The Navigator, page 21
"You're very intuitive. Shortly before I became Khan my horde attacked a P.R.K. convoy – we sank every vessel. Petal took her skiff out after the attack and brought back a toddler who'd survived the massacre. . .you must understand. . .I was not – maybe still am not – a compassionate or patient man. I didn't have the temperament to raise such a headstrong girl. Petal wanted me to take in the child she found. I refused. I was still grieving the stillbirth of my only son. Petal felt pushed aside by my grief and by my addiction to the drink. She took the little girl and sailed off in her skiff. That was the last time I saw her."
"You didn't look for her?" Quill sniffed. "She couldn't have gotten far in a skiff."
"Nomads don't coddle their children like parents on the Continent. You may not understand, but look at Petal now. She's a competent, skilled survivor. I may not have been the best father to her but I taught her what she needed to know. And as I said; Petal has always gone her own way. I would have denied her nature had I tried to stop her."
"Junk. . .Junk was the girl she found. Her sister."
"I don't know what she named the girl - but yes - she found herself a sister. At the time, I could not appreciate the irony of a child plucked from the sea drawing her own sibling from the water. Perhaps they were two crossed stars - a clownfish and an anemone - wandering souls fated to find one another."
Quill felt delighted. Everything was finally coming together.
"Where's her sister now?"
"She was kidnapped by an S.S.S. ship called the Kowaka Adon. The S.S.S. are looking for us too."
"Then you've made some dangerous enemies for my daughter. What would the S.S.S. want with her? Are you certain it's not you they're after?
"I don't know. We were going to Mann to try and find out. There's a man there-"
"Arnold Wyman." Rho interrupted.
"Yeah. . ."
"He is well known to us. It's quite an asset to Mann to have a man with such inside knowledge of the S.S.S. living among them. If you wish to go to Mann, I'll take you. That's where my horde is sailing. I'm escorting the Yong Fleet to Mann's shores. I've sworn to protect them."
"Why are you protecting Yong ships? Don't you normally sink them?"
Rho chuckled for a moment. "Yes. Yes. Years ago I would have sacked the Yong Fleet had I come across it in such a weakened state, but these are different times. With the fall of Yong, Kudu has become an imminent threat to all sea people. Yong's surviving rebels agreed to surrender what's left of their fleet to Mann. The Isle will need those ships to thwart any P.R.K. invasion. It's better for Mann if the Fleet survives. It would be a waste of many fine ships to let pirates or Kudu send it to the bottom."
Quill didn't say anything. Her eyes lazily wandered around Rho's cabin, coming to a rest on his grandfather clock. The clock had definitely been made in Hesperia. The room's elegance reminded her of Naris.
Rho finished off his cigarette.
"My horde will escort you, Petal, and your ship to Mann. But tell me more about yourself so I trust you with my daughter. I respect your honesty in admitting you're from Kudu. Respect the fact that it makes me suspicious. I'm concerned about the safety of my horde and the Yong Fleet. And, although it may surprise you, I'm concerned for the safety of my daughter."
"Okay." Quill took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm from Dhaj Njang province - I grew up there. I'm twenty-five. My father owns a factory that makes car parts. My mother's a homemaker. I haven't seen either of them in about a year. I'm kind of a runaway. I was blacklisted by the Coterie before I left. I'd trained to be a navigator at Nhan Zhe Nautical Academy."
"Why were you blacklisted?" Rho snuffed his cigarette in a crystal ashtray.
"I was a khat addict."
"Fair enough. As Petal will undoubtedly tell you, I too have suffered through addiction. But what are you doing on the sea? And what are you doing with my daughter?"
"I came to the sea to start a new life. I still wanted to be a navigator. Petal rescued me from Smaaland. I was being held there as a slave. I promised to help her find her sister. That's why I'm taking her to Mann. Lhan and the fisherman, Styvers, were helping us. A pirate named Naris wants me dead. He was chasing us when we saw your horde. He fled from your ships but he's still out there."
"Pirates like your Naris have not a drop of honor among them. They would happily see all of Ea fall to Kudu as long as they're allowed to pick over the scraps, afterwards. But you must be honorable to keep your promise to my daughter. I still don't trust you, Quill, but I don't need to, to take you to Mann. You and Petal can sail on my flagship or on the fisherman's vessel. Either way – we shall reach Mann by morning. Till then, treat my ship as your own. For the time being, consider yourself not a dry foot, but a nomad. An honorary Sand Tiger."
The Isle of Mann
- 41-
Quill leaned against the sun bleached, wooden pylon. The top of the well-sanded tree trunk made a perfect seat. She hopped up and slid her butt back onto it while staring out at the coastline.
A seagull eyed her from high above, in the cloudless sky. It let out a loud, territorial squawk, annoyed that she was occupying its usual resting spot.
She glanced up at the angry bird for a moment and then turned her eyes back to the sea. The ocean shimmered brightly under the morning sun. Its twinkling surface burned itself into her retinas until she had to look away.
