Scimitar War (43 page)

He turned to the parlor, thinking to tidy up, since he had already dismissed Mrs. Grembly, and perhaps have another glass of port. The rattle of a key in the front door turned him back. Huffington entered, a sly smile on his face.

“I know where he lives, milord,” he said quietly. “He’s leased a townhouse on the hill. Goes by the name of Torek, now. But several of the residents of his neighborhood have already begun to evacuate. We should act quickly, before he decides to leave as well.”

“Excellent, Huffington!” He clapped the man on the shoulder, amazed once again at his resourcefulness. “We’ll go to the chief constable first thing in the morning.”

“Very good, milord,” Huffington responded. “If you don’t mind, sir, it’s been a very long day, and likely to be a bigger one tomorrow. I’d better get some—”

“You found him.”

They both turned to see Camilla standing halfway up the stairs, her hands clenched before her. Her face was pale, but set in hard lines, her eyes dark and dangerous.

“We have, my dear,” Emil said, worried at that expression. “With any luck, they’ll make an arrest tomorrow.”

“I want to be there, Emil.” There was a cold determination in her voice that he had never heard before, and he knew there would be no arguing with her. “I want to look into his eyes when they drag him off to the guillotine.”

≈

“Hello, Kori,” Farin said with a grin as the pirate-turned-gentleman blinked the sleep from his eyes. “Nice place ya got here. Mind if we come in?”

“Farin! By the Nine Hells!” Kori’s eyes popped so wide at the sight of the grim-faced pirates on his front stoop that Farin thought the orbs might fall out and roll down the steps onto the street. Kori drew his silk robe tight around his waist and grinned. “Good to see you, mates. Come in, come in!”

He backed up and held the door open, which was more of an invitation than Farin expected. Farin, Quid, and the sixteen other pirates they were able to round up surged into the narrow entry hall of the townhouse. It was small enough that when Kori finally managed to latch the door, they were so tightly packed that none could have drawn a sword even if they had been wearing one. More than a few hands were resting on dagger hilts, however.

“Go on upstairs, lads,” Kori directed, pointing to the stairs to the second floor. “Nothin’ down here but the servants’ quarters, kitchen and such. Take that first door on your left to the sittin’ room.”

“Servants,” one of them muttered as they began climbing. “He’s got servants.”

“Just two,” Kori protested, following them up. “A maid and a cook. I don’t have a butler or a footman or anything like that.” They all trundled into the long sitting room where Kori joined them. “Somethin’ to drink, lads? The bar’s right over—”

“What the hells is this?” one of the crew asked, sniffing at a crystal decanter of plum-colored liquid.

“They call it port. It’s halfway between wine and brandy. Not my favorite, but the blue bloods like to sip it after supper. There’s whiskey, brandy and rum as well, lads. Feel free!”

“We didn’t come here to drink with you, Kori,” Farin said, though several of the men had already poured themselves glasses and snifters of the high-brow hooch. Soon they ran out of glasses and began drinking straight from the decanters. “We came to find out why you weren’t at Middle Cay, like Parek said you’d be. And here we find you sittin’ in a townhouse, livin’ the high life. We want ta know what the hells happened in the Shattered Isles while we were down the Sand Coast riskin’ our lives for a single hold full of plunder.”

“We stayed at Middle Cay as long as we could, Farin, but the imperials found us out and we had to go. With
Cutthroat
laden like she was, we couldn’t hope to outrun a warship, so we cut out of there and headed up to a little spot for a refit.”

“Laden,” Farin said, squinting at Kori. “Laden with what?”

“Oh, blimey, you don’t know!” Kori let out a bark of laughter and grinned like the pirate he was, despite the finery and fancy surroundings. “Sam’s plan worked like a charm, Farin. The sea witch sank two of the emperor’s ships, then got nervous and took off for points south. We pounced on Plume Isle before more imperials could show up and took it like a cheap whore. Stripped it bare and burnt the rest!”

Mutters broke out, some appreciative, some disbelieving.

“With a dozen men?” Farin said, scowling at Kori’s claim. “You can’t feed me that, man. She had a fair army of them dark-skinned savages there.”

“Oh, well, Sam had her own army. She got in tight with a tribe of them flesh eaters and coaxed ‘em into helpin’. Best part was that all they wanted was prisoners. Made a right mess of things, they did, but they didn’t care a bit about the treasure.”

