The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock (48 page)

“It is right, Malock, and you know it,” said
Vashnas. “Besides, I have nothing else to live for. I will die soon
anyway, I am sure. I might as well go out with a bang, if you know
what I mean.”

Kinker wanted to say something, but his throat was
being crushed under Vashnas's powerful grip and he was unable to
hit her with his right arm due to the way she was positioned. He
looked with panicked eyes up at Kano, but it was clear that the sea
goddess could do nothing to help him in this situation.

“I am sorry, Kinker,” Vashnas said in his left ear.
“It's nothing personal. I really do like you as a person, despite
what you did to that little boy. It's just revenge. You
understand?”

No, Kinker did not, but he never got a chance to say
that. Vashnas's grip tightened around his neck and a second later,
all Kinker saw, heard, felt, tasted, and smelled ... was
nothing.

-

“No!” Malock shouted as Vashnas pushed Kinker's
corpse forward. “Vashnas, how could you—?”

He never got a chance to finish his sentence because
Kano immediately leaped down from her throne. She landed with a
splash right in front of Vashnas, where Kinker had stood, and
thrust her watery arm into Vashnas's mouth. The aquarian writhed
and struggled to get away, but she appeared rooted to the floor as
Kano spoke.

“I know how much you like water, aquarian,” Kano
growled in a voice that was far more dangerous than the waves
around Destan during murder season. “Let's see how you do without
it.”

Vashnas's eyes widened, but she never got the chance
to respond. Her entire body dried up, like a fish left out in the
sun for too long, and Kano pushed it over. Vashnas's dried body
smashed into pieces when it hit the floor, leaving behind only her
clothes.

Malock stood still. He didn't know what to do. He
wasn't even sure what to think. He just looked at Kinker's body and
then at the remains of Vashnas's shattered corpse and his entire
mind felt like it was going to implode, which given the
circumstances did not seem entirely unreasonable.

Tinkar jumped down from the thrones, too, and landed
not far from Malock. He looked at Vashnas's clothes with a sad
expression. “I always suspected her fate would not be a good one.
And it looks like I was right.”

“What about Kinker?” Malock said. He said the words,
but it felt like someone else was saying them. “Can you bring him
back to life?”

Kano shook her head. “I am sorry, Malock, but we
cannot. Even we gods are unable to revive the dead.”

“We could get the God of Puppetry to reanimate his
corpse,” Tinkar offered. “Of course, that would make his body a
puppet, but if you don't mind—“

Without thinking, Malock walked up to Tinkar, even
as the god was speaking, and with all of his might slapped the God
of Fate in the face.

That turned out to be a huge mistake. Tinkar's face
felt like iron and when Malock's hand met it, he heard the bones in
his hand
snap
, the sound echoing throughout the throne room
like a gun shot. He cursed loudly and held his now-broken hand as
Tinkar looked at him with astonishment and anger.

“Did you just slap me?” said Tinkar.

Malock looked up from his broken hand, met the god's
eyes, and nodded. “I did.”

“For what reason?” said Tinkar. “I didn't hurt
you.”

Malock could not believe what he was hearing. “Did
you not hear the laundry list of crimes I accused you of earlier?
Or are you just deaf and dumb?”

“Put that way, I do sound like a terrible being,”
said Tinkar. “But you should really be blaming Kano for all of
this. She was the one who summoned you, after all, and it was
Messenger-and-Punisher, working under her orders, who took the
wrong guy. And she also, may I add, murdered Vashnas in cold
blood.”

Malock looked over at Kano. She was walking over to
them, almost casually, as if she murdered aquarian women every
day.

“I did what I had to do, Malock,” said Kano, her
tone cold. “Murdering a potential godling is a terrible offense. It
is a slap in the face to the Powers themselves. Death was the only
suitable punishment for such a crime.”

Tears burned Malock's eyes as he said, “Was that so?
You mean you couldn't have just locked her up or something?”

