I frowned as I thought back, vaguely remembering someone shouting, and running footsteps as I walked away. “If she did, he didn’t catch me.”
“Is she someone we should be watching, Lieutenant?” Javes asked Groskin.
“I don’t know, sir. She never really broke any law that I knew of.” There was a movement at Groskin’s feet and I looked down to see the leopard looking up at us, his fangs bared.
“And again, maybe she did,” Groskin said, his voice soft as he also looked down. He looked up at me, his eyes now bright gold. “You never saw in the carts, Rabbit?”
I shook my head. “No. I was assigned to the caravan’s draymaster.”
“The smuggling didn’t really start until after you’d left, Rabbit,” Laurel said. “The caravan may not have been carrying any contraband—then.”
“Another one, contracted by the army to supply the garrison itself,” Javes said, rubbing his forehead.
“I thought you already traced the run goods to Veldecke, sir,” I said.
“To the town, not to the garrison proper,” Javes replied. He sighed. “I do not envy you this assignment, Berle.”
“Neither do I,” Chancellor Berle said, gazing out over the water.
I cast a glance at the Foreign Chancellor, wondering if she ever found out what we’d been discussing in Captain Suiden’s great cabin when we were interrupted by the djinn storm. If she had, it didn’t come from me—though that may have been because I was never alone. Laurel, Doyen Allwyn, Jeff, or the haunts were always with me, sometimes all at once.
At the thought of haunts, I looked around. The railing was thick with ghosts, the masts, spars, rigging also full, some holding their shapes, others streaming in the wind, making the sails look tattered. Where I could make out faces, each one was turned to the shore with a fixed intensity and I wondered what our landfall would be like.
“Do you think that if they knew what we carried, they’d allow us in the harbor?” Lord Esclaur asked, also looking around. “I know that if this were Iversly, the Royal Navy would be out in force doing its damnedest to head us off.”
“I don’t know that they can bar us,” I said. “Can they, Laurel?”
The Faena shook his head, his ears flicking back. “No, the right of homecoming is given to all—the quick and the dead.” Everyone turned to stare at Laurel.
“The right, alive or dead,” Lord Esclaur repeated. He groped for his quiz glass and raised it at the cat.
“Except in special cases,” Laurel said, ignoring Esclaur. “Like a practitioner of the dark arts.” The ship rose and fell in a swell; he rode it easily, his tail, now quiet, balancing him. “But as we have none such aboard—Elder Obruesk’s claims aside—we will not be prevented.”
“And this ‘Magus’ who is so anxious to get his hands on Lord Rabbit,” Chancellor Berle said. “Shall he be prevented?”
I gave the chancellor a sidelong glance at the abrupt change in subject.
“Interesting question, Berle,” Javes said. “But it’s out of your bailiwick, what?”
“Indeed, yes,” Esclaur murmured.
“I am concerned as the king’s representative—” the chancellor began.
“Your orders do not include Lieutenant Rabbit,” Javes interrupted. “Let it be, Berle.”
“And if it’s made part of my ‘orders’?” Berle asked. “If a magic—a Border—someone demands Lord Rabbit’s return to the Magus as part of the peace negotiations, then what?”
“Then you refer them to me, honored chancellor,” Laurel said. “I have sworn both to Rabbit and to King Jusson that he will not be returned to Magus Kareste.”
“And if they say that your oath is worthless and demand anyway?” the chancellor pushed.
“No one would say that anything I’ve sworn is worthless, honored chancellor,” Laurel rumbled, showing his eyeteem. “Any more than your fellow ministers would call you dishonorable and untrustworthy. It is an insult, no?”
“I beg pardon, Ambassador. I didn’t mean it as such,” Berle said, a faint flush on her face. “It’s just that—”
“Oh, I say, you too, Berle?” Javes asked, doing his silly ass smile.
The chancellor shot a glare at Javes before turning back to Laurel. “Sometimes, with the best intentions in the world, one is not able to deliver on a promise made.”
“Then that one should not have made the promise in the first place,” Laurel said, his fangs still gleaming in the sunlight. “I would suggest, honored chancellor, that when you arrive, you do not suggest to anyone that their word is not sufficient. Especially a Faena.”
“Tell me, Chancellor Berle,” I asked in the awkward silence, “would you hand me over to the Magus?”
“You heard Captain Javes and Ambassador Laurel, Lord Rabbit,” Berle replied, her wry smile sweeping her face. “You are not my concern.”
“I see,” I said, and turned back to watch the sea, resolving never to be alone with the chancellor.
Chapter Fifty-six
Elanwryfindyll’s harbor was very much like the one we had left behind in Iversly. There were ships sailing in, ships sailing out, and ships at anchor. There were docks, there were warehouses, there were gulls, and there were officials, all waiting for us as the Dauntless, Valiant, and Adamantine sailed into Elanwryfindyll. The rest of the convoy, including the vice admiral’s Pearl Fisher, was outside the harbor’s mouth. Only the ships carrying the cargo entered the harbor as, Laurel pointed out, any more would be a provocation. Vice Admiral Havram had, however, come aboard the Dauntless to be part of the diplomatic landing party and to take over the command of the ship from Captain Suiden.
The harbor reminded me of Iversly, but Elanwryfindyll did not. The city rose from the half circle of sparkling blue water, flowing up, tier upon tier, spreading out farther and farther until it spilled over the top of the sloping cliffs, in soaring colonnades, graceful arches, rounded domes, all bright in the early afternoon sun against the dark of the earth, the greens of leaves and grasses, and a riot of flowers. At the crest, silhouetted against the sky, was the Fyrst of Elanwryfindyll’s castle, with pennants flying from the turrets, and battlements.
After we dropped anchor, Uncle Havram ordered my presence in the great cabin to lay down a law that I had no intention of disobeying.
“You are to stay with me, Captain Suiden or Captain Javes at all times, is that clear?” Havram said.
“Yes, sir!”
“You are not to go off with anyone: family, friends, cats, or even other members of our delegation, is that understood?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“You are not to sightsee—”
“Yes, sir!”
“You are not to lollygag—”
“Yes, sir!”
“If you use the head, you do not go by yourself. Do you understand?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Repeat it back to me, lad.”
“I am not to go off without you, Captain Suiden, or Captain Javes, sir! Ever!”
“Splendid.” He shifted to look at Jeffen standing behind me. “Do you understand what I’ve just said?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“What did I say?”
“Rabbit is to stay with you, Captain Suiden, and Captain Javes always, sir!”
The vice admiral smiled, satisfied. “Excellent.”
We followed the vice admiral to the bridge, where we stood with First Lieutenant Falkin watching a boat full of officials set out from the docks and head our way. We were soon joined by Captain Javes in his dress uniform, cape and Habbs, Lieutenant Groskin also in dress uniform, and Laurel Faena wearing, for the first time since Dornel, his coat. The wind was fresh even though summer was almost upon us. It swirled around me, gently plucking at my hair ties, and I shivered in my own cape.