It was a dark night, and the weather was filthy. The wind howled, pelting the lone sailor with stinging rain as he sought cover in the small lee created by the cutter’s mast. He drew his storm cloak around him tight and honed his senses as best he could, but it was of no use. It was pitch dark, and the sounds of wind and rain drowned out everything else. To make matters worse, the cutter was running dark on the off chance their pursuers were mad enough to come looking for them so close to the reef in this weather.
He thought he heard a dull thud in the distance and sat upright. He thought he felt the vessel dip unexpectedly. He’d been serving on the Black Marlin for a year and knew when something felt amiss. It hadn’t been a wave. Something had bumped against the cutter. Or perhaps it had been their guest stumbling about below decks. The others wouldn’t be so clumsy as to upset the balance of the small vessel as they moved around. He glanced at the brass bell that was within arm’s reach and placed his hand string attached to the clapper. However, he knew he’d catch hell from the other lads if it turned out to be a false alarm and hesitated.
Then, he sensed something in the darkness, approaching swiftly from the bow. “Who goes there?”
Without waiting for a response, he shook the clapper. The peel of the bell was swallowed up by the wind and rain, and the lookout saw a shape cloaked in black appear out of the gloom. Something flashed and the lookout felt a sharp pain in his neck. He tried to speak but was surprised when he choked on his own blood. Strength left his body quickly and he slumped to the ground.
A black clad figure held the fallen sailor’s head close to his own and breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn’t their target. Trained to operate in darkness, he sensed his two companions nearby and whistled low, indicating for them to proceed below decks.
They had spotted their quarry’s ship in the dying light and the captain of their own ship had warned them about the shoals. He had refused to approach at first, but the man had killed one of the overweight captain’s crew to make his point. They had reluctantly brought his ship in, and the fool had run aground on one of the shoals. The three night stalkers had slipped overboard as the ship sank. The man didn’t care a jot about the fate of its crew. He had a job to do.
The leader of the night stalkers paused at the stairs that led below decks and trained their senses down the open hatch for signs that the bell had alerted the occupants below. Detecting none, the leader checked his dagger and rolled up his trousers before descending into the bowels of the ship, wishing that he knew how many sailors were on the cutter. To make matters worse, their orders were to take their target alive, which meant having to identify anyone they encountered before disposing of them.
Keeping low, the leader carefully crouch-stepped down the stairs and smiled behind his mask when he felt resistance against his shin. A tripwire, strung across the final step. It was unlikely to be attached to a bell on this rocking boat but instead meant to make any intruder trip and fall, alerting the occupants of the vessel. The captain was a cautious one, but not cautious enough.
The man carefully lifted his foot over the tripwire and eased his foot onto the deck beyond. He carefully shifted his weight onto that foot, but to his surprise, the board creaked nevertheless. He was still trying to make sense of the sound board when something struck him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. The man bled out and died silently. Before his companions had realized what happened, spears shot out of the darkness, impaling one and sending the other, diving for cover. He rolled down the stairs and was stabbed through the chest before he could spring to his feet.
Katrina jerked upright in her hammock. She had been unable to sleep and was surprised when the others had sprung from their hammocks at the first peel of the bell. Stolya had told her to lie back down and warned her not to make a sound while the others readied themselves to fight the boarders. They had found their weapons easily despite it being pitch dark down in the hold.
“I told you not replacing that board would come in handy one day,” Logrin breathed.
“I want two to check on Brandir,” Elouise ordered, just loud enough to be heard over the rain that was still thumping against the deck. “And someone bring a light.”
Nismond shifted his huge bulk up the stairs with Logrin close behind. Both men were armed and moved warily. Once they disappeared up the stairs, a lantern was lit, causing Katrina to wince, and she craned her neck to see as Elouise inspected the black clad man with an arrow in his chest as he lay slumped over at the foot of the stairs. Abruptly she ripped his black shirt open to reveal the tattoo of a goblet on his right breast.
“Karru,” Croocq breathed, looking pale before giving Katrina an accusatory glare. “They were after her.”
“I didn’t mention this before, but Akhaz mentioned that there was a bounty for someone with a sword like hers after he delivered that message to you, captain,” Stolya remarked. “I didn’t mention it because it was only for two sovereigns, and I only saw her sword after you announced what she was paying.”
