The Assassins of Altis (15 page)

Though now she felt an irrational urge to find a mirror and check how her teeth looked.

Mara the Undying. Stars above. I’ll take being the daughter of Jules any day over that.

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Alain blinked against the late afternoon sun as he looked forward along the deck, then aft. The
Sun Runner
was sailing slightly south of west to reach Caer Lyn, with an easy breeze filling her sails and a pleasant sea sending gentle swells to meet her. They had been at sea for a while now, the Imperial coast had long since vanished beneath the horizon, and even though he and Mari had been on the alert for anyone watching them, no one seemed to be paying them any particular attention.

But Mari had insisted on waiting to go to their cabins. “If anyone on the
Sun Runner
is pursuing us, I want to see them before they find out which cabin we’re staying in tonight. Who knows how many Imperial agents are aboard this ship. We can’t afford to be trapped in a room.”

He had recognized the wisdom of that, and so had waited while Mari joined him for periods and then left, to see if anyone followed her. After what had happened in Palandur, that sort of concern was only prudent. “There are no Mages aboard as far as I can tell,” he had told Mari, which was one thing to be glad of. But he was tired of hauling his pack around, tired of standing at the rail, and was looking forward to tonight, when he and Mari would be catching up on their sleep in an actual bed in one of their cabins.

That was all they would be doing in that bed, of course. Alain remembered Mari joking about how her legs looked, and tried to think about something else.

“Hey.” Mari came toward him after her last attempt to check for anyone following her, yawning again. “I can’t wait to find one of our cabins and take off this pack. I’m thinking if anyone aboard was after us, they would have betrayed themselves somehow by now. Still no foresight warning?”

“No, but you know that does not mean danger does not exist.”

“It’s something, though.” Mari yawned hugely this time. “Stars above, I’m tired. It’s been a long trip from you-know-where. We should turn in soon. Do you know some people always sleep at night and stay awake during the day? I think they’re called normal.”

“How boring,” Alain responded. “They probably also never get attacked by trolls or dragons.”

“I haven’t decided which I like least. Dragons are definitely faster, though. I prefer enemies I have a chance to run away from.” Mari leaned on the railing with her arm touching Alain’s, sighing happily. “Do you realize how long we spent inside the Empire? It’s great to at least feel free again. And aside from Asha, whom I’m doubtless transmitting to at this very moment, we shouldn’t have to worry about anyone from our Guilds locating us until we reach Caer Lyn.”

“Asha will not tell any elder where we are. She is in as much danger from the elders now as are we. But even if there are no agents on this ship, the Imperials in port will be checking people arriving at Caer Lyn,” Alain cautioned.

“We’ll just do the same thing we did when we got on the ship. Once we’re both off this ship, we’ll find a ship headed for Altis and get right on it. I don’t want to spend an instant longer in Caer Lyn than we have to. For safety.”

“For safety,” Alain repeated in a neutral voice. He knew she was not being honest with herself, and she knew she was not being honest with herself, but Alain thought that he had pushed her enough on that for now. He wondered if Mari would feel any differently when she actually saw once again the city she had once called home.

“You know,” Mari added thoughtfully, “we really need to plan things out more instead of just rushing into them. Develop a nice, detailed plan and then carry it out, just like we did when we got on this ship. We should try to do that every time from now on.”

Alain was about to reply when he heard whistles sounding and looked up. Sailors were rushing into the rigging again, and soon the motion of the
Sun Runner
altered, the gentle rolling turning into a slow wallow as the sails were furled overhead and the ship glided to a stop. Mari stared at Alain, then at the empty sea before them, then back at the deck house blocking their view of the other side of the ship. Together, they rushed to the nearest passage across the deck.

Alain caught up with Mari as she came to the rail on the other side of the ship. Mari did not say anything, just pointed, face rigid. Another ship had approached, a ship with only short, stubby masts and no sails visible. A stream of pale smoke rose from a huge tube rising out of the center of the strange ship, which was almost completely made of metal. On the front of the other ship, something which looked like a very large version of the Mechanic weapons Alain had seen was mounted on the deck and pointing at their own ship. A pair of large boats were already in the water, being rowed over toward the ship Alain and Mari were on, the dark jackets of the Mechanics crowding the boats easily visible.

