Corsair

EIGHTEEN

10 Marpenoth, the Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR)

The cessation of the ship’s sounds woke Mirya sometime after sunset. She’d had two days to learn the noises of the ship: the steady rushing of the hull through the water, the creaking of timbers and spars, the ruffling of the sails in the wind, the footsteps and voices of the crew. Now those sounds had changed or simply ended, rousing her from her sleep. She could still hear the crewmen as they moved about the ship, but something was very different. The pirate vessel no longer rocked with the swells, and the sound of the wind had died away. The cabin in which she and Selsha were locked canted noticeably from forward to aft, as if the ship were aground on some sandbank or shoal.

She sat up, peering at the gloomy cabin. A fresh tray of food and a new waterflask had been set on the floor near the cabin door. Moving carefully to avoid waking Selsha, Mirya swung her feet out of the cramped bunk and stood up. She could feel the ship rocking side to side and the deck under her quivered. We’re still moving, she realized. But that made no sense. The deck remained inclined as if the ship were climbing over a wave, but it never seemed to reach the top and began to sink downward again. And it had grown cold too, startlingly cold. Her breath steamed in the air, and she shivered. Fortunately the drawers beneath the bunk held several spare blankets; she took one to wrap around her shoulders and another to cover Selsha.

“Where are we?” she murmured to herself and went to the cabin’s single small porthole to look. It was a thick piece of poor glass, green and bubble-pocked, and dirty on the outside as well. Through it she could tell night from day and perhaps discern the vaguest impression of coastline outside, but now all she could make out was darkness with what seemed to be a surprisingly bright moon low on the horizon. If she hadn’t lost track of the time, it was the second night since they’d left Hulburg and perhaps the third or fourth night since the wizard in the brown robes and his gigantic servant had broken into her house and carried her and Selsha away.

“Why didn’t I go to the harmach right away?” she murmured, berating herself once again. As soon as she’d heard Lastannor plotting with the Cyricist and speaking of an attack on the city, she should have done exactly that. But she’d been badly shaken by the discovery that Hulburg’s Master Mage, a member of the Harmach’s Council itself, was dealing with vicious Moonsea pirates and violent Hulburgan gangs. She’d lingered too long, listening on as she tried to decide what to do with what she’d learned. Then, after she’d been discovered and had made her escape from the inn, she’d found the streets of the Tailings filled with Cinderfists, all too clearly searching for her. She’d decided to head home to change out of the dingy hand-me-down garb the Three Crowns servants wore, hoping that a change of clothing might throw the Cyricist’s servants off her scent. But after she’d picked her way back to her house, dodging down dark alleyways and creeping through empty buildings, she hadn’t dared to set out again until she was certain she could reach Griffonwatch without meeting any of her pursuers.

It had seemed wiser to wait for morning to venture into the streets again, when the streets would be full of honest folk going about their business … but Hulburg’s enemies hadn’t given her the few hours she’d hoped she had. “What a fool you’ve been, Mirya Erstenwold,” she told herself angrily. She’d discovered the seriousness of her error when that … creature of Lastannor’s had wrenched her door off the hinges and seized her in its huge, clammy hands. Then the wizard had fixed his eyes on hers and had whispered a sibilant spell, the last thing she remembered before waking with Selsha in this tiny cabin a day-or was it two days? — ago.

Lastannor means to silence me by sending me away from Hulburg, Mirya thought unhappily. Like as not, Selsha and I are to be sold into slavery in some distant land. She supposed she should be grateful that the mage of House Marstel hadn’t settled on a more immediate and permanent method for silencing her, but then again, there hadn’t been any reason to take Selsha too. That was the one thing for which she absolutely could not forgive herself in this entire fiasco; through her own foolishness she’d managed to endanger her daughter’s life as well as her own.

Selsha stirred in her sleep. She sat up and whimpered when she realized Mirya was no longer in the bed. “Mama?” she cried.

“Ssshh, I’m right here, my darling,” Mirya said. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “I’m here.”

“I dreamed of the big gray man again,” Selsha said. “He was chasing me. I couldn’t get away from him.”

“I know, Selsha. He’s one I’ve seen in my dreams too.”

“The ship stopped moving.”

“I’m not so sure of that. I think we’re still moving, but in a different way. How, I can’t imagine.”

Selsha nodded. She could feel the deck’s gentle motion too. “Where do you think they’re taking us?” she asked.

