Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (33 page)

Byron smiled at the Captain, but said nothing for a few seconds, as if contemplating the best way to approach the man, then said, “Because, Captain, from what I hear you have only until the end of the month to pay off your gambling debts, at which point, if you can’t, the Pelorus will no longer be
your
ship. You know as well as I that you won’t make it back in time to make your payment deadline, not to mention, looking at this manifest, I highly doubt the trip will cover what you owe anyway after paying your crew. What Renn is offering here is a way to keep your ship, at least until you decide to play your next card game. It would, of course, be up to you when to tell your crew of the slight detour, but I’m sure a skilled Captain such as yourself could handle his crew adequately.”

Captain Waylon remained silent after Byron had finished speaking, which Renn took as a good sign. ‘
At least he hasn’t rejected the offer out of hand
,’ he thought to himself. After a long awkward silence the Captain finally spoke.

“One hundred gold, fifty now and the rest when we arrive,” he said without preamble.

“Fifty gold,” Byron countered. Another long silence ensued.

“I see you’ve done your homework, harbour master, seein’ as you know my debt is fifty gold. Unfortunately, I’ll also need to convince my crew that it’s a good idea, and that, my friend, will cost more gold.”

“I understand, Captain. My final offer is seventy gold pieces. Take it or leave it, the choice is yours. I’m sure one of the other Captains would consider the journey for such a sum if you don’t want to take it,” Byron said convincingly, but he knew it was highly unlikely any other Captain would consider the journey for any amount of gold right now. After yet more stony silence, Captain Waylon finally spoke.

“Half before we sail, the rest when we arrive at your destination. You sleep on the aft deck, provide your own food, and no fires whilst you’re aboard. And under no circumstances must my crew learn of your intended destination until we leave The Serpent Isles, at which point I will address them regarding the matter myself. If any of my crew asks, you’re travelling to The Serpent Isles, and only
after
we reached The Serpent Isles did you decide you wanted to travel further. Do you understand my terms?” Captain Waylon asked looking directly at Renn.

“I agree to your terms, Captain. I will make my travelling companions aware of your terms also. And thank you, Captain. You have no idea how important this trip is to all of us,” Renn said, holding out his hand to Captain Waylon.

“I care little for your reasons for wanting to reach Lamuria, but I
will
see the colour of your gold before we depart, if you don’t mind,” Captain Waylon said taking Renn’s hand.

“Of course, Captain, but in the meantime I must speak with my travelling companions, and arrange sale of our horses and tack. I believe you are scheduled to depart just after the hour mark. If that’s correct, I’ll make sure we’re aboard in plenty of time to avoid delaying you,” Renn said.

“You do that,” the Captain said, turning his attention to Byron once more. “Now, may I please have my documents so I can prepare my ship for departure?”

“Certainly, everything seems to be in order, Captain,” Byron said, handing the paperwork to Captain Waylon with a smile. Captain Waylon took the papers and placed them inside his leather waistcoat, nodded to Byron and Renn, then turned and left the office without another word. Byron waited until the Captain’s footsteps faded into the distance before speaking.

“Well, that went better than I thought it might do,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Yes, thanks for that. I’ve never been good at dealing with men like that. I tend to end up hitting them for some reason, and that rarely achieves the desired outcome I was hoping for,” Renn said grinning at Byron.

“I bet it doesn’t,” Byron replied, chuckling to himself.

“Anyway, I’d better be off. We need to sell those horses and board the ship before Captain Waylon sets sail without us. It was good seeing you again, old friend,” Renn said, slapping Byron on the shoulder as he stood up from behind his desk.

“You take care of yourself out there, Renn. Don’t be playing the hero and getting yourself killed, that won’t achieve anything. Besides, I need you to bring Lusam back safe next summer for that fishing trip, remember?” Byron said winking at Renn.

Renn winked back at Byron and replied, “I’ll try to bear that in mind.”

“What… the part about not getting yourself killed or the fishing trip?” he asked, but Renn simply raised his hand in a goodbye gesture as he vanished through the doorway, shaking his head slightly to himself as he left.

It did not take them long to find the horse trader in Fairport. It took them even less time, however, to realise they were never going to sell their horses for a fair price there. The man bordered on rude whilst inspecting their horses, suggesting he had never seen such a sorry bunch of animals, and that his own mother would be able to haul heavier payloads than they could. Renn suspected the man’s attitude was a combination of two things: knowing they
needed
to sell the horses—because why else would anyone ride to a sea port and try to sell the animals?—and that probably, he only had a ready market for much heavier horses, to be used for haulage purposes in and around the general area of Fairport. Given their time restraints and lack of choice, Renn reluctantly accepted the man’s offer of six gold pieces for the four horses, and they were soon on their way back towards the docks.

Renn had already brought the others up to date with their current departure plans, costs, and that they should not mention travelling further south than The Serpent Isles to any of the crew, or even discuss it amongst themselves whilst aboard ship. They all understood the risks of a rebellious crew, and what impact it could have on their journey, or even their lives. They had done a quick inventory of their supplies before selling their horses, and found that they should have enough food to last them the five-day sea journey. This was something Renn was thankful for, as it would have been unlikely that they would have had enough time to procure more supplies before boarding the Pelorus anyway.

It was obvious when they reached the dockside that the Pelorus was only waiting for them to board before setting sail. One of the crew was standing impatiently at the bottom of the gangplank, ready to quickly usher them onto the ship. Renn climbed the gangplank first—noting how much steeper it was now, compared with only an hour ago when the tide wasn’t full yet—closely followed by Lusam, Neala and at the rear, Alexia.

