by C S Vass
The crab moved its free pincer as if waving off the suggestion. Godwin sighed. Thirst burned his throat. He must have drank more than a little seawater before washing up. He likely would fall ill before long, if he hadn’t already. He needed shelter. Medicine. Food. All things which in his current state would require help to obtain.
“All right you bastard,” Godwin said to the crab. A gust of sea breeze set his teeth to chattering. “I’m giving you one last chance. I’m asking nicely just this last time. After that, you’re going to regret crossing me. I swear it.”
Godwin slipped into a mild hallucination. He saw the crab grin cockily and pinch down even harder. Its tiny crab-face was no longer its own, but Torin’s. Hot rage exploded behind Godwin’s eyeballs.
Robert hadn’t been walking for long when he saw the Shigata from afar. Saebyl’s white walls glowed optimistically with bright sunlight in the distance. Godwin’s black braid of hair was unmistakable even from several hundred paces away.
But what was the Shigata doing? It looked as if Godwin were praying on his knees, enthusiastically thrusting his head and hands up and down in the direction of the sea. Robert hadn’t known the Shigata to be religious. Was this some sort of ritual movement that he used on one of his potions? Perhaps waving his hands like that was part of the magic that would make something work?
Robert grimaced as he approached. Godwin’s eyes were crazed and bloodshot. Somehow most of the Shigata’s clothes had been stripped away, and there was a heavy flow of blood coming from his foot.
“Godwin?” Robert asked timidly.
Godwin’s eyes trembled in his head as he faced Robert. His gnashing teeth were filled with something white and stringy—crab meat, Robert realized, when he saw the creature that the Shigata must have ripped in half with his bare hands.
Robert approached cautiously. “Hey now, you doing okay friend?” he said in a gentle voice. “I’m going to take you to safety.”
Godwin laughed insanely. “He tried to eat me,” he said, gesturing to the torn crab in his hands. “I asked him nicely not to, but he didn’t listen. Now look who’s eating who.”
It took the better part of an hour for Robert to get Godwin to forget about his strange battle with the crustacean and remember what they were supposed to be doing. While he was reassuring the Shigata that no more sea creatures were coming to devour him, he also managed to staunch the flow of blood coming from the considerable damage to Godwin’s foot with a bit of torn cloth from his own sleeve.
Finally feeling himself again, Godwin took stock of their surroundings. News that Saebyl was nearby was most welcome. Even better, Robert was on good terms with an innkeeper who owned a comfortable establishment right outside of the city walls. Apparently it was not unknown for one of the Kirishelliwan to depart their clan for a time to work as minstrels, bards, and tavern owners.
“He’ll need no coin,” Robert assured Godwin. “He’s an old friend, and the Kirishelliwan never put much stock in money anyway.”
“If you can get me a warm bed, a change of clothes, and a bowl of soup, I’ll be a happy man,” Godwin groaned. “But what about Lyra? We can’t leave without knowing what happened to her.”
Robert made a grim but determined face. “I certainly wouldn’t propose leaving her. But you’re half-naked and likely to catch something more serious than the chills if we stay here longer. I’ve already searched a good length of the beach. I haven’t seen so much as a trace of anyone else, alive or dead, human or demon.
“I hope Tzuri-ren made it out okay,” Godwin said. “I liked that dwarf.”
“We can search for him too if you like,” Robert said. “But we need to get moving. In your current condition, we’ll be traveling slowly. I want to reach our destination before nightfall. Come the morning we can assess our situation and see what needs to happen.”
Feeling unhappy but resigned, Godwin agreed. Whatever else fate had in store for them, one thing would be certain. He would find Lyra, no matter her condition, and accept responsibility for her fate.
Chapter 10
By the time they were halfway to their destination Robert didn’t know which unnerved him more: the biting frost that numbed his fingers and tinged Godwin’s cheeks blue or the way the Shigata stumbled on his feet as if any moment could mark his fall. Robert had never seen Godwin so weak before, and the prospect of being caught in the wilderness with the wounded Shigata drove him forward with a sense of urgency.
