by Lisa Daniels
Hopefully, though, they’d all make it back out alive.
But it helped to always be prepared for the worst.
Chapter Three – Evelyn
Zamorka wasn’t exactly at the top of Evelyn’s list of planned locations to visit. If anything, she’d hoped to avoid such a place for the entirety of her existence. She’d heard quite enough about that place from the crews on the Cloudstalker, who usually spoke of it while making the sign of protection with their hands. Sure, sailors were a superstitious lot, always worried about upsetting the ship they rode in, treating it like it had a soul, and they loved their little trinkets—but surely, the fact that so many people talked about Zamorka in the same way, like it was where the monsters under your bed dwelled—there had to be some truth in it.
Yet now, almost all the crew were here, and the supplies loaded into the belly of the ship seemed like they’d last for months. Was that how long they anticipated the trip to be? Months and months?
She wondered if the royals of Azarus Isle approved of such a trip. Or whether this was at the discretion of Meridas and Janus. It probably explained why they needed that Janus to fund the trip, but of all the people who could have funded such a trip, she’d never expect a reputed miser like a Ruthe family member to do so.
She pictured Janus now, with those cold, dark eyes of his, the kind that looked like they were tiny repositories of a bad temper. His hair was a shade lighter than her liquid black, but not that much lighter. Not quite how she imagined a Ruthe to be. Especially one that had the ability to turn into a monstrous serpent. But she supposed they were still humans, at the end of the day.
The other air witch, Rukia, had an attitude which Evelyn thought immensely ill-fitting for someone about to travel into the jaws of death, with a trap probably waiting to snap shut on them. She engaged with the other crew members with an almost insufferable enthusiasm, and stared at the ship as if it was the single most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life. When Evelyn had voiced annoyance of this enthusiasm to Meridas (politely, of course), he’d given her a smile.
“She was originally from the Undercity,” he had said. “So for her, everything is grand and fancy. She’s not used to seeing such wealth.”
Neither was Evelyn, but you didn’t see her going around the place, her eyes almost falling out with excitement. Rukia almost seemed to have a similar taint like the other Undercity foundling, Alex. Where Alex had dark hair with that tell-tale blonde streak, Rukia’s hair was a most unusual shade—a dark brown which appeared like a dark, muggy red in the right lighting. She could probably pass as a native in bad lighting, but out here, in full glare of the sunlight, it was obvious she, too, had impure heritage.
Two of Zamorkan descent, coming to Zamorka with them. Did they think they would be safe with these people?
Evelyn strode over instead to examine her new room, where fresh clothes had been placed in a small drawer, and a few of her small possessions from her time on the Cloudstalker lay on top of it. Just little mementos from the trips she’d made. Souvenirs to remind herself of all the places she had been.
Sitting on the small cabin bed, she regarded the wooden, box-shaped walls. More luxurious than her former ship, but still nothing compared to the fancy manor rooms people like Janus Ruthe and Meridas Dasenson were used to. There was a light witch heater in the wall as well, designed for her to put coffee granules in, to pour out into a cup.
Shame she hated coffee, really. Many air witches on their journeys loved stimulants to keep them up. But for Evelyn, she’d long since trained her mind to multitask everything, to stay supremely alert for long stretches of time, no matter how tedious the work was.
Because some hazards could hit out of nowhere, or be severely underestimated. They did have a barometer to help, of course, but… just no. No coffee. She remained in her room for a while, appreciating the opportunity to just think about nothing at all.
Two sharp raps to her door some indeterminable time later put paid to the bliss of nothing. She turned on her side and grunted a “Come in.” The door opened a second later and Alex walked in, already dressed up like an oversized hot water bottle. “Ship’s ready to go. I’ve been told to inform you that Rukia’s lifting it off and going. You prefer night shifts or something.”
“I’m not particularly bothered by what kind of shift I get,” Evelyn answered. “Since I’m usually used to being the only air witch on duty.”
“Okay.” Alex turned as if to go, before deciding otherwise. “What does an air witch do for entertainment on long trips?”
Evelyn shrugged, not willing to talk about herself so much. “Sleep. Eat. Listen to people. Sometimes get involved if they’ve got some gambling den going on, but I’m usually too busy to have that much time off.”
“You visit your family often?”
Evelyn gave a small sigh. “As often as I can tolerate them. Now, why don’t you ask me some questions with meat?”
The life witch’s mouth curled into a cold smile. “Is an air witch able to train a life witch in magic?”
“There we go.” Evelyn got off her cabin bed. “That’s more like it. And as for your answer—no. You need to be trained by someone who has the same branch of magic as you, or research it, or have that whole trial-by-error approach.”
Alex let out an irritated sound. “So I’ll just wait for more people to almost die before I get to practice. Exactly what I want.”
Good point. Evelyn regarded Alex for a moment. “I suppose we can at least deliberately injure ourselves, and see how you fare with it.”
“Shallow injuries, I can do.” Alex closed her eyes. “I used to do some healing on the streets, but I didn’t fully understand it. I healed a lot of minor injuries. Some diseases, as well. But I didn’t do it often, and… well, I’d like to be able to understand better how I can do it. But I don’t think serious injuries to members of the crew is a great way to start it.”
