The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  “Yet they still let Quro raise you?” said Kinker.

  “Quro was a pretty well-respected member,” said Jenur. “He promised his fellow Tigers that I would be a Dark Tiger when I grew up. So as you can imagine, my childhood was a little, um, unconventional. You know how you said you were swimming before you learned how to walk? Well, I learned how to slit the throats of rodents before I could walk.”

  “Why did he want to raise you?” said Kinker. “If the other Dark Tigers didn't want children, what made him so different?”

  “Easy,” said Jenur. “Quro had a daughter who he lost to the death plague, a disease that occasionally crops up on Ruwa and when it does, it always kills. Think he might have seen me as his second chance, even though I'm human and he's aquarian.”

  Kinker shook his head. “So you're not a ship saboteur after all.”

  “Why would I be?” said Jenur. “Is that what Malock told you? I'd never sink that low. Yeah, we Dark Tigers may have been assassins, maybe even unpopular assassins, but in all of my time with the Guild, I never heard or saw anyone take on a ship saboteur job. We're not scum.”

  Jenur looked so annoyed at being conflated with the ship saboteurs that Kinker regretted saying that. He was happy, though, that she wasn't one, even though there was no way of proving that to Malock or anyone else.

  “Anyway, as you can guess, I had to grow up fast. The Dark Tigers were a rough group and you have to be tough if you're going to make it. I didn't actually leave the Swamp of Light, though, until I was sixteen, which is the youngest age at which a person can join the Guild. That was when I was given my first job, a simple job that involved assassinating a priest of Ghatmos who was pissing off a few royals. Did it and came home in three days, which is pretty good for a newbie like I was.”

  She spoke rather casually of assassinating another person. It was almost like she didn't regret doing it at all.

  “Don't get me wrong,” said Jenur suddenly. “At the time, I didn't know any different. The way I was raised, killing someone for money was just something you did. And in my defense, I never really enjoyed it nor was I ever pressured to. We just treated it as a job and nothing more.”

  “What gods did you worship?” said Kinker. “I mean, surely you believed that a god was telling you to do this, right? Maybe the God of Assassins?”

  Jenur shrugged. “A good chunk of our membership was aquarian and aquarians in general are less likely to honor and revere the gods as we humans. And those of us who were human, well, we came from backgrounds where we faced a lot of hate and prejudice from our more religious fellows. We never paid the gods much homage or respect. That's one thing I've carried over from my time as a Dark Tiger, which is why I've always avoided telling anyone what deity I worship.”

  Kinker could scarcely wrap his mind around the idea. Not respecting the gods? It seemed so strange. Then again, when he considered how Deber had justified her human sacrifices to Kano, it made a bit more sense.

  “So for two years, I took whatever jobs they gave me,” said Jenur. “And I did them to the best of my ability. I went all over the Northern Isles, so gradually my view of the world became larger. I also trained with many of the older Dark Tigers, who taught me the best ways to kill humans and aquarians instantly. Once I even went to the aquarian city of Nemo, which was probably the toughest job I ever took on because it was underwater and I was not used to performing undersea assassinations.”

  “You don't sound like you regret it,” said Kinker. “You almost sound like you missed it.”

  Jenur frowned. “Of course I miss it. The Dark Tigers were my family. Even those who didn't want anything to do with me when I was a kid treated me like one of them. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't told you why I left the Dark Tigers yet.”

  “I'm listening.”

  “So like I said, I was officially a member of the Dark Tigers for two years,” said Jenur. “During that time, I traveled far and wide, saw and met and—yeah—killed a variety of people. Now I never made any friends outside of the Tigers. I was good at faking it because I sometimes needed to win the favor of certain individuals in order to get close to my targets, but I always cut off the relationships before they could get real or interfere with my work.”

  “Must have been tough,” said Kinker.

  “Wasn't, really,” said Jenur. “Not at first. After all, I had the rest of the Dark Tigers as friends and family. I didn't think I needed anyone else. Still, I did learn more about how other people lived their lives and was surprised at what I learned. Many people lived their entire lives without taking the life of another being. I learned that, though the Dark Tigers were always well-paid and popular among royals, assassins were looked down upon among most people, even among simple people. This led to a lot of self-doubt and confusion on my part, making me question everything I'd ever been taught.”

