The Pirates of Pacta Servanda

Chapter Eight

Mari had barely begun to shift position in an attempt to meet the attack, knowing that she had too little time to save herself, when she heard a gasp of exertion from Alain. A section of deck just forward of Mari’s toes vanished, leaving an opening gaping down to the next deck below. Her attacker, unable to react in time, stepped onto open air and fell forward through the opening.

The female Mechanic swung the knife at Mari as she fell, coming close enough to her that Mari easily felt the wind of the knife’s passage.

Mari stepped back into a defensive crouch, pivoting enough to grab hold of Alain as he slumped with exhaustion. She heard the impact of the female Mechanic on the deck below, accompanied by a sound like a broomstick snapping and a cry of pain. A moment later the opening was gone, the deck as solid as ever, and Mari was trying to keep Alain from collapsing while everyone stared at her.

Asha moved to help hold Alain, freeing Mari to stand upright again. Mari looked around at the shocked expressions and somehow managed to speak in a clear voice despite the pounding of her heart as adrenaline belatedly tried to shock her system into readiness for the already-passed emergency. “You just saw two reasons why I keep Mages with me. They can tell when someone lies. And they can do that.”

She pointed at the deck where the opening had briefly existed.

Captain Banda shook his head like one coming out of a dream. “Mechanic Deni. Take a couple of our people, and one of Master Mechanic Mari’s people, down and take custody of that viper. Mind the knife, but she shouldn’t give you much trouble. That was the sound of a leg breaking, unless I’m much mistaken.”

“Is he hurt?” Mechanic Ken pointed at Alain as Mechanic Deni led her group down to the next deck.

“He used up his strength to manage that spell,” Mari said. “He’s all right, but worn out in an instant’s time.”

“Then it’s not… magic? It requires energy?”

“Yes,” Mari said, not wanting to explain any more while the former guards and Senior Mechanic Denz could hear.

Mechanic Deni came back up the nearest ladder, she and her helpers hauling along a very angry female Mechanic whose arms had been trussed. The would-be killer’s legs were still free, but it wasn’t hard to see why. A shard of bone protruded from her trousers and blood dripped from her pants leg.

Mari looked over and spotted the healer Cas, who had come across from the Gray Lady and was standing with Mechanic Rob. “Help her out,” Mari ordered.

The female Mechanic was being held down by of the Pride’s crew and was swearing steadily, screaming nonstop obscenities at Mechanic Deni and Mari. As healer Cas knelt by the injured woman’s leg, Deni threw out one arm, grabbing a long, hard belaying pin from its stand. She brought the pin against the injured Mechanic’s head hard enough to knock her out and cease the yelling. “You might want to check her for a concussion, too,” Deni told Cas as the stunned healer looked on.

Deni noticed Mari looking at her. “Sorry, Master Mechanic, but she got on my nerves. If someone is going to swear in front of a sailor, they should be creative and fluent. This one just kept repeating the same old things in a very uninspired way. It offended my sailor’s sense of the art of obscenity.”

“All… right,” Mari said. She was secretly grateful that Deni had silenced the woman, but didn’t feel that she should openly admit to it.

“Remind me not to swear in front of the sailors anymore,” Mari heard Alli murmur to Calu.

“Let’s get this done,” Mari said, gesturing to the next passenger in line.

The process proceeded without any problems until near the end, when the turn came of a personable young Mechanic. He walked up to Mari with a smile on his face, declaring “I want to work with you” with enthusiasm.

But Mage Asha, and Alain who had recovered somewhat by then, both halted him. “He lies,” Asha said, the passionless voice with which she voiced the statement making it sound even more damning.

The Mechanic’s smile faded, but he shook his head as Bev, Calu and some other Mechanics closed in on him. “No. Really. I mean it.”

“He lies,” Asha repeated.

“Let’s search him,” Calu suggested.

It was Mechanic Ken who found a small concealed pocket on the inside of the young man’s Mechanic jacket. He extracted a folded piece of paper, looked it over with his eyebrows rising, then passed it to Mari.

She scanned the document quickly. “This is a letter from the Guild Master introducing you to the Guild Hall Supervisor at Edinton. The Guild Master says you’re a very capable undercover agent for the Guild.” Mari looked at the young man. “Did you think your eagerness to work with me so you could spy on me would fool my Mages?”

His smile completely gone now, the young man didn’t resist as he was shoved over to join the former guards.

The last couple of Mechanics passed without any problem. Mari looked over to see three of the passengers still standing some distance away. “The choice is yours,” Mari said. “But you won’t get a second chance today. If you are certain that you want to remain with the Guild, then go join that group.”

None of the three appeared enthusiastic as they walked to join the former guards. Mari suspected their reasons were similar to that of the Apprentice. But she didn’t want to question them for fear of seeming to try to bully them into changing their minds.

