Demonkin

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “I want a proposal from you by this afternoon,” said the king. “Tell me what you need to go to Zara and what you hope to accomplish by going there.”

  * * * *

  “I can’t hold it!” shouted Warren. “Get something to prop it up. Quickly!”

  Chanz raced aft and tore one of the hatch covers off its hinges, grimacing as the wood split. The cover was too much for one man to carry, so he placed one edge on the deck and pushed it forward, fighting to keep it vertical as it slid along the wet deck.

  “Let me give you a hand with that,” called Captain Gomery as he raced from the mine entrance where he had been watching the men work.

  The captain took one end of the hatch cover and helped Chanz drag it forward. They slid it under the mast that Warren was trying to support. Once it was positioned, Warren lowered the mast onto it and staggered backwards. Cirris and Ecaro promptly tied off the lines they had been pulling on and headed towards the others.

  “The other mast went up much easier,” frowned Cirris. “What is the problem?”

  “I slipped on the wet deck,” answered Warren. “Once I lost my grip, I could not get it back. I thought it was going to fall and split in two.”

  “That would have ended our trip for sure,” sighed Ecaro.

  “Not likely,” retorted Chanz. “We are taking this ship to Farmin if we have to row it. Never forget that the elven children are relying on us. We cannot shirk our duty no matter what hardships we encounter.”

  “I am sorry,” apologized Ecaro. “You know that I agree with you. I wasn’t thinking when I spoke.”

  “I know,” sighed Chanz. “We are all under a great deal of pressure here. Let’s take a short break and start anew.”

  The sailors sat down and let their muscles relax. Captain Gomery passed around a flask of rum that had been part of the shipment from Ur.

  “You are all mighty fine sailors,” the captain said as he smiled and glanced about at the ship that they had raised from beneath the sea. “I am proud to have had a chance to sail with each of you. What are you going to call her?”

  “She didn’t have a name when we got her in Ur,” answered Cirris, “or if she did, it was long forgotten.”

  “Seems only proper to give her a name,” said Ecaro.

  “She reminded me of a skate when we sunk her to keep her hidden from the Federation,” offered Chanz.

  “That works for me,” chuckled Warren.

  “Skate it is then,” agreed Cirris.

  “Are the four of you going to be able to handle it alone?” asked Captain Gomery.

  The four sailors immediately lost their jovial attitude, and they cast their eyes downward. No one spoke.

  “What?” frowned the captain.

  Chanz finally looked the captain in the eye. “I have never sailed with a finer captain than you, Captain Gomery. By all rights, you should be the one sailing the Skate on this mission. I know you meant no slight by asking if the four of us are up to the task, but the truth is, we are not sure if we will succeed. If we don’t, it won’t be for lack of trying. We have talked a great deal about this coming mission, and we all realize that it might be our last, but we are committed to the very ends of our lives to do everything we can to save those children. Won’t you reconsider your involvement?”

  Captain Gomery swallowed hard, and a tear welled in his eye. “My mind yearns to be with you on the Skate,” he said with a shaky voice, “but my heart yearns to be elsewhere. I would give my life to save those children, but I cannot abandon Haditha. She is the love of my life, and I cannot afford to lose her. I am sorry.”

  The captain fought to control his tears as he rose and quickly left the ship. He did not want the men to see him crying, but the decision to remain on the Isle of Despair was devouring his spirit. As he entered the dark mine, the tears flooded from his eyes, causing the details of the tunnels to blur. As he raced through the entry room, he did not see Haditha standing in the shadows. The water witch frowned with concern as her lover ran past. She walked to the mine entrance and stared out at the ship and the four sailors on it. Anger welled up inside her as she tried to imagine what kind of taunts the men used to hurt Gomery. She thought about going down to the ship and confronting the men, but she knew that would only make things worse. Instead, she left the mine and climbed to a small ledge above the opening. There she sat in the sun and watched the sailors hoist the last mast.

  “You don’t often come up here,” chirped Squirt. “Are you feeling sun deprived?”

  “I guess,” Haditha replied distractedly.

  “You are angry about something,” stated the fairy. “I can tell.”

  The water witch glanced at the fairy with curiosity. “How can you tell?”

  “People do not hide their emotions well,” answered Squirt. “Why are you angry?”

  “Because of them,” Haditha scowled as she nodded towards the Skate. “They said something cruel to Gomery.”

  “But that is not true,” frowned Squirt. “They love him.”

  “That is what you think,” scoffed the water witch. “You didn’t see him crying when he entered the mine.”

  “I saw him on the ship,” retorted Squirt. “He ran from the ship so the men wouldn’t see him cry.”

  “You were there?” asked Haditha.

  “Of course,” grinned the fairy. “But don’t tell them that. I like to help out, but I don’t think they consider me a sailor, so I do so without letting them know. When Warren couldn’t hold the mast any more, I used a levitation spell to help him.”

  “Then you heard the nasty taunt they said to him?”

  “There was no taunt. Captain Gomery asked if they could manage the voyage with just the four of them. They did not want to say no, so they said nothing.”