“The Mechanics Guild,” Mari breathed. “That’s one of their steam-powered ships. There are hardly any of those left working any more, but they’re so much faster than sailing ships that they must have caught the
Sun Runner
easily. How did they know I was on board this ship? How did they know to intercept this ship?”

“What do we do?” Alain asked.

“We can’t jump off like we did the train.” Mari rubbed her forehead, her face frantic. “Our only chance is to try to hide somewhere below deck.”

Mari turned, starting to fight her way through the crowds of passengers boiling out onto the deck to point and stare and wonder what had led the Mechanics Guild to stop this ship. Alain stayed close to her, frustrated by the slow progress they were making. The crowd on deck had become so dense that it was hard to move at all even though ahead of him Mari was shoving hard.

Suddenly a group of Mechanics wedged their way between Alain and Mari, using the butts of their weapons to strike at anyone in their way. Alain had to stagger back a half-step to avoid having one of the weapons strike him, then found himself separated from Mari. He lunged forward, disregarding the cries of anger from commons he was pushing aside. Alain made it through a knot of commons, then maybe a lance length farther, and suddenly found himself at the edge of a small area of deck cleared of commons.

He stopped, gazing at the scene within that area.

Mari was standing still, facing several Mechanics. Two had Mechanic weapons pointed at her. One middle-aged male Mechanic reached forward and roughly jerked back Mari’s coat, checking the area under her shoulder. “Not carrying the pistol today, Mari?” he demanded.

“It’s in my pack,” Mari answered. “Honored Senior Mechanic,” she added in the kind of voice which Alain had learned meant sarcasm.

The Senior Mechanic’s hand rose, but he stopped before hitting Mari. “Where’s your friend?”

“I have no friends,” Mari replied in a voice now emotionless.

“That’s probably the only thing you’re going to say that I’ll agree with,” the Senior Mechanic noted coldly. “But the Guild knows that you were traveling with someone. Where is he?”

Mari shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Answer me! Is he on this ship?”

Alain could see Mari’s mocking smile. “We split up a while ago. Doesn’t the Guild know that?”

Another Mechanic took Mari’s pack. “Should I search it?”

“No!” the Senior Mechanic barked. “Don’t look in there. It will be searched later, by authorized Senior Mechanics only.”

Alain could see the resentment in the other Mechanic at the Senior Mechanic’s haughty tone, but he stood obediently holding Mari’s pack.

At a gesture from the Senior Mechanic, a female Mechanic stepped forward and patted her hands all over Mari’s clothing, then stepped back. “No concealed weapons,” she reported.

“Good. Get her to the ship.” The Senior Mechanic led the way as the others grabbed Mari and pushed her along, the commons splitting to leave a free path for the Mechanics.

Alain watched, shoving his way through the crowd to keep the Mechanics in sight, trying to figure out what to do. In this dense a crowd, invisibility would be a hindrance, not an aid. Simply attacking the group of Mechanics around Mari would do no good. His heat might just as easily harm Mari as her captors, his knife was no match for their weapons, and even if he somehow triumphed without hurting Mari, the metal Mechanic ship with its big weapon would still remain.

But he became aware of a rumbling noise from the crowd of passengers, slowly rising in volume as more and more commons joined in. It took Alain a few moments to make sense of the words, then the intensity of the noise rose again and he heard them clearly. “It’s the daughter!”

“The Mechanics have the daughter of Jules!”

“They’re taking the daughter!”

The different cries merged into a welter of shouts in which only the words “daughter” and “Jules” were clear, but that was enough. As Alain watched with growing concern, the crowd surged forward toward the Mechanics, the commons yelling and seizing anything that might serve as improvised weapons.

