“That is correct, Diego.”
He bit his lip. “Can we break it in from here?”
“I’m afraid you will have to be a little closer than that.” A map of Soledad harbor appeared before them. “The castle and the magma dome sit on the east side of the harbor. On the south side of the harbor a small projection of land pokes out into the bay.”
“I know that place.” Isabela injected quickly. “I used to picnic there, next to the lighthouse. Carlos no longer mans the lighthouse, and the whole small peninsula has mostly gone back to weeds.”
“That is where you must be. Further away and this will not work. Closer and the blast will most certainly kill you before I can retrieve you.” They looked at the lighthouse in silence.
“Is the lighthouse still open?” Jineva was scowling slightly, the beginnings of a plan percolating through the back of her mind.
Bel shut her eyes. “Louisa met a sailor there last month. It was open then and Carlos hasn’t re-lit the light. That should mean no lighthouse keepers.”
“Idiot.” Diego muttered under his breath.
“Good.” Jineva’s eyes were bright now. “We can hide in there and the thick walls of the lighthouse will help protect us.”
“Especially if soldiers come.” Her father muttered angrily. “I hate trusting something this important to blind luck.”
“It’s not totally blind, Father.” Jineva rested a hand on his arm. “And it’s the best plan we have at the moment.” She laughed sourly. “It’s the only plan we have at the moment. Besides, luck is on our side.”
“How do you figure that?” Diego was glowering.
“Thallia, could we possibly do this with two people?”
“Yes.” Jineva’s face fell. It wasn’t what she was hoping to hear. “But those two people would have to stand in the tunnel and focus their will from there. Their end, however, would be swift. If you were to attempt it alone, all you would succeed in doing would be to scald yourself to death and cause a minor earthquake. You and Meara would die in agony, accomplishing nothing.”
Jineva sat back abruptly, shocked at the coldly merciless words and the pictures they brought to her mind. “I...” She couldn’t get the words out and Meara seemed to be hiding in the back recesses of her consciousness, with the covers pulled up over her head.
“Of course,” Thallia continued conversationally, “I wouldn’t let you get that far. You gave me permission to stop you from wringing your own silly neck, and I would do just that. I would bring you up here and sit on you, if need be.” Jineva’s head was whirling. “Here is something else to take into consideration; one week ago the other half of the fleet arrived at Soledad, and unloaded troops into your uncle’s castle. You are out of time, my dear. You have to act in a week or two; three at the very most or Carlos will begin attacking both his neighbors and the Krathaa.”
Sometime later it was Diego that first managed to shake off the stunned lethargy. “We have to being doing something.” He told the other two, as they sat sipping wine in Isabela’s posh apartment. “Begin spreading more rumors, Bel, both inside and outside the castle. Tell the townsfolk that the plague came with the new soldiers. When the townsfolk start running tell the castle-folk that there is a plague in the city, and those that aren’t sick are running away.” We may need some support on this. I’ll get our navy friends on Isla Lemuy heading back to Soledad. If they move quickly they can reach there in just under two weeks. That will be our sign. The fleet arrives and we attack. The fleet can mop up afterward.”
“It sounds like a good plan.” Jineva felt depressed, and she couldn’t afford to. “What should I do?”
“We’re going to need somebody to sneak us into the harbor and drop us off at the lighthouse. You’d better have a long talk with Mateo.” Jineva groaned.
The boy crossed his arms across his chest and looked down his nose at her. “I want to come with you.” He was trying very hard to make his voice sound low and forceful. It came out sounding like he’d been coughing for a week.
Jineva batted her green eyes at him. “I couldn’t possibly have you do that.” She waited until he’d opened his mouth to reply before she continued. “I’ll need you to take command of my navy. Admiral Para will need somebody to tell him what to do.” Mateo’s jaws shut with a click.
“In charge of the navy?” Mateo’s eyes widened and his chest swelled. “I could do that.”
Jineva choked back a snicker. If Mateo even tried to tell Para what to do the admiral would have the boy manning an oar in a heartbeat. “I knew that you could do it.” It was everything both she and Meara could do to keep her face expressionless and calm. “Now I have to tell Admiral Para that you will be giving him orders.”
The flagship, a long trireme like her father’s had been, was a bustling chaos of activity, as men rushed about, packing sheaves of arrows and cases of food down into the central hold. She could see several water lighters, tubby oared boats heavy with fat casks of water putting off from the stone quays and heading for the fleet. It was obvious that Diego had been here first. Seeing the Admiral standing by the tall tiller in the rear, Jineva began wriggling her way aft between the shouting men, hoping that her small rowboat would still be there when she got back.
Admiral Para caught sight of her when she was still twenty feet away, and pulled her to safety. “What the bloody hells are you doing here, Jineva?”
She dodged around a man carrying an armful of ceramic swords. “I need to talk to you. It will only take a few minutes.”
“I’m rather busy right now.” Hernando Para looked like a different man. His dark eyes were bright, he was freshly shaven, his uniform was neat and he was smiling, despite the confusion. “Your uncle gave me my sailing orders.”
