‘Up sail, all ships. Send the order through the fleet,’ Mycella said, her tone clipped. ‘Have all boats ready, as well.’ She rounded on Stenwold. ‘And as for you, no doubt this . . . thing will plague me all the way to Seldis, unless I put you back in the water.’
Stenwold nodded. In truth he suspected the ships would soon enough outpace the sea-kinden, whether he was alive or dead.
‘Put him in one of the boats,’ Mycella instructed. ‘Have him rowed into harbour under a peace flag. Let the legend of Stenwold Maker acquire one more chapter.’ As her sailors scrambled to obey her, she said, ‘My son was right to admire you, Sieur Maker. I do not know how you have accomplished this, what underwater engines your people have constructed, but it is duly noted. Today is yours.’ Only when he was already in the boat, and the sailors were beginning to lower it hand over hand into the water, did she call back to him.
‘There will come a tomorrow, Sieur Maker, when we shall speak again. Remember that.’ And the sheer depth of her pain and anger, shorn for a moment of all her veils, chilled him to the bone.
Glossary
Characters
Aagen – Wasp-kinden ambassador to Collegium Accius – Vekken Ant-kinden ambassador to Collegium
Achaeos – Moth-kinden lover of Cheerwell Maker, died in the war
Akkestrae – Mantis-kinden in Collegium
Albinus – Ant-kinden intelligencer in Kanateris
Aldanrael – a Spider-kinden Aristoi family
Amnon – Khanaphir Beetle-kinden expatriate
Ancient League – the Moths and Mantids of Dorax, Etheryon and Nethyon, allies of Collegium in the war
Aradocles – Krakind heir to Hermatyre
Arianna – Spider-kinden lover of Stenwold Maker
Arkeuthys – giant octopus
Arvi – Fly-kinden secretary to Jodry Drillen
Balkus – renegade Sarnesh Ant-kinden
Berjek Gripshod – Beetle-kinden academic
Bloodfly – notorious Fly-kinden pirate from a generation ago
Caractes – Polypoi hermit
Cardless – Beetle-kinden servant to Stenwold Maker
Cheerwell Maker (‘Che’) – Beetle-kinden, niece of Stenwold Maker
Chenni – Smallclaw Onychoi, Rosander’s artificer
Claeon – Krakind Kerebroi, Edmir of Hermatyre
Cynthaen – Mantis-kinden fisherwoman
Danaen – Mantis-kinden raider
Daven – Wasp-kinden Rekef agent
Despard – Fly-kinden artificer of the Tidenfree crew
Diamedes – Krakind Kerebroi, agent of Hieracles
Ebris of the Ganbrodiel – Spider-kinden pirate
Elder Padstock – Beetle-kinden, Chief Officer of the Maker’s Own Company
Elleria of the Aldanrael – Teornis’s cousin
Elytrya – Krakind Kerebroi Littoralist agent
Epiphona – Greatclaw Onychoi, Nauarch of the Three Red Fish Train
Fel – Swiftclaw Onychoi, of Wys’s crew
Fernaea (‘Fern’) – Fly-kinden seer, of the Tidenfree crew
Filipo – Fly-kinden rogue in the employ of Forman Sands
Forman Sands – Halfbreed assassin in the employ of Helmess Broiler
Geontes – Krakind Kerebroi, agent of Claeon
Grampos – Tarantula-kinden in Kanateris
Greenwise Artector – Beetle-kinden magnate in Helleron
Gribbern – Deepclaw Onychoi Pelagist
Grief – Butterfly-kinden, Monarch of Princep Salmae
Gude – Fly-kinden helmswoman of the Tidenfree crew
Haelyn – Sepia-kinden Kerebroi, majordomo to Claeon
Heiracles – Krakind Kerebroi, insurgent leader
Helmess Broiler – Beetle-kinden Assembler
Honory Bellowern – Beetle-kinden, Imperial diplomat
Isseleema – Spider-kinden ship-owner
Jaclen Courser – Beetle-kinden ship’s master
Janos Outwright – Beetle-kinden, Chief Officer of the Merchant Companies
Jodry Drillen – Beetle-kinden Assembler
Jons Allanbridge – Beetle-kinden aviator
Kratia – Tseni Ant-kinden ambassador
Laszlo – Fly-kinden factor of the Tidenfree crew
Lej (‘Spillage’) – Greatclaw Onychoi engineer, of Wys’s crew
Lerean – Dart-kinden Kerebroi wanderer
Lineo Thadspar – Beetle-kinden, former speaker for the Assembly – died during the war
Lyess – Medusoi Pelagist
Malius – Vekken Ant-kinden ambassador
Mandir – Smallclaw Onychoi, the Man of the Hot Stations
Marcantor – Dart-kinden Kerebroi in Aradocles’ service
Marteus – Ant-kinden chief officer of the Coldstone Company
Maxel Gainer – Beetle-kinden artificer, Tseitus’s apprentice
Menes – Krakind Kerebroi assassin in Claeon’s service
Nemoctes – Wayfarer-kinden Kerebroi, leader of the Pelagists
