Lose A Princess, Lose Your Head (Merchant Blades Book 2)

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Lose A Princess, Lose Your Head (Merchant Blades Book 2) Page 25

by Alex Avrio


  For once Mercy Blue didn’t mind the interruption. “Is this your master calling for a payment to the sea? I do not know. You have brought us bad luck. You shall meet your fate in the arms of the deep blue sea.” Mercy Blue looked at Regina. “I did warn you.”

  The team slowly boarded the jolly boat that awaited them, finding all the possessions that had been stripped from them when they were captured flung into the bottom, even the rings off Mercy’s fingers. Clearly the pirates wanted to be rid of everything that might have been tainted by them. Jaeger was the last to get in. The rope groaned as the rowing boat was lowered, banging on the side of the vessel like a grasping child reluctant to leave its mother’s arms.

  The wind began to rise once more, the waves rocking the boat dangerously. “Row,” Regina bellowed and everyone picked up an oar and rowed away from the stricken pirate ship.

  “I think I can see the coast,” Jackson shouted.

  53 DISTANT SHORES

  THE great gray clouds that hung in the sky finally blew a curtain of rain in their faces. They could suddenly see only a few meters ahead.

  “We don’t know how to row, we can’t do this,” Rosamynd complained.

  “Did you hear the woman?” Regina barked while furiously rowing. “The pirates said there’s a sea serpent swimming around here. Unless you want to see it up close, row!”

  Emilia and Rosamynd grabbed an oar each and heaved for all they were worth, desperate to reach the safety of dry land.

  “Careful of underwater rocks,” Briggs shouted once the unfamiliar craggy coastline was looming above them. “Don’t want the hull ripped open.”

  The princesses stowed their oars and let the Merchant Blades take over to find a safe landing spot. Despite the rain sheeting down, soaking them to the skin, they continued parallel to the shore until they found a place where the shoreline was less rocky, and might allow them to haul the boat ashore. Briggs moved to the prow and thrust his oar into the sea, taking a measure of the depth and searching for hidden rocks. When they finally made it to the shallows, Regina and Jaeger jumped out into the waist-deep water. Emilia had no time to complain: Jaeger grabbed her, unceremoniously threw her over his shoulder, and carried her to the shore, managing to keep her head and feet out of the water. Briggs took Rosamynd in his arms, and carried her ashore in a more dignified fashion. Morgenstern could not lift Schaefer, who anyway was protesting: his own wounds hadn’t sufficiently healed. Jaeger came back and helped Summers carry her. The rest of the Blades grabbed the boat and brought it to the shore, heaving it just above the high water mark. It would be safe there and yet could be quickly launched if unpleasant surprises lurked in the tree line.

  Briggs checked the boat one last time. “I think we’ll be called the merchant marines after this,” he declared, a self-satisfied grin showing through drenched whiskers.

  Regina sent Jackson and Eleven to scout the cove for shelter. They soon returned and led the team to an overhanging cliff-face. It formed a small cave, a bit further along the shoreline. Once under cover, Jackson started a fire with a bundle of dry seaweed and driftwood. It smelt awful. They were beyond caring.

  “By the Mother, I’m starving,” Emilia declared.

  “Let’s dry off and rest,” Regina said. Hunting would be difficult in this weather with no firearms and only their sabers.

  “This might help,” Thomas said sheepishly holding up a small barrel. “It’s the sea biscuits from the boat. We’ll have to pick the maggots out but I don’t care.” Jaeger grabbed the barrel, and handed everyone a biscuit, keeping some rations back. Regina was worried she would break a tooth when she tried to bite off a manageable chunk of the solid biscuits, and was amazed to see Emilia chewing a big chunk of hers hungrily without a sound of complaint.

  Once the hunger in their bellies had been satisfied, exhaustion took over. Regina and Jaeger volunteered to take the first watch while the others huddled together near the fragile fire and immediately fell asleep, Briggs snoring loudly. The rain had stopped, so Jaeger and Regina stepped out from their shelter into the cold night. Regina tilted her head towards the sky. Dark clouds obscured the stars.

  “Until I can see those stars and a few of the constellations, the timepiece compass isn’t going to help us find out where we are,” Jaeger confessed.

