by Mike Truk
“What’s this xanthan vine?” I asked.
It was Tamara who answered. “You might have heard of it by its more common name, ‘Cure All.’ It’s a swamp plant with remarkable healing properties. A critical component in the healing salves produced by the White Sun.”
“Aye,” said Maestria. “And I know Mendev buys it in vast quantities, though for what purpose I can’t rightly say. Perhaps the same.”
I let out a low whistle. “And it all comes from Port Lusander?”
“Aye,” said Maestria. “From the swamps in its hinterlands, to be exact. Large bulbs put out vines that can be endlessly harvested as long as the bulb itself isn’t damaged. Doing so carries the death penalty.”
“Bit intense, wouldn’t you say?” I asked.
Tamara shook her head. “The bulbs grow very slowly. They’re as easy to replace as centuries old trees.”
“Well, xanthan bulbs aside, I think we have a destination,” I said, a quiver of excitement passing through me. “Port Lusander it is. While everyone focuses on Cure All, we’ll get to work under the castle. Tamara, what are the odds that Beauhammer found something related to the king trolls in the ruins? That would explain why the White Sun moved in, wouldn’t it?”
“It’s possible,” said Tamara, though her tone was cautious. “But not certain.”
“If there’s a king troll ruin beneath Beauhammer’s fort, and that’s where we’re already going - then I think our course is obvious.” I grinned at them all. “Looks like Blind Fortuna’s giving us a sly wink.”
“Or the Hanged Man,” said Cerys, “unless you missed that part about nobody returning alive from the ruins?”
Netherys bestirred herself. “Oh come, Cerys. We are no casual fortune hunters. Between our varied abilities I’m sure we are the match for whatever dangers may lurk in some centuries-old crypt.”
“You still need to acquire one of those five licenses,” said Maestria. “And if I recall correctly, you are currently out of funds.”
Cerys’ smile was cruel. “Actually, I think our dear Kellik finds himself in some serious debt.”
“Details.” I waved the matter away. “We have our course charted. We arrive in Port Lusander, we acquire a license or find another way to break into the ruins, make our way to the king troll’s area, slip past the White Sun guards, and then learn what we can about my heritage.”
“I like it,” said Netherys, stretching much like a cat, arms rising, chin turning, breasts thrusting out. “Mother Magrathaar shall bless our venture. Who knows? It may even prove amusing.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” said Cerys. “What if we get there and the ruins have nothing to do with the king trolls? Or even if they do, what’s to say there’s anything of practical benefit to us hidden in a centuries-old tomb? Or whatever it is? And that’s if we can avoid the White Sun, Beauhammer’s men, and whatever other horrors lurk in the ruins.”
“I don’t have a strong opinion as to whether the ruins will reveal much to us,” said Tamara. “But I do feel as if Blind Fortuna is gracing us here with an opportunity. However, Iris - is it safe for you to return to Port Lusander?”
“Hmm?” Iris smiled at her distractedly.
“Is it safe for you to go back?”
“Oh - no. Not at all.” Her smile remained fond. “The last time I was there the people sought to burn me on a pyre, and Beauhammer, well… he would be only too pleased to put me in his dungeon to torture at his leisure.”
“You are one seriously disturbed lady,” said Maestria, and I realized that she’d no knowledge of what had befallen Iris while she’d been in Wargiver’s care. “The prospect of all that doesn’t bother you?”
“No, not really.” Iris leaned forward slightly, her black wedding dress whispering as she did so. “You see, I’ve become more powerful since then. Much more powerful. In fact, I’m rather eager to return.” Her eyes shone. “I feel as if I’ve much to share with the good people of Port Lusander now.”
I’ve never heard anyone sound so sweet yet make my blood run so cold. “Well, ah, great. With a little luck there’ll be no need for that, Iris.”
She leaned back, smile subsiding but not quite leaving her lips.
“So.” I sat up straight. “That’s our plan for now. Arrive in Lusander, find a means to infiltrate the king troll ruins, and then learn what we can of my powers and past. Agreed?”
