A Crucible of Souls (Book One of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (7 page)

“
I don’t know what I’ll do. It’s all too much at the moment.
”

Delife nodded sympathetically.
“
I don’t envy you your problems, Caldan. There was a time when I thought, perhaps naively, that you would join our Order. But the past catches up with all of us. A word of advice: if you plan on finding out about your family, your best option is to trace the origins of your
trinket
. Such valuable items are usually kept under tight control by those that can afford them. I would imagine records of all
trinkets
exist; it’s just a matter of ferreting them out.
”

With a shake of his head, Caldan looked around the room.
“
Where are my rings? My belongings…
”

“
Don’t worry, I made sure we were the ones to clear out your room. The
trinket
is safe, but find a way to secure it to your person as soon as possible.
”

Caldan nodded and Delife turned to the door and opened it. A burly guard entered carrying two sacks filled to bursting, deposited them on the floor then left. Caldan’s possessions.

“
Look out for a guard early tomorrow morning, before the cock crows. You’ll be off the island soon after sunrise. Good luck. It is a hard world out there.
”
With one last look over his shoulder, Delife left Caldan alone.

Caldan thought he would have a few months to organize his life, whether he wanted to stay on the island or not. Only recently that had dwindled to a mere few weeks, and now… it seemed he would be departing any day. The thought of leaving the monastery was devastating. His friends, the place he belonged, all gone.

Jemma would hate him now. She probably couldn’t stand the sight of him. He had thought of her more and more these last few months. He tried not to build too much into their friendship, but lately she didn’t seem to be as out of reach to him as before. But it didn’t matter now. His hopes were shattered, burnt to ashes and spread on the wind.

For long moments he stared at his belongings. He gave a cursory look inside to make sure everything he owned was there, but his heart wasn’t in it, as it would have been if he were embarking on his own free will. His rings he slipped into his smallclothes and vowed to find a better place to secure them. They were the only things he had from his parents, and both were precious to him, whatever their intrinsic value was.

He felt if anything else were missing he didn’t care. He didn’t have much of value, and the monks wouldn’t steal anything.

He folded some of the clothes he had pulled out so they wouldn’t rumple too much, repacked them on top of the rest of his belongings and tied the sacks securely.

Caldan woke, sure he had been asleep for a few hours. Something had woken him, but what?

A knock sounded at the door.

“
Did you hear me? Get up! You’re leaving soon. Get your stuff together.
”

Caldan’s heart thudded in his chest.
Soon?

“
Oi! You deaf? Did you hear me?
”

“
Yes,
”
Caldan yelled.
“
I heard you.
”

He struggled into a wrinkled shirt.
“
Do I have time to get a few things? I need to buy some bits and pieces for the trip.
”

“
Straight to the docks with you. Orders are orders.
”

There was much he wanted to do before he left, but he was out of time. Jemma, everyone who had helped him here. There were many people he wanted to talk to, say farewell to, thank for their friendship and everything they had done for him. He sighed and stood up, only then noticing a folded piece of parchment that must have been slipped under the door while he was asleep. He picked it up as the door opened. The guard stood there holding a lantern.

“
C’mon. Get your stuff and get going. We ain’t got much time. Ship’s leaving at dawn, so get a move on.
”

Caldan stuffed the parchment into his pants pocket and grabbed his sacks filled with what was left of his life at the monastery.

Chapter Five

Caldan strode down the wooden wharf and stopped before a moored ship loading on supplies and merchants’ goods for its return journey to the city of Anasoma. Swaying in the harbor’s swell, the ship looked like any other he had seen. Caldan thought most likely he would be spewing up his food for the whole voyage, with scant sympathy from the crew.

Behind him, one of two guards, his escort, cleared his throat and took a step closer.

Caldan turned around to take in the view from the wharf, the bay and behind him to the city and the monastery.
“
I know, don’t worry yourself. I just want one last look at this place.
”

He breathed deeply of the sea air, redolent with fish and tar, and from a warehouse close by with signage declaring it owned by the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern came the odor of spices and coffee. A cold early morning wind had picked up, and sea salt prickled his skin.

