by K Hanson
“Be that as it may, we can’t rely on your word alone. Too much depends upon your secrecy and outsiders have not treated us in a way to be viewed as trustworthy.”
“So what do you propose?” asked Nereyda. “You going to wipe our memories after the trip?”
“Nothing so complicated. You will leave your ship here and board our own vessel. We will blindfold you until we reach our capital city. When you get there, I will have you speak with our leader, who’ll be interested to hear any news from outside of the Shattered Sea.”
“What about our own ship?”
“Your ship will be towed safely to port. It will take some time, as sailing with a towed ship through the Shattered Sea is quite dangerous. However, we know what we are doing and will do so with care. Your ship will not be damaged.”
“Fine,” said Nereyda with a deep breath. “We’ll do it. Tell us where to go and how to behave while we’re on your ship.”
“Good. Have your crew cross to my ship just there.” He pointed at the ship that had boarded them. “The other ship, the one that drew the net across the channel, will be the one to tow your ship into port.”
Nereyda led her crew across a set of boards that had been lowered across the gap between the ships. The Islanders, both on the Morgiana and their own, still had their guns drawn and swords unsheathed, watching the strangers warily. Some of the Islander crew recognized people who traveled with Nereyda and came up to greet them.
Bessarion came across the gap. “I know that some of you may know our new guests, at least those of Shattered Sea origin, but there will be time for reacquainting ourselves later. Now, quartermaster, please escort our friends to the hold and blindfold them so they can’t see how we’re provisioned. Once they have been secured comfortably, please let me know, and we will be off. And I do mean comfortably, my friend. They are our guests, not prisoners.”
The bald man with the war hammer stomped up to them. A string of shark teeth wrapped around his neck. “I am Photios,” he said. “Follow me and tell your crew to keep their eyes forward and hands to themselves.”
Nereyda waved for her crew to follow the new person along with her. “We’ll behave. Lead the way.”
They climbed down a hatch in the deck, then down a couple of sets of stairs. They entered the dank hold of the ship. The scents of fish, salted beef, and unwashed sailors hit her nose. “Is this your idea of housing us comfortably? It stinks.”
“We are not a luxury ship. We don’t have much space for guest quarters. You will be comfortable because you won’t be in chains and you will get to pick whatever spot you’d like to stand or sit in while you’re down here.”
“Fine. Put on the blindfolds, and we’ll get this over with.”
One by one, Photios and his assistants bound cloth hoods over the heads of Nereyda’s crew. They saved her for last, putting a hood over her head after she had picked out a spot to sit and lean against the hull of the ship. A few minutes later, after she had heard the quartermaster go back up to the deck and call to the captain that everyone had been secured, the ship started to move.
Nereyda tried to focus on how the ship turned and how long it went in each direction. First it turned left, which meant they were going west. It went that way for five minutes. Next, the ship turned right to head north. Good, the right direction to the Islander capital, or so she guessed. It went that way for twenty minutes, by her estimation. Then it took another right—east—for ten minutes. Another right.
That’s not right. Now we’re going back the way we came.
The ship made a series of tight turns that made it difficult for Nereyda to keep track of all the maneuvers. Frustrated, she gave up her efforts of tracking. The Islanders weren’t stupid. They were intentionally making random maneuvers designed to throw off any of the pirates below trying to figure out where they were going.
Nereyda couldn’t blame them. She’d probably do the same thing in their position. It just was frustrating to be on the other end of it. She leaned back against the wooden hull and closed her eyes. She listened to the sounds of the ship. The creak of the hull as it bobbed in the waves and turned down the many passages of the Shattered Sea. The voices of the Islanders above, shouting commands and singing sailing songs to keep their rhythm. It was nice to hear that some things crossed cultural lines.
She even recognized some of the songs they sang from her time with the Islanders in her crew. They set the pace for various activities, whether it was making a turn, setting the sails, or pacing how fast the ship should go. She hummed along with the more familiar tunes.
Eventually, she dozed off against the hull.
A bump as the ship stopped brought her back to alertness.
Wood creaked as a couple of people descended into the hold. “Okay,” said the voice of Photios, “we’re here. You’ll all be led onto the deck, where you can relax while we find a place for you. Captain Nereyda and Jax, you’ll come with me first so you can meet with our leader.”
Hands grabbed her and helped her to her feet, then guided her up the stairs. When they reached the deck, someone pulled the hood off of her head. Nereyda shielded her eyes with her hand until her eyes adjusted to the daylight. A haze of white fog hovered in the air. Jax stood next to her, along with Photios and another member of the Islander crew. Then she took in the city around her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen.
The city consisted of a large series of docks. Hundreds of ships sat next to the docks, ranging from tiny fishing boats to sizeable frigates. Closer to the shore of the nearest island, a number of buildings floated next to the docks, tied together so they didn’t drift apart.
“Your crew will be fed while they rest on our deck,” said Photios. “I wish we could make their time more comfortable, but it’s the best we can do until we have approval from our leader, confirming that you are indeed the friends you say you are.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nereyda said. “They were living in the mines not too long ago. A a little longer on a ship is pretty luxurious compared to that.”
