by F. E. Hubert
so the stones hid him from sight, in case someone on the outer ring of ships happened to be paying attention to anything besides the ships inside their trap.
He moved to turn left toward the cave, but the girl gave a tug that indicated she wanted to keep going forward.
“The wind won’t let me get home in time, but maybe I can get out far enough…”
She sounded like she knew it was a horrible plan.
“Too late, I’m afraid,” Dun shifted the ship so he could see what was happening on the water. “They’re on board.”
She dropped to her haunches. Too much white showed around the silver grey of her eyes and Dun saw how young she was. He’d eat his boots if she was a month over thirteen. Pretty though, in a harsh way. Life out on the water would only sharpen her features, but it would look good on her.
He caught the slack as her side of the tiny boat sagged. He didn’t have to pull hard to get her to let go, so he could push it up into the cave. Anyone that was really looking would find it, but it would be invisible from the water. The girl sat where he left her, staring out at the bay with a troubled frown.
“It’s my first day out,” Dun heard a tremor grow in her voice. “They attacked us—” She turned her grey eyes to plead with Dun. “Why would they attack us?”
“Good question,” He said under his voice, guiding her onto the trail and thinking about the real question that scratched his mind. Why hadn’t the Krake boats made a run for it when they still had a chance of escaping?
Kalis and Dun go shopping
The winds picked up during the night and by the time the sun showed its first light in the sky, people in the streets were glancing up at the sky, fearing a storm.
“No way you’re going to get to Krake through that.” Dun glanced out the window of his top floor apartment. You could see enough of the water outside the bay that even he could tell it would be choppy sailing. Kalis seemed strangely unperturbed, holding the cup of warm milk he just handed her before he went to look out the window.
“Not supposed to,” She sipped her drink, amused by the puzzled look on Dun’s face and stretching the moment. The silent girl from the day before turned into quite the vixen once her shock wore off. “The chief will have asked the Watermen to ask the sea gods for help: Anyone going out will be fighting the wind and the water before they get to our people.”
“Magics hmm..?” Dun nodded to himself. It made sense that the Krake had a pact with some of the sea deities, they spent almost all their lives sharing the waters. “Shame they didn’t think to make an exception for you.” When he looked back at her over his shoulder, she stuck out her tongue at him.
“Of course they did, land scratcher.” She stared past him, out at the sliver of grey sea visible through the window. “But it’ll still be steep going, so we’d have to get the boat into the water far enough from the channel to be sure I’d make it,” She took another sip of her milk. “If they haven’t found her yet.”
She was right. Dun took a last look at the unprecedented flotilla of ships floating in the bay and out to sea, facing the channel leading out. If they got back to her little boat and it turned out that yesterday’s attackers found it, they’d be in for serious trouble. The risk of walking into a trap was too great to go back there before they tried everything else they could think of.
“Let’s go and get some information before we deci—”
“Why are you helping me?” She pretended to be more interested in the view outside his window than his answer, but he heard the tension in her voice. It was a valid question and he wished he knew the answer.
“Not sure myself,” He tilted his head in question. “Does it matter?”
“Guess not.” She shrugged and put her empty cup on the table. “So where are we getting this information?”
After seeing the curious looks people gave Kalis when they walked back to his house the afternoon before, he decided that she needed a disguise. Something to hide that odd wobbling boater’s gait of hers. She thought he was joking at first, but soon saw the point of hiding that she wasn’t just another city dweller. They were heading for the section of the docks where the fabric merchants had their stalls and shops and the last thing they needed was for people to make the connection between her walking like a water rat and the line of Krake ships floating just outside the harbour.
“Could you stop scowling like a sailor?”
“I am a sailor.” Kalis said under her breath, forcing a smile on her lips.
He looked down at the figure walking beside him. She was wearing one of Vera’s long riding mantles with the hood up, effectively hiding all of her under a layer of plum-blue velvet. She still attracted attention, but it was the sort of attention any pretty girl would get.
