He frowned. “Truly? I consider myself a pretty fair liar. What gave me away?”
“I don’t know, exactly, and it doesn’t matter. I want to know what you think you’re doing.”
“Surely, that’s obvious.” He smiled. “And don’t ask how dare I lie to the great lion king’s face and flout his will. Since this madness started, I’ve acted against the interests of Lathander, Amaunator, Umberlee, and Malar and lived to tell the tale. I don’t feel all that inclined to cower in awe of a magical animal, no matter how impressive.”
“I can understand that.” Despite the rain, Umara pushed her cowl back. Anton had the feeling it was so he could see her fair-complexioned, fine-boned face more clearly. “Nobanion inspired considerable … respect in me, but he’s not the sort of entity that ever allied itself with my order or my country. He’s more like one of the animal spirits the witches of Rashemen send against us. So I don’t feel inclined to grovel before him, either.”
“Yet you mean to do what he told you to.”
“I’m doing what I decided back aboard the galley. And with Kymas dead by your hand and mine, I don’t have much choice but to see it through.”
Anton sighed. “That’s unfortunate. But I do see a choice.”
“To walk back into Gulthandor alone? Even if you make it out the other side, what lies beyond? Westgate? Teziir? A boat back to Pirate Isle? There’s only death awaiting you in any of those places.”
“My ill-wishers will have to catch me first.”
“But what’s the point?”
“The point is that I’ve had my little flirtation with high and sacred matters. Now it’s time to go back to being the man I truly am.”
Umara hesitated then said, “Since I listened to Stedd, I’m a stranger to myself, too. It’s not so much murdering my superior. With luck, that’s the kind of thing for which a Red Wizard can be forgiven, and Kymas … gave me reason to want to dispose of him. But I’m disobeying Szass Tam—Szass Tam!—and gambling that somehow, it will come out all right. That’s pure insanity, and it was comforting that I at least had another mad soul to keep me company as I went racing toward my doom.”
The tightness in Anton’s neck and chest was back. He covered the discomfort with a smirk. “You know just how to make prolonging our partnership sound appealing.”
Umara drew herself up straight. “I’m a Red Wizard. You’re an outlander and a pirate. Yet I just indicated I consider you a friend. Don’t expect me to plead.”
“I don’t. But truly, you can’t be shocked I’m leaving. I said early on that I would when the time was right. And later, when the matter came up again, I had the lion king of Gulthandor himself urging me to change my mind, with you, Stedd, and all the mariners looking on. Who wouldn’t have said yes, whatever was truly in his mind?”
She sneered. “Coward.”
“I prefer to see myself as tactful.”
“Why won’t you go back to Turmish?”
“People hate me there.”
“People hate you everywhere.”
“Once again, I’ll observe that you truly do know how to persuade a fellow.”
“Answer the question, curse you! After what we’ve gone through together, you owe me that.”
Anton sighed. “Just … if Stedd needs the good will of the folk of Sapra, I’m the last man who should be standing at his side. Can we leave it at that?”
“No!”
Anton drew breath to tell her she’d have to. For after all, he’d never talked about what had happened in Sapra with anyone.
Yet it was no secret, at least not in the more populous parts of Turmish, and maybe he did owe Umara something. Or perhaps her badgering had simply worn him down.
“All right,” he growled. “Turmish is a republic. It doesn’t have kings or princes like many another land. But it has wealthy merchants who pretty much run the place under the watchful eyes of the druids, and my father, Diero Marivaldi, was one such.” He smiled fleetingly. “So you see, snooty lady, in my fashion, I’m highborn, too.”
“I’m not ‘snooty.’ I simply see no reason to behave as if I’m less than what I am.”
“If you say so. Anyway, my ancestors and relatives weren’t only merchants. Some would say we weren’t even traders first and foremost. It was our tradition that every young Marivaldi serve in the Turmishan navy. Some fulfilled their obligations and moved on to command the family’s commercial ventures. Others, finding a life of duty satisfying, remained with the fleet until old age beached them.”