Ordly Penhold – Beetle-kinden merchant
Paladrya – Krakind Kerebroi tutor to Aradocles
Partreyn – Beetle-kinden deputy speaker of the Assembly
Pellectes – Krakind Kerebroi, leader of the Littoralists
Phylles – Polypoi member of Wys’s crew
Piera – Fly-kinden of the Tidenfree crew
Plius – Tseni Ant-kinden agent, died during the war
Praeda Rakespear – Beetle-kinden academic
Pserry – Gribbern’s beast
Rones Failwright – Beetle-kinden Assembler, shipping magnate
Rosander – Greatclaw Onychoi, Nauarch of the Thousand Spines train
Salme Dien (‘Salma’) – Dragonfly-kinden noble, died during the war
Santiren – Dart-kinden Kerebroi in the service of Aradocles
Sfayot – Roach-kinden chancellor of Princep Salmae
Stenwold Maker – Beetle-kinden spymaster and statesman
Teornis of the Aldanrael – Spider-kinden Aristoi
Termes – Vekken Ant-kinden ambassador
Thalric – Wasp-kinden former Rekef agent and Regent
Theomen – Krakind Kerebroi assassin in Claeon’s service
Three-City Alliance – Myna, Szar and Maynes; cities formerly under the control of the Empire
Tisamon – Mantis-kinden Weaponsmaster, died during the war
Tolly Aimark – Beetle-kinden ship’s master
Tomasso – Fly-kinden master of the Tidenfree
Tseitus – Tseni Ant-kinden artificer
Tynisa – halfbreed Weaponsmaster, daughter of Tisamon
Tyresia – Spider-kinden information broker
Varante – Dragonfly-kinden leader of Teornis’s cadre
Wys – Smallclaw Onychoi mercenary
Places
Arvandine – trading post at the edge of the Felyal
Capitas – capital of the Empire
Collegium – Beetle city, heart of the Lowlands
Deep Seep – sea-kinden colony
Everis – Spider-kinden island city
Felyal – Mantis-kinden forest, now mostly burned
Grand Atoll – sea-kinden colony off Tsen
Helleron – Beetle-kinden industrial city
Hermatyre – sea-kinden colony
The Hot Stations – sea-kinden industrial colony
Kanateris – Spider-kinden pirate town
Khanaphes – ancient Beetle-kinden city
Merro – Fly-kinden town
Princep Salmae – city newly founded by war refugees
Sarn – Ant-kinden city allied with Collegium
Seldis – Spider-kinden city
Siennis – Spider-kinden city
Sonn – Beetle-kinden city in the Empire
Tark – Ant-kinden city, devastated during the war
Tsen – Ant-kinden city on the far west coast of the Lowlands
Vek – Ant-kinden city recently at war with Collegium
&nbs
p; Organizations and things
Amphiophos – the seat of Collegiate government
Assembly – the governing body of Collegium, elected by Lots
Benthist – a member of a nomadic sea-kinden group
Coldstone Company – a Collegium merchant company
Edmir – the governor of a sea-kinden colony
Isseleema’s Floating Game – a floating gaming house
Lots – the election of Collegiate Assemblers
Maker’s Own – a Collegium merchant company
Migrating Home – Jaclen Courser’s merchant ship
Nauarch – the leader of a Benthist train
Obligist – a sea-kinden living in a colony
Outwright’s Pike and Shot – a Collegium merchant company
Pelagist – a sea-kinden that leads a solitary, travelling life
Pelter – Tolly Aimark’s ship
Rekef – the Imperial secret service
Speaker – the leader of the Collegiate Assembly
Storm Locust – Ebris of the Ganbrodiel’s ship
Thousand Spines Train – Rosander’s followers
Tidenfree – Tomasso’s ship
Tseitan – Maxel Gainer’s submersible
Very Blade – pirate vessel
Windlass – Jons Allanbridge’s airship
Praise for Shadows of the Apt
‘The insectile-humans premise is inventive, shaping the world in all sorts of ways’
SFX
‘Adrian Tchaikovsky makes a good and enjoyable mix between a medieval looking world and the presence of technology . . . I really enjoyed the novel and with certainty I will read the next novels of the series’
DarkWolfsFantasyReviews.blogspot.com
‘Salute the Dark impressed me no end . . . Mr Tchaikovsky showed he mastered the art of managing an epic almost to perfection . . . Salute the Dark fulfils the promise of the Apt series and brings its first part to an excellent conclusion, while starting new threads to be explored next. An A++ based on my three reads of the book so far and vaulting to the top of my 2010 fantasy novels’
FantasyBookCritic.blogspot.com
