“No, and whatever was in it was missing.” Triumph tinged the magistrate’s voice.
“And how do you know there was something in the casket, Magistrate?”
He shifted, uncomfortable at my questioning his abilities again. “A small velvet bag lay next to the captain. It had the duke’s crest on it.”
I turned to Marco, who lifted his chin. “It’s the same type my ships use to pack jewels, but there were none sent and none supposed to be on the return trip.”
“So we have an unusual death and a possible theft of an unknown item,” I said.
“And smuggling,” the magistrate added.
Marco’s color flared from orange to scarlet. “That’s a lie.”
DiCook’s color shifted from deep crimson to bright scarlet as well. “I’m sure, given the DiMara penchant for honest dealings—”
“That’s enough, magistrate,” I ordered, adding a little hint of magic to make my voice louder and deeper. “I will need to collect a priest from the Temple of Light—”
“Brother Luc is already at the docks,” DiCook growled. “He along with a junior priest are questioning the crew.”
Relief that Luc was already involved tugged at the knot my miniscule morning meal had become in my stomach. I had a feeling someone would die before the end of the day, and I didn’t relish being the executioner.
~o0o~
The autumn air was crisp with a hint of ocean tang. I would have preferred walking to our destination, but Little Bear had insisted on riding to the dock where the Mar Tranquilus was berthed, as well as bringing a full escort of Balance wardens.
I was loath to admit the additional guards were a good idea. My attempt as a youth to give myself sight to escape temple life hadn’t worked as I planned. Since I was born blind, I had no reference. My version of sight from my inept spell relied on the difference in the heat of objects. Shortly after dawn, the measure of warmth between the docks, the ships and the water were so close that I could have walked off the pier if it weren’t for Little Bear by my side as we marched past the peacekeepers and up the wooden ramp to the top deck.
The ship’s compliment milled on the quarterdeck, all golds and bright oranges, muttering under their breath. Resentment filtered through my mental shields. And grief. But the hardened sailors would never display that emotion openly. It twisted in their minds to anger.
When they caught sight of me and I deliberately pushed back my hood, their murmurs grew louder. Fear replaced their other emotions. The milky orbs of any other justice they could understand. According to Luc, my eyes were the color of blood to normal folks, and that was unnatural.
As unnatural as the death of their captain on board their ship.
I headed for the stern where the newest of the Temple of Light’s priests stood between the rest of the crew and the spot where Luc interrogated a man, who must be Titus, the first mate, from the faint emblem on his vest. “Brother Jeremy.”
“Lady Justice. We’ve questioned the rest of the crew. Brother Luc is finishing now.” The young man’s relaxed manner made it easy to like him. The fact that his personal feelings had never seeped past his own shields made it easier to work with him.
I observed Luc with the first mate under his truthspell, their voices too soft to understand between the sea birds and the harbor activity increasing now that the sun was above the mountains. The resentment of the other sailors danced along the edge of my mental perception. The duke and the magistrate fidgeted on the edge of my physical perception.
Finally, the slight itch of active magic faded. With a furtive glance at me, Titus stood and stomped past us to join the rest of the crew.
I approached Luc, trailed by my unwanted guests. As much as I desired to sooth the fatigue I felt from him, I didn’t dare touch him in front of an audience. “What are the results of questioning?”
“And a pleasant morn to you, too, Justice,” he said dryly.
Brother Jeremy emitted a noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh.
I nodded. “Forgive my rudeness, Brother. I find my morning meal is repeatedly interrupted here.”
“The citizens of Orrin do not have my years of experience. They’ll learn not to come between you and your meals. And most especially your tea.”
A snicker from Marco joined Jeremy’s choked laughter.
“I’m so pleased the nobles and the priesthood find a man’s death amusing,” DiCook growled.
“We beg your pardon, Magistrate,” Luc murmured. He always had a better rapport with people than I did. “To answer your question, Justice, none of the crew are involved with the captain’s death. Only the first mate was aware of the casket. The captain brought it on board shortly before they set sail for home. He did not know the contents, and the captain refused to disclose such information when he asked.”
“What about the casket’s ultimate destination?”
“Titus only knows that Captain Arturo was to deliver it to an official at the Jing ambassador’s palace.”
“Has anyone touched the body?”
“Only the first mate and Magistrate DiCook.” Titus took a layer of skin off his fingers checking the captain’s throat for breath or a heartbeat. DiCook was wise enough to use gloves. This matter frightens the water out of both the sailors and the peacekeepers, Luc added silently.
Any talent among the crew?
The navigator has an infallible sense of direction, and the pilot can predict weather within three days. Both are registered. Luc didn’t have to add there was no possible way their respective magical skills could freeze a man solid.
I steeled myself for what came next. “You can release your crew for leave, Your Grace.”
“No!” DiCook stepped between the duke and me. “They were onboard when the captain was murdered.”
“Now it’s murder, Magistrate?” I tilted my head and smiled. “Unless you can tell me how the brothers of Truth failed in their queries of the crew, it’s better they disembark so they’re not underfoot.”
His breath came out in short, yellow blasts, but he said nothing.
