When she landed, the men on the deck reacted more slowly than the last time she had done something similar. That, more than anything else, told Carth that they were little more than merchants.
The captain started toward her, sword unsheathed, but he was a portly man and didn’t have much swagger—certainly nothing that made her think she should fear him.
“I mean you no harm,” Carth said. She raised her hands to assuage him. What did it matter that she didn’t need a weapon in her hands to take care of him?
“You appear on my ship out of nowhere and you tell me you mean no harm?”
Carth flashed a smile. “What are you transporting?”
The man’s eyes flicked to the side and Carth spun around, glaring at the pair of men near the railing who had taken a step in her direction.
“You don’t want to do that,” she warned as one of the men started reaching for his sword. “I did, after all, appear out of nowhere.”
“What does it matter?” the captain asked.
“It matters. I need to know what you’re transporting.”
“Various items.”
“Anything that might be considered particularly unique?”
“I have many things that are unique. I have come from the far west—”
Carth laughed. “The far west? You’ve come from Heneld. I’ve seen this ship before.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
The longer she was on the ship, the more she realized that she did recognize it. A merchant ship, and a captain who was notorious for trying to fabricate what he sold. There were plenty of men like him, so that wasn’t unique, but what was unique was his ability to be convincing. This could be an ideal situation to have come across.
“I am known as many things, but the people in Heneld would know me as Carth of C’than.”
The captain’s eyes widened and he glanced at the other men, shaking his head slightly. They had started to creep toward her, enough that she would have been forced to make a decision about them.
“You recognize my name.”
The captain nodded. “I have heard of what you’ve done. You are disruptive.”
“Perhaps, but only when it’s necessary.”
“Is Keyall under your protection now?”
“What do you think?”
“I think that I don’t know what to make of the fact that Carth of C’than has appeared on my ship… Ah. I see your ship in the distance. That would be yours, wouldn’t it?”
Carth risked glancing over her shoulder and wasn’t surprised to see a smuggler ship coming at them.
“That is not mine.”
“Then it’s coming awfully fast…”
“They will try to ram you, much as they thought to ram me.”
“Ram? That means your ship—”
“Is fine. I’m not helpless, Captain.”
“No. I doubt anyone would make the mistake of accusing Carth of C’than of being helpless.”
Carth smiled. “You would be surprised. Now. What have you announced yourself as carrying?”
“I don’t understand.”
She nodded to the ship making its way toward them. Oars now jutted out of the side, sweeping quickly. They would be upon them soon. Carth debated whether to attempt to sink the other ship or protect this one. If she chose to protect this one, she would need word to get back to the Collector about what she had done.
What was the right move?
Could she slow the oncoming ship?
They would need to know that she was the one responsible. That was part of her plan.
She focused on the center of the oncoming ship and sent a tight band of S’al magic, sending it through the hull.
Water hissed as her magic streaked toward the distant ship.
When it struck, she noted a resistance but pushed through it.
Carth felt the resistance of the water against her magic and pushed even more energy into it. Was it only the resistance of the water, or was it something else? Could the ship resist her attempt to use her magic?
Another push and then she felt the resistance part. As it did, she withdrew her magic to avoid sinking the ship entirely. It slowed and then gradually began sinking anyway.
Shouts came from the other ship, and the oars were quickly withdrawn. She smiled to herself. The oarsmen would be more interested in not sinking.
“I think they’ll be busy for a little while, but perhaps you should sail onward from here. I think Keyall won’t be nearly as welcoming as you wanted.”
“What did you do?” the captain asked.
“I’ve given you time. Take it and get your ship away from here before they send another.”
How many ships would the smugglers have? They were working with Rhain, so there would have to be more than a few, but could she convince them to risk themselves so that she could find the Collector?
“Why?”
“Let’s just say that I don’t care for the man behind that attack. Do you need me to help you find a place to sail on to? I can offer several suggestions, but I would think you might be happier testing your luck farther north. You’ll be less likely to have such a challenge there.”
He sighed, and she almost smiled. She could imagine the thoughts going through his head. He would need to trade honestly—at least, more honestly—were he to return to the north.
“You still have your crew and your life. Be thankful for that. There are other ships that have come through here that have neither.”
“Is that why you came?”
“Partially.” She turned, preparing to jump again. “What would they think you have? You gained their attention for a reason. They would think that you have something.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? I think there’s something. Whether or not you actually have what you’ve claimed is a different matter.”
“I advertised nothing specific. Only that I was coming out of the west.”
That was interesting. Was the talisman from out of the west? If so, what was Talia’s role? She had thought she worked with Rhain, but what if she didn’t?
“I’ll go,” the captain said.
Carth smiled tightly and then jumped back toward the Spald.
