William held up his hand. “Forget what I said last night—I wasn’t myself. Oz’s death reminded me too much of what happened to my father, and it was almost like living through that nightmare again. I won’t be over it any time soon, but thankfully I have someone who reminded me of who I am, and what’s important to me.” He reached over and took Melissa’s hand, giving her a smile of thanks.
“So, we’re going to keep looking for the rebels?” asked Maya.
William nodded, and five people exhaled as one.
Rachel walked around the table to squeeze his shoulder. “You had me worried, buddy. You’re made of tougher stuff than most. A lesser man would have walked away.”
He acknowledged her compliment with a simple nod. “I almost did. I’m battered, beaten, and bruised—at least inside—but I have a score to settle. And to do that, we need to find these smugglers and convince them it’s in their interest to help us. Maya and Charlie, do either of you know anything about this place the barkeeper told us about? Ransom’s Cove, I think he called it? I looked at the map again last night, and I found three islands north of the city, but no sign of any bay or cove. Maybe he lied to us.”
“He was too scared to lie,” said Rachel. “Lying takes effort, and he was too busy trying to save his skin.”
“Then why doesn’t the map show the cove?” asked William.
Maya shrugged. “Cartographers aren’t perfect. They make sure to get the important details right—harbors, borders, cities—but outlying areas don’t matter much. I’m sure they’ve missed lots of places.”
“It won’t be hard to find,” said Rachel. “Smugglers don’t expect anyone to be searching from above. All we have to do is fly around the general area until we spot them. If we do that from high enough, they won’t even notice us.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Oh great. You mean we get to fly even higher?”
William turned to Charlie. “You trained as a guard. What’s the best way to raid a large group of criminals?”
Charlie stopped eating long enough to answer. “Surprise and larger numbers.”
“We’ve got the surprise aspect covered,” said Jack. “But what if we’re outnumbered?”
“We have dragons,” said Rachel. “Our biggest danger is scaring them away before we can talk to them.”
“When do we leave?” asked Melissa.
“As soon as everyone has finished breakfast,” said William as he grabbed a few more sausages. “And a second one in my case. I don’t like to confront smugglers on an empty stomach. Dig in, Melissa—why aren’t you eating?”
Melissa placed her hand on her stomach. “I’m feeling a bit queasy again. I think I’ll pass on breakfast.”
Maya glanced over at Melissa. “First Oz, now you. Maybe it wasn’t the flying that made him sick. I want to give you a quick examination to make sure it’s nothing serious.”
“I’m sure it’s not,” said Melissa. “But if you think it’s a good idea…”
Reggie came in as Melissa and Maya left, and approached William. “The footmen overheard you saying you were continuing with the search for Vincent. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, William. It can’t be easy after what happened yesterday.”
“Oz’s death shocked us all,” said William. “But we’ll do what we can, especially since Major Bentsen still hasn’t arrived yet. When should he get here? I’ve lost track.”
“It’s ten days at a forced march from Marshland to Faywater,” said Charlie. “I did it once, and it wasn’t fun.”
“So, five days from now,” said Rachel. “Sooner if they can commandeer a ship or two, which would leave them better rested.”
“We’ll have to keep a constant watch on the bay until then,” said William. “Unless something happens.”
Maya and Melissa returned a few minutes later. “Your wife is cleared to fly,” said Maya.
“What was wrong?” asked William as Melissa sat beside him.
She gave him an impish grin and reached for her tea. “Oh, just a little more excitement in my life than usual. I’ll be fine.”
“Meaning you’re not fine now?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Maya gave me something for the nausea and said it would pass with time.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” said William with a frown. “Maybe you should stay here today.”
“Are you questioning my ability to decide for myself?” asked Melissa with a frosty look.
“Or her doctor’s professional opinion?” asked Maya with the same expression.
William raised his hands in surrender as he stood to leave. “Nope. Not me. I would never do such a thing. You must be thinking of someone else. Let’s go find some smugglers.”
Moments later, with a renewed sense of purpose, William leapt onto Adonis’s back.
“Good morning,” said the dragon as William settled in for the flight. “Your mood has improved. Humans grieve for only a short time?”
“Not at all,” answered William. “But grief has to wait when more important things need doing. Today, we look for smugglers. Let’s head north along the coast.”
Adonis did as instructed, his brothers following immediately after. The riderless drone flew at the end of the line, and William couldn’t look at him without feeling a pang of guilt, but it was a useful reminder that the rebels were desperate and might do anything to avoid capture.
The inlet was more difficult to find than Rachel suggested. They flew all the way to the north end of Faywater Bay, and had to fly back and forth three more times before Jack spotted a mast among the pines and signaled the others with his red scarf. The inlet was as well hidden from above as it was from either land or sea, but Adonis found a spot where they could fly in at an angle. They did so at high speed, pulling up and landing in unison in the middle of a small crowd. A few people ran away, but most stood their ground, brandishing knives and other weapons.
William hopped off Adonis and addressed the mob. “Those weapons won’t work against fire, so don’t bother trying. We aren’t here to arrest anyone. We only want to talk.”
