‘Damned cold, is what it is,’ Skorgen said in a growl. ‘Maybe we should turn round, Captain. That fleet never came after us anyway-we could head for Lether Mouth-’
‘And starve before we’re halfway there. No, Pretty, Second Maiden Fort’s an independent state now, and I’m finding that rather appealing. Besides, I’m curious. Aren’t you?’
‘Not enough to risk getting crushed by them white jaws, Captain.’
‘We’ll make it.’
The foment that was the crest of the heaving bergs was the colour of old leather, shredded by the churning fragments of ice, tree roots, shattered trunks and huge broken rocks that seemed to defy the pull to the deep-at least for long enough to appear atop the water, like the leading edge of a slide, rolling on across the surface of the tumult before reluctantly vanishing into the depths.
Tumbling out from this surge like rotted curtains was fog, plucked and torn by the ferocious winds, and Shurq Elalle, facing astern, watched as the maelstrom heaved in their wake. It was gaining, but not fast enough; they were moments from rounding the isle’s rocky headland, which looked to be formidable enough to shunt the ice aside, down its length.
At least, she hoped so. If not, then Second Maiden’s harbour was doomed. Ami so is my ship and crew. As for herself, well, if she managed to avoid being crushed or frozen in place, she could probably work her way clear, maybe even clamber aboard for the long ride to the mainland’s coast.
It won’t come to that. Islands don’t get pushed around. Buried, possibly, but then Vent Reach is where it’s all piling up
– what’s chasing us here is just an outer arm, and before long it’ll be fighting the tide. Errant fend, imagine what happened to the Edur homeland-that entire coast must have been chewed to pieces-or swallowed up entire. So what broke up the dam, that’s what I want to know:
Groaning, the Undying Gratitude rounded the point, the wind quickly dropping off as the ship settled and began its crawl into the high-walled harbour. A prison island indeed
– all the evidence remained: the massive fortifications, the towers with lines of sight and fire arcs facing both to sea and inland. Huge ballistae, mangonels and scorpions mounted on every available space, and in the harbour itself rock-pile islands held miniature forts festooned with signal flags, fast ten-man pursuit galleys moored alongside.
A dozen ships rode at anchor in the choppy waters. Along the docks, she saw, tiny figures were racing in every direction, like ants on a kicked nest. ‘Pretty, have us drop anchor other side of that odd-looking dromon. Seems like nobody’s going to pay us much attention-hear that roar? That’s the northwest shore getting hit.’
‘The whole damned island could go under, Captain.’
‘That’s why we’re staying aboard-to see what happens. If we have to run east, I want us ready to do so.’
‘Look, there’s a harbour scow comin’ our way.’
Damn. ‘Typical. World’s falling in but that don’t stop the fee-takers. All right, prepare to receive them.’
The anchor had rattled down by the time the scow fought its way alongside. Two officious-looking women climbed aboard, one tall, the other short. The latter spoke first. ‘Who’s the captain here and where d’you hail from?’
‘I am Captain Shurq Elalle. We’ve come up from Letheras. Twenty months at sea with a hold full of goods.’
The tall woman, thin, pale, with stringy blonde hair, smiled. ‘Very accommodating of you, dear. Now, if you’ll be so kind, Brevity here will head down into the hold to inspect the cargo.’
The short dark-haired woman, Brevity, then said, ‘And Pithy here will collect the anchoring fee.’
‘Fifteen docks a day.’
‘That’s a little steep!’
‘Well,’ Pithy said with a lopsided shrug, ‘it’s looking like the harbour’s days are numbered. We’d best get what we can.’
Brevity was frowning at Shurq’s first mate. ‘You wouldn’t be Skorgen Kaban the Pretty, would you?’
‘Aye, that’s me.’
‘I happen to have your lost eye, Skorgen. In a jar.’
The man scowled across at Shurq Elalle, then said, ‘You and about fifty other people.’
‘What? But I paid good money for that! How many people lose an eye sneezing? By the Errant, you’re famous!’
‘Sneeze is it? That’s what you heard? And you believed it? Spirits of the deep, lass, and you paid the crook how much?’
Shurq said to Pithy, ‘You and your friend here are welcome to inspect the cargo-but if we’re not offloading that’s as far as it goes, and whether we offload or not depends on the kinds of prices your buyers are prepared to offer.’
‘I’ll prove it to you,’ Brevity said, advancing on Skorgen Kaban. ‘It’s a match all right-I can tell from here.’
‘Can’t be a match,’ the first mate replied. ‘The eye I lost was a different colour from this one.’
You had different-coloured eyes?’
‘That’s right.’
‘That’s a curse among sailors.’
‘Maybe that’s why it ain’t there no more.’ Skorgen nodded towards the nearby dromon. ‘Where’s that hailing from? I never seen lines like those before-looks like it’s seen a scrap or two, asides.’
Brevity shrugged. ‘Foreigners. We get a few-’
‘No more of that,’ Pithy cut in. ‘Check the cargo, dearie. Time’s a-wasting.’
Shurq Elalle turned and examined the foreign ship with more intensity after that peculiar exchange. The dromon looked damned weather-beaten, she decided, but her first mate’s lone eye had been sharp-the ship had been in a battle, one involving sorcery. Black, charred streaks latticed the hull like a painted web. A whole lot of sorcery. That ship should be kindling.
‘Listen,’ Pithy said, facing inland. ‘They beat it back, like they said they would.’
The cataclysm in the making seemed to be dying a rapid death, there on the other side of the island where clouds of ice crystals billowed skyward. Shurq Elalle twisted round to look out to the sea to the south, past the promontory. Ice, looking like a massive frozen lake, was piling up in the wake of the violent vanguard that had come so close to wrecking the Undying Gratitude. But its energy was fast dissipating. A gust of warm wind backed across the deck.
Skorgen Kaban grunted. ‘And how many sacrifices did they fling off the cliff to earn this appeasement?’ He laughed. ‘Then again, you probably got no shortage of prisoners!’
‘There are no prisoners on this island,’ Pithy said, assuming a lofty expression as she crossed her arms. ‘In any case, you ignorant oaf, blood sacrifices wouldn’t have helped-it’s just ice, after all. The vast sheets up north went and broke to pieces-why, just a week past and we was sweating uncommon here, and that’s not something we ever get on Second Maiden. I should know, I was born here.’
‘Born to prisoners?’
‘You didn’t hear me, Skorgen Kaban? No prisoners on this island-’
‘Not since you ousted your jailers, you mean.’
‘Enough of that,’ Shurq Elalle said, seeing the woman’s umbrage ratchet up a few more notches on the old hoist pole-and it was plenty high enough already. ‘Second Maiden is now independent, and for that I have boundless admiration. Tell me, how many Edur ships assailed your island in the invasion?’
Pithy snorted. ‘They took one look at the fortifications, and one sniff at the mages we’d let loose on the walls, and went right round us.’
The captain’s brows rose a fraction. ‘I had heard there was a fight.’
‘There was, when our glorious liberation was declared. Following the terrible accidents befalling the warden and her cronies.’
‘Accidents, hah! That’s a good one.’
Shurq Elalle glared across at her first mate, but like most men he was impervious to such non-verbal warnings.
‘I will take that fifteen docks now,’ Pithy said, her tone cold. ‘Plus the five docks disembarking fee, assuming you intend to come ashore to take on supplies or sell your cargo, or both.’