Fate of the Free Lands

by Jack Campbell

  Ang hesitated, but one of the unwritten laws of the sea was that anyone who saw someone in trouble would offer whatever assistance they could, and Ang had such rules written into his blood by now. “Yes, Cap’n!”

  He and the other nine sailors tumbled down the Jaykob ladder into the small boat and began rowing to the pier.

  Jules beckoned to her guards. “Alons, Kala, post yourselves by the head of the ladder so you’ll see anyone trying to get aboard. I’m going to go up to the bow to see what I can of the firefighting.”

  “All right, Captain,” Kala said. She and Alons took up positions at the gap in the railing leading to the ladder down, standing casually and chatting with each other, but also keeping an eye on things around them.

  Jules went forward, blinking against the brilliance of the flames devouring one of Cape Astra’s buildings. She could see the shapes of men and women racing around, grabbing buckets and anything else that would carry water to hurl it onto the fire.

  “What’s that?” she heard Alons say.

  Jules looked aft, seeing both Kala and Alons looking down at the water, but neither showing any sign of alarm.

  “I can’t see—” Kala began.

  “Hey,” Alons interrupted, “where did that—”

  The blades of long knives appeared out of the air, slashing and stabbing, firelight reflecting on the deadly steel.

  Alons and Kala didn’t stand a chance.

  As both fell to the deck, Jules stared at the place where they’d fallen, belatedly realizing something she of all people should have known. Just because no one had seen a Mage didn’t mean there were no Mages about.

  Feeling safe, she’d left her Mechanic revolvers in her cabin. The only weapon she had was her dagger.

  And she was standing sideways, looking aft, her shape silhouetted perfectly by the fire in the town. The Mages who’d killed Alons and Kara could see that she was expecting. The Mages had surely seen her, had surely seen that she was pregnant. They wouldn’t let her leave this ship alive.

  And she couldn’t afford to let any of the Mages leave the ship alive, because if any of them did with news that her children were on the way, their Guild would hunt down her children with single-minded, cold-blooded determination as soon as they were born.

  But how did she alone fight an unknown number of Mages, who couldn’t be seen, when her only weapon was a dagger?

  Shouting for help would be useless. She was too far from anyone who might hear amid the noise made by the fire and those fighting it.

  Standing still would only make her an easier target for the Mages.

  All of these thoughts tumbled through Jules’ mind in a single moment as she watched her guards die.

  Chapter Eleven

  Drawing her dagger, Jules quickly moved a few steps aft and toward the port side. She felt awkward, her weight off- balance, the borrowed a-little-too-big boots not firm on her feet. Jules barely sidestepped a bucket of water waiting to be used for cleaning the deck the next morning.

  A bucket of water.

  Once before when she’d fought a Mage who couldn’t be seen, she’d spotted movement in the dust particles of a beam of light. Even if Mages couldn’t be seen, they were still there, still interacting with things around them.

  Sheathing her dagger, she grabbed the bucket with both hands and splashed an arc of water onto the deck for about a lance in front of her.

  Dropping the bucket, Jules drew her dagger again. She went into a crouch near the port rail, her eyes not searching the ship but fixed on the wetted portion of the deck, reflected firelight dancing on it.

  She tried to calm her pounding heart, tried to control her breathing, listening for any sound made by the Mages and trying to balance herself ready to move or fight, a task made more difficult by the unaccustomed weight she carried in front of her.

  Sudden splashes erupted on the surface of the spilled water. Two sets of them, one along the port side, the other coming in from the ship’s starboard side. The two Mages charging her were far enough apart that defending against one would leave her fully exposed to attack by the other.

  Jules barely had time to realize that before her legs pumped, hurling her forward along a line about midway between the attacking Mages. She caught a glimpse of a long knife blade slashing toward her from her right as she went between them, staggered off-balance, then got her feet under her and ran for her cabin. A revolver would not only help even the odds, but the sound of it shooting would draw help back to the ship.