“I’m sure you can find some lummox who thinks having his arm cut off is worth a thousand circs or something. Can you heal a missing arm?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“We can always find out,” Evelyn said, grinning wickedly. She wouldn’t mind seeing the life witch in action. And it’d be a good way to discover the personalities lying in the crew. Always good to know who you worked with. “Let’s wait until an hour or so after lift-off, and we can go ask around. See if anyone’s on board with helping you with your powers.”
The smaller woman’s smile became softer, more genuine. “And who will be paying a thousand circs to have their arm cut off?”
“We can ask Meridas or Janus. I’m sure they won’t object to you getting better at your magic. Especially Meridas. You two seem pretty close.”
“We are.” She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t need to. The ship gave a small, familiar lurch, as Rukia worked her magic upon the winds. The familiar coating of stable atmospheric pressure soon cocooned their ship, and the lurching turned into a smooth glide.
Not bad, Evelyn thought. Some air witches launched far less adroitly than that. She supposed Rukia had to be somewhat talented, to be picked out as a member of this crew. Probably not as talented as her, however.
Maybe this trip wouldn’t be completely terrible. Just when they finally crossed the seas into Zamorka.
* * *
Turned out, an awful lot of the crew didn’t mind getting themselves injured for money. Meridas had reluctantly agreed to front the bill, though he warned them of their minimal spending budget. Rukia and about four of the crew were currently working on deck, but the others were lounging in what they called the Rec room, or already delving into food supplies. They’d needed to drag Meridas along just so he could back up their statement and prove they were good for the money.
Prospective victim number one, Lowen Rivers, a sailor sporting far too many muscles and a long, braided black beard, volunteered to have his nail ripped off for 200 silver circs. The bolder members of the crew c
heered, the more dignified watched in silence, including Janus, who had come down to see the life witch’s ability for himself.
Blinking with pain, Lowen held up a bloody finger for Alex, who took it and stared at the offending wound with no revulsion upon her features. A whisper of magic wrapped around her, alien to Evelyn’s senses, but holding the undeniable stink all casting had. For Evelyn, air magic felt like air itself—a breeze waiting to be manipulated. The wind felt alive to her, willing to fall under her command, and atmospheric pressure settled naturally upon her shoulders, acquiring the right composition for humans to survive.
Alex looked as if she were struggling to push past something, or as if she’d hit a solid wall. Her cheeks went red with strain, but Evelyn clearly observed Lowen’s nail regrowing, until it became a pristine version of its former self, with no dirt lodged underneath it. Lowen held up his hand with a roar of delight.
“Two hundred silver to me, boys and girls! Next port we stop at, I’m buying all the drinks!” Laughter, cheering and clapping followed, and Alex looked rather pleased with herself.
“So you can regrow a small body part, at least,” Evelyn said with a grin. “I wonder if anyone will volunteer to lose a little more than a nail…?”
“My ear,” someone said, pointing at an ear that more resembled a cauliflower than an actual ear. “I’m a bit deaf this side anyway. But I want more than two hundred for it.” The weedy-faced man jutted his jaw out in a determined manner, and Meridas let out a sigh.
“Four hundred silver circs for the ear, then.”
“Done,” the man said. Some people muttered, others cheered, and the man who had his nail cut off also volunteered, obviously wanting more money.
By the time Evelyn left the brightly lit room, Alex had successfully managed to regrow several ears and a couple of fingers, and someone was yelling that they could have their leg off and just work with a stump if needed. Evelyn didn’t plan to have any parts of her lopped off. She didn’t much like the idea of subjecting herself to someone else’s mercy, no matter if it did serve a good cause or not. Upon the deck, she noted that Rukia was doing something with the heat of the air as well, because despite being so high up, the air felt gentle and cool.
That’s pretty impressive. Evelyn could do it as well, but it ate through her energy reserves quite fast. Others didn’t burn their energy nearly as much. Couldn’t be perfect at everything, after all. Rukia herself chatted with a female crew member in the air witch alcove. The captain was at his wheel, inspecting a brass compass just above the wheel. No one inspected the sails or sat in the crow’s nest. They’d need more crew if the weather picked up. The view of the Undercity and the Six Isles hung behind them, growing smaller by the minute, leaving them traveling through open sky with the ground below so small, full of fields and twisted woodlands, belonging to people who’d never let themselves be absorbed by civilization. Small towns, nothing like the sprawl of the Undercity, existed in pockets.
Already she missed the views afforded by her old ship. And she dreaded the notion of making it to Zamorka, which she pictured in her mind like some shadowy blob of evil.
“Why aren’t you with the rest of the crew?” a deep, gruff voice asked. Evelyn checked to make sure it was addressing her, and saw Janus standing there, regarding her with keen, dark eyes. “Especially since what’s happening down there is entirely due to your suggestion.”
“I just needed some fresh air, is all,” she replied coolly. “And it does get a little crowded when everyone’s down there, chanting for body parts to be taken off.”
“One man offered to be castrated, last time I checked, but he wanted two thousand silver for such an action.”
