by David Bell
“My ship is the Davina. There will never be another as beautiful as she is.”
Leilia came to the door of the big workshop and raised a hand to them. Until that moment, Sharesh had not thought of her as so beautiful. She saw something in his look and lowered her eyes for a moment.
“Naudok is at work,” she said. “For the first time in days. The earth-shaking so occupied his mind.”
“Deliberating as to its cause, I suppose,” said Kanesh.
“He spoke of it to me. His idea is dangerous, I think.”
“In that case, I am eager to hear it,” said Kanesh, smiling.
“I forget myself,” she said. “Speaking only of my own concerns and not welcoming you on your safe return. The Lady Mother was with you, that is clear.”
“At times it was difficult to believe that,” said Kanesh. “Eh, Sharesh? Sharesh!”
He came to himself with a start, confused. His mind went back to what he had confided in her, about being lost in the dark corridors deep under the Palace, and finding himself in the room where he should not have been but where he was meant to be, and about Pasipha. He had poured out his fears and feelings like a frightened child but he was a man now and ashamed of what she knew about him. She had told him he had been tempted. He had gone beyond temptation with her then and he was tempted again, now. And the worst and best about this was that she saw that he was. He did not know what to say. He looked away and gabbled something about storms and deserts. She waited until he ran out of words.
“The pipes at your belt: you came by them on the voyage?” He nodded.
“And became a singer of songs, sea songs, lullabies, love songs? Sometimes I sing to Naudok: always the same song at the same time of night.”
All he could do was nod again and feel foolish and hope that, one day, she might ask him to sing for her.
“I’m glad that’s done for today,” said Kerma. “It scrapes all the skin off your fingers, that pumice.”
“Has anybody asked you about what we did, where we went and what we found; anything at all?” said Myrtias.
“All that any of them have asked me about was the ship; how she sailed, what was she like in a rip current, how did she steer, how could we let her get holed: nothing but the ship. You try telling these shipwrights anything about sea monsters and savage women and getting drunk and fighting pirates and before you’ve got two words out of your mouth, they’re starting to yawn. If you want people to know what it was really like, find a poet, or storyteller and tell him. Nobody listens to a sailor but they’ll believe any yarn a storyteller spins for them. Hand me that jug.”
“How much more of this work on the ship? I wouldn’t mind a night in that tavern, you know, the one with the girls next door.”
“Another day, maybe a bit more. I heard the skipper telling the lord he wants her back in the water in two days.”
“Look, they’ve found something,” said Sharesh.
He was sitting in the dunes above the beach. Namun lay on his back, with his head on a tuft of salt grass, eyes closed, dozing. The two of them had finished their work for the day and decided to walk round the bay to the far point and watch Leptos and Leptos in their small boat casting their nets in the hunt for supper. Namun sat up and looked out to sea. He had to shade his eyes against the glitter of the waves.
“What is it? Dolphin, spearfish? It’s got a fin, or something sticking up. Look big?”
“Too big; might be a tree trunk. There’s lots of them floating out there since the earth-shaking.”
“It hasn’t any roots. They’ve thrown a line over it. Leptos has dived in.”
“You’re right. He’s grabbed it, swung it round. It’s a boat!” cried Namun. “Come on, let’s give them a hand.”
There was a man in the bottom of the boat. He looked dead. They paddled and pulled the boat ashore and lifted him out. He lay crumpled and limp on the sand. One Leptos gently lifted up his head and the other squeezed water from a skin flask onto his blistered lips. His head began to move and his mouth opened a crack. Leptos carefully let more drops fall in. The man opened his crusted eyelids at last and croaked something they could not understand. Leptos gave him more water, a few drops at a time.
“Go and tell the skipper,” said Namun to Sharesh. “And bring some of the others to help carry him. Run!”
It was a long time before the man could speak clearly enough for Potyr to understand him. He had had a long way to go but all went well at first and then, in the middle of the night, a sudden squall of wind had nearly capsized him. The mast broke and went by the board, carrying the sail with it. Trying to reach for it in the water he’d lost one of his oars. Not much you can do at sea with only one oar. After that, he drifted wherever the waves and current sent him. His voice began to fade as exhaustion overcame him. Potyr put his ear close to the man’s raw lips to catch the last whispers before he fell unconscious. He got quickly to his feet and called for Sharesh to be brought.
“There is no horse, so you must run. Kanesh will be at the harbour, or at the port controller’s house with Lord Sekara. Tell him what we have found. Away, now.”
“Where is he?” demanded Kanesh, sliding down from his horse.
“Dead asleep,” said Potyr. “If you wake him, you will get nothing but nonsense from him.”
“He’s from Kallista, isn’t he? If not, you would never have sent for me.”
“He is; a fisherman from Balloso. Wait, leave him. I can tell you what he said. Kallista suffered badly in the earth-shaking: worse than here, from what I can judge. The harbour is open but there is much damage in the town. People have been killed; how many, he could not say.”
“They will need help.”
“That is why he came, to seek help and warn us.”
“I will go to Sekara at once. I left him at the harbour.”
Kanesh took a few steps towards his waiting horse, stopped and came back to look suspiciously at Potyr.
