The Fifth Empire of Man
(Book 2 of Best Laid Plans)
by
Rob J. Hayes
Copyright ©2017 by Rob J. Hayes
(http://www.robjhayes.co.uk)
Cover image ©2016 by Alex Raspad
Cover design by Shawn King
Edited by Toby Selwyn
All rights reserved.
For everyone who waited.
And for rum!
Part 1 – Batten Down the Hatches
They will come at you again and again said the Oracle
We'll be ready said Drake
You will lose people said the Oracle
Chapter 1 - Starry Dawn
“What about the decorations?” Elaina said, thumbing towards the stocks.
Three men and one woman were locked into the wood-and-metal contraptions, where they faced both the heat of the day and the cold of the night without food or water, nor clothing on their backs. All four of them looked to be in a truly sorry state, and it seemed one of the men was already long past dead. There’s a certain smell that only corpses can produce, and it was strong in the air.
The little woman in the big cavalier hat snorted, and Elaina caught a glimpse of a sneer underneath the broad brim. “Ambassadors from the blooded, those of the bastards that still breathe anyway. They said something ’bout Thorn’s direct manner an’ Rose took exception to it. Don’t reckon we’ll be gettin’ no more ambassadors any time soon.”
Elaina grimaced. She was no stranger to pain or brutality and had caused more than her fair share of death, but a slow one was very different to a quick one.
“Say.” The little woman tilted her head so that her eyes were visible underneath her hat, and Elaina found a pair of shit-coloured browns twinkling at her. “You’re pretty much an ambassador, ain’t ya?”
Elaina fixed the smaller woman with a hard stare, but her tormentor simply cackled and started up the steps to the yellow-stone building.
Feeling at the mercy of others was something Elaina hated. Back home in Fango she was one of those in charge, respected and feared in equal measure for her skill and savagery as a pirate as much as for being the daughter of Tanner Black. Everywhere and anywhere you could sail in the Pirate Isles, Elaina Black was a name known and known well. Here in Chade she was just another person, a captain of her own ship but no one important. A large part of her wanted to run back to Starry Dawn and sail away, but her father had given her a job to do and it would be a long time before it brought her back to the Pirate Isles.
She wandered behind the little woman in a sort of daze, staring at the pillars to either side of the steps leading up to the doorway. The pillars held up an awning a good ten feet above them that provided welcome shade from the sun. Two guards stood either side of the waiting doorway, and both looked at Elaina with cold eyes behind metal helmets.
“Henry,” one of the guards said, with a nod to the little woman. “This the pirate?”
The cavalier hat bobbed. “She even came alone.”
Elaina had the feeling she was being mocked. She swallowed her pride and followed the woman past the two guards and through the door into the mansion.
“You’re Henry the Red, ain’t you?” she said.
“Aye.”
“Heard lots about the Black Thorn,” Elaina continued, hoping to get a rise out of her. “Heard you were with him for much of it. That’s about all they say of you.”
Henry the Red laughed, a harsh sound that echoed around the largely empty hallway. “Sounds like most of what ya heard is shit, girl.” She stopped in front of a door and turned to face Elaina. “They’re in there. See yaself in.”
Elaina started towards the door, but stopped when she realised her sword was still buckled to her belt. “Should I be leaving this with you?”
Again Henry the Red laughed. “Keep it. You’re walkin’ into a room with the Black Thorn an’ his Rose. Ya’d have ta be some special kind of dumb cunt ta draw steel in there.” With that last laugh, she turned and walked away, leaving Elaina standing alone inside the Lord and Lady of Chade’s home.
Elaina realised she had no idea whether she should knock or not. She imagined how she would feel if someone entered her cabin without knocking, and knew it would put her in very much a murderous state of mind. Of course, she also had to admit it would make for a much stronger and more confident entrance. Elaina shook her head with a growl and stopped procrastinating. She put her hand to the door and threw it open, stepping into the room beyond without pausing to take it in.
Perhaps it was the size of the room, or the grandeur of the furnishings – the rugs, bookshelves, and tapestries. Maybe it was the smell, clean but lived-in with just a hint of something flowery. Whatever it was, something made Elaina falter, and she stopped short of a loud announcement of her presence, instead standing motionless as her eyes swept across the room.
“Oh, the manners of pirates,” said a woman standing at the window. She was stunning, with perfect white skin, hair even darker than Elaina’s, and a sleek black dress that hugged her curves – including the fairly obvious bump of pregnancy. The woman turned fiercely intelligent eyes on Elaina. “It’s polite to introduce yourself upon entry, Captain Black.”
Elaina glanced around the room; it appeared they were alone. “Ya already know who I am. Seems a bit pointless to introduce myself.”
“We’re trying to civilise the Wilds,” the woman countered. “Manners are important.”
“You’re Rose?” Elaina said, taking a couple of steps forward.
The door slammed behind her and Elaina startled, hating herself for it. Looking back, she saw a big man, one of the ugliest she’d ever seen, lying on a padded sofa next to the door. A big-booted foot dangled off the edge of the sofa and a large axe lay on the floor nearby.
“Must you kick the door, Betrim?” Rose said.
He pushed himself into a sitting position and yawned through his patchy beard. The horrific scars on the left side of his face tugged his visage into a ghastly picture that made Elaina want to look away.
“Door gets closed no matter which way I close it,” he complained.
“Scuff marks.” Rose let the accusation hang.
The man leaned closer and looked at the door with his one eye. “Gives it a lived-in feel, I reckon.”
“You’re the Black Thorn?” Elaina said, trying to pull the attention back to herself before the two of them got into an argument over the décor.
“Aye,” Thorn said, standing and picking up his big axe. He walked past Elaina towards the desk at the far end of the room. He glanced at Rose. “She’s definitely a Black. Got her da’s eyes.”
“You’ve met my father?” Elaina said.
The Black Thorn nodded as he reached the far side of the room and leaned against the wall. “Unfortunately. Never liked the bastard though. Always had this… feel about him. Big man who thought he was bigger. Met another like him once, Never Never Jago. Dumb shit used to say ‘never’ all the time. Never killed a goat, never eaten horse, never fucked a woman at the same time as her sister.