The livid seagull continued to flap and shriek a few feet above her head.
Quill tried to ignore the bird's intermittent squawks, pressing a small, hand-rolled cigarette to her lips. As she inhaled its bitter smoke, she watched the Sand Tiger Horde and the Yong Fleet lazily rock back and forth in the shallow harbor.
Most of the Sand Tiger nomads hadn't yet come ashore. Only a select few had ventured out onto land, disappearing into a little seaside town that lay just over her shoulder.
Quill wanted to remain on the Typhoon with Rho until they reached Mann, figuring it would be safer than staying on Styvers's rickety vessel. Petal refused. She demanded they leave the nomad flagship immediately. Quill begrudgingly agreed, and she and Petal had made their way back onto Styvers's skiff shortly before nightfall.
Styvers spent the night at the helm, piloting his little boat through the rough Southern Ocean, until he and the bulk of the horde arrived at the Isle of Mann shortly after dawn.
Quill woke up just as Styvers settled down to sleep the day away. She wandered around the beach and up the docks for about an hour, before returning to the boat to wake Lhan and Petal. She found the two of them lying side by side in two cots that had migrated next to one another from the churning of the waves. Both of them were sound asleep and snoring softly.
The image of the little red head and the beefy blond snuggled up together was so cute it was priceless. Quill giggled to herself when she saw them, and decided to let them wake up on their own.
Now, the sun was rising higher in the empty morning sky. Its golden rays just beginning to warm up the rocky beach and the sleepy village behind Quill.
Quill didn't know the name of the seaside village where they'd harbored. It was a small town - thirty or so wood and brick shacks nestled together in a cove next to the shoreline. A narrow, cobblestone path meandered from the docks down to the main drag, before winding its way up into the surrounding hills.
If Quill had been forced to describe the Isle of Mann and the village behind her in one word it would have been easy – green. Nearly everything around her glowed with a verdant, blue-green, almost jade color. The town was overrun by a thick carpet of bluegrass. The hills above were covered by a waist-high, emerald meadow. Lush deciduous trees bristled atop the hills, their canopies bulging like giant crowns of broccoli.
Between the background of trees and billowing grass, was wiry underbrush made of lime-colored weeds. Those weeds glistened with fresh blobs of morning dew, glistening under the rising sun.
The Isle was a grazer's paradise. A haven for cows, goats, and puffy sheep that dotted every hillside.
As Quill peered over her shoulder at those rolling green hills, she heard Lhan and Petal make their way out onto the deck of Styvers's boat. The two of them had just climbed onto the gangway that joined the skiff to the pier, and were now walking across the dock toward her.
"Morning, Quill." Lhan half-yawned. His gait was awkward and plodding as if his legs hadn't fully woken up yet.
"Hi Lhan." Quill waved to him. "Petal."
Petal gave her a nod in acknowledgement.
"I'm up before you for once," Quill teased. "A nice change, isn't it?"
"I couldn't get to sleep. I was up until dawn." Petal's face was swollen like she'd spent the night crying. She took a deep breath.
The air smelled like cut grass.
"Yeah, you kept me awake." Lhan playfully poked her. "I heard you tossing and turning."
Quill put her cigarette between her lips and lowered herself down from the pylon.
"And what are you doing smoking? Always the bad girl."
"What do you mean, bad girl?" Quill brushed him off. "I'm just tense. Cigarettes help take the edge off."
"They're horrible for you. You're smart enough to know that. And you're setting a bad example for the little one." Lhan reached over and ruffled Petal's hair.
Petal was lost in her thoughts, scanning the unfamiliar, quaint town in front of them. When Lhan touched her head, she ducked away with a shocked grimace.
"Petal's not very impressionable." Quill smiled at her reaction. "But it's cute you're so concerned for the health of my lungs when the S.S.S. is trying to kill us."
"Yeah. Well, where'd you get it from? Have you been around this village yet? Know where we are?"
"No, not yet." Quill flicked what was left of the cigarette onto the stony beach. "I bummed it off a nomad who was eyeing me. A bunch of them already went inland. They followed that cobblestone path up into the hills. Petal's father went with them."
"He's not my father."
Quill tossed back her hair and tied it into a tight ponytail. "Why didn't you tell me about Rho? Why did you lie about being an orphan?"
"I didn't lie. He's not my father." Petal repeated.
"He might not be your birth father but-"
"What are you saying? He's nothing to me! He's not my father!"
"Whatever." Quill turned around and began to walk up the meandering cobblestone path she'd seen the nomads take earlier.
Lhan and Petal followed.
Quill glanced back at Petal as they made their way up the path, cutting through the center of town. The village looked like it hadn't woken up yet. All the buildings were shuttered.
"You might not want to hear this, but I'm pretty sure Rho still loves you."
Petal skipped up next to Quill, letting Lhan trail behind them.
"Why would you say that?"
"That's what he told me."
"What else did he tell you?"