“Twenty-seven leaving us, then,” Captain Banda observed. “We’ll have to give up two of the boats from the Pride.” Banda didn’t look happy at giving up two of the four boats hanging from davits aft.

“Make it happen, please, Captain,” Mari directed.

The crew went to work with considerable enthusiasm, showing every sign of being eager to be free of the former guards and Senior Mechanic Denz. Both the Pride and the Gray Lady brought in most of their sails so that their speed was cut to something safe for launching boats. By early afternoon the boats had been stocked with food and water and lowered to the waves, and those who wished to remain loyal to the Guild descended a rope ladder into them. The would-be assassin with the broken leg was let down by rope, once again awake and cursing loudly until the crew “accidentally” dropped her the last lance-length into the boat. “You have the necessary navigational instruments,” Captain Banda called down to the Apprentice from his crew. “And directions back to Julesport. You should make it easily in a little more than a week’s time, assuming the wind holds.”

Mari looked down on the boats. The faces turned up toward her were hard, angry, and hostile, but she still felt badly about setting people adrift in the ocean. “They really will be all right?” she asked Captain Banda.

“The only worry they should face is sunburn,” Banda said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Or if the fools refuse to listen to Apprentice Tan. But even Senior Mechanic Denz knows that sailing east is going to bring them ashore somewhere in the Confederation. He’ll want to go back to Julesport, though, mark my words.”

“He’s not going to want to wash ashore someplace where he’d be at the mercy of the commons,” Calu agreed. “What if he decides to head for Edinton?”

“Trying to beat against these winds in those boats? Maybe two weeks. He could do it, but they’ll have to stretch their food and water very carefully.”

“Good,” Mari said. “Let’s get going, then.”

“Where to?” Captain Banda asked.

“For now, keep heading for Edinton.” She called across the water to the Gray Lady. “We’re going to speed up! Stay with us!”

Not long later Mari sat on the deck, in the inner circle of several rows making up most of those aboard the Pride. Next to her was Alain, and right behind Alain was Asha. Clustered close by were the rest of Mari’s original group, Mechanics Alli, Calu, Dav, and Bev. Only Mage Dav, still aboard the Gray Lady, was not present.

Mari could feel the eyes of Mechanics, Apprentices, and the common sailors upon her. Before she could say anything, Master Mechanic Lukas spoke up, seated facing her across a small open area in the center of the group. “Master Mechanic Mari, my experience with you is that you work out details before deciding on actions. I didn’t question the vagueness of what you’ve told us so far because I could understand your reasons for withholding the details while hostile ears could hear. I think most of us would like to hear more now.”

“And you will,” Mari said, once more trying to sound totally in control. She was getting better at that, she realized. And that was good, since Master Mechanic Lukas’s words could be taken as a challenge as well as a request for more information.

Alain reached into his robes and produced the text she had asked him to bring from the Gray Lady, handing it to Mari. She had wanted that done in full view of the Mechanics. “This is a big detail,” she said, holding up the text, then passing it carefully to Master Mechanic Lukas. “Texts containing technology banned by the Mechanics Guild.”

“Banned technology?” The Mechanics around the circle were straining to look, their eyes filled with wonder, as Lukas took the text and began looking through it. “Communications,” he commented.

“Look at that!” a Mechanic behind him gasped, pointing. “We could do that! It would improve our portable far-talkers.”

“But what’s that?” another Mechanic asked, staring. “It’s… all right. I get it. But can we build that?”

“If we can’t yet, we’ll find a way,” Lukas said. He nodded to Mari. “This is huge. How many do you have?”

“Quite a few more,” Mari said. “Including medical, and armaments, and mass production.”

“Mass production?”

“Making things fast. Making a lot of things fast,” Mari added.

“The Guild wouldn’t like that,” Mechanic Ken said. “According to them, the Mechanic arts involve hand-crafted work for everything. No wonder the Guild would have kept that banned for centuries.” He peered at the text that Lukas held. “That paper doesn’t look ancient.”

“These are copies of the originals,” Mari said.

“Who gets to see these?” an eager voice cried.

“Everybody,” Mari said.

“She means it,” Alli said. “We’ve been looking over the texts on the Gray Lady.”

Lukas was frowning at the text he held. “Mari, this is amazing. In the long run, it will let us build some of the things we’ve only dreamed of. In the long run. But we may not have a long run. I don’t know where you’re planning to set up shop, but a few dozen Mechanics and Apprentices who have to build their basic tools before they can even start on these things won’t be able to get very far before the Guild locates us and destroys us.”

“The Mage Guild wants Master Mechanic Mari dead, too,” said Senior Mechanic Gina. “They’ll come after us as well, which I wouldn’t have worried about as much before what I read today.”

“We need tools and we need more workers,” Lukas summed up.

