The Ruling Sea Part 25

'The agony you risk by defying me exceeds the limits of language, d.u.c.h.ess,' he said. 'Did you not hear the sibyl? I am death's master, not its slave. I will live on when the very dust of this world disperses in the void. You prove yourself capable of some three-for-a-penny spell, the hiding or moving of a book, and you imagine this prepares you to challenge Arunis?'

Thasha risked a glance at the old woman. There was a gleam of satisfaction in the milk-blue eyes.

'Oh no,' said Oggosk. 'I imagine nothing of the kind. No, Arunis, you have nothing at all to fear from me. me.'

The sorcerer froze. His eyes s.h.i.+fted to Thasha, and narrowed suspiciously. Thasha felt a sudden p.r.i.c.kling along her spine. He's examining me! He's examining me! She felt Oggosk's hand tighten in warning: She felt Oggosk's hand tighten in warning: Not a look, not a whisper Not a look, not a whisper. Unblinking, Thasha stared Arunis down. The p.r.i.c.kling subsided. Arunis went pale.

'You,' he said.

Lady Oggosk cackled, her voice echoing loud across the chamber. Arunis retreated a step, his eyes still locked on Thasha.

'd.u.c.h.ess! d.u.c.h.ess!'

Rose's bellow filled the room. Thasha looked up with a start as the captain and Drellarek staggered into the chamber. A moment later Hercol and the two Turachs appeared as well.

In that distracted split-second, Arunis pounced. Thasha instinctively threw her arms around Lady Oggosk, knocking the old woman backwards just as Arunis swung his mace. Thasha felt a spike on the weapon flick her hair above the ear. She whirled and drew her sword, dragging Oggosk by the arm lest the next blow find the old woman p.r.o.ne. But there was no second blow: Arunis barrelled headlong into the exit corridor, and disappeared. Thasha heard him scrabbling up the spiral staircase as though afraid for his life.

'Let him go,' croaked Oggosk, who had fallen on her back.

Thasha bent to help her. 'Are you hurt?' she asked.

'Pah. I'm not made of crystal, girl.'

The witch was soon on her feet, though she leaned heavily on Thasha's arm. She cackled, delighted with herself. Then she pulled Thasha close and whispered, 'Don't ask what I let him believe about you, Thasha Isiq: you'll get no more out of me than he did.'

Thasha was barely listening. 'Pazel!' she shouted, pulling away from the witch. 'What happened to him, Captain? Don't any of you know where he is?'

Pazel was a long time in returning to the chamber, although he could hear the others shouting his name. He was in pitch darkness again, but the fear was mostly gone. He had crept back to the chamber where Klyst had first appeared, and put his feet in the cool water. He called her name, but neither heard nor expected a reply. Eventually he placed Arunis' Polylex Polylex in the stream and let the current bear it away. in the stream and let the current bear it away.

17.

A Name and a Cause

11 Freala 941 120th day from Etherhorde

Four days after the madness at Dhola's Rib the wind swung round to the south, and a white fog came with it. Denser and lower than the fog at Talturi, it soaked the men of the First Watch right through their woolens, and brought curses from the few pa.s.sengers who still partic.i.p.ated in Smoke Hour: their pipes were wet even before the mids.h.i.+pman handed them out.

On the fourth day Rose shortened sail, for they were approaching the eastern Ulluprids, where charts conflicted, and there was no certainty that a rock or barren islet would not loom suddenly out of the mist. The watch-men were on edge, straining their eyes for a lee sh.o.r.e, their ears for breaking surf. But the featureless world gave no clues. Men on the lower spars were as blind as the deckhands, while those in the crow's nests stood just above the mist, looking out over a cotton moonscape with no visible end.

Hatches were sealed against the creeping damp: a foe more stealthy than rain but just as likely to rot the wheat in the hold. That night was chilly, and men awoke with a cough. For the better part of the fifth day they held the same slow, nervous course. Mr Elkstem sailed by the binnacle, and memory.

As night fell Captain Rose asked Fiffengurt what he could smell on the wind. Startled to be asked his opinion after months of disdain, Fiffengurt drew a deep breath and held it, considering.

