Hope and Red

by Jon Skovron

  “What’s this one in for?” asked the amused one.

  “No idea,” said the wheezy one.

  “Wonder why she’s wearing a biomancer robe.”

  “Part of one, anyway.”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  They both laughed. Brigga Lin’s eyes had adjusted by now, and she could clearly see the leering, lascivious gaze of the two men as they looked at her through the bars.

  “I’m so cold,” she said meekly.

  The two men looked at each other. Then one of them grinned down at her. “We’ll warm you up, girl.”

  Brigga Lin forced herself to retain her confused, innocent look when she heard the door unlock. Only her hands moved, weaving, twisting, and flicking silently just out of the torchlight. She could strike anytime now, but she wanted to savor this. She waited until the door was wide open. Both men tried to get through the narrow opening at the same time.

  “Me first,” said the amused one. He grabbed Wheezy’s hand and tried to pull him away. But when he did, their hands stuck together.

  “Let go!” said Wheezy.

  “I can’t!”

  They struggled to pull their hands apart, but their flesh began to melt together, mingling and dripping down between them like candle wax.

  “What in all hells…,” said the no-longer-amused one, his eyes wide with fear.

  Brigga Lin forced herself erect, though her body ached from lack of use. “Only one hell for you,” she said. “Me.”

  The men continued to melt into each other like two lumps of wax being slowly heated. They struggled and flailed with their free limbs, but it did them no good. Both screamed as they continued to merge, even after their eyes and ears had sunken into the rest. Finally it was only the two mouths in a shapeless mass of oozing flesh. Then even those caved in, and there was silence in the dungeon again.

  Brigga Lin picked up the tray and ate the food. She was starving, after all. Then she fished through the lump of flesh until she found the metal keys. She stepped over the lump and strolled down the dark hallway. As she walked, she thought about what the guards had said. A female Vinchen who had vowed to kill biomancers. A plan began to form in her mind.

  But first, she needed a change of clothes.

  29

  It wasn’t a dream so much as it was a gradual awareness of going from absolute impenetrable darkness to a blinding white light. The light grew so strong that it was painful to look at. Then, just when he couldn’t bear to look at it a moment longer, Red opened his eyes.

  The first thing he saw was Hope, asleep in a hammock next to him. In sleep, she had an openness that never showed when she was awake. The sunlight streamed in through the portal to rest on her smooth, freckled cheek. Her lips were slightly parted, soft and dry like pink silk.

  He was also in a hammock. He hadn’t been ready for that, so when he leaned toward Hope, it rolled and dumped him on the ground with a loud thud.

  Hope sat up. “Red? Are you okay?” She looked around, like she hadn’t noticed he was lying on the ground.

  “Ouch.” He pushed himself up.

  Other people sat up in their hammocks, and Red was not at all prepared to see so many loved faces in one place. “Nettie? Filler? Sadie, too?” He frowned. “Hold on. Am I dead?”

  “You’re alive,” said Hope.

  “Surprisingly,” Nettles told him.

  “What’s that mean?” asked Red.

  “Trying to take on a biomancer all on your own?” said Sadie. “Thought I raised you with better sense than that.”

  “Oh. That.” The memories of his confrontation with Teltho Kan began to surface. “He was going to kill me.”

  “But he didn’t,” said Hope.

  “He stopped right at the last second when he got a good look at my face. Called me a survivor and said I’d see him again soon. Then I was out.”

  “When he saw the color of your eyes, perhaps?” asked Hope.

  “Could be,” said Red. “But the red comes from me being a coral spice baby. Why would a biomancer care about that?”

  “I don’t know,” said Hope. “I’ll let you ask him before I kill him.”

  “Anyway, you’re feeling fine now, right?” asked Filler.

  “I’m sunny,” said Red. “But what about all of you? Sleeping in the middle of the day?” He looked around. “Are we on a boat?”

  “It’s the middle of the night, Red.” Hope’s tone was careful.

  “This bright? Not possible.”