Umara nodded. “I’ll hazard you expected to be one of the latter.”
Anton blinked. “Considering all I’ve done to steal other people’s wealth in recent years, I’m surprised you’d say that. But you’re right. When I was small, tales of my heroic ancestors battling despicable pirates and sea serpents thrilled me, and any suggestion that I learn to pore over ledgers in a counting house or dicker over bushels of Aglarondan grain moved me to truancy and general rebellion.”
Umara grunted. “As long as I was home, I never felt the need to rebel. My parents were delighted when I proved to possess a talent for wizardry. And from the start, I loved magic too dearly to even imagine applying myself to any other vocation. Although when I started to learn what it truly means to be a Red Wizard, the things expected of us beyond simply mastering spells and reading arcane lore …” She shook her head as though to clear it. “Never mind. We’re talking about you.”
“Alas, we are. In time, Turmish went to war with Akanûl. It was a squabble over tariffs and a scrap of border territory that wasn’t good for anything anyway, but at the time, I believed my countrymen were fighting for the noblest cause in the history of Faerûn. That made me even more frantic to serve, and the sharpest spur of all was the example of my elder brother Rimardo. He was already first mate aboard a caravel and had acquitted himself gallantly in several actions at sea.”
“And so you envied him.”
Anton snorted. “Bitterly. When he came home on leave, I couldn’t get enough of his stories, and yet, it maddened me that he was living that life and I wasn’t. I may even have hated him a little.”
“But your time must have arrived eventually.”
“That depends on how you look at it. When I was old enough to enlist, I did. But by then, the petty war was ending as leaders on both sides realized it had never been worth fighting in the first place.”
“Still, you were where you wanted to be.”
Anton smiled. “As I said, only in a sense. I told you it’s wealthy merchants who generally win election to the Assembly of Stars, and they keep a tight grip on Turmish’s purse strings. Once we made peace with the genasi, the assemblymen decided the navy didn’t need as many warships patrolling the sea. The country could save coin by putting some in dry dock.”
Umara frowned. “Leaving you a sailor with nothing to sail?”
“Yes. For want of anything better to do with me, the navy made me a customs officer. It was a tedious life largely made up of the same sort of tallying and recordkeeping that filled me with loathing as a boy. And while I tramped around the docks with my chalk, slate, and abacus, I had to watch the warships that weren’t in dry dock come and go with lucky wretches like Rimardo aboard.”
“That would have galled me, too,” Umara said. She ran her fingertips over her scalp as though the feel of the stubble annoyed her. “Still, if Turmish is anything like Thay, a new war is always on the way.”
Anton sighed. “I actually did possess just enough sense to realize I should simply bide my time. But that time was so dull! To pass it, I drank, gambled, and frequented the festhalls. As you can likely guess, I often found myself in need of coin, and although my father had plenty, I felt increasingly awkward asking him to toss some my way. He disapproved of wastrels, and my every wheedling visit made it clearer that was what I’d become.”
“So you found a different source of gold?”
“Close, but actually, it found me. It turns out that smugglers study
customs officials to discover who might be susceptible to bribery. In retrospect, my reaction was ludicrous, but at the time, I was astonished to learn that I looked corrupt, or at least, corruptible.”
“But not so astonished you didn’t agree to collaborate.”
“Understand, my responsibilities seemed so petty, and so far removed from the heroic career I’d imagined for myself, that looking away while a few scoundrels moved contraband didn’t feel like a true betrayal of anything. What did it matter if a few amphorae of Chessentan olive oil …” He sneered. “Listen to me blather. Next, I’ll be making excuses for all the rapine and slaughter in all the years since.”
“Just tell the story,” Umara said. There was a hint of gentleness in her voice that he could only recall hearing when she was speaking to Stedd, and then, infrequently.