“Welcome aboard the Pelorus,” another crewman said as they reached the deck of the ship. “Please take your bags to the aft of the ship, and remain there. The main deck will be busy for a while, best if you stay out of the way, at least until we hit open water. Captain Waylon said he’ll come talk with you once we’re underway. Now, if you don’t need anything else, I’ll be getting back to my regular duties.” He nodded towards the aft deck, then turned and headed the other way, leaving Renn and the others to find their own way. There was a narrow wooden staircase that led to the aft deck, and each took their turn to climb up it, and onto the bare deck above.

‘
At least the high ship’s rail would offer some protection against the wind and sea spray,
’ Renn thought, knowing full well how uncomfortable an open sea passage could be if you were too exposed to the elements, especially if the weather turned bad.

“So, I guess this is home for the next five days,” Alexia said, walking the width of the deck area in a few short strides.

“Well, I for one plan to catch up on some sleep,” Lusam said, finding himself a corner to sit in, and making it as comfortable as possible.

“Not even
you
could sleep for five days,” Neala said, teasing him.

“Maybe not. But I can try,” Lusam replied, grinning at her. Neala rolled her eyes at him, then went to join Renn, who was leaning over the rail watching the men below prepare the ship for departure.

“Have you travelled on a ship before, Renn?” Neala asked curiously, still watching the men below.

“Yes, many times. Actually, I originally came to Helveel by ship. To this very port, as it happens. How about you?”

“Once. But it was a long time ago, and the ship was smaller as I remember,” Neala replied, but didn’t elaborate further.

After the anchor had been lifted, and the ropes cast off the dock, the men raised the jib sail, and the ship began to move slowly forward. The front of the ship slowly turned starboard towards the open sea, and more sails were unfurled, making the ship lurch forward with a slight jolt. Moments later the mainsail was set, and their speed increased noticeably, and so did the movement of the ship.

“Is it normally this bad?” asked Alexia looking slightly concerned, holding tight to the ship’s rail, as the ship bucked over some waves, and crashed through others.

“No. It can get much worse than this in open water,” Renn replied laughing. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after a while.”

“How in Aysha’s name can you ever get used to the ground beneath your feet disappearing whenever it feels like it?” Alexia squealed, attempting to walk back to where she’d left her possessions, and failing miserably. Instead, she ended up crawling on her hands an knees across the deck, while everyone else found it most amusing.

It was much longer than they had anticipated before Captain Waylon finally paid them a visit. The sun had almost reached its highest point in the sky, and the sea had calmed down a lot since the early morning, much to Alexia’s relief. Lusam, thankfully, had the good sense to separate two lots of thirty-five gold pieces from his purse before boarding the ship, so when the Captain came to claim his initial payment, he didn’t have to count it out in front of the crew. Captain Waylon showed them where the clean drinking water keg was kept, and where the ship’s facilities were to be found, if you could even call them that. He also provided them with a large piece of old canvas and some rope. It looked like the remains of a larger torn sail that had been modified, with metal eyelets running along all four sides. The Captain assured them it would fit snugly over the aft deck should the weather take a turn for the worse, and if not, it would at least give them something more comfortable to sit on than the hard deck. But the best thing he gave them, was the news that the wind was currently very favourable to their trip, and they could shave as much as a whole day off their journey time if it continued the way it was. Renn silently thanked Aysha for their current good luck.

By the second day aboard ship they were all thoroughly bored. Even Lusam had reached his limits for dozing away the day. Their supplies and equipment had been well-packed away before boarding the ship, and it was well into the second day that Lusam remembered the monk’s journal he had discovered in Mr Daffer’s basement. It wasn’t until he was searching through one of the packed bundles of equipment, he realised Renn had also packed away his blessed sword and shield. Lusam didn’t expect any trouble on the ship—not until they had announced their true intended destination to the crew, anyway—but it seemed strange to think of Renn without them by his side.

Lusam saw Renn’s face light up as he realised what Lusam was digging out of the bundle. He had been more than a little curious as to what more the journal contained when Lusam had read three of the entries to him back at
The Old Inkwell
.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting,” Lusam promised Renn, smiling at the disappointed look on his face. Feeling slightly guilty, Lusam tried to change the subject.

“How come you packed your ‘
things
’ away?” he asked, nodding towards the bundle that contained Renn’s blessed sword and shield.

Renn seemed to check that none of the crew were in earshot, before moving closer to Lusam and answering quietly, “You’ll find that sailors are a superstitious lot, lad, if you spent enough time around them. Most worship Deas, due to the fact their lives and livelihoods are so entwined with the sea. I doubt any would openly object to my presence here, not until something went wrong during the trip, of course, and then the superstitious whisperings would no doubt be aimed my way.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Lusam replied quietly.

“Aye, lad, I am. And it’s not something I’d wish to repeat anytime soon. If it hadn’t been for the Captain’s intervention on my behalf, I’m sure I’d have had a very long swim back to shore that day,” Renn said in a serious voice. Lusam knew he was deadly serious about what he had just said, but he found it difficult keeping a straight face at the thought of Renn being tossed overboard and forced to swim back to shore.

“I’ll be at the front of the ship if you need me for anything,” Lusam informed the others. He had discovered a small secluded spot at the bow of the ship the previous day. It was sheltered from the sea spray and wind, but it also allowed the sun to warm him there, unlike the aft deck, which was perpetually in shade from the ship’s sails. Nobody had objected to him being there the previous day, so he decided it would make the most comfortable place to read some more of the journal. No one gave him more than a cursory glance as he made his way forward towards the bow of the ship. Once there, he settled down and began to search for any other interesting entries in the journal.