“Can you wait until the day after tomorrow?” Shin said. “That will give us more time to ready the Imperial servants the Sun Queen will carry home.”
“Maybe.” Jules smiled at a sudden thought. “I want some of that last batch of prisoners to be put to work doing something that’ll let them see the Mechanic ship anchored there. Then get them inside again before that ship leaves.”
“So they’ll report back that a Mechanic ship guards the town?” Shin smiled as well. “I will see to it.”
The Mechanics took the rest of the day to select their site and survey it, putting in metal spikes to mark the boundaries. None of them bothered to talk with anyone in the town again before they returned to their ship. The anchor was lifted, the chain rising with a low rumbling roar, then the ship left the river and headed south.
Jules watched Captain Hachi and the Star Seeker depart the next day. Lars took out the Storm Queen soon afterwards.
It felt odd being the only ship in port, the local population having shrunk considerably with the departures of three of the ships and their crews, as well as the Imperial citizens and legionaries who’d chosen to return home. The town, which had seemed crowded at times, felt almost abandoned. But nearly every indentured laborer had leapt at the chance to be free, and knowing they’d now have a chance to own what they had been laboring on had been continuing to work on the town buildings or on the fields outside the town where crops would soon be planted. The former Imperial citizens and legionaries who’d cautiously let Shin know they wanted to stay had been publicly declared prisoners who’d remain at the town because of their skills. But when the last of those returning to the Empire had departed, the so-called prisoners would be as free to move about as any of the other inhabitants of the town.
“Are you going to be all right?” Jules asked Shin the next morning as the Sun Queen readied to leave.
“Yes,” Shin said. “Captain Hachi helped me find some capable assistants. We will be fine. And relieved that the last prisoners we must watch are gone. Good luck on your trip east.”
She didn’t tell him that she’d decided not to take the Sun Queen east to drop the prisoners off on Imperial shores.
While the final preparations were underway, Jules went outside the town walls a little ways to a newly marked off plot of land where temporary stones indicated rows of graves. She stood looking for a while at the stones, thinking of those who had died defending the town, and the few pirates who’d died fighting them. Going to one fresh grave with a particularly large rock at its head, Jules saluted. “I’m sorry,” she told the spirit of Colonel Dar’n. “We both did what we had to do. You won’t have to worry about your son ever being interested in me again, if that’s any comfort. I packed up your personal items, and will send them to Ian when I can. May your rest be long and filled with peace.”
She walked back into the town, leaving the new graveyard behind her, wondering how many more graves might fill it in years to come.
Back aboard the Sun Queen as the lines were being taken in, Jules saw Marta pausing to wave at Shin on the pier. “I thought maybe you’d stay with him,” Jules said.
“Maybe someday,” Marta said. “It was too soon. He’s a nice one, though.”
“Don’t hurt him.”
“You warned me before and I took heed. If I go back to him and tell him it’s to last, I’ll mean it. But for now,” Marta said, bending to grab another line, “my home is still here.”
Once outside the harbor, Jules stood on the quarterdeck, breathing in the air of the open sea with relief. “Too long on land and I feel like I’m in a prison,” she told Ang. “Take us east until the town is out of sight, then bear south for Altis.”
“Altis?”
“Yes. After the Storm Queen, the Storm Runner, and the Star Seeker have all dropped off people on the coast, I have a feeling the Imperials are going to expect this ship to be next. They’ll have a lot of warships laying for us along the coasts near Sandurin.”
“That’s likely right,” Liv said, walking up to them. “But there may be an Imperial warship in the harbor at Altis as well.”
“If so, we’ll figure out a way around that,” Jules said.
“And then?”
“On south and then west to Dor’s.” Jules looked up, seeing the shape of a bird flying past. Was it flying low, or was it high up and much larger than it should be? “The waters around here are likely to see a lot of unfriendly traffic soon if the Mages have figured out that I’m still alive.”
