Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series, page 17
‘One is deep below the great sea between here and the island of Wendla. Another is beneath the desert. The other two, who were dealt with by many other mages, are much further north. I now think one must surely be in Ren’s land but the fourth? Perhaps that one has truly been destroyed?’
‘Did Grek tell you of the other Survivor – the one like Namolos?’
‘He did. I think it important to make contact with her, but how? And who should be the one to do so?’ Taseen sighed. ‘So many questions and far too few answers.’
The other men returned with Taza, hungry from their walk to the docks. Pallin and Riff were most annoyed that Sket hadn’t a meal ready for them but Zada came to Sket’s rescue by bringing in a laden tray.
‘Maressa is busy with my daughter,’ she said, removing the lid from a huge pot. ‘And she will be for the rest of the day.
When she’d departed, shooing her husband before her, Leaf came to help herself to some crusty bread.
‘Did people stare at you?’ she asked Ren, head tilted to one side.
‘Quite a few,’ he admitted. ‘But at one section of the docks, they didn’t just stare.’
He grimaced and Olam slapped him on the back, causing him to swallow a bit of cheese the wrong way. While Ren tried to get some breath back, Navan explained:
‘The shipmen got quite excited. They crowded round us and many of them went to their knees and tried to touch him.’
‘The Outer Island docks,’ said Taseen.
Navan nodded. ‘That’s what Taza called it. The ships were different there and so were the shipmen.’
Pallin grunted. ‘Wore next to nothing. Little bit of cloth round their middles, scarcely decent. And gold – more than a woman would wear. Three, four rings in their ears, stuck in their teeth.’ He shook his head in disapproval, ignoring the grins of the others.
‘The Outer Islanders follow the Way of the Elders devoutly although they offer to many gods and goddesses too.’ Taseen told them.
‘Some of the ships are bigger than houses,’ Olam commented.
‘Big or small, they all bob up and down all the time,’ Pallin retorted.
‘Along some parts of the dock there were some very hard looking types,’ Olam ignored his Arms Master. ‘And their ships looked hard too – very clean but bare, nothing on their floors.’
‘Decks,’ Taseen put in helpfully. ‘They may have been the coastal defence ships but more likely they’re from further south west. An independent lot down there. How many of them were there?’
‘Three,’ replied Olam.
‘Definitely from the pirate islands then. And not pleased at having to stay in dock at our Grand Harbour Master’s whim, I’d guess.’ Taseen looked amused. ‘They probably had no names painted on their sides, but symbols perhaps?’
Gan considered the old man. ‘They had eyes painted on the front ends.’ He watched Taseen wince. ‘You know something of these people?’
Khosa helped herself to some pieces of meat from Sket’s plate. ‘He is one.’
‘Is one what?’ asked Gan, already guessing the answer.
Taseen shrugged. ‘My father was a pirate. One of the better ones. Highly successful for many years. I was born on such a ship. And the front of a ship is called the bows Gan.’
‘A pointy end and a blunt end,’ Pallin muttered. ‘With floors.’
Briefly the old mage and the old armsman exchanged glares, then Taseen laughed.
‘It was long ago. Did any shipmen have marks such as this?’ He pushed his sleeve up, exposing a thin arm tattooed with an interlocking spiral design.
‘Yes,’ Navan was positive. ‘The first ship we reached in that section. Most of the men had that pattern. The others were different. One group had something like flames marked up each arm. The third had three sided patterns.’
‘The men belonging to a particular ship are called the crew.’ Taseen carefully didn’t look towards Pallin who contented himself with a snarl.
‘I suggest if Hariko tells you he has found a ship to take you westwards, you ask Grek to check it thoroughly.’ He steepled his fingers over his beard and tapped his lips. ‘Perhaps I might be able to help. Memories are long in the pirate families. Let me see if I can persuade a shipmaster to visit me here. Have you pen and paper I can use?’
Ren fetched writing materials then wandered over to Leaf, as usual by her window. A short while later Taseen asked if someone could ask Taza to deliver the letter he’d written. He folded the paper and drew interlocked spirals on the outside.
‘It must be given to any man with this tattoo. Tell Taza he need wait for no reply.’
