The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (21 page)

Bifor looked like he disagreed, but he didn't get to
voice these disagreements because Malock continued speaking:

“As it is unlikely that the spy will out him- or
herself, I have therefore devised a method to weed him or her out,”
said Malock.

He reached into the folds of his boat cloak and
pulled out something too small for Kinker to see. He held it up for
everyone to see, but even then, all Kinker could make out was that
it was just big enough to fit in Malock's hand.

“I hope everyone can see this deck of cards in my
hand,” said Malock. “These are divination cards, commonly used by
Tinkarians to determine the future and fate of other beings. I
myself carry this particular pack of cards for this reason, even
though I am not personally a follower of Tinkar.”

“That's odd,” said Kinker. “He carries a pack of
those cards but isn't a Tinkarian himself?”

“That's actually not very strange,” said Bifor.
“Royalty commonly carry divination cards and use them regularly to
determine their own future and the future of their kingdoms. Even
those who openly scorn fortune-telling and divination still keep
some on them.”

“Oh,” said Kinker. “Do they really work, then?”

Bifor folded his arms. “Depends. I've always been
skeptical of their use. Most divination card decks are fakes,
anyway, manufactured by scam artists who see a way to make easy
money off gullible royals. I wouldn't be surprised if the Captain's
own deck is a fake.”

“So do real ones work, then?”

Bifor opened his mouth to answer, but Jenur swatted
his arm and hissed, “Malock's speaking. You two, talk about this
later. I'm trying to hear him.”

Bifor shot her a rather angry look before returning
his attention to Malock, who was now explaining his method to out
the spy.

“You are all probably wondering how these cards will
tell us who the spy is,” said Malock as he shuffled the cards.
“It's quite simple. There are one hundred and nine cards in this
deck, the exact same number as the crew. Banika has set up a table
here, which I will sit behind. You sailors will then organize into
a line, coming up to the table one by one. You will then take the
top card on the deck and show its face to me.”

Malock held up the face of one of the cards, but
again it was too far for Kinker to see properly.

“Each card has a picture of a god or goddess on its
face,” said Malock. “In divination, they normally are used to
determine the individual's fate; in this case, however, the one who
draws the Tinkar card will be the spy.”

The crowd went into an uproar. Even though it was
difficult to hear their individual voices, Kinker knew exactly why
they were upset.

Malock raised his hands to quiet down the crowd.
“Quiet, all of you! This is a time-honored technique used by
Carnagian royalty for generations to root out spies and traitors.
Not only that, but I have shuffled the deck so thoroughly that not
even I know the order in which the cards lay. My belief is that
fate will out the spy for us, which is ironic, really, when you
consider that the spy is a Tinkarian.”

“That doesn't sound very reliable to me,” said
Kinker as the rest of the sailors continued to yell obscenities at
their Captain.

“Same here,” said Jenur. “What if someone innocent
picks up the Tinkar card? Is he going to hand over the wrong person
to the messenger?”

“He's right about one thing, though,” said Bifor.
“Carnagian royalty has used this exact method in the past to
discover spies among their servants.”

“Has it really worked as well as Malock says it
does?” said Kinker.

Bifor shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes, they got the
wrong man. And some cases are still being debated by Carnagian
historians today. Depends on who you listen to.”

“There must surely be a more reliable way to out the
spy,” said Kinker. “What about you, Bifor? Can't you use your magic
to read everyone's minds or something?”

Bifor folded his arms across his massive chest and
shook his head. “I'm not a telemancer. I know enough telemancy to
perform telekinesis, but I can't read peoples' minds. Telepathy is
an extremely difficult to learn technique that requires years of
commitment to Hamin, Goddess of the Mind. Being a follower of
Xocion, I've never had the opportunity to learn it.”

The crowd kept yelling at Malock and one sailor near
the front even tossed a boot at him. The Captain dodged the boot
and yelled, “I am your Captain and what I say goes! Besides, there
is only one spy. There is a low chance any of you will draw the
Tinkar card, so what do you have to worry about if you know you
aren't the spy? I want everyone to get organized into a line right
now or else I will have Banika flog you. Got it?”

