The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality Book 4) (8 page)

The woman in uniform studied Mari. “Do you claim any other title, Lady Mechanic?”

Alain answered before Mari could, his voice as Mage cold and unfeeling as it had ever been. That gave it more authority, as if one of the statues had suddenly begun speaking. “She claims nothing. She has been foreseen to be the one foretold, the one known as the daughter. Master Mechanic Mari will bring a new day to this world.”

The old woman leaned forward, intent. “The Mages have seen this? She is the one?”

“It has been seen. I have seen it,” Alain said.

With a sharp gesture the old woman caused the man to one side of her to produce a document bound between stout panels of wood. “We have the prophecy, Sir Mage. The prophecy as given to Jules herself, recorded in the words of Jules. The Mages have always denied the prophecy existed. We knew otherwise. Why does a Mage now admit to it?”

“Because I have seen it,” Alain said.

Colonel Faron spoke from near the door. “The Mage Guild wants her dead, wants it badly enough that they have demanded our assistance in ensuring that happens. I have never before heard of the Mages openly seeking the death of a particular Mechanic.”

“Hmmph,” the old woman commented wordlessly. She opened the document to read out loud. “The Mage came upon me in the twilight just before night, as rain fell and darkened the world even more. He looked upon me and his eyes widened. I had never seen a Mage show such feelings. He pointed at me and spoke in an odd voice.
A daughter of your blood will someday overthrow the Mage Guild and the Guild of the Mechanics. She will unite Mages, Mechanics, and the common people to save this world and free the common people from their service to the Guilds. Only through her can the new day come and halt the Storm that will otherwise consume all.
After he stopped speaking, the Mage looked frightened and stumbled off through the rainfall. I lost sight of him quickly and hastened back to my ship, which was already preparing to leave port. I told no one, but later learned that the Mage Guild was vigorously seeking a woman seen in Caer Lyn. Some women in Caer Lyn who resembled me were reported to have vanished, though of course the Mage Guild refused to answer any questions about them. I still feel guilt for those innocents who must have died because of their resemblance to me, but I know when the Mage Guild finally learns who I am they will seek to ensure my death and those of any of my children. I will take steps to prevent that, no matter the pain it causes me. This is my sworn account of the prophecy, as I heard it and saw it. Jules of Landfall and Julesport.”

Colonel Faron was staring at Mari. “On the ship, she had Mechanics and Mages behind her, following her orders, and the captain and crew were following her as well.”

“So.” The old woman looked at Alain. “What say you, Sir Mage?”

“I was told the prophecy said what you have told us,” Alain said.

“May I ask by whom?”

“A Mage elder.”

The old woman tapped her teeth with one fingernail. “Did she tell you of this Storm?”

“She did,” Alain said. “And I have seen it, as have many other Mages in recent years. It threatens all, just as the prophecy says.”

“What sort of storm?” the woman in uniform asked.

“A Storm born of the built-up frustrations of the common people,” Alain said. “They will rise, and destroy. Armies will clash, cities fall, all will be laid waste. Though you seek to hide your knowledge, I can see that you know this Storm approaches as we speak.”

The old woman sagged back in her chair, the prophecy lying in her lap. “And now a young woman comes to us. A young woman wearing the dark jacket of a Mechanic, one of those who have enslaved us for time out of mind. With her is a Mage, one of those who have treated us even worse than the Mechanics. And they say they will save us. Would you believe this, Lady Mechanic?”

Mari felt a sudden rush of sympathy for the old woman. “I’m sorry. I can’t be anyone other than who I am. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want it. But I am told it is a job given to me, and when I am given a job to do, I get that job done.”

The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You, a Mechanic, apologize to us? Why?”

“Because I believe in doing the right thing,” Mari said.

“And she has shown me how to do the right thing,” Alain added.

The woman in uniform rubbed one hand across her brow. “You must know what we’re facing, Lady Mechanic. If the Mechanics Guild learns of your presence in this city, they will demand that Julesport turn you over or be placed under a Guild interdict and be banned from receiving the service of any Mechanic. The Mage Guild would retaliate in even worse ways. And always the Empire seeks justification for another war on hopes of finally gaining a foothold beyond the Southern Mountains. What do you want from Julesport?”

