Take the body and give me the rest (7 page)

Seth almost
laughed, thinking of the months he’d spent sleeping on the hard
ground when out-riding at Bloodcrest, or the roughly made cots in
the barracks, built badly enough to let the Northern wind come
howling in. He smiled at the boy. ‘Never fear, I’m made of stronger
stuff than most of your passengers,’ he said.

The boy looked
past relieved. ‘Oh, good, I’m sure you’ll make do with it.’

The smallish
room was almost the same size as the room he’d paid for at the
Fellow Traveller. It was large enough to hold a good sized bed and
even had an ornate wooden wardrobe artfully attached to the wall.
Leaving quietly, the boy slinked away before seeing Seth’s
reaction.

Seth could easily spend a few months in these quarters.
Currently, he had nothing to put in the wardrobe; he had no
belongings at all except his weapons, summoning stones, some stolen
coins and the dead man’s clothes he was currently wearing
.
Still, soldiers always travelled light.

Next to the
wardrobe was a large dark wooden door with intricate carvings. Seth
knocked loudly, then reached to turn the large brass handle and
entered the room. Inside, Her Ladyship’s quarters were bathed in
soft yellow lamplight. The room was beyond impressive. It was
mind-blowing, like a scene he’d imagined as a child of a real room
in a proper noble’s hall. The room held a canopied bed with the
same dark wood twisted into arms, holding back thick drapes. In
many places, Seth could see piles and piles of books, and there was
even a desk with a chair and the tools for scribing.

Seth spent the
better part of the morning wandering along the deck of the ship as
the sun rose high above the masts, walking from one end of the long
wooden deck to the other and looking with increasing satisfaction
at the rapidly retreating view of Cravoss. It wasn’t long before a
look in all directions yielded only the ocean and, with that, Seth
felt truly free, truly that he’d escaped from that debt prison and
the people chasing him.

Remembering Her
Ladyship’s words about the figurehead, he walked to the front of
the ship to look. He hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it when the
ship was docked and couldn’t recall it.

In front of the
figurehead was a large space of empty deck. In this space, he was
greeted by the sharp metal clanging of swordplay. He sat on a
wooden bench that was one of many built for the express purpose of
watching the men at practise. At the moment, only two men were
occupying the space, but Seth was interested to see them sparring
with the rapier and dagger. He had the same set of blades now at
his side but had never practised with them or even drawn them. He
been trained always with the broadsword and, in its use, he
considered himself accomplished. But he knew the General had
considered himself a master. He had memories of training, winning
competitions but also blurred memories of more violent events. Seth
couldn’t quite picture them, but he could feel the violence and
death like the heat from a fire.

After watching for a time, it became clear to Seth that the
men were sailors of
The
Opulent
, but, as they
carried rapiers on their belts, they must be Officers as well. They
looked similar to each other in appearance, perhaps older and
younger brothers. They both wore the rich white uniforms with the
purple flower that was
The
Opulent’s
crest, black
hair tied back in horsetails. They spared with gusto, trying to
score against each other but also allowing the other time to
practise a thrust or a counter move. As he watched, Seth could see
what was wrong in the younger one’s technique, how he didn’t lift
his dagger high enough, how he didn’t attack with enough energy.
The older was a very skilled swordsman, though. Seth could see his
confidence and pride in every form and movement.

‘You’ll need to
start practising yourself,’ said a female voice next to him. Seth
had been so absorbed watching the two men he hadn’t noticed that
Her Ladyship was now seated next to him with her attendant at her
side.

‘I said you
should look at the figurehead, but I actually meant this little
arena. You’ll need to practise to make your body learn what your
mind now knows,’ she said.

‘So you do know
something about me,’ he said.

‘I know Seth. I
also knew Stephan when he was alive, the General you escaped from.
Taking him was a much bigger act than you might have imagined.
We’ll have to work together to see that what was taken isn’t lost.
I will help you, though, as I wish someone had once helped me,’ she
said.

‘I’d be happy
for the help,’ Seth said, speaking it plain.