  The run gave her just long enough to realize that she didn’t know there were only two Mages, and that if there was at least one more the best place for that Mage to wait for her would be at the door to the cabin where Jules would sprint for safety and weapons.

  Not knowing how far behind her the first two Mages were, Jules risked grabbing onto the ladder up to the quarterdeck just before she reached the door to her cabin, jerking herself to a momentary halt and nearly falling.

  In that instant, Jules saw a long knife blade appear out of the air before her, slashing across where her body would’ve been if she hadn’t pulled herself to a sudden stop.

  The door to her cabin was guarded by at least one Mage. Jules knew she had no chance of making it up the ladder to the quarterdeck without being caught and killed, and running to another part of the main deck would only trap her against another rail or leave her exposed to attack from any direction. Barely having time to think, she pushed off, lunging for the ladder down to the second deck, nearly falling again as an unexpected bout of dizziness hit. She turned the stumble into a drop over the edge of the opening to below deck, her feet hitting one of the steps on the ladder as her free hand tried to grab the edge.

  Instead, Jules fell forward, turning the fall into a roll, her side hitting the stair rail with a jolt of pain as she rolled over the side of the ladder, her hand catching the edge and braking her fall. The moment she’d halted her drop, Jules let go again, knowing there wasn’t far to go. Her boots hit the deck with a thump that sounded far too loud on the deserted second deck.

  A single storm lantern burned against the aft bulkhead. Jules darted that way, limping a bit, extinguishing the lantern and plunging the second deck into nearly total darkness. Backing cautiously and quietly away from the lantern, her dagger ready, she listened for any sound of the Mages, cursing her heavy breathing for masking other sounds and possibly giving away her location. Now in addition to her back and feet hurting, her side also hurt. Hopefully it wouldn’t stiffen and hinder her movements, which were already awkward.

  But it was dark down here. She couldn’t see the Mages, but they couldn’t see her. She’d evened the odds that much.

  She heard footsteps on the ladder down, the ladder itself still dimly visible in the distant firelight filtering down from the main deck.

  Two shapes suddenly appeared: Mages in robes, their knives held close to their bodies. They were coming down the ladder. A moment later a third Mage joined them. Their hoods were lowered, allowing the Mages to see well around them, but that wouldn’t help them in the dark below deck.

  The third Mage stayed by the ladder, knife out, clearly guarding Jules’ means of escape. The other two faded into the darkness beyond it, leaving Jules with little idea where they were.

  She’d gotten her breathing under control, her back to the bulkhead, straining her ears for any hint of the location of the two Mages searching the second deck. Aside from the area at the ladder, the rest of the deck was pitch black.

  Jules nearly gasped when a sudden skittering noise came from the left, but managed to stay silent. She knew that sound from sleeping below deck. A rat, running along the edge of the deck.

  At least one of the Mages didn’t know the noise, though. Jules heard fast footsteps moving from her right to a little to her left, passing front of her.

  How far in front?

  There was one way to find out.

  Jules moved as quickly and quietly as she could, her fre
e hand sweeping before her. Her fingertips brushed against fabric. The back of a Mage’s robes, she hoped. Stepping closer before the Mage could turn, Jules grabbed at where the Mage’s shoulder should be, getting a good enough grip to halt the Mage’s move. Her other hand brought the dagger up and forward, past where the Mage’s neck should be, then back with a brutal slash.

  She felt the dagger blade bite in, felt warm blood gush onto her dagger hand.

  Dropping her grip on the Mage, Jules stepped back quickly.

  She heard movement in front of her, the stumbling of feet, and a whisper of air past her face as the Mage’s knife swung wildly at her. His throat cut, the Mage had still managed to turn and make a slash at where she might be.

  Jules kept moving back, the sounds of her feet masked by the sound of the Mage falling to the deck.

  She stopped moving and listened. In the very dim glow near the ladder, Jules could see the Mage there looking about in her general direction, but betraying no sign of having located her.

  Where was the other Mage?