'Smoke, sir,' he said at last. 'No doubt about it. But not from a land fire, I think.'

Rose nodded. 'Nor from a burning s.h.i.+p. That's blubber and oil, cooking down over coal. There's a whaler nearby.'

Dawn proved the captain right. The fog rose with the suddenness of a dustcloth whipped from a table; and there, broad on the port beam, rode a two-masted vessel belching dark smoke from its furnace as it crept along.

Thasha had been on deck since first light: days of fog had made her hungry for the sun. She leaned on the mizzen rail, studying the whaler through her father's telescope.

'The Sanguine, Sanguine,' she read aloud.

'Out of Ballytween, m'lady,' offered a sailor, swinging up to the shrouds. 'See the pennant with the wee gold harp, under His Supremacy's own? That's the Opalt flag.'

'How far off is she, do you think?'

The sailor twisted for a second glance as he climbed. 'Four leagues at the outside, m'lady.'

Not far enough, Thasha knew: if she could read that whaler's name-plate, the men aboard her could read their own. Rose had ordered black paint spread over the three-foot gold letters that spelled out CHATHRAND CHATHRAND,but that would not prevent the men of the Sanguine Sanguine from recognizing the largest s.h.i.+p in the known world. from recognizing the largest s.h.i.+p in the known world.

Good luck at last, she thought. For it was exactly what the conspirators had been afraid of. Whaling was a cruel business - Pazel had told her ghastly stories of his days on the Anju Anju - but for the moment she looked fondly on the smoke-spewing vessel. - but for the moment she looked fondly on the smoke-spewing vessel. I hope you sail straight to Opalt and tell the world we lied I hope you sail straight to Opalt and tell the world we lied.

Rose emerged from his cabin, accompanied by his steward and Mr Alyash. With dire faces they stalked to the port rail. The captain's telescope snapped up and open. Rose gave a quick order to his steward, who bolted away.

'Thasha.'

She turned. Pazel had come up behind her, alone. Thasha glared a little. He had been so odd recently: one minute watching her with strange intensity, as if brooding on some great dilemma, the next downright rude. It had started before Dhola's Rib, but grown ever so much worse since their return from the island. What had happened to him there in the dark?

He had only said that he happened on Arunis, saw a chance to steal the Polylex Polylex, and took it. "Arunis never knew I was there. I got lucky, that's all." Thasha knew quite well that that was not not all. The sibyl had shown something disturbing to each of them. What if Pazel's vision had been the worst? Yet what could be so much worse than watching your mother fall to her death? Besides, after several days, she had seen Pazel smiling, even laughing a bit, with Neeps and Marila. He had even wrestled with her dogs. It was only when Thasha herself drew near that he groused and snapped. all. The sibyl had shown something disturbing to each of them. What if Pazel's vision had been the worst? Yet what could be so much worse than watching your mother fall to her death? Besides, after several days, she had seen Pazel smiling, even laughing a bit, with Neeps and Marila. He had even wrestled with her dogs. It was only when Thasha herself drew near that he groused and snapped.

Thasha was angry, but she had made a firm decision to bear it with grace a while longer. She had told Pazel before anyone else about Ramachni's message in the onion-skin, hoping he'd see the gesture for what it was: a sign of her trust. Pazel had listened intently, hanging on every word, and gazing rather pathetically into her eyes. When she finished he shook himself, and his gaze hardened.

'You're still not reading the Polylex Polylex? What's the matter with you?'

'I don't know,' she'd answered, humbly enough. 'Something about that book makes my flesh crawl. Pazel, if you and I sat down together--'

'He didn't ask me me to read it.' to read it.'

'No, but I don't think he'd mind if you helped me.'

'So now you're second-guessing Ramachni, are you?'

That last remark had stung. For two days now they had barely spoken. That was the worst of it, she thought: how his sharpness always came when she tried to be open to him. And yet somehow he couldn't leave her alone.

'Well?' she demanded.

Pazel looked at her uncertainly. 'Heard you get up, that's all.'

