Storm Raven

by K Hanson

  “Ah, you’re finally up. Did you sleep well?”

  “After everything I’ve been through, I’m surprised I woke up at all.”

  “Now that you are up, take a seat and help yourself,” said Devrim as he gestured to the food laid out before them.

  Nereyda pulled a chair up to the table and started piling food onto an empty plate. “What exactly do you think you’ll accomplish if you rebel against the emperor?”

  “You’re not really one for pleasantries, are you?”

  “When I get my crew back, we can waste our time on all the pleasantries you want. I need to know more about what I’m getting into. Answer the question.”

  He studied her and sighed. “I hope it doesn’t come to rebellion,” said Devrim. “I want to get enough nobles to listen to me that we can force the emperor to listen to us. Most of the country is having their backs broken by the emperor and his friends, though many of them haven’t even realized it yet.”

  “Why do you care so much about what the poor are going through?”

  “Because that used to be me. I grew up in the slums of the capital, scraping up whatever scraps I could find beneath the shadow of the palace and the nobility quarter.”

  “So how did you go from that to all of this?”

  “Unlike most of our esteemed nobles, I actually worked for it. When I was just a child, the owner of the factory I worked in helped educate me in his spare time. I think I reminded him of a son he lost. Anyway, he trained me and left the factory to me. During the war, I turned my talents toward figuring out how to keep the Imperial armies supplied and the logistics of waging war across the continent. For my efforts, I made a lot of money and was given this land and a title.”

  “Seems pretty unlikely. From what I know, the emperor doesn’t really value the opinion of anyone without noble blood. Why would he care what some upstart former serf thought about how to handle the war effort?”

  “At the time, the Empire was losing badly. The war was on the other side of the continent from the capital, and we had trouble reaching our troops with weapons and supplies. The emperor was desperate.”

  “So now, after all of this, you’re just trying to give back to the people?”

  “Have you been to the capital?”

  “Yes, I was there after we were captured. That’s where our trial was.”

  “Then you should know why I want to help.”

  “I guess so.” Nereyda thought of what she had seen in the capital and how the lower classes were treated there.

  “Indeed. Those people that live in the shadow of the palace need someone like me. Someone who thinks as they do, yet who has been lucky enough to move up the ladder.”

  “So what if you win? Then what?”

  “I haven’t actually thought that far ahead, honestly. As I said, I hope it doesn’t come to war. My friend last night was right. The Empire and all of its people are sick of war. If I can get the emperor to back down without a fight, that’s what we’ll do. And if it does become a war, we’ll figure out what to do after we win, or when we get close to it.”

  “So you’re making this up as you go along?”

  “I get the feeling that you’re not unaccustomed to such a thing,” he said with a smile.

  “I suppose you’re right. Though I prefer to think of it as creative improvisation.”

  “You’ll need more than that if you’re going to break into, and out of, the mining complex. Nobody has ever done that, and your people may not be ready for a fight or anything too physically challenging. I’m sure your crew is strong, but that place takes it out of the strongest souls.”

  “I know. I’ll think about it while I’m on my way toward the mine. I still have quite a ways to travel, if I know my geography.”

  “Yes. If you’re heading to that part of the Empire, your best place to stop may be Trabizon. That’s where most of the guards go on leave. You can get some good information out of them. It’s a large city, with enough shops for most resources and tools you might need for your mission.”

  “If it’s right near the mines, it’s got to be pretty far from here.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I can lend you a horse, some money, and supplies for the road.”

  “Lend? You do remember I’m a pirate, right? It’s not exactly in my blood to give things back after borrowing them.”

  “Then consider it an investment in the first small blow of my rebellion.”

  “Your rebellion?”

  “You know what I mean. If you embarrass the people who support the mines, it will put them in a weak position. I can use that to leverage my own agenda.”

  “You’re pretty conniving. In another life, you might have made a good pirate.”

  He let out a huff of laughter. “Perhaps. And if you make it out, I might just need a pirate on my side.”

  “I don’t know about that. I’m not really one for taking sides. I’d rather just get back to doing what we do best, and leave the politics to the schemers in their castles and palaces.”

  “As you go west, you’ll see exactly what politics leads to. If what you saw in the capital didn’t convince you to do something, seeing the aftermath of the war very well might. Terrible things happened to the people who lived in that part of the world, on both sides of the conflict.”

  Nereyda recalled the village that she had seen burned to the ground during their travels in the Shattered Sea, and the Stalstan ship that fled the scene. “Maybe. We’ll see. But, as you said, my people may not be up for much of a fight. I need to take care of them first.”

  “Of course, just something to think about.”

  “Whatever you give me, I can’t make any promises about returning it or the favor,” she said. “I’m still not sure why you are so willing to give me what I want after just meeting me. Are you that desperate for allies that you’d take a chance on a pirate that wandered in your door?”

  “I’m not desperate, but I will take what I can get. Besides, what I’m giving to you means little to me. It also doesn’t especially matter to me what happens to you or whether you succeed. It’s a gamble where the risk is small and the reward great. It’s a solid investment.”