Jineva laughed. “I have a favor to ask of you.” Admiral Para gave her a cold look. “I need to use Mateo Vergara’s small schooner to sneak into Soledad harbor. The only way I could get it was to promise Mateo that he would be giving the navy their orders.” Para’s face darkened. “Just because he will be giving orders shouldn’t mean you have to accept, or even listen to them.” She continued hurriedly, pointing at the empty rows of seats for the rowers. “Mateo could probably give his orders just as well from there, as anywhere else. You follow the orders given you by Diego, I get the schooner to carry us into the bay, and Mateo gets to give orders, while you get a strong back at the oars. I never promised that he would be obeyed, of course. It’s a win-win situation.” The Admiral was chuckling now. “Except for Mateo, of course.”
“I should have known that you would have something up your sleeve.” Admiral Para paused at this point to give directions to a harried looking young officer, who gave his commander a brief salute before dashing off. “This operation sounds dangerous, Jineva. You take care of yourself.” He gave her a steady, fatherly look. “The entire Aztlán Archipelago needs you.”
“You sound just like Diego.”
“He’s a good man, listen to him.” He touched her shoulder briefly, and then straightened. “Now, get off my boat. I have things to do, and can’t spend all day chatting with pretty girls.” He gave her a wink, and she returned a brief salute.
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
~~~
Diego, Isabela and Jineva all stood on the stern deck of the small schooner Viajero del Alba, watching the sails of the fleet that were now hull-down on the distant horizon. No one spoke, and they all shared the same feelings of impending doom.
Jineva swallowed her fear, and broke the mood. “Has everything been prepared?”
Diego nodded. “The last of the stores were stowed this morning. We can set sail tomorrow. It won’t take us long to catch and pass the fleet.”
“How is the evacuation of Soledad and the castle coming?” This was Jineva’s greatest fear.
Bel’s look was sympathetic. “The city is virtually deserted. Once I let Camila in on the scheme, she’s been working tirelessly to spread rumors and fear. The castle is anoth
er story. We were able to convince about half the noncombatants to leave, and then Carlos sealed the gates. Only official patrols leave the castle and, thanks to Camila, only about half of them return. You couldn’t have done better, but now you’ve run out of time. I checked with Camila last night. Your father’s trading fleet has returned, loaded to the gunwales with stores and military supplies for an extended campaign. Rumor from the sailors say that the fleet will go to war in two weeks or less.”
Jineva shut her eyes.
“You forget that I, like Meara, can hear your thoughts when I want to.” Thallia’s voice murmured, close by her ear. Jineva’s eyes flew open.
“What! I...”
“Hush, and let me speak.” Diego and Isabela seemed frozen, unseeing, unspeaking. Nearby a seagull hung, wings outstretched, unflapping. “I will not have you flogging yourself for something that is beyond your control. You did better than I expected, better than I even thought possible, especially for one so young, but there are limits, young lady. The noncombatants will die because of Carlos. PERIOD! Have I made myself clear?” Jineva just nodded. “Good. Now, I’ll do my part in all this, and you do yours.”
“Yes, Thallia.”
“Good.” The frozen seagull flapped back to life.
Isabela gave Jineva a long look. “Diego told me about your plans for after the current campaign, assuming we win, of course.”
“We’ll win.” Jineva said in a very small voice.
“Do you have anyone in mind to be Mateo’s queen?”
The younger woman blinked in surprise. “No, I don’t.”
“Well, I have.” A wicked smile crept across Isabela’s face. “I recommend Camila.”
“WHAT!” Jineva gasped, just before she started to laugh. “Why?” She struggled to get the question out and regain her composure.
Bel had a wide smile. “Camila and I go way back, and Camila owes me several rather large favors, including her life among other things. She’s very good at running the business, and I had considered making her the owner of the Silver Garter when I... retired. She is also very skillful in other ways too. It won’t be too long before she is the one running the country, and not him.”
Jineva gave her aunt a hard look. “That means that you will be running the country.”
Isabela looked smug. “It appears that way.”
Jineva thought for all of three seconds. “I agree. Camila is a very good choice.” Putting a hand up to her mouth, she stifled a giggle. “Mateo doesn’t have a chance.”
“No, he doesn’t. I already have forgers drawing up documents asserting that Camila is the daughter of a destitute duke, the only surviving member of a noble household. I even happen to have a spare ducal signet ring lying around that I’m not using, at the moment.”
“I almost feel sorry for Mateo.”
“Don’t be. Camila is very good and very enthusiastic about her job, and he’s lucky he is fit. He’ll need his strength.”
The last of the sails had disappeared below the horizon as they spoke, and Jineva took Isabela’s arm with one hand, and Diego’s with the other. “The fleet is on its way now. We should have a good meal and get to bed early. The next few days may prove to be... taxing.”