“Okay, there’s Muki. Remember, you’re a demure, shy little girl who likes pretty things.” He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her nod before he stepped up to the trader with his hands open in greeting.
“Dun, my friend. What brings you out on the docks on a day like this?”
“My niece came to stay with me last week and I promised her a new cape,” He gave the merchant a conspiring wink. “Kay, say hello and tell Muki what you like.” Dun looked out over the water of the harbour, while Muki pulled out rolls of fabric to show Kalis.
It looked like every ship in the city’s guard was rigged and manoeuvring the expanse of the bay. The city rolling its muscles.
Nearer to the mouth of the bay was what looked like the attacking ships from the day before, facing the line of Krake ships just on the other side of the channel.
“What’s going on out there?”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” The merchant leaned his elbow on a roll of green brocade. “So far they’re not blocking anyone from going in or out, but those of us with shipments coming in are getting worried.” He shot Dun a broad grin and patted at his wares. “Of course, what’s already in will sell like hotcakes if they do block it.”
“But, why would anyone do such a thing?” Dun almost didn’t recognize the tentative voice as belonging to Kalis “Did something happen?” She managed to sound aghast at the general thought of bad things happening, and tentatively hopeful that someone would have a good explanation for her. He had to bite his cheek not to laugh.
“There was something of an altercation between them,” The merchant pointed a stubby finger at the cluster of boats on their side of the channel. “And the Krake out there.” Now he pointed out to the line of ships out at sea. He waved a dismissive hand at the rest of the ships on the water. “The city guard’s woken up and is trying to make sure they don’t involve anyone else in their fight.”
“They got into a fight with the Krake?” Dun shook his head. “That doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do.”
“I know, right?” The merchant leaned both arms on the wood of the counter, his bales of precious fabric forgotten. “Rumour is, it’s The Path.”
“What’s the path?” Kalis blinked at the merchant with wide-eyed innocence.
“Well, I’m not sure if…” Dun nodded for him to tell her. Muki hesitated for another moment, doubting stories about The Path were appropriate for young ladies, but his love for gossip won out.
“They’ve been in the city gods-know how long, used to be just another group of religious fanatics,” He waved a hand at the temple district. “But then, a couple of years ago, they took over the black markets. And I mean took over. All the other gangs are as good as gone. There’s some left, but only small time fishes. The Path is the only real player.”
“And now they have it in for the Krake?” Dun asked.
“Seems like. They attacked some of their ships yesterday,” He pointed a thumb at one of the islands hugging the shore a little way into the bay. “Took who- or whatever was on it out there, boats too.”
Dun looked at the island the merchant pointed out. It looked more like a boulder than an island, all he saw were steep rocks separated from the mainland by a
narrow strip of water. Ragged cliffs of stone marked the edges on both sides in a sharp line, like it used to be part of the mainland not too long ago.
Rough stones formed a natural limit to the city a ways from the gorge, just a few solitary houses straggled up the rise.
“Not a good thing, if you ask me.” The merchant checked if there was no one in earshot and dropped his voice. “The Path is powerful, but out on the water? They’ll get creamed, you mark my words.”
They left Muki a good while later with a length of blue-green silk and a lot of gossip. After they dropped the cloth off at a seamstress, they returned to the top floor of the old warehouse where he and Vera lived. The bottom floors were condemned and their entrances blocked from the outside. The stairs of an adjacent building led to the roof of an outbuilding, from there another flight of rickety stairs led to the top floors.
Inside, it looked like a palace. The extravagant carpet in the hall muffled their steps and Dun gestured Kalis to follow him into the side room they used as a kitchen. In the places the plush tapestries didn’t line up, you could see the holes where the plaster had fallen down from the walls, showing the bare beams of the building’s framework.
He put a pot of water on the metal stove in the corner before sitting down. The lush glow of the antique wooden table struck a stark contrast to the peeling window frame.
Kalis hadn’t said a word since they left the