“Treasure?” A single pin falling to the carpeted floor would have broken the silence.

“Bloodwind’s treasure!” Kori said. “There was a fair amount of booty to be had, with all the sea witch’s finery, but the real treasure was the chest that was in her quarters. Big enough to choke a sea drake, it was, and full o’ gold and trinkets!”

“By the hells,” Farin muttered, his own avarice kindled by the claim.

“Aye, mate. We took every last crown and stuffed
Cutthroat
so full she’d barely heel in a gale!” Kori paused for a moment and someone handed him one of the decanters. He lifted it and took a healthy swig, then passed it on. “We waited for you. We did! Then some imperial spy found us out and near killed the captain in his sleep, so we hauled anchor and got our arses out of there. There was nothin’ for it, lads. If we’d have stayed, we’d all be swingin’ from yardarms now, and the treasure’d be in the hands of the imperials.”

“So you came here, divvied it up and are livin’ like kings,” Farin said, his tone not quite accusing. This wasn’t at all what he had expected. Kori actually seemed to be pleased to see them, not frightened, which he’d certainly be if they had run off with the treasure and plans to cheat their absent mates. “What happened to share and share alike, then?”

“How was we supposed to share when we didn’t even know where you were, or even if you lived, Farin? Ay?” Kori glared at him, offended by the suggestion. “We waited as long as we could, but you never showed up. Not our fault you missed out.”

“Well, we’re bloody here now, and I’m thinkin’ we deserve at least a portion of the spoils.” He raked the room with his eyes and grinned maliciously. “Don’t we, lads?”

The dangerous rumble of “Aye” shook the empty decanters on their silver trays.

“Well, we’d best talk to the captain about that,” Kori said, eying the crowd of pirates dubiously. “Don’t be thinkin’ you all can split up what I got. Divided so many ways, it wouldn’t do you much good. But Parek’ll know how to get everyone together and divvy up our cuts proper.”

“Aye, that’s why we come to see you, Kori,” Farin said, letting his grin return. “We’ll stay here with you tonight. Then tomorrow, we’ll all go to see the good captain.”

Chapter 30

Blood and Money

“I’m sorry, Count Norris, but with all that’s going on, I don’t have the manpower or the time to apprehend a petty criminal on mere hearsay.” Chief Constable Voya rubbed her eyes and sat back in her chair. She looked as if she hadn’t slept since the evacuations began.

“Not hearsay, Chief Constable,” Emil argued. “We have two eye witnesses to his atrocities, which include murder, kidnapping and theft, which I would hardly call petty. He organized the pillaging of Mrs. Flaxal Brelak’s keep on Plume Isle, which resulted in the deaths of more than fifty local villagers and untold loss of personal property and wealth.”

“Which the emperor confiscated with her arrest,” Voya argued, rubbing her eyes. “It’s not like she’s going to get her money back.”

“This is not about her money, Chief Constable,” he countered with a level stare. “It is about bringing a murdering pirate to justice.”

“I’m sorry, Count Norris, but every resource I’ve got is going into evacuating this city. I’ve got to give that effort priority.”

“And to the hells with justice,” he growled in accusation.

“I’m not in charge of dispensing justice, Milord Count,” she growled right back. She placed her palms on the top of her desk and pushed herself to her feet, glaring at him with flint-hard eyes. “Right now, I’ve got to concentrate my resources on saving the living rather than avenging the dead. Once this Akrotia…issue is resolved, if the city’s still standing, I might have the time, energy and manpower to chase after fugitive pirates, but not before.”

Norris opened his mouth to argue, but Huffington interrupted, saying calmly, “Pardon me, milord, but if it’s a question of manpower, we can supply able hands. The captain and crew of
Orin’s Pride
would surely volunteer, as well as myself. If the chief constable would allow you to deputize them, it would be quite legal and proper.”

Norris could have hugged the man.

“Well, Chief Constable?” he asked.

“How many men are we talking about here?” she asked warily.

“About a dozen. They would all be under my supervision and I will personally bear any costs that we may incur.”

“And I suppose you want them armed.”

“It would only be prudent, Chief Constable. The man
is
a pirate, after all.”