Mari took a deep breath, knowing that her next statements would have to be said just right. “We can get workers. We can get a lot of workers.” She pointed to the common sailors listening to the discussion. “Commons can do basic Mechanic work.”

Utter silence fell.

“I’ve proven it,” Mari said. “They can use our tools. They can operate a boiler. If given proper instruction and supervision. They can build things, if we show them what to build and how to do it.”

“Are you saying,” Lukas said slowly, “that the commons are Mechanics, too?”

“No,” Mari said. “We’re better at it all. The lie the Mechanics Guild has told all these years is that we’re the only ones who can do it. What we are, are the people who are best at it. When I was working with the commons, what to me was easy came harder to them. I don’t believe this was just because it was new to them. We Mechanics will remain the leaders, the teachers, the skilled practitioners of our arts. But we don’t have to keep them secret anymore.”

Calu nodded. “We can design, we can innovate, we can supervise, we can be engineers. The Guild has pretty much told us we have to dig every ditch because commons can’t use shovels. But the commons can. They can do basic production and operation tasks. Which frees us up to do, well, the stuff we like to do.”

“Commons mess up a lot,” someone commented.

“They mess up,” Captain Banda said, “when they’re treated poorly. When they’re treated with respect, they do a fine job. My sailors are skilled, reliable workers.”

“Let me be clear,” Mari said, acutely aware of the commons listening. “I’m not talking about the same deal the Guild has been running on Dematr, where the Mechanics are in charge of everything. The Mechanics should be in charge of Mechanic tasks. In charge of their workshops and manufacturing and design areas and the places that teach people how to be Mechanics or how to do jobs like operating boilers. But we shouldn’t be telling the commons what to do. I meant what I said earlier about freedom. The commons should rule themselves. We have to stop treating the commons as slaves to Mechanics. They are people, like us, and just as we deserve freedom and respect, so do they.”

A low rumble sounded among the Mechanics as they took that in. It didn’t sound like a happy rumble.

Alain stood up, attracting everyone’s attention. “I am a Mage,” he said. “The elders of my Guild taught me that everyone else was only a shadow. What happened to those others did not matter in any way. Mari showed me that others do matter. That Mechanics do matter, as do common people.”

Mechanic Alli stood up, too. “All of us have been unhappy with the way we’ve been treated by the Senior Mechanics. Right? They’ve ordered us around, and told us we can’t do things, and forced us to do things, and generally made our lives miserable because they wanted to control everything. You, and me, and every Mechanic haven’t been the rulers of Dematr. That’s what we were told, but it’s not true. It’s the Guild that has ruled this world. We’ve been the servants of the Guild. One step higher up the ladder than the commons, but still servants.”

“Everybody has to be free,” Mari said, giving her words more force and more volume. “Everybody. Mechanic. Mage. Common folk. Because it is going to take everybody to beat the Mechanics Guild and the Mage Guild. It is going to take everybody to change this world. We work together, and we all win. We try to keep things the same, and we all lose.”

She had chosen those words carefully, and could see the reaction they caused. Especially the last sentence. She didn’t have to underline that keeping things the same had been the primary governing rule for the Guild since its founding. And everyone here had bloodied themselves against the wall of inertia that rule had created.

“Do you really think,” Master Mechanic Lukas asked, “that you can get Mechanics, Mages, and commons to work together that way?”

“I already have,” Mari said.

Several moments of silence followed. Lukas looked at Mage Alain and Mage Asha, then around at the common sailors. He smiled slightly. “I’m looking forward to learning more about that, Master Mechanic Mari. All right. It’s your project. Does anyone disagree?” None of the Mechanics spoke up this time. “Now tell me where we’re going to get tools.”

Mari grinned. “We know where to get tools. A Guild Hall. We’re heading for one right now.”

“Edinton?” Mechanic Ken asked incredulously. “I won’t deny that Edinton has a lousy reputation and is probably riddled with dissent, but that doesn’t get you through the door, Mari.”

“The front entrances have been reinforced even more in the last year,” Senior Mechanic Gina said. “And additional guard procedures put into place. You would need an army to break through the front door.”

“Why do you seek ways to overcome the defenses at the front entrance?” Alain asked, drawing looks from all of the Mechanics. Only Mari knew that she had prepared him to ask that question after he had been the one to suggest to her not only attacking the Guild Hall but how to get in.

“Because that’s the way inside,” Master Mechanic Lukas said gruffly.

“But my training in military matters advises that when faced with strong defenses, it is better to go around them than to strike them head-on.”

Lukas paused before answering. “There is merit in that. In theory. If you want to break something you aim for a weak point instead of hammering where it is strongest. But there isn’t any way to go around the defenses at the front. The other entrances to the Guild Hall are heavily armored and routinely locked, barred, and alarmed. I doubt with the materials available to us we could even blow our way through them.”

“There are other ways to make openings where none exist,” Alain said.

