By Blood Betrayed (The Kingsblood Chronicles) (46 page)

“Aye, sir,” Lian replied, heading astern. As he approached the back of the ship, one of the swordsmen who had been slashing tentacles was being hauled back up on his tether rope with a sting on one hand. It was rapidly swelling and turning purple, reminding Lian of a viper’s bite. Snog seized the screaming man’s arm with surprising strength, expertly carving the wound with his enchanted dagger. Blood, mixed with a clear fluid welled from the cut, and the goblin immediately put his mouth to the wounds and sucked hard, spitting the venom onto the deck. This completed, with relief reflected on the face of the soldier, he withdrew a small tuber from the belt pouch where he carried his tobacco. Breaking it open, he rubbed the contents into the wound, driving the man almost into convulsions from the new pain.

“He’ll be fine, but fer the scar,” Snog pronounced, rising from his handiwork with a satisfied smile. He untied the writhing man from his tether and wrapped it around his own waist. Lian longed to ask the goblin what he was doing, but instead headed towards Cedrick, who was observing the activities on his ship with a keen eye.

“Captain Arden’s compliments, sir,” Lian began, describing the situation at the prow of the vessel as well as his plan for freeing her.

Cedrick clapped him on the shoulder approvingly, saying with a grin, “You’ve got the right of it there, lad. We’ll make a sailor of you, by the gods!” Shouting orders, he summoned Reidar.

“We need you to clear the rudder and steering chains, and to keep them clear. It’s too dangerous to risk more men on that,” Cedrick said.

Reidar nodded thoughtfully, flashing Lian a grin. “I do have a spell for it, but I can’t keep it up for very long. The notes are right at the edge of my range, and I just can’t hold them.”

The ship captain nodded curtly. “We’ll be ready,” he pronounced, placed a sailor on the wheel and ordered the jib-sail raised and trimmed. As the sailors began unfurling the jib, he turned to Reidar and said, “You’d better get cracking.
Searcher
will capsize if that squall line reaches us before we’re freed.”

The mage didn’t reply, instead summoning his reserves of power and concentration. Uttering a gull-like cry, he began to sing a spell which first dried out the tentacles, as if they were lying in a blazing desert sun, or perhaps upon a hot iron skillet. The desiccating appendages cracked under the strain, but so did Reidar’s voice. As he had promised, the spell’s notes were high indeed, and he was already having trouble maintaining them.

The black line of clouds and lightning drew closer, and the wind caught the jib and began to pull
Searcher
over to port.

“Should I help him?” asked Lord Grey very quietly, his voice pitched so low that Lian alone could hear it over Reidar’s strained chanting. As the spell progressed, it became clear that the mage simply wasn’t able to fulfill the musical demands of the magic.

Before he could respond to the skull’s inquiry, Arden joined Reidar’s song, sustaining a single note which wasn’t particularly harmonious with the magesong. As he fed power into the magic, Arden’s efforts, off-key as they were, eased the mage’s strain enough that he managed to recover control over his spell.

“Will wonders never cease?” Lian whispered in amazement. Arden’s song was monotonal, no more than a mantra really, which accomplished nothing more than to channel power from himself to Reidar, but the magical strength behind it was impressive, as well as unexpected.

He’s tone deaf, I think
, Gem mused.
He started that on a fifth minor, a bit flat. Reidar’s lucky it didn’t throw his whole spell off, but he seemed to be expecting it
.

Tone deaf or not, it’s working
, Lian replied, as the tendrils that entangled the rudder continued to dry and crack under the desiccation spell.

“Now!” Reidar cried, and the helmsman hauled the wheel hard to port, straining against the dried strands of tentacle that were still wrapped around the chains. With snapping noises reminiscent of crumbling sandstone, the rudder ripped free of the dried appendages, and the mass at the bow began to slip to the side. Cedrick held the turn until the ship was running before the wind and he could see the massive bulk of the man o’ war’s body sinking into the dark waters.

“Well sung, Reidar,” Arden complemented, his voice a little hoarse from maintaining his own spell.

“I’ve done better,” the mage admitted, clasping the arms of his captain in gratitude, “but I do believe you’re learning to sing, a little.” His earnest smile removed any possible sting from his words.