  “See for yourself.” Hope pointed to the steps that led up to the deck.

  “Sure,” said Red, not liking the neutral look she was giving him.

  He climbed the steps quickly. He felt better than sunny. That enforced rest had done him a world of good. He stepped out onto the deck and looked around the ship. Missing Finn had really put a shine on the Lady’s Gambit. And Red had been right about it being day, of course.

  “See?” he said to Hope, who had come up behind him. “Bright as day.”

  Wordlessly, she pointed up to the sky.

  He craned his head up, and it took him a moment to understand what he was seeing. A light blue sky, with stars that shone as bright as moons, and a moon that shone as bright as the sun.

  “What is wrong with the pissing sky?” he demanded.

  “Nothing,” said Hope.

  Nettles was beside him, looking uncharacteristically concerned. He pointed at the blazing sky. “Nettie, you see it, right?”

  She exchanged a worried look with Hope. “Seems normal to me, Red.”

  Sadie was up now, with Filler behind her, hobbling on a crutch. “What’s he seeing, then?” she asked.

  “Red, come over into the light,” Hope said, her voice still unsettlingly calm.

  She led him over to the helm, where there was a lantern hanging. It was so bright that it made Red squint. Looking past the light, he saw Missing Finn at the wheel. And someone else beside him. “Alash? What are you doing here?”

  “Seeing the world, cousin!” said Alash. “Seeking my own path! Finding my purpose!”

  “You’ve been talking to Missing Finn, then,” said Red.

  “Red,” said Hope. “Step closer to that lantern.”

  “It’s piss’ell bright, Hope. Isn’t this close enough?”

  “Just a little closer.”

  He reluctantly moved closer, shading his eyes against the glare with his hand. “This close enough for you?”

  They were all staring at him. Not in a good way.

  “Your eyes,” said Nettles. “You look like you’ve got red cat eyes.”

  His stomach went icy. “How is that even possible?”

  “Teltho Kan’s biomancery,” said Hope. “But the real question is, why?”

  * * *

  It was weird, of course. But being able to see in the dark didn’t seem like a bad thing, really. Not until the next morning, when he went into the sunlight.

  “Rot and damnation!” He stumbled back into the dim cabin. The sun had felt like needles in his eyes. The rest of them were just getting out of their hammocks again, after trying to catch a few more hours of sleep. “It’s all too bright out there! Like my eyes can’t adjust.”

  “I was wondering if that would be a problem,” said Hope.

  “Does this mean I can’t go out in the sun anymore?” he demanded.

  “I might be able to figure something out,” said Alash.

  Hope nodded. “Get to work on that. I need to relieve Finn. The rest of you, grab some food and then to your stations.”

  As they all started for the steps, Red said, “What, you’re leaving me down here all alone?”

  Hope turned to Filler. “Would you mind?”

  “Course not.” Filler settled back down, laying his crutch across his lap.

  “Thanks, old pot,” said Red. He watched the rest of them follow Hope up to the decks. Once they were all gone, he said, “Our Hope sure has taken to captaining.”

  “Weren’t h
er idea,” said Filler, almost defensively.

  “No, it was mine.” Red grinned. “I didn’t expect it to come quite so naturally to her.”

  “The Circle wasn’t really something she knew. Seamanship she knows pretty well. Better than me, anyway.”

  “Yeah, but here you are, and not doing too bad with it yourself, all things considered,” said Red.

  “I suppose.”

  “What brought you out here, Filler? Not that I’m complaining.”

  Filler shrugged. “Without you, Nettie, and Sadie, it just didn’t seem like the Circle anymore.”

  “How was it back there when you left?”

  “The same. Nothing ever changes in the Circle.”

  “Did you expect it to?”

  “Nah,” said Filler. “But we changed.”

  * * *

  It was after midday when Alash came back down to the cabin. He had a pair of spectacles in his hands with dark lenses.

  “They’re stained with smoke,” he explained as he handed them to Red. “Sorry they aren’t more attractive. And they’re a bit heavier and thicker than I would have liked. But I was a bit limited in materials. Anyway, I think they should allow you to bear the sunlight until I can make you a better pair.”