Master Mechanic Lukas froze with his mouth half-open.

“You mean like when you made that opening in the deck?” Mechanic Ken asked eagerly, leaning in toward Alain. “Can you do that for a longer time?”

“Yes,” Alain said. “On land there will be much more power to draw on. And the other Mages who follow Mari can also perform this spell.”

“We’ve seen it,” Alli said. “It’s a solid wall, then the Mages do their thing, and there’s an opening big enough to walk through.”

“How can they make openings in walls?” Lukas asked. “I’ve seen it, but how do they do it?”

Alain answered. “Mages do not make openings. We create the illusion of an opening in the illusion of a wall. The illusion lasts as long as our power can sustain it, and then the illusion of the wall returns to its former appearance.”

Mari laughed. “I’ve had this conversation before! Everyone, Alain is not messing with you. That is how the Mages think. It’s how they do something that we can’t explain. And Alain was the one who proposed this plan. Unlike me, or probably any of the Mechanics here, he actually has some training in how to conduct military operations.”

“If we can get inside the Guild Hall somewhere far from the front entrance,” Calu said, “then we’d just be more Mechanics walking around. We could get access to things like the armory—”

“That’s heavily alarmed and locked,” someone cautioned.

“Why can’t a Mage make an opening in the armory?” Ken asked, looking around.

“Bring a Mage inside a Mechanics Guild Hall?”

“Why not?”

“What happens when they kill somebody?”

“Why would we kill anyone?” Alain asked. “Would that be necessary?”

“No,” Mari said. “And if it did prove to be necessary, Mechanics would do it. We can handle our own. The Mages will not harm anyone if I tell them not to.”

“They aren’t like other Mages, then,” someone scoffed.

“This one is talking to us,” Master Mechanic Lukas pointed out. “I can even spot some feeling in his voice at times. No, he’s not like other Mages. And neither is the Lady Mage there. While we were pounding our heads against the front entrance fortification problem, this Mage thought of a way around it. Why haven’t Mages broken into Mechanics Guild Halls that way before this, Sir Mage?”

“Why would Mages want to?” Alain asked.

“Don’t Mages hate us?”

“Mages hate no one. Mages do not care about anyone. That does not mean they will never harm them,” Alain added. “It means Mages do not care whether others are hurt or killed, because they do not believe others are real. Why attack the Mechanics unless they first attack the Mages?”

“Which I understand did happen in the past,” Mari said. “Maybe our Guild decided in part to leave the Mages alone because the Mages did break into Guild Halls in the way Alain has suggested.”

“Your… work,” Mechanic Ken asked. “It can’t be detected by alarm systems?”

“It can be,” Alli offered. “If a Mage makes a hole that breaks an alarm wire, that sets off an alarm just as if someone cut it. But if we tell the Mages where to make the holes—I mean, if Mari tells them where to do it—they should be able to avoid setting off alarms. There’s about thirty of us. Counting the weapons we still have on the Gray Lady, we’ve got a dozen rifles and four pistols. That’s already a lot, but Edinton’s armory should have ten or twelve more rifles and a couple of revolvers.”

“We go in at night,” Mari said. “We know where the security patrols travel and what their schedules are because we’ve all walked those patrols and the Guild never changes them. We know the exact layout of the Guild Hall at Edinton because the Guild builds every Hall using the same plan. I don’t know where all the alarm wiring runs but I bet some of the others of you do. We surprise everyone, we get all the weapons under our control, and when the Senior Mechanics at Edinton wake up, we’ll be in control of that Guild Hall.”

“I’ve always wanted to loot a Guild Hall,” Bev said. “To get my hands on some of the stuff the Senior Mechanics have hidden away for only their use.”

“I’ve wanted that longer than you have,” Lukas said.

“Do we get a vote on this plan?” another Mechanic asked.

Mari could see Alain’s head move very slightly to left and right in a tiny shake of disapproval. They had discussed this, too, and Alain had been very firm that while voting might be a good idea under other circumstances, it was no way to run an army.

And while this was a very small army, it was going to attack a Guild Hall.

“No,” Mari said. “We can discuss long term policy issues, but when it comes to a project like this, we need someone in charge.”

“Why is that someone you?”

Calu laughed. “Are the Mages going to listen to you?” he called to the dissenting Mechanic. “Are the commons going to do what you say? How many Mechanics in Edinton are going to look to you as someone to follow?”

Mechanic Ken glared at the objector. “You are just like me and the others here. All except Master Mechanic Mari. We sat around as the years went by and things got worse and worse. We complained and said something ought to be done, and watched our friends get shipped off to exile or prison, and waited for someone to do something. Why follow Mari? Because she’s willing to lead! And you know what the best measures are of how good she is at that? The fact that the Guild has worked so hard to kill her, and the fact that she not only is still alive but has hit the Guild harder than we ever dreamed possible.”