“As you will, Master,” said Netherys, smiling wickedly at me.
“Master?” Cerys’ disgust was obvious. “Seriously?”
“Oh yes,” said Netherys, not taking her eyes off me. “I live to serve his every whim.”
“I’m in favor,” said Tamara. “Unless something better presents itself. We can at least investigate further when we arrive in Port Lusander. Perhaps I can learn something from my former order before we make an attempt at the ruins.”
“Like I said, I don’t know.” Cerys stood up. “I admire your bravery as always, Kellik. No one will ever accuse you of cowardice. But… I don’t know.”
I held her gaze. I searched for words, something with which to reassure her, but had nothing left to say. Instead, I slowly rose to my feet. “Thank you for hearing me out, Cerys.”
“Of course. If you’ll excuse me.” She bowed her head, bit her lip, then brushed past me to exit the cabin.
“Don’t look at me,” said Maestria. “I’m still deliberating whether to give you passage to Port Lusander. Even if I do, we’ve not yet negotiated payment.”
“Why is everyone so obsessed with gold?” I asked.
“I’m quite eager to return,” said Iris. “I’m with you, Kellik.”
“Well, great. Thank you. Netherys, Tamara, Iris, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your sticking with me.”
“We’ll need to convince the others to support you, however.” Netherys traced the outline of her lips with one long nail. “Yashara, Pogo, Pony, Cerys, Havatier - they’re all of great use to us. Let us speak soon, Kellik, so that I may counsel you on how best to win them back.”
“Sure. But nothing underhand. If I’m to win back their loyalty, I want to do it honestly.”
Netherys pouted. “You’re such a child.”
“No,” said Tamara, rising to her feet. “He’s a man worth following. If you’ll all excuse me, I’m famished. Captain Maestria, may I avail myself of the galley?”
As if on cue, my stomach gurgled audibly.
Maestria chuckled. “Be my guest, though I can’t promise that you’ll find anything hot there at this hour.”
“I think I’ll join you,” I said. “If I may?”
“Always,” said Tamara, and with a smile she took my hand. And by Blind Fortuna’s bounteous breasts, my heart actually surged with gratitude and happiness to have her by my side as she led me to the cabin door and out into the oceanic night.
Chapter 4
Tamara and I carried our bowls of cold stew up to the deck and found a quiet space by the main mast. There was a minimum crew keeping her moving through the night, and I saw that Maestria had moved up onto the rear deck by the steering wheel, gazing out ahead as the wind stirred her dreads. The Bonegwayne slid through the water with an ever-present hiss, rising and dipping subtly as it crested each wave.
Tamara took a seat on a coil of rope, while I made do on a covered bucket of sand. For a moment neither of us spoke; we were sufficiently famished that we devoured our food, enjoying the quiet intimacy of each other’s company, until far too quickly our spoons scraped the bottom of our bowls and we were done.
“I could eat five of those,” said Tamara with a guilty smile, setting her bowl by her boots. “Back in the Sodden Hold I had to give a lot of myself. My… soul stuff, I think we’ve decided to call it. It was that or let Yashara, Netherys, and Cerys die. I think I’ll be eating enough for three for a week to come.”
“You were amazing down there,” I said, and when she went to protest I grinned. “Seriously. You just said it yourself. Without y
ou how many of us would have made it out of the Hold? I don’t think any. You saved us.”
“The White Sun saved us,” said Tamara, looking away over the railing at the cobalt-blue ocean. The moon was slipping in and out of cover, and each time it did the dark waves turned pewter under her lambent glow. “I don’t know how well I was filtering out its influence at the end there, either. Whether I changed people or not.”
“In this case I’d rather them alive and marginally nicer than dead and their authentic evil selves. And you got a chance to nudge Netherys onto an ever so slightly better path. That has to be worth something. Remember how back in the sewers she’d rather die than let you touch her?”
“I don’t necessarily blame her.”
