making hard tack or fish stew. Put me in the galley if you want to, or teach me to sail, but I'll be on board the Wafiya when she sails, Captain."

  "She should be." Rasim returned to Keesha's side. His heart was beating too hard again, quick with the fear that supporting Keesha might lose himself a place on the ship. He wished he could tell himself it didn't matter, but it did. It mattered a lot. But taking the risk was right, just as asking Desimi, who loathed him, to use magic Rasim himself couldn't command, had also been right.

  For an instant, he had a rueful glimmer of understanding: doing the right thing instead of the smart thing might make being a grown-up much harder. But he wasn't grown-up yet, and that was a problem for later. For now, he said, "She's the one who saw how unnatural the fire was, Captain. She only told me, so I could tell someone who'd listen. If I'm going to be on board because I'm clever, not because I'm a great witch, then Keesha deserves to be there at least as much as I do. She made me look clever."

  Far too many of the nearby guildmasters and captains were grinning openly by the time he'd finished defending Keesha. He felt color scald his face all the way to his hairline, and muttered, "Well, she did," to his feet.

  Asindo's deep voice sounded like he was fighting back laughter, but he addressed Keesha politely a second time. "You're no orphan, Keesha al Balian. You have a trader's name, not a sea witch's, and you've parents to worry about you."

  Keesha folded her arms and thrust her jaw out, sure signs she was nervous. "I have three brothers and a sister, too, Captain. We can't all inherit the bakery. Some of us will marry into other trades, but a guild is as fine a life as any trader's. I'll trade my name for a sea witch's, if that's what it takes. I'll be Kisia al Ilialio come dawn, and sail on the Siliarian Sea."

  The laughter had stopped, and the new name Keesha had given herself rang through the hall with pride and defiance. Smiles were still everywhere, but they were touched with admiration, and after long seconds of silence, Guildmaster Isidri's slow applause cracked the air. Keesha and Rasim both jumped, then straightened themselves as Isidri stood and gave Keesha in particular an approving nod.

  "All right then, girl. Kisia al Ilialio you are, if your parents will release you to the guild. If you mean to be shipboard by the third bell, we'd better hurry to ask them."

  Keesha's—Kisia's—smile went from incredulous to thrilled inside a breath. She dropped the satchel of bread to fling herself on Rasim and hug him until he grunted, then whispered, "Don't let them sail without me!" in his ear.

  Rasim nodded, setting her back on her feet. Kisia gave him a stunning smile before grabbing Guildmaster Isidri's hand as the old woman joined them. "Come on," she said to the Guildmaster, "come on, I'll show you where the bakery is!"

  "I know where it is, girl. Asindo wasn't the only one who got treats from your grandparents." The amused Guildmaster let herself be hauled out of the guildhall. Within seconds the captains were in an uproar again.

  Rasim stood among them, battered by their voices and by their brusque passage past him, grinning like a fool. He'd never heard of anyone challenging for a place in the guilds the way Kisia had just done. Kisia, so close to the Keesha she'd been, but with the "si" in the name that marked any sea witch as belonging to the guild. The letters were for the goddess of the sea, Siliaria, and every orphan brought into the guild was given a name to honor her. He was Rasim al Ilialio, son of the sea and river, and soon Kisia would be their daughter.

  And they would sail together. He, Rasim al Ilialio, who was hardly a sea witch at all, would sail on the Wafiya with Captain Asindo and Hassin. And with Desimi too, Rasim thought sourly, but joy buoyed the complaint away. That trouble would be worth it. Any trouble would be wor
th it.

  Rasim's smile disappeared. It was true enough: any trouble would be worth it, but it was easy to forget in his excitement that they sailed at dawn because real trouble, dangerous trouble, brewed in the city. This wouldn't be a training run, a first time out for the new crew to work together on a merchant run or trade route. They would slip away on the early tide, before sunrise, so they could gather elsewhere, hidden from an unknown enemy, and plan their counter-attack.

  Asindo appeared in front of Rasim, stepping out of the crowd of captains and guildmasters sweeping by. He looked as serious as Rasim felt, and he put a hand on Rasim's shoulder. "Settling in, is it?"

  "Yes, sir. It's not...it's not all wonderful, is it, sir?"

  Asindo's expression became even more solemn. "No, lad, it's not." Then a smile broke through, becoming a grin. "But by the goddess, a lot of it is. It's your first sail as crew, boy. Enjoy it. Now up to your berth and gather your things. It's not long until the third bell."

  Excitement bloomed in Rasim's chest again. He beamed at the stout captain, then ran for the berths. Ran for the apprentice's hall for the last time: he was a journeyman now, and when they came back from this journey, he would sleep in another hall.

  It took almost no time to pack his belongings: two spare shirts, a second pair of trousers, shoes that would see no use on shipboard. Kerchiefs to keep his hair out of his face as it grew longer, a stone carving of the goddess Siliaria as was given to all of the Seamasters' children, and a few well-worn storybooks that he had learned to read from. Apprentices needed little and owned less, but it meant they could take their lives with them when they went to sea.

  He left the apprentice hall berths with more decorum, trying to look and feel adult, like a journeyman should, rather than running around with the excitement of a childish apprentice. That lasted until he got to the gates and the same guard who had let him in an hour earlier offered a wink and a nod along with a solemn, "Strong winds and safe sailing, Journeyman Rasim."