“Nothing,” Mari said. “Except an averted gaze. We need to take on supplies. We’ll pay for them. Once we’ve loaded the food and water we require, we will be gone,” she promised. “I do not want Julesport crushed because of me.”

“Tell me,” the old woman said, “why we should not hand you over to the Great Guilds, who have promised immense rewards for your bodies, alive or dead.”

Mari felt anger at the question, but also weariness. Why did it even have to be asked? And yet she knew it would be. “Why not? Because it would mean your continued slavery. You would be selling your chance at freedom. How much is the Mechanics Guild offering? How much is your freedom worth?”

“More than the Great Guilds offer,” the old woman said. “More than they have. But you ask us to believe that you can gain us freedom.”

“All I can do is ask,” Mari said. “And I know that’s hard. I’m a Mechanic, and Mechanics have done you great harm in the past. But the fact that the Great Guilds fear me so much, me and Mage Alain, is a sign of what I might be able to do.”

“You ask leave to depart Julesport. Where will you go?” the woman in uniform asked.

“If you don’t know, you can’t be forced to tell,” Mari said.

“Were you in Ringhmon this last year?” the old woman asked abruptly.

“Yes,” Mari said.

“And Dorcastle?”

“Yes.”

“You slew a dragon there.”

“Yes.”

The old woman took a deep breath. “And then the Northern Ramparts. Another dragon. And great damage to an Imperial legion. And a Mage in your service.” She looked keenly at Alain.

“Yes,” Mari said. “But he is not in my service. He is my partner.”

“The stories we have heard,” the middle-aged man said, “claim that you did great service for common soldiers in the Northern Ramparts and refused all payment.”

“They needed my help,” Mari said.

“And then Marandur?” the old woman continued. “Why Marandur?”

“I cannot tell you,” Mari said.

“Jules was in Marandur,” Colonel Faron said. “Long ago.”

The old woman nodded at him, then looked back at Mari. “You must have heard the rumors the Imperials have been spreading. Rumors about the Dark One, Mara the Undying, who companioned the first emperor, Maran.”

Mari flinched. “I’ve heard them. I think you can see that I don’t fit those rumors.” Mara was supposedly beautiful as well as deadly.

“You don’t look like one who craves the blood of handsome young men, no,” the old woman said, smiling very briefly. “But you did escape from Marandur. Then Palandur, rumor has it. An attack by Mages, followed by a battle between Mages and Mechanics in the heart of the Empire. Neither of the Great Guilds has deigned to explain what happened there, and the Empire has done its best to suppress such information.”

“Having been to Marandur,” Alain said, “we could not remain in Palandur to explain events to Imperial authorities.”

“I suppose not, Sir Mage,” the old woman said, twisting one corner of her mouth in a sardonic smile. “The Emperor would make your deaths painful, prolonged, and public to ensure no one else attempted to visit the forbidden ruins of Marandur. After that, we have had scattered reports of setbacks for Mechanics, including the pride of the Mechanic fleet nearly sunk, before the city of Altis suffered great damage and a great battle was fought in its harbor that left another Mechanic warship on the bottom. This was you?”

Mari nodded. “Mage Alain helped. We did everything together.”

“Why Altis?”

“Again, I cannot yet explain.”

“Do you want what happened at Altis to take place at Julesport as well, Lady Mechanic?”

“No,” Mari said as firmly as she could. “Altis was badly damaged by Mechanics Guild assassins trying to kill me. I want to leave Julesport quickly so that it won’t happen here.”

The middle-aged man held up a paper. “We have a report from Altis. A swift ship reached Gullhaven and couriers carried copies throughout the Confederation. This arrived only last night.”

“What does it tell you?” Alain asked.

“It tells us you speak the truth.” The man paused. “And it tells us that you
are
the daughter.”

The woman in uniform spoke sharply. “If the people of this city hear that the daughter is in Julesport, the resulting mayhem will make the riots of last summer look like a minor street celebration.”

“What does the report from Altis say?” Alain asked. “Was there rioting there?”