They were headed to an inn outside of Saebyl run by a man of the Kirishelliwan. Robert was well aware that the location would be friendly to them regardless of their empty pockets. The difficult part would be finding it. He knew the inn to be to the south of Saebyl near the city walls, but beyond that there wasn’t much to guide him.
The sun had already passed high noon when Godwin fell. Swearing, Robert tried to help him to his feet before realizing that they would need to rest before the Shigata would want to move again. Of course, there was no time for that. They were both soaked to the bone and shivering. A night spent out of doors would be a catastrophe.
“Come on,” Robert said, rising. He put on a brave face and yanked Godwin to his feet. “We’re nearly there now. Food and fire await!”
Though he had given the Shigata all but his undergarments, Godwin was ice cold to the touch. His silver eyes drooped lifelessly below jet black brows, and his face was as pale as the light coating of snow that frosted the landscape as they moved from beach to forest.
“Don’t give me that,” Robert snapped as Godwin stumbled. “Here.” He gave Godwin a large, sturdy stick to support one side while he continued to carry him from the other. Godwin accepted it and continued on without saying anything.
About an hour from sunset Robert began to wonder if they should try to make a fire and set camp for the night. Saebyl’s walls had seemed so close, but the city was still aggravatingly out of reach. Perhaps it would be wiser to conserve their energy while they still had some energy to conserve.
We’ll make it, Robert decided to himself at once. If we make camp, then we die. Godwin has carried me more than a few times since we began journeying together. I can pull my weight just this once. As if in challenge to the thought, an icy gust of wind pierced through their skins and set their teeth to chattering. “I don’t think so, you bastards!” Robert shouted to the wilderness. “We’re not done yet!”
Godwin collapsed.
“No!” Robert grunted, heaving the Shigata up to his knees. “Come on, you son of a bitch! I’ll not have you slacking off while Lyra still needs us. On your feet this instant!”
“She’s dead.” The words were spoken so quietly that Robert almost didn’t catch them.
“What was that?” Robert asked, bizarrely enraged.
“We’ll find nothing of the girl but a corpse, you imbecile. She’s dead, and so are you if you stay with me.”
Robert struck him. The openhanded slap across the jaw barely registered to the Shigata, but the force of it in the cold made Robert’s numb hand ache. He struck him again from the other side. “That’s for talking like an arse,” Robert said. “Now shut your mouth and march!”
“What’ve we got here?” a laughing voice said through the trees. “A lover’s quarrel maybe? How unusual in cold winter.”
The horses approached slowly. There were three of them, each with a well-equipped rider. “Who goes there?” Robert said, trying to sound brave, absurd as it might have seemed as they stood their shivering and half-naked.
“Benjiko Boldfrost, Crown Prince of the West and licker of ladies bungholes,” laughed a man with tufts of red hair protruding from underneath a fur cap.
“They’re from the ship,” one of the men said. “That much is obvious.”
“Right,” the man who claimed to be Benjiko leapt from his horse. “Well that didn’t take long. You best come with us.”
“Says who?” Robert grunted as he unsheathed the short sword on his back.
“All right, l
ad, no need for that,” the man replied. “Come on. Your friend looks half-dead. He can ride in the saddle with me. You take Denny’s horse there for yourself. Hey, did you hear me? Get off yeh’r horse. Prince arse-licker demands it.”
Denny obliged while Robert looked at the men carefully. That red hair. A wild, insane smile broke out across Robert’s face. Godwin watched stormy-eyed without registering a thing that was happening, but Robert laughed and laughed.
“Jondus?”
“Come on, you idiot. Let’s get you somewhere warm.”
Throughout his professional years Robert had seen more than his share of extravagance. He had dined at court with the wealthiest of lords while their sly-eyed wives smiled at him from across tables piled with roasted duck and plum pudding. He had sniffed high quality narcotics with elite merchants while courtesans massaged his muscles and laughed in his ears. One lucky night, early on in his career, he had the good fortune of being the only male within ten miles of the Countess Sheolitha de Toulousaint. None of that pleasure held a candle to the relief he felt from hot water on his body and hot broth in his belly after the incident onboard Divinity.