Despite their continued grumbling, the sailors began
to organize into a line that started at the table at the front and
twisted and turned from the quarter deck to the bow. Banika and
Vashnas helped organization, going up and down the line to make
sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. Kinker found
himself four from the back, with Jenur, Deddio, an aquarian sailor
whose name he didn't know, and Bifor behind him.

Once the line settled down, it slowly but tensely
began to advance. Every time a sailor picked up a card to reveal
that it was a god or goddess other than Tinkar, the line grew
tenser. Even Kinker, who knew for a fact that he was not a spy,
felt the tension fill his bones, making it difficult if not
impossible to remain calm. He just hoped that Malock knew what he
was doing.

“So who do you think the spy is?” Jenur said to
Kinker as they both watched Arisha Frag pass them, looking quite
relieved as she went to join the others that had already picked a
card.

Kinker looked ahead and behind him quickly. “No
idea. I didn't even know there was a spy on this ship until today.
It could be anybody.”

“Do you think it's me?” Jenur asked.

Kinker shook his head immediately. “No. Why would I
ever think that?”

“Just wanted to be sure,” said Jenur. “When you said
it could be
anybody
... well ...”

Kinker patted her on the shoulder. “Jenur, I'd never
suspect you of being a spy. I know you well enough to trust that
you would never intentionally sabotage this voyage. You're a better
person than that.”

Jenur smiled and even looked a little embarrassed.
“Thanks, Kinks. I mean it.”

“What about me?” said Deddio, who was behind Jenur.
“Am I on your list of suspects?”

“I don't believe anyone on the fishing crew could
possibly be a spy,” said Kinker. “So you don't have to worry about
that, Deddio.”

Deddio sighed in relief as the lined moved forward.
“Of course, I suppose it doesn't really matter if you think I'm a
spy or not. Only what the cards say matter.”

Kinker nodded. “Unfortunately.”

Perhaps it was the tension that permeated the air,
but the line seemed to take forever to go forward. Some sailors
wept with joy when they drew a card and it turned out to be a deity
other than Tinkar. Others simply got on their hands and knees and
praised whatever deity whose card they had drawn, some even
pledging their lives to that particular deity right there and then
if they hadn't before. Kinker prayed a quick prayer to Kano that he
wouldn't be the one who drew the Tinkar card.

Finally, after what seemed like hours (though it was
probably only an hour and a half, if even that), Kinker's turn
finally came. Malock was sitting in front of his stateroom on a
rickety old chair on the other side of the wooden table, his hands
folded. Vashnas stood by his side, a hand on his shoulder, while
Banika stood on the table's right, probably ready to grab whoever
drew the Tinkar card.

There were now only five cards left, making the deck
small and flat. A large pile of cards lay scattered to the deck's
right, all of the cards that the other sailors had drawn, all of
them not Tinkar. The backs of the cards were emblazoned with a
shooting star, while the faces featured stylized depictions of each
god or goddess.

Before Kinker drew his, he glanced between Vashnas
and Banika and said, “Have they drawn theirs yet?”

“Yep,” said Malock. “Vashnas got Hollech. Banika got
Yaona. They're both safe.”

Kinker gulped. “Okay, then. Good to know.”

“Don't be so worried,” said Malock. “I don't suspect
you of being the spy at all. Just want to be thorough and fair. No
need to take it personally.”

Kinker didn't know how to respond to that, so he
simply reached down with a shaking hand, grabbed the top card of
the deck, and flipped it over onto its face.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was
Kano, not Tinkar, on the card's face.

Malock smiled. “Knew it couldn't be you. All right.
You can go now and let the next person come forward.”

“Y-Yes,” said Kinker, who hadn't realized until now
just how tense he had been. “Of course.”

Kinker walked a few feet away from the table and
then stopped to watch. Only Jenur, Deddio, the aquarian sailor, and
Bifor were left, which meant that one of them had to be the spy.
Kinker didn't think any of them could be the spy. Well, okay, the
aquarian sailor (who he was pretty sure was a member of the
cleaning crew, though he couldn't be sure) was suspicious, but he
doubted that Jenur, Deddio, or Bifor were the spy. It just didn't
seem possible.