Personally, Evelyn thought twenty golden circs was cheap for such an act, but she was also dimly aware that such money would be unheard of in the Undercity. “Glad to hear they’re having fun.”
He stood beside her, reminding her of how tall he was. She barely made it above his shoulders, and she wasn’t exactly a small person herself. His dark hair was far less voluminous than hers, and he wore a gray overcoat, similar to the rest of the crew and to her. Big feet as well, she observed, glancing to his heavy boots.
“I suspect that you don’t really want to try and blend in,” Janus said. “That you’re still pissed off with us for poaching you from your former ship.”
Yes, Evelyn thought. Though at the same time, she did want to make an effort, because she didn’t want to spend the trip alone. The conflicting emotions didn’t exactly make it easy. “I miss them. They were simple people, and we got to see some impressive things out there in the high skies. I’m constantly amazed how people can and choose to live in areas that would normally kill a human.”
“Your family were celebrating your new role in the courts,” Janus said, still with that gruff unconcern, “and I couldn’t help but notice that you were absent. Frolicking away on one final trip.”
“You could say… I’m not really a fan of them right now,” Evelyn said, imagining her mother and father laughing themselves sick as they spooned luxurious food into their mouths, living off her magic and wealth without a penny of effort invested by themselves.
“Shame. I wonder how they’d appreciate you going to Zamorka.”
Evelyn snorted. “Out of all the places you guys could have chosen to go, it had to be the one place nobody visits.”
“People must have come here before. Given that you probably spoke to a lot of other crews if you stopped for repairs or restocking at any point.”
“No. We never spoke to anyone who had visited Zamorka.”
Janus frowned at this fact. Honestly, Evelyn wondered if anyone here had made it to Zamorka. If anyone had bothered to leave the comfort of the Six Isles or their functioning Undercity, if they were just going into this expedition blind.
“Tell me why you don’t like to be seen with your family.” Janus regarded her with one raised eyebrow, and she tied back her thick hair into an aggressive ponytail that resembled more of a curly mop on her scalp. “I’ve been to a fair few of the court gatherings myself when the king’s involved, and I’ve seen your family, but never you. You can’t always be busy at all those times.”
If I’m not, I’ll try and make myself busy. “There’s nothing wrong with them, I guess. It’s… it’s a little embarrassing to be around them. You probably wouldn’t relate. You come from people who are all hard work, no play, but...” Evelyn hesitated, wondering if she did want to tell a total stranger about her family. Perhaps her views were a little unfair, but it didn’t stop her from feeling them. Emotions did have that annoying habit of sticking around, no matter how petty. “I’d get paraded around by them a lot. Boasted about to the other parents, like they were having some competition about who could have the most talented child. And when my air magic came early, they insisted on throwing a party, inviting all their friends—but not inviting any of mine. Just… endless showing off. Doing tricks with the wind like a tame dog. How happy my mother was to know that even in her old age, there’d be an air witch in the family drawing so much pay that the family tax would ensure they never had to worry about a thing again.”
Janus’ eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and Evelyn realized he didn’t relate. She felt a need to explain further, somehow, if just to shake off the sense of embarrassment building up in her body. “I was their achievement. Their fattened calf to give them money. Not really a daughter. Just something to boast about and lavish a lot of attention on. But all the attention I ever wanted was just...” To have my mom and dad love me. How exactly could she explain she was missing love, when to anyone else’s eye, they would see nothing but abundance? “It doesn’t matter. It probably sounds strange to you.”
“I can’t pretend I understand,” he replied courteously, “but I suppose I do somewhat know how it feels to not get the love you want.”
“Right. Because your mother and father made you work, didn’t they? I heard something about that.”
�
��Yes. It was simple for me. If I didn’t work, I didn’t get food. If I didn’t work, I didn’t have a nice bed to sleep in.”
Evelyn gaped at him. “What? Really?” She certainly never had to worry about food or sleep…
“I had chores I needed to do every day. Sometimes help out with my father’s business, as well. If I didn’t make the bed or tidy up my bedroom after using my toys before bedtime, I’d be locked in the basement for the night. And if I dodged any of my chores, then no food.” His eyes clouded over, and his hands threaded together. “It was… difficult at first. Spent a few days not having dinner, a week in the basement. You could say I learned fast what I had to do.”
“That sounds really messed up,” Evelyn said. Something about Janus’ tone seemed off, however. He didn’t say any of this with bitterness. He said it matter of fact, like it was normal that parents did this.
“I think it was smart of them,” Janus said shortly. “It installed a sense of discipline in me that I appreciate now. I didn’t appreciate it so much back then. It was their way of showing love. Making sure I’d never need to rely on anyone later on.”
“No offense, but that doesn’t sound like love at all.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Think what you will. But I am glad for one that they gave me the lease on life that they did. Things might have been very different. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to talk to the other air witch. Just getting to know the crew.” He gave her a short bow before leaving, and Evelyn couldn’t help but feel she’d offended him, despite her “no offense”.
Ah well. Maybe next time. Still, Janus didn’t seem nearly as grumpy as she’d expected someone like him to be. He also didn’t appreciate her saying anything bad about his family.