He was a light sleeper; the slightest sound brought him wide awake. Then he would s.h.i.+ft and toss or pace the outer stateroom for an hour or more. But lack of sleep alone could not explain his moods.

'You know,' she said, 'we're all proud of you for getting the Polylex Polylex away from Arunis. Oggosk talked about it all the way back to the s.h.i.+p. She said that Arunis would have found other ways to use the Nilstone, hidden in its pages, and that we'd never have found where he keeps it on the away from Arunis. Oggosk talked about it all the way back to the s.h.i.+p. She said that Arunis would have found other ways to use the Nilstone, hidden in its pages, and that we'd never have found where he keeps it on the Chathrand Chathrand. She says she underestimated you.'

'I'm . . . overjoyed,' said Pazel.

'When are you going to tell me how you really did it?'

Pazel raised a hand to his collarbone. He looked at Thasha warily. 'Never,' he said.

'What's the matter with your chest? Sore from our fighting lessons?'

He nodded.'Yes, rather.'

'That's the problem, isn't it?' she said. 'You're tired of the bruises. You want me and Hercol to quit knocking you around.'

Pazel looked surprised. 'I don't give a d.a.m.n about that,' he said, 'and neither does Neeps. We've got to learn somehow.'

But Thasha knew she'd gotten close to the truth. Clearly unsettled, Pazel looked across the choppy sea. The whaling vessel had tacked in their direction, and even as Thasha watched her topgallants sheeted home. She was coming to greet them.

'Of course,' said Pazel, 'I'm not exactly a quick learner.' quick learner.'

Thasha hid her smile. Jealous idiot! He was comparing himself to Greysan Fulbreech. Thasha had told the older Simjan youth he must must be a quick learner, just the day before, as he rattled off the medical topics he was studying under Chadfallow: salves, smelling salts, bone pins, leeches. Pazel had stood by, looking like he was being bled with leeches himself. But why should he compare himself to Fulbreech? be a quick learner, just the day before, as he rattled off the medical topics he was studying under Chadfallow: salves, smelling salts, bone pins, leeches. Pazel had stood by, looking like he was being bled with leeches himself. But why should he compare himself to Fulbreech?

'Have you seen him?' asked Pazel suddenly.

'Greysan?' She shook her head. 'Not yet. Is he looking for me?'

Pazel nodded reluctantly. 'I told him I hadn't seen you anywhere, and - oh, here he comes now.'

Fulbreech was near the mainmast, a long stone's throw away, but she could already see his smile. Thasha couldn't help but smile in return - at times it seemed Fulbreech had been put on the s.h.i.+p just to beam in her direction. She did not feel guilty in the least for her friendliness towards him. It felt good to be smiled at, and she had some hope that Fulbreech might be recruited to their side. He had already mentioned quietly that the Sailing Code declared that men recruited through 'bald lies and distortions' were to be treated as kidnap victims, and that 'a kidnapped man cannot mutiny.' It was a brave statement, even if Fulbreech had said it mostly to impress her.

Pazel turned away. 'I'd better go wake up Neeps,' he murmered. 'You don't need me here.'

Thasha could have kicked him. As if he had a rival in Fulbreech! She had never kissed anyone but Pazel - and she had done it twice twice, for Rin's sake. True, that first kiss had been more to fool Arunis than to win his heart. But there had been nothing false about the second, later that night in the washroom. And both times his reaction had been to twitch and jump away, as if someone had just slapped him with a fish.

'Stay a minute,' she said. 'It won't kill you.'

Pazel sulked, but he stayed. Fulbreech waved to her, and she returned the gesture, seething inside. What do you expect me to do? Hate him? What do you expect me to do? Hate him?

Fulbreech had, after all, done just as Hercol had asked, and informed Eberzam Isiq that Thasha was alive. It was very nearly his last act in Simja, before Kruno Burnscove signed him onto the Chathrand Chathrand. Fulbreech had told her the story in detail: how the old admiral had received him in the parlour of his new amba.s.sadorial residence, still grateful that Fulbreech had arranged for his carriage after the ill-fated wedding ceremony. How he'd listened to Hercol's message, then begun to tremble until he spilled his tea. How he'd made Fulbreech repeat the words, tears of joy flowing down his cheeks: Your morning star has not set. Her light is hidden, not extinguished. Your morning star has not set. Her light is hidden, not extinguished.

