by Alan Black
Yasthera looked shocked. She yanked her head away from I-Sheera’s hand and looked from I-Sheera to Tanden and back again. No one spoke for a moment. Then, Yasthera dropped her eyes to the floor. She leaned across and kissed I-Sheera on both cheeks.
It was I-Sheera’s turn to look shocked.
Yasthera said, “You’re right. You’ve always been kind to me, I-Sheera. I’m sorry, but I don’t want the men who took me to go unpunished. Captain, two of those pigs violated me here.”
Tanden replied, “I know. One of them is already dead. I captured the other. He’ll pay for what he did.”
Yasthera said, “Good. I trust you, Captain Tanden, to be the agent of revenge for us all.”
Tanden nodded and led the women to the window. The shutters were not locked from the outside. He peered through the slats. The window faced a sun-filled courtyard. Seeing no one around, he opened the shutters. The ground was only a short drop.
Tanden said, “I-Sheera, put your hat back on, fast. This took too much time.”
I-Sheera rushed across the room and dashed back with her uniform hat. Knotting her hair, she jammed it under the hat, stuffing loose stands out of the way. She was obviously surprised when Yasthera poked at a few wayward wisps of hair, giving I-Sheera a weak smile.
Tanden gestured for I-Sheera to sit on the window ledge and swing her legs over the edge. He grabbed her hands and gently lowered her to the ground. He quickly set Yasthera on the ground next to her. He vaulted through the window landing easily in the courtyard. The area surrounding the convent, inside the walls, was a carefully tended garden. Flowerbeds and fruit trees lined flagstone walkways. A pool glistened smoothly in the morning sun.
He breathed in deeply the fragrant air and winked at I-Sheera when he saw her looking at him. He vowed if he lived and succeeded that he would have a garden like this to enjoy every day.
Tanden led the way through the little gate, into the street. Merchants were busy and the streets were crowded with people of all types. A robed, hooded woman escorted by two uniformed blue soldiers did not warrant more than a passing glimpse. The trio reached the Wave Master unchallenged.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Tanden and I-Sheera stood on the wharf watching for activity around the White Wind.
They still wore the same blue order soldier uniforms. I-Sheera rolled up the sleeves and trouser legs looked far worse in the daylight than in the dark. The pants had to be held up by a rope tied around her waist. However, it fit well enough to avoid suspicion, assuming no one bothered to look at her. Gadon and Seenger lay hidden behind a long rock wall between warehouses. Neither could have squeezed into the uniform I-Sheera wore, not that Gadon was well enough to do more than trudge from one place to the next and Seenger was easy to spot as an ogre even in a perfectly tailored uniform.
The soldiers appeared to be relaxing out of the bright mid-morning sun along the rock wall near an unused warehouse. Tanden felt anything but relaxed. He preferred to approach the White Wind at dusk, but he could not afford to wait, not knowing when she would sail to Tunston. The incoming noon tides would make sailing out of the harbor difficult. The fishing fleet would be returning on the selfsame tides, choking the harbor mouth. An experienced captain with a full crew could fight the tides and make the smaller fishing boats give way.
His plan was to retake his ship quietly at the earliest possible moment. The uniforms Tanden and I-Sheera wore made gaining an entrance to the segregated wharf a simple matter. Escorting an ill man and an ogre had not caused more than a few sideway glances. Still, they needed to get aboard the ship, capture everyone, secure the cargo, and sail her out of the harbor—all without raising anyone’s suspicions.
I-Sheera tapped Tanden on the forearm and gestured with her eyes for Tanden to look up the wharf. She was under orders not so speak. Her voice and accent were not those of a soldier, not to mention she was a woman. A woman in a blue order soldier’s uniform would bring a flood of attention Tanden desperately wanted to avoid. A woman in any uniform would cause a flood of unwanted attention.
Tanden followed I-Sheera’s eyes. Coming along the wharf was a detachment of soldiers led by Gregin. The blue priest had dropped all pretenses. He was wearing his blue order robes. He walked ahead of two soldiers, who preceded a soldier pushing a cart, who was followed by two soldiers. The four soldiers on guard were alert with their swords drawn and at the ready.
