The Thief's Gamble (Einarinn 1) (38 page)

'We need a boat to enable us to pursue them.' Darni's impatience was becoming evident. 'We hoped you might assist us.'

'Garbled tales for children and contrary legends speak of islands in the east,' the brother stated grimly. 'The only thing they agree on is the ill fate that befalls anyone who reaches them.'

'In that case, we can only hope Ryshad and Aiten fail to find them.' The nephew looked thoughtful. 'They are in some considerable peril whether they make a landfall or not, that much is certain.'

Messire was rereading the letter. He looked up. 'You evidently know of the crimes against our blood of which these men are guilty. What is your interest, beyond a natural love of justice?' His voice was neutral but there was a glint in his eye.

'One of our colleagues has been abducted by a group of these fair-haired men. He is a scholar working on the Archmage's business; he is also my friend.' Darni stared down at the seated Prince.

D'Olbriot returned his gaze steadily. 'What is this business of the Archmage that is so vital? Does it affect this strange blond race?'

'That is for the Archmage to tell you, should he decide you need to know.' Darni's tone was courteous enough but Casuel winced at his bald words.

'It is very important and I am sure that Planir will want your counsel, Messire. It certainly pertains to the security of Tormalin territory and—'

Darni cut him off with a glare. 'The immediate question is that of a ship. We need a vessel to enable us to find these islands, to assist our men and yours in recovering our colleague. I have heard much of the loyalty owed a sworn-man in Tormalin; I had assumed you would wish to help.'

'I don't think you can teach a D'Olbriot anything about loyalty, mage's man.' The nephew looked at Darni with faint hostility.

'I'm sure he meant no insult—' Casuel began hastily, subsiding as Messire D'Olbriot raised a hand.

'What do you think, brother?'

The older man shifted in his seat. 'Two sworn men in a fishing boat is a reconnaissance, but an ocean ship with the D'Olbriot pennant at its masthead could be construed as a hostile act. There is also the question of allowing wizards to become involved in politics. I think we would do better to leave well alone.'

'You may do as you choose but I don't believe these men are going to leave you alone,' Darni said in a level tone. 'Make your own enquiries, my lords; you will find many others have been robbed besides your nephew. I'm sure you have had reports of recent events in Inglis. When you hear Ryshad's account, I think you will find this violence is only a prelude to something worse.'

Casuel wondered how Darni could make a guess sound so convincingly like a plain statement of fact.

'We have an obligation to secure vengeance on my cousin's behalf, Father.' The son spoke up for the first time. 'And we do owe a duty of loyalty to our sworn-men.'

Messire D'Olbriot looked at him consideringly then looked back at Darni. 'You intend to go, irrespective of my decision?' It was barely a question.

'I do,' Darni replied firmly. 'I cannot abandon colleagues in such a situation. I have contacted Hadrumal and obtained the Archmage's permission.'

'You intend to tackle this unknown race on your own, do you? A man, a mage and a maid?' the brother asked with delicate sarcasm.

Darni did not rise to the bait, to Casuel's intense relief. 'No, sir, the Archmage said he would send both wizards and fighting men to support us. They will be arriving soon. I would prefer to have a ship ready and waiting, to lose as little time as possible.'

'Then you are planning an invasion,' the old man said with crisp disapproval. 'Most certainly a hostile act.'

'They committed the first aggression, in attacking people such as your nephew and in abducting my colleague.' Darni's voice was under control but icy cold. 'I would term it retribution.'

Messire D'Olbriot had rolled up the letter and was tapping it absently on his knee, looking thoughtful. 'We cannot ignore the fact that we have a personal interest in this matter, gentlemen.' He crushed the parchment in his fist. 'Associating ourselves with wizards will doubtless cause talk but I think, in this instance, we can tolerate that.'

He indicated his nephew with a wave of his hand. 'Esquire Camarl will arrange interviews with my sea captains for you. The decision whether to sail must rest with them but I will let it be known that I am supporting your endeavour.'

'That is most gracious of you, Messire—' Casuel swallowed his fulsome gratitude as the Prince continued.