Then Fulbreech had paused in his storytelling and looked up at Thasha. 'As all stars hide at daybreak, no? Although a few make us wish the morning would never come.'

Probably that was when Pazel had begun to hate him. But Thasha had laughed and rolled her eyes. Fulbreech was out of line, of course - but he had said it so lightly, almost self-mockingly, that she hadn't even bothered to reprimand him.

'Lady Thasha,' he called out now, reaching them at last. 'I've made a tour of the s.h.i.+p, seeking you out - Mr Pathkendle had the idea you might be somewhere about the forecastle.'

Thasha threw Pazel a murderous glance. 'What can I do for you?' she asked Fulbreech.

'You have done it already,' he said, gazing into her eyes.

'Mr Fullbreech,' said Thasha, regarding him with Lorg School severity, 'I must forbid you to address me in that way.'

She was embarra.s.sed, knowing Pazel would think she had asked him to stay in order to make him suffer, listening to Fulbreech's gallantries. The Simjan, for his part, realised that he had overstepped. 'I do ask your pardon, m'lady,' he said. 'I confess I am easily carried away.'

'That's a dangerous trait,' said Pazel. 'Had it all your life, have you?'

Fulbreech kept his eyes on Thasha. 'No,' he said. 'These past weeks, only.'

Thasha's smile threatened to resurface, so she trained the telescope on the whaler again. The s.h.i.+p had closed more than half the distance.

'Is that all you wanted to say, Mr Fulbreech?' she asked.

'Not quite, m'lady,' he replied. 'I woke this morning and recalled something else that happened on Treaty Day - a minor matter, perhaps. I worked straight through that night, running errands for King Os.h.i.+ram. I had pledged to stay in the Royal Service through the day of your wedding, for His Highness was quite overwhelmed. And of course when Pacu Lapadolma took your place, the business of the crown was doubled: receptions, gifts, letters of congratulation--'

'I don't see why you're telling me all this,' said Thasha, disturbed by the mention of Pacu.

'Lady Thasha, the carriage that took your father to his residence that day was later used by others, and it was but one of many I kept track of. These carriages worked the streets until dawn. At that point, an honest driver brought me something left behind in his coach. I was never able to determine the owner, and the truth is that I forgot I carried the thing, when Mr Burnscove invited me to join your crew.' His voice grew animated. 'Such a thrill I had at the thought of it! To see mighty Etherhorde, and to earn my pa.s.sage in the service of Ignus Chadfallow! But Burnscove lied to me. We will not see Etherhorde. We will not see any familiar place again.'

'We were all lied to,' said Thasha. 'But we're going to stop them, you know, we--'

She checked herself. It was too soon to offer Fulbreech confidences of that sort. 'What was this thing you carried?' she demanded.

'See for yourself,' said Fulbreech.

Thasha and Pazel both turned to look. There in his hand lay Eberzam Isiq's little bronze flask. Thasha's breath caught in her throat.

'You recognise it,' said Fullbreech, satisfied. 'Then my guess was correct. This was the admiral's property.'

Pazel's eyes narrowed. 'Was?' he said.

Fulbreech started, as if taken aback by the question. Then he bowed slightly in Pazel's direction. 'I stand corrected, is is. And now, m'lady, you can look forward to the day you return it to him personally.'

Thasha took the flask. She blinked at the handsome Simjan face before her. 'Fulbreech - Greysan - thank you ever so much. For all you've done for us.'

Fulbreech shook his head. 'You owe me no thanks.'

Pazel's mouth twitched, as if he agreed wholeheartedly. Fulbreech noted the expression with a raised eyebrow, then turned a brief, sly smile on Thasha, who had reddened, although she was not sure why.

'I must be off,' said Fulbreech. 'The doctor wants a report on the reading he a.s.signed me last night, on the subject of brain deformities. Lady Thasha, Pathkendle.'

Another bow, and he was gone. Thasha whirled on Pazel.