  “That’s it?” Haditha asked with disbelief.

  “Not exactly,” frowned the fairy. “Captain Gomery did not understand. He asked them why they didn’t answer. Chanz told the captain that he was the finest captain they had ever sailed with and asked him to reconsider leading them.”

  “I knew it!” scowled Haditha. “And Gomery probably agreed to go.”

  Squirt frowned as the water witch kept misinterpreting her words. Instead of replying to her with words, the fairy cast a vision of the meeting on the ship. Haditha’s eyes grew wide as she watched the image, and eventually tears welled in her own eyes.

  “I do not understand,” Haditha sobbed. “If the voyage means so much to him, why doesn’t he just go?”

  “He believes that he can only choose between you and his duty,” answered Squirt. “You have forced him to make a gut-wrenching decision, and he has made it.”

  “I thought he just felt obligated to help Garth,” Haditha said. “I felt like he was choosing his friends over me. Why didn’t he ever tell me how much the voyage means to him?”

  “I don’t think you ever gave him the chance,” the fairy said sympathetically.

  Haditha sat in silence for a while, staring down at the ship and the four sailors. As her mind played back all of the conversations she had had with Gomery, she realized that the fairy was correct. She had always assumed that Garth held some special power over Gomery and that was the only reason he wanted to go.

  “Can they make it on their own?” she asked the fairy.

  “They are good sailors,” replied Squirt, “but I think it is an impossible mission.”

  “Unless Gomery goes with them?”

  “That is not what I meant,” frowned Squirt. “Even with the captain, I think the odds of success are small.”

  “Why?”

  “The ship has to sail from Farmin to Valdo in a single day,” answered the fairy. “While that is just possible if they get good winds, the trip back here is impossible. The Federation is going to be searching for the ship, and there are many ships that are faster than the Skate. Not even the captain can solve that problem.”

  “Then why are they even attempting it?”

&nb
sp; “There is no other option. The children in Giza and Despair can flee overland, but that is not possible from either Farmin or Valdo. The sea is their only path of escape.”

  The sailors finished securing the last mast and went to work repairing the damaged hatch cover. Haditha watched them work in silence and then walked down to the ship. The sailors greeted her, but they did not stop their work. She stood and watched them until they were done.

  “I understand that you have been asking Gomery to be your captain on this voyage,” she said with a stern face.

  “I did,” confessed Chanz. “He is the finest captain I have ever sailed under, and I would not be truthful to my feelings if I didn’t ask him, but you can be assured that he refused.”

  “Good,” replied the water witch, “because he will not be captain of the ship. At least not totally.”

  The sailors looked at the water witch with confusion.

  “What do you mean?” asked Chanz.

  “Oh, he may be captain for some of the trip, but the captain always has to yield to a water witch when one is onboard.”

  Chanz’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  “We will both be going with you,” Haditha said with a wink and a smile.

  Chanz stepped forward and hugged Haditha. The water witch felt awkward in the man’s embrace, but she didn’t complain. The smiles on the faces of the other seamen told her that she had made the right decision.

  * * * *

  Natia sat in the office of her suite at the Palace Keep in Giza. Piled on the desk were the personnel files for the soldiers assigned to the reeducation center. The gypsy princess had read all of the files, but only three of them held promise for what she had planned. The three soldiers were all officers, and each of them would have keys to the main door of the center. After careful consideration, she discarded two of the files and concentrated on the last one. A smile spread across her lips as the rising sun cast its first rays through the window. Realizing the time, she hurriedly piled all of the folders into one pile, making sure that the officers were sprinkled throughout the stack. She was barely done when a knock sounded on the door to her suite. Natia rose and answered the door. When she saw that the visitor was Colonel Fisker, she smiled and waved him into the room.

  “I hope you are done with the files,” the colonel said softly.

  “Indeed I am,” smiled Natia. “Let me get them for you.”

  Natia entered the office and picked up the pile of folders. She brought them into the sitting room and handed them to the colonel.

  “Did you find anything?” asked Colonel Fisker.

  “It is too early to tell,” answered Natia. “There is nothing in the files that deals with finances other than their salaries. I will have to check a few other sources before I can narrow it down.”

  “Narrow it down?” echoed the colonel. “So you do think that one of them might be helping the rebels?”

  “I think the investigation is certainly heading in that direction,” answered Natia. “I will try to keep you informed, but you must not mention me or my investigation to anyone. Do you understand?”

  “Absolutely,” vowed the colonel. “When it comes time to arrest them, the glory will all be yours.”

  “That is problematic,” frowned Natia. “I cannot afford to become publicly known as an investigator. When I do locate the guilty party, I will present the evidence to you. It will be up to you to make the arrest. That certainly will help your career quite a bit.”

  “It sure would,” the colonel said with surprise. “That is most generous of you.”

  “You are helping me,” smiled the gypsy. “It is only fair that you reap the rewards. You had better get those files back before they are missed.”

  “Yes.” The colonel nodded. “Yes, indeed.”