  “Look there,” Regina pointed. A light danced in the night, a small flame – in such darkness. It shone like a beacon. Jaeger shot inside the cave and woke Summers and Amanates to take over the watch. Then Regina and he headed out, sabers drawn, to investigate. They had no light of their own and made their way slowly over the unfamiliar terrain. As they moved towards it, the light moved slowly away. Regina grabbed Jaeger’s arm.

  “Do you think they know we’re here?” she whispered. “Whoever it is might have seen our fire, but it could be anyone, a shepherd who’s lost a sheep, smugglers, pirates. Or local people up to no good. We don’t know where we are.”

  “Precisely,” Jaeger whispered back. “What if that’s a marsh and those are spirit fires?”

  “You think this might be marshland?” It was said that spirits lured travelers into the depths of the marshes only to drown them. Not so long ago she’d have laughed at the idea. “Be careful. The first sign that this is a marsh we go back.”

  They followed the light for a while longer. The ground seemed solid under their feet, if rugged.

  “Between landing on that beach and this, I’ll soon need a cobbler,” Jaeger commented.

  “Shh,” Regina replied. She thought they’d gained ground on whoever was bearing the light and desperately hoped they’d find a shepherd boy scared out of his wits. Jaeger nudged her side. The light was now motionless and they were almost upon it.

  When they finally came close to the nimbus of light, their jaws dropped open. Staring at them nonchalantly was a gold and red plumed rooster as tall as a Great Dane. On its back, riding it like a proud steed, wearing the finest clothes, sat a dwarf holding a storm lantern.

  “Finally,” he grumbled. “I thought you two great puddings would never catch up.”

  54 A BATTLE ROOSTER OF MOST EXCELLENT QUALITY

  “SOMETHING wrong?” the dwarf went on. Both Regina and Jaeger stared at him in stunned silence. “Chicken caught your tongue?”

  “Who, in the Mother’s name, is your tailor?” Jaeger finally said. “I think I went temporarily blind from that canary yellow vest.”

  Regina’s looked at Jaeger in surprise. Then she remembered her ancient lore. He’d been clever to invoke the Mother’s name: creatures of the dark hated it.

  “I can see I’ve got my work cut out,” the dwarf sighed. He was perfectly proportioned yet small of stature. She couldn’t quite say how tall he was, perched on a giant rooster that would take best-in-show prize or as easily rip them to shreds with deadly talons. The dwarf’s suit was in the fashion of a wealthy country gentleman.

  “Captain Fitzwaters, Kapitan Jaeger, I am Nathaniel.”

  “Isn’t that a bit long for you?” Jaeger said. “Nat might be more appropriate.”

  Regina shot him a withering look. Did the man not know when to shut up?

  “I was told one of you was moderately smart and the other an idiot,” Nathaniel said gesturing at the two of them with a sweep of his arm. “Glad we sorted that out.”

  “Well, I’m not the one riding a giant chicken,” Jaeger replied coolly.

  “I’ll have you know, this battle rooster is of excellent quality. Fidel. The finest mount I’ve had the pleasure to know.” The rooster lifted his head, his red comb standing proudly. “I have been sent to help you. Are we going to stand here all night? Follow me.” He nudged the rooster and it moved forward.

  “Wait!” Regina shouted. “Sent by who? Follow where?”

  “It’s ‘whom’,” Nathaniel said without turning. Regina and Jaeger looked at each other. Jaeger shrugged and followed, taking the decision out of Regina’s hands. After five minutes they reached a campsite, where a small fir
e was burning. Nathaniel dismounted and sat near the fire.

  “Don’t stand there hovering like wraiths. Sit down. I have much to tell you and little time.”

  Their own clothes were still soaked and they were grateful for the warmth of the fire. Jaeger stretched his hands to warm them. Nathaniel threw Regina a wineskin which she sniffed suspiciously before taking a drink. She passed it to Jaeger. Nathaniel picked up a stick, speared something in the fire and passed the stick to Regina. She took it. At its end was a large potato, baked in the heat of the fire. Nathaniel speared another and gave it to Jaeger.

  “No good talking on an empty stomach. I think yours must be quite empty after your adventures. You are needed fit and healthy here.”