'What I require from you is this.' He fixed Darni with a piercing eye. 'Planir or one of his close associates is to visit me personally to explain this business in full, no later than Winter Solstice. If there is any threat to Tormalin territory or interests, I want to know in plenty of time to take appropriate action. Do you understand me? This is a condition of my assistance, and is not open to debate. Do I have your assurance that this will be done?'

'Of course, sir.' Darni bowed politely, shooting a venomous glance at Casuel as he did so. 'I'm sure the Archmage will be only too eager to give you all the information you require.'

'I can't see any sea captain being too eager to set out into the open ocean at this season.' Messire's brother folded his arms with an air of finality.

'We'll find out who has the greatest faith in Dastennin, won't we?' Humour enlivened Messire D'Olbriot's face for the first time, lightening the tense atmosphere. 'Perhaps you had better make some offerings at the Sea Lord's shrine, before you embark on this voyage.'

'An excellent suggestion.' Casuel forgot his ribs and bowed low, wincing as the noblemen rose, but Darni only laughed and offered his hand.

'It couldn't hurt, could it? Thank you, Messire.'

'Esquire Camarl will contact you later today and escort you to the docks.' Messire D'Olbriot paused to bow courteously to Allin, a gesture echoed by his family. She blushed scarlet and curtsied, mute with confusion, Casuel was grateful to see.

'Let me escort you.' He hovered anxiously as the noblemen made their way out. Darni looked after him with an expression of faint contempt.

'Do I have to go on a ship over the ocean?' Allin whispered, her plump face crumpling with worry.

'No, chick.' Darni put an arm round her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. 'It'll be all right. There will be some proper wizards here soon; they'll look after you.'

The Far Reaches of the Ocean,

Latter Half of Aft-Autumn

I can't say much about this particular stage of our nonsensical journey because I was soon staring continuously at the bottom of a bucket. None of the others were affected but the jokes at my expense soon faded when they realised it wasn't just a case of a few hours heaving before I'd get my sea-legs. A handful of days vanished in a blur of nauseous misery.

Ryshad came to see how I was as one dusk darkened into night. He held my head and then helped me wash my face. Lemon oil in the water cut through the sour smells of sickness and I managed to force out a thanks.

'Don't mention it.' He wiped my face gently with a clean, damp cloth. 'Here, drink some water and chew this, it might help.'

When a few cautious sips stayed down, I held out my hand. 'It's not thassin, is it?'

'No, sugared ginger.' He passed me a sticky lump. It cleaned my mouth, which was a relief, but as the motion of the ship mounted again, I was back to my bucket. I soon lost interest in everything else and couldn't even summon up the curiosity to listen when Shiv came down into the cabin. Well, not until I realised they were discussing me.

'She's not even keeping water down now,' Ryshad was saying. 'This could get serious.'

'You should have fetched me earlier,' Shiv fretted. If I hadn't been feeling so dreadful, I'd have been touched by his concern.

'You were too busy. How's the helmsman taking the magical effects?'

'Oh, he's happy enough, though I can't decide if it really doesn't bother him, or if he's just pretending, to put his brothers on the wrong side of the river.'

Shiv came over to the bunk and put gentle hands on each side of my head. I screwed my eyes shut at a sudden emerald glimmer; it didn't help much since the light seemed to come from inside my head which was such a peculiar sensation that I quite forgot to feel sick. The glow faded and I blinked to clear the shimmering from my eyes.

'What was that?' I croaked.

'There's water inside your ears,' Shiv explained. 'It's part of why you're being so sick. What I've done should help; try to sleep now.'

I realised the racking nausea had faded. I drew a deep breath and regretted it as I felt the rawness in my throat, the ache in my stomach and shoulders and my head started to pound like Misaen's own anvil. 'You'd never think I had the southern sea-wind in my birth-runes, would you?' I managed to joke feebly.

'Here, try the ginger again.' Ryshad passed me a small grease-paper parcel. It did seem to help; I took a long drink and, when that stayed down, I had another and some dry biscuit. After a while I thought I probably could sleep. To my surprise, I woke to a bright sunny day, an empty cabin and a peaceful gut, thank Drianon.

