After the shouts of the young naval officer, the galley of the war fleet made a sharp turn and rapidly undercut us. If Cristo hadn't timely ordered to "back the oars," their ship would have inevitably crashed into our bow with its assault superstructure. I don't think it was an accident or the incompetence of the warship's helmsman. Most likely, they were showing that they were ready for any form of conflict if something went wrong.
On Earth, those who had rebelled and paved their way to freedom would have been met with, if not applause, at least with friendliness. This sea meeting turned out entirely different.
Military boarders poured onto our deck like peas from the higher side of the warship, and as soon as there were more of them than us, they immediately got down to business. The officer ordered all of us to drop our weapons and keep our hands in sight. Those who did so slowly or unwillingly immediately received hefty blows with the hilts of swords, staffs, or wands. From the very first second, they made it clear to us that we had no rights and everything would be as the military decided. Lining all of us up while his men began to search the "Blood Wave," the young officer walked several times along our row, snidely discussing with one of the mages that he would keep some of the rebels on his galley as rowers as they were slightly short of them. Even I, listening to his reasoning, couldn't figure out if it was his dark fleet humor or if he was serious.
This went on for about three minutes. Three minutes of constant tension mounting. I literally felt with my skin that Duar, standing to my left, was ready to explode and sink his teeth into this officer. The boatswain understood that this would be the last action in his life, but it was also clear to me that he would not sit back in slave shackles and would rather die here and now. The appearance of another person saved us from this explosion and new mutiny. Despite his officer's uniform and the mage's staff behind his back, he looked like an ordinary, unremarkable clerk. Average height, with a nondescript face and a short haircut, even the bright officer's uniform sat on him like a regular merchant's suit. He held some sort of scroll in his hands. Approaching our line, he unrolled it and, seemingly cross-referencing with what was written in it, he peered intently into our faces.
The appearance of a senior in rank calmed the verbal outburst of the young officer and also slightly cooled the overall atmosphere. Most likely, this scroll contains descriptions of the appearances and distinctive features of the pirates from the "Bloody Wave," and now the magician in the officer's uniform with the patches of a captain's assistant is busy checking if any notorious killers are hiding among the former slaves. When the check reached Aun, the senior officer paused, looked carefully at his face, and asked:
"Do I know you?"
"You do, Master Vasshi!" The young man immediately reported. "We met three months ago at a reception hosted by the Duan family to celebrate the launch of a new galley."
The inspector took the young man's chin in his fingers and turned his head, then clicked his tongue and clarified:
"Your name is Aun, isn't it?"
"Exactly!"
"Where is your father, Mr. Liao?"
"Killed." The young guy's face turned grey at these words, but he coped with the surging emotions and answered clearly. "He was killed by Tongar Vano."
Taking the young man by the elbow, Officer Vasshi led him out of our ranks, took him aside, and quietly talked to him for about five minutes. All this time, the others were silent; even the young officer with a terrible sense of humor withheld his comments. After finishing the conversation with Aun, the inspector turned to our rank and gave us another probing look; his gaze fell on me, and as if remembering something, he quickly approached.
"Raven?"
"Exactly," I answer without averting my eyes.
"Gather your belongings and board the 'Wrath of Antares' with young Aun." The inspector commanded.
Not bothering to ask anything or argue, I quickly left the ranks. As soon as I did that, Vasshi turned to the rest of the rebels.
"Here's what it's going to happen now!" Tucking the scroll into his belt, he pulled out a magic staff from behind his back. "I'm becoming the temporary captain of the 'Bloody Wave,' and you're my crew until we get to Tries. Anyone who disagrees..." The officer waved the top of his staff somewhere over the port side. "The shore is over there. I'm not holding anyone back." And then, quite unexpectedly, even for me, he hit one of the former slaves in the forehead with the staff, causing him to fall as if mowed down. "Chain him up and put him in the cage!" He commanded the boarding party. Before the rest of the rebels began to grumble, the inspector added. "According to the description, this is Wan Lisun, a former owner of a small shop, wanted in Tries for killing his wife out of jealousy, who escaped justice two months ago. He is awaiting trial. Does anyone of you want to stand up for him?"
The response was total silence.
"Good." The mage nodded. "Huran, Duar, Cristo, Fuun - those I've named, step out of rank and come to me!"
The confident way he listed the names made me realize that Aun had told him who's who in the hierarchy of former slaves. However, I don't blame the guy for that; he did the right thing.