“You’ve had quite an adventure, my friend,” Jondus said as he smacked his lips. Robert was sunk deep into the plush cushion of the hearthside seat his host had generously bestowed upon him, his eyes fluttering. They had dined on roast boar, chicken-broth soup, and buttered sour bread, and now they were enjoying a spread of salty olives, wheat crackers, and dolmas that popped with flavor. And wine. There was lots of wine.
“Indeed I have,” Robert said. “It’s certainly the kind that one remembers a little easier after a full meal.”
Jondus smiled as he chewed another olive and spit the pit out into a small ceramic bowl. “You’re lucky I was scrying tonight. Had I not decided to look into the sacred waters, I fear to think what might have become of you.”
“Indeed fate was on my side,” Robert said. He had already divulged the details of his journey onboard Divinity to Jondus, leaving out only the parts relevant to Godwin’s order and the nature of their mission. Jondus knew better than to ask about it. “Though it pains me to think I won’t be able to pay you immediately for the hospitality.”
Jondus laughed merrily, his foppish red curls shaking as he moved. “I may have left the Chillway, but I’m still of the Kirishelliwan, same as you. You don’t leave the eternal children without taking a piece of them with you. If I were worried about money, I’d move inside Saebyl’s walls and start buying up property.”
“Even without worrying about it, money seems to have found you,” Robert pointed out. “This hall is magnificent. I’ve seen lesser luxuries in the halls of lords.”
Jondus smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. There was nothing to say. The inn he founded had been a splendid success. While it lacked any of the marble finishings or bejeweled trinkets that a tackier proprietor might collect, everything in The Naked Sun was of the finest class from the foreign spices used in the food to the master craftsmanship that went into constructing the furniture.
“I’m glad it’s to your liking,” Jondus said. “You’ll need to stay here for at least a few days, if not longer. It will depend on if your comrade catches ill. In the meantime, I have men patrolling the woods searching for any sign of the girl that you mentioned.”
Robert nodded. “Thank you. It pains me to think what might have befallen her.”
“The two of you washed up ashore together. Quite a bit of luck, considering not another body appeared. It’s possible some different current carried the rest of them down the coast. Someone will find them. In the meantime, you both must rest. And drink.”
Jondus took the pewter carafe filled with sweet white wine and filled Robert’s cup to the brim. Smiling, Robert recalled the Kirishelliwan’s fondness for indulging in life’s pleasures. Still, it seemed a bit more virtuous to do so while wandering the Chillway. All the same, he took a long happy gulp and sighed with content. Across the hall, away from their cozy corner, tables were being cleared so that a dance might begin. Soon the quick energetic music of pan flutes and violins filled the room.
“I do hate to press you about such dull matters when you’re indisposed,” Jondus said. “But I can’t pass up this opportunity to ask you about world affairs. What news from the Southlands?”
“If only I could tell you,” Robert said. “Since leaving the eternal children, most of my time has been spent in backwoods villages or in the countryside. The largest city I’ve seen is Meno. Being so near Saebyl, I’m sure you have more to tell me than I you.”
Jondus wrinkled his nose, but kept his carefully cultivated smile. “I don’t mean to pry, Robert. But I bandaged your friend myself. I’ve seen his tattoo. He is Shigata.”
“Yes,” Robert said, trying to decide how much was appropriate to say.
“Well…you must be traveling with him for a reason. It’s true I am well-connected in the city of Saebyl, but they say the Shigata know things most men wouldn’t think possible.”
“I met him and one of his companions when they came across the eternal children,” Robert said, swirling his wine in a manner he thought made himself look sophisticated. “They were heading towards Meno, so I thought to use the opportunity to join their fellowship and make my way back home to the East.”
