by Perrin Briar
Where on Earth would they begin?
19
THE KING was a tub of lard squeezed into the throne. His was a hunched figure with no neck, and a belly that took up the majority of his frame. He was essentially a stomach on legs. Some people spoke with their eyebrows, others the corner of their mouths. The king spoke with his flabby arms, waving them like he was communicating in a long forgotten language.
He wore short sleeves that exposed his wobbly appendages. On each arm he had a birthmark. One had the appearance of a hammer, the other a sickle. The king was always quick to show them off at any ceremonies held in his honor. It was a strange occurrence, showing up only in the male line of the family, as if they had always been destined to stand out from the great unwashed, given God’s stamp of approval.
Filling his great entrance hall were the suckups and well wishers, the liars and scammers, those cajoling for position in the king’s court. It made Admiral sick to his stomach that he shared kinship with these people. Not one wasn’t a cousin of some description.
They were all petty and small minded, unable to see beyond their identical inbred noses. They were vultures masquerading as parakeets. They looked innocent and spoke kindly, but they were each of them embroiled in a spiderweb of their own design.
Ask them directly who they were loyal to within the court, and they wouldn’t have a simple answer, save for the king. They would all decry eternal loyalty to him, and it was the one lie to which they were all guilty. Every plan they hatched was dedicated to the king’s removal.
Admiral could hardly complain. It kept him busy. He was in charge of the kingdom’s armada, a thousand ships that had stripped the kingdom of its great forests in order to build. It was his job to protect the coastline and keep the marauding pirates at bay.
Anything Admiral had to say about the lords and ladies of the court, he must also apply to himself. He was ambitious, like them, but not for the throne. His sights were set firmly on the eradication of the pirates. It was his sole purpose and what made him get up in the morning. Further, he had the means and the will to make it happen. It was already happening, not that anyone else would ever know that.
In New British culture, a title was not merely an addendum, it was your identity. You became your title. Differentiation was achieved by inferring tone. A playful tone for a playful Doctor, a grouchy tone for a grumpy Doctor, and so on.
The real difficulty came to dentists, who were always referred to in a sadistic tone, and thus they were indistinguishable from one another. Thankfully, it was a law of nature that no one associated with more dentists than was absolutely necessary, and so each dentist was assumed to be from the same cloudy pool of disagreeable people.
Spittle dribbled from the king’s protruding lips, and the lords and ladies continued to simper and nod. As reckless as they were in their plans, they were responsible for the maintenance of the kingdom, something they were surprisingly good at, if only for their selfish desire to remain at the top. It was thanks to them the kingdom was relatively happy.
The number of pillaging pirate attacks were down, and the farms would see a bumper harvest, so much so that the towns needed to build extra silos to store it all. The king gave his permission to fell the trees required, so long as an equal number were planted in their place. The blue bloods nodded, bowing so low Admiral thought they would stub their long noses on the floor.
Admiral cleared his throat.
“Is there any more business to discuss?” he said.
As the admiral of the king’s fleet, he was also the Voice of the king, meaning he had to conduct such meetings.
One of the lords opened his mouth to speak.
“Then we bid you a good day and shall speak again at the next meeting,” Admiral said.
The lord snapped his mouth shut and glared indignantly at Admiral, who pretended not to notice. The lords and ladies filed out of the great hall. The moment they were gone, Admiral let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t know why you insist on having boring meetings with such dullards every single week of the year,” Admiral said
“They manage the kingdom,” King (pronounced with a hard, unflinching tone) said. “It might not be the most exciting job in the world, but someone must do it.”
“But why do we have to listen to their petty concerns?” Admiral said.
“Because that is what ruling means,” King said. “Listening to the concerns of the people in order to make their lives easier.”
“There’s nothing easy about any of this,” Admiral grumbled.
A team of servants lifted a table from the corner of the room and removed it to the wide open space before the king. They left, followed by the armed soldiers. King and Admiral were left alone.
“You’ll be in attendance at the memorial ceremony today?” King said.
As if I have a choice, Admiral thought.
“Of course,” he said.
They were silent a moment, the king’s expression turning distant.
“Ten years,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Where does the time go?”
Not where it should be going, Admiral thought.
Seven unimposing figures entered the room. There were five men and two women. No matter how many times Admiral studied their faces he could not remember what they looked like five minutes later. That was one reason why they had been chosen, of course. They were instantly forgettable.
They unfolded the documents they carried and moved around the table. They were well practised at this. They each added a single piece of a puzzle that, once finished, presented the map of the entire British kingdom.
On it were the half a dozen large British cities—New Birmingham, New Norwich, New Liverpool, New Manchester, New Edinburgh and, of course, the capital New London. Every quadrant had been drawn in each cartographer’s own particular style. It gave the map somewhat of a patchwork quality.
