Finn shook his head, smiling like she’d made a joke. ‘So why are you trying to save this boy’s life then? You seem so on edge, Nellie. Why are you bothering?’
‘Because he didn’t do anything wrong!’
Ellie squeezed through a crowd gathered eagerly at the feet of another preacher.
‘My friends, know this – whenever the Vessel returns, a brave soul will rise to destroy it, and take his rightful place among the saints. Why, he could be one of you.’
The crowed oohed appreciatively.
‘Hey!’ cried a tall young man with copper hair, bouncing gleefully at the edge of the crowd. ‘Guess what? They’ve found it – they’ve actually found it!’
‘What?’ said a scowling old woman.
‘The Vessel!’ cried the man, ruffling his hair with excitement. ‘Hargrath caught him just now! He truly is a saint!’
The crowd cheered. The copper-haired man hugged the old woman, and she grimaced and swatted him away. Ellie felt a surge of fresh panic and wriggled free of the throng, then groaned when she found Finn still walking right next to her.
‘Everyone seems so happy,’ he said. ‘Maybe you should just let them get on with it? It’s not your job to help strangers.’
‘My job has nothing to do with it. It’s about what’s right,’ said Ellie.
Finn’s eyes narrowed. ‘Huh. I don’t think that’s the real reason, Nellie.’
‘They could execute him, Finn. An innocent boy.’
‘I see. You feel guilty. That’s why you’re doing this, isn’t it?’
Ellie felt her tummy twist. She swallowed. ‘Stop it, Finn.’
Finn’s eyes went wide. ‘I’m right, though, aren’t I? You feel guilty for what happened before, and think that if you help this boy then you’ll make everything okay again.’
‘Finn.’
‘I’m not sure how you think you can rescue him, though. You’re just not that good at saving people.’
‘Shut up, Finn!’ Ellie said, hurriedly climbing the stone staircase that led past the university.
‘Sorry,’ said Finn, skipping after her. ‘But, just so we’re clear, I am right, aren’t I? You’re trying to make up for that nasty business with –’
Finn’s smile flickered and died as Ellie grabbed him by his lapels, shoving him up against the wall. The trinkets around his neck jingled.
‘Listen to me, Finn,’ she told him. ‘Leave the boy alone.’
‘But I just want to help? I like helping you.’
‘I will never need your help again.’
She let go, and Finn sank down the wall, fussing over the loose buttons on his waistcoat. Ellie carried on up the stairs.
‘Sometimes, Nellie,’ he called after her, ‘I wish you were nicer to me.’
She turned to look back down at him.
‘And sometimes, Finn, I wish I could kill you.’
The Whale Lords
Ellie had been out on whaling ships before, and had seen the City from afar. It looked like a spear tip, rising sharply to the sky, grey-black against the horizon. She tried not to think about how impossibly steep it was as she raced up alleyways that were almost vertical, her chest tight from running, her throat thick with phlegm. She hurried past a line of gossiping schoolchildren.
‘Did you hear, did you hear!’ one girl cried, her voice a mix of excitement and terror. ‘They’ve found it – they’ve found the Vessel!’
The words raked at Ellie’s stomach as she clattered up a metal staircase. Foolishly, she glanced over the railing, her legs weakening as she saw the City spilling out in all directions beneath her: ten thousand slate rooftops, growing greener with moss and whiter with gull droppings as they got nearer the sea. An army of statues clung to them, grey angels and animals, their faces pocked by centuries of wind, rain and sea spray. It was sometimes joked that there were as many statues in the City as there were people. Far below, Ellie could see the Warrens, a maze of narrow winding streets where hundreds of fishermen had once lived in a hive of snugly packed houses – until the Enemy had burned down the entire district.
Ellie staggered up the stairs, along a final street, and into St Ephram’s Square, the highest point of the City. Gleaming-white mansions lined its sides, the gold-leaf walls of the council chambers glittered in the sun, and rising from the middle was an ornate fountain decorated with marble dolphins. It was nearly a beautiful place. Nearly.
The Inquisitorial Keep reared high over the square. A hundred jagged black spires made up its body, growing taller towards the centre, clustered together like the pipes of an organ. At its base, a vast archway formed the entrance, above which stood a crowd of grey, blank-faced statues – men, women and children, holding hands side by side and staring down with empty eyes.