  Jules edged carefully sideways and back, mentally mapping out the deck in her head. Tables should be there. Chests over there—

  A thunk drew Jules’ attention to a spot directly to starboard of her. She knew that sound, too, the noise of someone who’d forgotten to bend enough to avoid hitting their head on one of the wooden beams overhead. Tall sailors learned to crouch down a little without even thinking about it, but people unaccustomed to the low overhead below deck often hit their heads even when the area was lighted.

  That gave her an idea. If she was right, there should be a post supporting the deck above, right about…here. There it was, her hand encountering the stout wooden post.

  And the second Mage was over there.

  Jules set herself against the post, nerving herself. She brought one boot down a little too hard, making an audible thump, following up with a couple of lighter thumps like someone trying to regain their balance. The moment she finished, Jules silently stepped back to one side of the post, knowing the area there should be open.

  Swift steps, barely able to be heard, coming in fast from her right.

  The thud of a body hitting the post.

  Jules stepped in, her free hand pinning the stunned Mage to the post he’d just bounced off of, her other hand driving her dagger repeatedly into his back, guessing by touch where his vitals should be.

  A half dozen stabs and Jules stepped away, her eyes going back to the ladder to reassure herself that the third Mage was still there.

  The second Mage staggered past not far from Jules, his breathing heavy and labored. He fell, the sound echoing in the below deck.

  Jules waited to see what the third Mage would do, trying to figure out how to kill her without being badly hurt herself.

  As she watched, the third Mage turned and raced up the ladder.

  She was trying to escape. To get word back to the Mage Guild that Jules was pregnant.

  Jules broke into a run for the ladder, hitting her shin on the bottom hard enough to send a jolt of agony up her leg. Ignoring the pain, she went up the ladder, the dagger held high to parry a blow in case the third Mage was waiting at the top to attack Jules when she pursued.

  But she reached the main deck, which almost seemed bright after the black pit of the second deck, without being attacked. Jules spun about, searching, and saw the third Mage almost to the Jaykob ladder.

  She couldn’t afford to hesitate, but she couldn’t catch the third Mage in her condition. Instead Jules lunged for her cabin, yanking open the door and grabbing the Mechanic revolver kept ready nearby.

  Lurching back onto the main deck, Jules ran for the Jaykob ladder, reaching the gap in the rail and seeing the third Mage climbing into a small punt that in a pinch could barely have held three Mages.

  Jules leaned out, extending her arm toward the Mage, her finger tightening on the trigger.

  Noise bellowed from the revolver.

  A fountain of water splashed high next to the third Mage.

  Jules adjusted her aim a little, pulling the trigger quickly once more.

  Another roar of thunder from the Mechanic weapon.

  The Mage jerked from the impact of the blow, dropping to the bottom of the punt.

  Jules waited, breathing hard again, her weapon pointed down.

  The Mage didn’t move.

  Cautiously swinging over the side, Jules came down the Jaykob ladder one step at a time, keeping the Mechanic revolver pointed at the Mage all the way.

  Reaching the bottom of the ladder, the waters of the harbor right beneath her boots, Jules hung onto the rope with her free hand, crouching and leaning out to see if the Mage was still alive, her weapon almost touching the Mage who still lay huddled in the bottom of the punt.

  The punt swung a little as the harbor water moved beneath it, bringing the Mage’s face to where Jules could see it.

  The Mage’s eyes were open, unfeeling as they focused on Jules.

  Jules looked back at the Mage, coldness filling her. Kill or be killed. She had no other choice, not against opponents like this female Mage who showed no emotion even as she prepared to die.

  Jules leveled the revolver at the Mage’s face. “Any last words?”

  The Mage startled Jules with a reply, her voice thin but still carrying no feeling. “Why?”

  “Why?” Jules shook her head. “There is no answer to why, and there are countless answers to why.”

  A trace of surprise entered the Mage’s eyes. “Wis…dom?”

  “Another Mage told me that.”