Marco strode to the assembled men and dismissed them. Their grumbling subsided when the duke told them they would be paid for their lost day of work since the reason was not their fault.
Once the ship was clear, Luc led me to the captain’s cabin. A purplish-black form lay on the wooden planks between the bunk and the desk. But it was the color of the open casket next to him that raised the fine hairs on the back of my neck. I’d only seen that hue of black once in my life, the night the duke and I met.
It was the color of demons.
I silently shared my suspicions with Luc. He cursed under his breath in Cantish, and my own tongue wanted to join him. I whirled around so fast, all of the men except Luc jumped. “Your Grace, you need to get your sailors back here now!”
~o0o~
Luckily, the duke caught his men before they reached the end of the dock. There was more grumbling and a few obscene gestures when I made the men strip down. And two threats when we searched their pockets and purses. Little Bear answered those with a polite offer to spend the night in a cell back at our temple.
Meanwhile, Luc and Jeremy combed every nook and cranny of the vessel with their magic. According to ancient tomes of our raised writing in the Balance library I’d read obsessively during my free time over the past four months, the Light priests’ power was one of the few effective deterrents to a demon incursion. Luc verified the same in their library. But the men’s power failed to flush out anything more than a dozen rats.
Two candlemarks later, we were back in the captain’s cabin. This time, the first mate Titus joined us while Little Bear and my wardens kept an eye on the peeved, and re-clothed, sailors on the quarterdeck. Since all crew members were accounted for and none of them carried a demon, we were back at the beginning of the puzzle.
I suppressed a shiver at the reminder of a demon’s frigid touch.
The possibility of d
emon magic killing the captain was a tempting conclusion, but I could miss other clues if I wasn’t careful. And I had missed a major one by not checking the cabin before releasing the crew for leave.
I sat on the floor between the dead man and the cursed object, contemplating our next move. Arturo’s body hadn’t thawed one finger since sunrise, even though it had turned into an unseasonably warm autumn day. My attempt to rewind the past, to discover what had happened in his quarters, failed. Probably due to the proximity to the demon-infected casket, but I wouldn’t allow anyone remove it.
“Has anyone touched the casket?” My words almost sounded normal. I had made a plentitude of mistakes in my life, but I may have just made my worst one yet by letting a demon loose in Orrin.
“I didn’t touch anything, except the corpse,” DiCook proclaimed.
“Nor I, my lady,” Titus added.
“Who has been onboard and left since the ship docked?” I didn’t need either priest to truthspell the other men. DiCook’s face faded to a sickly yellow.
“Just the magistrate and me, m’lady.” Marco’s voice sounded as nauseated as I felt.
“We were together the whole trip to the Temple of Balance,” DiCook said. “Surely one of us would have noticed something unusual about the other. And that’s assuming any creature larger than a kitten could fit in that casket.”
“They can change their shape and their appearance.” Marco’s voice was haunted from our encounter with the ones summoned by the queen’s cousin. The ones that served his mother. The ones she would have allowed to eat his body and soul if we hadn’t stopped them.
If I hadn’t stopped them by illegally killing their summoner without a trial.
“Once it knew we were searching for it, maybe it attached itself to one of the peacekeepers or wardens,” Jeremy offered.
Rolling the problem over and over in my head was making it ache even worse. “I would have seen it.”
“Then the crew would have, too,” DiCook snapped.
Luke tried to be reasonable. “No, they wouldn’t have. The demons’ abilities mean they can change their appearance to fool those of us with normal sight. Unless they can also change their essential nature, Justice Anthea would see them.”
Titus cleared his throat. “Why are you all assuming the demon was on board since we left Jing? What if it were waiting for the ship’s arrival?”
Everyone crammed in the cabin, including me, stared at the first mate.
His coloring brightened at our scrutiny, and he shrugged. “We brought the ship into port right at first light. Between the shadows and all of the crew busy dealing with the rigging, lines and anchor, a creature as black as both His Grace and Lady Justice described could have slipped onboard, killed the captain and escaped with gods’ know what was in that casket.”
“Brilliant. Simply brilliant.” I smiled at Titus, which bothered him even more than my original attention. My knees complained of being in the same position for too long as I climbed to my feet. “It’s time we spoke with the person for whom the casket was intended.”
“You really intend to take that thing to the Jing ambassador’s palace?” Luc cocked his head as he regarded me.
The idea I had was a slim chance to discover what led to Captain Arturo’s death. “Do you or Brother Jeremy see anything unusual about the casket?”
Both priests shook their heads.
“Good.” I turned to Marco. “Your Grace, can you procure—”
“Yes, most definitely.” He darted out of the cabin.
Luc shook his head as I told them my plan. “You are mad.”
“You will think I am more so.” I faced Titus. “Would you like the opportunity to discover your captain’s killer?” He opened his mouth, but I held up a hand to forestall his answer. “Before you agree, understand this. I will do everything in my power to protect you, but this visit to the Jing ambassador will be dangerous. Demons can make themselves as thin as air or as solid as an anvil. You will not be able to fight them as you would another human. If I tell you to run, then you run. Straight to the Temple of Light and find Brother Kam. He’ll know what to do.”
