The Wrath of a Shipless Pirate (The Godlanders War) (12 page)

“I beg your pardon, lady, but I’ll be no one’s prisoner.”

She came closer. “No. Please. I don’t mean it like that. But this
…
this
gift
you have been given could change the world, for good or ill. I have
seen
the way you gallivant. You’re reckless in everything you do, and if you use Oberon’s power with so little understanding, you will break the world.”

Corin didn’t answer right away. She was right, but the truth was even worse than she knew. Oberon had told him once that reality itself—all of Hurope—was no more than a memory of a dream, now trapped in Corin’s head. If he died, the world died with him. That seemed a greater risk by far than
using
the gifts that Oberon had given him.

And none of that was information he meant to share with the druids. They’d lock him in a cage and never let him see the light of day. He’d decided long ago that if he couldn’t
act
to make this world a better place, then it wasn’t worth preserving anyway.

So he met her eyes with perfect confidence and said, “He
chose
me, milady, reckless as I am. Have you considered it might be
because
I’m fool enough to use this power that he gave it t
o m
e?”

She bit her lip. “I
…
I haven’t.”

Corin shrugged, as though it were the plain and simple truth. In fact, he knew it wasn’t. Oberon had not chosen him at all; any manling who had stumbled on the city’s tomb would have served the old king’s purpose. But Corin saw no benefit in sharing that with her.

“I have a mission, Aemilia. I have unfinished work to do. Some of it was given to me straight from Oberon’s mouth. I will avenge the death of Oberon and of Jezeeli. I will free the nations of Hurope from Ephitel and the pretender gods. I will restore the druids to their full
…
custodial authority. But I will do none of this on your leash. Do you understand?”

She touched her chin, thinking hard, but found no answer.

Corin sighed. “I am not negotiating. I tell you as it is. Remember what you know of me. I can see through your
disguises
. I can step across the world with just a thought. If you try to capture me, to coerce me, to control me
…
I swear, I have less regard for the survival of this dream than I have for my own freedom.”

She sighed, frustrated. “I believe you.”

“You should. You’ve said the dreamwalking is dangerous, and I’ll avoid it if I can, but you must remember that you cannot contain me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of trying. You’ve made yourself quite clear.”

“Very well.”

She came closer still and raised her hands in pleading. “But I must beg you: Do nothing rash. You are something precious, Corin. If you are half the things you claim to be, we
need
you. I will not try to restrain you, but I would beg you to allow me to advise you.”

Corin considered her a moment, then rolled one shoulder in a shrug. For all he hated the idea of submitting to the
druids
, Aemilia would not be a bad companion. Still, he pretended
reticence
. “Perhaps I will allow it. If you can show some service to me.”

“What service?”

“Find me Ethan Blake.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “You have shown a knack for finding elusive figures in the crowd. You tracked me across the Medgerrad; now find me the man who once sailed under the name of Et
han Bla
ke.”

“I
…
we don’t really work that way. I found
you
because you kept setting off alarms. Is this Ethan Blake twisting reality
everywhere
he goes?”

“Umm
…
probably not. He is a Vestossi. Does that help?”

She glared at him. “This is the man Charlie told me of. This is the sailor who betrayed you, who took your ship and san
k i
t.”

“He is a wicked man, in league with Ephitel—”

“You already named him a Vestossi.”

Corin sighed. “And he has done worse than wronged me. He has enslaved an innocent woman who deserves her freedom.”

“This is more important than the world?”

Corin nodded. “This is my responsibility. I will serve Oberon. I will slaughter Ephitel. But
first
I must atone for my mistakes. I must find some way to help her.”

“This sounds like just the sort of thing I warned against,” she started, but Corin cut her off with a raised eyebrow.

“This sounds like you are trying to restrain me. If you want my cooperation, earn it. If you want my full attention, then help me set this other task aside.”

She sighed and shrank away. “Very well. If those are your demands, then I will see what I can do.”

“You are not the only one I’ve asked to gather this information. I might have word as soon as sunset from my brothers in th
e Ni
mble Fingers. And
they
have no desire to lock me up. So if you wish to impress me with your usefulness
…
”

She nodded, impatient. “I understand. I understand.”

“Good. Then you are free to go. I’m sure the Council waits with bated breath for your report. You may tell them what a trying scoundrel I proved to be. It will hurt my feelings none.”

“No, but it could see you dead. There will be those on the Council unwilling to risk an agent—even an agent apparently anointed by Oberon—with such power outside our control.”

“Oh. Aye? And you will convince them otherwise?”

She bit her lip, thinking for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t yet know if I disagree with them.”

“But—”

“You’ve said your piece. I go to Council. You will
…
discover our decision. One way or another.”