The Mechanics had heard the shouts, too, and were backing along the rail in a tight group, their weapons pointed outward. Alain could see the growing fear in their eyes, the sort of alarm which could lead to panic and then the use of the Mechanic weapons. Even though the crowd of commons far outnumbered the Mechanics, Alain had seen what Mechanic weapons could do. Mari had told him that these were called “lever-action repeating rifles,” and while he did not know the meaning of that, those same weapons had wiped out a caravan which Alain had tried to protect. Alain knew that something had to be done, but he hesitated because his training as a Mage had told him nothing about how people thought. Alain had no idea how to stop the crowd before a massacre occurred.

Then he heard Mari yelling over the sound of the crowd. “No! Stop!” Her face appeared as Mari shoved her way to the front of the frightened Mechanics despite having her arms held behind her. “They’ve got rifles, blast you! If you try to charge them a lot of you will die!”

The Senior Mechanic in charge of the boarding party looked nervously from Mari to the crowd. “Listen to her!” the Senior Mechanic shouted.

Mari bent an angry look on the Senior Mechanic, then faced the crowd again. “Back off. Please. For your own sakes.”

A common stepped forward slightly from the crowd, an older man with short-cut hair and a face red with fury. “We’re willing to die for you, Daughter.”

“I don’t want anybody dying for me!” Mari yelled back. “It’s senseless. Even if you overcome these Mechanics and free me, that still leaves that ship out there. It can shell this ship and sink it, then make sure no life boat or life raft stays afloat. You would all die. Please, let them take me.”

“We can’t let the Mechanics destroy our only chance for freedom!” a woman cried, her voice torn between anguish and fury.

“Don’t die in vain!” Mari called back. “As long as I live, that chance remains.”

Perhaps inspired by Mari’s words, the Senior Mechanic drew his pistol and put the small end against Mari’s head. “Rush us and I blow her brains out! Do you hear me?”

Alain had to restrain himself from launching a spell at the Senior Mechanic. He did not know enough about how the Mechanic weapons worked to be sure he could kill the Senior Mechanic before he killed Mari, and an attack on the Mechanic leader would surely produce an immediate reaction which would turn into the massacre which Mari feared.

Mari’s face had gone rigid. The crowd had become suddenly silent, so Alain could hear what Mari said to the other Mechanics. “The Senior Mechanics would order your death as easily as they ordered mine, as easily as this one put a gun to my head.”

“Shut up!” The Senior Mechanic glared at the crowd of commons. “We are going to the ladder down to our boats. She is going in the first boat, and she’ll have weapons pointed at her head the entire way. Try anything and she’ll die.”

The commons stood glowering as the Mechanics began backing toward the ladder, the weapon of their leader staying pressed tightly against Mari’s head. As Mari’s arms were being freed for the climb down she caught a glimpse of Alain in the crowd and he saw Mari mouth the words “I love you,” then after a brief pause one more forceful, unspoken word. “Go!” A moment later she was being shoved down the ladder and out of sight.

Alain ignored Mari’s command, but as he tried to think of a plan to save her he heard the volume of anger in the commons rising again. At least this time he knew how to halt them, by following what Mari had done. “Do not,” he called. “She asked you not to die now.”

Eyes turned to him, one of the nearest commons giving Alain a challenging look. “How do you know she means it?”

“Because I am her friend,” Alain replied. “Listen to Lady Mari. Another time will come.”

“Lady Mari?” another common said. “I heard the Mechanics call her Mari.”

“That was the name she used,” a woman called. “In the Northern Ramparts! You’re really her friend?”

“I saw him with her earlier,” another woman said. “Side by side along the railing. They were talking.”

“If you’re really her friend then you know that we have to do something,” another common insisted, her eyes blazing. “We can’t let them just take her!”

Alain looked across the water toward the metal monster which was the Mechanic ship. Mari was already climbing down the access ladder on this ship into a boat which would leave at any moment. The Senior Mechanic had followed, leaving another Mechanic in charge of those still on deck. Little time remained to act, and while he was on this ship he could not help Mari.
I need to get over to that strange ship with her. I cannot get over there on my own.
An idea finally came to him.
But perhaps I can convince these Mechanics to take me there. They are looking for a friend of Mari’s. I will create an illusion that will give them what they seek.
“I will do something, convincing them to take me to that ship. If the rest of you wish to help her, then listen to what she said and trust that we will find a way to escape. Another day will come.”