“Strange way to go about it, Lord William,” said the largest man there. His beard practically bristled with rage. “Why not talk to a tavern keeper like a normal person?”
“Because he’s not a normal person,” said Rachel as she caressed her bow. “That’s why we like him.”
The smuggler ignored her and continued to address William. “We don’t tolerate strangers showing up unannounced. It means moving again, and it’s easier to get rid of witnesses than it is to move our base. Tell me what you want quickly, or we’ll make short work of you, dragons or not.”
“Have you seen dragons in battle?” asked William. “I have. The work would be short, that’s for sure, and you’d have nothing and no one left to move when it was over. What I want is to speak to the person in charge. Are you Ransom?”
The man lowered his knife an inch or two but maintained his icy stare. “The captain’s busy. Talk to me, and I’ll decide if your message is worth relaying.”
William approached the man, leaving his own sword sheathed, and stopped just short of the knife point. “I said I’ll speak to your boss. I only see a few cabins and a couple of ships, all made of wood. If needed, I’ll have the dragons burn them one by one until I find Ransom. Hopefully alive.”
The man stared back at William for several seconds, then turned to the man on his left. “Go fetch the captain.” The second man ran toward one of the cabins and returned moments later, followed by a girl no older than Melissa’s younger sister. Her stride was relaxed and confident, and William couldn’t decide if it was bravado, or if she simply didn’t know what she was up against. She approached William and looked him up and down, casting no more than a glance at the others on their dragons.
“I’m Leith Ransom. You’ve invaded my camp. You’d better have a good reason for it.”
William stared back at the slender figure before him, no more than
sixteen years old. “Is this a joke? I said I wanted to speak to the person in charge.”
Leith laughed, a derisive chuckle meant to mock him. “The great William Whitehall, doubting a teenager’s potential? How old were you when you discovered those dragons and defeated a camp full of rebels?”
“I wasn’t leading a group of smugglers,” said William. “Am I supposed to believe men like this one would listen to a—”
He barely saw her move. Before he knew what had happened, she was behind him, knife at his throat, her other hand seizing his sword hilt. From the corner of his eye, he saw Clyde hurl himself toward them. “Clyde, no!” he yelled as the dragon unleashed a spurt of fire at Leith. The flames cut short, and William caught a scent of singed hair as she leapt for safety.
“You’ll pay for that,” she said, glaring at William, smoke rising from her scorched clothes.
William wiped his throat and looked at his fingers. Blood covered the tips, though thankfully not much. “It seems I already have. Look, we have you outmatched, but as I told your colleague, we aren’t here to arrest anyone. We need your help.”
“I’m not in the frame of mind to help you with anything, Lord William,” she seethed, spitting out the honorific. “You’ve come here uninvited and threatened to burn our homes. You’ve given me no reason to trust you. At this moment, you are my enemy. I may not win a fight with you, and maybe I’d lose a few men and women, but that doesn’t mean all of you would survive. And if you kill us, you won’t get what you want either. So, give me a reason to help you, or get lost.”
William eyed the circle of smugglers surrounding them. He had no doubt he and the dragons would prevail in a fight, but she was right: it probably wouldn’t be without cost. He had to appeal to her morality—assuming she had one. “You recently met with a tall, scrawny man with a giant nose who goes by the name of Bird.”
“What if I did?”
“He and his men are responsible for kidnapping Duke Vincent.”
Leith turned to her bearded colleague. “You were right,” she said to him.
“You knew about this?” asked William.
She shrugged. “We guessed. But we refused him even before we knew for certain. I smuggle wine, cheese, whiskey, rum, leather—but I don’t deal in human cargo. I helped his people locate a decent hiding spot, one we don’t use anymore, but that was before I knew what he was up to. I’ll risk prison time for evading taxes, but I won’t hang for abetting kidnapping.”
“So, you’ll help us find the duke?” asked Jack.
Leith laughed at him. “Not a chance. My reluctance to help Bird was for reasons of self-preservation—and pride. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stick my neck out for Duke Vincent. He’s my enemy, after all. It’s his taxes I’m evading, and the longer he’s missing, and the busier his people are looking for him, the happier I am.”
“You’d simply let him die?” asked William. “Because that’s what’s likely to happen if you don’t help us. Where’s that pride you talked about a moment ago?”
Again, Leith mocked him with her laugh. “You have a hero complex, don’t you? Unlike you do-gooders, I don’t have a false sense of responsibility for every life that crosses my path. I’m not the one threatening to kill him, but I won’t risk my well-being to preserve his. Give me a good enough reason to, and I’ll consider it.”
“For money,” said Melissa. She slid off her drone and joined William at his side.
“Who’s this?” asked Leith with a sneer. “Your second in command?”
“My wife,” said William.
Leith scoffed at him. “You let your wife fight your battles for you? What sort of hero are you, anyway?”
“The smart kind,” he answered. “At least I try to be. The fact is, she’s smarter than I am. Melissa, you were saying?”
Melissa flashed him a gratified smile, then turned to Leith. “The reason you want to help us is money. That’s why you smuggle, isn’t it? For profit?”
“Of course it is. But why would I help the person who most wants to stop me?”