Ken pointed to the banned technology text that Lukas still held. “Anybody else who has managed to get their hands on that can present themselves as a candidate to lead us.”

“We should have an organized group in charge,” Senior Mechanic Gina said cautiously. “But when dealing with issues of Mages and commons, there is only one person who can give orders.”

“I just don’t want her setting herself up as the only one in charge,” the dissenter complained.

“I don’t want that, either,” Mari said. “Believe me. I want to build things and fix things, and when this is over that’s what I’m going to do. Anybody who tries to haul me into a Guild Master’s job is going to face a very nasty fight.”

“That settles it,” Lukas said. “None of us would have been interested in joining—if you’ll forgive me, Mari—a mindless act of rebellion by a girl barely out of school. But the Guild has already made it clear how much they fear your ability to inspire other Mechanics, and it is obvious that you have put a lot of thinking and preparation into this. We’ve been looking for a leader, and we’ve found one. A leader with plans and the means to carry them out. That leaves only the question of where we’re going to take all of the equipment we will hopefully get from Edinton.”

“I want to avoid saying that until we leave Edinton,” Mari said. “There is a place, but since we have a chance of losing someone at Edinton I don’t want to tell everyone yet and risk the Guild learning right away.”

As the meeting broke up, Mari turned to her friends. “Thanks, guys. Alain and I should stay aboard the Pride to keep an eye on this bunch.”

“It’s a good thing Master Mechanic Lukas backed you,” Calu commented. “He deliberately brought up issues others might use to try to undermine you so you could address them up front.”

“Yeah,” Alli said, “but he was also testing her. I worked with Lukas enough to be able to spot that. If Mari hadn’t passed, he would have challenged her. Hey, Mari, as long as you’re staying here, maybe Calu and I should go back to the Gray Lady.”

“You just want to be alone in that rear cabin,” Mari teased, feeling giddy with relief that she had made it through the meeting so well.

“Stars above, yes! Calu and I got married yesterday, remember? And we didn’t get to spend last night alone.”

“We did get to spend it playing pirate,” Calu said.

“Yeah, we did.” Alli giggled. “That will make a great story for our kids. Playing pirate on our honeymoon night.”

“They probably won’t want to hear about that,” Captain Banda said, approaching. “Master Mechanic Mari, my sailors and those from the Gray Lady who are still aboard this ship wish to present you with a gift.”

“What? A gift?” She turned to see the commons gathered nearby, one from the Gray Lady in front.

That sailor stepped forward and offered Mari something.

She stared at the object in the sailor’s hands. “A knife?” Mari picked it up carefully, turning it to examine the weapon. It was a sailor’s knife, with a short, broad, heavy blade designed to handle dozens of tasks. The handle, gleaming hardwood inlaid with mother-of-pearl from seashells, contrasted with the dark metal of the blade. Folded into the handle was a curved spike that could be swung out for use. “It’s beautiful. Why are you giving it to me?”

“It is traditional, Lady Mari,” the sailor said. “To gift a knife whenever someone is initiated into the fellowship of Jules.”

“He means the pirates,” Captain Banda explained. “You can be certain that most new pirates don’t get a knife nearly that nice.”

“Most new pirates aren’t the daughter herself,” the sailor said. “Any doubts anyone had disappeared when we saw you take this ship like Jules would have. Her blood is in you.”

“Thank you,” said Mari, looking down at the knife, simultaneously feeling proud of the gift and embarrassed by it and the praise. “I will do my best to, uh…” Be a good pirate didn’t sound right. “Live up to the example of Jules.”

The sailors backed away, smiling and nodding.

“Put the knife in your teeth,” Alli suggested. “Let’s see how piratical you look.”

“Weren’t you and Calu going back to the Gray Lady?” Mari asked pointedly. “You’re going to need your rest. How many days until we reach Edinton, Captain Banda?”

“If these winds hold, about three days,” Banda said.

“Three days?” Alli said. “What do you think, Calu? Are you up for three days of serious resting on our honeymoon?”

Mari tried to keep a straight face as she shook her head at Alli. “Over the next three days you’re not supposed to be resting nonstop, wench, you’re supposed to be helping plan our attack on the Guild Hall!”

“I am not a wench!” Alli said as Calu led her away. “I’m your armaments expert! And don’t you forget it, your daughterness!”

“Don’t call me that!”

Mari noticed Captain Banda smiling at her. “Your friends must be a great comfort in times of stress,” he said.

“I don’t know if they’re always a comfort,” Mari said. “But they do help me keep my head on straight. And help keep my head from exploding when the pressure gets too high.” She indicated Alain. “But by far the most important is Mage Alain. Without him, I couldn’t do this.”

Banda studied Alain. “It’s real, then? I’ve noticed the promise rings but didn’t wish to pry.”