The cartographers kept their eyes on the floor at all times in an effort not to see the other pieces of the map. It was one of many precautions the crown took to keep the map secret. None but King and Admiral would have access to the whole map. If the pirates ever got hold of a copy, they would know precisely where and how to hit each of the coastal towns. The cartographers turned and left the room, taking their nervousness with them.
Admiral moved to a basket left on a small side table. Inside it were a series of small toy ships. There were black pirate and white British ships. Admiral moved around the map, placing each piece in accordance with his reports. Each British ship actually represented ten ships in their fleet. Even without this accommodation, the British ships greatly outnumbered the pirates.
“It never ceases to amaze me how you manage to keep track of the location of every single ship in the fleet,” King said.
“We all have our little talents,” Admiral said.
“Mine appears to be for eating,” King said, slapping his stomach.
“Yours is for not knowing when to stop,” Admiral said.
King chuckled.
“Yes,” he said. “I suppose it is. But would I be here if it wasn’t?”
King had taken control of the kingdom from the inept and corrupt leader before him. King had been a soldier in the previous leader’s army, noted for his physical prowess and way around a sword. Hard to imagine that now.
But it had been him, not the numerous generals, lords and ladies who had taken a stand against the tyrant king, slitting his throat and taking his power for himself. The generals acted to stop the young king, but it was too late.
By then he had gathered enough support to defend against their attacks. He also had the love of the people to back him if he needed it. Weak though the people were, they all recognized the need for change.
King had married twice, harvesting one son with each. The first wife had died of pneumonia. King had loved her intensely, and it was five years before he even looked at another woman.
The first woman he saw became his second w
ife. Due to the passing of time between the two marriages, the children had an age gap of almost fifteen years.
Admiral supposed they could have still grown close to one another, but fate had intervened and tragedy struck, wrenching the boy prince from the royal family.
Admiral focused the king’s attention on the map.
“The coastline is well defended,” he said. “But there is only so much we can do against a determined foe. A dozen farmers were murdered, their crops stolen. The citizens are growing restless, wary. They want more resources to protect them. But in my opinion, we’re doing as much as efficiency allows. Spending more on defences would have a negligible effect. The available resources could be better used elsewhere.”
“Very well,” King said.
Admiral let a pause open before them, forming a deep trench. Admiral wouldn’t bring up the forbidden topic. It would be up to the king to do that. But King surprised Admiral by broaching a different subject.
“I’ve been getting reports of cargoes of raw materials going missing,” King said. “Metal, wood, rubber. Have you heard about any of this?”
“Yes,” Admiral said, hesitantly. He was on the back foot. “The pirates are intercepting our shipments enroute to their destination.”
“I see,” King said.
It was a quick way of ending conversation on any uncomfortable topics. Blame pirate activity, and thereby the king’s inactivity, and King would quickly change topic.
“And the sudden combustion of ships?” King said.
The change in topic. For the past few weeks there had been unconfirmed reports of pirate ships spontaneously exploding, apparently without cause. It had happened to two or three pirate ships so far, each just a few days apart.
“I can assure you it was none of our ships,” Admiral said. “They were all out of range when the incidents occurred.”
“I read the reports,” King said. “Any idea what the cause is?”
“No sir,” Admiral said. “But storing gunpowder incorrectly has been known to spontaneously explode. That might be the cause.”
“Pirates are experienced seamen,” King said. “They will know the importance of such things, especially when their lives are on the line. Keep an eye on it and inform me of all such occurrences, will you?”
“Yes, sir,” Admiral said.
More than once Admiral had a pirate ship on the ropes, had them in his sights. He could have destroyed them, but always recalled his king’s orders, and stood down. It irritated both him, and his men.
These pirates took what they wanted from the good hardworking people of New Britain, often murdering them in the process, and yet the king’s navy did nothing to stop them.
Once, Admiral met a pirate ship that had been spotted marauding along the New Britain coast. Admiral had been ordered by the king himself not to retaliate. A king’s man, Admiral had followed orders.
Then Admiral came across the very same pirate ship a few days later. It was departing a family-owned fishing trawler. They were well within British waters and simply earning their daily bread. Admiral was devastated by what he witnessed.
The women had been molested, the children decapitated, their heads strung from ropes that the pirates hung from the keel. It was Halloween, and the pirates had decided to shove candles in their eye sockets, like human jack o’ lanterns.
Admiral had felt such anger that he gave the order to attack the pirate ship and tear them to pieces, ignoring his king’s orders. They did their duty that day, the men grateful to relieve some of the pent up agitation they’d had to endure over the past few years. It was one of the few times Admiral had felt proud of holding his current position.
The king had requested his presence the moment he’d made port. Admiral had sensed a change in the winds. Perhaps this was all the king needed: a reminder of what justice really looked like. However, the king’s response to the event proved to be very different indeed.