  “Oh.” The word held no interest. But the Mage kept her eyes fixed on Jules. “I see…this…”

  Jules listened, dread filling her. That was what the Mage in Jacksport had said before pronouncing the prophecy that had upended her life. Was this Mage about the repeat that prophecy, or speak another?

  “…son of…Ihris…a…Mage…” The weak voice faded out completely, the Mage’s eyes taking on the star of death, her mouth going slack.

  Jules lowered the Mechanic weapon, staring at the dead Mage with mingled frustration and anger. What kind of person could die without showing any feeling? And what had those few cryptic words meant?

  She sat on the bottom rung of the Jaykob ladder, worn out, holding the revolver, waiting for the noise of the shots to bring crew back to the ship.

  * * *

  “You shouldn’t have left her alone!” Liv berated Ang, who stood glowering.

  “He didn’t,” Jules said. They were in the stern cabin while the crew cleaned up the remains of the Mages. She’d managed to regain her mental and emotional balance while waiting for the crew to return to the Sun Queen. “I thought it was safe. I told him to go and take the others with him. I had two guards left with me.”

  “And you!” Liv said to Jules. “What did the midwife say about hand-to-hand combat?”

  “She advised against it,” Jules said. “Which is not the same as prohibiting it.”

  “It’s not like she had a choice,” Ang said. “They would’ve killed her.”

  “Three Mages.” Artem had been mostly silent since returning to the ship and finding the bodies of Kara and Alons. “They could not be seen?”

  “No,” Jules said. “I was looking that way when they struck. Alons and Kara were doing their jobs well. But the Mages couldn’t be seen.”

  Ang frowned. “The punt could have carried only three Mages. There wasn’t enough room for more. Why didn’t Kara and Alons see the punt?”

  “I think they saw something,” Jules said. “But it wasn’t anything to alarm them. I think the punt may have been hidden by whatever the Mages used to hide themselves. I’m sorry, Artem.”

  He nodded, his mouth a tight line. “Captain Jules, both Kara and Alons owed every day of their lives since we escaped the Empire to you. You gave them that time.”

  “I wish I could’ve given them more.” Jules looked toward the town. “It was a clever plan. Start the fir
e to distract and draw away anyone protecting me, then come out and kill me under cover of the commotion.”

  “No one had seen Mages,” Liv said. “No one in Cape Astra.”

  “They’ve been hiding from the people here, hoping to get a chance at me,” Jules said. “We have to assume the same might be true of other places out west. We haven’t been seeing Mages, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

  “There won’t be Mages at Pacta Servanda,” Keli said. “You seem to be all right, Captain.”

  “I’ve got a nasty bruise on my side,” Jules said. “And I felt dizzy during the fight.”

  “Occasional dizziness is normal.” She pulled up her shirt and he looked at her side. “It doesn’t seem like a deep injury. I don’t think the bruise indicates any problem inside.”

  Jules nodded, feeling morose. “I’d like to speak to Keli alone, please.”

  The others left, Keli watching Jules with concern. “What’s bothering you? Is there some other injury you didn’t want to speak to the others about?”

  “No injury. Just a worry. Am I like a Mage, Keli?”

  He raised both eyebrows at her. “You? Like a Mage?”

  She made an angry, confused gesture. “I watched that last Mage die, and I didn’t care. And I thought, how could she not care about killing and dying, and then I thought aren’t I the same way?”

  “I see.” Keli sat down opposite Jules. “It doesn’t bother you to kill?”

  “Not if they deserve it.”

  “Have you ever killed when you didn’t have to?”

  “Maybe,” Jules said. “I get angry.”

  “Because of what they’ve done?”

  “Yes.”

  Keli shrugged. “Then at least you have a reason. If your reasons were poor ones, if you killed because someone sneezed at the wrong moment or because someone bumped into you on the street, that’d be bad for certain. But I haven’t seen that in you. If you see the need, you don’t hesitate, and that does worry me sometimes. But I haven’t seen you misuse that. So, if it’s a wrong in you, it’s one you control. Would you kill Mages if they weren’t trying to kill you?”