“You say he came all the way from Kallista to ask for help; one man in a miserable fishing boat? Why no ship, no despatch from Koreta? What is he warning us about?”
“I was about to tell you. He came to warn us. Pirates have taken the town. Two black ships we know of. There may be more. They forced the harbour in a surprise night attack and were pillaging and firing the town before any defence could be organised. They must have complete control by now. There is one piece of good news: Koreta seems to have got away to another part of Kallista.”
Kanesh’s eyes blazed with fury but his voice was calm. “What news is there of the Lady Akusha?”
“There is none.”
“We need the ship, men, weapons, supplies, archers, we must have more archers. We must strike fast and hard, surprise them as they surprised the town; surprise them as we did at Gaiduros.”
“We had three ships at Gaiduros.”
“Sekara must give us more, and more men. He must see that this raid has to be smashed, or Keftiu will suffer for it. Do what you can here. I’m for the Palace. Sekara will be in his quarters there by now.”
Kanesh swung himself off the sweating horse’s back and strode past Ektan, leaving him to pick up the reins.
“Wait, sir, wait. Let me tell him. He’s at his bath, sir. You can’t…” the old orderly’s words trailed away. He led the horse away to rub her down, muttering to himself.
“Proper ways of doing things… not like him to rush in like that without a word… still, must be something important if it’s him.”
It was a hot evening and the room was even hotter from the water that the boys had been pouring over Sekara from their long, slender jars. Kanesh waved the boys away with a brusque sweep of his arm. They hesitated, looking at Sekara. He glanced at Kanesh, reached for the thick cloth that one boy held out and sent them both from the bathroom with a jerk of his head. He hated his bath to be disturbed and his face was dark with annoyance.
“I hope you have good reason for cutting short my first bath in days.”
�
�You will have water enough before long as I am sure you have been told by now. What I have to ask is more important than your bath. Kallista has been captured and the town sacked, by pirates. I am fitting out a force to retake it and I need the Davina and two other ships from the Palace fleet to carry us there. I have most of the Davina crew but I need more men, trained men, all fully armed and I need archers. These brigands must be made to wish they had never been born.”
“I agree.”
“Good. Now, when may I have the ships and the men? We must not delay.”
“It cannot be done.”
Kanesh stared at him. “Cannot be done’? You know it must be done. You have said as much yourself, man.”
“Yes, yes; of course it must be done; when we can do it properly, once and for all. But as for now, it cannot be done. My men are spread all over the province, keeping order, distributing supplies, repairing houses, roads, bridges, searching the ruins, finding lost children. The Palace fleet is fully engaged, bringing in food and other vital cargo or taking it out to places where it is needed. I have neither men nor ships to spare for Kallista at this time.”
“Then I shall take the Davina and what good men I can gather together and do your work for you.”
“The Davina is too useful to us here, what with her speed and load carrying. I have given orders for her to be brought into the Palace harbour. Until further notice from me, she will be part of the Palace fleet.”
Kanesh walked out without another word.
When he galloped back into the bay, Kanesh found what he had hardly dared hope would be done. Although it was almost dusk, the Davina was moored offshore, broadside to the beach, and surrounded by men and boats loaded with stores and supplies that were being heaved and hauled onboard. Riggers had hung the new sail and were now furling it. The voice of Typhis boomed from the hold where he was making sure cargo and ballast were properly placed to give the ship good trim. Potyr stood near the water’s edge, watching everyone and everything. Next to him was Sharesh, marking his tablets as best he could. Kanesh came across the sand, limping after so much hard riding.
“How soon?
“After sunset,” replied Potyr, without taking his eye of the comings and goings. “The fisherman?”
“Leilia will see to him.”
“Where is Namun?”
“On the deck, forward. He has some caulking to finish.”
“There is a chest hidden away in the storehouse that I need. It contains some of the yellow earths we took from Korus. Namun is the one to find it and persuade Naudok to release it, should he come across him.”
“Call Namun,” said Potyr to Sharesh.
“The black caulking,” said Kanesh. “How much remains?”
Potyr eyed him thoughtfully. “Enough for our needs,” he said. “I can tell by your face that you have something else to say.”
“Sunset may be too late. Sekara intends to seize your ship. His men may already be on their way here. We can foil him if we sail now, or at least as soon as the stores on those boats have been stowed onboard, and Namun has brought me the chest.”
“For Kallista, the wind and current are against us.”
“But favourable for heading along the coast to the harbour, is that not so? Sekara will not expect that. The harbour first: I have some talking to do there and I do not mean to Merida. He would have no wish to see his precious ship sailing into a sea battle.”
“We lack crew. The Kydona men left for their homes earlier today.”
“I can see men who were working on the other ship helping with our loading. Have Kerma and Typhis make sure that some of the youngest and strongest are still on board when we leave.”
“Stay here. I will go aboard and make ready to sail.”
Namun appeared and after a few words from Kanesh was sent off at once on his quest, clearly pleased to have been given an important and mysterious job to do.
Kanesh turned to Sharesh who had been silently marking his tablets and listening to everything that had been said.