Although the Viajero del Alba was faster, and the fleet had only left the day before, it took them four days to catch up with the navy ships, which surprised Diego until he noticed that the long sweeps were run out, in addition to the sails. Apparently, Diego mused to himself as they passed the straining fleet, Admiral Para had decided that his sailors needed a little exercise. The sky overhead was a pale robin’s-egg blue dotted with white puffy clouds, while slightly to starboard, the golden Thalassian rings seemed to provide a gateway to an unknown future. A cool wind was strong, but not dangerously so, and the striped sails of the fleet belled out like strange water-based clouds. By the time the fleet had fallen astern and disappeared, Isla Rivero was only a few days ahead.
Jineva and Azzktullua sat on the forward deck under the stars, as they had almost every night since they departed from Isla Lemuy. Since this was an attack on the castle itself, the Krathaa were providing defensive cover for Jineva and her family once they reached the lighthouse. Azzktullua, much to her aggravation, was staying with the schooner to act as a liaison between humans and Krathaa, but actually to keep her out of trouble. Gluznaak had been adamant about his daughter’s position in the upcoming battle. Jineva didn’t blame him, but his daughter certainly did.
“How are the warriors that were injured during the reconnaissance to the tunnels?” Jineva heard the Krathaa girl laugh quietly in the dark.
“The one you healed is going back into battle, while the one with the leg wound must stay behind because of his injury. He was complaining loudly when we left.”
“Almost as loudly as you complained when your father told you that you must stay on this boat?” Jineva was smiling at her small green friend.
“Not quite.”
“Why didn’t you heal him yourself?” The human girl asked in a curious voice.
Azzktullua’s mouth was hanging open, in a completely human gesture. “I didn’t think of it.” She was quite for several moments, before she laughed again. “Ripple, that’s the name of my K’ Dreex, says that all I had to do was ask. He’ll tell me if I forget, next time. I feel so stupid.”
Jineva touched the Krathaa girl’s arm. “We all feel silly when we deal with our new friends, for a while anyway.” She could feel Meara’s warm presence in the back of her mind, and it gave her comfort. “How is your father adjusting to his new friend?”
“Very well, I think. Sometimes he just bursts out laughing at some private joke Green Fin has told him. He says that he understands humans better now, and for some reason he loves you all the more. You will have to join with him to learn about our race, Jineva.”
“I look forward to it, when this is over.”
Chapter 15
“I told the helmsman to anchor on the west side of the small peninsula the lighthouse sits on. We will have to walk about half a mile in the dark, but that shouldn’t be too hard, for us.” The schooner was darkened, and slid like a wraith over the water in the dim gray light of Lethe. Hades the red moon, in its retrograde orbit, had already set, and Medin and Elysium hadn’t yet risen. The anchor clunked softly, and they all felt the boat come to a stop.
“All set!” A sailor’s whispered voice came out of the dark.
“Let’s go.” Diego led them to the stern, and down into the small rowboat they had been towing. The seaman in the stern of the schooner released the rowboat, giving them a cheerful wave as they drifted free. Diego rowed quietly while Isabela and Jineva huddled as low as they could. Behind them came sounds of the schooner getting back under way. They all felt very alone.
The small boat scraped on the beach as they pulled it up to a cluster of low bushes. Diego covered the boat while Jineva swept the sand with branches to make their footsteps and the sign of the boat landing disappear.
“Someone is coming.” Her voice was a bare hiss as the three people ducked. In the quiet she heard the sound of Diego drawing his knife. Hers was already out.
Boots tramped, and a heavy male voice laughed. Jineva counted six men in the patrol as they passed, close enough for her to smell the garlic on one of the soldier’s breath. If they had been just a few minutes slower...her hands began to shake.
Jineva took a deep breath.
“We were lucky.” Diego’s voice was soft. “They missed both us and the boat. We should go. Stay to the brush and we’ll try to follow the patrol. That way we’ll know if and when they turn back our way.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he headed out in the direction the patrol had gone.
Scratched and tired, they made it to the lighthouse half an hour later. The six-man patrol continued its way toward the castle. It was obvious from the footprints that the lighthouse had been checked, and when they arrived at the front door they found out why. A large ceramic lock hung from a heavy ironwood hasp. The door was locked. Diego lifted the lock and gave a low curse.
“I can break open the lock, but it will make noise that will alert the guards, and even if it doesn’t, they’ll find the broken lock when they return.”
“Use them, how?” Jineva whispered a reply to the empty air.
The sigh was almost audible.
“What? I don’t...”
“Oh. But how about the patrol?”
“What!” In the distance she heard a splash and soft muffled scream—quickly silenced.
Jineva’s mouth was dry as dust. “Thank you.” She put one small hand against the stone wall of the lighthouse tower, and pushed. The cold stone resisted for a second, and then her hand sank in. She kept pushing until her hand was in up to the shoulder, and then she closed her eyes. She kept pushing. When she couldn’t feel resistance any longer she opened her eyes. The small entry was as dark as a crypt. Jineva found the door by feel, and on an impulse pushed her head through. She looked up at Diego and grinned. “You might find it easier if you went through the door.” Her father whipped around, eyes wide. He was making little gasping noises. Behind him, his sister was laughing.
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