“I assume you’re one of the best at it, too. Am I right?”
Leith shrugged. “Almost everyone else gets captured sooner or later. We’re the only ones who’ve lasted more than a month or two. We probably handle two-thirds of all smuggled goods into Faywater Port. Again, why would I help the duke?”
Melissa locked eyes with her, and her demure smile disappeared. “What do you think will happen now that the duke’s been kidnapped, and the authorities are busy looking for him instead of smugglers? What will competition be like then? I’ll bet you go from two-thirds to less than a tenth if every idiot with a boat can do the same thing as you without fear of being captured.”
Leith turned pale. “King’s bloody beard,” she said under her breath.
“See?” said Melissa. “You need the duke more than you realize. Without him imposing taxes in the first place, you don’t have a business. Without his harbormaster patrolling the bay, you have too much competition to earn a decent living.”
“That may be,” said Leith, recovering from her initial shock. “But even if this duke dies, another will replace him, and things will go back to normal.”
“Not soon, though,” said Melissa. “What will you do in the meantime?”
“I can weather a storm, and I can last through lean times. What else are you offering? I’ll need more if I’m going to stick my neck out.”
“Immunity,” said Melissa.
William whirled around to look at her. “What?” he asked.
“Shh,” she answered. She turned back to Leith and continued. “No matter how good a smuggler you are, you’re bound to get caught one day. What’s it worth to you to avoid prison when that happens? How much would you pay to stop your ship from being confiscated, and your crew from being thrown in jail?”
Leith shared a glance with her colleague for several seconds. She then turned back to Melissa. “How do I know you have the authority to offer this?” she asked eventually. “How do I know Vincent will honor your promise?”
“Duke Vincent will honor any agreement Lord William negotiates on his behalf,” said Melissa. “If he didn’t, no one will ever trust an agent of his, and he can’t let that happen. He may not like this agreement, but he’ll abide by it.”
Leith and her second exchanged another long look. Some imperceptible signal must have passed between them, because she turned back to them with a decisive look. “Come inside,” she said, turning on her heel and heading toward the small cabin.
The table inside barely fit everybody. Leith herself remained standing while William and his friends filled the seats. Clyde jammed himself into the corner nearest William before lying down to doze. “I assume you can read this?” asked Leith, pointing to the large map covering the longest wall.
“Of course,” said William. “We all can.”
“Don’t get huffy,” said Leith with a scowl. “Not everyone works in a Library or goes to school, you know. As it is, I had to learn on the job.”
“That’s a beautiful map,” said Melissa. “Did you make it?”
“Ha!” laughed Leith. “Not a chance. My writing is barely readable, and my sketches worse. One of my patrons printed it for me in exchange for a rather difficult delivery. It has the advantage of including several islands that are left off most official maps.”
“Left off?” asked Jack. “Why would any islands be left off maps?”
Leith shrugged. “I’m not a map-maker, but if I had to guess, it’s because they’re uninhabited, not worth inhabiting, and not near shipping routes. All a sailor needs from a map is how to find her destination and what to avoid on the way. My destinations aren’t the same as other sailors’.” She pointed to a small group of islands in the north west corner of the bay. “These are the islands I told them about. We don’t use them often because they’re too far from the coast, but I’ve met the occasional client there, and stored a few extra supplies. Your kidnappers w
ere particularly happy to note how close they were to the northern choke point, because it meant only a short sprint to the open sea. And these islands are definitely not on most maps.”
“What about the harbormaster’s maps?” asked Rachel.
Leith waved away the implied suggestion. “It doesn’t matter. Ungless knows about them even if the maps don’t show them. But she doesn’t have enough men or boats to send to every far-flung scrap of land in the bay. If officials lay eyes on them more than once a year, I’d be shocked. A good smuggler can stay hidden there forever if she wanted.”
William nodded at the map. “There’s over a dozen islands in that group. Any idea which one they’d pick?”
Leith shook her head. “Almost any of them would do. They have three ships, from what Bird told me. They could hide them on three different islands, or keep them together on one. Unlike the barrier islands surrounding the bay, these ones all have plenty of tree coverage.”
“Three ships?” asked William. “Are you sure?”
Leith shrugged again. “He could have lied to me. But what for?”
“How many men?” asked Charlie.
“How would I know?” asked Leith. “I didn’t ask, and he didn’t say. But they would need at least ten men for each ship just to sail them, probably twice that if they intend to row. But each ship could hold another forty men or more if they crammed it from keel to top deck.”
“Six people against a hundred or more,” said Jack. “I don’t like those odds.”
“We aren’t going to fight them,” William reminded him. “Just look for them.”
Jack sighed. “Since when was just looking enough for you?”
“Stay here if you’re so scared,” said Rachel. “I’m sure Captain Ransom can put you to work.”
“It has nothing to do with fear, and you know it,” said Jack with a scowl. He turned to William with an angry look. “How many times have you gotten yourself into a jam because you couldn’t wait to be the hero? How many times have I had to rescue you from your own would-be rescue missions? Why can’t you just find these rebels and report it to the authorities?”
Skyrider of Renegade Point Page 32