At its very peak, carved from white marble and casting a shadow across the square, was a young man. Handsome and tousle-haired, the statue was as tall as the whale had been long. He stared down adoringly at the bundle in his arms. He was cradling a baby.
In gold lettering, at the base of the statue, were written the words:
AND IT SHALL CLAIM EVEN THE INNOCENT
As a child, Ellie had always thought the man looked at the baby so caringly, and held it so carefully. She had considered the statue very lovely. She didn’t realize until later that the man was the Enemy, and the baby was its Vessel.
She hurried up the steps of the Keep, towards the double doors. Two axes swung together right in front of her, and she stumbled and almost fell backwards.
‘No entry to the Inquisitorial Keep,’ one of the two guardsmen announced. They didn’t so much as look at her.
‘But I need to speak to the Inquisitors.’
‘No entry to the Inquisitorial Keep.’
‘But –’
‘Ellie, what are you doing? Get down from there!’
Ellie spun round. She’d been so determined to get inside the Keep that she had failed to notice the cluster of men arguing nearby.
It would be hard to find a more eclectic-looking group anywhere in the City. Some were expensively and absurdly dressed in silk shirts with puffy sleeves, sporting large elaborately styled moustaches. Others were towering and muscle-bound, their faces weathered from driving rain, their bare arms like tightly wound ropes of iron, fashioned from a life spent at sea. Some were dressed in vests, others animal furs. One wore a stuffed eel around his neck like a scarf. Another wore a wooden hat that resembled a ship.
A tall, broad-shouldered man was marching up the steps towards her. He had dark brown skin, a short black beard and moustache, and wore a long trailing coat of crushed red velvet. He carried a cane made from the tusk of a narwhal, and the pelt of a gigantic, shaggy black wolf was draped on his shoulders, its head dangling off to one side.
‘They’ve taken my friend –’ she began breathlessly, but before she could protest further the man had scooped her up in one arm and was carrying her down the steps.
‘Hey, put me down!’ she cried, as the world spun around her. ‘I mean, sir, please could you put me down?’
She was placed gently at the foot of the steps. Lord Castion raised an eyebrow.
‘Repeat after me,’ he said softly. ‘He’s not your friend.’
‘Fine,’ Ellie admitted. ‘He’s not – but they’re making a huge mistake. He’s not the Vessel.’
Castion glanced at the Keep, then put a finger to his lips. ‘Ellie, he is the Vessel, until the Inquisition say otherwise. And until they do, he’s not your friend and never was, all right? You never even saw the wretch.’
‘But I did,’ Ellie said. ‘I rescued him from that whale! And he couldn’t breathe, so I –’
‘Ellie,’ said Castion, kneeling down so that their eyes were level. ‘The Inquisitors will ask him the questions and perform the tests. If he is proved to be the Vessel, he’ll be burned alive, right here in this square. And anyone who helped him will be imprisoned. Or worse. So, please – promise me you won’t get involved.’
<
br /> Ellie was shocked by his seriousness. Castion was normally such a kind man, quick to joke and laugh.
‘I won’t,’ she lied, after some hesitation. From his finger, Castion removed one of his many rings to show her. This one was silver and had a little emblem of a spanner on it, her mother’s personal symbol.
‘I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you,’ he said. ‘The Enemy hasn’t taken a Vessel in more than twenty years; you don’t know what it’s like when that thing is at large. Distrust seeps through the streets. Friends turn on friends. The City is about to become a very different place.’
Castion gave her a long stare, and she nodded uncomfortably.
‘Is now really the time to be befriending street urchins, Castion?’ said a snide voice. The other whale lords had paused in their arguing, and the one with the model ship on his head was staring at Ellie disdainfully.
Castion sighed and pushed himself upright on his cane. He had lost his left leg as a young man – bitten off by a shark, or so the rumours went. Ellie’s mother had built him a mechanical leg and foot, which clicked like clockwork when he walked.
‘Show some respect, Archer,’ Castion said. ‘This is Hannah Lancaster’s daughter. She’s been fixing your harpoon guns for two years.’