  “Or until we force that biomancer to fix me.”

  “Or that,” agreed Alash.

  Red put the spectacles on and turned to Filler. “Well? How do I look?”

  “Not bad,” said Filler. “Kind of pat, actually.”

  “You should try them out in direct sunlight,” said Alash. “Make sure I’ve darkened them enough. Or, you know, if they’re too dark for you to see.”

  Red cautiously edged toward the opening. “So far so good.” Then he took a deep breath and climbed up to the deck.

  “Well?” called Alash anxiously.

  Red poked his head back down into the cabin, grinning. “Cousin of mine, I may not have stolen even a fiveyard from Grandfather, but I took the most valuable thing at Pastinas Manor all the same.”

  * * *

  The dark spectacles allowed Red to spend the rest of the day topside, getting himself familiar with the Lady’s Gambit. He’d spent a fair time helping to fix it up, but knew almost nothing about the sails and rigging.

  He also enjoyed watching Hope settle into her role as captain. Red couldn’t explain the deep warmth he felt when he saw her like that. Pride, maybe? Now that he’d stopped pretending to himself that he wasn’t sotted with her, it was all a lot easier. Not that he let it show to her. No point in that. But he would look over at Sadie now and then and catch her giving him a knowing glance. The same kind of glance Old Yammy gave him. Two meddling old wrinks if ever there were.

  As wonderful as the dark spectacles were, Red was relieved when the sun set and he could remove them. He hadn’t understood at first what Alash meant about wanting them to be lighter. But after wearing them for half the day, he now understood perfectly. His ears and the bridge of his nose ached.

  Now it was night, and they were all gathered at the table in the galley, lingering after dinner with a bit of rum that Missing Finn had thoughtfully brought along.

  Filler and Alash were working on some kind of metal brace for Filler’s leg. Between Alash’s mechanical skills and Filler’s experience of working with metals, they were making rapid progress. At the moment, they were tinkering with a hinge to the brace that would serve as Filler’s knee. It would lock when he was walking but bend when he wanted to sit, so he didn’t have his big old leg sticking out all the time.

  On another side of the table, Sadie and Finn were talking quietly. There was no mistake in either of their eyes that each had found something in the other. Red wondered why it had taken them so long. But more than that, he was just glad for them.

  Over in the corner, Hope and Nettles were talking. Whatever animosity they’d had between them seemed long gone. He found it at once comforting and inexplicably unnerving.

  He leaned back in his chair, letting the rum warm his veins. He stared out the porthole. He still hadn’t gotten used to the night sky being so bright, but he had to admit, it had a strange, almost otherworldly beauty to it. It occurred to him then that he was no longer on New Laven. Not even close. For the first time in his life, he was somewhere else. Yet he didn’t feel at all homesick. Maybe because just about everyone he cared for had come with him. Maybe that’s all he needed to feel at home.

  “You know.” Alash set aside the hinge and followed Red’s gaze out the porthole. “Being at sea like this makes me think of all those old pirate tales my father used to tell me when I was a boy.”

  “Lacies know pirate stories?” asked Filler.

  “Certainly! Leadheart, Strawbeard. All of them.”

  “And of course Dire Bane,” said Nettles.

  “Who?” asked Alash.

  “Never heard of Dire Bane?” asked Sadie. “The greatest, most fearsome pirate that ever lived?”

  “I’m afraid not.” Alash looked like he was trying to figure out if they were all teasing him. It probably wasn’t easy being the only lacy aboard.

  “It’s no great surprise,” said Red. “After all, most pirates were just lacies looking for a bit of thrill and fame. But Dire Bane was the champion of the common people. They say he sank more imperial ships than anyone else in the history of the empire. They say the mere mention of his name would make imp officers piss themselves. They say he was taller than any man alive, with arms thick around as most men’s chests. His voice alone was enough to send a pack of killer seals on the run. They say he never lost a sea battle. That he could not be killed because his hatred of the empire burned so fierce, it would instantly seal up any wound he sustained.”