Fully laden, the two-masted ship sat low in the water. Figures scuttled over the deck in the dawn light, busy preparing for departure.

“
Best be off with you,
”
the guard closest to him said.
“
We need to make sure you board and are taken into the captain’s care. All this gawking about is delaying our breakfast.
”

Caldan gritted his teeth.
“
How inconsiderate of me. I’d best get going, then.
”

A name was painted in large yellow letters on the stern.
“
Loretta
,
”
he whispered to himself.

His two hungry escorts following close, he walked up the plank and onto the deck. They stood there a few moments watching the activity around the ship: an older sailor sorting broken pieces of rope in one corner, while the strong smell of vinegar came from a sailor scrubbing the deck with a coarse-bristled brush.

It wasn’t long before someone deigned to notice them. A small, deeply tanned girl, who looked around twenty, with her black hair tied in a tail that hung halfway down her back. She was dressed like all the other sailors in rough cloth, worn and stained by hard work at sea.

“
Is this the prisoner?
”
she asked, looking past Caldan to the guards.

“
I’m no prisoner,
”
he responded with heat.
“
Where would you get that idea?
”

“
The two guards keeping an eye on you, plus the fact we’ve been paid to take someone into custody and make sure they don’t slip off before we leave. That would make you a prisoner.
”
She smiled at him, revealing even white teeth.

“
I…
”
he stuttered.
“
Look here, I’m not a prisoner! It was an accident. Circumstances have not been in my favor… I’m just…
”
He trailed off. Escorted by guards to the ship, he could see what it looked like to them.

“
Sure they haven’t.
”
She motioned the guards to the wharf.
“
You lads can go now. Leave him with me.
”

“
You sure you’re all right on your own with him?
”

The girl gestured around her at the sailors of the ship.
“
Plenty of help to hand if I need assistance. The crew wouldn’t want anything to happen to one of their own.
”

“
Fair enough. We’ll get going then and get some food into us.
”
With a final look at Caldan and the girl, they stomped down the plank.

“
Well, what are we going to do with you?
”
the girl asked herself.

“
I’ve never been on a ship before. Never had to,
”
he blurted.

She raised her eyebrows at him.
“
It was a rhetorical question. And you didn’t make sense anyway.
”

Caldan grimaced. His thoughts were skittering all over the place.
“
It’s been a trying couple of days for me. I’m a bit lost.
”

“
I think we all know how that feels sometimes.
”
A shadow passed across her face, gone in an instant.
“
My name’s Miranda. Best we take you to see the captain. She can give you the once over and let you know how things stand on the ship for your journey. Well, a couple of days, not a journey. Unless you have never been on a ship before.
”
She looked at someone behind him and held up a hand.
“
I can take him from here. He seems harmless enough.
”

Caldan turned his head to see a brute of a sailor standing close behind him, a hefty wooden belaying pin in one callused meaty hand. By the look in his eyes and the scars on his knuckles, Caldan had no doubt the sailor knew how to use it.

He turned back to Miranda.
“
Is this necessary? I’m not a criminal. Look, just show me to my cabin and I’ll be out of your hair.
”

“
Sure you will,
”
she said doubtfully.
“
We need to show you around first, so you know where things are, for eating, the crapper, stuff like that.
”

Caldan was taken aback. No girl he had been around before would have said such a thing, or referred to any bodily function in conversation.

“
And to see the captain, of course. She likes to have a chat with all the passengers.
”

“
Let’s go.
”
He just wanted to get this over with. A clean cut is the best. He began to walk towards the door that led inside the ship.

Miranda stopped him before he had taken a few steps, her eyes hard.
“
We go where and when I say, not when you say. Ships can be a dangerous place for the inexperienced, and I won’t have you injured when you are in my care. Many a lubber has hurt themselves doing something stupid.
”

She gestured for him to follow and sauntered towards a smaller door on the other side of the ship.

Caldan followed her, ducking under the low doorway. Inside, warm air smelling of tar and sweat washed over him.

