Malspire (3 page)

"Yes, sir. Just gave me a clip round the ear, sir, for bad language," said Willan, rubbing a red ear.

I could not help raise an eyebrow." Have him see me at his convenience, boy."

Not long after, the weathered Harl asked for permission to come up to the castle, but instead of inviting him up, I joined him down on the main deck.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"I did. Let's walk." We started along the deck. "I hear you do not approve of foul language."

Harl guessed what I was alluding to. "Not in the boys, sir. Not in the innocent."

"Of course." I paused and considered the innocence of children. As far as I could recall, children were the most heartless and cruel of critics without conscience nor remorse. I had learnt this the hard way and had nothing more to add to the topic and so said instead, "I wanted to thank you for the care you provided."

Harl did not answer.

"Mister Willan tells me I might have died if you had not intervened."

"He talks too much. I wouldn't pay him no heed, sir."

"All the same, I am indebted to you, Mister Harl."

Harl seemed uncomfortable. I knew that the man had no particular liking for officers - few sailors did. I could not blame them. I thought of offering the man some money. I wanted to, but I did not want to risk an insult. There were charities run by rich old ladies in the city for crippled sailors. I could offer money in Harl's name, but I had heard the crew scoff at such things and talk of how the rich hypocrites would simply pay their way into the heavens. After a moment’s silent walking and inspection of the ship I pointed out that it was a fine ship.

“Aye, sir. She’s well looked after and run tight.”

For all Crosp’s flaws, I had to admit that the captain’s harsh methods seemed to work, as the Sea Huntress was always in fine condition with a drumming engine and crew ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

“The crew seem competent,” I added. Harl grunted in agreement.

We reached the forecastle and I stopped to take out my pipe, indicating that Harl could do the same if he so wished. I had taken to smoking a pipe while at the Academy, and purchased one carved from sea monster bone with a metal cap to protect the tobacco from the wind. What type of sea monster it was, I never found out, but assumed it was the kind that gets washed up on some lonely strand; either that or a goat. It was a long and curved thing, perhaps a little extravagant for my tastes. I thought it added to my years. Harl took out a shorter, simpler affair which had naked ladies carved into it and awkwardly accepted my offer of tobacco. For a long while we stood in silence, watching the reflection of stars and moon on the waves. Dolphins were teasing the ship's bow, rising and diving in graceful arcs. My back was hurting and I did not try to stand straight and so bent over my pipe in what was my natural posture. Harl stood a respectful distance behind. The pipe had reminded me of the Academy. As the sons of a lord admiral, My twin Ajator and I were expected to join the Imperial and Ardalrion Navy, and so at the age of fourteen, in the year 34320, we were both sent to the Imperial Naval Academy of Norlan to study for five years before being assigned as junior officers aboard a ship. It seemed like such a long time ago now.

After days at sea, a canal boat trip and a short carriage ride, we brothers were left standing in the rain at the foot of the steps to the academy without servant nor guard, on our own with a letter from the Lord Admiral to the captain of the academy. High above us loomed the ancient columns and reliefs of the austere, grand building. Around us were many more opulent and grand buildings lining a square known simply as Admiral Square.

"I never realised the city was so big," I said and could not help but gape at the city and its grandeur ever since making port.

Ajator laughed at my childlike awe having been to the city many times before with our father. "A million souls they say. I told you it wasn't like Ardalrion."

I grunted a chuckle now as I stood on the forecastle with Harl. The sailor kept his silence.

I remembered a horse and cart trundle by, the driver hunched low against the rain. People ran from door to door to avoid getting wet. Some had umbrellas while others used the large newspapers as cover. A gaudy naval officer had a servant in a top hat holding a large umbrella over him while another placed himself in the puddles so his lord would not get his feet wet. Gods forbid a noble naval officer ever get his feet wet. The world would come to an end!

We each had a large trunk, which we helped one another lug up to the mighty entrance where we were met after ten minutes of exhausting work by a sour faced doorman who took the letter and scanned it with a critical eye. The doorman's name was Groblot and he hated students. Groblot kept mumbling as he read the letter and glanced irritably at the pool of water coming off we bedraggled brothers. When satisfied with the document, the man grudgingly pointed the way to the administrative offices with a bony finger and grunted something about not dragging the trunks along the marble floor. Eventually we presented ourselves to Captain Harkorn, the captain of the academy.

"Discipline is the glue that holds the Navy together!" he told us. "You understand?"

"Yes, sir," we both chorused, standing to attention.

"Did the duke teach you discipline?"

"Yes, sir," we lied. The duke doted over Ajator and mostly ignored me. I was ever the embarrassment to our father who preferred to keep me out of sight and leave my upbringing to the staff, a task they resented.

"We run a tight ship here at the Academy," Harkorn continued. He liked to stroll round his office as he spoke, stopping at his window on each round to look out over the square through the raindrop streaked glass. The room was lined with oak panelling, with a thick rug placed on oak floorboards. It reminded me of captain's cabin with a table set aside for charts and maps, a compass in the corner, a ship's clock on the wall and sea lanterns hanging from thick wooden beams. It seemed to me that the captain missed being at sea when he spoke wistfully of the wooden ships and their brave crews.

Now I had been to sea for eight months. Eight months of putting up with the contempt of the captain and officers, and eight months of being alone. I had seen my brother on two occasions since leaving the academy. We both missed one another but Ajator seemed to be getting on well in his new role. So was I, to a certain degree. I loved the seas and my travels. I enjoyed hunting the enemies of the Empire and the thrill of boarding a vessel, although so far we had had few reasons to run out the guns and had never met any resistance when boarding a ship. I would be the first to admit that I was a craven man, but I did find it exciting if not a release from the boredom that would so easily set in, and when that happened, I would invariably get into trouble.