“I’ve heard about that place. Many Islanders disappear there, never to return.”
“I returned, and the others with us,” said Jax.
“Then I am happy to see you. I hope that you shut that place down on your way out.”
“We did,” Nereyda said with a smile.
“Glad to hear it.”
As they walked through the city toward the largest of the floating structures, Nereyda noticed that the buildings weren’t just floating. They were ships themselves. They all had openings in the walls for oars, too low to be windows. The larger buildings had sails and masts tied along their sides, out of the way until they needed to set sail.
“Do you have anything on land?” she asked. Hills and a spike of a mountain loomed further into the island, their details obscured by fog.
“Not really,” said Photios, as he swaggered a step ahead of them. “The dock network is tied to the shore, and we have anchors down to keep the whole thing from floating away. But this is designed to be completely mobile. Our capital is wherever we want it to be. If we ever suspect the Cambisians or Stalstans of learning where we are, we can pack up and move to another island.”
None of the ship buildings rose more than a single story. All were made of wood and featured a range of paintings as varied as the Islanders’ outfits. A shark pursuing its prey. A kraken with its tentacles wrapped around a ship. An island with towering peaks and dark green trees.
“How do your people know where to go if it moves when they’re gone?”
“They know to find a settlement or a sailing ship to find a friend who can tell them. We have ways of communicating our capital’s position in a way that is safe for us. Perhaps, if you become more trusted, we will teach you the best way of getting here and through the sea in general, without having ships follow you. We’ve long since learned how to shake a tail from us.”
As they passed a group of children playing, a wo
man scurried out of the nearest houseboat and shooed the young ones inside as she stared at the strangers.
“You literally have a sailing city,” she said.
Photios grunted his agreement. “Yes, it can all pack up and move in less than a day. Our fighting ships will buy us time if there is a threat close enough. However, our scout ships are supposed to warn us well ahead of time if there is an approaching enemy ship or fleet. But I’ve never seen more than one Cambisian or Stalstan ship at once in our waters. One lone vessel is not enough to present a true threat, but if it found us, it could lead a much more substantial force to us.”
“Jax, have you ever been here?” Nereyda asked.
“I’ve been to the floating city, but I don’t think I’ve been to this location. Has it moved lately?”
“Perhaps—I’m not sure I’m free to share that with you yet. We also conceal the timing of our moves. We don’t want our enemies to find out their information is out of date. If they think our city is in one location when it isn’t, that is advantageous to us.”
Their guide led them over the docks to an expansive building that had two masts strapped along its side that Nereyda could see. She even saw the rudder hanging off of what must be the back of the ship when it sailed.
Colorful flags hung off the sides of the building, and intricate carvings were etched into the walls and two pillars that bracketed the entrance. “This is it,” said Photios. “Our leader is inside, and will make sense of what you’ve told us and any news you have.”
“Is there anything we should know to do, or not do?”
“You mean like courtly etiquette? No, not especially. Don’t be too much of an asshole and you’ll be fine.”
“This sounds like my kind of place. I’ve gotten tired of all the rules and manners that the Imperial nobles shove in people’s faces. It makes it tough to figure out exactly what a person’s like when they keep it behind a mask.”
“No masks here. That said, don’t be rude. If you walk in like you own the place or like you’re owed something, that will not end well.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Jax smirked. “She does seem to have a problem with acting like she owns places.”
Nereyda shot Jax a look. “Only when people are jerks. These people have brought us to their home without killing us or even locking us up. That’s a head start on a lot of the people I’ve met.”
“Fair enough. Should we get this over with?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Okay, I’ll lead the way,” said Photios. “Then I can make an introduction and get back to the ship.”
The quartermaster pushed into the longhouse and Nereyda and Jax stepped in behind him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Lanterns around the perimeter cast a warm light around the room. As outside, paintings adorned the walls. Each told a story, such as a naval battle or a fishing expedition.
A woman sat in a simple chair on the other side of a small table in the center of the single room that occupied the structure. She wore simple clothing and clutched knitting needles and yarn in her hands. An ornately carved wooden pendant adorned her neck.
The woman, who had gray streaks in what had once been black hair, looked up at the door as they entered. “Photios, what brings you here? Weren’t you and the Bythos on patrol duty? I don’t think you were due back in for several days? And who are these guests you’ve brought?” Even as she questioned Photios, her voice carried the feeling of a mother’s warm embrace.
“These people are the reason we came back early, Sibylla. We found them sailing through our waters, and they entered the zone of warning. They weren’t Cambisian or Stalstan, so we boarded their ship to learn who they were. They are just pirates, and are returning some of our people that we thought lost, including some from Lamia, like this one.” He pointed at Jax. “They surrendered peacefully and with no resistance to our practice of blindfolding our guests. We are towing their ship here as we speak. So far, they have shown no sign of hostility. Bessarion and I thought you might want to meet these two and learn more about what is happening outside of our waters.”