‘In recent years Tor, in the UK at least, have developed something of a reputation for publishing more serious, innovative fantasy. China Miéville has been around for a while, but new, exciting authors have emerged from the Tor stable: Alan Campbell, Hal Duncan, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Something all these authors have in common is that they’ve delivered novels that deviate from the norm, that are a cut above much of the bubblegum fantasy being peddled around at the minute. Their novels actually try to do something a little different’
SpeculativeHorizons.blogspot.com
‘A novel brimming with imagination and execution . . . The Shadows of the Apt series is quite distinct, mainly due to the insect-kinden and Tchaikovsky’s fertile imagination. His writing is accessible, if dense, while the sheer amount of extra content he has published on the web with regards to his series adds nuanced flavour to the proceedings’
SciFiNow
‘With all the groundwork laid so well in book one, book two leaps straight into the action and rarely lets-up for the entire of its almost 700 page length, and while the scale of book one was big, the story has now become nothing less than epic . . . Reminiscent of much that’s gone before from the likes of Gemmel, Erikson, Sanderson and Cook but with its own unique and clever touch, this is another terrific outing from Mr Tchaikovsky and a worthy sequel in this epic saga’
Sci-Fi-London.com
The Sea Watch
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself he subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor, has trained in stage-fighting, and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind, possibly excepting his son.
Catch up with Adrian at www.shadowsoftheapt.com for further information about both himself and the insect-kinden, together with bonus material including short stories and artwork.
The Sea Watch is the sixth novel in the Shadows of the Apt series. Have you read Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis, Salute the Dark and The Scarab Path?
ALSO BY ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY
Shadows of the Apt
Empire in Black and Gold
Dragonfly Falling
Blood of the Mantis
Salute the Dark
The Scarab Path
Acknowledgements
Picking who to acknowledge is a strange game this far into a series, as it’s the same people as before, for the most part: Simon Kavanagh, Peter Lavery, Julie Crisp, Chloe Healy, all the usual suspects at Tor, Annie and my family, all the friends who’ve supported me and continue to do so. Particular thanks go to Jon Cole, who has turned up unexpectedly at conventions and signings covering a broad swathe of the country; my father, for assistance with the oceanography; to Helen, Joff, Gareth, Frances and Dan for being such tireless hosts every time I hit Oxford; and to Wayne and Krissy for similar honours in London.
Summary
Collegium and its allies in the Lowlands have reached an uneasy truce with the Wasp Empire. While the Wasps deal with their internal divisions, the statesman Stenwold Maker finds himself mired in personal battles, hunting his missing ward, Tynisa and awaiting the return of his niece, Cheerwell, from her diplomatic mission to the distant city of Khanaphes.
On the political home front, his efforts to reach peace with the neighbouring Ant city-state of Vek hang in the balance – a peace that is essential if Collegium is to defend itself against the Empire’s next encroachment – and the new leadership of Collegium’s governing body is shortly to be voted upon, deciding whether the future will be guided by Stenwold’s ally, Jodry Drillen, or his bitter enemy Helmess Broiler.
A complete list of characters, places and other things can be found at the back of the book.
First published 2011 by Tor
This electronic edition published 2011 by Tor
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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ISBN 978-0-330-51146-9 PDF
ISBN 978-0-330-54492-4 EPUB
Copyright © Adrian Czajkowski 2011
The right of Adrian Czajkowski to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites’). The inclusion of author website addresses in this book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on such sites.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The Sea Watch Page 67