Elouise raised an eyebrow at the other woman and sighed she was about to say something when a mournful voice shouted down the hatch. “Brandir’s dead!”
“Make sure there aren’t any more rats on board!” Elouise snarled before stalking over to Katrina. “You have some explaining to do, girly.”
Katrina squirmed in her hammock, which was the furthest from the stairs, and blessed her lucky stars that the contract had already been signed the night before. Contracts signed by free captains were ironclad. Their livelihoods depended on their trustworthiness, but it cut both ways. Renege on a contract with one and none of the others would ever take work from you again until the matter was resolved to the wronged captain’s satisfaction. She was even more impressed that the crew was so alert after the raucous celebrations that had erupted before her blood was dry on the contract.
“I believe I’ve laid out what is required,” she began.
“Don’t play coy with me,” Elouise snapped as she loomed over Katrina. “One of my men is dead. Why are the Karru after you?”
Katrina blinked and felt the pouch under her tunic. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She had anticipated this. Well, Vanham had. However, Katrina had rehearsed her response well over her long journey to Solitaire. However, she was about to find out that rehearsing a discussion in her head was very different to the real thing.
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“The sovereigns,” she began. “I did not get permission to deposit them with the Guild…”
“So it’s stolen! From the Malcith king, no less!” Kerran gasped, turning pale. “What good is it to us then?”
“It doesn’t matter, you dullard!” Croocq snapped. “Not even the Emperor at the height of his powers could make demands of the Guild. If they say the money’s hers, then it’s hers.”
Elouise bored her eyes into Katrina’s. “That’s not the only reason they’re after you, is it?”
“It’s the only one I can think of,” Katrina tried to sound confident under the captain’s scrutiny, but even she was unconvinced.
Silence hung in the air as the heavyset woman glared at Katrina, and the crew watched on with bated breath. At length, the captain took a deep breath. “All of you, up top. See if you can find where these rats came from.”
When the crew didn’t move, she whirled on them and snapped, “That’s an order. Get moving!”
Silently, they filed up the stairs, easily stepping over the creaking board and the tripwire. Stolya was the last one to the hatch and she hesitated before turning around.
“Could you close the hatch after you, please?” Elouise asked gently.
The hatch was sealed with a thud, causing Katrina to jump. Now, she and Elouise were alone in the Black Marlin’s small hold that ran the whole length of the vessel. Normally, it could carry up to twenty tons of cargo, but was now empty save for a few sacks of provisions and two barrels of water.
Elouise strained her senses to ensure her crew weren’t listening in before turning back to Katrina. “That was for their benefit. They’re rattled, and you are a poor liar, girly.”
Katrina blinked. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”
The heavyset captain sighed before sitting down on a nearby sea chest that was lashed to a nearby bulkhead. “The truth is we didn’t meet by chance. I received word from an old friend that you were on your way to the Overflow.”
Katrina looked at her blankly, and Elouise smirked. “My old friend’s name is Vanham Stophlin.”
The younger woman bit her lip before speaking. “Was. I’m afraid Vanham is dead.”
Elouise reared her head in surprise. “Oh. That’s a shame, he was a good man.”
Katrina could only nod as tears began to well in her eyes.
“His message didn’t tell me much about what you wanted,” Elouise continued. “Only that it was important to the kingdom.”
Katrina looked up and brushed away a tear. “Are you a citizen of Malcith?”
A wry smile crossed the captain’s broad face. “I was once, but not anymore. However, I will assist you in any way I can. For a fee, of course.”
“Thank you,” Katrina murmured.
“That’s not to say I believe money is the only reason the Karru are after you,” Elouise sighed as she got to her feet. “However, I believe that Vanham has taught you well, and he has reasons for you to keep your mouth shut.”
The young woman stared at the captain, scarcely believing that she was willing to drop the issue just like that. Vanham, God rest his soul, had saved her once again.
“I trust his judgement,” Elousie continued. “I’ll smooth things over with the crew, but one of my men is dead and that’s a fact. You’re going to have to watch your back with them. The sea is a dangerous place and the course you’ve chosen for us is even more so.”