"He told me he loved you." Quill stopped walking. "Petal, I'm confused. If you'd told me about Rho earlier we could have gone to him right away. He'd have been a great help in finding Junk. Maybe he could have found the Kowaka Adon. I don't understand why you lie to me all the time, or why you lied to me about him."
"Did Rho tell you what he did to me?"
"No, but he seemed really sad about something. Maybe he's changed. That was a while ago. He apologized to you, didn't he?"
"Did he tell you he used to get drunk and beat me? He broke three of my ribs and knocked two of my bottom teeth out."
"No, he didn't-"
"Did he tell you that his pet name for me was the bastard little bitch," Petal continued. "The Seer's fraud of a fortune. The sea's curse on his bloodline."
"He didn't tell me those things. I don't know what he did to you or how he treated you. He just seemed really sorry about it."
"I don't care how he feels! He's a drunk, horrible, waste of a man. I wish he was dead! Why did you have to say those things? Why are you always so. . .so careless!"
"I'm not careless – that's your fault!" Quill spat back. "You've lied to me about everything about you! If you'd told me the truth about your father and what he'd done, I wouldn't have told you what he said - I wouldn't have told you anything!"
"Come on, both of you!" Lhan nudged his way between the girls. "Let's not argue, okay? Let's calm down. Take a look around. Look at how beautiful it is here! We're on land! I've never been to Mann before. Let's try and just take it all in for a while. My dad used to tell me all kinds of stories about the Isle of Mann. There's no place on Ea more mysterious or more beautiful."
Quill stared dead ahead, at the tranquil scenery. She tried to calm herself, watching a tiny goat graze on a far off hillside.
"What kind of stories?"
"Oh, there were so many. . . uh, Mann was the only place where he'd ever eaten red meat. Mutton, I think. It was so soft, it melted on his tongue. He came here for a Jurga - the rowdiest festival he'd ever seen. Three days and nights of feasting and drinking."
"Sounds like fun." Quill smirked. She began to walk forward and up the hill. "I wish we were here for one of those. I haven't had a steak or a burger in ages."
"At that Jurga my father met a local girl. He danced the night away with her. She had long, chestnut hair and a voice like a songbird. Her name was Alena." Lhan paused for effect. "My mother. . ."
"Aww." Quill pouted. "That's sweet."
Petal looked up the cobblestone path. They'd reached the base of the hills. She glanced back at the seaside town. Past it, she could see miles out to sea. The flotilla of nomad and Yong ships stretched out all the way to the horizon.
The image of the charming harbor town, the assembled fleet, and the rolling hills came together like a painting.
"This is too beautiful. . ."
Over the next half an hour, Lhan and the girls continued to follow the cobblestones into the Isle's interior.
Mann's elevation rose the more one walked inland. The landscape alternated between thick forest and open meadows. Every few hundred yards an odd cottage or peasant shack broke up the pristine countryside, but much of the Isle looked wild.
As the three walked down the path, they passed a small herd of grazing cows. Petal had never seen such massive land animals. She thought they looked like beached manatees or a crowd of fat, misshapen people. Although her curiosity nagged her to come closer to them, she was too timid.
Lhan spent the walk trailing behind the girls with a smile permanently etched on his face. He was elated to be on dry land. The Isle's idyllic scenery filled his heart and lightened his step. He'd always wanted to visit his mother's homeland.
After following the path through the hills and meadows, the three arrived at a small village tucked into a tall cedar forest. The buildings that comprised the village were made of a dark, almost black wood, and red and white stones - the same color as the cobblestone path they'd taken.
A large fire pit marked the village's center. Scattered beside it, and throughout the village, were dozens of playing children and a roaming brood of speckled chickens. Most of the village's residents were out in their fields, tilling the dark soil or shepherding their livestock across the Isle's rolling grasslands.
The little village looked primitive to Quill. With the exception of the modern rifles some of the locals carried, the rest of their technology looked like it was stuck in the Middle Ages.
While Petal and Lhan marveled at the quaint architecture, Quill searched for the nomads she'd seen earlier.
After walking up to a few of the buildings, Quill noticed Atalai standing outside of the village's largest structure. It looked like a town hall with a finely carved, shingled entranceway. A primitively dressed, heavily tattooed man was standing beside Atalai in front of the building's entrance door. He was closely watching Quill and the two other new arrivals.
Quill collected herself and walked up to them.
"Hello, Atalai. Where's your Khan? I saw him come up here a few hours ago."
Atalai was watching Petal. She playfully lunged at a straggling chicken, trying to chase the bird back to its brood.
"The Khan is out hunting. Looking for deer. Hunting on land is a very challenging sport. As a dry foot, have you ever tried it?"
"No, I don't like killing things." Quill looked over at the large tattooed man next to Atalai. He seemed to be waiting for an introduction.
"You're Quill?" He leaned forward.
"Yes."
"And she's the Khan's daughter?" He pointed to Petal.