With attention available for other matters, Lian spotted Snog fixing something to the deck with one of his daggers. As the prince neared the goblin, he could see that the “something” was the last of three thirty-foot sections of man o’ war tentacle. The goblin grinned at his approach and began to carefully roll up the first one, taking care not to trigger the barbed poison sacs as he did so.

“Ne’er know when sommat like this ‘d be handy, milord,” he said. “That thing packed ‘isself quite a whallop. Bad as a big
sh’rek
, sir.”
Sh’rek
directly translated as “fang,” but it was also the term for “spider.”

Lian nodded, “You just be real careful with those, right?”

“’Course, milord,” he said, cackling in glee as he wrapped the deadly bundle in oilcloth. Beginning on the second, he was no less careful, and at least for the moment he was oblivious to his usual seasickness.

Lian fired a bolt from each of the three ballistae out to sea, working his way around the ship. He preferred wasting the spears to dry-firing the weapons, and he couldn’t very well leave them cocked. As he went about his duties, the mercenaries seconded to Cedrick filled in as sail crew, exhibiting an expertise that surprised Lian. Arden’s men were very well trained, and worked without complaint for the
Searcher’s
captain.

When he completed his circuit and once again reached the afterdeck, Cedrick and Arden were waiting for him, their hair whipped wildly by winds driven by the oncoming storm. “This won’t be a bad one, Alan of Staikal,” Cedrick yelled. “Nor will it last very long. Stay here with us until the front passes, and then we have business.”

“Aye, Captain,” Lian replied, assuming a position next to one of his siege engines. He wanted to go below and check on Kess, but Cedrick’s order held him there.

After awhile, Snog climbed to the stern deck, his work with the man o’ war tentacles apparently done; his pack bulged with the deadly bundles. “Kess ‘as two breaks, an’ the swellin’s bad ‘nough t’ keep me from settin’ it yet. Magic’d be better, o’ course, but I’m nay yer goblin fer that.” The goblin purposely spoke loud enough for the two captains to overhear him, and Arden approached the two companions.

To Snog he ordered, “You’re drafted as healer until I can hire another one, and then you might draw duty as his mate. Just make sure that the herbs that work on goblins don’t kill my men.”

“Aye, Cap’n, sir,” Snog said, revealing his pointed teeth. “They taught us real careful, that what’s bad for men.” This drew a chuckle from both Lian and the mercenary captain.

“I’d best see to th’ other wounds, then, Cap’n, sir,” the scout said, taking his leave without asking for permission.

Arden shook his head, “Quite a find you have there in your little friend.” He sat down next to Lian.

“Yes, sir,” Lian replied. “He’s full of surprises.”

“What do you know of the Companion? She came aboard at the same time you did,” Arden inquired, his tone even and his manner open.

Lian shook his head. “I’ve heard of Sileth of the Silks, of course. But I have no idea why she’s aboard.” He was actually suspicious that he
was
the reason for the vampire’s presence, but he wasn’t about to broach the matter with any member of the crew, even the leader.

Arden sighed, gazing out at the roughening sea. “Normally, I don’t delve into the pasts of those I employ, Alan. I respect their privacy. Sometimes, however, it becomes necessary to ask some probing questions.

“One such time is when I’m hiring replacements during a campaign. As I’m sure you can imagine, I have to be careful what sort of man or woman I hire, since any applicant might be a spy. I won’t catch all of them, of course, but every spy I detect is potential working material.” Lian had to stifle a grin at Arden’s turn of phrase, for it mirrored something Elowyn had recently said. The amusement transformed quickly into a pang of grief, but Lian forced the feeling deep inside himself.

 “The other circumstance is when the company is at risk because a member’s past catches up to him. I’ve seen blood feuds turn into pitched battles, when the injured party feels it necessary to hire another company to have a chance at reaching their mark. You can imagine, I’m sure, the kind of things that can happen,” he said, and Lian nodded agreement.

“So I’ll ask one more time, and I expect a straight answer,” Arden said. “Do you have any idea why the vampire is aboard? Is anything in your past likely to have attracted her attention?”

Lian answered with no hesitation, looking Arden directly in the eyes, “I have no idea, Captain. Neither I nor Snog have done anything to raise the ire of the Companions, and I’ve never met her before tonight.”

