Scimitar's Heir (14 page)

“So, do you want your information first, or can you wait until I’ve dressed and eaten something?” The woman glanced sidelong at Parek with a sultry smile. “I know
I
worked up an appetite.”

“Information,” Sam insisted before Parek could open his mouth. Was he was so besotted with this woman that he hadn’t even questioned her yet? Maybe, but Sam wanted answers, and she wanted them now. “First, what the hells do you think you’re doing, Parek? That bitch is the seamage’s
friend
!”

“Now hang on, Sam, she’s not—”

“My name is Camilla, Samantha Norris, and I’m a lot of things, but I was
never
Cynthia Flaxal’s friend.”

Sam’s cutlass was out in a flash, the tip at the red-haired woman’s throat. “Don’t
ever
call me that!”

“Put the sword down, Sam,” Parek warned, his hand on the hilt of his own weapon. “She’s been playing the sea witch for a fool for two years, waiting for us to come.”

“You
believe
that?” Sam asked incredulously, though she lowered the sword. “She’s duped you, Parek. She’s playing you like a fiddle!”

“Let me fill you in on a few things,
Samantha
,” Camilla said, her defiance intact. “My father was the one who betrayed Cynthia Flaxal, on Bloodwind’s orders, and it almost worked. If not for that Morrgrey bastard, Feldrin Brelak, it
would
have worked. My father was killed thanks to Cynthia Flaxal, and then she killed Bloodwind, my
husband
, right in front of me. What was I supposed to do?”

“Your father? That’s the first I heard of—”

“So you admit that you don’t know everything? Well that’s something, anyway.” Camilla brazenly dropped her impromptu robe and picked up her dress, foregoing the underclothes that lay scattered about the floor. “I played the grateful victim and she took me in, but she never let me alone long enough for me to get away. Not with what I wanted.”

“What you wanted? And what was that?”

“Bloodwind’s treasure,” Parek said, pulling on his shirt. “It’s already aboard
Cutthroat
, Sam. We’re all filthy rich! There’s enough for everyone!”

“Okay, that’s a good start.” Sam slipped her sword into its scabbard. “So, next question: where’s the sea witch gone, and where’s everyone else? Specifically, where are my brother and that fop of a count who claims to be my father?”

“They all went with the seamage.” The woman pulled the dress up over her alabaster curves and began tightening the bodice. “She was betrayed by the mer during the battle with the emperor’s ships. By the way, nice little ploy you pulled off, firing that catapult at the
Clairissa
. It certainly provoked an attack from the warship. Unfortunately, Feldrin Brelak survived, though he’s minus a leg now. Anyway, the mer stole the seamage’s baby, and she’s gone after them.”

“Stole her
baby
?” Parek’s jaw dropped. “Why?”

Men are such idiots
, Sam thought, her opinion of Parek dropping like a stone.
You’ve been with this woman all day, and you haven’t gotten the least bit of information out of her? You need to start thinking with the right organ, Captain!

Camilla waved her hand absently. “I didn’t really understand it. Something about the mer wanting to sacrifice the baby in some magic ceremony. Anyway, Flaxal and Brelak went after them to get the baby back.”

“And everyone else?” Parek interrupted before Sam could ask her next question. “Sam said that hundreds of people lived here, but we’ve only seen a few score, at most.”

“They all went with the seamage,” Camilla explained. “They knew the emperor would send another force once he learned that his ships were destroyed, so she took the natives who wanted to go back to their home island. She left me to negotiate with the imperials if they arrived before she got back.” The woman laughed bitterly. “What did she have to lose? If I convinced them that she didn’t have anything to do with sinking those two ships, she got to keep the island, the treasure…and me. If I wasn’t convincing enough, they’d arrest me and take the island and the treasure, and she’d sail away. She’s still rich, and she’s got her baby.”

“And they took everyone with them?” Sam asked suspiciously. “The count and my traitor brother?”

“Count Norris wanted to stay and wait for the emperor’s ships, probably so he could get back to Tsing, but Cynthia wouldn’t have it. She took him along as a safeguard, figuring the emperor wouldn’t attack her if a noble was aboard. Of course, your father took your brother with him.”

Sam seethed at the reference to her so-called father, but let it slide. She didn’t know if she bought the woman’s story, but it was almost too incredible to be a lie.

“Okay, one more question. Where’s she taking Edan?” she asked.

Camilla stiffened, then looked at Sam curiously. “Brelak clapped him in irons after he burned the emperor’s flagship. As far as I know, he’s still in the hold of
Orin’s Pride
. Cynthia insisted on taking him along to fight the mer.”