He reached out a hand, anxious to renew the conversation, but she brushed lightly past him and out the door. He watched her go, and even after she was lost to sight, he stood a moment, staring hard at nothing.

Then he smiled. “A fine woman, that.” He thought a moment more. “This should be interesting.” Then he shook himself and raised his voice. “Charlie! Has my food arrived?”

A
emilia did not return that afternoon. Nor did Big Jack Brown stop by the tavern. Corin took a stroll late in the afternoon, looking in on some of the more popular pirate haunts, but he found none of his old contacts and learned little new. In all, it was a frustrating afternoon.

A rider did come from Brinole at dinnertime, but only to report that Francois had found none of the information he needed there and that he was riding on toward the Ithalian
border
. Corin gave the messenger a handsome tip and showed the innkeeper an apathetic shrug, but in his heart he raged.

Tommy’s words kept ringing in his head.
“He keeps her clean enough. And not too badly bruised.”
Every hour that slipped away left Corin feeling helpless, weak. He paced his room long after he should have gone to bed, still hoping Aemilia would arrive with useful news.

He was not much afraid of her parting threat. It had always been a risk. In fact, the woman he’d met in Jezeeli likely
would
have voted hard against him. He remembered how she’d clung to the strictures like a shipwrecked man might cling to a broken bit of mast to keep himself afloat. She’d been a true believer.

But Corin doubted she still felt the same. After all, she’d seen the limits of the good king’s honest plans. There were always wicked men prepared to flout the law for private gain. Even among gods, Ephitel was not the first, and he would not be the last. Aemilia had seen it. She’d lost true friends and watched this precious dream become a nightmare. Surely she’d embrace a chance for revenge.

Surely.

Right?

He twitched aside the curtain to peek out on the empty street. He eased the door to look down the hall. What other magic did the druids have? He should have asked before
provoking
her. Regardless, he’d only said what had to be said. He
would
pref
er a
n execution to a life in chains. He nodded to himself,
repeating
the words in his head. “
I will not wear a leash. I am no one’s slave.”

And more of Tommy’s cruel words answered him.
“How would you treat a girl you owned?”

He growled and clenched his fists and stomped across the room. Ethan Blake. Where was he now?
Who
was he now? A Vestossi. That was all Corin knew, and it was not much help. The noble house had strongholds all across Hurope, from Rikkeborh to Sesille. From darkest Dehtzlan to the Dividing Line. Their strongest presence was in Ithale—in Aepoli and in Aerome, where Ipolito sat upon the throne—but Blake might just as easily have come from Pri or Lihon or Désanton. Corin could spend a week traveling south to Aepoli only to learn he should have gone north or west or east.

No. Far better to bide his time here. There were other affairs still to settle, other intelligence to gather, and with a little patience, he could better arm himself for whatever battles awaited him at his destination.

He knew these things, but they did not help him sleep.

The morning brought a visit from Big Jack Brown. Corin met him in the common room, and after his initial greeting, Jack said nothing for a long time. Corin tried some pleasantries, but in the end, he let the man have his time.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jack said at last. “I’ve been thinking awful hard. What are you scheming, Captain?”

“I told you yesterday,” Corin said. “No tricks, no
complications
. I just want to find Ethan Blake and make h
im dea
d.”

“But there’s always a scheme. I know that about you. You’re always scheming. What’s it this time?”

Corin spread his hands. “You aren’t wrong, but right now I don’t have enough information to scheme. And I don’t have the patience to play things smart. Right now, all I have in mind is some bloodletting.”

“I like it,” Jack said. “Honest. Proper. And you’ve learned where the snake is hiding?”

Corin shook his head. “That’s the one thing I’m still missing. But I have some lines out in the water.”

“Of course you do. I never would have doubted it. Only, I was thinking about yesterday.
…
”

“Aye?”

“And you’ll recall I offered to point you after Dave Taker.”

“Aye.”

“Well
…
there you have a man who knows Blake’s secrets.”

Corin didn’t answer right away. He considered it a moment, then shook his head. “It’s not a
fast
solution. How long would it take to find him in the Wildlands?”

“Four days at sea. Then, at most, two more at the rendezvous. He checks in often, so I’m told.”

Corin cocked his head. “What has you so anxious to send me west, Big Jack?”

“You remember yesterday?”

“Aye.”

“I did as I promised.”

“A proper sailor’s burial?”

“Right. Exactly.”

“No problems?”

“None that couldn’t be overcome.”

Corin sat a little straighter at that, but he tried to pretend nonchalance. “Oh? What problems were there?”