‘That must be why they keep breaking,’ said Lord Archer. ‘The damn things miss most of the time. She’s not a patch on her mother, clearly.’
Ellie felt her cheeks go hot. She shuffled behind Castion, holding the sleeve of his coat. Castion squeezed her arm.
‘That’s funny,’ he told Archer lightly. ‘They never miss when I’m using them.’
‘We were discussing an important matter when you rushed off,’ said Archer. ‘Or weren’t you listening?’
‘My most sincere apologies,’ said Castion. ‘It’s just difficult to take someone seriously when he’s wearing a ship on his head.’
Archer’s lip curled. There was a bang, and they all turned towards the Inquisitorial Keep.
Hargrath was storming out of it.
‘Ah, Inquisitor Hargrath,’ said Archer. ‘Just the man we wanted to see. We’ve been told by one of your lot that we’re not allowed to collect the whale on top of St Bart’s Chapel.’
Hargrath marched straight past them, looking tired and distracted.
‘I say, Killian? What’s the meaning of this?’
Hargrath paused momentarily, then turned, like a harassed parent speaking to a persistent child. ‘That whale had the Vessel living inside it.’
‘You mean, it was the vessel of a Vessel?’ joked the youngest of the whale lords, with a nervous giggle. It seemed he had tried and failed to grow a moustache to match that of the others – it looked like bits of dog hair glued to his face. The other whale lords glared at him and he blushed.
‘This is no laughing matter, Duncan,’ said Archer, turning back to Hargrath. ‘You took the Vessel out of the animal, though? That’s good whale meat going to waste.’
Hargrath chewed his tongue. ‘The whale has been tainted by the Vessel’s presence and is not safe to eat.’
‘Ah, but see here,’ Archer continued, stepping over to Hargrath. The man was much shorter and leaner than the Inquisitor and Ellie thought he was either very brave or very stupid to get so close. ‘A beast that size is worth a lot of money. Twenty barrels of whale oil at least, and enough meat to feed an entire district for days. We’re the whale lords – it’s our job to catch whales.’
‘You didn’t catch that whale,’ Hargrath growled. ‘A chapel did.’
‘That’s beside the point,’ snapped Archer. He looked like he was about to say more, but fell suddenly silent. Hargrath had placed his hand on the side of the whale lord’s head.
Archer’s voice went up an octave. ‘Just what do you think –’ he began.
In one swift motion, Hargrath removed the whale lord’s ship-hat. He gripped it in his broad gloved hand, then crushed it to tiny splinters. Archer stared in horror.
‘N-now listen, I have many p-powerful friends,’ he stuttered furiously.
‘Are any of them Inquisitors?’ said Hargrath.
‘No, but –’
‘Then you have no powerful friends.’
‘Gentlemen,’ said Castion, stepping between Hargrath and Archer. ‘There’s no need for an argument here.’ He rested his hand on Hargrath’s shoulder.
‘Don’t touch me,’ Hargrath whispered, with such venom that Ellie was surprised he didn’t run Castion through with his sword.
‘Why so tense, Killian?’ Castion asked. ‘The Vessel has been caught. Should we not be celebrating?’
Hargrath glowered resentfully. ‘The High Inquisitor is conducting his own tests on the boy. Until he is proved to be the Vessel, and until he is dead, there is no cause for celebration.’
Castion smiled warmly. ‘Ah, but should the Enemy come you can just kill it again, can’t you? Like last time.’
Hargrath stared at Castion, a look of purest hatred in his eyes.
‘Yes, we’re in safe hands with you, Hargrath!’ cheered the young whale lord with the patchy moustache. Hargrath snarled and took a step towards him, and the whale lord’s face paled instantly.
Castion hurriedly patted Hargrath’s shoulder. ‘He didn’t mean anything by it, Killian. A poor choice of words, that’s all. Now come, we won’t touch the whale, as you command.’ He bowed deeply, flashing the same brilliant smile that had made him so beloved in the City. ‘The Guild of Whale Lords exists to serve the people. We are grateful to the Inquisition for all it does to keep the people safe.’
Hargrath scowled. ‘You exist to serve yourselves. And only because the Inquisition allows it. You’ll tow that whale five miles out to sea on the next tide and let it sink there. If I hear that any one of you has so much as skinned its tail to make a fancy coat, I’ll have you rotting in a cell in some bleak corner of the City, until your own family has forgotten your name.’
