He glanced around, made sure our table set apart from others, and he lowered his voice. “My master paid a mage to teach me.”
“A mage using magic as a teacher?” Kendra asked. “I’ve never heard of that, but it makes sense.”
“Yes, he used magic to make me learn. Not a punishment, but he twisted my mind until I knew the right words. The pain is still with me on dark nights.”
“That must have cost a lot,” I said. “You must have been an important servant.”
“My master thought so, too. That was a long time ago, and unfortunately, his wife had feelings for me and . . . Well, here I am today sailing the seas and hoping to never encounter him again.”
“How about her?”
“That is a different tale,” he grinned, briefly. “But not for today.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
A mage had used his magic to teach someone a language? I’d never heard of such a thing nor considered the possibilities. Now I reconsidered and reviewed what I knew. The normal skills of mages included making rain in dry spells, increasing crop yields by scaring off crows, and impressing the public with displays of lightning and thunder. They were part huckster, part showmen, and part magician. Most were usually found in the immediate company of kings or other powerful people, offering insights and recommendations. Mages were part of the inner circle that ruled Dire. Their views often decided what laws should be passed, who should inherit wealth or position, and why.
The idea that a simple sailor would have an important mage teach him a language via magic was unbelievable in the context of what I’d seen. No, not unbelievable, but unheard of. That a mage had taken the time to perform such a menial task—money or not, didn’t make sense. Things outside of the norm were usually either lies or of little interest to me. Since Penna knew both languages, and there seemed no benefit to him telling a lie to an unknown, so my instinct was to believe him.
I looked at the missing tooth and wondered why the mage hadn’t replaced it while teaching him. Perhaps he’d lost it after. A sailor’s life was not an easy one. However, a lot about Penna was not adding up in the usual manner, and after our experience with Stata, the husk of a dead man controlled by a mage was still fresh in my mind. Perhaps I was simply too cautious after the experiences of the last few days.
As with many things, the simplest way to find out was to humbly ask. “Did you ask the mage to fix your tooth?”
“I had all my teeth back then, and all my hair, and women thought me a handsome young man. You mentioned the mage storm yesterday.”
“Mage storm?” I parroted, having never heard the term.
“The storm, yesterday. It was unnatural, and most sailors believe a mage created it. A ship arrived in port only this morning and was surprised at the wreckage around the city and the two ships that sunk in the harbor. The arriving ship never even saw a drop of rain, but their winds ceased about the time our storm began as if that wind removed from them and it was used here.”
Kendra scowled and burst out in disbelief, “A storm caused by a mage that was directed here, and the wind stolen from somewhere else so it could be used against us?”
I cut in before she spewed too much personal information in her anger. “I know mages can cause rain to help during droughts. Except for the severity, this was no different. Two sunken ships, you say?”
He nodded fiercely. “Both tied to piers right here in port. The crosswind put them on their sides, and their hulls filled with water from the open hatches and sank. They can be pumped out, and the ships will sail again—however, I’d be surprised if either returns to this port. Sailors are a superstitious lot. They lost a few of the crew to drowning, but that is to be expected with a storm like that. Never seen such a thing.”
We sat in stunned silence, reviewing what little we knew, as the girls remained quiet, sensing the importance of the conversation.
Penna broke the awkward silence. “What are your plans for the girls?”
“Why do you ask?” Kendra said.
“My captain might offer you a fair price for them. Young girls at the auctions in Kondor or Valance bring good money.”
“They sell girls?” I burst out so loud everyone in the dining room heard me, and several heads turned, probably to ascertain if I was offended or interested. My hand reached for the hilt of my sword, but I was not wearing it.
“And boys. Somebody has to pay for their keep, right? They work and have places to sleep and eat, a good deal for both owners and slaves. Not really much different than working on a ship, if you ask me.” He reached for another sausage, and my impulse was to stab the back of his hand with my new knife. Instead, I drew a calming breath and attempted to continue the conversation in a friendly manner. “At first, you assumed all four of us were from Kondor?”
“That I did. Fooled me with that one,” he answered with a smirk while chewing with his mouth open. “But good manners prevented me from asking about it. Your personal business is yours.”
The older girl said a few words. The sailor looked at Kendra. “Outhouse. You should learn the word. Perhaps I can provide a list of common words you might need . . . for a small fee.”
Kendra pierced him with the same expression she used on me when unhappy. He seemed to shrink in size as she turned to the older girl and said in a clear voice, “Outhouse.”
The girl mimicked her. Only then did Kendra stand and take the hand of the girl and walk outside, and I had no doubt the word would be repeated enough times on the way to the facility in the rear that the next time Anna needed the outhouse, she would know the word. She would also teach it to Emma.
“Did I say something wrong?” Penna asked me when they were out of earshot.
“No. Tell me more about the sudden storm. Have you ever seen anything like it?”
“Nope.”
“Ever hear of such a thing?”
He shook his head and peered at the ceiling for a moment. “People are saying it was a killer storm. Too big for a single mage, so it had to be several working together, probably intended to kill one person they were angry with, if you ask me. At first, we thought it was focused on a single ship, but that can’t be because it was not the center of the storm. It was worst between here and Andover, they say, on land where there are no ships. Please don’t accept my words as facts, I am only repeating rumors heard on the docks this morning, and they are not the most reliable.”
Asking him that while Kendra was out of the room had been smart on my part. The storm was pointed right at us, as I had suspected. However, how that fits into the overall picture remained unclear. “Does Kondor get many visitors? Other than sailors, I mean.”
“A few. Less than there used to be. There’s money to be made there, silver and copper mines, and fierce soldiers to be hired. But in Dagger, the capital, there’s also plenty of sunshine, fresh water flowing down from the mountains that is dammed several times, and the water behind each spread into beautiful lakes with the greenest trees and parks at the edges. Hot as hell, but a body can cool off with the water mists from the lakes.”
“Is there a king?”
“Used to be one. Years ago. Now a council rules.”
Kendra returned with Anna. They sat, and Kendra turned to the older girl and motioned for her to speak with a wave of her hand. Anna spoke to Emma, and the younger one said clearly, “Outhouse.”