She smiled
sweetly at him. ‘First lesson then: teaching the body what the mind
knows.’

She turned to
face the Officers and suddenly she and her attendant were covering
their faces and giggling like little girls, rudely and very loudly.
The men stopped their sparring and turned to look at the women in
their laughter. Seth could see the accusing look on the face of the
older Officer. He was shorter than Seth but carried himself with
confidence and was clearly used to being shown some respect. Still,
he was an Officer on the ship and she a valued passenger.

‘Something
amuses your Ladyship?’ he asked politely, but with anger behind the
softly spoken words. Seth had a very bad feeling about what was
about to unfold.

‘Oh, no, it’s
nothing. Our young Master here was just commenting on the
swordplay, but never mind, really,’ she said, indicting Seth.

The man’s
breathing had increased in pace and Seth could see the beginning of
some real anger building in him. The man addressed Seth directly.
‘And what was said, young Sir, to make the ladies so amused?’

Her Ladyship answered, ‘Oh, only that the women of the North
are better at swordplay than the women Officers of
The
Opulent
,’ she answered with amusement
in her voice.

By this time a
gathering of passengers, a handful of sailors and the Captain’s
son, flanked by his two tutors, had come to stand behind Her
Ladyship and watched wide-eyed at the blatant insult from the young
Master just fresh aboard the ship.

The Captain’s
son cried out in a high-pitched voice, ‘That’s an insult to the
ship as well, Officer Ramon. You’ll address it now.’

The Officer stood in front of Seth. ‘It’s forbidden to duel on
the ship, but I’ll gladly spar with you, young Master, and show you
the true skills of the Officers’ of
The
Opulent
.’

Her Ladyship
clapped excitedly, as did her attendant. No one else seemed to find
it much fun either. Officer Ramon, as he was called, took a few
large paces back and his younger companion quickly left the deck
area with a curt nod to his brother and a whispered word. Ramon
motioned with his hand from Seth to follow him onto the deck. Seth
just sat and looked at the man. He’d never backed down from a fight
and wouldn’t now, even if he had no idea whether he would embrace
his new weapons and fighting style or end up with an ‘accidental’
blade through the chest.

Seth let his
cloak drop off his shoulders, adjusted his belt and stood up from
the bench. Her Ladyship stood up also and whispered in his ear,
‘Just relax and let you mind go free. Don’t think too much about
what’s happening and please, please, try not to kill him.’

Seth stepped
into the space in front of the Officer, still thinking of her words
when a blade aimed straight and hard for his heart missed him by a
fraction, making a small tear in his black shirt. Only instinct got
him out of the way in time. Seth dodged clumsily to the side and
drew out his rapier and dagger from opposite sides of his belt in
two clumsy and separate movements.

He and Officer
Ramon faced each other slowly circling. He could see that this man
would kill him if given the chance. He had the look of a man who
had seen a few duels in his time and clearly been the one to walk
away from them. He thrust forward again and Seth flicked his blade
to the side. Ramon counted by plunging the dagger at Seth’s face.
Seth leapt back in time but felt the wind of the blade on the skin
of his throat. Seth was thinking in a storm: hold the blades
correctly. What’s his next move, how will I counter? He could
imagine himself dead on the deck of the ship.

Then he had a
flash in his mind that actually made him buckle at the knees
slightly. He held position and knocked another strong thrust aside.
He saw and felt in his mind another duel that the General had
fought and won. He’d been fifteen and he’d killed a man of eighteen
who was a Squire. Seth replayed the moves and memories of the
battle and felt a rush of unbidden deadly confidence. Seth leapt
forward with a thrust and when the parry came he slashed with his
dagger in a mirror of the move that had rattled him. Now his dagger
blade barely missed the Officer’s throat.

They circled
more, exchanging blows, each attacking and defending and then
attacking again. Seth could feel that he would quickly run out of
energy and could already feel the sweat running down his back as
the sun shone down on him.