“It’s real,” Mari said, putting her arm through Alain’s.

“You were wise not to make too much of that while convincing the others,” Banda said. “They’ve had enough to take on as it is. We’ll clean out the half of the main cabin that was occupied by the Senior Mechanics so you’ll have a place to stay on the ship. I don’t think any of the Mechanics you’ve freed will begrudge you a little more space and privacy for the next few days.”

Alain woke just before dawn two days later. Mari sat in a chair before the window looking out over the stern of the Pride. He got up as well. “More nightmares?”

She shook her head, keeping her gaze fixed on the water. “Just very restless. We should reach Edinton tonight, and so many details of our plan have to wait on exactly what we find there.”

“There is something else,” Alain said, walking to stand beside her.

Mari sighed. “Serves me right for trying to lie to a Mage. Alain, I’m worried about what might happen. If I mess up in Edinton as badly as I did at Julesport, we could have a disaster on our hands.”

“You messed up at Julesport?”

“Don’t pretend otherwise,” she said unhappily. “You’ve been very nice, you and everyone else, not to bring up my mistakes. But I still made them, and things could easily have ended up a lot worse because of that.”

Alain moved to be able to see Mari’s face. “Mistakes?”

She glared at him. “You do remember that you were kidnapped, right? Because I wanted to play Master Mechanic and ignored my larger responsibilities? Including my responsibilities to you?”

“This has been bothering you?” Alain sat down on the small ledge running just inside the stern window.

“Of course it’s been bothering me! Alain, if I hadn’t sent you off alone, you wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”

“I was not alone,” Alain pointed out. “I had soldiers of Julesport with me.”

“That’s sort of irrelevant, isn’t it? They couldn’t protect you and I wasn’t there and they died and you got kidnapped,” Mari finished, sounding both miserable and angry with herself. “I messed that up so badly. And now we’re going into Edinton and if I mess up again like that dozens of people could die.”

Alain paused to think his words through. “I understand your worries, but do not blame yourself for Julesport. Mari, you know I was knocked unconscious, and the soldiers were killed by Mages using spells to conceal themselves.”

“Yes. So?”

“The two Dark Mages we found and Mage Niaro could not have so quickly and silently killed that many soldiers. They must have had help. I have discussed this with the other Mages, and they agree that the Mage Guild must have assisted in my kidnapping, using at least several other Mages, then turned me over to the Dark Mages for degradation and humiliation.”

Mari frowned, then gave him a demanding look. “Why haven’t you mentioned that to me before now?”

“Because it has been clear that you did not wish to discuss events in Julesport.”

“All right, but so what? How does that change anything?”

“It means,” Alain explained, “that if you had been with me, you would have been killed along with the soldiers. You could not have defended yourself against opponents you could not see. Perhaps the Mage Guild intended that and were frustrated by you not being there. Perhaps they would simply have taken advantage of the opportunity to kill you. But had we both left the city hall in Julesport at the same time, I would still have been kidnapped, and you would have died.”

Mari stared at him, her mouth partway open. Finally recovering, she shook her head at him. “You’re saying that my unthinking and selfish decision saved my life?”

“And mine,” Alain said. “For without you, Mage Asha could not have led the others to me.”

She fell silent, looking past him at the waves. “All right. But even if it is true that I made the right decision for the wrong reasons, the fact remains that I had no idea it would be the right decision.”

“Perhaps you did,” Alain said. “You stayed to fix that Mechanic device, which is of value to the commons in Julesport. That was not selfish. It placed them in your debt. Perhaps that unselfish act is what led them to ask the Confederation warships to protect our departure from the harbor.”

Mari finally smiled slightly. “I don’t know if I believe you, but… It’s nice to think I may have at least made good mistakes.” Her smile vanished. “But Alain, everyone will be counting on me in Edinton. What if my mistakes there are all bad ones?”

“Then you will do something to fix them,” Alain said. “That is what you do, is it not? Fix things?”

That earned him another brief smile. “Why do they trust me, Alain? I’m not somebody like General Flyn. I’m just me. Yet they’re letting me make the big decisions about Edinton, including attacking the Guild Hall.”

“Master Mechanic Lukas did not simply accept you as a leader,” Alain said. “Not until you had passed the tests he asked of you. And if anything goes wrong in Edinton, they know you have proven the ability to make decisions quickly under great stress.”

“You mean like in Altis, where my great decisions trapped us in a warehouse?” Mari said.

Alain shook his head at her. “Your decisions were not wrong. They should have worked. You did not know we were being perceived by that Mechanic device that betrayed our location. I will remind you that you kept making decisions despite the situation getting more and more desperate. You did not freeze in terror or indecision.”

“I came awful close, Alain,” Mari admitted.