  Natia waited until the colonel was well away from the building before venturing forth. She walked towards the slums and sat at an outside table of one of the taverns near the demarcation line. She ordered a cup of tea and some bread and cheese. She finished her meal and continued sitting at the table until she saw an elf walk by. Rising casually from her seat, Natia followed the elf. After passing through several alleys, she turned the corner to find the elf waiting for her.

  “You are up early this morning,” smiled Headman. “What do you need?”

  “Information on Captain Beck,” answered the Knight of Alcea. “What can you tell me?”

  “He is the head officer at the reeducation center,” answered the head thief of Giza.

  “Is that it?” frowned Natia. “I was hoping for more.”

  “I do not memorize the personal details of every officer in the Federation,” chuckled the elf. “Tell me what you want, and I will try to get it for you.”

  “I am not sure what I want,” sighed Natia. “I know that he is single and lives alone. I know that he has several bad marks on his record. One for brawling, and one for failure to obey an order. He was also accused of stealing from the armory, but that was never proven. What I am looking for is some angle into the man’s life.”

  “I think I understand,” said the elf. “There are some things that I can add off the top of my head. While he is single, he does not always live alone. The captain is a bit of a carouser. He drinks heavily, and he gambles a lot. He also brawls a lot more than your information would indicate. Perhaps he was only charged once, but it is a habit of his. If you need more information about him, I will ask around.”

  “No,” Natia said quickly. “I do not want it to look like someone is taking too much notice of him.”

  “I can be discrete,” promised Headman. “I can get the information without seeming to want it.”

  “Alright,” replied Natia. “I need to know if he is currently living alone. I will need to get into his home at some point, and I don’t want to run into anyone.”

  Headman raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I find it curious that you did not even ask for help with breaking into his home.”

  “You are welcome to come along if you want,” smiled the gypsy princess. “I also need to know where he gambles and if he owes any large gambling debts.”

  “You are looking for a hook on this man,” chuckled Headman. “I like your style. Where is all of this leading?”

  “Captain Beck is going to be the fall guy for the escape of the elven children,” grinned Natia. “He is one of three officers who have keys to the center. He is single, and he has bad charges already in his file. The fact that he has other problems is just gravy.”

  “You’ve seen this officer’s file,” gasped the elf. “How did you manage that?”

  “There are some officers in the army who think that I am a special investigator for the emperor,” answered Natia. “One of them likes to do favors for me.”

  Headman laughed. “When all of this over, I would be proud to make you a captain in my army of thieves. I think we can all learn from you.”

  The smile slid from Natia’s face. “I doubt that I will survive the coming war, Headman, but I appreciate your compliment nonetheless.”

  “Never admit defeat,” Headman said encouragingly. “As for his gambling, I know that the captain comes to some of the games we host, although he is not aware of it. I will check to see if he is carrying a balance.”

  “You host gambling games?”

  “Among other things,” replied the elf. “An army cannot exist on petty thievery alone. We run gambling games, lend money at exorbitant rates, and sell protection to shopkeepers.”

  “Assassinations?”

  “No.” The thief shook his head. “That type of activity brings too much pressure down on you.”

  “Are your games crooked?”

  “Not normally. We try to run honest games and make the house margin. It is quite profitable. If people think the games are rigged, we end up losing in the long run.”

  “But you have people with the ability to alter the odds?”

  “That we do,�
�� smiled Headman.

  “There might be something there that I can use,” mused the gypsy princess. “I also need to get a copy of his keys. Can any of your people accomplish that without detection?”

  “We have several excellent locksmiths,” Headman replied, “but getting time alone with his keys will not be easy.”

  “The man has to sleep sometime,” suggested Natia.

  “And if he is a light sleeper?”

  “Spike his ale,” smiled the gypsy. “When is the next game that he is likely to attend?”

  “There is a big game tonight, but I don’t know if he will show up for it.”

  “You said he has an eye for women,” mused Natia. “I wonder if I can entice him to come to the game. Do you know where he eats his evening meal?”

  “No,” replied Headman, “but most of the men in the center eat the midday meal at a tavern around the corner from the center. The men take turns going to eat so I cannot say exactly when the captain will be there.”

  “This might work better than what I had planned,” Natia said with an optimistic smile. “If I can get him to come with me to the game, I want you to spike his ale and take him for all he is worth.”

  “He is a big fan of gambling,” frowned the elf, “but he hardly has much money to steal.”

  “He will have plenty of money tonight,” chuckled Natia. “Just make sure that you take it all.”

  “That will be a pleasure,” laughed Headman. “How much will he have?”

  “Twenty-thousand,” answered Natia, “and I will be wanting it back.”

  Headman whistled appreciatively. “I don’t know how you are going to pull this off, but I will be there to watch.”

  “Just make sure that he loses all of the money and then staggers home. I will be going with him, but I don’t want to have to fend off his grubby paws. Have one of your locksmiths meet me at the captain’s house about an hour after we leave the game.”

  “Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you,” chuckled the thief. “We will talk again late tonight.”

  “We will,” agreed Natia. “Right now I need to catch some sleep and then get dressed to lure the captain into my net.”