Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3)

by Eric T Knight

  SEA BORN

  Book Three of

  the epic fantasy series

  Chaos and Retribution

  Stone Bound: Book One

  Sky Touched: Book Two

  Sea Born: Book Three

  Chaos and Retribution is the sequel to

  Immortality and Chaos

  Wreckers Gate: Book One

  Landsend Plateau: Book Two

  Guardians Watch: Book Three

  Hunger’s Reach: Book Four

  Oblivion’s Grasp: Book Five

  Also by Eric T Knight

  the action-adventure series

  Lone Wolf Howls

  the action thriller

  Watching the End of the World

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  Chapter One: Aislin

  Aislin stopped, confused. This wasn’t the same street she’d taken earlier. That street had a big, gray, stone building on the corner. She remembered running her hand over the snarling faces carved into some of the stones, thinking how scary it would be if they came to life. Instead of the stone building there was a small pottery shop, the racks out front covered with clay bowls, cups and vases for sale. She turned around and looked back the way she'd come. No sign of the stone building there either.

  She clenched her small fists and gritted her teeth, angry at herself, angry at her situation. She should have paid more attention to where she was going. She shouldn’t have followed that procession. She should have gone straight to the shop and straight home. This was going to make her late getting home. If she was late, Mama would get mad and Aislin probably wouldn't be allowed to go out by herself again.

  And after she’d worked so hard to earn the right to leave the Tender estate alone. She’d spent months wearing her mother down, arguing that she was old enough and responsible enough to go into the city by herself. After all, she was ten now, almost eleven. She wasn’t a little girl any more, even if she hadn’t grown very much taller. She didn’t need Randel following her every time she went somewhere. She was old enough to go out alone once in a while.

  Her breakthrough had come that morning when Mama said she needed some new candles for the house. Aislin volunteered right away. “It’s not very far and I know the way,” she begged. “Please?”

  “No,” her mother replied. “You promised Macht Rome you wouldn’t go into the city unaccompanied. We both promised him.”

  “But that was so long ago. More than two years. And I’ve been a good girl since then. You know I have.”

  For the first time her mother had hesitated before refusing and Aislin knew right then that her time had come. She’d spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon following her mother around, pestering her to change her mind. Finally, late in the afternoon, her mother threw up her hands in surrender.

  “You’ll go straight there and come straight back?” she asked.

  “Of course, Mama. I promise.”

  “We’re going up to the palace tonight to have dinner with Macht Rome and Chancellor Quyloc. You remember that, right? We can’t be late.”

  “Yes, Mama, I know.” They went up to the palace every month, usually with FirstMother Cara. Every time they went there Rome and Quyloc asked Aislin if she’d sensed anything bad coming and every time she told them no. She’d never told them about the glowing red thing she found in the secret cave underneath the vine-covered tower. She’d thought about it several times, but every time she’d decided to keep it to herself. She still wasn’t completely sure why she didn’t tell them, only that she had a strong feeling that whatever it was needed to be kept safe and hidden.

  “Okay,” Netra said with a sigh. “You’re right. You’ve been doing well. I suppose it’s only fair to give you a chance to prove yourself. But I’m going to tell the macht about it tonight. If he says no—” she shook her finger at Aislin “—or if you’re late or you get into any trouble…”

  “I know, Mama. I’ll be good. You’ll see.”

  And so, amazingly, her mother had let her go by herself to buy candles.

  Only now Aislin had gone and ruined everything. She would have been fine if the procession wouldn’t have shown up. She was just about to go into the candle shop when she heard it coming down the street toward her. The sounds of drums beating, bells jingling, and over it all a man chanting in a low, dolorous voice. She’d stood there with her hand on the doorknob, staring openmouthed in fascination as it drew closer and closer.

  The procession was made up of about two dozen people and was led by a man in a long, red robe. He was the one chanting. He had his hood pulled up over his head so she couldn’t see his face, and he was swinging a censer as he walked, weaving a pattern of bluish smoke. Behind him others were carrying a closed coffin on poles resting on their shoulders. All of them were wearing hooded robes as well, though theirs were white. To the sides were people who were naked except for loincloths, their bodies painted white with strange symbols drawn on over the paint. They were dancing strangely, flinging their arms and legs around wildly.

  How could she not follow the procession once it passed? She’d never seen anything like it. She completely forgot about the candles and chased after the strange spectacle. She wasn’t the only one either. Other people, scores of them, trailed along behind. They followed the procession until it went into a building made of dark stone, with tall, narrow doors and a pointed roof that had an odd symbol on top of it.

  The doors of the building closed behind the procession, shutting out the followers, and that was when Aislin looked around and realized she didn’t recognize the street she was on.

  At first she wasn’t too worried. All she had to do was go back the way she’d come and she’d find the candle shop. From there it would be easy to get back to the Tender estate.