He marched away, pushing past Ellie as he went. ‘You should really get somewhere warm, Lancaster. You’ll freeze to death in those wet clothes.’ He paused, and a nasty smile twisted his lips. ‘On the other hand, if you wait here long enough, there’s bound to be a big fire.’
And with that he strode off across the square, and vanished into the streets.
The whale lords started squabbling again, arguing over who should tow the whale out to sea. As they did, Ellie looked up at the Inquisitorial Keep, trying to imagine what tests they’d be performing on Seth, picturing macabre torture instruments with sharp points and saw-toothed edges. She wondered if there was any way of rescuing him – some secret route into the Keep from the sewers and tunnels below. She would have to consult the architectural drawings in her library, she decided, slipping quietly away while Castion was distracted.
But Finn was waiting for her at the corner, wearing that pretty, angelic smile she hated so much.
‘That didn’t go well, did it?’ he said.
‘No,’ she snapped, without sparing him a second glance. He skipped after her, the trinkets around his neck jangling merrily with each step.
‘So they’re going to kill him?’ he asked.
‘They’re still doing tests. But probably.’
Finn shook his head. ‘That’s terrible.’
Up and down the market street the wealthy were out on their morning shop. Aristocrats, merchant barons, surgeons and lawmen, dressed in fine waistcoats of crushed velvet, their coats lined with the furs of seals or red foxes from the hunting islands. Their wives patrolled alongside, festooned in strings of pearls, elevated on high-heeled boots. Finn could have passed for any one of their sons, what with his hale, rosy cheeks, clean golden locks, and the happy twinkle in his eyes.
‘At times like this, it would be nice to have someone you can rely on,’ he said. ‘Someone clever and trustworthy. It’s not as if Anna can help you. And last time I checked, you don’t have any other friends.’
‘I don’t want your help, Finn.’<
br />
‘Oh,’ he said, looking crestfallen. ‘You mean you’ve figured out a way of rescuing the boy yourself?’
‘I’ll come up with something.’
Finn nodded sincerely. ‘Yes, I’m sure you’ll find a way to rescue him, Nellie; you’re so clever after all. I’m sure you’ll find a way of rescuing an imprisoned boy from the most heavily guarded building in the City.’
‘He won’t be in there the whole time. If they execute him, it’s going to be public.’
Finn stamped his foot hard on the cobbles. ‘Well, that’s excellent. There you go – you can just whisk him away to safety while ten thousand people watch you do it! Simple!’
Ellie quickened her pace again, dodging a cartful of glistening mackerel pulled by two fishmongers.
‘Do you think they’ll be merciful?’ said Finn. ‘I doubt it, right? They’ll want everyone to see the Vessel suffer. I’m sorry, Nellie – that will probably be difficult for you to watch. I’m so sorry. Will they do what they did to the twenty-ninth Vessel, do you think? With the hooks, and the rats? Or maybe they’ll dip him in pig’s blood and throw him to the sharks?’
‘They’re going to burn him.’
Finn sighed. ‘Well, that’s definitely not the worst way they could do it. That’s something at least. Maybe you shouldn’t be so sad about it?’
Ellie wound in between tall aristocrats, some of whom wrinkled their noses at her. The upper parts of the City were home to only the wealthiest, and Ellie looked out of place in her wet, torn clothes stained with splotches of paint and grease, her hands covered in cuts and bruises.
Just then, a red-faced woman burst into the marketplace, her neck hidden entirely by gleaming pearls. ‘They’ve found it!’ she cried. ‘They’ve found the Vessel!’
The aristocrats lost all composure. One threw her fox pelt into the air; another started to sing. Ellie winced and snuck off down an empty alleyway, but Finn nipped in after her, laughing to himself.
‘Honestly,’ he said breathlessly, ‘it’s like you’re trying to lose me.’
‘I am!’
Ellie pulled a metal chestnut-sized sphere from the pouch at her belt and hurled it down hard between them. There was a hiss and a heavy grey cloud of smoke spilled upward, filling the alley with a sharp, acrid smell.
Orphans of the Tide Page 3