Riff accepted the paper from Taseen and headed off to the priests’ quarters.
‘If the shipmaster is interested in what I have written, he will come at dusk. I understand Hariko does not visit until after dark? Ren and Leaf should either be elsewhere or wear their cloaks if the shipmaster comes.’
Ren turned back into the room. ‘Which would be best Taseen?’
‘I would like you to remain in this room so if you could wear the white cloaks? When Hariko calls, I will sit in another place.’
Ren nodded, glancing out at the sky. Mid afternoon: time to browse through the pile of books still sitting invitingly on a small table. As he lifted the top book, Grek announced his presence.
‘I have been to Namolos as you suggested Taseen.’
Ren reluctantly replaced the book and paid attention to the voice in his mind.
‘Namolos berates himself that he failed to see the connections. He learnt of the Bound Ones only after he’d been on this world for many years. He found their places of imprisonment but assumed the bindings would be eternally secure. He sought them out while I was with him.
‘The one Vorna is trying to loose, is fully awake. One of the others, in the land of Drogoya, is near wakefulness. He will do what he can but he does not know or understand the magic you used for the binding.’
Taseen looked increasingly alarmed. ‘But I am one of the very few mages left and I do not remember all the spells. I was badly damaged: many things are lost from my mind.’
‘Namolos said he would be more watchful of your land of Malesh but he urges that you go with these companions to Wendla. He fears the Bound One in the sea has become unstable.’
‘Me? I have travelled no further than between the City and my estates twenty leagues away in the last thousand years!’
Pallin snorted. ‘Born on a pirate ship, you said. Know all about ships, you said. Can’t see many problems for you then mage.’
Taseen gave Pallin an ice cold stare but Gan intervened before he could reply.
‘Namolos wants all of us to go to Wendla? We’ve heard that there is a huge expanse of water to cross. Does Namolos expect us to leave the Dragons here?’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t see them agreeing to that, not Tika and Farn for sure.’
‘Maressa would be able to tell us how big the distance truly is,’ suggested Ren. ‘But I agree with Gan. If the Dragons cannot reach Wendla safely, we will not go.’
Chestnut brown eyes surrounded by silver had never looked so hard. Gan smiled at the Offering.
‘Then Grek, that is the reply you can convey to Namolos: unless the Dragons can make the crossing without danger, we do not go.’
‘And my opinion is the same,’ Taseen concurred.
A breeze seemed to riffle through Leaf’s feathers and she giggled.
‘I have to admit I would have advised you to take this decision.’ Grek sounded relieved. ‘I have spoken with Tika and the Dragons: they refuse to allow the company to be divided. So.’ Now he sounded almost mischievous. ‘Let Maressa check the way to Wendla and I will go back to Namolos and tell him your decision.'
Chapter Fourteen
Maressa returned to the apartments helping Zada carry up yet more trays of the excellent food they’d learnt to expect. She refused to say how she’d spent her day with Salma, offering only a smug smile in response to questions. She was swiftly informed of Grek’s visit and of Namolos’s suggestion that they travel to Wendla.
‘It grows too dark now for me to properly evaluate the distances.’ She told them. ‘But I will do so at first light.’
She was also told of the possible imminent arrival of a shipmaster. Riff had been posted along the corridor to warn Ren and Leaf when to don their cloaks. They were all watching with absorbed fascination as a great eyes landed silently on Leaf’s arm. (Taseen told them it was called an owl here in Malesh.) The bird blinked in the lamplight and was gone as Riff hurried in. Maressa pulled a cloak around Leaf who drew her feet up onto a higher rung of her stool. Ren had just tugged his hood low over his face when a firm knock sounded on the outer door.
Taza held the door open. ‘A shipmaster to speak with you sir.’ He withdrew as soon as the visitor had stepped inside the room.
The company stared. The shipmaster stood about Navan’s height. His dark braided hair hung to his waist and was festooned with shells, feathers and sparkling stones. Four thick gold rings pierced one ear and two the other. Jewelled rings flashed on every finger and both thumbs. He wore a short sleeveless and buttonless jerkin of dark leather. His trousers were full cut and a brilliant crimson. The boots on his feet were of an eye watering shade of lemon. A pink sash was wound round a narrow waist, its end falling loose down the side of his left leg.