“I’ve no idea.” That mystery puzzled Mirya sorely. If she was right in her reckoning of the time, they could be anyplace in the Moonsea. They might even be passing down the River Lis to the Sea of Fallen Stars. But the coldness and clarity of the air felt more like the mountains to her. Perhaps they’d sailed into some secret passage leading under the mountains to Vaasa, or had used some sort of magic to leave the familiar waters of the Moonsea.

“Do you think Geran will come find us?”

Mirya draped her blanket around Selsha’s shoulders, sharing its warmth. “Oh, darling, I know he will,” she said. “When Geran Hulmaster finds that we’re not in Hulburg, he’ll set out to find us, wherever we end up.” She meant it to comfort her daughter, but she realized that she was comforting herself as well. Geran would return to Hulburg sooner or later, and he’d discover their absence. Whatever it was that bound the two of them together-friendship, the memory of innocent love, perhaps the hope of what might come someday-she trusted in it. He’d follow to the four corners of the world if he believed she and Selsha were in danger.

Of course, that didn’t mean that she intended to wait for a rescue. She remembered a thing or two about sailing from long ago. Given a chance, she might be able to steal a boat and find her own way back to Hulburg. It would be difficult and dangerous, but surely taking her chances on the open sea would be better than going along with whatever her captors had planned for her. With that in mind, she began to search the cabin for anything that might be useful in an escape attempt. For the better part of an hour, she scoured the cabin and its sparse furnishings. Eventually she did find an old, well-worn copper coin stuck between the deckplanks. Finding little else that she could use, she turned her attention to using the coin’s slim edge to loosen the screws holding the door’s deadbolt in place. But the confident stride of approaching bootsteps interrupted her. Hurriedly she stood back up, slipped the coin under the mattress, and brushed off her hands.

The lock turned, and into the room stepped a man dressed in a long red coat with gold embroidery at the cuffs. He was a lean, fit, middle-aged man of average height, with a gray-streaked beard of black to frame his wide jaw, and a sword hanging at his belt. Mirya glimpsed a couple of big, poorly dressed sailors behind the man in the coat. “Well, now, I see you’re up and about,” he said. “How do you find your accommodations, Mistress Erstenwold?”

“I’ve little liking for cages, no matter how they’re furnished.” Mirya folded her arms and studied the fellow. She’d seen him before, she was sure of it, but it seemed like it might have been a long time ago. “Are you the captain?” she asked.

“Not much for chit chat, are you? No matter. I’m a direct fellow myself. I am the captain, as you’ve guessed. Kamoth Kastelmar’s my name, and you’re aboard my ship, Kraken Queen.”

Mirya’s eyes widened. “The Kamoth who once was wed to the harmach’s sister?”

“I’m surprised you remember me! You’d have been a young girl when I lived in Griffonwatch, not too much older than your daughter there.” The corsair lord grinned broadly. “I suppose I’m not entirely forgotten in Hulburg.”

That was true enough, Mirya thought. There were few adults in Hulburg unfamiliar with Kamoth’s story. Fifteen years ago, he’d come out of Hillsfar to woo and win the harmach’s younger sister, widowed for several years. But almost as soon as he’d settled into the Hulmaster family home, he’d been caught out in some dark plot against the harmach and was driven into exile. From time to time Hulburgans gathered around a warm fire might wonder aloud what had ever become of Kamoth. It seemed Mirya had stumbled upon the answer.

“You’re a pirate now?” she managed to ask.

“So I’m called, but I prefer corsair. It has a better sound to it.”

“What do you mean to do with Selsha and me?”

“Sell you, of course. After all, you’re a fine-looking woman.” Kamoth allowed himself a hungry grin. His good humor didn’t reach his eyes, which remained as cold and dark as the eyes of a serpent. “Of course, you’d fetch a better price if you were five years younger, but I suppose you’ll do.”

“If it’s gold you’re after, there’s no need to sell my daughter and me into slavery,” Mirya said evenly. “I’m not rich, but I’ve some means and property. My daughter and I ought to fetch a fair ransom, more than we’d earn you in a slave market. You’d do better by the deal, and so would we.”

The captain raised an eyebrow. “Ah, so you think to bargain with me? Well, now, I must say I admire your backbone, Mistress Erstenwold. Not many women in your situation could look me in the eye and make such an offer. Were it up to me, I might take you up on it. But I’m afraid it’s not entirely in my hands. You were sent aboard Kraken Queen to keep you out of trouble, and my allies in Hulburg expect me to take you a long, long way from home before I set you ashore again.”

“Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll arrange to pay more.”

“A reckless offer, Mistress Erstenwold, since you’ve no idea what they might have offered me,” Kamoth said. He shook his head. “As it so happens, we’re bound for a port where your means and property are useless to me. Your value as a slave, however, travels with you.”