Tanden could not hope to go unnoticed by other soldiers. The city’s blue garrison was small enough that each man probably knew every other. He pulled I-Sheera with him as he jumped over the wall. Crouched down to hide behind it with Gadon and Seenger, he hoped they had not been seen. Listening to the creak of the cart until it was well past, he risked a peek over the wall. Gregin and his small force went directly to the White Wind. From where Tanden hid, he was unable to see much of what was happening on the pier. The longshoremen milling on the narrow wharf between the White Wind and the next ship were pushed aside by the armed soldiers. He gestured for I-Sheera to remain hidden. He crept along the wall until it intersected against a higher wall.
This section of the dock was a jumble of private warehouses surrounded by gated storage yards. In the warehouse yard beyond the taller wall, Tanden heard men working. Peering over the shorter wall, he looked toward the harbor. A constant stream of men carried, rolled, and carted goods from a ship next to the White Wind, into the yard just behind the high wall. The ship was a squat, squarish vessel of Allexian design. The longshoremen shouted and called insults to each other as dockworkers normally do. The swirl of workers would help to conceal any approach to his ship.
Tanden could see much of the White Wind’s top deck. Heraclius and Greeta were struggling to carry a large chest across the deck. They followed Gregin down the hatchway to the cabins under the foredeck. The five soldiers were returning with the empty cart. They jostled and collided their way through the stream of men crossing the dock.
As they passed by, Tanden turned. Still hidden by the wall, he paced the soldiers until he reached the wall of the empty warehouse where his crew waited. Tanden could not hear the solider’s passage over all the noise on the dock. He counted to ten and glanced over the wall. The soldiers were turning up a street, moving away from the docks.
He waved for everyone to follow him. I-Sheera and Seeger leaped over the wall while Gadon slumped and rolled over the top. Tanden straightened his uniform and reset his hat squarely on his head before turning to I-Sheera and tugging her uniform into a reasonable semblance of order. Without further hesitation, they stepped out of the shade into the heat of the late, morning sun. Walking to the water’s edge, they turned purposefully toward the White Wind’s berth.
Tanden barged through the stream of men carrying goods from the Allexian ship to the warehouse. At the foot of the White Wind’s gangplank, they encountered three armed men standing guard watching the activity of the workers. Glancing at the uniforms Tanden and I-Sheera wore, the guards stepped aside to let them pass. Most common laborers or dock guards would not question anyone or anything in a uniform. Their sideways glances at an ogre distracted them from noticing I-Sheera.
No one was on the deck of the ship. Tanden knew there were at least three men aboard—Gregin, Heraclius, and Greeta. Gregin must have trusted the watch on the dock to keep intruders off the ship. If the new captain and any of the new crew was aboard, Tanden may have grabbed a larger snake than he could skin.
Gesturing for I-Sheera to stay with Gadon, he motioned Seenger to follow him forward.
Tanden had his hand on the passageway hatch when he heard someone coming up the ladder. He waved Seenger away from the door and stepped two paces back. He turned quickly to check the dock and the deck of the Allexian ship. He could not see the longshoremen on the pier from his angle. If he could not see them, they could not see him. Men going up the gangplank to the Allexian ship had their back to the White Wind. Men coming down were more concerned with the bundles they carried and their fo
oting on the narrow gangplank. No one standing on the deck of the other ship appeared to be watching anything other than the cargo off-loading.
Tanden nearly tripped over a tarp laying at his feet. He silently cursed the lazy man who left it on the deck. As captain, he never allowed a sloppy ship. He waved Seenger further back.
Greeta stepped through the hatch. He was grumbling about being sent topside as he squinted into the sun. A bright white light from the sun glinting off the wave tips in the harbor seemed to funnel directly into the hatchway, temporarily blinding him. Three steps onto the deck, his eyes re-focused and widened when he saw Tanden standing in front of him.
He turned and opened his mouth to shout.