“Those Mechanics should keep their mouths shut when others can hear,” Liv grumbled.
“Those Mechanics probably told the Mages directly,” Jules said. “I’ve done what they wanted at Western Port, and they want the Mages to keep their attention on me instead of causing problems for the Mechanics Guild.”
“Never count on the gratitude of emperors or the Great Guilds,” Ang said.
“I don’t. I have friends that I count on.”
Liv tilted her head slightly at Jules. “That’s a new attitude.”
“You got a problem with it?” Jules asked.
Liv stared at her, then laughed.
* * *
The Sun Queen reached Altis late in the evening, gliding into the impressive harbor ringed by hills. A few lanterns marked the town high above the harbor, as did the brighter, steadier lights that marked a Mechanics Guild Hall. Substantially more lanterns showed along the waterfront, where sailors would still be drowning their sorrows and doing things that would create new sorrows for them in the morning. “Beautiful harbor,” Liv commented. “How come the town isn’t bigger?”
“There’s nothing inland but rocks,” Ang said. “That’s what I’ve heard.”
“So why’s the town here?”
“It’s got a beautiful harbor.”
“I’m more interested in why there’s a full-size Mechanics Guild Hall up there,” Jules said. “Why’d they build that here? But we’re not going to get any answers to that. I don’t see any Imperial warships tied up,” she added, peering toward the waterfront. “Are there any at anchor?”
“No,” Liv said. “Maybe you were right about the Empire gathering ships along the coast near Sandurin. They left Altis open because they don’t expect us to show up here.”
“Let’s get close to the docks, put the boat in the water, and send our reluctant passengers ashore,” Jules said.
There were only a couple of ships anchored in the harbor, one flying the flag of the Mechanics Guild. But it was a regular merchant ship, made of wood and propelled by sails, doubtless used to transport cargo for the Mechanics. Jules gazed at it, wondering what might be in whatever crates that ship held.
But no pirate was crazy enough to attack a ship flying the flag of the Mechanics Guild. No amount of treasure or strange Mechanic devices would be of use to the dead, which anyone who tried that surely would soon be.
The Sun Queen eased her way through the harbor until she was not far from the waterfront. The harbor waters were placid, so the Queen slacked her sails while the longboat was put in the water and those who wanted to return to the Empire were sent down into it.
“You promised to return us to the Empire’s shores,” one of the prisoners protested to Jules.
“That’d be hazardous to our health at the moment. You’ll have no trouble finding a ship here to take you there,” Jules said. “Don’t you trust your Emperor to help you out?”
Jules and the others waited out the longboat’s journey to the waterfront and back again, oars flashing as the Sun Queen’s sailors wasted no time. “Any problems?” Jules asked Gord, who’d been in charge of the boat, as the rest of the crew quickly hoisted it in.
“An officer on the pier wanted to know what we were doing and why we hadn’t anchored. I told him we were on a special mission for the Emperor and got the longboat out of there while our former passengers were all yelling at him to arrest us.”
“Let’s go,” Jules told Ang.
&nbs
p; “To the sheets!” Ang yelled.
There was some sort of guard post under construction near the mouth of the harbor, but no one hailed them or pursued them as the Sun Queen cleared the harbor of Altis and swung south.
* * *
Ships heading toward Dor’s settlement never aimed straight for it. Instead, they tried to reach the southern coast of the Sea of Bakre well east of the settlement before turning west. Sailors feared the idea of overshooting Dor’s, ending up west of it, and blundering further west into the deadly waters that every chart and legend promised.
The morning that the Sun Queen reached the southern coast and turned west, Jules stood on the quarterdeck trying not to scowl at the sun, the lively waters of the sea, and the gray walls of the cliffs that lined the southern coast. Occasional cracks in the cliffs allowed small, rocky beaches to exist, but none big enough to hold more than a small group of people. The waves rolling in endless array produced sheets of spray as they battered at the unyielding rock, rainbows appearing and vanishing as the sun’s rays met the mist formed from the spray.