I had a few personal belongings, and if I wanted to, I could gather everything in a few seconds. All I had to do was pick up my spear and backpack. But I preferred to pretend that I needed more time to prepare. While I was faking the hustle, I watched from the stern deck what was going on. Vasshi was lecturing those he had called out of the ranks; his gestures made it clear that he was explaining the "new rules of the game" to the leaders of the former slaves. And he was doing it quite clearly, as even Duar just listened instead of turning red like a bull and clenching his fists in anger.
"Has he been like this for long?" A question interrupted my observations.
It was asked by one of the boarding team of the "Wrath of Antares." Judging by his appearance and the short wand in his hand, he was a healer. A healer of Full Steel with sergeant patches. His question referred to that same wounded man with the head injury over whom Fuun and I had been working for so many hours.
"More than a day," I answer honestly.
The healer asked a few more clarifying questions, then waved his wand over the unconscious man's body, apparently activating some diagnostic spell. After completing the examination, he leaned over the injured man, took his head in his palms, whispered something in his ear, and broke his neck with a swift motion. After that, he called two fighters over, and following his order, they threw the now-dead body overboard. Turning to me, the healer of the boarding party said in a colorless voice:
"I took no pleasure in this, but he was beyond saving. May the waters take him, may Nertan have mercy on his mortal body."
"May Nertan accept his body," I repeated the ritual phrase of burial at sea after him.
In the world of Ain, the actions of the boarding team's healer weren't seen as cruel or indifferent. On the contrary, they were more of an act of mercy. Thanks to my memories of the "future," this kind of killing didn't shock me, though it didn't exactly lift my spirits either. I even felt a bit upset. I'd spent so much time applying Lesser Healing, only for it to end like this. All my efforts were in vain. Perhaps a little sharper than the situation called for, I nodded to the medic, slung my backpack over my shoulder, switched my spear to a travel grip, and jumped back onto the rowing deck.
Aun was already prepared and ready, having nothing personal left apart from what he wore. As soon as I stood next to the lad, one of the boarding team's fighters came up to us and ordered us to follow him.
By this time, the sailors of "Wrath of Antares" had already thrown a corvus[1] between the two ships, so we didn't even have to jump from side to side to get onto the war galley. The escort took us to the stern appendage of "Wrath of Antares," which was twice as high and larger than the same on the "Blood Wave," and handed us over to the boatswain, vocalizing Vasshi's order to take care of us until the ship arrived in Tries.
When I heard the word "take care," I internally tensed up, ready to run, but this time my paranoia was mistaken, and there was no catch behind this assignment. We were accommodated in a cramped but separate cabin, with orders not to leave it unescorted.
The cabin was indeed very small, two meters in length and slightly less in width. The only furniture was a quite old box, and instead of beds, there were two hammocks hanging from the ceiling. I initially mistook this place for a cell, but the entrance door seemed too flimsy for such, and the narrow porthole, through which you couldn't even stick your head, was without bars.
"We've been assigned a guard," Aun, who had secretly peeked outside, said after I dropped my stuff on the floor and lay in the hammock.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I had to get up and see for myself and then reassure the merchant's son:
"It's not really a guard; it's a cabin boy." I nodded toward the door. "He's more like a messenger and an observer, not a sentry."
"And what do we do now?" Aun asked, trying to discern something through the small porthole.
"Rest." I shrugged, then stripped off my chainmail and gambeson and comfortably settled into the hammock.
"Just rest? Is that it?" The boy didn't understand me.
"If you don't want to rest and have nothing else to do, you could sway my hammock."
I suggested it as a joke, but the boy, either out of boredom or for some other reason, actually began to rock me. I was about to open my mouth to order him to stop when I thought that there was nothing wrong with being swayed by someone! Besides, I hadn't slept for more than a day, and it was quite unproductive to waste time in anxious anticipation. With this thought, I relaxed and let the gentle rocking of the hammock lull me to sleep.
The nervous tension of recent times still had an effect, and I had some vague yet rather unpleasant nightmares. In my dream, I was constantly hiding from someone and searching for something. However, I couldn't find this something and hide myself properly. So, when someone demandingly touched my shoulder and woke me up, interrupting this strange dream, I was even grateful.
"Yes?" Opening my eyes, I asked the unfamiliar sailor standing by my hammock, noting that Aun was not in the cabin at the moment.
"Follow me." The sailor demanded and gestured toward the door.