Taseen sat, his bared forearms resting on the sides of his chair exposing the spirals swirling over his skin. The tattoos were matched by those on the shipmaster’s arms.
‘So. You are who you say you are then Taseen.’ The newcomer bared white teeth in what was presumably a smile. ‘I am named Kasmi.’
A quick glance round the room checking the numbers and Gan noted the slight widening of Kasmi’s eyes when he saw a white cloak. Kasmi’s tone was a little less brash as he bowed in Ren’s direction.
‘I saw you at the docks this morning.’ He turned his attention back to Taseen. ‘So. I enquired after you of course and was told that you lay on your death bed in the Xantip Palace. You have made a sudden and marvellous recovery so?’
Taseen inclined his head. ‘I have indeed as you see but it remains a rather – erm - discreet recovery if you follow?’
Maressa rose and smiled at the shipmaster. ‘May we offer you tea? I fear we have no wine or ale.’
Maressa wore a green robe scavenged from Zada’s charity box. Her long brown hair was unbound and drifted over her shoulders as she moved. Kasmi eyed her with open appreciation.
‘So. Tea will suffice. I will send you some wine from my ship – I have several excellent casks from Drasheer.’
‘Drasheer is famed for the quality of its wine,’ Taseen explained.
Kasmi bowed again in acknowledgement of Taseen’s assessment and a thin gold chain swung free of his open jerkin. An oblong of gold hung from it and Maressa glimpsed a Dragon face flanked by feathered wings enamelled on the gold. A scowling Pallin accompanied her to the kitchen.
‘Please be seated Kasmi.’ Gan indicated a chair. ‘Let me introduce our company.’
By the time he’d done so, Pallin and Maressa were back and Pallin offered a bowl to Kasmi. Bracelets clinked as the shipmaster lifted a bowl from the proffered tray but Maressa elbowed Pallin in the small of his back before he could comment.
‘I have heard the Grand Harbour Master forbids any ships to leave at the moment,’ said Olam. ‘This must be an inconvenience to you?’
Kasmi began to reply when he saw Leaf. The further end of the room was less well lit and the gijan sat so still the shipmaster had failed to notice her shrouded figure.
‘So. I was told there were two sacred ones.’ Kasmi sounded wary. He bowed although still seated. ‘Do you bring news of the Elder Races?’
‘Perhaps,’ replied Ren smoothly. ‘We would know of your ship first. Where do you travel once the Grand Harbour Master permits you to leave?’
Kasmi glowered. ‘I sail when I choose. So. We wait another two days to see what transpires then we sail with Chevra’s permission or no.’
‘And who do you spy for – the pirate isles or Wendla?’
Kasmi smiled more genuinely at Taseen’s question.
‘We take note of many things mage. Whether they are of interest or value to others – who can tell?’
‘Have you sailed to Wendla?’ Taseen persisted.
Kasmi leaned back in his chair, his expression bland. ‘Perhaps. You should know your own people Taseen: we wander where we choose.’
Taseen grinned suddenly. ‘Partly true I agree, but you also wander where wealth might accrue.’
‘This is a City of business men and traders,’ Kasmi observed. ‘So we also are aware of the pleasures of profit.’
‘How much to hire your ship?’ Taseen asked abruptly.
‘Where would you want me to sail?’ Kasmi shot back.
Taseen’s eyebrows waggled. ‘Far to the east, or far to the west. It has not been finally decided as yet.’
‘So. What profits would we see?’
‘I doubt there’ll be much financial gain but it would certainly be an adventure worthy of the spiral singers.’
Khosa leapt onto the arm of Kasmi’s chair and dabbed a paw at one of the glittering bracelets. Kasmi laughed suddenly.
‘We have a ship’s cat already – will you fight him for his place?’
Khosa abandoned the bracelet, turquoise eyes staring intently straight into the shipmaster’s face.
‘There will be no fighting Kasmi, once he knows who I am.’