“Interesting.” Sibylla appraised Nereyda with black eyes. “You did well to bring them to me. You may return to your ship, Photios. If I have need of any more information from you or your captain, I will send for you.”
Photios nodded his head in respect as he left the room.
Sibylla gave them a small smile. Her pendant, carved in the shape of an octopus, hung just at her clavicle.
“Thank you for returning our lost to us,” she said to Nereyda. “It is rare to see such a kind deed from an outsider.” She set aside her knitting, leaned forward, and clasped her hands. “Did you do this out of the goodness of your heart, or do you expect some sort of reward?”
“If it’s not a problem, my crew would like to stay here and see what it’s like to live among the Islanders.”
“Ah, you want to live with us? Why?”
Nereyda appreciated that Sibylla didn’t waste time with small talk and greetings. “You may have heard of the war back on the continent. We fought in it for a time and decided we’d had enough.” A story about how she blew up a temple probably wouldn’t make a great first impression. “Since we love sailing, maybe this can be a good new home for us.”
“How did you meet Jax and the rest of our people that have come with you?” asked Sibylla.
“We were prisoners together in a mining complex. While we were there, the Stalstans attacked. We fought through them, then escaped after the battle.”
Jax let out a short laugh. “That understates your own contribution, I think. You singlehandedly destroyed most of those fire demons.”
“Fire demons, you say?” asked Sibylla. “We’ve had a few reports of Stalstan ships here in the Shattered Sea, along with villages burned to the ground in the areas where they’ve been spotted.” Sibylla stroked her chin. “You’ve already earned our favor by returning our people to us, and you have my personal gratitude for that, but I’m afraid I must ask another favor of you, if you’re willing.”
“I’m listening,” Nereyda said.
“These Stalstan ships always outrun us by the time we can get there, leaving behind a village of fire and little else. It might have something to do with these fire demons you mentioned. With your experience facing them, perhaps you’ll have more luck than we’ve had so far. Would you be so kind as to find one of those ships and figure out what they intend to do? If you could even go so far as to capture or destroy it, I would be most grateful.”
Nereyda was equal parts scared of facing the Stalstan fire demons again and eager to learn more about them. “You just want us to deal with one of them?”
“One is a good start for now.”
“Will we be able to have a map of the sea? It would be quite helpful in finding these ships and noting where they are.”
The elder thought for a moment, looking away as she considered. “Very well,” she said as she looked back at Nereyda. “We will lend you one of our maps. It will not, however, have the location of our capital on it. No offense meant, but as you are still strangers, we need to be cautious.”
“Will this map have some locations of your villages on it? That will give me a starting point to begin looking.”
“We will mark the villages that have been attacked and those that are in the same region as the attacks. Any more information should be unnecessary for your mission, and we don’t want to put our people at more risk in the event that your map is leaked.”
“If this will make your people safer, we’ll do it. Is there anything else we need before we go?”
“Your ship should be arriving soon. I would also like you to take one of our own with you. When you talk to Bessarion, tell him that I told you to take someone. He can pick someone from his crew, and that person will be your guide and observer.”
“Observer?” asked Nereyda as she arched an eyebrow.
“We need to wa
tch you and how you act. If you aren’t who you say you are, the observer will tell us.”
“Fine, we’ll take a babysitter.”
“It doesn’t have to be babysitting. The person will probably be someone capable and will be useful to you on your short journey.”
“Very well. Should we see ourselves out?”
“Yes. Do you know the way back to the ship you came in on?”
“I remember the way. Jax, do you have anything you wanted to ask about?”
“Ah, yes; thanks, Reyda.” He looked at Sibylla and rubbed the back of his neck. “I heard that a boatful of kids arrived from Lamia. I was there when the settlement was attacked. What became of them?”
“They have been adopted by various families in our city, though any orphaned child is truly adopted by the whole city.”
Tears welled in Jax’s eyes. “That is a relief to hear. My wife, Avra, and the others who died on the island would have been thrilled to hear it.”
Sibylla rose and hurried around the table, then embraced Jax’s shoulders in her hands. “Avra made a great sacrifice and is being remembered in our songs and stories. She lives on still, if you listen to what people have to say. You should be very proud of her. Her loss was not in vain. Through her death, she has allowed many to have the chance at life.”
“Thank you, Sibylla,” Jax said. “Some of their parents came here with us. I can’t wait to give them the news.”
“You’ve waited a long time to hear this, I see,” she said.
“Yes. It has been a long time between the trip to Cambisia and the time in the mines. I didn’t know if I’d ever see the outside world again. I could never have hoped to see our city or our islands again.”
“It is wonderful to have you back.” She smiled at him. “I wish I didn’t have to send you back into harm’s way again so soon.” She stepped back and glanced from Jax to Nereyda. “I will let you go on your way now. As soon as you return, seek me out, and we can talk about what you find.”
Nereyda nodded her head while Jax gave a slight bow, then walked out of the longhouse.