  “You mean the other Dark Tigers never told you?” said Kinker. “Did they really present their lifestyle as normal and acceptable?”

  “No one ever saw the need to tell me about the wider world,” said Jenur. “Hell, even Quro didn't tell me much. I tried to talk with him about what I learned about how other people lived, but he was never interested in that stuff. I think he made his peace with the fact that he was in an unpopular profession, so when I questioned him about it, he got angry. Didn't hit me, but he did get angry and I didn't want to make him angry.

  “So I stopped asking others about it, but I never stopped thinking about it. On my off-days, I'd spend a lot of time thinking about why I was doing what I was doing. I realized I didn't really enjoy it. I mean, I enjoyed the security of having friends who would be there for me, but I didn't enjoy the killing. Even though I was one of the best killers in the Guild, I became so sick with it that I started intentionally fudging missions and jobs I was given.”

  “That doesn't sound very good,” said Kinker. “Bet your boss wasn't happy with that.”

  Jenur shuddered. “Yeah. The Grand Tiger, Nijok Wirm, started noticing. At first he just credited it to my youth, but then it became far too frequent, so he took me aside and beat the hell out of me. You can't see it now because the Guild's panamancer put my face back together, but when he was done I looked like I'd been run over by this ship. The Grand Tiger didn't like slackers, as you can tell.”

  “And Quro let him do that?” said Kinker. “What kind of father would let another man beat his own daughter?”

  “Quro may have been my dad, but he was also a Dark Tiger and a loyal subordinate to the Grand Tiger,” said Jenur. “He respected the Grand Tiger's authority too much to openly disagree with him or stop him. He did pull me aside after that and asked me why I was slipping up, but I didn't tell him about my doubts because I didn't think he'd understand.”

  “Crazy,” said Kinker. “Is that what caused you to leave the Dark Tigers?”

  “Pretty much,” said Jenur. “I didn't intend to go back to my old efficiency, not after that. So one night, while everyone was asleep, I slipped out of the Guild base, made my way through the Swamp, reached the coast, and took the first ship off Ruwa that would take me. Turned out it was a pirate ship heading to Carnag. Only reason I didn't get raped and killed (not necessarily in that order) is because I showed them my Dark Tiger mark, which scared 'em senseless. Threatened to knife 'em in their sleep if they so much as looked at me funny.”

  She smiled like she was remembering the good old days. “Kinks, you've never seen funny until you see a bunch of big, burly, full-grown men cowering before a teenage girl armed only with a knife. Anyway, I got to Carnag and immediately got a job on Malock's fleet, on this very ship in fact. I was originally a deckhand, but got promoted to fishing crew when we started losing ships like marbles in a pond. You know the rest.”

  Kinker stroked his beard. “That is one wild story, but I think you're telling the truth. I suppose telling it to Malock is out of the question.”

  Jenur let out a long sigh of frustration. “Look, Kinks,
I appreciate your desire to want to help me. Really, I do. It's just that I don't think there's anything you can do to convince Malock to change his mind. He's already convinced that I'm the spy. Arguing with him is like arguing with a wall.”

  Kinker stood up. His feet had almost fallen asleep he had been sitting for so long. “Okay. I guess I should leave now. I appreciated having this conversation with you, Jenur. I'll always remember it.”

  “Same here,” said Jenur. “Though I doubt I'll live that much longer, honestly.”

  Kinker reached out and brushed her cheek with his rough hand. “If we make it back to the north, I'll try to find Quro and tell him about what happened to you. I'm sure he's still proud of you, even if you did run away without telling him. It's the least I can do.”

  Jenur smirked. “Actually, Quro already knows I'm gone. He saw me leave, but didn't try to stop me. Of course, he doesn't know where I am, but ... well, I'll just say he's a lot cooler than I thought.”

