“What’s happening?” Bruce asked urgently. “Is that – is it the Green Dragon?”
“Oh yes,” Orion nodded, wearing a satisfied expression. “The Flying Fish is under her.”
“What?” Cat had joined them, holding Cypress firmly by the hand.
“The Flying Fish is also a submarine,” Orion explained triumphantly.
“What’s happening out there?” Bruce wondered anxiously.
Patron’s laugh rang rough and jubilant as the Green Dragon foundered with a great big gash ripped in her side. The Flying Fish cut her engines and slowly rose to the surface. She turned to face the floundering ship. The Fish’s horn was now pointing straight ahead, and its serrated fins, standing straight on the Fish’s back glinted dully in the early morning light.
Patron looked down at Hazel uncertainly. “Let’s go get our life points, Hazel…”
Five ships lowered their flags to half-mast as the Flying Fish rose from the water, glittering like a jewel.
One by one, they gave the blood salute: the pirate’s salute to the victor.
The first was the Silent Dark. Her flag of gunmetal grey fluttered in the breeze, and above it, burning red and edged with gold, flew the Flag of Blood, acknowledging the supremacy of the Flying Fish.
Then it was the Blue Hawk, who held her silver and blue flag at half-mast.
Singing Death was next. Her flag was a deep burgundy bearing the image of a black mandolin.
Then came Snakeheart with a flag of purple and gold.
Last of the horde to offer the salute was Night’s Lair, holding aloft a flag of grey and forest green.
Patron acknowledged the salutes, but her attention was on the ship that did not salute: the sinking Green Dragon. The crew had left the ship in a lifeboat. They would likely be picked up by one of the ships and given passage to shore. Teodor was also on the boat. He was a bullish man with hard blue eyes. He sat still in the boat as his crew worked around him.
They were within shouting distance of the Flying Fish. Patron stood on the ledge of her ship, which still lay half-submerged.
“Who sent you?” Patron shouted.
Teodor sneered. “You think I’m going to tell you?”
Patron regarded him. No, she thought. You have three hours left to live. I have no right to ask you.
“Is there anything you want to leave? Anything you want done after you’re gone?” she shouted.
Teodor gave her an unreadable look. “No,” he said, and turned away.
“Well then, that’s that,” Patron said. “Let’s go to the island and pick up our life points and our guests.”
24
“They’re headed this way,” Bruce announced. “I can see the Flying Fish. At least I think that’s her. It doesn’t look anything like the ship we sailed on, but it does glitter just as Patron said it would.”
“Yes, we should get everything together. She will stay a little distance from the island. It’s too shallow around here.”
“All right. Come along, child. We’re going away from here,” Cat told Cypress. The girl looked at her with a mixture of fear, suspicion and hope.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Cat said. “You’re safe now. We’re going to take you away to Pera.”
The mainland. That’s where the fishermen came from. Cypress looked around her at the familiar but frightening landscape. I miss my brother, she thought. I will never see him again…
The future was a frightening place. She shrank back inside the cave. Her blanket was there. She picked it up, and held it close. Cat followed her. “Take your blanket with you, dear,” she said gently. “Is there anything else you’d like to bring with you?”
Cypress shook her head; her eyes were filled with tears. With her good hand, she clutched the blanket and the crocodile hanging around her neck. Cat put an arm around her shoulders and led her gently but firmly out of the cave, past the nose rock, and into the boat.
“All ready?” Peter asked, as he readied to start the engine.
Father Griffith looked around one last time before getting on the boat. There was no sign of the tall man who had led them to the girl. I know you’re there, he thought.
“She’s going to be safe,” he shouted to no one in particular.
Unseen by them, Twilight’s Hand watched the boat speed away towards the glittering submarine ship. He noted that the woman with the dark brown hair – an immortal, if he had to guess – had taken Cypress by the hand. She looked like she would be kind to Cypress. And the man in the black robe, who was also probably an immortal and a foreigner, had shouted that Cypress would be safe.
