Adversaries Together (34 page)

It felt like a long time, but who knew. He
felt a hard kick to his foot and shot open his eyes. Declan stood
before him with his smug grin, “You keep not dying.”

“
Not for lack of
trying.”

“
Get him up, we need to get
moving.” Jena walk passed the two of them at a hard stride not even
looking at him.

Declan reach out his hand, Goshen stood,
wobbled a bit and then righted himself with the help of Declan,
“She’s starting to come around on you, ya know.”

“
Don’t know how many
iterations I can take before she counts me a friend.” He
mumbled.

Declan smiled and helped him along after
Jena, “Well, let’s find out.” The two disappeared into the woods of
the Stony Shore with the highlands of the Siracenes rising up
before them.

The Stony Shore,
27
^th
of Mabon

“
We need to get going.”
Riv was angry, but Asa kept his back to him as he watched his men
set flames to the cottage and barn.

“
Don’t worry, the boy knows
where to go, and I’ve made sure he’ll guide us true.”

“
I’m not talking about
that.”

Asa turned, “What are you talking about
then?”

“
This stop-over is
pointless. We almost lost two men. And for what? A boy? We have
soldiers to unload and we need to head south. Now.”

Asa leaned against the cottage wall and eyed
Riv, “You seem pretty certain about that I need to do?”

“
You know I’m
right.”

“
No, I don’t know
that.”

“
This little revenge
fantasy is costing us.”

“
It’s not a fantasy! He
scarred me, lead me to be mocked by those Rikonenese, and then he
dared to violate my home and threaten my life. He must die or else
I will lose all face.”

“
No, pursuing him is what
is making you lose face. The men don’t respect this, it looks like
a tantrum.”

“
You can’t talk to me like
that! This is my ship, these are my men, and this is what we are
doing.”

Riv let out a heavy sigh and shook his head
slightly, “What about the soldiers?”

Asa smiled, “I have a plan for that.” He
reached into his tunic and pulled out a firm looking envelope.

“
Is that…”

“
A marq? Yes, it is.” Asa
fanned himself with the paper, and then pointed in the direction of
the anchored Kopis, “I will take five of my best men and ten of
those soldiers, I will find him in the Siracenes, and I will end
him all under the protection of the Cathedral and the approval of
the Spires.”

“
The sergeant isn’t going
to like that.” Riv suddenly looked exhausted.

“
It doesn’t matter what he
likes.” Asa yelled.

“
How did you get that? When
did you get that?” Riv returned his attention to the marq that Asa
had magically produced, “And when were you going to tell
me?”

Asa held the envelope out to Riv but then
snatched it back, “The forger in you wants to take a look at this.”
He laughed and slipped it back into his pocket, “Just know that the
contract with the civics wasn’t the only one that was offered to
us.”

Riv raised an eyebrow, “You took a second on
the pair?”

“
In a manner of speaking,”
Asa couldn’t help but grin, “I was offered the opportunity to serve
The Cathedral and that opportunity overlapped profitably with what
the Rikonenese wanted.”

“
The Patriarch would
never…”

“
This marq comes to me from
the Vicegerent. It carries all the same weight. It was my payment
for taking on the task.”

“
Of killing the
two?”

“
Of making sure the two
failed spectacularly.”

“
It still doesn’t make
sense to go after this one man.”

“
I could make the case—and
I will to the sergeant as I wave this in his fat face—that making
sure he’s dead and that the girl hasn’t escaped is exactly why I
was granted this marq.”

“
Fifteen men lead by a boy
going after a lone rover.”

“
Lead by me, the boy is as
good as a dog. And he’s no mere rover; no rover persists like he
has.”

“
Well, that’s
true.”

“
I need you to take control
of the ship. I will be gone no more than a few days.”

“
You want me to take the
rest of the troops to Anhra.”

Asa nodded, “Then come back here, you
shouldn’t have to be anchored too long. This will go quickly with
the soldiers.”

