“There are lots of rumors. Some say mages have a hand in what’s going on. Others say it is the fault of a weak king. Who knows?”
I decided to try another tact. “Why would anyone allow a city like this used to be to fall into shambles and die?”
Flier turned to me, his scraggly beard tinged with a few strands of white, his eyes bloodshot, his skin dirty. Yet, there was an intensity about the man, a dichotomy unexplained. He stood before me a crippled beggar, but he hadn’t always been such. He said, “I think you’ve already touched on the reason when you asked me about the Vin Pass. It is the only gateway between Trager and Kondor. Besides, the sea, of course.”
“Destroying Trager effectively closes Vin Pass, the back door to Vin and Dagger, and all of Kondor. I can see that, but there are still ships that sail there.” My words emerged as I leaned on the railing and let my mind wander.
“Only as long as seaports welcome them, and warships allow their passage.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Ships require docks, piers, stevedores, cargo handlers, and ports that welcome them, as well as paying passengers. Close the docks, dismiss the workers, raise the taxes on any ships arriving so high they can’t afford to pay, and you’ve closed off an entire kingdom that only a few warships are required to enforce.”
Flier hadn’t looked at me once as he spoke. Yet the words spilled out smoothly and without effort. He’d thought about this conversation before—or spoken with others. The ideas were not new to him, as they were to me. Impulse forced me to ask, “Dragons?”
Now he turned. “Wyverns. There are rumors of Waystones with wyvern eggs inside. Where you find Waystones, you find mages.”
“And sorceresses?”
“Same as mages, but they are not always as obvious. They tend to stay in the background and use their powers of suggestion to obstruct those opposed to mages.”
Again, his answer surprised me. Not only because of the content but the manner of his speech. Flier looked the part of a crippled beggar but sometimes spoke as if educated and observant. For the moment, I decided to allow the subject to drop. His comment about wyvern eggs in Waystones had come as a surprise, one that required more information. He’d already given me much to think about. So much, I started to wonder at his true identity. Perhaps I was reading too much into his answers.
He said to me, “You already have a cabin?”
“A dark hole below decks with a pair of dirty hammocks and a wall that seeps seawater.”
“Assuming the cabin your sister spoke of to the purser is available, you can take that one, and I’ll happily remain in the other. I owe you for passage, more than I can pay, but my family will reimburse you.”
Mumbling something about loyalty being worth a fortune, I looked out over the city and turned my thought inward. The city was depressing in its present state but hadn’t always been that way. A building not far away leaned a few degrees to one side. It wouldn’t stand against the next storm. The edges of the roof were lined with boards cut with scrolls and curls and had at one time been decorative and probably beautiful.
Three large blackened areas of the city were absent of buildings, and there were smaller ones where a building or two had recently burned to the ground. The air had a scent of ash and burned wood. There was no sign of new construction. A resentment of what was happening built in me. The king of Trager supposedly lived on the hill high above his city and kingdom. The view from his palace overlooked the scars the fires left. He did little to nothing for the people. They deserved better.
Again, him allowing the decay to advance was not much different than Elizabeth’s father lying ill while others ruled his kingdom to the tune of what the mages wished. Given five or ten more years, Dire may have faced the same circumstances as Trager. The mages would have placed their selected people into positions of power. They didn’t rule for the people, but for themselves.
Six days of continued boredom on the ship were ahead to reach the city of Vin. After a short stop, three more to Dagger. We had eaten all the food we’d brought with us, so the trip would not only be long, but I’d go hungry before eating most of the food served on the ship.
As the lines were removed from the pier, and the two longboats pulled us out into the channel, Flier raised an arm and gave a small wave. “Never thought I’d see it behind me.”
“Trager? You’ve been over the Vin Pass, why not again?”
He paused, and confessed, “They attacked my camp, killed another messenger, and put me in their dungeon. Kept me there for three years.”
“Why?”
“I had delivered a message from my king ordering the pass closed. Kondor wished to cut off all communication, trade, and travel with Trager. They locked me up along with anyone from Kondor in the city. Only a few of us lived through it.”
That didn’t fit with what I knew. Trager was ruled by the same people as Kondor. “Did the king still rule Trager at that time?”
Flier turned to me. “Yes. Trager’s troubles started at about the same time.”
“How long were you there?”
“About ten years. An arrow struck my leg when they captured me, right at my knee. It never healed right, I had no money, no contacts, and the remainder of the Kondor military had fled. They mistreated me for a few years then turned me out to be a begger and die. It was not a good time for a being a beggar in a city with no money.”
The city grew smaller in the distance behind the ship, the smell of the rot and smoke that pervaded faded, and the wide bay seemed to cleanse my thinking. Our mainsail was set, just enough to maintain steerage as we moved to the mouth of the bay. Nearby, a man standing at the rail to my right said for both of us, “Glad to be away from that damned place. Heard you had some trouble there.”
He expressed my thoughts exactly. I said, “A little.”
The purser came up behind me and stood, uncharacteristically and respectfully waiting for me to acknowledge him before speaking. Kendra had taken the edge off his attitude. I smiled. “Sir, can I help you?”
“If you will follow me, I’ll show you to your new cabin. The possessions of the previous passenger have been removed and the cabin cleaned.”
“Didn’t find him?” I asked, knowing that was a question expected of me. Then, to push his a little more, “Is this ship safe?”
The purser pursed his lips and motioned for us to follow him with a wave from his hand. My smile was contained, something I’d been doing a lot lately. We entered the same passageway as Kendra’s cabin and stopped two doors past hers.
The purser opened it and stood aside for me to inspect the cabin. As with the other down the hall, there were two beds, one above the other and a small porthole for light. It was a full two steps to the edges of the beds, a veritable palace when compared to the dank space I’d been confined to for a week. I paused, then said as if I’d considered rejecting it, “It will do.”
He nodded slightly. “It has all the amenities of the salon, and your chamber pot will be emptied twice a day, and your water replaced as required, sir.” He didn’t exactly extend his hand for payment, but it was obvious. His eyes never once fell on Flier. I paid the difference and assured him I’d have my old cabin cleared out before I slept. If my old space was going to be sold to someone for an upgrade, I pitied him or her for the place they now occupied.
After he departed, Flier said, “I can stay in your old cabin and give you privacy.”
“No. Just help me carry my things, and that will be enough.” I had my sword, bow, arrows, and a few changes of clothing in a sack. The pitcher of water in the new cabin sat in a ring cut into a shelf to prevent it from spilling from the movement of the ship. Such a small thing, but a welcome addition. I felt like a prince.