Tim, Norris and Edan all in one place
, Sam thought.
Perfect
! A new plan developed in her mind.

“One last question, then,” she said with a sly smile. “Where
exactly
have they gone?”

≈

Now is the time
, Kelpie thought. She set the baby down in a nook and swam casually toward Tailwalker. Slickfin was the only other mer in the grotto, with all the others either guarding the entrances or exploring the inner grottos with Eelback and Redtail. Predictably, Slickfin swam to block her way, dagger extended.

*You will not approach him,* Slickfin signed, and pointed back to Kelpie’s corner.

Kelpie puffed her gills full and sculled herself higher in the water so she looked slightly down at Slickfin, and put on her most solemn mien. *As Odea’s high priestess, it is my duty to see to the wounded,* she signed. *I healed your brother, did I not? Now I must see to Trident Holder Broadtail’s son. His wrists and throat are worn scaleless from being bound and dragged about.* Her bluster, as well as her mention of both Odea and the trident holder, was effective. Slickfin was not stupid; she yielded to Kelpie’s goddess-given authority.

*You may heal him, but be quick about it,* she said, and returned to her position beside the grotto’s entrance to await the others. They had found more of the doors, and had opened several of them in their search for the Chamber of Life, though Eelback warned about opening too many. Each one allowed water into the city, and Akrotia settled a bit lower in the sea with each flooded chamber. If it settled too far, water would spill in from the top and the entire city would sink.

Tailwalker turned away as Kelpie approached, but she positioned herself so that Slickfin could not see, and tugged on his bonds. When he whipped his head toward her, grimacing with pain, she signed covertly.

*Eelback’s plan is a lie.*

With his hands tied, Tailwalker could not sign, but his cold glare chilled her bones and stabbed her heart like a dagger.

*You hate me,* she signed, fighting to prevent her colors from shifting to the pale hues of anguish. *I understand this, and I am deserving of your hatred. But know this, Son of Trident Holder Broadtail; I have earned your hatred by loving you.*

Tailwalker’s eyes dilated and his color shifted, then he clapped his mouth twice in anger and glared anew. Kelpie continued signing.

*Eelback would have killed you if I did not do as he said, if I did not betray my friend, Seamage Flaxal. I have sealed my own fate, Tailwalker, and knowing you hate me is the most dire punishment that could have been dealt. But see my words!* she signed quickly as he started to turn away. *I have read the scrolls, and Eelback’s plan will not work as he has told us! The Chamber of Life must receive a seamage, a
willing
seamage! Seamage Flaxal’s Heir is not a seamage! Putting the infant into the Chamber of Life will not restore Akrotia!*

Despite his hatred, Kelpie could see that she had captured Tailwalker’s attention. His eyes flickered over her shoulder to Slickfin, and she knew she had lingered too long. She hastily invoked Odea’s grace and gripped Tailwalker’s chafed wrists; the raw flesh healed under her touch. Before she turned to go, her fingers flew, relaying her suspicions.

*It is a trap.*

Kelpie returned to her nook and picked up Seamage Flaxal’s Heir. Settling back against the grotto wall, she glanced first to see that Slickfin wasn’t looking, then turned toward Tailwalker, who looked at her with wide eyes.

She held out the baby and signed, *Bait.*

Chapter 11

Nearing the Truth

“Hold station here, Captain.” Admiral Joslan viewed the row of sails towering in
Indomitable’s
wake. The flagship was the first out of the Rockport Channel, as was only proper, but this meant she would have to wait hours for the rest of the armada to take their stations around her. “Signal the drakes to the van and the frigates to the perimeters. The three first-rates will sail with the supply ships in the middle of the armada.”

“Aye aye, Admiral!” The captain gave the orders and Joslan turned back to his armada as the signalmen swarmed aloft.

Joslan noted that the
Iron Drake
was taking her proper position at the fore, and nodded. He didn’t feel particularly good about the report he’d received from Pendergast, but that meager information was better than nothing. With it, he could hardly delay further. Something was amiss on Plume Isle, and he had to take advantage of it. He’d served under three successive emperors and fought many sea battles, but his stomach grew queasy when he considered a foe with the capacity to so easily destroy a first-rate ship of the line like
Clairissa
. He watched the fleet form up: sixteen ships in all, nearly seven-thousand souls, all his responsibility.

“I have never ventured south of Rockport, Captain.” Admiral Joslan stiffened at the sound of Upton’s thin voice, but he continued his survey of the armada, refusing to turn. “How long is it to Plume Isle? For the entire armada, I mean, not just the fastest ships.”