I thanked the Goddess that Luc’s predecessor had remained at their temple in an advisory capacity. He knew everything we learned or had discovered concerning demons.
“Are you calling me a coward, Justice?” The low vibration of Titus’ voice would have been a warning if I actually believed he’d raise a hand to me.
“I want you to enter this escapade of your free will and with full knowledge,” I answered. “If there is a demon residing inside Ambassador Quan’s residence, we may all die before the sun sets.”
Titus gave a curt nod. “I understand, m’lady. However, if I may be so bold, we have no idea of what was in the original casket.”
I smiled. “That’s exactly how we will flush out our culprit.”
~o0o~
The midday bells rang at the temples as we arrived on Ambassadors’ Row. The mansions were more stately than those of the richest merchants, yet slightly less ostentatious than those of the minor nobles. Nearly every major power of the Far West and the Long Continents had a presence in Orrin since we were the third largest port city of Issura.
Titus rode beside me, dressed in the rich clothing of a prosperous merchant captain. We had to make do with a few things from Arturo’s trunk, but the first mate was a bit wider in the shoulders and narrower in the hips. Both DiCook and Marco fretted about his appearance. Titus skewered them with the logical point that if he’d just been made master of his own ship, he wouldn’t have had time to have new clothes tailored.
Curious stares from all the embassies followed us down the street. As the heads of our respective temples, Luc and I stuck out in the normal traffic of messengers and business people. Both the duke and the magistrate had wanted to send additional guards with us, but we insisted only one escort each. Anymore and we would be inviting a diplomatic incident.
Or too many questions.
As if we weren’t courting both already with my insane plan.
We dismounted outside the entry of the Jing embassy, but before any of us could ring the bell, the iron-reinforced wooden gate swung open. A single guard in quilted leather and cloth armor bowed deeply, held upright only by his firm grip on his spear.
“The ambassador welcomes such distinguished company.” He straightened. “May His Excellency offer the comfort of his stables for your steeds?”
I returned his bow. “Many thanks for your lord’s graciousness. We are merely escorting the captain of the Mars Tranquilus. He has a most important package to deliver to Ambassador Quan.”
Little Bear took the reins of the five horses. He had been given his orders to raise the alarm if we didn’t return in half a candlemark. I had already dispatched the other three Balance wardens to warn the other temples that a demon-related item had been discovered aboard the ship.
The Jing guard bowed again. “This way, Lady Justice.”
Titus grasped a replica of the casket firmly in both hands as we followed the guard into the courtyard. Luc and Jeremy trailed behind us.
I prayed to Balance no one else in the embassy could tell the difference between our artifice and a demon-tainted object. An extra prayer to the Goddess begged that the resident sorcerer could not detect the dormant spell I placed inside our replica.
Worry plucked my nerves. There were no guarantees my idea would work. I didn’t have a demon to practice on.
From the corner of my vision, a faint line of green developed at Titus’ hairline. I couldn’t blame him for his anxiety. A thin trickle of sweat traced the skin down my own spine.
The rich aroma of the midday meal reached my nose before the guard led us into a great room. Rounds tables lined the side walls with a plentitude of people from various nations. At the far end, the ambassador sat at a rectangular table on a raised dais. The better to observe his guests I was sure.
The room grew quiet at our entrance except f
or the occasional curious whisper.
We reached the dais. A court sorcerer sat on the ambassador’s right. A concubine on the left. It was the jewel at her throat that drew my attention. A deep black that swallowed the heat of the room. I silently shared my observation with Luc and Jeremy.
It appears to be a sapphire in our sight. The size of a hen’s egg, Luc replied.
My suspicion of what had been in Captain Arturo’s casket congealed. But why was the concubine wearing it?
Ambassador Quan didn’t bother rising. The two priests and I didn’t bother bowing. Titus followed our example.
“Lady Justice.” Quan made a show of wiping his lips. His thin beard and moustache, a tradition of his homeland, shivered as he smiled. “I’m afraid I have no more seats available for you and your men to join our repast. If you would care to join me for a private dinner…”
I returned his smile. “I would never insult Your Excellency by subjecting his meager hospitality to my greater appetites.”
ANTHEA!
I managed not to wince at Luc’s mental reprimand, but I’d heard enough rumors about the ambassador’s tastes from the Temple of Love to boil my blood.
Instead of taking offense, Quan chuckled. “Perhaps one day you might care to enlighten me. However, that is not the reason for your visit.”
I inclined my head in Titus’ direction. “An official from your great land gave the captain of the Mars Tranquilus a last minute item to be delivered directly to an official at your embassy. Unfortunately, the captain died in route, and he did not share the recipient with his crew.”
Quan’s attention focused on the former first mate. “If Captain Arturo passed, who might you be?”
His remark left an uneasy feeling in my gut. How many other Orrin ship masters was the ambassador keeping an eye on?
Titus subtly straightened. “The new captain of the Mars Tranquilus by His Grace, the Duke of Orrin’s leave, Your Excellency.”
Smart man. He didn’t give his name in front of a strange sorcerer. Arturo trained him well.
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