Seth let his
mind go and thought of the person that was the General. He was a
violent man, a proud man. He’d carved a life for himself with his
sword from a young age. Seth felt a solid connection with a barrage
of duels, killings, battlefield charges and defending the line. He
felt the triumph and wicked pleasure in the destruction of an
opponent that the General had felt; he felt the pride in the
knowledge that he would always be the victor.

The Officer
lunged again at Seth, and his blade was snapped away. He tried
again, but every lunge Seth parried before it could even gather
power. Seth pushed him backward with a lunge and then nicked him on
the arm with his dagger, lightly drawing blood that stained his
white shirt sleeve. Seth could feel all of the knowledge and skills
of the General swirling in him. He forgot fear as he knew there was
no way this man could beat him.

Seth unleashed
a storm of thrusts and dagger slashes at the Officer, driving him
backwards. The Officer did well to defend, but was giving ground
fast. It soon became clear that Seth was avoiding scoring any
winning blows but thrusting and slashing slightly clear. It had
become a game. Their eyes met past their blades and Seth just
smiled back.

Enraged, the
Officer charged forward, yelling, his rapier forgotten and the
dagger coming straight for Seth’s face. In another time, the
General had met a similar charge with an easy sword point for the
idiot to run onto, Seth fought against the instinct and dropping
both sword and dagger, he stepped deftly to the side, catching the
man’s dagger hand and, swinging behind him, grabbed him with a
strong arm around the neck. Seth held him there for a long moment,
slowly putting pressure on the man’s windpipe, stopping his breath.
The crowd let out a quietly shocked murmur as Seth slowly lowered
the struggling Officer to the floor as the man faded to black
sleep.

Seth turned to
look at Her Ladyship and the now-thick crowd of people. So many
people were watching. All the passengers he’d admired when he
strolled on board — well-dressed traders, families and lesser
nobles. Her Ladyship had a beaming smile on her face, but the rest
of the assembled audience were less than pleased. It was clear that
Seth could have killed the man, but that kind of rough move just
wasn’t allowed. Seth stood up from the deck as the Officer slowly
roused himself. He reached out his hand and helped the man to his
shaky feet. He looked again at Seth and, touching his chest, he
seemed surprised he wasn’t dead, with a rapier blade through him.
Feeling the empty silence of anticipation Seth spoke to the
Officer, Ramon, but loudly enough so all could hear.

‘I have spoken out of turn. That was truly a worthy sparring
match and I will now say to any that ask that the Officers and men
of
The
Opulent
fight with ferocity as well
as skill. Oh, and sorry for the neck.’

It was clear
that the audience of passengers and crew were waiting on Officer
Ramon, for cues how to react. The Captain’s son still looked livid,
but the Pellosina woman was staring at Seth with rapt attention.
Officer Ramon looked Seth in the eyes, and Seth could feel the man
gauging his sincerity. Even now he’d fight on if he didn’t feel
Seth’s words were genuine. Seth knew the feeling well, prideful
bastard.

The Officer
grimaced at him and rubbed his neck. ‘I’d rather my neck than
something more vital. I appreciate your words and am sure my dear
wife at home and I will be glad if I say the matter is at rest.’
With that, he formally shook Seth’s hand. The passengers and
assembled sailors gave a few claps and whistles and promptly went
back to their own conversations. One small group of sailors were
exchanging the money from side bets, Seth’s surprise victory making
one a small fortune.

Seth walked to
where Her Ladyship was standing. ‘Well? How did the student do?’ he
asked.

She smiled at
him. ‘Very well indeed, and thank you for not killing him. I’m sure
that Stephan thought that would have been a very good idea. Now,
let’s retire to our chambers before they throw you overboard.’

Chapter 9

Seraphina
cursed softly as she stepped out of the sleek black carriage and
into the dark muddy street in front of the Mermaid’s Kiss. The
sounds of drunken revelry washed over her, Dirst and Anton, her
other cousin, as they walked towards the ramshackle and disgusting
inn. Seth had found the place charming, but they had vastly
differing standards.