Cypress is safe, he thought. She is the River’s guest.
And he felt:
Our heart is inconsolable
For it is unforgivable…
25
The crew was busy deconstructing the top skin of the submarine when they arrived.
“I told you it was a strange ship,” Cat whispered to Father Griffith as they clambered aboard.
“Yes, you did.” Father Griffith smiled affectionately at her.
“Where is Patron?” Cat asked urgently, for the captain of the ship was nowhere to be seen on deck. Cypress was standing quietly next to Cat.
“Downstairs, in her cabin,” one of the crew engaged in unloading the LifeBank replied.
“Come on, child,” Cat said, briskly taking Cypress by the hand. They trooped downstairs to find Patron.
“Well done!” Cat cried as they were ushered into Patron’s chambers. Patron barely acknowledged them, preoccupied as she was with the LifeBank that had been brought in moments earlier. She muttered something unintelligible.
“Pardon me,” Bruce said, skirting past Cat to get to the LifeBank. He held Sofia on a short leash.
Patron glanced at Sofia quickly and gave a short, sharp nod. “Ready?”
Bruce took a deep breath. “All right, girl. Come on.” Sofia looked at him excitedly.
“You said the order doesn’t matter, right?” Patron asked Orion.
“No. It makes no difference – at least as far I know. I’ve never known this to be done, remember?”
“Right. Good. Here we go then! Come on Hazel–” Patron scooped up the little dog and inserted her paw easily into the machine. “All done! See, that was easy, wasn’t it?” she said happily, putting the dog on the floor. “Why don’t you do Sofia now?”
“Now?” Bruce hesitated. “Perhaps you should go before her.”
“No, no. Go on. It won’t hurt her. You saw how I did Hazel.”
Bruce gave Sofia a brief scratch behind the ears, and sighed with resignation. “All right, but I’m going to need help.” He glanced expectantly at Orion and Peter.
Peter and Orion sprang forward and between them they were able to lift the young Doberman and place her paw in the machine.
“See? She didn’t feel anything. It’s quite painless. My turn…” Patron took a deep breath and placed her left hand inside the LifeBank. “How long do I keep my hand in here, Orion?”
“Almost done.” Orion, by her side, smiled in encouragement. A few moments later, he told her she could remove her hand. Patron examined her palm crisscrossed with reddish lines.
“So we now wait three hours?”
“Yes.”
“Huh. We don’t even know if it worked,” Patron mused. “Are you sure we’ll be immortal?”
“You should,” said Orion. “Teodor had 69 Life Points, and you started out with – I don’t mean to give away your age–” he paused.
“Best not to!” She let out a raucous laugh. “It might frighten people.”
“Oh my dear Patron–” Cat chuckled, patting her chin-length glossy brown bob, “I know you can’t tell by my newly acquired youthful glow, but I was nothing much to look at during the tournament, as these boys could tell you!”
Patron regarded her thoughtfully. “Hmm… How old are you?”
“Not a day less than 70!” Cat beamed.
P
atron turned to Orion. “Now look, I spent a lot of years acquiring all these wrinkles–” She pointed to the deep-set grooves lining her face. “I’m known for them. More importantly, I’m known with them. If I suddenly appear with a face like a baby’s botty, what will people say? What kind of respect am I going to get with a face like that!” She pointed an accusing, heavily-ringed index finger at Cat.
“Don’t worry, Patron–” Orion raised a hand to allay her fears. “Even immortality won’t be able to erase all your wrinkles. You’ve seen Diarmid. He still limps.”
“But he is not in a wheelchair anymore,” Patron pointed out darkly. “And when you say it won’t erase all my wrinkles, how many do you mean, exactly?”
“You could always try makeup,” Cat suggested, doing her best not to burst into laughter.
Patron gave her a withering look. Makeup indeed!
“I am sure that the pirate ships we saw today won’t care one bit what you look like so long as you’re at the helm of the Flying Fish,” Bruce said, and immediately regretted having brought up the topic of the recent skirmish.