Kasmi’s mouth opened and closed. ‘Did this cat really speak in my head?’
For the first time his composure slipped. The company were hard put not to laugh at his expression. Gan cleared his throat.
‘Khosa is a very special cat,’ he said, using the Malesh term for Kephi. ‘As I think you have just realised. She is part of our company.’
Taseen set aside his tea bowl and began to speak. He gave Kasmi a generalised account of the reasons for the arrival of this group of strangers and an edited version of Vorna’s plans. Kasmi concentrated wholly on the old mage’s words. It was plain enough when Taseen spoke of the Bound Ones that the shipmaster was shaken. Riff nudged Sket, nodding at the dark windows. Gan saw him and knew he was warning that Hariko would soon arrive. But before he could speak Taseen pushed himself to his feet.
‘It is not the politest way to treat a guest but I ask you to come with me and sit in another room whilst the scholar Hariko visits. He says he may have found a ship for my friends. I would like you to hear what he might say.’
Kasmi rose. ‘So. I will listen Taseen. I would also like to hear what course the sacred ones would advise a follower to take in this matter.’
Olam led the two men through to one of the bedchambers and left them, making sure he left two doors ajar to allow them to hear Hariko’s conversation. Maressa and Sket had only just cleared the tea bowls away when, without a preliminary knock, the door opened on Hariko.
‘I think I have just the ship for you,’ the scholar began without preamble. ‘It is a trader from Mienta – one of the westernmost islands. It returns to its home port with a cargo of dyestuffs.’
It was obvious even to Ren, who was far less adept at reading men than he was books, that Hariko was over enthusiastic. ‘He sails tomorrow afternoon. If you could be on board well before then -’
‘The Grand Harbour Master has announced permission for ships to leave then?’ Gan interrupted with innocent surprise.
‘Oh that is a minor detail. Chevra has no idea what he’s doing at any time. There are ways to leave the Harbour – I can provide documents the shipmaster can show to the coastal defenders should one of their ships stop him.’
‘And the cost of this ship?’
Hariko waved his hands. ‘I will pay his charges – do not worry. It is an honour to be able to assist the sacred ones.’
Gan gave a non committal smile. ‘We find our plans may have changed a little, Hariko. We cannot leave as soon as tomorrow. Perhaps it would be best if we ask Taza to bring you a message regarding our departure?’
Hariko stared at him. ‘But I thought you wanted to leave as soon as possible? I’m sure it would be safer for you.’
‘Really?’ Olam’s voice was soft. ‘I thought we were quite safe here. Whatever dangers could threaten us?’
‘The City holds many dangers,’ Hariko snapped. He looked across at Gan. ‘I have gone to considerable trouble to find this ship -’
‘And we deeply appreciate your efforts.’ Gan was on his feet, guiding the scholar firmly to the door. ‘We will send to you when our plans are more clear.’
‘I shall visit you tomorrow -’
‘Do not trouble yourself Hariko. We hope to visit Taseen tomorrow if he is recovered enough.’
‘But I told you – you should not go to the Palace, and you should not take the sacred ones there.’
‘We will take all care Hariko, be very sure of that. Goodnight.’
Gan stood a moment by the door, ensuring the scholar really had descended the stairs.
‘Well, well. What’s he up to?’ Olam grinned as Gan returned to his chair.
‘Something, that’s obvious, but stars know what. I think it may be that we are not so safe here now. I wonder if we should move on?’
‘We have no coin for guest houses,’ Maressa was saying when Taseen and Kasmi came through from the bedchambers.
‘Someone is giving Hariko orders,’ said Taseen, sinking into his armchair with a groan. ‘Vorna? I doubt she’d think two sacred ones of much interest. But who else could it be?’ The mage frowned in thought.
‘So. There are no Mientan ships in port,’ Kasmi said with a gleam in his eye. ‘Someone most surely wants your friends out of here and then what? Will they be taken somewhere, or lost at sea?’
The shipmaster seemed greatly amused. He stood opposite Taseen, by the fire, twirling some of his bracelets. ‘So. I will carry you and your friends mage. The other two ships are mine also and we voyage together. Three ships you must hire therefore.’