26
The Goth Spald drifted along the shore, making steady progress as they headed toward the smugglers’ new hideout. Carth stood at the bow, allowing Alayna to guide them. Early morning light drifted around them and a gentle breeze blew, carrying with it the fragrance of trees and that of unseen flowers. None of it did anything to remove the memory of the charred bodies and the brutal death they had experienced.
Carth had left the constable, wanting to see if she could find other answers, but Boiyn hadn’t known anything about the fire or what might have taken place. He had gone in search of answers, but Carth doubted there would be any. If Boiyn had any way of knowing, it would already have been on board, which meant that he would already have read it and should have remembered. He had a good enough memory that he would remember what he had seen, and it seemed unlikely that there would have been something here that would explain what had taken place.
That might be the thing that bothered her most of all: The fact that there seemed to be no answers. Even more troubling was the fact that they had no way of countering the Collector. At least, not any way that Carth could come up with very easily.
Which was why they were heading toward the smugglers.
They had encountered the Collector, and they had managed to capture some of his people. Had Carth known at the time what she knew now, she wouldn’t have assisted in their release, but at the time, she hadn’t understood anything about the Collector and hadn’t known how dangerous he was.
“Carthenne?”
She turned and saw Boiyn. With his pale skin, he practically glowed in the faint moonlight, enough that he was easy to see. “You’ll have to get back below deck, Boiyn, before you’re spotted. We don’t want to alert them to our presence to
o soon.”
“I understand, and I won’t remain here for too long, but I only wanted to talk to about that fire.”
“What is it?”
He glanced over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “There’s something about it that troubles me. I can’t quite place what it is, but I seem to remember reading something about fire like that, though I don’t quite know where.”
Carth smiled. “If you don’t remember where, then it’s not much help to us.”
She wasn’t trying to be offensive, but was afraid that it came out that way regardless.
“Yes. I’m well aware, Carthenne. I was just thinking that it’s possible that if we return to one of the great universities, I might be able to discover something.”
“Heading to one of the universities means abandoning Keyall.”
“I know that you don’t intend to leave Keyall, at least not until this matter is settled, but I was only thinking…”
“Thank you,” Carth said.
Boiyn tipped his head. “I haven’t done anything.”
“You care. That’s why you want to head to one of the universities. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be searching for answers the way that you are.”
He breathed out heavily and looked out at the night. “I wish I could do the things that you do.”
“I don’t think that you do. The things that you can do are just as impressive, if not more so, than what I can do. You have a brilliant mind. We need your mind. We need you.”
“When I was in the bad place, there were others who wanted me, and they wanted to use me.”
“I don’t want to use you. I want you to be a part of what we do.”
“I know that. That’s why I work as hard as I can to assist you, Carthenne. If I doubted your intentions at all, I wouldn’t have come with you.” He joined her at the railing, looking out over the water. “It’s peaceful at this time of day.”
“It’s peaceful other times of day.”
“Perhaps, but at other times of day I can’t venture out, not without quite a bit of shading.”
“I wonder if there might be something that I could do to help with that.”
“I don’t know that your shadows will help. They might be able to protect me from the sun, but I can’t see through them, not the way that you can.”
“Then you will stay protected on the ship as you have been.”
“It’s not so bad. Not really. It’s just that there are times when I wish I could be a larger part of what you’re doing.”
“If you feel that way, then it’s my fault. I haven’t helped you recognize your value to what we do. Your enhancements have allowed others to do things that they didn’t believe possible. Think of Linsay. If not for your enhancements, she wouldn’t be able to fight quite as well as she can.”
Boiyn looked over his shoulder, and Carth thought that she saw a bit of a troubled expression there.
“What is it?”
“I’m… I’m not sure. It’s likely nothing.”
“Nothing?”
He shrugged. “It’s just that the enhancements that I’ve been creating these days have been of variable efficacy. What your people in Asador taught me should make them much more consistent. I haven’t changed anything, not so much that they would become that ineffective.”
“Then what is it?”
“As I said, I don’t think it’s anything.”
Carth smiled at him. “I trust that you will figure out the issue.”
“As I said, thank you.”
“For what?”
“All of this. You. The people of Keyall mean nothing to you, yet you fight on their behalf. Most will never know what it is that you do for them, and I know that’s the way you like it, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get recognition for what you’re doing.”
“I don’t do it for recognition.”
“I know that you don’t. And if you did, you wouldn’t be the same person. I doubt you would have people follow you so willingly. Yet there are times when I wonder if perhaps you shouldn’t get more recognition.”
“Those who need to know what we do already know. And anyone else… I don’t think they need to know anything more than they do. There is no reason otherwise.”