  “I'll still find him and tell him,” said Kinker. “So good bye, Jenur. I hope that your spirit finds peace in the afterlife.”

  Jenur snorted. “Considering all the lives I've taken over the years, I'll be surprised if I don't get sentenced to Grinf's chamber pot.”

  Kinker didn't know what to say to that. He just nodded and left, not glancing over his shoulder as he opened the door and left the stateroom. He didn't want her to see the tears already starting to stream down his face.

  ***

  Chapter Twelve

  The day could not go by fast enough for Malock. He hadn't expected to find the Tinkarian spy so quickly, but now that he did, he wished he had some way to contact Messenger to get it to come early. Malock spent the rest of the day mostly wandering the ship, getting onto lazy sailors, looking at the sea, talking with Vashnas, and making note of parts of the ship that required repair. He kept glancing at the sky as he did these things, watching as the sun made its lazy journey across the sky.

  He didn't go to his stateroom. He had no interest in interrogating Jenur. He had delegated that particular task to Banika, who was a lot better at it than he was. So far she had not succeeded in getting Jenur to talk, even after the spy poured her heart out to Kinker.

  For that matter, Kinker had not told Malock what he and Jenur had talked about. When Kinker emerged from Malock's stateroom, the captain tried to speak with Kinker, but the old fisherman brushed off his questions and made his way to the stern where the rest of the fishing crew was. That annoyed Malock, but he dropped the issue, as he doubted Kinker had learned anything to cast doubt on Jenur's identity as the spy. If he had, he surely would have mentioned it.

  So the hours rolled by agonizingly slow. Even when the sun finally set and darkness set upon the entire sea, time still seemed to move too slowly to Malock. He could barely sleep, primarily because he slept on the Iron Wind's top deck that night, rather than in his stateroom, because he didn't want to give Jenur an opportunity to get him in his sleep. Vashnas slept by his side, but she seemed to be less concerned than Malock was because she didn't make a noise all night until the first rays of the sun streamed over the eastern horizon.

  But even then, no matter how hard Malock strained at the sky, he could not spot any clouds or any hint of a storm. If anything, the weather was quite nice right now and already most of the crew was milling about, working and talking and eating breakfast.

  It wasn't until after breakfast that the familiar storm came in again and Malock ordered all of his men below deck. Many of the sailors expressed a desire to see Messenger, but Malock said they would not be able to sleep for the rest of their lives if they saw it, so they obliged and went down into the lower decks.

  Thus, the only remaining members of the crew top deck were Malock, Vashnas, Banika, and Jenur. Jenur's hands and feet were tied together, with Banika gripping her arm tightly to help her balance. It started to rain just outside the ship's diameter when Malock glanced at Jenur. So far, she had not tried to run away or do anything except refuse to tell Banika anything about her past. Malock was starting to regret not asking Kinker about his conversation with her, as he had surely learned a lot about her that everyone else didn't know.

  While the wind rose and lightning shook the sky, Malock turned to Jenur and smirked. “Didn't expect this to happen, did you, spy? I'm sure you thought you'd never be caught or found out. I bet you fantasized often about sticking that large knife of yours into my neck while I slept. Well, you didn't get a chance to do that, now did you?”

  Jenur rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She obviously had no witty comebacks or sarcastic remarks, like she usually did. Her resistance appeared to be broken entirely, which pleased Malock greatly.

  The sloshing of water that usually heralded Messenger's arrival met Malock's ears, and only a few seconds later, the giant appeared from out of the wind and rain. Jenur started when she saw it, almost falling over, but Banika must have had a grip of steel because she kept Jenur upright the entire time that the giant strode toward them.

  As before, its face was covered by a thick dark cloud, only its glowing red eyes visible. It looked down on them, made a loud sucking sound, and then spat out a green blob. The blob landed in front of them, but this time Malock was prepared. He had made sure to put Jenur in front, meaning she got the full brunt of the blob's ooze all over her shirt and pants, while he, Vashnas, and Banika were mostly safe.

  The blob once again took on a vaguely humanoid shape. It peered at the four mortals with red eyes, as though it was not sure what it was seeing.