  “Needed by whom?” Regina asked. The hot potato burned her mouth but she kept eating.

  Nathaniel took a deep breath. “Is it possible that you two really know nothing about your– condition?” he asked, as if debating the matter with himself. “In times past,” he continued, frowning, “it was a great honor to be chosen. Candidates studied and trained for years before being called forward to the test. The quality has fallen somewhat lately.”

  Jaeger stood up and wiped his hands on his breeches. “Well, Nat, thank you for your hospitality, but I won't sit around to be insulted for a potato. If you have something worthwhile to say, go ahead – without hint, innuendo or riddle.”

  Something dangerous shone in Nathaniel’s eyes. “Sit down,” he said with such authority that if Regina wasn’t already sitting down she would have done so. “Do you not think I can do you great harm, young man?”

  Jaeger remained standing. “I've no doubt you can. But not much more than your mistress. She already turned us into Abidari and branded us like cattle. There is–”

  “Long of legs, short of mind!” Nathaniel said, his voice cold and commanding, his face dark and menacing. His nostrils flared like a horse. “How dare you pronounce such words in the middle of the night!” He took a few breaths to calm down. Then long silence. “I should not be angry with misguided children,” he finally said. “I should put their minds at ease. Lady Nephthys is not the one who sent me.” For a moment the night seemed darker, the darkness closing to embrace them, barely kept at bay by the small light of the fire.

  “Then who?” Jaeger demanded.

  “I think we’ve heard quite enough from you,” Nathaniel snapped. Jaeger found himself sitting back down. Nathaniel was quickly at his arm, pulling up Jaeger’s sleeve. The dark mark of a crescent moon stood out on the wrist.

  “You think this is the mark of Nephthys?” Nathaniel asked. Neither quite met his eyes. “All this time? You thought you were branded as servants of Nephthys? It must have suited her purpose to plant the idea in your minds. She has numerous servants she puts her mark but, dear children, this is not the mark of Nephthys.” Regina stared at the crescent moon on her wrist. “This is the mark of the Hunter.”

  55 THE MARK OF THE HUNTER

  NATHANIEL gently turned Jaeger’s wrist again. “Look at it carefully. You see perhaps a crescent moon? No. It is the Hunter’s bow, a mark of honor and pride. It is not the mark of a slave.” He picked up some wood and fed the fire. “You are not Nephthys’s slaves, for all she wishes you to think so. You are bound to her only through the foolish promise you gave her. She will hold you to that and have it paid for in blood. That cannot be helped now.”

  “How can we be rid of this curse?” Jaeger asked, his eagerness and anguish palpable, so palpable it cut Regina like a saber.

  “Alas, you cannot. You took the curse upon yourselves. To spare the inhabitants of Pella, you became Abidari in their place.”

  “But we haven’t turned to wolves,” Regina said.

  “It was noble, if foolish. For the first time in history, Hunters who are also Abidari.”

  “So. Back to lifting the curse,” Jaeger insisted.

  “There is a misconception of what an Abidari is. You have come across the form that turn into wolves. That was a curse tied to specific bloodlines. However, in truth an Abidari is someone enchanted or cursed by a Messari. It saddens me that in most cases it is the latter.”

  “Is that why we can’t be too far apart? Why we share emotions and pain?” Jaeger asked.

  “That, and certain other things that happen to you,” Nathaniel said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jaeger was not amused.

  “Is that why we can’t die in the three days of the full moon?” Regina asked.

  “Yes. But try it outside the full moon, and the results will be unpleasant and permanent.”

  “How can we lift the curse?”

  “You can’t. Nephthys must choose to lift it, which I wouldn’t count on happening any time soon. Your suffering and struggling is highly amusing to her. In all honesty, you’d be much better off giving into– it. Then she’d get bored.” Jaeger’s face went red but he held his tongue. Fidel came closer to the fire and settled down. His eyes remained fixed on the two humans. “Now that we’ve sorted that, let’s get to the more important things.”

  “The curse is important,” Regina protested.

  Nathaniel gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes dear, I understand. Being stuck with him,” Jaeger scowled but remained silent, “is quite something to have to live with.”

