Ford gave her a half-hearted embrace in return.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, puzzled.
‘Now we need Steven.’
PELLIA
Jacrys bunched the blankets beneath his chin and watched as the sun rose over Pellia Harbour and a massive frigate made her way slowly towards a deep-water pier not far from the spy’s waterfront safe house. Two others remained moored on the inlet, and a convoy of flat-bottomed barges were waiting to transfer passengers and cargo ashore. Captain Thadrake, still in uniform, dozed in a chair near the smouldering fire.
‘Thadrake!’ Jacrys wheezed, coughing a constellation of crimson droplets onto the bedding.
‘Sir?’ Thadrake roused himself, adjusting his tunic as he said, ‘Sorry, sir; I must have drifted off.’
‘Of course you drifted off, Captain. It’s not yet dawn and all of Malakasia is sleeping.’
‘What can I get you, sir? Some cheese? Or there’s a bit of fruitOh, no, that’s right; you eat only bread and tecan for breakfast. I’ll run down and fetch us a fresh loaf and a couple of warm flagons. I’ll need a bit of copper, though. I spent a bit too much on last night’s dinner.’
He was halfway to the door when Jacrys found the strength to call him back. ‘None of that, Captain, but come here, if you please,’ he asked.
Thadrake dragged his chair over beside the cot Jacrys had chosen as his deathbed. ‘What is it, sir?’
‘Those ships, the frigates, how long have they been here?’
‘They arrived yesterday.’ He sliced a piece of cheese from the remains of the block standing on the little table and nibbled at one corner, then pointed. ‘Those two there have been offloading what looks to be a division of soldiers, I don’t know which corps, but I can find out when I go down for breakfast. They appear to be en route for Welstar Palace, just like the other vessels that have been running upriver since we arrived, sir. These frigates are too big to get to the military encampment so they’ve commandeered anything that floats – every available barge, schooner, even rowboats. I can’t think why Prince Malagon would need another division at the palace, but they’re here.’
‘It seems he’s still alive then,’ Jacrys muttered.
‘Yes, sir.’ Thadrake paused. ‘There were rumours all over Orindale that he had died, or disappeared, maybe been taken prisoner, but from the looks of these curious troop movements the prince is very much alive and well and most likely back home.’
‘Perhaps,’ Jacrys said, holding a bloodstained cloth near his mouth.
‘Anyway,’ Thadrake went on, ‘this frigate coming in must be hauling something other than just troops, because she’s about to tie up – maybe, if she’s come up from the south, from Praga, maybe it’s General Hollis. Who knows? And if they’re from the east, Falkan or Rona, well, it could be anyone. I didn’t hear anything about Prince Malagon calling General Oaklen home, but I’ve been out of touch.’
Jacrys ignored him, continuing to stare out the window as the wooden giant eased its way alongside the pier. Finally, he whispered, ‘Captain, I need you to do me a favour.’
‘Of course, sir.’ Thadrake stood.
‘Take the money we have left, along with whatever you can find amongst my personal effects… I would like you to locate my father-’
‘Should I bring him here, sir?’
‘Don’t interrupt, Captain!’ Jacrys spasmed and started coughing. He rammed the stained kerchief into his mouth and bit down, breathing through his nose, until the shaking stopped. When he removed the cloth, soaked through with blood and phlegm, he repeated, ‘Find my father, give him the money and let him know where he can find me. Keep enough – a silver piece or two – to get yourself back to General Oaklen. Sell the fennaroot, keep whatever you get – consider it a bonus for a job well done.’
When he was sure Jacrys had finished, he asked, ‘Sir, it may take me several days to locate your father. What if-?’
‘I don’t care,’ the spy whispered. ‘I don’t anticipate any meaningful reunion. I want my father, because I want him to give me my rites. He’ll know how and where.’ He paused for a while, then added, ‘Consider yourself dismissed, Captain. I wish you well.’