“Ah,” Jondus said. “I see. You felt the home-ache in your belly. It’s a feeling I’m not unfamiliar with. But nonetheless, there must be a reason you turned away from that course. Tell me, did something happen on Black Wolf?”
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing of any true importance, other than my comrade’s home castle being obliterated by Tarsurian soldiers. Come, don’t act surprised. Why do you feign ignorance? You can’t possibly have avoided the news of Castle Unduyo’s destruction.”
Jondus’s gaping mouth clearly said otherwise.
Robert, suddenly much more aware of himself, hunched forward. “Truly?” he whispered. “Is this not common knowledge?”
“Not in Saebyl,” Jondus breathed. Robert tried to read his face. But why would the man lie about something like that? If he wasn’t telling the truth, it would soon be obvious.
“I have a feeling perhaps you should be a bit more careful with that news in the future,” Jondus said. “At least until it becomes clear that the general population is aware.”
“I see,” Robert said. “I suppose Meno is trying to keep it concealed, and the sun warriors aren’t yet ready to make their presence on the continent known.”
“Easterners are here on our shores? Truly?”
Robert nodded. “They lost a great host of ships during the battle, but there are more still. You can be sure of that.”
Jondus drained his cup and poured another. “Gods, the thought of it.”
They talked for the better part of an hour. The conversation was trivial…for the most part. They spoke of the hope of spring, of the difficulty of finding quality vodka, of their memories of the Kirishelliwan together. Eventually Jondus excused himself to attend to his own business, giving Robert free rein to relax and drink his fill.
Robert, who had already eaten and drank enough for three men, settled his stomach with a cup of hot coffee and went to check on Godwin. The Shigata was battered and bloody, but had escaped any severe damage. His eyes flickered open as Robert came into the room.
“Lyra?” he asked at once.
Robert sat down and lit a candle. “Just me, my friend.”
Godwin tried to sit up, groaned, and kept his place propped up on the pillow. “We can’t stay here long,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. The branches of a willow tree scratched at the window in a gust of wind. “We can’t make ourselves comfortable.”
Robert snorted. “Judging from the look of you, I don’t think there’s too much danger of that happening. You need to get your strength back.”
Robert leaned in to get a better look at the Shigata. A yellow crust had formed around his eyelids, and his face was cut in at lea
st a dozen places. Robert took a cloth, dipped it in a bowl of water, and dabbed at Godwin’s eyes.
“We have to find her, Robert,” Godwin said. “I’m responsible. I’m the one who took her from her home. If it wasn’t for me…”
“Jondus assured me that he has his riders scouring the coast. It’s more than we could hope to do even if we managed to hobble out of here. Much more. For now we have to simply wait. But Godwin, there is a possibility…a chance—”
“Don’t say it,” Godwin growled. “Don’t even think that you swine. Lyra is alive and well. She—”
A fit of coughing interrupted him. When it passed his face was ghost white and his eyes were watering. Robert helped prop him up and got him to sip some water. Feeling his head he realized that a fever was beginning to set in.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Godwin said after a time. “You’re wondering why it matters. You’re wondering why I even care. She came of her own free will after all.”
“I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to. I need to find her, Torin. I don’t care if you understand. I don’t care if she is a prostitute.”
Robert looked at Godwin uncertainly. Torin? Prostitute? Is he having a fever dream? Does he know where he is?
“Godwin, where do you think we are?”
“I know where we are. And I know what you’re going to say. You’ve said it before a thousand times, and I still don’t care for any of your thoughts. Shigata or no, it’s my responsibility.”
Robert was sure now that Godwin was no longer speaking to him. The Shigata’s voice was strained, and though his eyes were open, it was clear that he saw nothing in the room.
“You can shove this mission up your arse. I’m not taking it.” There was a decisive change in the tone of Godwin’s voice now. He sounded like a wolf snarling at an encroaching hunter.
Robert tried to make his voice gentler. “It’s all right, Godwin. You don’t have to go on any mission. You don’t have to do anything.”