Mirya pressed her lips together to keep from snapping in frustration. She willed herself to calm and then said, “Then I don’t suppose I understand what it is you want from me.”

“Why, I am simply seeing to the comforts of my guests-and taking stock of the value of my property,” Kamoth answered. He let his eyes travel down Mirya’s body and then back up again. Then he set his hand on her shoulder. For a moment Mirya feared he meant to strip her on the spot, but he simply turned her to one side, continuing his appraisal of her. “Thirty years or so?” he said in a low voice. “Hmm, a few years younger would be better. But you’re not a bad-looking woman at all, Mistress Erstenwold. Why, I must say I might have designs upon you myself. Yes, I might.”

Something in the way the pirate captain studied her body and spoke sent a shiver of pure terror through Mirya. It was simply unendurable-cold and almost reptilian. She was property at best, perhaps some manner of plaything, and his show of courtesy was intended for his own amusement, not her comfort. He stared silently at her with a bemused smile on his face, his attention drifting in his own thoughts, and then he shook himself. “We’ll have to see about that later, I think. No reason to hurry! We’re almost at the Black Isle, and I’ve some things to do.”

He leaned to one side to look at Selsha, who crouched in the narrow bunk staring back at him, the blanket clutched to her chest. He winked once at the girl-it was all Mirya could do to keep from screaming-and then turned away and let himself out again without another look at either of the Erstenwolds. Mirya heard the key turn in the lock and rapid footsteps receding down the passage outside the door.

“Dear Lady,” Mirya breathed. Then she allowed herself to slump against the wall, hugging her arms to her torso to hold in her fear. Suddenly she was not at all sure that either she or Selsha would survive their captivity long enough for Geran to find them.

“What’s to become of us, Mama?” Selsha asked in a thin voice.

“I don’t know, my darling. But I think he means to keep us as his prisoners for a little longer.” She mustered a confident smile for Selsha and sat down beside her. “As long as we’re together, I’ll look after you.”

Selsha nodded. Then she sat up and looked around. “I think we’re going down now.”

Down? Mirya wondered. Sure enough, her sense of balance was telling her that the ship’s motion had changed again. The cant of the deck was different, and she thought she felt the air growing warmer. “Where in the world are they taking us?” she murmured.

She went to the porthole again and tried to make out something, anything, of their surroundings, but it was dark outside now. Even if the glass had been clear and clean, she suspected she wouldn’t have seen much. Frowning in puzzlement, Mirya picked up the tray by the door and went back to the bunk to sit by Selsha. They ate together. Selsha said that she was not hungry, but Mirya insisted that she eat something; there was no telling where they were bound at this point, and who knew when they might see their next meal?

After an hour or more of sharply descending, the ship finally bumped and slid against some sort of pier or wharf. Mirya could hear the taut mooring hawsers creaking as they arrested the ship’s motion, and the footsteps of the crewmen as they hurried back and forth across the deck. For a long time nothing else happened, and she began to wonder if the tiny cabin was to be their prison cell as well. But then she heard several heavy footsteps approaching outside her door again, and the jangle of keys on an iron ring.

The lock turned, and several of the pirate crewmen stepped into the room. They were dirty, dangerous-looking men in frayed breeches and worn-out tunics, and they leered at her shamelessly. “Come along, you,” one of the men said. “Make any trouble for us, and you’ll regret it.”

“Mama!” Selsha screeched.

“Be calm, Selsha!” Mirya answered as steadily as she could.

She remained docile as two of the pirates stepped forward to seize her by the arms. “Now you’re a pretty thing,” one of the pirates said. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. His breath stank. “What’s your name, love?”

Mirya turned her face away and refused to reply. The pirate snorted. “As you wish, then, but soon enough you’ll wish you had a friend or two here.” He and his companion dragged her out of the cabin and down the passageway to a ladder leading up to the deck. A third man brought Selsha, who sobbed in fear but managed to stay on her feet and keep up with Mirya despite her terror.

Bright lanterns illuminated the ship’s decks. It was dark outside, but Mirya caught a glimpse of a starry sky outside the warm, yellow halo of light cocooning the pirate ship. The air was cool and damp, with a strange, sickly sweet odor like rotting flowers hanging thickly in the air. The jagged silhouettes of treetops moved softly against the background of stars overhead. There’s no land nearby Hulburg with trees such as that, she thought. They must have passed down the River Lis to some port on the Sea of Fallen Stars, but where? Turmish or Akanul, perhaps? Chessenta? Or even farther?