Arden clapped Lian’s knee and rose. “All right, Alan. You understand that I had to ask?”

“I take no offense, Captain,” Lian said, also rising. “I’d have demanded the same answers from my own men, if the situation ever arose.”

“I’m glad you see it that way. Some men require special handling. I’m sure you can imagine how a High Realms knight would have reacted to my question, honor-bound that they are,” he said, grinning.

Lian had never been to the High Realms, but he had met a few of their nobility at court in Dunshor. His experiences with the tall, dark-haired knights of that mountain kingdom lent credence to Arden’s description. “They don’t like mercenaries much there, I’d imagine,” Lian said, thinking aloud, remembering one knight’s general dismissal of all mercenaries as useless and insulting to a true warrior’s honor.

Arden laughed, “No, they don’t. I don’t accept contracts in that area unless the pay is very attractive. Realmsknights treat captured mercenaries the way that most countries treat spies. We’re not ‘true soldiers,’ you see. ‘True soldiers’ are drawn from a formal peasant levy or a knight’s personal retinue.

“A backward land, but don’t underestimate them if you come against them, Alan. They’re tremendous fighters, and usually very capable generals.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Lian, who thought that he could perhaps locate an advantage in the Realmsknights’ prejudices should he ever come at odds with them.

The rain began then, a sudden downpour, and both men turned their attention to the ship, in case either was needed. Once the initial heavy gusts and lightning passed, however, the storm steadied into a fairly peaceful shower, with winds under fifteen knots.

Cedrick left Doval’s assistant Alo in charge of the ship, with strict orders to raise an alarm if
anything
happened. Ylen, nursing a sore head and a cup of rum, took a position on the afterdeck with Alo, saying, “My head will feel better with the rain to wash the blood off my scalp.”

Cedrick nodded, with a significant glance toward the young Alo. Ylen nodded slightly, blinking his eyes against the pain of moving. Lian noted that the little navigator was sitting within easy reach of the brass bell which served as part of the ship’s alarm system. Even though Ylen was leaving the ship when they made port, Lian was pleased to see him taking his duty seriously. It did much to offset Lian’s inherent dislike of the man.

Arden led the way into Cedrick’s cabin, where Reidar and Yarek were already waiting. One or both of them had cleaned up the mess of charts and books which were the result of the collision. With Cedrick and Lian bringing up the rear, the room was extremely crowded.

Glad I’m not afraid of tiny places
, Lian thought to Gem.

Reidar intoned a low, murmured spell as soon as Lian latched the door, and the room suddenly seemed to grow even closer and more claustrophobic. “Nothing said will venture outside of this room, even were she under these floorboards,” he said when he was done.

Arden nodded his thanks and said, “I’ve spoken with Alan, and he maintains that he isn’t the reason she’s aboard. She says that she is seeking someone in Seagate, and that probably means that she’s visiting the Companion Tyrone.”

“Tyrone, Captain?” asked Lian. He knew the names of all of the Companions and a little of their histories, but he didn’t know of a connection between the youngest Companion and Seagate.

Arden smiled, “I have reason to believe that Tyrone resides in Seagate, keeping an eye on the Island Kings’ interests. I also have on good authority that his relationship with Sileth is very close, indeed. She has been known to make the crossing to Seagate in the past, with no one quite sure how she got there.”

The mercenary leader had received several long scratches on his forearms from the battle. As he spoke, he began gingerly working the bloody sleeves of his jerkin away from them. “The question, of course, is what do we do about Sileth’s presence?”

No one answered for a moment, each deliberating. Reidar finally said with a shrug, “I suggest that you leave her be and hope she doesn’t start eating the men. She’s old enough to be more than a little dangerous. You saw how she cut through the lizards.”

Yarek added, “And she has shown consideration for the living aboard, as she loaded her own food supply. She is a stowaway, however, and a dangerous one.”

Cedrick snorted. “Nanavi and Kess were stowaways, too. And I think that the Companion is probably less likely to attack the crewmen than she was. With the exception of Alan, here, I’m sure you all remember how much trouble Nan gave us at first.” They all grinned, even Lian, who could easily imagine the kind of trouble Nan might have given.

Arden said, “My plan was not to attack her, in any event. I did want to hear your opinions before I settled on a course of action, however.