“Very well. At first, I allowed wine, copper ingots, lumber, and spices to come ashore untaxed. Eventually, though, I noticed stranger cargo. Boxes with peculiar symbols carved on the lids and something rustling inside despite a lack of air holes. Weirdly shaped objects that, wrapped like mummies, glowed a little even through the cloth. A moldy book with an iron stake sticking through the front cover and out the back.”
Umara frowned. “I know that book.”
“I thought you might. I didn’t, but I was canny enough to recognize unsavory mystical artifacts when I saw them, and by chance, I learned they all were bound for a single buyer.”
“Did that worry you?”
“It should have. But looking away was a habit by then. One piece of contraband was like another, so long as it dropped coin in my hand on its way to its destination.”
“So in the end, what happened? Something obviously did.”
“Indeed, and I suspect you heard something about the incident even in far-off Thay. It was quite spectacular, and a balor—I learned later that’s what they’re called—leading a pack of lesser demons seems like the sort of thing that would interest your folk.”
Umara stared at him. “By the seven fallen stars! You were implicated in that?”
“Well, fortunately, not at first, not to anybody’s knowledge. What with fiends laying waste to the city and striving to destroy the Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave, who were paying one of their rare visits, we were all too busy fighting back to try to figure out what it all meant. This will make you laugh: Even I had no idea. As I stood with everyone else who could hold a spear or a sword, it never occurred to me that I was anything other than a loyal Turmishan officer seizing the chance to prove his mettle at last.”
Anton sighed. “But afterward, when scores of folk lay dead, my poor, brave brother among them, and much of Sapra had burned to black sticks and ash, people wanted to know why. And the demons hadn’t been subtle. It was no great trick to follow their trail back to the mansion of the assemblyman who’d called them forth from the Abyss.”
“Why did he do it?”
“It was a coup, or the start of one. He wanted to do away with the republic and make himself king, but he knew the high druids wouldn’t stand for it. So he tried to assassinate them with supernatural power that rivaled even theirs.”
“Unless he was a master wizard, it was a fool’s play. Even if it had worked, the balor would likely have ended up as the real king, and he, its plaything.”
“It’s a pity you weren’t around to advise him. Anyway, it turned out he had a fussy habit of making notes on even the sort of deeds and plans that one should never write about. The notes pointed to the smugglers who brought him the items required for the summoning.”
“And under duress, the smugglers pointed to you.”
“Turmishan interrogators aren’t as fond of ‘duress’ as Thayans, but the knaves certainly would have given me up before they were through with them. Fortunately, I was Diero Marivaldi’s son and an officer who’d fought well in the recent crisis. Folk in authority trusted me and spoke freely when I was around. Thus, I happened to learn the smugglers were about to be arrested just as the navy and the watch moved to round them up.”
“And you fled.”
“It was that or kneel at the headsman’s block. I was as guilty as anyone for what had befallen Sapra. If I hadn’t betrayed my office, it could never have happened. And once I was away, well, I was already on the outlaw’s path. I figured I might as well keep walking it.”
“Until it led you into piracy.”
“Yes. I’ve heard that meanwhile, denied the satisfaction of seeing my head roll, Sapra turned its scorn on my father. His lifetime of honorable dealings counted for nothing against my crime, and he found it impossible either to trade or hold government office. He withdrew from public life and died not long after.”
Umara stood quietly for a moment. Then she said, “Hm.”
“I see my tale of woe affected you deeply.”
“If I’d responded with a gush of commiseration—not that I’m suggesting I was inclined to—you would only have jeered at it.”
Anton realized she was right. “Be that as it may, now you understand why I can’t return to Sapra.”
“No, I see I was right from the start. If people want to kill you everywhere, that’s no reason to stay away from Turmish. You’ll actually be safer there. Your brown skin won’t stand out.”
“My traitor’s face will.”
“Was it wearing the usual ridiculous Turmishan beard the last time anyone in Sapra saw it?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“And that was years ago, in addition to which, I know a bit about disguise. It’s part of the illusionist’s art.”