Voya chewed her lip, her eyes flicking between the two men. “Very well, Count Norris, but you’ll be held responsible for any loss of life or damages. And they’ll only be authorized for today, not a minute longer. I’ll not sign off on your own private army.”

“That’s understood, Chief Constable.”

“Fine.” She sat back down. “Give Corporal Penkin the names of your men and we’ll start the ball rolling. Now, please, Milord Count, I must ask you to leave my office. I’ve got a city to evacuate.”

≈

“Thank you for seeing me so early, Your Majesty,” Cynthia said with a curtsy. Her escort had ushered her into a sunlit chamber where the emperor and his secretary sat at an ornate table, his ever-present bodyguard hovering at his shoulder. The emperor was eating breakfast, and the secretary was scratching furiously in his ledger.

“Your request stated that it was urgent, Mrs. Flaxal Brelak. We can only assume that it has to do with Akrotia. Perhaps the elves imparted some news when they met with you last night?”

Cynthia chilled; he was receiving reports from her omnipresent guards. She forced herself to respond lightly. “Unfortunately, nothing of consequence, Your Majesty. But that is not the reason for my visit. As you undoubtedly know,
Orin’s Pride
was impounded yesterday. Her crew sighted Akrotia on their way north. We have perhaps four days before it’s sitting outside Tsing Harbor.”

“You believe the time for our attack is at hand.” He dabbed the corners of his mouth with a silver embroidered napkin and sipped blackbrew. “Why the need to tell Us this in person?”

“Because, Your Majesty, I would like to get my affairs in order in case…I don’t return from this fight. In addition to my prison sentence, you also confiscated all my assets. We haven’t discussed this yet.”

“What is there to discuss, Mrs. Flaxal Brelak? All you owned now belongs to the empire. There will be plenty of time to deal with an inventory and formal transfer of ownership once Akrotia has been dealt with. We hate to be crass, but if you do not survive your encounter with Akrotia, then We will take up the matter with your legal representative.”

She took a deep breath and plunged on. “Count Norris made it clear on his first visit to Plume Isle that Your Majesty was interested in the ships that I’ve designed. In fact, he happened to acquire a copy of the draft plans for
Manta
while he was there.” She waited, but the only reaction from the emperor was to arch one eyebrow as he took another bite of toast with marmalade. “So I must conclude that the plans for that and my other ships would be of interest to you?”

“Of course those plans were of interest to Us, but Admiral Joslan’s report stated that all of the plans for your ships were destroyed during the pirate attack. Is this not correct?”

“Yes,” she hastened to say, “that is correct.
All the
original
plans were destroyed.”

Tynean Tsing narrowed his eyes, and Cynthia felt like a mouse under the gaze of a hawk.
Hold together
, she thought as her palms began to sweat.
I hold all the cards here
.

“By
original
plans, you mean
exactly
what
, Mrs. Flaxal Brelak?”

“There are copies of all of my plans in Southaven, kept safely at Keelson Shipyards.”

“Then they were also forfeit, along with the rest of your possessions, at the time of your arrest.” He took another sip of blackbrew and put the cup down, but his eyes never left hers. “Please get to the point.”

“The point is, Your Majesty, that Flaxal Shipping and all its assets, including the ship plans, were no longer mine at the time of my arrest.” She took a moment to let that notion sink in, then added, “Before I left for Akrotia, I took the precaution of transferring the business to someone I trusted. It seemed…prudent at the time, considering the potential repercussions of the destruction of the
Clairissa
and
Fire Drake
.”

The room fell silent; even the emperor’s secretary had stopped writing and was staring at her wide-eyed.

“And when, exactly, did you have the time to do that?” the emperor asked, the merest hint of annoyance in his tone. “There is no magistrate on Plume Isle to verify such a transfer.”

“No, Your Majesty, there isn’t. Prior to my departure, I drafted the documents and sent them to Tsing with Tipos, who also delivered to Your Majesty the letters from Count Norris and myself explaining the circumstances surrounding the loss of your ships. The transfer documents were verified by a magistrate here, then sent on to Southaven, where they should be arriving any day. Master Fergus, my banker there, will execute the document. So you see, the plans for my other ships no longer belonged to me when I was arrested. You have
Orin’s Pride
, and you can certainly take her apart to see how she’s built. But you have no other ship plans, and you have no one trained to sail such ships.”