“No, Sir Mage,” the old woman said. “Are you going to tell us why? Some Mage spell that compels obedience?”

“If such a spell existed, the Mage elders would use it freely and not depend on fear,” Alain said. “It does not. There were no riots in Altis because Lady Mechanic Mari told the people there not to riot, not to rise up, but to wait.”

“Why would they listen?” demanded the woman in uniform.

“Because they had hope,” Alain said. “They had a reason not to destroy.”

“It was not the strong hand of the Mechanics Guild that suppressed any rioting? It was not the work of Mages or fear of the consequences?”

Alain gestured toward the east. “When we were in Palandur, there were riots. An entire district burned, and a legion was called in to restore order. This in the Empire, where order is valued above all else. Have you heard this?”

Colonel Faron nodded. “Mostly rumors, again, but with credible details. You are saying the rioting was born of the same problems we have seen?”

“And the same problems that tore apart the Kingdom of Tiae. We were there in Palandur. We could see it, we could feel it.”

“If the empire is starting to feel the rot as well—” began the woman in uniform.

“It’s not rot,” the middle-aged man argued. “I do not welcome this news, but it does not surprise me. It is despair. You all know it as well as I do. What this Mage says matches our own knowledge. You talked to those arrested after the last round of rioting here and you heard, just as I did, that they had lost hope.”

“I remember hope,” the old woman commented, gazing into the distance. “When I was very young. Before I learned what the world was like, and what my role must be in serving the will of the Great Guilds. But even the very young today don’t know what hope is. It has been too many years of enslavement. The next riots will be worse. I fear whether our police and military will be able to control them, and at what cost to this city. What sign can you give me, Lady Mechanic? Your words are all that they should be, and I want you to be what you claim. But what sign can you show that something that has never existed in this world can now be?”

Mari hesitated. She hated doing this, hated making a show out of something that meant so much to her, but there didn’t seem any alternative. Mari slowly raised her left hand, fingers slightly spread. “Do you see this?”

“A promise ring,” the old woman said. “Where is your husband?”

“Beside me.” Mari reached to take Alain’s hand and hold it up enough to reveal the matching ring.

All four of those from Julesport stared in disbelief for several long moments.

The old woman recovered first. “Why would you wed a Mage, Lady Mechanic?”

“He asked me,” she said. “Proposed to me, that is. I proposed to him later.”

“A political alliance, then? A means to the end of overthrowing the Great Guilds?”

“No!” Mari said with more force than she had intended. “We wed because we were in love, and we would have done it no matter whether it helped or hindered anything else.”

“In love?” the old woman asked. “You taught a Mage to love?”

“She did,” Alain said. Mari saw him relax his face, let some feeling show, and while it was a small display compared to what non-Mages would reveal, it was nonetheless shocking to see in a Mage. “She gave me back my life, a life that my Guild had taken from me.”

The old woman began laughing, drawing startled glances from the others. “The oldest magic of all! And it ensnared both of you, did it? You saw the man beneath a Mage’s mask, Lady Mechanic, and helped the Mage see the woman beneath your Mechanics jacket! I would not have believed it. See this!” she told the other three. “Those rings do not mark just the alliance of those two, of Mechanic and Mage. They also mark an alliance with us, for they show that these two believe in the same things that we do. That they believe in something other than power and wealth. That they would risk all for someone and something other than themselves! And that a new day can truly come. What else could you call a world where a Mechanic and a Mage are not enemies, but partners in life, joined by love?”

“But the safety of the city—” the woman in uniform began.

“The daughter is right! Give our people a reason to wait, a belief that the new day is finally coming, and they will wait.” The old woman shook her finger at Mari. “Don’t make it too long. Wherever you go, do not disappear. Let word come back to us. We will keep it from the Great Guilds as best we can, but our people must know you are pursuing their overthrow.”

“I will do that,” Mari said.

“General Shi,” the old woman said to the woman in uniform. “Your soldiers are already on alert?”

“Yes,” Shi confirmed.

“These two,” the old woman pointed to Mari and Alain, “do not exist as far as your soldiers are concerned. The soldiers do not see them. The same for the harbor guard, Colonel Faron. They will protect these two, but our soldiers will not see them.”