  “Well?” said Messenger. “Where spy?”

  Malock relieved Banika of Jenur and dragged the foul-smelling spy forward. He then pushed her forward, causing her to fall face-first to the deck.

  Messenger took a closer look at Jenur as Malock folded his arms across his chest and smiled triumphantly.

  “There you go,” said Malock. “The Tinkarian spy. Just as you—”

  “Not spy,” said Messenger, looking up at Malock suddenly.

  Malock faltered. “What do you mean, not spy? Of course she is. I used the most foolproof method I know to root out spies to pick her. You must be mistaken.”

  Messenger shook its head. “Not spy. Doesn't smell like Tinkar.” Then it added in a mutter, “Must do everything meself?”

  “But ... but I ...” said Malock, struggling to think of what to say.

  “No mind,” said Messenger as it straightened up. “I do. Wait moments, please.”

  Without wasting another moment, Messenger collapsed into its gooey form, which then seeped through the cracks in the floorboards. Malock reached out a hand to stop it, but it was too late. It was soon gone completely, leaving behind only a thin layer of ooze on the deck.

  Malock looked between Vashnas and Banika helplessly. “I thought ... but I was so sure ...”

  “Yeah, about surety,” said Jenur, who had rolled onto her back. “It doesn't always mean you're right.”

  Malock fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. “What was I doing? I almost gave up an innocent girl—”

  “Woman,” Jenur grumbled.

  “—whatever, to be punished by the gods,” said Malock. “How could I have been so ... so stupid?”

  “It's all right,” said Vashnas, patting him on the shoulder. “You just made a mistake, that's all.”

  Malock looked up at Vashnas and said, “A mistake? It was more than a mistake. I was so eager to catch the spy that I didn't think about what I was doing.”

  “That's nice,” said Jenur. “So could someone untie me now? 'Cause I think—not sure, but I think—that I'm not the spy.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” said Malock. “Banika, free her, would you? No, wait. Give me your knife. I'll do it myself.”

  Banika handed her knife to the prince, who quickly cut off Jenur's ropes. Jenur was on her feet immediately, rubbing the spots where the ropes had dug into her wrists and ankles. She didn't thank Malock or look very happy.

  “
I am so sorry,” said Malock as he handed Banika her knife back. “I didn't know what I was doing. I ... I guess I was just so caught up in the moment that I didn't think. I mean, how was I supposed to know?”

  “I dunno,” said Jenur. “Maybe you could have, y'know, used a more reliable way of figuring out who the spy is than a deck of cards? Just a suggestion.”

  “I will definitely have to repay you now,” said Malock. “Somehow. I don't know how, but I'm sure that something will occur to me eventually.”

  Jenur stepped away from him. “That's nice and all, Captain, but I'm not sure I really want anything from you. You apologizing is enough, thank you very much.”

  Malock looked at her seriously. “Are you absolutely sure? I wish to make it up for you. I practically destroyed your reputation. Not only that, but you could have been taken to the gods to be punished. And if the legends of the place of punishment are at all accurate ... well, you understand why I would like to make reparations.”

  “And like I said, I don't want anything from you,” said Jenur. “Just don't do this again, okay? Otherwise I might have to slap you around a little.”

  “I would deserve that,” said Malock, looking down at his feet. “I do deserve that, actually.”

  “So if Jenur isn't the spy, then who is?” said Vashnas.

  “Well, that's what we're about to find out, isn't it?” said Jenur. “That blob messenger thing is going to come back pretty soon, I bet, so this mystery—”

  Her sentence was interrupted by the slimy ooze of the blob arising from the cracks in the deck, right where it had been a moment before. Just a few seconds later, Messenger returned, looking much the same as it always had. The difference, however, was the human man now lying inside of its body, his eye closed like he was asleep.

  Malock gasped. “Telka? I don't understand. How can he be the spy? I thought he was a follower of Atikos.”

  “Is spy,” Messenger confirmed. “Tried to fight back, but beat him soundly. Will take. Gods punish.”