Jack shrugged. He kept his eyes fixed on the table. “One of the men got jumpy. Swore he saw Tommy Day was breathing.” He avoided Corin’s gaze. His voice held steady, but his hands were shaking. “Barely at all. Like an old man on his deathbed. But still
…
”

Corin swallowed hard. “Aye? What happened then?”

Now Jack met Corin’s eyes. “I did as I had promised, Captain. I told him he was seeing things. Corpses can get odd sometimes, you know. I clapped the corpses up in irons and dropped ’em over.”

Corin caught a heavy breath. “You’re a good man, Jack.”

“That I am. That I am. And I’ve spent the hours since then thinking hard.”

“About?”

“Doing justice. Like you said. A good bloodletting.”

“Ah.”

Big Jack nodded. “Exactly. And whatever grudge you hold against the little tyrant, I promise you, the world needs to see Taker dead more than Ethan Blake.”

Corin leaned across the table and held Jack’s gaze. “Listen close. I appreciate your reasoning. I really do. But you’re
forgetting
Iryana. Blake has her in his power.”

“She’s just a desert slave,” Jack said.

“She’s a living will,” Corin said. “She was free. I stole her from her people for a purpose, and because of that, she ended up in Blake’s possession. That is wrong, no matter where she had the misfortune to be born.”

Big Jack frowned. “Beg pardon for saying, but the slave don’t mean a thing to me. You know? She’s nothing to me. And Et
han Bl
ake? He was nothing worth speaking of. A lousy
captain
, but you get those. He saw it soon enough and ran away. I’ll credit him for that.”

Corin shook his head. “This is about more than pirate honor.”

“Maybe for you. I can see that. But Dave Taker—same as Tommy Day—he used me, Captain. He made me his tool to hurt these folks. That blood is on my hands.”

“They were orders, Jack.”

The big man shook his head. “That lady in the house? I heard her screaming. Heard it all the time, after. You know? And when Pete swore he saw Tommy breathing, I thought
…
I thought maybe it takes blood to wash the stain of blood. You know? And when I put him in the water, that screaming stopped, Captain.”

Corin didn’t move. He didn’t blink. This was the face of
vengeance
. It was an echo. Corin wanted to tell Jack to let it go, to walk away. He
was
a good man. There was plenty of work for an honest sailor, if he wanted to go that way.

But Corin couldn’t say the words, because he did know. He’d killed his share of evil men. Sometimes that was the only way to stop the screaming.

In the end, he gave a short, sharp nod. “I understand you, Jack.”

“Then I’ll say it plain. I’m going after Dave Taker. I don’t need you coming with me. I’m up to the task.”

“I believe you are.”

“But I thought there was a chance you had some bloodstains of your own. Thought maybe you had some business with him, too, and I can’t pretend my honor outranks yours.”

“I don’t know,” Corin said. “I wouldn’t want to see them
side-b
y-side. But are you
sure
—”

“I’m sure. That’s not the question.”

Corin nodded. “Then you do what you have to do. And I’ll sleep easier knowing it’s done.”

“Glad to be of service, Captain.”

Corin shook his head. “I’m no one’s captain anymore.”

“Not how it works. You know? It’s been six years since you left the chariot, but Old Grim
…
”

Corin gave him a dry chuckle and nodded along. “Aye. You’ve got me there. Old Grim will always be my captain.”

“And you’ll be mine. You were a good one.”

“So what’s your plan? Need any help with the scheming?”

“Nah. It’s a pretty simple one. I know the boys who run Dave Taker’s news, supplies, what have you. They’ll be stopping through tomorrow night, little smuggler’s dock out west of town. I usually have a pint or two with them before they move along. I’ll make some excuse to join them.”

“It’s Tommy Day,” Corin said. “That’s your angle. You’ll have to play it cold, but Tommy’s death is big news. Tell them you were there, you saw it all, and you need to carry the report to Taker personally.”

“That’s good. You’re a smart man, Captain.”

Corin shrugged. “That’s tomorrow night? Four days along the coast, and you said two at the rendezvous.”

“That’s at most.”

“So by this time next week, Dave Taker will be dead.”

“That’s what I intend.”

Corin took a moment to review the plan, searching for some other flaw, but it seemed solid. Simple, like the man had said. Eventually he nodded. “Find me when it’s over. Can I beg that favor? Find me when it’s over, so I can hear the tale and drink your health.”

“Sure thing,” Jack said.

He rose to go, but Corin stopped him. “Jack!”

“Captain?”

“You’re a good man. I’m proud to know you.”

“Clear skies, Captain. I’ll see you when it’s done.”

Corin watched him leave, then he shook his head and muttered, “Clear skies, sailor. But storms are brewing.”