“Anything wrong?” Liv asked as she came to stand by Jules.
Jules let the scowl finally show. “Rough night.”
“I thought things were quiet. Gentle seas and fair winds.”
“It was rough here,” Jules said, using one finger to tap the side of her head. “I kept dreaming about Mak.” She hesitated, reluctant to share, but thinking of Shin’s advice she pushed the words out. “I was on deck, and the Mages were there, and I was trying to reach Mak in time to save him, but I never could. My arms and legs moved so slowly, and every time Mak died and I couldn’t stop it.”
“Blazes,” Liv muttered. “That’s hard. You know no one could’ve saved Mak.”
“I know that here,” Jules said, touching her head again. “Knowing it here,” she touched her chest, “is another thing. I don’t know why I kept having that nightmare, though. Do you think Mak is mad at me?”
“Mak? You think he’d send nightmares your way?” Liv shook her head. “That wasn’t like him. You know that. It seems like that nightmare was about not doing something you needed to do. Is there something you feel guilty about? Something you should’ve done?”
“Yes,” Jules said. She turned her head to look west. “Maybe it’s time I did it.”
Sailing west some distance off the coast, they spotted a few landmarks that told them the Sun Queen wasn’t far from Dor’s. Just after noon, the cliffs suddenly opened, a tremendous gap revealing a valley open to the sea and a river flowing through that valley to spill its fresh water into the Sea of Bakre.
A natural line of rocks extending into the sea formed a breakwater for the harbor, where another pier had been built since the Queen’s last stop here. Jules saw a lot of new buildings inland as well, as the Sun Queen made her way to the pier and tied up.
Dor, a short, broad man with a ready smile, met Jules as she walked onto the pier. “Always a welcome visitor,” he said. “I owe you for sending us that lumber.”
“The Prosper delivered?” Jules said.
“It did! Captain Aravind kept singing your praises for directing him to a new market. He was headed back to the Sharr Isles to pick up more wood there for us.”
Jules looked over the town as they walked toward it. “You’ve already used that lumber.”
“Sure have.” Dor pointed proudly at different buildings. “That one, and there. And some in that new pier you tied up to. What’d you bring?”
“Not much in the way of cargo,” Jules said. “My crew has money to spend, though.”
“Oh?” Dor gave her an appraising look. “Why sell your cargo in one place and spend the profits in another?”
“We picked up the money directly,” Jules said, remembering the glee with which her crew had welcomed the sharing out of the loot from the gold chest. She glanced toward the north. “From the treasury of an Imperial town.”
Dor stopped as if he’d suddenly run into an invisible wall. “You looted an Imperial town?” He sounded more worried than impressed. “The Empire won’t stand for that.”
“It was a special case,” Jules said. “I’ll explain it all.” She looked about again. “Have any Mechanics paid you a visit?”
“Not directly,” Dor said, eying her. “Every once in a while one of their metal ships will sail past and slow down to take a look at us, but they’ve yet to set foot here. Are you telling me the Mechanics had something to do with you pillaging an Imperial town?” He gave a meaningful glance at the Mechanic revolver at Jules’ hip.
“Capturing an Imperial town,” Jules said with a grin. “And, yes, the Mechanics had their reasons for supporting the deal.”
“Is that why you came here?” Dor asked, still serious. “I started this town to offer a refuge for those seeking freedom and opportunity outside the Emperor’s grasp. And everyone who comes here has to assist in building defenses, because everyone knows that someday the Emperor will try to add this place to his holdings. But I’d prefer not to provoke such an attack.”
Jules made an apologetic and calming gesture. “It’s all right. The Empire thinks I’m somewhere else. And you know I can’t stay anywhere for long, because the Mages would come for me long before the Emperor sent his minions.”
“That’s so,” Dor agreed. “We had a couple of Mages wander about last month. They came on a ship, went through the town without showing any interest in anything, and then left in another ship. People were thinking they hadn’t realized the ship they were on was coming here and left as soon as they could.”