“Hah!” Patron shouted, and started pacing about the room, shaking her head. She muttered venomously but they were able to catch seething words here and there, such as, “next meeting...” and “APCU,” and “better watch out!”
“I wouldn’t want to be at the next meeting of the APCU,” Cat whispered to Bruce. “Oh, it’s all right, darling,” she said in a soothing voice to Cypress. The girl had been standing quite still behind Cat during the recent exchange with Patron. Now, Cat gently drew her out of her hiding place.
“Who is that?” Patron stopped abruptly and stepped towards Cat and the child by her side. “Who is this girl?” she demanded of Cat as Cypress shrank back as far as Cat’s protective arm would allow.
“It’s all right, darling,” Cat said to the girl. “Ah Patron,” she continued pleasantly. “Here is a little girl we are bringing with us. We found her on the island. I think she’s broken her arm, and needs a nice hot bath and something to eat,” she added quickly. “You do have a doctor on board, don’t you?”
“Yes…” Patron said, approaching the girl cautiously.
“Let’s get her taken care of, and then we can talk,” Cat said hurriedly, taking the girl by the hand and leading her to the door.
“Take her to the doctor!” Patron barked. “What on earth were you waiting for? She’s hurt, can’t you see?” Cypress flinched. “Sorry, dear,” Patron said in a softer tone.
“Who is she?” Patron asked suspiciously after the girl had been taken away. “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say…”
Cat sighed. “I didn’t want her to be here when we talked about it,” she said. “We – well, actually Bruce – found her in one of the caves on the island.”
“Is she–?” Patron turned to Orion questioningly. She could not bring herself to say the dreaded word. Cypress?
“Yes, I’m afraid she is,” Orion replied and added quickly, “we found her just as Shadow told us we must. We arrived in time.”
Patron took a deep breath and snorted loudly: “Hah!”
“I know, I know,” Cat said, trying to soothe her.
“Orion, tell me what happened?” she demanded.
He told her in a few words how they had arrived on the island and been directed to the caves on the uninhabited side by Twilight’s Hand, who had asked them to take Cypress with them. “The Cypress Ritual had already taken place, Patron,” he continued, “some days ago by the look of the girl’s bandage. Someone had been looking after her until she was found. I would guess by Twilight’s Hand. He was worried about her.”
“Twilight’s Hand…” Patron murmured to herself, then she said out loud, “That was the leader of the island. He is called Twilight’s Hand, if you remember from our classes.” She looked at Cat and Father Griffith for confirmation of her teachings. She then rounded on Orion. “You realize, do you Orion, that if that girl is Cypress from the Island of Birds, then that Twilight’s Hand who appeared so concerned for her welfare, is her father!”
“What a horrid man!” Cat cried.
“Poor man,” Father Griffith blurted before he could stop himself.
“Poor! Poor!”
The priest almost fell over as the ship underwent a particularly unbalancing rolling motion in tune with her captain’s outrage.
“I felt his fear for his daughter,” Father Griffith tried to explain. “He didn’t want her to die. I am sure of it,” he added stoically.
“Hmph!” Patron snorted, not impressed with his excuse. “As if that matters.”
“What will happen to the child? Where will she go?” Father Griffith asked, hurriedly changing the subject.
“The child will be well cared for,” Patron said robustly. “I can assure you of that. She will be the charge of many caring people, who will do their best to ensure that she will have an opportunity to be her best. She will be given an education – something that would in all likelihood have been denied her had she remained on the island.
“But what will happen to the islanders as a result?” She paused. It was a pregnant pause, full of meaning. “It is quite possible, especially if I have anything to do with it, that whatever happens to the islanders will be quite unpleasant,” she concluded darkly.
Father Griffith, about to advise caution, thought better of it.