  “So that’s what I am? An expendable investment?”

  “If that’s how you want to see it.”

  “Doesn’t bother me. At least I know where we stand. Now, it’s time for me to leave and see how I can waste that money of yours.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Nereyda rode through the countryside on her journey toward the western reaches. Devrim had outfitted her with a strong horse, several days’ worth of food, and more coin than she could count. The weight of it hung heavy in her saddlebags. He had called it an insignificant amount. If this amount of money was inconsequential to him, Nereyda wondered exactly how much he did have. Maybe he could finance a rebellion all on his own.

  While she made her way over the road, the terrain around her changed. From the rolling hills around Devrim’s town, she had passed through green valleys between towering mountains. Then, those winding passages opened onto flat, dry plains. Grass shimmered in golden waves as the wind passed over the landscape. Settlements became more sparse as she continued. Then, as if someone had drawn a line through the area, a change swept over the land. An oppressive feeling permeated the air.

  Nereyda had never been to the western reaches of the Empire before, had never seen the extent of the damage the war with Stalsta had caused to this part of the world. Now, as she rode through these tortured lands, she saw with her own eyes the price the people of this land had paid for the grand designs of people in palaces who had never had to wield a sword, or face the consequences of it, in their lives.

  On either side of the road, gently rolling hills, that should have been fertile farmland, lay barren. The land had been reduced to a muddy and scarred mess. She passed a shed that had been stripped of all of its wood, except for its frame. Later, a barn, or the blackened and charred husk of one,
sat on a hill.

  When she got closer, she saw human skeletons among the rubble. One of them lay in front of the doorway, the arm extended as if making one last effort at escape.

  She saw some of the people who lived there trying to plow the fields and make an effort to restore them to productivity. They had neither the tools nor the manpower to fix all of the damage.

  As she passed into a nameless town, it had not fared any better. Paint flaked off of the front of buildings. Homes and businesses sat vacant. Others had been burned or reduced to piles of rubble and ash. As extensive as the damage to property appeared, the worst was seeing how the people lived in such squalor. When she passed any of the residents on the road, she looked into their eyes and saw only dejected hopelessness. As they went about their daily business, they had a vacant stare that seemed to gaze further than it should. If this was the first piece of civilization that she had ever seen in the Empire, she would never have realized that this place belonged to the victor in the war.

  In the middle of town, Nereyda saw something that made her heart sink. A charred sign dangled from the awning of a burned husk of a building. Only the last word remained legible on the blackened sign.

  Orphanage.

  She turned her eyes away from the building, not wanting to see anything within the pile of rubble that remained.

  With her throat feeling parched from the ride through the sunshine and heat, Nereyda pulled her horse up in front of a rundown tavern. The door that led into the main room barely hung on its hinges. While she walked, each board creaked as if it was one step away from cracking. Any paint or finish had long since been worn away. Just gray, faded wood remained.

  At the bar, a haggard man sat on a stool behind the counter. He glanced at her suspiciously as she walked up to the bar. “You’re new. What are you doing around here?” he asked in a rough voice.

  “I’m just on my way to Trabizon. Stopping for something to drink and maybe some food if you have it.”

  “Just passing through? Just like everyone else.” He looked off to the side, and into the distance. “Nobody stays here anymore. Not even the people that grew up here.”

  “I can’t imagine what the war was like for you.”

  “No, you bloody well can’t. I still remember when the Stalstans came through, stopping to steal and pillage whatever, and whoever, they wanted. Though, it was worse when they fell back. That’s when…that’s when they burned the orphanage.”

  “Why did they do that?”

  “Who knows? Because they wanted to kill some more Imperials? Because they wanted to see something burn? Maybe they just liked the screaming. War does terrible things to a man. They become monsters or shells of what they used to be.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Of course, you are. Everyone’s sorry. Just not sorry enough to stay or do anything about it.”

  Nereyda sat in silence for a minute, studying the grief carved into the man’s face. “Well, what do you have to drink? I’ll pay for two, and you can have one with me.”

  “I’m not exactly sure what to call it, but it sure burns going down and warms the belly. And I’ll join you for a glass, sure. We don’t have any food to spare, though. You’ll have to find that somewhere else.”

  The man grabbed a couple of dusty glasses from the shelf and let the contents of an old barrel fall into them. After bringing the glasses over to the countertop, she sniffed her drink. The scent stung her nostrils, but she didn’t want to be rude and refuse the drink after just buying it. She took a swig of the alcohol and nearly coughed as it burned her throat. At least it helped warm her when it hit her stomach. The two of them engaged in idle conversation for a while. Nereyda just enjoyed the chance to focus on something other than all of the gloom she had seen around.

  When she had finished her drink, she paid him well over the price of the beverage. His eyes widened at the sum she offered, but he made no effort to refuse the offer. In this town, they turned nothing away out of pride. War and hardship had long since beaten that out of them.

