by T B Phillips
Mac let out a snort. “We both know that Chuck was walking around with a limp sword that couldn’t find the sheath. Not after that accident.”
“That dancing horse of his did a number on him, didn’t it?”
“Exactly why I don’t trust trick ponies, and neither should you. No, we both know who the Esterling boys belong to father-wise. And that’s exactly why I won’t help you. Matteas is already spreading rumors about your tie to Robert and no one knows about his own relationship with Marcus.” He shook his head. “Regardless of who wins, if word gets out that I helped you, then the rumors will be that nepotism favored your son over the true heir. No. I won’t be on the wrong side of a rebellion, Max. A civil war maybe, but not a rebellion.” He stood up from the log with a slight groan and a pop from one of his knees. “My pages in the history books are already written, and I don’t want to rip them out and throw them in the Caldera.”
Reeves looked at the ground as he quietly spoke his next words. “He’s as strong as five Falconers, Mac. Maybe stronger.”
Lourdes froze in his tracks and stood, pondering what he had just heard. After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, “Well that’s not good enough, Max. See you tomorrow morning.”
As Maximus Reeves watched his former mentor mount up and ride south, an eagle screeched a mournful cry from a nearby treetop. It might as well have been a trumpet signaling defeat.
Chapter Forty-Two
The midday sun was high in the sky as Braen watched Samani. He lined the older children up in the town square and fifteen were chosen, their ages ranging between nine and fourteen summers. They were seven boys and eight girls standing before him as he coached the basics of air control. Despite that Kernigan had no power over the element himself, Braston could tell that the man was doing his best to explain the art and was irritated with their progress. After a while, one of the boys succeeded in sending Kernigan flying backward, and the northern captain laughed at the folly.
“Tell me this isn’t what it looks like.” A voice from behind broke his merriment and he looked up at Eusari’s angry glare.
“We need their help.” He looked back at the children, just in time to see a girl create a whirlwind in the snow. It was fascinating to witness, but it snuffed out as quickly as it had manifested. “If they can master their craft that is.”
“They’re children, Braen.”
“I learned to fight when I was their age.” Shrugging dismissively, he added, “I’ve had an axe in my hand since I was ten.” She still stood behind him and he could feel her eyes drilling holes in the back of his head. After a few moments of chilled silence, he turned to face her. “We can’t get into The Cove without them, Eusari.
With a sigh she uncrossed her arms and moved beside him. “Just promise me that you won’t use them in the battle.”
Braen nodded, “Sure.”
In a flash she had grabbed his tunic and spun him around to face her, green eyes now showing a hint of grey. “I’m serious, Braston. They. Don’t. Fight!”
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can’t make promises, but I’ll try to keep them out of combat.” She stared him down, so he added, “Ok. I’ll only use them to get into The Cove. Then we’ll leave them on the boats during the action.”
“Swear it to me.”
“Sari…”
She stepped closer, menacingly. “Swear it!”
“Fine. I swear that we’ll leave them on the boats.” Her sudden aggression caught him by surprise. Sometimes he forgot that she was a ruthless assassin, and times like this shook him into remembrance.”
“Braen, they’re children. They were stolen from their families and trust us to keep them safe.” She stepped back with a crestfallen expression. “They’ll probably do anything we ask, and I can’t live with it on my conscience if we lead them to their deaths.”
“Sari.” He stepped up and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I understand, but we need their talents if we’re to pull off this attack. I’ll do everything that I can to keep them off the front lines.”
She silently stared up him and he assumed she was calculating whether or not she was ready to trust. After a time, she shook her head and said, “Fine. But if one of them dies then I’ll never forgive you.”
He nodded. “If something happens to one of them, I won’t forgive myself.” Changing the subject, he pointed toward the piers. “Sippen said that the boats are nearly ready. Come on. He wants us to see.” They made their way to the harbor without further conversation. Braen worried a little himself about using the children, but their entire plan depended on their abilities and his combined.
They were met by an excited Sippen in the docks. He beamed proudly and rushed to greet them. “Wuh… we have thuh… them fuh… finished!” Behind her were four specially designed longboats.
Braen raised an eyebrow at the design. Sleek and low to the water, they each had a large square sail that ran the length of the single mast. Each boat had rows of benches aligned so that weight was distributed evenly. “How many will they seat?”
Sippen smiled. “Fuh… fifty uh… each.” He pointed at the waterline. “And Thuh… the draft is luh… low. They wuh… will glide over the reefs.
Braen clapped him on the back, causing the little man to lose his footing. “That will do it! Good work, Sippen!”
Eusari was not convinced on the design. “How are these supposed to survive on the open seas during winter? One storm could wipe out an entire army.”
Braen had his turn to smile. “That’s the beauty of it. I can calm the seas between here and The Cove, and with one or two of our air emotes in each boat…”
Eusari glared again. “Children. I believe you mean children.”
Bowing a slight apology, he corrected himself. “With one or two of our children in each boat we can ensure a strong wind. We should be able to arrive within two days, beating any storm.”
“And if one hits us anyway?”
“Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”
Eusari looked doubtful. “I don’t like any of this, Braen. The entire mission sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.” She turned to Sippen. “Show me the new weapons at least.”
Sippen nodded and led them up the pier back to the main road. Only part of the town had been remodeled, and those buildings were farther back from the waterfront. Intentionally, they had left the visible town abandoned in case a stray patrol ship passed by and used a glass. Other than Ice Prince, She Wolf, and the new longboats, there was no indication that Estowen’s Landing housed over three hundred revolutionaries. Eventually, they turned a corner and faced a large building that may have once been a brewery. Vines and overgrowth had collapsed a section of the roof, but overall the building appeared sound. Yurik pushed the door open and led his friends inside.
Braen had been in Sippen’s laboratory several times since their arrival, but Eusari had not yet seen the marvel. Both men smiled at her reaction as the sight left her breathless. Two large kilns and four traditional blacksmith stations shared a large furnace in the back corner. The coals burned extremely hot and she watched as several men tended the heat source. Several other men were hard at work assembling longer versions of the little hand cannon that Samani had demonstrated. The entire line of men worked furiously and had already laid out fifty or so of the weapons on tables near the east wall. Sippen picked one from the table and grabbed a satchel from another nearby pile.
“Cuh… come on.” With a smile he led them through door that opened into a clearing in the forest behind. There, several metal targets were laid out at fifty-yard intervals. A small table was set up in front of the targets and he laid the gear out as he talked. “I chuh… changed the buh… barrels, adding guh… grooves on the inside to spuh… spin the round as it flies.” He turned the gadget to the sun so that they could look down the barrel. “I ah… al
so chuh… changed one uh… other thing.” He picked up a small cloth pouch about the size of a walnut and in the shap of a rectangle. “Buh… bite the cuh… corner off and puh… pour the powder duh… down the barrel.” He demonstrated as he talked. “Thuh… then drop the ball in like so.” After dropping the ball, he raised the device up to his shoulder and aimed. With the slightest pull of his finger an explosion rang from the weapon, pushing him slightly backward as it fired. A metallic sound indicated that he had hit the first target with force.
Both Braen and Eusari were dumbfounded and Braen could not control his enthusiasm. “That’s brilliant, Sippen!”
Eusari broke her own silence. “What do you call it?”
“Suh… Samani has been cuh… calling them rifles after the grooves in the barrels, which he called ‘rifling.’ He huh… has guh… great ideas.”
“What about the smaller version?” Braen had picked up the rifle and mulled it over.
“Yuh… you muh… mean this?” Sippen pushed back his coat to reveal a smaller and sleeker version in a holster on his belt. He drew it out, aimed at a target about twenty feet away and pulled the trigger. Again, the metallic retort of ball hitting metal rang true. “Suh… Samani calls thuh… this a puh… pistol.”
Eusari shook her head in amazement. “This is going to change everything. Suddenly our small force is more powerful than a full-sized army.”
Braen nodded. “I agree.”
Abruptly a cry rang out from near the waterfront. Braen left the rifle on the table and the three raced back to where Samani had been training the children. When they arrived in the city square, they froze at the condition of Kernigan. He had been blown backward by one of the children with such force that he was currently lying on the roof of one of the houses. He was too stunned to move and stared up at the sky.
The culprit was a young boy, probably between his ninth and tenth summers. He was sitting on the ground, visibly shaken by what he had done to his teacher with tears streaming down his red cheeks. Braen watched as Eusari crept up gently, crouching down to wipe his long blonde hair from his face. She revealed two ice blue eyes looking up at her. She smiled and spoke in a soothing and tender voice. “It’s okay. He knows you didn’t mean to do it.”
“I just… I got so mad at him!”
“I get mad sometimes too. Were you mad when you made the wind?” Through tears and sobs the boy nodded and she wrapped her arms around him. “My name is Eusari, what is your name?”
“I’m… Nikolas. My mother used to call me Niko, before…” He broke off as the sobs became inconsolable.
Braen cleared his throat, “That’s enough training for the day. The rest of you go see Porter for your daily chores. Then you can all have the afternoon to yourselves.” The other children ran off as soon as they were dismissed, leaving Niko behind with the adults. Braen moved over to the house and began setting up crates so that Samani could climb back down.
Eusari’s voice drifted over to him and he strained to listen as she comforted the boy. “Did they take you from your mommy?”
He shrugged.
“Where does she live?”
He shrugged again.
“You don’t know the name of the town?”
“It’s hard to say.”
She smiled at him, understanding. “Try your best, Niko. Maybe I know it.”
“Ata… Ata ratsy uh.”
“Sounds like Atarax.” A deep voice from behind signaled that Shon had arrived in the square after hearing the commotion. He looked up at Samani climbing down from the roof. He raised an eyebrow at Braen who inclined his head toward the boy, hoping that would explain.
Eusari gently asked, “Is it Atarax?” Niko nodded, tears welling up in his eyes at some distant and traumatic memory.
“That’s just a few days sail north of here along the coast.” Shon sat down on a bench to watch the exchange.