“In the meantime, we are on our way to Pera,” Patron continued briskly. “But not before we get ourselves into ship-shape again. And by that I literally mean, the shape of a ship, as opposed to a half-hearted submarine that we’ve turned into.” She rolled her eyes. “It will take the crew about two hours to put the Flying Fish back together. The Fish itself is damaged and will need proper repairs. Some of the blades of the fin are definitely broken,” she added irritably.
“It could have been a great deal worse,” Father Griffith pointed out, relieved at the change of topic.
“Oh yes?” Patron rounded on him. “How so? How much worse than getting attacked by some half-wit, damaging my beautiful ship, revealing to the whole world the one thing that made the Flying Fish special – well, not the only thing, of course–” she conceded, for after all, with or without her underwater capabilities, the Flying Fish was the fastest and the best-armored creature to grace the open seas… She resumed, “and on top of all that, to get immortality and face the prospect of losing my wrinkles!” She flung her arms up, at a loss for words. “Not to mention finding out that the islanders are back to performing the Cypress Ritual, which I worked so hard to prevent for ten whole years!” She rapped loudly on a nearby table. “So, how could it have been worse?” She flashed a brittle smile at Father Griffith.
“I am sorry,” the priest said. “I seem to say the wrong thing all the time. I only meant to try to make you see how much you have already accomplished.”
“Hmph.”
“I was worried about what might happen to you,” Father Griffith continued. “I wish we had not had to fight at all; I wish no one had had to get hurt. But I too, competed in a LiGa tournament…I understand. And you prevailed, Patron. It was a difficult situation. I – I believe you handled it as well as it could have been handled. I feel compassion for the pirate who … lost, but I know: that is the nature of LiGa. It is something we have all accepted…
“Welcome to immortality, Patron.” Father Griffith offered his left hand to the pirate. She took it in her hand that was still marked with red lines.
“When will these red lines disappear?” she asked. “You don’t have them.”
It was Orion who replied: “At the time of the life transfer.”
“I sincerely hope the damage to the Flying Fish was superficial and that she will make a full and speedy recovery!” Father Griffith said.
“Hmph,” Patron snorted again, but the priest noted with relief that it was neither as loud nor as emphatic as her previous reactions.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble I w
ill have to go to, to get those blades repaired? Rare alloy,” she added, in case her tone had not conveyed her indignation, for it was, in fact, much softened. “Well, let’s get back on deck, shall we? Make sure my crew is doing whatever they are supposed to, to get this ship back into something fit to be seen in public…” Grumbling softly to herself, she strode out of the room.
26
The Flying Fish was sailing in all her glory under the noon sun. Her sails, her hull, her masts, all glittered as though set with a million tiny diamonds. Her flag, the figure of a blazing silver fish in mid-leap set against a background of brilliant turquoise, flew regally in the wind that bore them towards Pera…
Everyone had congregated on deck. Father Griffith leaned against the bulwark on the port side, gazing thoughtfully into the blue distance. They had parted ways with the pirate ships of the recent skirmish.
“Patron–” he began.
“Yes?” Patron looked up from her knitting. “What is it?”
“It’s not important, really… It’s just curiosity on my part, thanks to all those books in your wonderful library!” he beamed at her.
“Yes,” Patron agreed promptly. “What about them?”
“I heard you and Peter refer to one of the ships – one of the pirate ships we met – as the Silent Dark. Is that correct?”
“Yes, absolutely. Her captain is now Silva. She recently took over from her father, Orban.”
Orion let out a chuckle. “Orban the black…”
“That’s right! You remember? Did you know Orban?”
“Of course I knew Orban. I knew his crew too…” He gave her a meaningful look and a playful smile.
“I’m sorry, Father,” Patron turned back to Father Griffith. “Orban was an interesting man–”
“No, Orban was primarily a hairy man!” Orion laughed.
“Uhm… Yes, he was, as it happens,” Patron said with a straight face. “His eyebrows met in the middle. And he couldn’t wear jewelry because it was too difficult to disentangle the chains from the hair on his chest and arms.”
the Dark shall do what Light cannot (LiGa Book 2) Page 24