“Tell me Admiral,” King said. “What are the orders I gave you concerning contact with the pirate ships?”
The smile slid off Admiral’s face.
“But Father-” he said.
His father, the king, had smacked him across the face, making the only direct contact Admiral could recall in his long life as the prince regent. It had been a single blow, and Admiral stumbled back, the corner of his mouth bleeding. His shock at the king’s decision canceled out any pain.
“Well?” King said.
“To not attack them,” Admiral said.
“Speak up, boy,” King said.
“To not attack them,” Admiral said. “Under any circumstances.”
“And what did you do?” King said, his voice quivering with fury.
“Father-” Admiral said.
“Today, you are not my son,” King said. “Today you are an untrustworthy whelp. Today I am ashamed of you.”
King had stopped himself, turning away to regain his composure.
“I understand why you did it,” King said. “What they did was unforgivable. But I am your king, as well as your father. And you above all others must follow my commands. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Father,” Admiral said.
King sighed.
“What was the name of the pirate vessel you blew from the water?” he said.
“The Kraken,” Admiral said.
King nodded. If Admiral hadn’t known better, he would have said he looked relieved.
“Then the situation may yet still be salvageable,” he said. “But you are never to attack another pirate ship. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Admiral said.
“I said, is that clear?” King said, voice like iron.
“Yes, sir!” Admiral said.
It was the first crack in Admiral’s sense of duty. It would be some time before he came up with the plan he needed to undermine his orders without giving himself away, but that was undeniably the beginning.
Admiral never discovered why his father had reacted the way he had. King never felt the need to explain, and Admiral wasn’t in a position to ask. He had always been curious, and despite all his personal investigations, he had not discovered a morsel related to the matter.
It was something apparently only the king was privy to. If Admiral was to learn the truth, it would have to come from his lips, and his alone.
The British navy had the necessary numbers and firepower, possessed the will to act, and even had the full support of the citizens, but still the king would not relent. He would not condone aggression against the pirates.
Admiral knew they could not stay their hands forever, and the promise of the defeat of the pirate infestation could sow the seeds of succession for the next usurper king. King would find himself in the same position he himself had fought to overthrow.
It was true many rich men in the kingdom had approached Admiral to divert his loyalty from his father, and with control of the seas under him, he would have been a powerful ally.
But he was cut from the same cloth as his father. It was a cold and inflexible material, not prone to breaking under pressure. Turning against the king was an alien and unwelcome concept.
Admiral never joined with them, never gave his allegiance to anyone but his father. But he never informed him of their approaches either. He supposed King already knew. And even if he didn’t, it was all the same to the king.
Still, ‘the Pirate Policy’ as Admiral came to think of it, drove a wedge between him and his father. They never discussed the automatic cowering of British forces in face of pirate aggressors again, and Admiral was forced to bear the brunt of his sailors’ anger. As far as they were aware, it was his orders that prevented them from avenging their fallen brothers and sisters.
Admiral was angrier than they would ever know, but he had a lifetime of disguising his emotions to draw upon, and the anger seethed, cold and furious beneath the surface. The day for releasing it would come soon, but until that day it would remain a secret, this time privy on
ly to himself.
If the king could have an exclusive secret, so could Admiral.
The pirates were getting more and more rambunctious, girded by British impotence. They were attacking more frequently than they ever used to before. The king’s impositions forced the kingdom’s armies to build defensive walls and organise regular patrols. It was not an efficient system, neither was it effective. They threw money at the problem, increasing taxes, something the citizens were not thrilled about.
A schism had developed, not only in the relationship between the king and his commander of the high seas, but within Admiral himself. He became convinced the only way for the British empire to flourish was for the pirates to be eradicated and wiped from the world. Only then could science guide their development.
If he could destroy the greatest scourges of them all, the legend all pirates looked up to, Admiral was convinced the rest would fall like dominoes.
Stoneheart. He was the primary target.
When you worried about your family’s safety, it diverted you from thoughts of the cosmos and the natural world. But that age of enlightenment was close at hand, and it was by the prince’s efforts that it would come to fruition.
Without the support of his king, and unwilling to ally with the scheming lords and ladies of the land, Admiral, the prince regent, had had to do a deal with the devil, and soon, payment would have to be made.
20
IT WAS the most uncomfortable part of the week for Cartographer (pronounced with a soft, almost whimpering sound), having to sit here and make conversation with the other cartographers. The one topic they all had in common, the one field they all had passion, was the one topic they couldn’t bring themselves to talk about for fear they would accidentally reveal secret information.
Armed guards stood on either side of the door that led to the king’s great hall. Cartographer eyed them warily, fully expecting them to be given the order to kill the occupants of this room one day. The order hadn’t come yet. But it would. Cartographer was certain.