Tanden knotted his fist and knocked Greeta backward with a blow to the middle of his face. Greeta fell backward into the arms of the waiting ogre. Seenger spun the man face down onto the deck and drew a small blade from his waistband. Sliding the knife under Greeta, Seenger slit the mutinous sailor’s throat with a swift, smooth motion. Greeta jerked and twisted, but Seenger sat on his shoulders holding the dying man flat until he stopped moving. Deep, red blood pooled on the deck. Seenger looked up at Tanden as if expecting a challenge to his right to kill the thief.
Tanden nodded his approval. Seenger had performed swiftly, silently, and with justification. Grabbing the tarp, he tossed it to Seenger for a covering. He looked back to the deck of the Allexian ship. No one appeared to have noticed any activity on the White Wind. They would dispose of Greeta’s body once they completely regained control of the ship and reached the open sea.
Tanden stepped through the open hatchway and noiselessly slid down the ladder to the passageway. The doors to all three cabins were closed. Tanden dismissed the door to the cabin to the left. It was normally shared by Gadon and Tuller, but was now packed floor to ceiling with trade goods. The door on the right was the cabin shared by I-Sheera and Yasthera.
Forward was the door to his cabin. The captain’s cabin had little room to spare as it also had cargo stuffed into every available nook. The women’s cabin had more room, but was filled with all the assorted baggage of a woman traveling to meet her new husband. Gregin and Heraclius could be using either or both cabins.
Bypassing the woman’s cabin, he listened at the captain’s door. He heard no movement or voices behind the door. He looked behind him at Seenger. The ogre stood at the foot of the ladder, waiting for direction. Tanden pointed at both doors and shrugged. The ogre shrugged in response and reached out to rap his knuckles on the door of the women’s cabin.
Heraclius shouted from inside, “Greeta, are you such a fool—” The door flew open. Heraclius stepped into the passageway. Turning toward the deck ladder, he raised his hand to strike at Greeta. He froze when he saw Seenger standing there.
Tanden slammed the butt of his knife handle into the back of Heraclius’s head.
The man collapsed to the deck where he lay unmoving. Tanden stepped over the unconscious man to enter the women’s cabin. Yasthera’s baggage was open with the contents scattered about, but otherwise the room was empty. He grabbed a handful of silk strips. Tanden could not begin to fathom what their original purpose was, but he was sure they would secure Heraclius. With the practiced hands of experienced sailors, Tanden and Seenger quickly tied the unmoving man hand and foot.
The two stood at the captain’s cabin door. There were still no sounds coming from inside the cabin. Without delay, Tanden eased the latch open and stepped into the little cabin, Seenger following quickly behind him.
Gregin sat alone at the small writing desk. He looked at the men when he heard sounds of the intrusion. No expression passed his face, even when he recognized Tanden and Seenger. He slowly closed the book on the desk and turned to face the door. He leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on a chest.
Tanden put an arm out to stop Seenger from rushing forward.
Gregin said, “Well, Captain. I can see that you and your pet ogre don’t take to death easily.”
Tanden said, “Do you?”
Gregin laughed, “Oh you poor fool. I’ve already beaten you. You’re dead, just too stupid to lie down.”
Tanden said, “Don’t bother calling for Heraclius and Greeta to come save you. Greeta is dead and Heraclius is tightly bound.”
Gregin shook his head as if talking to a small child, “By killing Greeta and Heraclius—you will kill him soon, I guess?—anyway, you’ve done nothing more than save me from having them killed and thrown into the sea. You killed them sooner than I planned, but they’re where they would eventually end up.”
The blue priest raised his hands parallel to each other spaced apart about the width of his head. Before Tanden or Seenger could react a blue wall slammed into them. The ogre was tossed back into the hallway, crashing to the deck on top of Heraclius with a grunt. The force plastered Tanden against the wall, holding him there as if he was crucified, nailed in place. With one hand Gregin held Tanden, with the other, he picked up a dagger from the desk. Twirling it lightly, a blue sheen spread across the blade.
Just as Gregin was about to hurl the knife, I-Sheera stepped past Seenger through the doorway and into the cabin. Without anyone blocking the light reflecting off the waves in the bay, a blistering white beam bathed Gregin causing him to drop the dagger. As he bent to pick it up, I-Sheera hit him in the head with a chamber pot from her cabin.