  “Here we go,” said Nettles. “He’s warming up to a tall tale now.”

  “Ah, but the tales of Dire Bane are irresistible!” said Red. “One of my favorites was when an imperial ship came alongside his vessel, the Kraken Hunter. They tried to board her and things were in a bad way because they outnumbered Dire Bane’s crew three to one. So what did he do? Ripped his own mast out by the roots and laid about him like it was a club. Knocked each and every imp into the ocean. Then he planted his own mast back where it belonged, took what he liked from the imperial ship, and sailed away.”

  “That’s not even possible,” said Alash.

  Red shrugged. “It’s what they say happened.”

  “What about that time with the cigar?” asked Filler, his eyes eager.

  “There’s another beauty,” agreed Red. “One night he was landed at Paradise Circle, his favorite port, naturally. And he heard tell that an entire armada of imperial ships was sailing down from Keystown with enough cannons and pitch to raze the Circle to the ground, if that’s what it took to make an end of Dire Bane.”

  “Imperial soldiers were willing to slaughter an entire neighborhood of innocents simply to kill one man?” asked Alash doubtfully.

  “Well, to be fair,” said Red, “there are very few who are truly innocent in Paradise Circle. But set your mind to rest, because they never got the chance. Dire Bane walked out to the edge of the pier where the armada was to land. He took one of his cigars, which, by the way, I have heard tell were as long as a normal man’s arm. And he blew a puff of smoke from it so mighty that the entire armada was lost in the cloud and pushed out to open waters. They got so turned around that they nearly set fire to Keystown before they realized how far they’d gone off course. And by that time, Dire Bane was long gone.”

  “These stories are ridiculous,” said Alash dismissively. Then after a moment, almost guiltily, he asked, “So…did they ever catch him?”

  “Not the imps,” said Red. “Finally, the emperor himself entreated the greatest Vinchen warrior of his generation to bring Dire Bane to justice. A man by the name of Hurlo the Cunning.” He frowned, then turned to Hope. “Wasn’t that…”

  “It was my teacher who finally captured Dire Bane,” she said.

  “Well, then, you tell us
how it ended,” suggested Red.

  “My telling won’t be as colorful as yours.”

  Red shrugged. “I’m curious to hear what really happened.”

  She looked strangely sad as her eyes surveyed them all. “He was just a man. A brilliant, passionate man who cared deeply about his principles. He believed the empire had become corrupt. That it no longer cared about the people. So he determined to destroy it.”

  “The entire empire?” asked Nettles. “That’s slippy.”

  “Dire Bane was brave beyond measure,” said Hope. “Anyone willing to challenge the entire world out of a sense of honor deserves the deepest respect. But you’re right, it was an impossible task. And he was no giant or immortal. In fact, he was getting old. Slowing down. He knew his days were drawing to an end. Still he did not give up. My teacher, only a young man then, cornered him in the Painted Caves on the island of Pauper’s Prayer. They fought honorably, and my teacher defeated him. The emperor wanted Dire Bane’s body lashed to the masthead of his ship and paraded all over the empire as an example of what befell anyone who challenged him. But my teacher said it was dishonorable and refused.”

  “He could do that?” asked Alash.

  “Since the days of Manay the True, the Vinchen have vowed to serve the empire—the greater good—and not to be beholden to any one man.”

  “So what did your teacher do with Dire Bane’s body instead?” asked Nettles.

  “He put it aboard the Kraken Hunter, covered the whole thing with pitch, and lit it on fire. They said you could see the column of smoke and flame for miles around. In the end, there was nothing left of man or ship but ash and scorched metal at the bottom of the sea.”

  “You’re right,” said Red. “My ending was better.”

  * * *

  The next morning when Red stepped out onto the deck of the Lady’s Gambit, he saw an island looming in the distance.

  “Stonepeak.” Missing Finn stood at the helm.