It took just a few moments to gather together Jacrys’ scant belongings. Anything else before I go, sir?’ he asked, feeling rather strange about leaving, even though it was a direct order from a superior officer.
‘Please.’ The word felt strange on Jacrys’ tongue. ‘Stoke up the fire, and pour me a goblet of that wine we had last night, fill it up right to the brim.’
Thadrake picked the chunks of wood most likely to burn longest, then passed Jacrys his wine. The dying man cradled the goblet with both hands and watched the frigate, which had tied up at the pier, where it was immediately set upon by a team of stevedores rolling a block-and-tackle crane amidships. A twin-masted ketch, a quick, shallow boat, came alongside and lashed on to the starboard rail. Opening their shallow hold, her crew waited for whatever cargo they were to haul upriver. ‘Must be someone special,’ Jacrys muttered, but Captain Thadrake was already gone.
‘Where are you going so early?’ Alen appeared in the open doorway across the hall.
Hannah whirled. ‘Jesus! You scared me.’ She rested a hand against the wall and willed her heart to stop beating so fast.
‘Can’t sleep?’ Alen asked quietly.
‘Did you see those ships that came in yesterday?’ Hannah whispered. ‘One of them has finished offloading soldiers and now it’s heading in to the wharf. I want to go down there and see what’s happening.’ She didn’t want to wake Hoyt or Milla. ‘The tide’s about to turn; so unless they’re planning to stay all day, they’ll only be here until they can start upriver. That gives us about half an aven.’
‘Hold on a moment,’ he said, ‘and I’ll come along.’
‘You don’t have to; I’ll be fine. I just want to-’ She looked at him, her eyes narrowed. ‘Alen, what are you doing awake? It isn’t like you to be up this early.’
‘Something’s happening,’ he said, fussing with his clothes, ‘but I’m not sure what it is.’
‘Steven?’ Hannah tried to ignore the sudden lurch in her stomach.
‘It’s something – or someone, I should say. It’s not like the bark shipments. This is different.’
‘Then let’s go. Bring Milla in here with Hoyt; we’ll be back before either of them wakes up.’
‘How is he?’ Alen whispered once they’d tucked Milla into Hannah’s bed.
‘He needs antibiotics, penicillin or something – this voodoo horse-shit isn’t working.’
‘But he’ll sleep for now?’ Alen looked worried. ‘Yes, deeply, and the querlis poultices keep his fever down, at least for a while, anyway.’
‘Very well,’ Alen said. ‘Lead the way.’
‘This is a big gamble,’ Captain Ford said, ‘and I don’t like it.’ He followed Brexan and Garec through the twisting maze of Pellia’s side-streets; Gilmour trailed behind.
‘I agree,’ Garec said, ‘but I don’t think it’s one we can avoid.’ He kept a look-out for morning patrols.
‘We need to find a healer, now,’ the captain said for the third or fourth time.
‘I understand that,’ Garec replied, also for the third or fourth time, ‘and we will.’ He carried his bow and quivers wrapped in a length of sailcloth, draped over his shoulder, effectively camouflaging the weapons.
‘Out here, on the wharf? Come on, Garec, you know as well as I that-’
Garec stopped and took Ford’s arm, allowing Brexan to push on to the next corner alone. She checked the cross-street then motioned the others forward.
‘Captain, right now, they’re both resting,’ Garec said, ‘and they’re both as comfortable as we can make them. Pel and Kellin are with them, and they will stay there until we get back. We watched those frigates closely last night, all night, and none of us saw them unloading cargo; it was all soldiers. Now one of them is making its way to the pier and we have to assume that’s Mark, and we have to assume he has the table with him. We’ll find someplace to sit for a while; I’ll buy you breakfast. We’ll wait a bit, and we’ll watch. If he has the table, we’ll hit him with whatever we can, try to knock him off balance while we steal it, break it, drop it to the bottom of the harbour; I don’t know quite what, but we have to try something – and right now, we have to do it alone.’