  Except that it had proven to be anything but easy. In fact, she had a feeling that she was more lost than ever.

  She had to figure out the way back home and she had to figure it out soon. Mama was probably already worried about her.

  Aislin turned around and retraced her steps. She got to the next corner and looked around. Still nothing looked familiar. Another block down was a busy intersection. Maybe she’d see something from there.

  Only that didn’t help either. Now Aislin was getting really mad. Under her breath she used some bad words she’d heard the guards say when they were mad, but they didn’t seem to really help.

  While she was standing there, looking up and down the street, a carriage pulled to a halt in front of her. It was a nice carriage, painted bright red with silver trim. The driver wore white gloves and the two black horses pulling it had shiny coats and harnesses worked with silver. The door of the carriage opened and a fat man leaned out and smiled at her. He was wearing a long, white coat with frills on the sleeves and red satin pants.

  “My apologies, young miss, but you appear to be lost. May I perhaps be of service? My carriage is at your disposal. We can take you anywhere you need to go.” He reached out a pudgy hand, rings glittering on every finger, and beckoned her to come closer.

  Aislin hesitated. She knew she was supposed to stay away from strangers. She remembered all too well what happened that day when the two men had chased her through the city. Even though she took care of them, still it had caused a lot of problems for her. She didn’t want to go through something like that again.

  But those men never smiled and this man had a nice smile. A smile meant that he was friendly, right? And it was a very nice carriage. Carriages often came t
o the Tender estate and the people in them never chased her or caused problems. So probably it would be okay to accept a ride from the man. She badly needed a ride. She didn’t know what else to do and she didn’t want Mama angry with her.

  She took a couple steps closer. “You better not be a bad man,” she said, giving the man a dark look. “You’ll be sorry.”

  The fat man held up his hands and shook his head vigorously. “I assure you, young miss,” he said in a breathless voice, “I have nothing but the best of intentions. My only concern is for your welfare. The day is drawing on and this is not the best of neighborhoods for a young lady alone. Only accept my offer of help and I will whisk you away quickly and safely to your home, wherever that may be.”

  The quickly part was what convinced Aislin. Surely Mama had already realized she was late. Her only chance to salvage this whole mess was to get back home as fast as possible.

  Besides, if he was planning something bad, well, she would have a surprise for him. One he wouldn’t forget.

  She walked the last steps to the carriage and took the man's hand. His hand was slick with sweat and she almost lost hold when he pulled her up the steps and into the carriage.

  The door closed, the driver cracked the whip, and the carriage lurched forward.

  “Where is it you need to go, young miss?” he asked. His black hair was heavily greased into thick curls that framed his round face. A drop of oil was running down the side of his face.

  “I need to go to the Tender estate. You know where that is, don’t you? And we have to hurry. I'm already late and my mother will be angry.”

  “We certainly don't want your mother to be angry,” he said with a smile that pulled his fleshy lips back from small, white teeth. “Lucky for you that I came by when I did. I’ll have you there in no time at all. You can trust me.” He wiped at the oil running down the side of his face with one thick thumb.

  He kept talking, but Aislin had already quit listening. She'd been living in Qarath for two years now and she’d learned that there were lots of people who talked and talked without really saying anything worth listening to. Even when they stopped talking and waited for her to respond, she could never figure out what they wanted her to say. Nor did she really care to figure it out. To her most people were nothing more than obstacles to be navigated around. She sat back in the seat and looked out the window of the carriage.

  “It certainly is hot today isn’t it?” he said, taking a small handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping his forehead with it. “I don't know when I've ever seen it this hot so early in the year. Are you hot?”

  Aislin flicked a quick look at him and then went back to looking out the window. If she ignored him, probably he’d shut up after a while. Most people did.

  “You know what I like on hot days like this? I like to have a cool drink. What about you? Do you like cool drinks too?”

  He waited. Aislin said nothing. She wondered how long it would take to get to the estate.

  He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small bottle. He pulled the cork out of the top and held it up to his lips. He tilted his head back, drank noisily, then lowered the bottle. “That sure is good,” he said, licking his lips. He held the bottle out to her. “Do you want some?”

  Aislin looked at the bottle suspiciously. She shook her head.

  “Are you sure? It’s really very good.” He took another drink from it and held it out to her again.

  Aislin had to admit that she was thirsty. And it was hot in the carriage. Maybe one little drink. She didn’t want much.

  She took the bottle and had a little sip. Hmm. That was pretty good. It tasted like it had honey in it. She glanced cautiously at the man. He smiled and nodded.

  “Go ahead. Have as much as you like. I have plenty more.”

  Aislin finished the rest of the bottle and handed it back to the man. His smile got a lot bigger.

  “See? I told you. I told you that you could trust me.”