Ryshad appeared after a while with some dry bread. 'Come out on deck,' he advised. 'You'll be better for some fresh air.'

I followed him, my legs still shaky on the steps of the ladder, but there was no return of the racking nausea so it looked like Shiv's magic had worked. I looked round the boat and saw Aiten stripped to the waist despite the cold, helping the crew with a net. Shiv was deep in discussion with the helmsman.

'Sail ho!' A shout made me look up and I saw a skinny lad clinging high up the mast as it swayed from side to side. That was almost enough to set my stomach off again so I peered out to sea.

'Where is it?' I asked Ryshad.

'You won't be able to see it from down here.' He looked back at Shiv, who nodded and I realised the boat was slowing.

'Are we stopping?' I asked nervously, looking around at featureless water in all directions.

'No, just making sure they can't see us. We'll stay far enough back so the curve of the ocean hides us.'

'Pardon?'

'The ocean is curved.' Ryshad drew an arc in the air. 'If we stay here, they can't see us. They're a taller ship, so we can follow the tops of their masts.'

I must have looked totally blank so Ryshad squatted down to draw a picture in water on the deck. 'This is the surface of the ocean; some say it's like the curve on top of a full glass, some even reckon the world is a sphere. Anyway—'

I raised a hand to silence him when he looked up. This was starting to sound like a conversation with Geris and I decided the less I knew about oceans, the happier I'd be.

'I'll take your word for it. All I want to know is when are we going to see dry land?'

No one could answer me but none of them seemed bothered. Machil agreed to continue sailing out into the open ocean once he realised how well Shiv could control the winds and water around the vessel and when it became clear he would look very foolish in front of his brothers if he backed out; Aiten had done excellent work getting them on our side. None of them asked what we were doing and since Shiv did not volunteer any information, the rest of us kept our mouths shut.

So our voyage grew longer, another ten days, another handful. My main problem was soon boredom since there was little I could do to help, even if I'd wanted to. The weather grew greyer and stormier but no one else seemed bothered so I had to believe we weren't in immediate danger of sinking; at least I didn't get seasick again. Shiv was concentrating on keeping track of the enemy ship while Ryshad and Aiten helped the crew. I managed to get a few games of runes but once I'd netted the ship's supply of crabshell betting tokens for the second time, interest waned.

By the time the moons showed us the arrival of For-Winter,

I was starting to wonder if we'd be sailing on until we saw the Elietimm ship fall off the edge of the world when the lad up the mast shocked the whole ship to silence with a cry of 'Land ho!'

Machil scrambled up the mast efficiently if gracelessly; the wind snatched away his words so we couldn't hear what he and the look-out were saying. When he came down, his face betrayed an odd mixture of wonder and fear which was reflected on his brothers' faces.

'There is land out there.' He obviously hadn't believed we would find anything.

The sailors all looked at each other; something was bothering them but no one seemed to want to be the first to say it out loud.

'Let's put on more sail and get closer then.' Aiten made a move towards the ropes but no one followed.

'I don't want to.' The watch boy, the youngest of the brothers, blushed red as he spoke out abruptly. None of the others hushed him as was their usual habit.

'Why not?' Shiv asked cautiously; I could tell he was worried by this turn of events.

The lad set his jaw. 'If there's land out this far, it must be where the shades live.'

He looked round the circle of his brothers, challenging them to contradict him. They exchanged a few impenetrable glances but none spoke.

'Shades?' I asked, fighting to keep my voice no more than mildly curious.

The lad opened his mouth but shut it again. There was an awkward silence until Machil finally spoke up.

'There are old tales about islands where the shades of the drowned live. They say if you land there, you can't leave again.' He looked at us defiantly and I realised we had a problem.

'You don't believe children's stories, surely?' Aiten's amused tone was a mistake and I saw the faces around us harden.

'There are shades, sometimes they get in the nets if you go too far beyond the northern fishing grounds.' One of the older brothers spoke up now, the sort of man you wouldn't expect to have the imagination to bake fish instead of fry it.

'I see. What do they look like?' Shiv looked entirely serious.

Machil shrugged. 'Like any other drowning, but you can tell they're shades because they don't have hardly any colour, not to their hair or skin.'