“But you did not. You kept thinking and you kept acting.” Alain reached to rest one hand on hers where it lay in her lap. “You have two more important qualifications. One is that those who follow you believe in you. That confidence is no small thing in battle. Call it pure illusion if you will. You know almost as well as I the power that such an illusion can wield.”

Mari grimaced but nodded. “What’s the second thing?”

“You listen to those who know more and are willing to accept their advice, just as you have listened to me and are willing to accept that perhaps you are not so awful a leader as you fear. Perhaps you are even very good at it.”

This time her smile lingered. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You did not kill me when first we met.”

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Mari closed her eyes and sighed. “I should try to get a little sleep. Would you mind lying down with me? When you’re holding me, it’s easier to keep the nightmares at bay.”

“I could be convinced to lie down with you and hold you,” Alain said.

“I’ll bet you could!” She smiled at him. “Thank you. Sometimes I think too much.”

“You will never be someone who thinks too little,” Alain said.

“That’s true. Every time I think you’re totally deluded about me and just seeing some perfect illusion of me, you say something that helps me realize you do know me.” She nodded to him. “Whatever happens in Edinton, I’ll do my best.”

The Gray Lady and the Pride of Longfalls, both flying the flag of the Mechanics Guild, entered the harbor of Edinton just before midnight. A harbor police boat rowed up to the Pride, but before those aboard could issue any instructions Captain Banda called down to them in the arrogant and assured tones of a Mechanic. “Guild business!”

That was all it took to get past the harbor defenses, which had been strongly admonished not to interfere in any way with Mechanics Guild shipping.

Leaving behind the unhappy occupants of the harbor police boat, the Pride led the way through the harbor, past a variety of large sailing ships which carried out trade all over the Sea of Jules and into the Sea of Bakre as well as many smaller ships whose size, oars, and sails were suited for short voyages up and down the coast. Reaching an anchorage as close to the main quay as possible, the Pride tied up to the buoy and passed a line over to the Gray Lady so the smaller ship could tether to the larger one.

The boat from the Gray Lady and two much larger longboats from the Pride of Longfalls came alongside the boat landing a short time later. Crewmembers tied up the boats as thirty-one Mechanics disembarked displaying widely varying degrees of physical skill and agility. Alli arranged the armed Mechanics in front of the group, which produced an intimidating image. “We have as many rifles as two or three Imperial legions,” she commented to Mari.

A few city guards at the landing, previously bored as they endured the tedium of duty during a period of the day when little ever happened, were gaping at the Mechanics. Their officer came forward, looking as nervous as could be expected. “Honored Mechanics, may I request—”

Mari held up her hand to forestall questions she wasn’t going to answer. “This is an internal Mechanics Guild matter,” she said. “Neither the city of Edinton nor the Bakre Confederation is involved. Stay clear of us, do not interfere, and do not sound any alarms. No harm will come to your city.”

“But—” The officer’s eyes came to rest on the six Mages accompanying the Mechanics as the Mages walked into the light of the guard post lantern, and her jaw dropped. “I must… I must inform my superiors, Lady Mechanic.”

“Of course you must,” Mari agreed. “Feel free to notify your superiors. Just don’t sound any alarms and don’t get in our way.”

The officer’s gaze had shifted and was now locked on Mari. “Lady? Are you…?”

“Don’t do anything,” Mari said, giving the words all of the force that she could. “Tell the city leaders, tell your commanders, that they should not do anything. I will speak with them before I leave this city.”

“Lady, I must know. Have you come from Julesport?”

“Yes.”

The officer saluted, then hastily moved to one side. Mari waved her force onward and they walked past the common soldiers, who gazed at the procession with rapt expressions.

“A couple of those soldiers ran off once we were past,” Calu told Mari. “Taking the news to their bosses, I’m sure. A lot of commons in this city will be getting early wakeups this morning.”

“Just as long as none of the Mechanics hear about it,” Mari replied.

It was a long slog from the waterfront to the vast open plaza that surrounded the Mechanics Guild Hall of Edinton. Mari’s force labored along nearly deserted streets, the Mechanics soon feeling the exertion required to maintain the speed necessary to reach the Guild Hall in the hour before dawn. Edinton was pretty far south on the continent, and even at this hour the Mechanics grew uncomfortably warm in their jackets. But none of them would remove those signs of their status and their knowledge.

The Mages, wearing their robes, walked as if they could hold the same pace for days without pausing. As far as Mari could tell, none of the Mages had even broken a sweat. She wondered why she gained an impression of smugness even though they were revealing no feelings at all.

The few commons they encountered hastily sought shelter in the nearest open building or side street. Whatever an armed group of Mechanics was doing at this predawn hour was not anything any smart common would want to get involved in. And if the commons spotted the Mages among the Mechanic jackets, that only offered further grounds for avoiding the group.

“We are being paced,” Alain said to Mari. “Cavalry and some soldiers on foot.”