“
Hope your delicate nostrils aren’t offended,
”
Miranda commented as she continued down some stairs. She showed him around the insides of the ship, marking areas where he was not allowed to go unless escorted — crew areas, the hold, and galley — and where he was allowed to — the common area, the ‘crappers’, and his own tiny bunk.

Barely wide enough for him to squeeze into, it was sectioned off from the rest of the room with a thin curtain. Seven other bunks were in the same room, and there wasn’t much in the way of privacy.

“
Throw your stuff in here,
”
she said, gesturing to his bunk.
“
Can’t get better than this for you, with what we we’re paid.
”
She winked at him.

Caldan smiled grimly.
“
I can’t complain. It’s not like I have a choice.
”
He placed his sacks on the bunk and closed the curtain.

She looked at him, tilting her head to the side.
“
All right then, let’s see the captain. Follow me.
”

She led him down a corridor and around a corner, ending at a closed door, which had chips and deep gouges in it. The girl noticed him looking at them.
“
They were here when the captain purchased her. She thinks the ship may have been taken by pirates at one time.
”
She shrugged.
“
But who knows?
”

She banged hard on the door with a fist, and, without waiting for an answer, opened the door and walked into the captain’s quarters, Caldan in her wake.

The captain sat at ease on a chair behind a desk strewn with maps held down with stone paperweights, a couple of books and some brass nautical instruments Caldan didn’t recognize. Her skin was tanned but lighter than the girl’s, and her shoulders were broader. Lines around her eyes and mouth proclaimed her older, probably around forty. Her booted feet were propped up on the desk, and she held a mug with steam pluming from it. A strong smell of coffee permeated the room.

Miranda opened her mouth to speak, but before she could the captain waved her to silence. She took a sip of coffee and grimaced at the taste.
“
Cook forgot the honey again. Bastard,
”
she said to herself. She brought the mug to her lips and blew steam off the top.

Behind her, dawn light streamed in through open windows. A cool breeze aired the cabin, which was less odorous than the rest of the ship.

The captain reached over and placed her mug carefully on the desk, folded her arms across her chest and looked directly at Caldan.

“
I’m Captain Charlotte,
”
she began.
“
Firstly, this is my ship. I’ve been owner of the
Loretta
for ten years, and I’m the law here. You go where and when I say, not when you say.
”

Caldan noted the words were almost exactly the same as the girl had said to him earlier. She must have borrowed it from the captain’s speech to all passengers. He glanced behind him and Miranda looked at the floor, embarrassed, a slight flush rising to her cheeks.

“
Still, you look harmless enough. Growing out of your clothes are you? Don’t they take care of that at the monastery?
”

He heard Miranda snigger behind him then cover it with a cough. The captain frowned at her.
“
Enough of that, Miranda. Some manners, if you please.
”

“
My apologies, Captain,
”
Miranda replied meekly.

Captain Charlotte grunted at her.
“
Don’t think that act fools me. You’re as bad as the rest of the crew sometimes.
”

“
Sorry, ma’am.
”

“
I’m sure you are.
”
Charlotte turned cold eyes on Caldan.
“
Anyway, don’t make any trouble with the crew, because you know who I’ll support. We’ve been paid to take you to Anasoma, and I plan to make this trip as uneventful as I want every trip to be. Make trouble and you’ll go over the side for the sharks. Am I clear?
”

Caldan looked her in the eye and nodded. He was not pleased with the way he had been dismissed and sent away from the monastery, but he wasn’t going to do anything rash and make trouble. There was time ahead to take a look at his situation.

“
Good. Miranda, get him settled in his bunk. We leave within the hour, and we both have work to do.
”
She waved them away and settled back in her chair, reaching for her mug.

Miranda grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door, closing it behind her.
“
That went well,
”
she remarked.
“
She must have taken a liking to you.
”

“
It went well? I don’t think it did. Is she always that blunt?
”

“
Always… well, except when she has had a bit to drink.
”
She hesitated.
“
But anyways, shouldn’t be talking about her to you. Let’s get you back to your bunk for the time being. When we set sail you can come up on the deck. Crew won’t like you around when we depart, you might get underfoot.
”
She gave him a sidelong smile.
“
And maybe puking your guts up…
”