After shooting a look of thanks to her uncle, she focused again on the boy. “Do you want us to see if we can find her there?”
“She isn’t there.” Niko whispered, body tensing.
Breaking his silence, Braen asked, “Where is she, Niko?”
“The bad men killed her.”
Eusari pressed, “The Falconers?” He shook his head rapidly. It wasn’t them. “What did the bad men look like?”
Niko lifted his head and met her eyes, anger filling them at being forced to remember. He raised a pointed finger directly at Braen. “Like him, only shorter.”
Braen stood, shocked. “Did you see their ship?”
Another headshake. No.
“Did they have a crest or images on their armor?”
A nod.
Good. “What did the crest look like?”
“A cat eating a wolf.”
Braen’s heart might as well have stopped beating in that moment.
Eusari hugged the boy close. Finally, after a long while, the boy lifted his head and wiped his nose. She spoke to him very softly. “Niko, Shon is going to take you to your quarters so that you can get some rest. Does a nap sound nice?” He nodded. “Good. I’ll find you later and we’ll talk some more.”
Wembley rose and led the boy away. Samani started to follow, but she stopped him. “Not you, Kernigan. We three need to have a chat about these children.”
“Sari…” Braston started to speak but was cut off.
“No Braen. Don’t try and argue. And don’t you dare try and tell me how important they are to take The Cove. I know damned well how crucial their part is, but we’re going to lay some ground rules.”
Samani bowed his head and raised his palms upward in acquiescence. “What do you suggest, my dear?”
“First, you’ll no longer be their teacher. You know a lot of theory, but you don’t know shit about actually wielding the power.” He started to speak but she put her hand up and he silenced. “I know. You have taken some beads and had visions. But that’s not the same as using the elements.”
He couldn’t argue with her and so he again nodded. “You have a good point. So, what do you suggest?”
“Braen and I will teach them. You’ll be the technical expert, but we’ll practice the gift with them.”
Braston thought about what she was suggesting and couldn’t help but agree. “She’s right. When I first used the gift, it was a surprise and not something that I planned. It seems that we could better describe what it feels like.”
“Second, there will be strict rules regarding how they’re used to aid us. Under no circumstance will they participate in a battle. Also, they’re not soldiers, so you’ll both stop speaking to them like they are. Don’t even talk about them as if they’re anything besides children.” She was looking directly at Braen when she said the last part, eyes aglow with burning irritation.
“Finally, you’ll both get to know each of them. A wise man once taught me that leadership is about making relationships. That goes for the children as well. You will both know each of their names, learn their stories and treat them like people instead of weaponry.”
Braen smiled, “For the record I treat my weaponry better than I do people.”
Her eyes burned a fierce green and she responded. “I know.” With that she spun on her heels and left the square.
The two men watched her leave, then Braen broke the silence. “Why did you make the boy angry, Sam?”
“I had a theory. I noticed every time you two have been strong with the power, it was because your emotions were surging.”
“That makes sense. You were the one who said the powers are tied to emotion.”
“Specific powers are tied to specific emotions, yes. For example, if you’re melancholy or lovesick you can make it snow or rain. You draw the water from the air, making it cooler. Then you manifest it somewhere else and don’t always realize when you do.”
&nbs
p; “I’ve noticed that.”
“But when you lose your temper you bend the water to your will. Remember the mutineers?”
“I’d actually like to forget that, Sam. Thanks.”
“Braen, I wanted to anger him to see if he could do more than make a puff of air, and it worked. A nine-year-old boy sent me flying onto the roof. Now that he’s felt it, he should be able to tap into that memory and do it naturally.”
“Eusari won’t go for us doing that with each of them.”
“No. She won’t. But we’re on a timeline.”
Braen had always considered himself a morally upstanding man, and issues like ethics never worried his conscience. This dilemma was new territory for the northern captain, and he needed time to consider. Looking up, he saw the sun had moved well past midday and was making a descent in its path. Time was indeed running out fast, and he feared that he would have to choose to ask her forgiveness at some point in the future.
Chapter Forty-Three
Amash Horslei felt stronger than he had over the past weeks. Despite that he lay in a dungeon, he fared well. The guards brought him food on a regular schedule, actual meals and not the slop or gruel that they fed the other prisoners. He also rested on a straw bed instead of the cold stone that surrounded him. His ribs mended well, and he had begun to exercise his muscles to prevent them from dwindling from lack of use.
Weeks had gone by since his first and only visitor had spoken to him, bringing news from the outside world. He was happy that his friend Braen was alive and elated that he was probably mounting a rebellion against Nevra. But how can that fool think that he’ll be successful? The Cove was impervious to frontal assault, and everyone knew it. That was the allure of the island, knowing that not even the Esterling fleets could find a man hiding in the Pirate’s Guild.
It was that allure that had brought Amash to The Cove after he had fled the University. His father had wanted him to take over the family fortune, to learn how to grow investments, and to someday take over as the Governor of Weston. But horses and riches meant nothing to the first and only son of Horslei, and so he left the school and ran to The Cove. Besides, there had been that incident that drove him away and into hiding.