Mari glanced over as they passed a side street, seeing a couple of mounted soldiers a block down riding parallel to the progress of the Mechanics. “What do you think they’re doing?”

“Watching,” Alain said. “There are far too few to threaten us. The city leaders of Edinton are taking the wise course of waiting to see what we do.”

“Good.” She cast an annoyed look at him. “Why are you keeping your eyes on the street so much? You’re looking down as though you expect to see something.”

“I am studying the surface,” Alain said.

That was an ambiguous statement at best, but she remembered Alain telling her that Mages needed to know the details of the “illusion” of the world so they could effectively change that illusion in the ways they wanted. “All right. Sorry. I’m nervous,” she half-explained, half-apologized.

“The other Mechanics are far more nervous than you are,” Alain said, keeping his voice low. “They have far less experience with risking their lives.”

Mage Asha walked a little faster to catch up with Mari, Mechanic Dav staying right by her side. “I sense a Mage in that direction,” she told Mari and Alain, indicating a low hill crowned by the trees, shrubs, and ornamental structures of a small park that loomed off to their left. “I feel that she is aware of us, but only watches for now.”

It was a very odd feeling to be walking down the empty streets knowing that so many hidden eyes were observing your progress. Mari had to suppress an urge to shout at those concealed watchers. But she was growing more worried as time went on. Edinton was the southernmost large city in the Confederation, and thus the closest to what had once been the Kingdom of Tiae. The closest to the place where the Storm had already begun unraveling the fabric of civilization. Mari had spent a few months in Edinton, but almost all of that time inside the Mechanic Guild Hall or at work sites. She had gained little sense of the stability of the commons here. Would the attack on the Guild Hall trigger some larger disturbance that would threaten everyone?

Consumed by those concerns, Mari was startled when they finally reached the large plaza that separated the Guild Hall from the surrounding common buildings. The group, still concealed from the Hall by those buildings, stopped to rest while Mari studied the familiar lines of the Guild Hall with new eyes.

From the outside, the first floors of the Guild Hall presented the walls and slit windows of a fortress. Mari knew those walls were thick and strong.

“Has anyone ever broken into a Guild Hall before?” Mechanic Dav asked.

“Yes,” Mari said. “At Marandur.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. What was that like? The Guild Hall, I mean.”

Mari paused at the memory. “Haunted. Everything collapsed on top of everything else. Rusted tools and equipment, spilled chemicals. Old, broken bones. Dead. It was pretty awful, Dav.”

“I wonder if my ancestor died at the Guild Hall?” Dav said, crouching to look across the plaza. “Or somewhere else in Marandur during the battle?”

“Somewhere else,” Mari said.

Dav turned a surprised look on her. “How do you know?”

“I saw his grave, Dav. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to tell you much, but someday I will. I will tell you, right now, that he was a hero, and an ancestor you can be very proud of.”

“Thanks,” Dav said with a smile. “Do you think he would approve of what we’re doing?”

“I know he would.” Mari looked at Alain. “Any warning?”

Alain shook his head. “My foresight provides no warning. Which does not mean there is no danger, given how unreliable foresight is.”

Mari pointed at the windows of the Guild Hall. “The guards posted inside the front entrance can’t see us from this angle, but the security watches that rove through the building are supposed to look out the windows as they pass and make sure no one is on the plaza during the night,” she explained to Alain and the other Mages.

“Five minutes,” Alli said, checking her watch. “Right, everybody? The roving watches should pass by this side and give us a small period of time when it’s unlikely anyone will see us coming.”

“If they’re following the routines,” Master Mechanic Lukas cautioned. Sweat was still running down his face from the long, fast walk. “But this is Edinton. They might have increased their alert status. Or they might have let the roving watches get sloppy.”

“Maybe,” Mari agreed. “We’ve all walked those watches when we were Apprentices. At this moment, every one of those on duty will be thinking about how tired they are and how much they wish they were back in bed, how they’ve got more than an hour left before being relieved, what they’ll have for breakfast—”

“Everything but their watch responsibilities,” Lukas agreed dryly. “It’s still a substantial risk to go out there. Even a single Mechanic spotted on that plaza would be grounds for a roving watch to sound the alarm.”

“Then we’ll have to hope that doesn’t happen.” Mari looked at Alli. “How much longer?”

“One minute. Let’s get ready to head out, everyone.”

At Alli’s signal, they began walking again. Mari had considered running, to minimize the time they were out on the plaza, but running Mechanics would certainly signal trouble to anyone who saw them. Whereas walking Mechanics might look like an unusual but not threatening group arriving to check in at Guild Hall at an odd hour.

Hopefully. Mari put one hand on her pistol as she walked, trying to breathe steadily, watching the windows of the Guild Hall as they approached it, wondering whether someone would look out at any moment and see them, whether weapons inside were already being pointed toward her and the others.

She had never realized just how wide this blasted plaza was.