The pirates hustled her across a wooden wharf to an iron-barred gate at the foot of a stone tower and then swept her inside before she could make out anything more of their surroundings. They descended through wide, low hallways made of a series of intersecting vaults. Each barrel vault was divided from the main passage by a row of iron bars and could evidently serve as storage space or a prison cell as the pirates needed. Most of the vaults were full of supplies and cargo, the same sort of clutter of barrels and crates that filled the Erstenwold storehouses back in Hulburg. Others held richer loot-clay amphoras of olive oil and wine, fine carpets, large bolts of good cloth, arms and armor. Clearly the stone keep, wherever it was, held the plunder of dozens of prizes taken by the Black Moon pirates.

They came to a large hall, where several corridors like the one they’d been following met. The pirates marched Mirya and Selsha toward the passage immediately to their left, barred by another gate of iron bars, and started to unlock the door.

Behind her, Selsha screamed in pure terror. “Mama!”

Mirya’s heart leaped in her chest. She wrenched herself around in pure, automatic reaction to her daughter’s fright, expecting that the man dragging her along had done something terrible. But the corsair gripping Selsha looked just as startled as Mirya felt. He fumbled to secure the flailing girl, swearing to himself, while the pirates beside Mirya quickly stepped in to grab her again.

“Monsters! Monsters!” Selsha shrieked.

Mirya looked past her daughter and saw them. Two creatures had just emerged from one of the intersecting corridors in the hall. The first was a fat, little spiderlike creature about the size of a human child or a largish dog. Its head rode atop a long, eellike neck, and two dark eyes glittered in the lanternlight. A short cape was clasped around its neck, and strange greenish white runes and whorls were marked on its dark, stiff-haired limbs. It glared at Selsha and hissed in annoyance. Behind the small spider-monster stood a hulking, bipedal thing that looked like some bizarre cross between a powerful ape and a gigantic beetle. Its massive forelimbs ended in mighty claws, and large, insectile eyes stared blankly ahead. It carried a large coffer marked in the same whorls and runes that decorated the smaller creature.

“Silence that noisy thing!” the small spider-monster said in a chittering voice.

Selsha screamed all over again as she realized that the little monster was talking about her, but then the pirate holding her managed to clap one of his hands over her mouth. “The girl just took a fright,” he said to the spider-monster. “It’s our business, not yours.”

“Bah! You should cut the speech out of it if it carries on like that-or eat it. It’s better to eat the noisy ones first.” The spidermonster spun around and scrambled deftly up the torso of the bigger monster, perching on its broad shoulder. Then the big monster shambled off, carrying both its smaller master and the heavy chest with no apparent difficulty.

Selsha still screamed into her captor’s hand and struggled. Mirya tried to get closer to her. “Selsha! Selsha, my darling! They’re gone. You must be quiet, please! The monsters are gone now!”

“You heard your mum,” the pirate holding Selsha said. “There’s no need for all this, girl.”

Selsha looked up to Mirya, her dark eyes wide with fright. Then she stopped fighting against her captor’s grip and gave in with a weak nod. The pirate carefully released his hand, and Selsha took a gulp of air. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “They frightened me!”

“They frightened me too,” Mirya said. She thought of the spider-monster and its ugly threat and shuddered. “But you mustn’t scream like that again if you can help it at all.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good girl,” Mirya breathed. She looked at the two pirates holding her arms. “What kind of place is this?”

“Ah, so now she’s not too good to speak to us!” the pirate steering her along laughed. “You’re in the Keep of the Black Moon, love. Don’t worry; you’ll soon grow used to the sight of neogi and their big pets!”

Neogi? Mirya wondered. The spiderlike creature, she supposed. But she had no more chance to ask about it. The pirates took Mirya and Selsha down the new passage for a long distance and then came to a vacant cell. This one was fitted with bedding of old straw and dirty blankets. They took the keys to the door down from a hook nearby and opened up the cell. Mirya decided to try one more time before their captors left them.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“You mean you don’t know?” The man laughed harshly. “Above the sea, behind the moon, beneath the sun, and among the stars, that’s where you are! You’re on an island in the Sea of Night, and here you’ll stay until the High Captain says otherwise.”

“Above the sea-?” Mirya asked. But the pirate wasn’t listening to her any longer. He shoved her into the cell so forcefully she stumbled to her hands and knees. The other pirate flung Selsha into the cell after her. Then they pulled the heavy door of iron bars closed and left the two Erstenwolds alone in the shadows of their cell.