“Despite that, you continue to do more for the people of Keyall than you need to. They are lucky, though they do not know it.”
Carth stared at the distant outline of the village. It was much like the last smuggler village, though more hastily made. And likely equally temporary. If it was anything like the first, there would be a trail into Keyall. “If they’re lucky, they never will.”
She signaled to Alayna and the boat slowed even more, and Carth jumped off with a connection to the shadows, surging from the ship and toward the village.
She landed in a roll, appearing on the rocky shores, and hurried toward the first buildings. She pressed out with her connection to the flame, looking for signs of others. The smugglers would be somewhere.
What she detected was just beyond and up the slope of rock, leading away from the village and likely heading in a roundabout way toward Keyall. Maybe they were making their way back to the city with more supplies. As she made her way along the slope, she realized a narrow inlet flowed through here, turning up a channel that she hadn’t known existed. Carth attempted to stare through the darkness.
Was that a ship’s mast? Was there something else?
She slowed as she approached.
She found a clearing through the trees and realized that there were several ships collected far below. More than she thought would have been here. How many ships did the smugglers have?
There was the vague sense of movement, and Carth decided that she needed to reveal her presence. It would be safest for the others, not just for her.
Carth released a connection to the flame, letting herself glow softly.
Then she stood there, waiting.
After a while, she noticed movement. At first it was little more than a shifting near the shadows, but the longer that she watched, the more it became clear that there truly was some movement here. Carth removed any other protection she might be carrying and stood exposed, waiting for the smugglers to come to her. “I’m looking for Kiara,” she shouted.
The movements ceased.
“Send Kiara to me.”
“Do you intend to harm her?” It was a gruff voice that shouted from the darkness.
“No. I have questions. I want to know what your connection is to the Collector.”
There was a moment of silence, and a slender man appeared. He had dark eyes, though that could be nothing more than the shadows overhanging everything. Long hair hung to his shoulder, and given the way she held the flames, Carth could see streaks of silver work through it.
“Kiara refuses to come meet with you.”
“Fine, then you will do. I need to know how you captured the Collector’s people.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
They had managed to keep themselves secluded for as long as they had, but now they had drawn the attention of a greater power, and none were ready for it.
“Let me tell you what I know. You thought to break through the line of ships. I don’t know whether the Collector was aware of Keyall before, but he certainly is now.”
“He has always been aware of Keyall.”
“Perhaps. But you took the talisman from him.” That last was less certain. The talisman could have been unrelated, though the timing was suspect. She hadn’t been able to find Talia again and so far hadn’t been able to learn what she was after with it, nor was she able to determine what Alistan wanted of the talisman, but that had to be the reason that Talia had claimed it. “Are you aware that the constable’s ships were destroyed tonight?”
The man froze, staring at her. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“No. I don’t think you have any interest in destroying the constable’s ships.�
�
He shook his head. “Why would you come to that conclusion?”
“I think you were counting on the constables being able to protect you. You were surprised when I appeared. And you thought that I worked for the Collector.” She watched the smuggler’s face, searching for confirmation that she was right, but he managed to maintain a neutral expression. “And when I appeared in the city, the constable thought that I worked for the Collector, so he focused his attention on me.” That last was mostly speculation, but maybe it would explain why he had been so rigid with Jenna.
“The constables would not focus on you any more than they focus on others,” Carth said.
“I assume that you’ve been working for Rhain?”
They didn’t know that she had spoken to Rhain. That surprised her.
“His wealth depends on trade. If he can’t move his wares, that wealth is in danger. He hired you when his ships failed, didn’t he?”
The other man studied her, saying nothing.
It was enough answer for Carth.
“How did you capture the Collector’s men?”
“They weren’t men.”
“Those weren’t. What about the others you captured?”
The man breathed out softly, holding Carth in his heavy gaze. “Come and sit. For these answers, you will join us by the fire.”
Carth followed him through the trees to a small clearing nearby. She should have known that they were here, as she could detect them using her connection to the flame. There were several dozen people, and she noticed Kiara sitting on the opposite side of the fire, making a point of looking away from Carth.
The smuggler motioned for her to sit on a fallen log, and Carth did. Someone appeared and handed her a tray of food which she took and began picking at it.
The smuggler sat across from her and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “We were hired to move merchandise. Everything that we did was lawful.”
Carth smiled. “I don’t work for the constable.”
He shrugged. “I never know who he has listening. We were paid for our work, and as I said, everything that we have done has been lawful.”
“Except you came across the Collector.”
“I don’t know if we came across the Collector, or if we came across his people. Either way, as we were bringing in merchandise to Keyall, we encountered a pair of ships. We managed to evade one, but the other…”
Shadow Hunted (The Collector Chronicles Book 1) Page 21