“Well, she’s been uncomfortably friendly since you healed her, so you have my thanks at any rate.”
Tamara snorted. “I’m sure you won’t mind. She’s not made her interest in you secret.”
“It’s like flirting with…” I paused, trying to think of an apt simile. “Actually, I can’t think of anything else quite so dangerous and sociopathic as a dark elf. So, exciting, sure, but also terrifying.”
Tamara propped her chin on her hand and gazed at me. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to cope.”
“Maybe. Thank you, by the way. For speaking up as you did in the cabin. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” Simply said, and a fetching smile to go with it. “When I think of where I was when you met me… this is immeasurably better, Kellik. Even if it’s all kinds of complicated. I was in a really bad place. Just trying to get by day to day.”
“I know,” I said. “I saw.”
“No, you don’t know.” Said kindly, without rancor. “I’m not sure I’d still be alive now if you hadn’t come into my life. I was having trouble finding a reason to get up each morning. The prospect of a life spent fighting my own gifts, alone and in the slums of Port Gloom… it wasn’t an appealing one.”
“Then I’m glad Lugin saw fit to have me brought to you. I wonder how he’s doing now.”
“He seemed to have taken your advice to heart the last time I spoke to him. I’m sure he’s better off, too. I left his gold with the inn keeper, Jessin. Told him to watch out for the boy. I hope he does.”
We subsided into silence for awhile. On impulse I reached out and took her hand, then immediately felt self-conscious. She didn’t object, however, and squeezed my own before turning her gaze back out to the vast ocean.
“It’s funny, isn’t it?”
“What?” I asked.
“You and me being friends. With my being raised by an order that was founded to kill people just like you.”
“Ha,” I said. “Hilarious.”
“No, I’m serious.” She rested her cheek on her palm as she considered me. “That you and I should have been thrown together like that. What are the odds?”
“Blind Fortuna was feeling exceptionally benevolent that day, I guess. Maybe she felt bad for having me killed by Black Evelina mere hours before.”
“Maybe. But I can’t help but wonder if there really is some greater reason behind our meeting. I mean, if your father is secretly running Port Gloom, who knows how many other cities might not have already fallen under the influence of king trolls again? My order certainly isn’t being watchful.”
“I don’t know.” The thought made me uneasy. “I’ve never been anywhere else.”
“Port Lusander, for example. It sounds like an awful place from everything I’ve heard. What if there’s a king troll in command there?”
“Doesn’t seem likely, does it? With the White Sun moving in on Beauhammer’s ruins?”
Tamara shrugged. “I don’t know. But if their evil is more widespread, then… perhaps our adventures will grow eventually to encompass more than cleansing Port Gloom.”
I gave a weak laugh. “Ha. Haha. Right. Because defeating the Family, my father, and cleaning out the entire noble ruling class is oh so manageable.”
She squeezed my hand. “I believe in you, Kellik. I know you’ll pull it off.”
“You do?” I don’t know why I was so surprised. Didn’t I believe it myself?
“I do. Maybe it’s your king troll magic working on me, but what I’ve seen you accomplish over the past few days… it’s nothing short of miraculous. Ambushing that transmuter wizard. Killing the gloom knight. Defeating Wargiver and freeing Iris. That battle in the dust yard. Destroying the Sodden Hold. You’ve been throwing yourself over and over against the most perilous foes you could find, never stopping, and each time coming out victorious. You even killed an Uncle. Unheard of. And now here you are, sailing on to your next challenge. Why wouldn’t I believe you capable of the impossible when you’ve proven yourself time and time again?”
I didn’t know what to say. Her gaze was so direct, her faith in me so palpable, that I found myself both embarrassed and self-conscious.
“Thank you,” I managed at last. “Though to be honest I did have a little help along the way.”
She laughed, pulled her hand free of mine and thwapped me across the shoulder. “Oh really? I had no idea. How modest of you.”