“We’ll be there morning after next, Master Upton,” Joslan heard the captain answer. “We are slowed by the supply ships, of course, but we cannot leave them unprotected.”

“I understand completely, Captain. Thank you.”

Joslan hoped Upton would simply go away, but he could feel him hovering like an unseen insect. He steeled himself for yet another bout of irritating questions and suggestions.

“I commend you, Admiral. Getting this armada underway in so short a time is a laudable and monumental task.”

Was that a compliment? If so, it was certainly not genuine. He turned to Upton and inclined his head, then turned back and raised his viewing glass. Coming from a lubber like Upton, the praise meant less than nothing; a blind man’s opinion of a room’s décor.
What are you up to, you weasel
? he thought.

“I would be interested in your interpretation of Captain Pendergast’s report; obviously you found it stirring enough to warrant immediate action.”

“My
interpretation
, Master Upton, is simply that something untoward has occurred on Plume Isle.” He glanced down at the man, keeping his expression neutral. “Whatever it is, it cannot be good for the seamage, so it may be good for us. I intend to find out.”

“And the possibility of a ruse?”

“A ruse?” His eyes snapped to the little man’s face. “You suggest the seamage set fire to the island as an attempt to lure us in? She doesn’t even know this armada exists!” He didn’t know whether he was more irritated that he had not thought of such a ploy himself, or that Upton had pointed it out to him.

“We do not know what the seamage does or does not know, Admiral,” the spymaster said, his tone suddenly cold. “There could very well be more forces at work here than just ours and hers, or she could have informants here in Rockport. The mer, for instance, could have been in and out of this harbor a dozen times without our knowing.”

“For the last week you have been urging me to act in haste, to commit this armada to immediate action, and now you preach caution?” Joslan scowled. “Make up your mind, Master Upton. You cannot have it both ways.”

“Can I not, Admiral?” One corner of Upton’s mouth twitched upward, imperceptible had Joslan not been standing so close. “In my experience, I find that I can—and often do—have
exactly
that. Prompt action, Admiral Joslan, is
not
the antithesis of caution.”

“An axiom which gives you the opportunity to be contrary, no matter what decisions are made or actions are taken. This, Master Upton, seems to be what you do best.” The admiral turned his back squarely on the spymaster and pretended to survey the deployment of his armada, spurning any further banter. He gritted his teeth, refusing to let the irritating little man goad him into a temper, but no matter how he tried, his thoughts always returned to the same question:
What exactly
, he wondered,
might Upton know that I don’t
?

≈

Huffington clambered up the ladder onto the naval dock and accepted the watch officer’s hand for the last step. The palm was damp, as was his own; the sweltering afternoon temperature had them all sweating. He took a deep breath, the thick, stinking miasma of humanity as familiar as the voice of an old friend.
Tsing,
he thought, wiping his hand surreptitiously on his trousers.
Welcome home.

“Your business at the naval dock, sir?” The young lieutenant took a step back and raked him from head to toe with his eyes. “My pardon, but you don’t look like a navy man. Your crew wears the livery, but that boat is certainly not one of ours. I must have an explanation before I allow you to land.”

“My name is Huffington. I’m secretary to Count Norris, and I bear urgent dispatches for the hands of the emperor.” He patted the satchel at his waist and nodded back to the boat. “We acquired this vessel in Rockport, since it would make the trip faster than any of the fleet’s launches, and a larger ship could not be spared. Admiral Joslan and Master Upton, the emperor’s Master of Security, commissioned this trip. There are documents in here for the emperor from them both.”

“You bear news of the destruction of
Clairissa
?”

Huffington was taken aback, but hid his response.
How did word get here before I did
?

“Your pardon, Lieutenant, but the contents of my dispatches are for the emperor alone.”

“Oh, quite right, but you may as well know that the news arrived yesterday. A boat from the seamage herself, crewed by three of her dark-skinned savages, they say. Come with me, please.” The lieutenant turned and strode up the dock. “And I’ll tell you something else: the emperor is fit to be tied about it. Rumor is that he nearly had those three messengers strung up, just on general principle. I’m sure he’ll be eager to receive a naval account of the loss, but watch yourself. He might not be inclined to a more favorable response just because the admiral sent you.”

The lieutenant whistled, and a carriage pulled up before them, the imperial seal emblazoned on its door. Huffington boarded the coach without a word, as disturbed by the lieutenant’s yammering about the incident as he was that news of the disaster had beaten him here. He used the ride to collect his thoughts.

Upon his arrival at the palace, he presented Upton’s letter and was ushered with all haste through a maze of halls and chambers to a pair of ornate double doors where four royal guards were posted. His escort presented the letter to the guard in charge, who scowled at him.