Jenur came up next. She strode up to the table
without hesitation, threw a confident smile in Kinker's direction,
and, without saying a word, flipped over the top card of the
deck.

A loud
gasp
came from Malock and Vashnas and
the next moment, Jenur was pinned to the deck by Banika. The
boatswain had twisted Jenur's arms behind her back and was putting
a pair of large, rusted shackles around her wrists.

“Hey!” Jenur shouted, struggling against Banika's
hold on her. “It was a mistake! I'm innocent!”

Kinker stepped forward, a hand held out, but then
Malock noticed him and said, “Don't, Kinker. Otherwise, Banika will
have to arrest you, too.”

“But ... why?” said Kinker, though he already knew
the answer. “Why is Banika arresting her?”

Malock held up the card Jenur had drawn. On it was a
picture of an elderly man, his skin as pale as the sandy beaches of
Ikadori Island, covered in robes with clocks etched in them, a
large sundial topping his staff.

“She drew the right card,” said Malock, sounding
triumphant. “Tinkar, the God of Fate. Now take her to my stateroom,
Banika, and make sure she can't get free. I don't want that spy
causing any more problems for us ever again.”

***

I
t was amazing how quickly the tide of
opinion turned against Jenur. Not an hour earlier most of the crew
had thought that Jenur was just like the rest of them: hardworking,
loyal to the ship and Captain, and willing to do whatever necessary
to get Malock to World's End. Among the fishing crew, Jenur had
been almost like family. At the very least, she had been liked and
respected and no one had ever thought there was anything suspicious
about her.

Now, however, wherever Kinker went, he heard sailors
bashing Jenur. Some said they should have seen it all along. After
all, she rarely, if ever, talked about her past to anyone, had not
even told anyone which God she worshiped. Her badmouthing of Malock
was well-known and a few of the older sailors (not including
Kinker) pointed out how youngsters nowadays weren't as respectful
of authority nowadays.

All of these attacks on Jenur's character made
Kinker mad. He got so mad, in fact, that he actually punched out
the aquarian sailor who had been behind Jenur. The sailor, whose
name was Ranof and who resembled a starfish, was saying that he'd
once overheard Jenur planning to kill Malock in his sleep, a lie so
wrong that Kinker didn't regret punching him at all.

Unfortunately, Ranof was a lot younger than Kinker
and as a result a lot stronger. He soundly knocked Kinker off his
feet in one blow and probably would have wailed on the old man if
Malock—who had been walking around ordering the sailors back to
work—had not stepped in and broke up the fight. He sent Ranof below
deck to clean out the hold and helped Kinker to his feet.

“What was that all about, Kinker?” said Malock,
watching as Ranof stomped toward the hatch. “I've never seen you
get into a fight with anybody before. What made you attack
Ranof?”

Kinker pulled his arm out of Malock's hands and
glared at the captain. “He said that Jenur was planning to
assassinate you. I was merely correcting him.”

“Correcting him?” said Malock. “Is that what you
Destanians call punching someone out?”

“Don't play dumb with me, young man,” said Kinker.
“You know Jenur is innocent. She saved you from Garnal and led the
rebellion that saved the whole ship from the Gray Pirates. That is
proof enough of her innocence.”

Malock looked out over bulwarks. They were standing
on the starboard side of the ship, which was where Ranof had been
entertaining some friends with that horrible lie of his. Ranof's
friends had fled the minute Kinker had punched him, however, so it
was just Malock and Kinker now.

“Well, I admit that is one point in her favor,” said
Malock. “But you know, I didn't choose her. The cards did. And the
cards are never wrong.”

“Never?” said Kinker. “Bifor told me that they don't
always work.”

“What does Bifor know?” said Malock. “He's a
pagomancer. He doesn't know anything about fate or the future.”

“But you must still recognize that this is wrong,”
said Kinker. “Jenur has always proved herself an innocent friend,
ally, and fisherman. Sure, she's always been blunt about her
opinions, but in all the time I've known her, I have never heard
her utter even one word against this voyage.”