  Outside the tavern, she untied her horse from the post and climbed back into the saddle. Nereyda reflected that all of this death and destruction had taken place just for the Empire to conquer the very mining complex that she needed to figure out how to break into, then out of, with her crew. With all of the materials that the mines provided, the Empire should have been able to afford to restore the lands that had been ravaged by the conflict. However, in the aftermath of the war, it seemed that the emperor had not deigned to spend the resources to rebuild or assist his people.

  ---

  As the sun settled low in the sky and she closed in on Trabizon, it became evident that the Empire cared more about maintaining a key city for its soldiers than it did for the average village populated by ordinary citizens. The roads and buildings appeared well cared for and the streets bustled with merchants, soldiers, and townsfolk going about their business, unaware or unperturbed by the price of their prosperity.

  She rode up to an intersection where a couple of inns sat across from each other. As she got closer, she observed that one of the inns had women out front wearing upscale yet revealing dresses. The front of the brothel looked discreet enough that one could mistake it for your typical inn or tavern. From the workers that she could see, it seemed to aim for a high-end clientele. Plus, all of the houses in this area seemed to be large and well adorned.

  Confident that she could find someone to bribe or blackmail into helping her in this part of town, she pulled her horse up to the inn across from the brothel. As she dismounted and moved to tie the horse to a post, a teenage girl came up to her. “May I look after your horse, miss? We have a stable around the corner, where you can board him.”

  “Oh, yes, go ahead.” Nereyda tipped the girl and let her take the reins.

  She walked into the inn and purchased a room on the second floor. Setting her belongings on the floor next to the bed, she lay down to think about her next move.

  As the night passed and her mind whirled, Nereyda’s back itched on the scratchy straw mattress. The moon shined its silver glow through her open window. It was deep into the night, but the noise of drunken singing still rang from below through the rickety floorboards. That wasn’t what was keeping her up though. She had long gotten used to sleeping through noisy pirates when she had to. A rowdy tavern was nothing compared to that.

  Instead, she contemplated how to get her people out of the mine. She couldn’t very well just go down there and hope to sneak in and just look around. While she hadn’t ever seen the mines, she knew that thousands of slaves were kept at the complex. Something of that size would take an eternity to search, even without the challenge of avoiding getting caught.

  She needed someone who would know where her crew was being held and who could help her get them out. Unfortunately, the only people that met that description were also currently held captive in those very mines. But, maybe, she could just get one of her people out. If she could just get one person out, and if she had a choice, it would have to be Brynja.

  Nereyda had seen several guards, as well as officers, wandering around as she had ridden through town. If she could convince one of them to pass a note to Brynja and sneak her out, that would be enough.

  That part would have to wait until she could isolate one of them to chat in private. She’d start working on figuring that out in the morning. First, she needed to come up with her message to Brynja. Nereyda rose from her bed and walked to the tiny desk that sat in the corner of the room. After lighting the lantern on the wall, she slid into the rough wooden chair.

  As she sat down to write the note she for someone deliver to Brynja, her words suddenly escaped her. What should she say to her first mate, who she hadn’t seen in months, after both of them had been through so much?

  Hey, sorry I left you in those mines while I sailed the world.

  Somehow, that didn’t seem like the right vibe to send. She just needed to get her point across
and let Brynja know that help was on the way.

  Dear Bryn,

  I know that you must have been suffering terribly these last few months. I cannot imagine the agony you’ve been through while in the mines. As your captain, I can only apologize that I didn’t get back to you sooner. If I could have done it, I would have. I can only hope that this message finds you in good health. I have sent this in the care of a new friend. I am coming to get you, and this guard will make sure that you can get out of the mining complex and meet me at the tavern where we shared our first drink on shore as captain and first mate. Once we’re together, we can figure out how to get the rest of our crew out of the mines. I know that when we’re a team again, nobody will be able to stop us from breaking out.

  I look forward to seeing you again and sailing the seas for years afterward.

  Reyda

  With her note ready, Nereyda just needed to find a way to get it delivered to Brynja.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Nereyda sipped her ale as she sat at the bar in the Gold Digger, the high-end brothel across the street from where she had spent the night. It was the most prestigious, and most expensive, tavern in the town. If it wasn’t for the heap of gold she had received from Devrim, she would not have been able to afford the overpriced beer in her hand. The luxurious pricing at this place would filter out any of the lower level guards or workers from the mines. Here, she would only find high-ranking officers and administrators who were in charge of the whole operation.

  As she sat waiting for someone who looked like a good target to get her letter to Brynja, she observed the other people in the tavern. Despite the high-end nature of this bar, or maybe because of it, it apparently doubled as a brothel. Beautiful women in fancy dresses roamed the floor, making eyes and tempting potential clients. They were far better groomed, and probably less diseased, than the prostitutes that she was used to seeing in Freyport. It never took them long to find a willing client, then they would disappear to the stairs that led to the rooms above.