“Are you ready for this? It will be hard, much harder than we had it with the pirates at the mouth of the Kharron.”
“Harder than fighting the King of Boars?” Kanesh did not return the joke.
“We will not know that until the last arrow has been loosed,” he said.
The sun was halfway below the horizon and the sea was beginning to darken when Typhis set his rudder larboard and, under light pressure from the oars, the Davina began to turn her bow slowly seawards. Namun had reappeared at the very last moment, staggering down the beach under the weight of a chest on his shoulders, flinging it into a boat and paddling furiously out to the ship. Kerma hauled him over the side with one hand and the chest with the other. The boat was left to drift where it might.
Namun sat on the deck, soaking wet and gasping for breath. He looked up at Kanesh who had come down from the stern deck to take the chest.
“Couldn’t find it at first. Naudok had it. Just handed it over when I asked him. Said he knew what it was for and did we have the right oil. Wouldn’t tell me anything else. Gave me a very funny look.”
The archers who were guarding the harbour were billeted in a half-empty warehouse near the gate. The Captain of Archers and Kanesh sat apart from the others, on opposite sides of a rough table, facing each other.
“If what you say is right, there will be a messenger from the Deputy Commander on his way at this moment with orders for me to seize the ship and maybe arrest you.”
“That is very likely,” said Kanesh.
The Captain of Archers put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasped hands. He looked long and hard at Kanesh.
“The Lord Sekara is my commanding officer. What you are asking me to do is disobey what will be a direct order.”
“That is correct. The penalty will be dismissal from your post, disgrace and possibly imprisonment. Will you come with us?”
A rueful grin spread across the archer’s face. “We’ve been through a lot together, you and me. I never thought I would hear myself say it, but I grew to like that ship. Besides, I never could resist the chance of a good fight.”
Kanesh took his hand. “Get your men,” he said. “We sail the moment you are on board.”
“We’ll be on the first ship to go back,” said Sharesh. “What do you think it will be like?”
“Never think about it until you have to deal with it,” said Namun. “That’s what Kerma says.”
“You have to think about it so you can deal with it, whatever it is.”
“Well, think about this, then. Leilia told me she had a message for you.”
“What was it?”
“She said you’d know what it was. You know, you’re very funny about women. You didn’t see her waving to us from the point, did you? She was there. Hey, there’s the lord coming along the jetty. He’s got some archers with him.”
“Typhis is looking for us. Get to your line on the bow. Is Luzar on board?”
“Still digging that fancy lady’s garden, you can be sure. We shan’t see him on this little journey.”
You may be right, Sharesh thought, as he made his way to the stern, but we haven’t seen the last of Luzar, you can be sure of that as well. He heard Namun call after him.
“I forgot to say. Leilia had another message for you. Your mother’s here, on Keftiu, at the sanctuary.”
The ship was well out to sea before Sharesh had a chance to tell Kanesh Leilia’s message. Kanesh siezed the rail with both hands and, for a moment, Sharesh thought he was about to jump overboard and swim back to shore.
Kanesh turned to him. “Sekara,” he whispered. “Why did he not tell me?” Sharesh gripped his arm. “She will be safer there than on Kallista.”
The servant lit two more perfumed oil lamps, bowed and left the room. The Labarna’s envoy to the Palace of Kunisu leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and breathed in the subtle scent of cendara. He made a mental note to request the
pleasure of the Lady Pasipha’s company once more, so that he could express his appreciation of her gift in an appropriate way. After a while he sat up reluctantly, opened his eyes and began to look over what the scribe had written. The sheets of wadij rustled dryly at his touch. Really, the fellow should be dismissed: there were several errors and one serious omission. The envoy took up the pointed reed and made the corrections himself. Far safer that no scribe should become aware that he could read and write.
He ran quickly through the formal titles, praises, compliments, prayers and servile protestations that began any address to the sovereign and read on:
Say to the Great King this is what his servant says, a recent earth shaking has had serious effect and caused much consternation in the land of Keftiu. Although the Palace itself seems to have suffered little as far as its fabric is concerned, there are reports of fire and looting at Paitoia and of the flight of many peasants from the fertile plain governed by that palace. The Governor of Setuja, summer residence of the Palace of Kunisu, lies buried with many of his staff under the ruins of his mansion. At Setuja itself, the sacred spring that charged the tanks feeding water along conduits to Kunisu, has run dry. Fear that the cisterns may become empty, a situation that it was thought would be bound to lead to unrest among the people, has abated now that the water supply has been restored. A trusted informant, a foreman in charge of the relevant work, confides that the supply now comes from a new spring located higher in the hills above Setuja and that this was discovered by a person whose name is prominent in our files (a later despatch will convey all recent information concerning him) and two of his associates, one of whom we also know; the other, a man of striking if primitive appearance, is reputed to be gardener to the Commander, an allegation that I intend personally to research. The method by which this hitherto unknown spring was discovered has not yet been divulged but discreet enquiries are under way. Work on restoring order, ensuring a reasonable distribution of essentials and proceeding with repairs is gathering pace. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the wealth and prosperity of the land have suffered serious reverse, bringing with it a certain vulnerability that it may be possible to exploit.