Quickly jumping off the hammock, I stretched, standing on my tiptoes, and reached the ceiling with my fingertips, which reminded me once again of the tiny size of the cabin. I shook my head, chasing away the remnants of sleep, and nodded to the one who had woken me:
"Lead on."
I thought I would be taken to meet with the captain, but instead, I was brought to the already familiar boatswain, who introduced himself, then seated me opposite him and began to ask questions. A lot of questions. Moreover, from time to time, having heard my answer, he looked into the scroll lying in front of him as if checking. Though, perhaps, he was indeed checking, as it seemed that he first had a conversation with Aun and only then summoned me.
However, I had no reason to hide anything about what was happening on the "Bloody Wave," so I answered honestly. I didn't even get mad at the boatswain for his persistence when he asked about the same thing, but using a slightly reformulated question for the tenth time. The man was just doing his job, albeit diligently, but still without fanaticism. But when he started asking me about the "Defector" and its captain, I refused to answer, citing a vow of secrecy. In fact, I never swore an oath to Larindel, but the boatswain didn't know this, and after tormenting me with questions on this topic for about ten minutes, he left me alone. More precisely, he backed off after I answered his next question with, "I'm from another planet." Faced with Sacred Knowledge that he couldn't penetrate, the officer dropped the line of questioning. My deeper past, for example, what I did and how I ended up on the island of Un, didn't interest the boatswain at all, which was a massive relief for me.
Having gone through the first round of questions, the boatswain focused on specific individuals, asking about one rebel or another. I refused to give my personal opinion, but I easily recounted what each person had done, leaving the interpretation to the boatswain himself.
This conversation, or rather a full-fledged interrogation, lasted for over two hours, and when I stepped back on the deck accompanied by a sailor, Seguna was already nearly at its zenith. I looked around, hoping to see whether the "Bloody Wave" was following the "Wrath of Antares," but due to the high stern superstructure of the war galley, I couldn't see anything. And my request to climb to the stern was denied.
The sailor first escorted me to the latrine, then to my cabin. Inside, on his hammock, Aun was snoring lightly. Without waking the guy, I also lay down. But this time, I couldn't sleep at all; my thoughts were constantly stirring. First, I replayed the interrogation in my head, wondering if I'd blurted out anything unnecessary. But it seemed that I had been attentive and had not made any mistakes.
Then my memory took me back to my conversation with Larindel, and I almost ate myself alive, wondering if I had gotten too little from him. The Ring of Lightning — that's certainly good! Even very good! This single artifact was worth more than everything I had. But the nagging thought that I could have asked for more was eating me up inside. I understand that if I had done that, I could have very well triggered a change in the elf's mood, and everything could have gone down a less peaceful path. I do understand this, but I still bite myself inside. This is, apparently, human nature, always wanting more than what you have.
I tortured myself with these thoughts until dawn. I could have slept soundly to the rhythmic splash of oars and the rocking of the hammock, but no, I preferred to torment myself with unfulfilled desires and thoughts. As a result, I met the morning, being somewhat angry and irritated. Moreover, it seemed this mood was easily readable on my face because as soon as I opened my eyes, Aun looked at me and, blushing, asked:
"Did I snore so loudly that it kept you from sleeping?"
I don't know where he got that from, as I didn't hear any snoring from him all night except perhaps a barely audible snuffling, so I just brushed off this question. Jumping from his hammock, the young man looked out the porthole, then knocked on the door and asked to be escorted to wash. To my surprise, no one denied him; on the contrary, they quickly agreed. And here I am alone in a cramped cabin, feeling like an idiot who could have gone to wash a long time ago but instead lay in the hammock thinking that no one would let him out. And what I needed to do was not to think but to go and ask, as this boy did.
So, when Aun came back, I also asked to wash. Not so much to really wash myself, but to walk and look around. The "Wrath of Antares" turned out to be even larger than it seemed to me at first. I counted twenty-four rowing benches, each with three people sitting on them. And the length of the ship approached a full hundred meters. At the same time, the war galley was literally shining with cleanliness; the cleaning organized by the rebels on the "Bloody Wave" looked incredibly lousy in comparison.
After washing, I asked to stay on deck for a warm-up, and the bosun passing by at that moment, hearing my request, agreed to it. This added another weight to the scale of the fact that we, the merchant's son and I, were not captives at all. And they keep us in a separate cabin only because outsiders have nothing to roam around the decks of a warship.