With Harl standing behind me, I realised that I had the chance to kill two birds with one stone. One of the odd features of an Imperial Naval officer's education was the distinct lack of studying anything to do with the mechanics of operating a ship. At the academy I was expected to learn the fundamentals of being an officer aboard an Imperial Naval vessel. I learnt about the Navy and its workings and the rules of combat, and tactics and strategy. I learnt etiquette together with navigation. I learnt about the classics, history, geography, philosophy, and politics. I learnt old Emben so I could read the ancient scrolls. I learnt a lot about all sorts of things but surprisingly little about the details of running a ship. Of course that was up to other men to worry about. An officer simply gave orders - the subordinates would make it happen.

"Have you been to the Naval Academy in Norlan, Mister Harl?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Only seen it from the outside, sir."

"At ease, man." I noticed that Harl was still standing to attention behind me. "That's no way to enjoy a pipe." Harl relaxed and leant on the curving gunwale of the forecastle. "It has a long and glorious history, does the academy," I said taking another drag on the pipe. "Or so they say - the paintings and statues and poems and books."

"I wouldn't know, sir."

I suspected that Harl probably did know but would rather not talk, so I continued, "All I saw in those books and poetic words was a long and brutal account of bloodletting and terrorism, glorious to some and a horror to others."

There was no doubt that the Imperial Navy was the best and most accomplished military machine in history, but that simply meant that it was better at butchering people than anyone else had ever been.

"Forgive my cynical view of our masters, Mister Harl, but I prefer to say it how I see it. Don't get me wrong though. We have a duty and we perform a vital task. Would you agree?"

"Aye," said Harl without enthusiasm.

Of course, what did a sailor care? He wanted his drink and his pay and a chance at some prize money for his old age. On the whole, the Empire's business was of secondary importance.

"My brother is an officer too. He would never agree with me. He would never let my cynicism dampen his view of the marvellous paintings that rejoice in the heroics, or the romantic poems that sing of the wooden ships and their iron men or the mighty statues that stand of gallant figures long gone."

"He sounds like a proper officer, sir," said Harl, and when I shot him a glance I saw that Harl had meant it innocently.

"He is. A finer man you will never meet. He is my twin, but you would never know it."

"I did know, sir," Harl stated. This surprised me as I was sure the crew had never met my brother. I gave Harl a questioning look.

"I read it, sir. You and the Young Lord have been mentioned a few times in the Gazette."

The Gazette? So Harl can read. Interesting. "The Young Lord?"

The papers had taken to calling Ajator the Young Lord and openly talked of his bright future as a hero of the Empire and future Lord Admiral of the Imperial and Ardalrion Navy. Of course Ajator had yet to perform any heroic feats in the name of his nation but it only took one look at him to know that the man was made of finer stuff than mere mortals.

"Aye, sir," replied Harl who obviously knew what was coming.

"And what do they call me?"

The man hesitated. "The Undertaker."

I grunted. I did not show or speak of it, but in a twisted way I rather liked being called the undertaker. It suited my mood. It spoke to the young rebel in me.

"How long have you been in the Navy?" I eventually asked Harl, returning to my original line of thought.

"All my life, sir. Sailed from one end to the other, then back again. Top to bottom, then up again. The highways are old friends."

I suspected as much. Harl had skin of leather and a thick seaman's slur. The Navy was the cement that bound the lands of the Empire together. The lands of Gonrah were split into thousands of islands from large land masses to tiny wind swept rocks all surrounding the Inner Ocean. The seas were the highways of the world and he who ruled the ocean, ruled the lands. The Navy claimed to rule the ocean, but in truth the Navy was stretched as thin as a strand of silk, Although none could challenge the might of the Imperial Navy, no one truly needed to for the Empire’s arm did not reach the four corners of the continent. So there was piracy and smuggling. There were enemy navies, raiders and strange ships from far off continents beyond the great Outer Oceans. Nobody knew much of those lands. I had read that few had travelled outside Gonrah, and much fewer had returned. It was said that great sea monsters awaited any who tried, and only ghosts lived beyond those Outer Oceans, so no one wanted to venture there. What did I care though? The world was a grim and unfair place and I doubted very much it was any better anywhere elsewhere.

I wanted desperately to learn about being a seaman. I also wanted allies, and knew that the only way was to get Harl and the crew on my side and now here was the chance. This would also enable me to partly repay my debt to Harl.

"Tell me, Mister Harl." I said, knocking my pipe on the gunwale. "How do the men spend their free time on board the ship? I sometimes hear music and laughter." I knew the answer already but wanted to engage Harl.

Harl scratched his head with his pipe, thinking of an answer. "All sorts, sir."

"Games? Cards?"

Harl gave me a sideways look. It was not forbidden, but Crosp frowned upon the practice and none of the men wanted to get on the wrong side of the captain.

"I like cards. Would it be wrong for me to join in a game with the men?" If I could simply lose money to Harl, I would be repaying him without the insult. I was good at losing money at games of chance, not that it ever stopped me; my father had deep pockets. Harl considered this for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders as though to say, what choice did he have? I was an officer. He did look concerned however.

"I can assure you, Mister Harl, I am a poor gambler." It did not reassure the sailor. I realised I would have to be more honest. "It is a rare thing for someone to show me any kindness." This was true. All my life I had been shunned and an outcast. Only my brother had ever been a true friend. "I bore easily and I want to know more about seafaring. You and the crew have the answer to both. Perhaps if I make assurances?"

"Such as?"

"I will never play for more than a hand of copper heads and I will drop rank when below deck."