“Thank you, but it would still be too risky. I won’t be responsible for the failure of Stedd’s errand, whatever mooncalf thing it turns out to be.”
“Stedd wants you with him, and not just because Lathander and Nobanion think it’s a good idea. He had to forsake his family, too. They’re back on the farm thousands of miles to the west where he’ll never see them again. He needs someone to stand by him, and little though we deserve his trust, he’s fastened on you and me.”
“The more fool him, then.”
Umara scowled. “If you don’t want to return to Turmish, then don’t. But at least be honest about the reason. It’s not fear of the headsman’s axe. It’s shame.”
To his own surprise, Anton nearly flinched. He forced a laugh instead. “You should ask the folk I’ve robbed and the widows and orphans of those I’ve killed if I seem like a man susceptible to shame.”
“You may not feel it over anything Anton Marivaldi the pirate has done. But Anton Marivaldi the youthful customs officer is a different matter.”
“How in the name of the Abyss would you know? Who ever heard of a Red Wizard suffering shame over anything?”
Umara scowled. “I’m tired of arguing. If you want to go, go.” She pulled her hood up and headed into the beeches.
Anton told himself he was glad she’d given up. But he stood and watched her go, and when she was about to disappear into the trees and the darkness, he blurted, “Wait.”
A while back, the travelers had started seeing axe-chopped tree stumps and other signs of human activity in the forest. Now, keeping low, Anton, Umara, and Stedd skulked from one bit of cover to the next. As far as Stedd was aware, there was no particular reason to make sure they got a look at Morningstar Hollows before anyone in the village sighted them. But after all the dangers he and his friends had passed through, he supposed caution was a good idea.
They reached a spot where the trees thinned out. Some distance beyond them, farmers were working bedraggled, rain-lashed fields.
Everything looked all right to Stedd. He started to straighten up, and Anton put his hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t,” the pirate said.
“Why not?” Umara asked.
Anton smiled. “If you squint, you might make out a couple white faces among the brown ones. And while Turmish doesn’t forbid outlanders to immigrate, I don’t see why they’d bother just to settle in a backwater like th
is. The village has failed and been abandoned so many times, it’s a wonder even Turmishans keep rebuilding it.”
“You think Evendur sent a force here to intercept us,” the wizard said.
“It’s a logical move,” Anton replied. “I wish we could get a better look at the white men. But maybe we don’t need one. If those are pirates over there, their ship can’t be too far off. Come on.”
They headed back into the forest, collected the Thayan sailors and marines who were waiting for them there, and then they all marched north, keeping to the fringe of the forest the while. After a time, they reached a spot where the rain-fed waters of the Inner Sea had advanced up a valley. There, a caravel floated with sails furled and several ropes mooring it to tree trunks.
Anton grinned. “Hello again, Mourmyd. My compliments on the skill required to bring the Octopus so far south on an uncharted and uncertain waterway, over submerged trees and who knows what else. My friends and I are in your debt.”
“What are you thinking?” Umara asked.
“We steal the ship. Mourmyd surely didn’t leave her unattended, but just as surely, he and most of his crew are lurking in Morningstar Hollows waiting for us to turn up there. We shouldn’t have much trouble wresting Octopus away from whoever’s still aboard, and afterward, if any more of Evendur’s hunters spot us on our voyage east, they’ll mistake us for some of their own.”
The Red Wizard smiled. “That is a good plan. I like it.”
Stedd peered up at the two adults. “But what about Morningstar Hollows?”
Umara shrugged. “What about it?”
“If Mourmyd’s pirates are there, doesn’t that mean they took it over? Aren’t they doing bad things to the people who live there?”
Anton sighed. “Now that you mention it, I’m sure they are.”
“Then we can’t just steal the ship and sail away. We have to help them!”
Umara frowned. “Your mission is our concern. We shouldn’t risk it and you in a battle we can avoid.”
“Helping people is my mission.”
Anton turned to Umara. “You aren’t going to talk him out of it. And why else are we here but to back his play, however feckless it turns out be?”
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