A few sailors initially watched my warm-up with curiosity, but as I only performed the exercises given to me by Ender, they soon stopped paying attention to me. Except that the assigned cabin boy kept his eyes on me, which was quite understandable. The training brought a slight relief. If I was exercising just to avoid going to the cabin initially, then gradually I got involved, and the usual activity relaxed my tense, like bowstring, nerves.
About half an hour later, when the warship made a sharp maneuver catching the wind, I saw the "Bloody Wave" following in our wake. The galley with the former slaves was just three hundred meters behind. Thanks to the aura of Perception, I even made out the silhouette of Cristo on her stern.
After I finished warming up and was about to switch to more complex kata, the cabin boy asked me to pause and return to the cabin. Not wanting to argue over my ephemeral rights, I quietly followed the young sailor. It turned out that they asked me to return because they had brought us breakfast. The food was simple: bread, cheese, olive oil, dried dates, and something resembling a sour fruit drink, but I ate it all in one go because I was hungry. But Aun, who had woken up by this time, on the contrary, pecked a little and could not finish his not very large portion.
To distract the boy from the gloomy memories of the previous day, I began to ask him about Tries. My questions indeed shifted the merchant's son's attention, and it was interesting for me to learn more about this southeastern city-state. Interesting and useful - because I planned to stay in Tries, not just pass through it in transit.
The young man obviously loved his native city and talked about it with great eagerness and sparkling eyes. His mood was fueled by the fact that I was genuinely interested in listening to him.
According to Aun's story, Tries only outwardly resembled the familiar free cities of the West I knew. Those were governed by guilds and merchants, while the city-states of the southeast were more like an ancient Greek democracy on Earth. Here all decisions were made by the Senate, and any citizen could hold a state position.
Aun praised this "fair" system of governance so much that he blatantly overlooked its vices. For example, about ninety thousand people lived in Tries, but less than a third of them were citizens, those who passed the financial census. That is, those who paid a certain and far from small sum into the city treasury. Also, a person becomes a citizen if they are born into a family of citizens. It was from this privileged and well-off part of the townsfolk that people could be elected to managerial positions. Another third of the population were regular residents, they paid taxes and could enjoy all the benefits of the city, but they did not have the right to hold city positions or be elected to the Senate. The last third of the population of Tries consisted of slaves. To me, there is nothing "magnificent" and "fair" in such a system, as Aun claimed. But, if compared to the sole rule of the nobility or the dictates of guild rules, as happened in other parts of Ain, the boy was essentially correct. Besides, the merchant's son himself was from a respected family, albeit a lateral branch, and had the status of a city citizen and, accordingly, looked at all these city rules from the height of his privileges, which he considered natural.
However, the way the city was managed didn't concern me too much, as I didn't plan to settle down and spend the rest of my life there. Tries was just a small transit point on my way to Pentapolis. And I didn't plan to stay in this city any longer than necessary. Nevertheless, I listened carefully to Aun, noting the details that could be useful to me. For instance, the young man mentioned that in case of a conflict between a citizen and a resident or visitor, the citizen's testimony is considered first in court. And if the parties' statements differ, the court always takes the citizen's side. Aun presented this rule as remarkably fair, not allowing outsiders to take advantage of the citizens. As for me, I understood that in Tries, I shouldn't let any conflicts with citizens go to court, as I would lose anyway. Not that I planned to offend anyone in this city, but I made a mental note of it.
The time until lunch flew by unnoticed with this story, after which I once again asked to go on deck to stretch my legs, and I was not refused. As soon as I left the cabin, I immediately noticed that many ships were at sea near us. I counted more than a dozen foreign sails. This observation suggested that we were probably very close to Tries. I asked the cabin boy who was always nearby, and he confirmed my guess.
"Look!" The boy stretched out his hand. "Do you see the cape and the lighthouse on it?"
"Yes." I had to strain my sight, but I saw what the cabin boy was talking about.
"That's Zhong Poay's lighthouse or the Southern Light of Tries." The boy said this with such pride in his voice as if he himself had built this lighthouse from stones with his own hands. "We'll go around the cape, and we'll be, so to say, already in the city bay!"
"Close." I nodded.
"Yes! We'll dock by sunset!" The cabin boy cheerfully reported.
This pleased me. I had expected that we would arrive in Tries no earlier than tomorrow, but everything turned out even better than I had assumed. And the fact that I would make it in time for the tournament registration no longer seemed something unattainable.
[1] AN: a boarding bridge. TLN: a term from Ancient Rome that hints at what setting primarily resembles.