“That’s possible,” Jules said. “How long have they been gone?”
“Um…three weeks, going on four.”
“Good. They probably weren’t looking for me, then. I was sure you’d have warned me right off if there were Mages about.”
They came to a place where a broad road, still mostly dirt, ran straight south alongside the river, up the valley until sight of it was lost in mist. A good ways up that valley a wall was being constructed across a narrower part of the valley from one side to the other. “You’re not going to try to defend the town itself?” Jules asked him.
“We can’t manage that,” Dor said. “The wall would have to be a lot longer if it was closer to the harbor, and a lot taller. Even if we could get it done, there aren’t enough people here yet to defend such a wall. If the Empire shows up, we’ll retreat upriver and hold that position as long as we have to.” He looked back toward the water. “Someday we’ll build a wall right on the harbor. Someday when this is a city. Maybe more walls, too. I took a vow on my wife’s grave that I’d never let the people here suffer under the bondage of the Empire.” He gave her a glance. “I know I can’t keep out the Great Guilds if they want to set up shop here, but someday that daughter of your line will take care of that part of things, eh?”
Jules, seeking to change the subject off of the prophecy, nodded to the south. “What’s making that mist?”
“Oh, that?” Dor waved toward the south. “The river comes down a series of falls. Short ones, but we’ll have to do a lot of work there if we’re to make the river navigable down to the sea.”
“How about beyond the falls? Do you know what’s there?”
“We haven’t been able to spend resources exploring, but beyond those falls the land looks to be fairly level, and it spreads out as far as can be seen,” Dor told Jules. “They’re rich lands. I can feel it. Someday we’re going to follow that river to its source. People keep telling me the grassy field will give way to desert, and the river’s source will be in some sort of rocky, inhospitable mountains. But they told me I’d never find any place along the south coast where I could build a city!”
Reaching one of the older buildings, meaning part of it had been thrown together a couple of years ago, Dor beckoned Jules inside. “Baba’s Bar is one of the oldest businesses in town. I sense there’s a lot you need to tell me, and Baba’s has a private room at the back where we can talk.”
The private room was just large enough to not feel cramped, dominated by a table in the center with chairs set around it. There were no windows, and the walls had a comforting feel of solidity to them. A lit lantern on a shelf provided more than enough light for the room. Baba herself brought in a bottle and glasses, shutting the door firmly behind her as she left as a sign that they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“To old friends,” Dor said, pouring wine into the two glasses, “and to those who we love who’re no longer with us.”
Jules nodded, picking up her glass to drink the toast.
“I’m sorry about Mak,” Dor continued after drinking as well.
“Thanks,” Jules said. “I’m sorry about your wife. What happened?”
“The usual. Death in childbirth.” Dor sighed, looking down at his glass.
“That’s what happened to my mother,” Jules said.
“They say that the Mechanics never lose a mother that way. That they have devices that can save someone even in the most difficult of births.”
“I’ve heard that,” Jules said.
Dor leaned back, gazing toward the east-facing wall. “How could someone have such a thing and not share it with those in need? We’d pay. We’d gladly pay.”
“There’s a lot I don’t understand about the Mechanics,” Jules said. “But they don’t really see our problems as their problems.”
“That’s nice for them,” Dor said. “Now, what’s this about you looting an Imperial town and living to tell of it?”
“There’s a new town on the coast north of Altis,” Jules told him.
“North of Altis?” Dor rubbed his chin, startled. “What’s it like there? The maps show a waste.”
“It’s good land,” Jules said. “The Northern Ramparts give way to plains that seem to run forever.” She explained what had happened, at least those parts she wanted to tell, while Dor listened intently.
“Blazes,” Dor said when Jules was done. “So the Mechanics wanted the Emperor to get a bloody nose, but didn’t want to do the dirty work themselves.”
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