  Regina picked up the wineskin and had a long drink. “Why?” she said. “Why me?”

  “You met the Keeper of Knowledge in the South Across the Water and he warned you how you were about to enter the trial if you continued on your quest. You didn't turn back. Thus, you made your choice.”

  “You keep talking about this trial and choice to become the Hunters. We didn’t do any such thing,” Jaeger said.

  “To proceed was to accept. Those who found their way through Nephthys’s labyrinth, and thus proved their worth, became the Hunters.”

  “Is that how the Hunters are always chosen?” Jaeger asked.

  “The trial is different for each pair of candidates. You were the first to exit Nephthys’s pyramid.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Regina said dryly. “What happened to the previous set of Hunters?”

  “Killed.”

  Regina took another swig from the wineskin.

  “Fitzwaters has a point there. Why us?”

  Nathaniel gave Jaeger a long look, then crossed his arms. “Personally, I have no idea why. Yet the powers were very keen on you, Kherr Jaeger. They saw something, the Mother knows what. They saw it and they chose you.”

  “And me?” Regina asked.

  “The first complementary candidate in the general vicinity who would do,” Nathaniel said, with a little embarrassment.

  “What?” Regina exclaimed standing up. “I was chosen because I just happened to be there?”

  “Don’t worry, dear,” Nathaniel said soothingly, “it happens to the best of them. I know of marriages that begin like that.”

  “Why, you– this is all your fault!” she shouted at Jaeger, whose face remained impassive. Nathaniel kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot waiting for Regina to compose herself. She sat back down.

  “There has always been a very close relationship between the Hunter and the Huntress, even when they weren’t bound together as you are. The nature of their bond is to know each other intimately. They become either lovers, or brother and sister in their feelings.

  “It is the nature of things. Balance in everything. He,” Nathaniel pointed to Jaeger, “has darkness in him, but a chink of light. You, captain Fitzwaters, have mostly light in you, doing the right thing, but there is a deep place of darkness within. The two of you balance.” Jaeger's ears went red although he said nothing. “How is it, I wonder, to strive to do the right thing and meet with ingratitude, lack of appreciation, and even insult?” Nathaniel said, staring into the fire.

  “Let me tell you, not great,” Regina rumbled.

  “You never said who we’re working for,” Jaeger finally said.

  “Working for?” Nathaniel seemed taken back.<
br />
  “It’s a job like all the others. The dirty work. Who’s the boss?” Jaeger’s expression turned slightly malicious. “Pardon me. Whom’s.”

  “Funny too,” Nathaniel told Regina, raising an eyebrow. “I do not envy you, dear.”

  “If I take him to a comedy stage, we’ll make a fortune,” Regina said. “He is, however, right to ask who we’re working for.”

  Nathaniel sighed, picked up a stick and speared a potato from the fire. With care he pulled the potato off the stick and threw it to Fidel who was observing with a keen eye.

  “Careful, old friend. Don't burn your beak,” Nathaniel said, sitting down near the fire. “I forget you are children of the new world.” He sounded tired. “There is balance in all things. In the South Across the Water you were told of the Lord of Light. In this continent, it is the Mother and Child who protect us. Then there is the Dark. Do not confuse the children of night with the Dark. Day and night are natural, they need each other to exist. Even Nephthys and her consort, the Storm Lord, though creatures of chaos, are part of this world. You could not rip them away any more than you could a flood or sandstorm. They are of this world and its balance, which the Hunters are traditionally called upon to maintain. It is mostly the children of men that need protection from the creatures of night, as the sheep need protection from the wolves of night. Yet sometimes you shall be called upon to protect those creatures that cannot protect themselves, when they are of the night, and it is men who threaten them. It is your duty and burden to be just and equal to all. Do you understand?” The two mercenaries nodded grimly. “You must understand this. The children of night can be terrible, but worse things struggle to break the veil and enter our world. To kill a man is a terrible thing. To end a life, before its time, fractures the world itself. It is a small fracture, which time might heal. To kill many men, and women, in the way of this past war fractures the world to such an extent it creates a breach. One that lets creatures of the Dark slip through to our world. More and more dark creatures are attracted. The Hunter must contain them. It is his duty.”

 

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