  The carriage continued on. The horses’ hooves were loud on the cobblestones. The carriage turned, then turned again. It came to a halt and Aislin heard the driver yell something. There was an answering shout and the sound of a gate being dragged open. That was strange, Aislin thought. Why were they going through a gate? Her vision got a little blurry and she tried to blink it away, but it didn’t seem to help.

  The carriage rolled through the gate and then she could hear the gate closing behind them. Were they already home? she wondered. She took hold of the door handle and opened the carriage door.

  It took her a few seconds to get her eyes to focus properly, but when they did she frowned. She turned back to the fat man. “Hey, this isn’t my home,” she said. She scowled at him. “You better not have tricked me.”

  The fat man was smiling, but there was something different about his smile now. It didn’t seem friendly at all. There were too many teeth. Also the blurriness was getting worse. His face kept fading in and out.

  “I’m starting to get mad,” she said. Her words sounded muffled.

  She could sense water nearby. It was a pond, with fish swimming in it and plants floating on the surface. She reached for the water and gathered it to her. She would show this man why he shouldn’t have tricked her. She would make him sorry.

  But something was wrong.

  She couldn't seem to take hold of the water. It kept slipping through her grasp. And why was she so sleepy all of a sudden?

  She started to get out of the carriage, but her legs failed her and she fell on the ground. Her eyelids were so heavy. She could barely keep them open. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t seem to make her arms or legs work.

  As if from a great distance she heard the fat man say, “Be careful with her. With hair and eyes like that she will fetch a great price in Ankhara, but not if she is damaged.” She heard his raspy breathing as he leaned close and felt his hand on her hair, stroking it. “Sleep, little miss. By the time you wake up we will be far from here.”

  Chapter Two

  Aislin opened her eyes. She tried to sit up, but her body didn’t seem to want to obey her. Then she noticed something weird. The sky looked funny. It wasn't blue. It was more of a hazy yellow color. She heard a voice.

  “Is that her?”

  A different voice. “That’s her.”

  “Not much to look at, is she?” said the first voice. Both of the voices sounded strange, not like any people Aislin had ever heard. But at the same time there was something distantly familiar about them, like people she had met so long ago but had forgotten.

  “Maybe if you weren’t lying down,” the second voice said. This speaker sounded like a man.

  There was the sound of movement. Then the first voice said, “That didn’t help. She’s still awfully small. And spindly.” This speaker sounded like an old woman.

  “I thought she would be bigger by now,” the man’s voice admitted. “Maybe she’s not getting enough to eat.”

  “It’s hard to believe that something so small can save the world.”

  “She might still grow.”

  “She better do it soon. We’re running out of time.”

  “Speak for yourself,” the man’s voice said. “I have nothing but time.”

  Aislin struggled and all at once she was able to sit up. “Don’t you know it’s rude to talk about people behind their backs?” she said crossly.

  Her eyes widened in surprise. The two people she’d heard talking weren’t people at all. They looked a little bit like people, with two arms and two legs and everything, but their skin was yellow and they didn't have any hair. Almost no hair anyway. The one sitting down had a few scraggly hairs. They were very long and stretched all the way down to the ground. She seemed to be very old. Her skin was hardly yellow at all. Most of the yellow had been bleached out, leaving her kind of a chalk color. The one who was standing looked old too, but not as old. They were both staring at her, watching her closely.

  Aislin looked
around. She was on some kind of mountaintop. Hills and valleys covered in brightly colored plants stretched in every direction. There were flocks of birds, even more brightly colored than the plants. They flew slowly, lazily, hardly flapping their strange, broad wings. It looked more like they were swimming than flying. She looked up and saw no sun in the sky, no clouds either.

  It was all very peculiar, and yet, at the same time, there was something familiar about it too.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  “You don't remember ki'Loren?” the male said.

  “What’s a ki'Loren?” Aislin asked.

  He shook his head sadly. “You shouldn’t say that so loudly. She has feelings, you know.”

  Aislin was feeling confused. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Ki’Loren.” He fluttered his hands at the world around them. “All of this is her.”

  Aislin crossed her arms and glared at him. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “He does that a lot,” the old female said. “I mostly ignore him. You should do the same.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I’m the only one around here who makes any sense at all,” the male said, crossing his arms over his chest. The motion looked strange on him. Aislin had the feeling he was making fun of her and she quickly uncrossed her arms.

  “You mean like the time you walked around for days on your hands because you were certain that ki’Loren was about to flip upside down?” the old female asked.

  He frowned. “It didn’t end up happening, did it?”

  “No. But you did fall and bump your head.”

  “Maybe I don’t always make sense,” he said thoughtfully.

  Aislin was starting to get a headache. “Can you just tell me where I am? I have to get home.”

  The male looked up. “I expect you’re somewhere in Qarath right now.”

  “This is not Qarath. I know that much.”