“
I doubt.” Riv muttered
turning away and heading towards the tender to return to the ship.
He called back to Asa, “This is a bad idea.”

“
Just do as you’re told.
I’ll expect the men here within the hour.”

Riv was already sulking, the idea of dealing
with the sergeant was flaming his anger. It was in the tender that
he decided to take action.

Aboard the Kopis, Riv called for the lance.
While waiting on deck, he paced barking orders at the men, kicking
barrels and ropes, and shooting dagger-like glares at nearly every
man. He finally stopped at the rail, gripped it with both hands,
closed his eyes and tried to calm down. Riv was stone still for
nearly ten minutes before he opened his eyes again. When he did, he
let his white-knuckle grip in the rail loosen and let out a long,
loud exhalation.

“
Sir,” one of the men
approached him, “The lance is here.” The Silvincian lance had shown
himself to have better sea legs than what Riv had expected. In his
more wistful moments, he thought about pouching the youth to add to
the crew.

“
Master Riv.” The lance
stood at attention.

“
Yes, lance Carrick, good.”
Riv was sorely hoping the sergeant was still ill enough that the
lance would be the one to make the decision. “Captain Asa will need
a unit of ten of your men.”

Carrick blanched, “Excuse me?”

“
The captain has a marq
from the Cathedral charging him with pursuing certain
criminals.”

“
Is that the reason why
we’ve anchor here?”

“
Yes, quite right,” Riv
hoped he could push through this quickly, “We were able to discover
the criminal’s location here but we need to pursue him a bit in the
Siracenes. The captain has decided to exercise his marq with your
men.”

“
I’ll have to discuss this
with the sergeant.”

“
Yes, yes, of course, but
the captain needs the men within the hour.”

“
The sergeant isn’t…he’s
not quite well enough just now…” Carrick was stumbling and Riv saw
his chance.

“
Still shitting and puking
himself, is he?” Riv said conspiratorially. Carrick reddened a bit
and nodded. “Well, then that leaves you lance Carrick, this is your
decision.”

“
The sergeant won’t be
happy with me when he’s well again.”

“
The captain has assured me
that the pursuit won’t take more than a few days. We will deliver
the rest of the regiment to Anhra and then come back to pick up the
rest.”

“
So it’s really not too out
of the way.”

“
Exactly.”

“
And the captain has a
marq, you say?”

“
He has it with him ashore
and will be more than glad to present it to you.”

Carrick thought on it and then seemed to
brighten a bit, “I shall grant the men and include myself in the
company.”

Riv’s smile tightened a bit and he nodded,
“Thank you, sir.” Carrick snapped himself to attention, nodded, and
spun on his heel back towards the hold to assemble the unit. Riv
turned back to the railing and cursed toward the sea. As he looked
out, he saw a black speck. Leaning forward he squinted.

“
Ryan,” Riv called and the
sailor came running up to him, “Give me your monocular.” The boy
sailor pulled the spyglass from around his neck and quickly handed
it to the first mate. Riv turned the monocular to focus it on the
mark he had seen the shimmering sea. His vision poured over the
waves and then he found it. Barely even a boat, a small karve with
a triangle sail and what looked like oars. That was odd, he
thought. Looking closer he tried to count the bodies in the boat.
The oarsman’s back was to him but he could see the man controlling
the sails. It wasn’t a man; it was a woman. It was the free ranger
from Anhra.

“
Light be damned.” Riv
spat.

“
Sir?”

“
Man a cannon, Ryan.” Riv
said coolly.

“
Sir?”

“
We need to destroy that
boat.” Riv slammed the monocular into Ryan’s chest and pointed out
toward the sea. Ryan raised the monocular to his eye to see what
Riv had seen, “Now!” Riv barked and the lad shook startled, he ran
towards across the deck and disappeared below.