Blinking furiously, Gregin shook his head in a daze. His hand came away from his head bloody. Still, he smiled. The man thrust his hands out, but nothing happened. The magic he had stored had either dissipated, already been used, or his head injury would not allow him to focus his mind well enough to bring his magic into action. He held his wrists together offering bondage.
With a shrug, Gregin said, “It doesn’t matter. Tie me up and together we can wait for what’s sure to follow.”
Tanden and Seenger quickly recovered from the blue priest’s magic onslaught. The ogre was seething. He was probably not used to being tossed around like a ragdoll.
“Tie him tight, Seenger. Lash him to the chair.”
Gregin offered no resistance. He smiled and said, “Your Holdenite alliance with the red order’s empire is broken. That eastern cow is where she’ll never be found. The Red Wizard will blame Holden and the green order for losing his niece. Furthermore, Tuba and Obert have been dealt with by now. Once you three are captured, there’ll be no one left to tell the story of what happened here. You know as well as I do, you can’t sail this ship with just two men and a scrawny woman.”
Tanden said, “You seem to be very confident you’ll live through this.”
Gregin laughed, “Oh no, not at all. I’ve already done what I was asked to do. If I die now, it makes no difference. I will be martyred for the glory of the blue order. His majesty, the Blue Wizard will know what I’ve done. He’ll raise me to the afterlife with more power than I have in this life. If I live, I win. If I die, I still win. You’ll be captured and hung as thieves and murderers.”
Tanden asked, “And Gregin, how are you going to capture us?”
“Me? No me. This city’s blue wizard is sending a captain and crew who will be arriving here soon. Where can you go until then?”
Tanden said, “Perhaps you’re right, Gregin. But, I think we’ll follow our own course, just to see what happens—if you don’t mind? No? I thought not.”
Tanden looked to the ogre, “Seenger, gag him. I’ve had enough of his talk. Make sure his hands are tied and wrapped so he can’t collect magic. If he complains that his bonds are too tight, cut his hands off for all I care, he can try his magic in the next life without them.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Heraclius, “And gag him, too. Then, meet me on the deck.”
Followed by I-Sheera, he stepped over the still unconscious man and made his way topside.
Gadon grunted a greeting. “Leave me to sit in the hot sun with nothing but a stinking corpse for company? What kind of friends are you? From the sounds of it, I thought
you were having bit of trouble down there and I might have to come rescue you.”
Tanden replied, “I-Sheera, take him down to my cabin. He can rest his fat bottom while he keeps an eye on our guests. Then, if you would please, come back up on deck.”
The sun had risen to straight overhead. The longshoremen were no longer in sight, but cargo still littered the deck of the Allexian ship. Two of the guards at the foot of the gangplank sat on the pier. The third was leaning against one of the pylons. The heat of the day and the inactivity was wearing down on the men.
The standing guard noticed that Tanden, a soldier, was watching. He tapped his foot against the other man and stood away from the pylon. The second man tapped the third and soon all three men had struggled to their feet in a pretense of being alert.
Tanden called down to the men, “Where did the workers go?”
The guard, who had been standing, shaded his eyes to look up at Tanden. I-Sheera joined him at the rail, both standing silhouetted against the bright sky. “Midday meal, I guess.”
Tanden gestured towards the ship’s cabins and said, “Blue priest Gregin wants to know if you’ll be getting a relief soon as well?”
The guard snorted, “Not this side of the next life.”
Tanden laughed, “A truer word was never spoken. We’re to stand guard on deck, even in this heat with nothing to guard against.”
Turning, he saw I-Sheera by him and Seenger nearby. In a low voice, he said, “I-Sheera, move to the bow. Stay along the rail. Let these three see you at all times, but try not to be seen from the docks. Don’t let anyone come aboard the ship. And remember, don’t speak or they’ll know we aren’t who we pretend to be. Seenger, try to stay out from sight of the docks as much as possible, but find some suitable weapons. We may need them soon.”
Tanden crossed the deck and looked along the other side. There was too much activity to toss Greeta’s body overboard. Two empty berths sat next to them. The gap made the side of the ship open to easy view. However, without a ship crowding their port side, sailing out of the berth would be much simpler.