I gave a shaky laugh, half glad that moment of intensity had passed, half regretful. “But I mean it. Thank you. This has all moved so fast, is all so strange. Half-orc mercenary queens, dark elf witches, unnervingly polite necromancers, erudite goblins and amiable war trolls - most of the company I keep these days is so bizarre that having you by my side makes me feel - well - grounded. Sane. Myself.”
Cheek resting on her palm, Tamara studied me, a slight smile plucking at the corner of her lips. “That all I make you feel?”
“I - ah - excuse me?” And to my surprise she didn’t blink, didn’t blush, didn’t look away.
“Just curious,” she said, that teasing smile still pulling at the corner of her lips. “Since we’re being so honest with each other.”
“You should, ah, expend your soul stuff more often,” I said, trying for a lighter tone. “It does wonders for your confidence.”
“I’m sure you’ll give me cause in short order.”
Was that an innuendo or a simple statement of fact? And still she watched me, smiling that secret smile, brown hair falling down past her shoulders, eyes catching the distant lantern light atop the rear deck which caused them to glimmer. The air between us was fairly crackling with intensity.
And before I knew what I was doing, not allowing my thoughts to trip me up, I leaned forward and kissed her.
Her lips were full and soft, the kiss gentle. She rose to sit upright, hesitant, but then she kissed me more vigorously, hand curling around the back of my head. Her lips parted, and I felt the flickerflash of the tip of her tongue against my own, probing, exploring, and suddenly my pants felt three sizes too small.
“Lights off the starboard bow!”
The cry rung out from the crow’s nest above, and immediately the languid shapes of the crew stirred into action. I pulled away from Tamara, my hand finding her own, and together we hurried to the rear deck and climbed the ladder to join Maestria.
The captain had pulled a gleaming cylinder from her coat and put it to her eye. “By the Hanged God’s choking cockhead,” she hissed. “Two ships. Hard to make much out but I’d guess them to be frigates. Good eye, Wracken! Samel, I want all canvas spread! Let’s see if we can’t lose them before dawn.”
“How fast can the Bonegwayne go?” I asked.
Maestria had the telescope back up to her eye. “She’s a swift boat, but not the fastest.” Lowering the copper tube, she scrutinized her sails. “We’re going to milk this wind for everything we can. See there? We’re opening everything we’ve got, from the studding sails to the three triangular jibs along the bowsprit. With luck they’re but a couple of merchants trying to make for lost time and we’ll lose them in a few hours.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Go below and get Havatier. If he’s capable of coaxing up more wind, I want every breath of it.”
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Tamara and I nodded and went below deck. Havatier was writing in a journal when he bade us enter, but set the book and quill away without a word when we delivered Maestria’s summons.
“Stay in the hold,” he advised. “It’s going to be busy on deck and you’ll only get in the way.”
“Sure thing,” I said, and watched him go.
Tamara found my hand again and gave it a squeeze. “What do you think? Merchant ships?”
A sour sensation in my gut caused me to frown. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Despite only having awoken a few hours before, I was able to pass out again in a hammock but a short while later. My exhaustion proved to be bone deep, and with there being nothing for us to do but wait, I found it preferable to the growing tension.
A hand shook me back to waking. Samel, the sailor that Cerys and I had accosted back in Port Gloom and who had led us to the Bonegwayne stood over me, as massive and tattooed as ever.
“The captain summons you, Kellik. Follow me.”
I climbed out of the hammock. “The pursuing ships? Have we shaken them?”
Samel but shook his large head and climbed up the ladder to the deck with surprising alacrity. I followed after and saw that dawn was breaking; I’d slept through the entire night, and now felt sluggish and slow for the excess of sleep.
Men were aloft in the rigging, and even a novice like myself could pick up on their tension and the way they kept casting glances behind us. I wasted no time, but climbed up the second ladder to the raised deck on which Maestria stood.
Her face was hardened by fatigue, but she stood straight and her eye was clear. I moved past her, however, to gaze over the rear of the ship. Last night’s distant lights had resolved themselves into two large ships perhaps a mile behind us.