Before Katrina could respond, the heavyset woman frowned. “Getting through the Gap of Eternity is one thing, but the seas beyond are completely unknown to us. Did Vanham give you anything…”
Katrina’s cursed under her breath. How could she have forgotten? She rummaged in the pouch under her tunic and produced a small leatherbound book, which she handed to Elouise. The captain flipped through it and her eyebrows shot up.
“Do you know what you have here?” she asked as she snapped the book shut and stuffed it into her burgundy sea coat.
“It’s Lord Argan’s log of his journey,” Katrina replied blankly, unsure what the heavyset woman was so excited about. “A copy of course. Even I know that the original is a priceless artefact.”
A wry smile crossed Elouise’s face as she patted the book under her tunic. “This will give us a route to the Eternal Shores. I dare say it’s worth more than the money you stole from your father.”
Katrina’s jaw dropped, shocked that the captain had deduced who she was. Elouise smirked at her surprise. She then walked up the stairs and opened the hatch. “Find anything, boys?”
“Not a thing, captain!” came the reply.
“Put on your best clothes and make the ship ready. We leave at first light!” she cried as she stepped out onto the deck.
“Our best clothes?” someone asked. “Why?”
“You aren’t going to see Brandir off in those rags, are you, Croocq?”
The captain then poked her head back down into the hold. “You might want to get up to, girly. Unless you want to see the boys in their undies.”
Brandir’s funeral service was a solemn affair that took place just as the sun began to creep up over the horizon. Elouise gave a short speech, extolling his years of loyal service and beseeching Damaris, the God of the sea, to take the sailor into His keeping. Then, the crew carefully lifted the plank of wood the shroud wrapped body that had been weighed down by scraps of iron over the gunwale and gently slid the body into the sea. The crew then made a neat line at the gunwale and watched the body slip beneath the waves.
Once the body disappeared beneath the waves, Stolya and the captain pulled Katrina aside while the men held out crystal glasses into which Croocq poured a measure of rum. Once the men’s glasses had been filled, they turned to face the sea.
“To Brandir!” Croocq cried, extending his glass over the gunwale.
“To Brandir!” the others echoed as they did the same.
On the old man’s cue, the men drank precisely half the content of their glasses and then poured the remainder over the side of the Black Marlin. Katrina jumped as the men hurled their glasses onto the deck, smashing them into pieces. The men looked out to sea while Stolya quietly swept the broken glass overboard with a hard brush.
“Croocq, do you know where his family lives?” Elouise asked after a brief silence.
“Aye, Captain,” the old man sighed.
“See to it that they get his cut of this job,” the captain ordered before looking to the other members of her crew. “Does everyone agree?”
“Aye, Captain,” the others chorused.
Elouise nodded before walking up to Katrina. “I’m a crewmember short. You’re going to have to fill in for the time being.”
“But I don’t know the first thing about sailing,” she protested.
“Stolya will teach you,” the captain said. She clapped the young woman on the shoulder and walked to the quarterdeck before she could protest.
“Man the oars,” Elouise cried as she took up the wheel.
“Where are we going, captain?” Croocq asked as he opened one of the long lockers that were built into the deck.
“To Gamlin’s,” Elouise replied. The captain had pressed her lips into a thin line as she looked to the horizon. “We’re going to Gamlin’s.”
“Captain!” Stoyla cried as she peered into the sea to the north. “I think I see the ship the rats came aboard on.”
Elouise retrieved a telescope from a locker and pointed it in the direction the sharp eyed young woman was pointing.
“That’s Jackern’s ship,” she said, pressing her lips in a thin line. “He’s run aground on the Spines.”
“How’s it look?” Croocq ventured as he handed out the twenty foot long oars that had been carved out of a single piece of oak.
“Bad,” Elouise replied. “Gamlin will have to wait. We need to see if there are any survivors.”
“But what if there are more ‘rats’ on board?” Katrina protested and quickly fell silent when seven pairs of angry eyes locked onto her.
“First rule of the sea, girly,” Elouise said coldly. “We don’t leave a stricken sailor behind. Besides, Jackern is a friend of ours. Get those oars in the water. Double time.”
Katrina felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Stolya offering her an oar. “You’ll need this.”