“
Cameron! Lennox!” Riv
called as two more sailors came up, “There’s a trimaran out there
that needs to be gone, go man the cannon with Ryan.” The men nodded
and went off after Ryan.

“
Light be damned,” Riv
cursed again as he strode to the bow, “Aels, get the tender ready
to hold ten of the soldiers in full armor. And get it done ten
minutes ago. Sharin, come with me.” Riv put out his hand once he
reached the bow and Sharin put into it a monocular.

“
Problems, sir?” Sharin
asked.

“
Not for long.”

The karve had seen them, the sail was down
now, and Riv could see there was a third body in the boat. “Are you
ready Ryan?” Riv bellowed and a high-pitched ‘aye’ came back to
him.

“
Then fire!” The shot flew
from the Kopis, a black coconut sized shell sped towards the karve.
It hit the water just to the side of the boat; the huge white
splash nearly turned the small craft over.

Riv lowered his monocular, “Have you
corrected, Ryan!” Again, a high-pitched ‘aye’ came from below,
“Then fire!”

The second shot soared. Riv watched it fly.
The shot seemed drawn to the boat. When it struck the karve, the
ship suddenly erupted into a torrent of splinters.

“
There it is.” Sharin said
grinning and satisfied.

Riv didn’t bring down the monocular but
continued scanning the wreckage, “Ready the second tender;
investigate the wreckage.”

Sharin shrugged, “Ain’t nothing left of that
boat, sir.”

“
Do it.”

“
Aye.”

Riv braced himself with his fists as he
leaned on the rail of the bow. He stared at the spot where the
karve had been. Everything about these contracts was getting too
ridiculous. Ryan emerged from below and came up to Riv.

“
Not a bad bit of action.”
He said

“
You missed.” Riv
mumbled.

“
Just barely,” Ryan tried
to defend himself, “When was the last time we shot at
anything?”

“
True enough,” Riv still
stared out at the wreckage and didn’t glance at Ryan, “What you’ve
been serving the sergeant.”

Ryan stood up a bit straighter, “Aye.”

“
Think there’s enough for
the remainder of the troop?” Riv turned his head to peer at
Ryan.

“
Oh, I think so,” Ryan
rubbed his face and gave a mischievous smile, “It’ll be a messy
last leg to Anhra though.”

“
Feed them. When they fall
ill tonight, come get me, and we’ll quarantine the lot. We’re not
stopping at Anhra.”

“
Oh, aye? Well, what about
those going ashore?”

Riv turned to face Ryan, “Those men are the
captain’s concern, not ours.” Ryan nodded a bit hesitant. Riv swung
around, “Arro!” he called.

“
Sir.” An obscenely tall
man stood on the deck below Riv.

“
Make ready,” Riv never
looked at the man, “When the tenders return we’re pulling
anchor.”

The Cruor,
30
^th
of Mabon

They all sat around the fire, the camp just
before Cruor sculpture pool. Roth had his back to it while the
others sat across from him catching glimpses of the flames in the
pool and watching odd shadows dance over the cliff face. They were
going to sleep out here tonight having arrive too late in the day
for Roth to find them better quarters in cliff dwelling above
sculpture. To get up to it they'd have negotiate a series of
footholds and pegs, it was too dark to attempt the climb now.
Roth’s description of The Cruor had done more to confuse the others
than anything else and had led to them to prod for details about
the place. He tried to explain how it was made and why, but he
wasn’t satisfied each time he started. Finally, he settled on the
angle he wanted.

“
The edict gave every reeve
incentive. It wasn’t long before the margraves got in on the act.”
The casual firelight lit up their faces as though they were merely
on some sporting excursion. Roth’s voice was even, lacking
bitterness for one of the few times they had been
together.

“
The local governments
always used the Athingani as a scapegoat.” Wynne added.

“
Sometimes with good
reason, there’s only so many times that you can be called thieves,
sorcerers, flesh dealers, and plague spreaders before it starts to
sink in.” Roth said.