“What can you do alone?” the most belligerent common demanded.

“I am her friend,” Alain repeated. He could tell that wasn’t enough. Too many of the commons were beginning to turn back to face the Mechanics, their expressions fixed with anger and determination. “I have traveled far with her. We have been through great perils together.”

Another common stared at Alain. “She was traveling with a Mage. The people who saw her up north said she was traveling with a Mage.”

Everyone nearby froze, their startled eyes on Alain. He hesitated only a moment, knowing that he had to keep these commons from rioting against the Mechanics, and to do that he had to convince them that he could do something they could not. Alain nodded once, then for a moment let his expression go into the emotionless state of a Mage. “I am her friend and her Mage and I will help her,” Alain said in a very low voice, letting his tones take on the impassive tones of a Mage. “Did you not know that of the prophecy? The daughter will unite Mages, Mechanics, and the common folk into one force which will overthrow the Great Guilds and free the world. Wait for her, as she commanded. Her day will soon come.”

Even though commons sometimes tried to mimic the emotionless expression and voice of a Mage, none of them could drive feeling from their face or tone as a Mage could. Convinced by Alain’s demonstration, the commons made way for him, their expressions ranging from disbelief to amazement, but visible above all on their faces was a dawning and joyous hope. One man began crying, tears running down his face as he whispered the same words over and over. “She’s really come. She’s really come…”

The other commons shushed the man, blocking him from being seen and heard by the Mechanics.

Alain relaxed to let some emotion show again, then stepped out of the crowd. The weapons of the Mechanics still on deck instantly swung to point at him. Alain held up his hands as he had seen Mari do. “You were looking for Mari’s friend,” he said, trying to mimic the arrogant tones of a Mechanic.

One of the Mechanics beckoned Alain closer. “That’s you?”

Alain came closer, lowering his voice so that only the Mechanics could hear it over the growing murmuring from the crowd of commons behind Alain. “That is me,” he confirmed, trying to put a sneer into it such as the member of the Order had used at Pandin. He thought it came out sounding pretty good, or rather bad.

The Mechanic flushed with anger and raised his weapon. “Watch how you talk to your betters, common.”

“I am not a common,” Alain replied in the exact same tones.

Sudden interest flared in the Mechanic’s eyes. “Another Mechanic, eh? They thought Mari had one with her. Prove it! What’s your specialty and where are you from?”

He had to convince them. Alain kept trying to mimic the manner of the member of the Order as he answered, using information he had heard while traveling with Mari during their journey south to Marandur. “Umburan. That is where I used to work.” Specialty. What did that mean again? Alain used the name for one of Mari’s Mechanic devices. “Far-talkers. My specialty is far-talkers.” The biggest lies he had ever told, and no one he knew was here to see how well he had done it. What a shame.

“In Umburan?” the Mechanic pressed with skepticism Alain could easily see.

He needed something to make the illusion complete. Details. Those mattered in forming an illusion. Mechanic Calu had told Mari something which she had then told Alain. That might provide the detail needed right now. “Yes. Umburan,” Alain replied. “The big far-talker there could not be fixed.”

“He’s right,” another Mechanic said to the first. “Umburan was down for a long time. Besides, who knows about far-talkers except Mechanics? If he was a common he wouldn’t have heard of them.”

“All right, then.” The Mechanic grinned unpleasantly. The crowd of commons had gone silent, listening intently to what Alain and the Mechanics were saying. “Dumb enough to join Mari but smart enough to throw yourself on the mercy of the Guild now, huh?”

Perhaps one of these Mechanics was like Calu. “You should listen to Master Mechanic Mari. She was betrayed by her own Guild when she—”

“Shut up! None of us want to hear any treason. And for your information, it’s just Mari now. Her Guild title has been revoked by order of the Guild Master.”

Alain felt anger, balanced by a calm confidence he could not understand. It allowed him to maintain the cool arrogance he wanted to project. “She remains a Master Mechanic beyond any ability of anyone to deny her that status.”

He could hear the commons behind him muttering, passing along what they had heard and commenting on it. “The daughter used to be a Mechanic, too, but she’s revolted against them to help us.”