“Prisons can be broken out of,” said Kano. “That is
why we have none on World's End. I know how much you loved her,
but—“

“But nothing,” Malock said. “You gods ... I don't
care how this sounds, but I think all of you—northern and
southern—are nothing but sick psychos who aren't worthy of any form
of worship or praise. Not a single one of you.”

The tension in the room was so thick that Malock
could feel it. Both Kano and Tinkar looked equally enraged and for
the first time he could understand how they were related. The way
their mouths twisted, the way they stood ... the family resemblance
was obvious. And Malock knew that every minute they wasted standing
there was another minute he was allowed to live.

Finally, Kano said, “Get out.”

“What?” said Malock.

Kano pointed at the double doors. “I said, get
out.”

“You mean you aren't going to smite me?” said
Malock.

“Trust me, mortal, we would love to do that,” said
Tinkar. “But you are still under Kano's protection and for once
your death would do nothing to help us. Just get out.”

Malock glanced at Kinker's and Vashnas's bodies.
“But Kinker and Vashnas—“

“Out,” Kano said in her firmest voice.

This time, Malock didn't argue. Still gripping his
broken hand, he made his way out of the room as quickly as he
could. He didn't even look over his shoulder as he left, knowing as
he did that the two gods might reconsider their decision if he
showed any signs of hesitation or reluctance.

That was also why he kept his head down. He didn't
want them to see the tears streaming down his face.

***

U
pon exiting the Temple, Malock was
immediately greeted by Banika, Jenur, and the entire crew of the
Iron Wind
. He was almost taken by surprise at their
appearance, having forgotten that they were awaiting him outside.
Messenger was nowhere to be seen, although the putrid scent of his
ooze hung in the air like a noxious gas.

“Captain,” said Banika, stepping forward with Jenur
by her side. “What happened to you hand? And where are Vashnas and
Kinker?”

Malock didn't look them in the eyes as he said,
“They're ... gone.”

Jenur peered at him closely and said, “Gone? What do
you mean? It's not like they won a free all-expenses paid tour of
the city, right?”

Malock looked up at them both, not bothering to hide
the tears running down the sad of his face, and said, “Dead.
They're both dead.”

Banika was as silent and still as usual, but somehow
Malock sensed that this was different from before. And he realized
what was so different: She was in shock, expressing it in the only
way she knew how.

Jenur, however, was far more expressive. She
actually grabbed Malock by the collar of his shirt and said,
“Impossible. You're joking.”

“I wish I was, but I'm not,” Malock said. “Both of
them are dead.”

Jenur let go of his collar and staggered back, like
she had been slapped in the face. “But Kinker can't be dead. He's
too tough for that.”

“How did it happen?” Banika asked, her voice
cracking through her usual calm tone. “Who killed them?”

Malock gave them a condensed version of the events
that happened in the throne room. The rest of the crew was also
listening and by the time he finished, he saw tears in the eyes of
almost every sailor. He hadn't realized until today just how much
the rest of the crew had valued Kinker and even Vashnas. It made
him feel even worse about complaining about Kinker's destiny
earlier.

Jenur glared at the Temple gates, which had shut
when Malock exited, and said, “That damned bitch. If she was still
alive, I'd take my knife and jab it straight up her—“

“Don't,” said Malock. “Just ... don't.”

Jenur sighed. “You're right. It's just ... how could
she do that? How could she murder Kinker in cold blood? And where
is Kinker's body? Why didn't you take it with you?”

“Kano and Tinkar didn't let me,” said Malock. “They
told me to leave. They gave me no choice.”

Jenur looked up at the Temple. “I'm getting in and
getting his body. I don't care if that means I have to fight a
couple of gods to do it.”

Malock had a brief mental vision of Jenur being
drained of all of her fluids, just like Vashnas, and he said,
“Wait, Jenur, don't—“

The gates cracked open again and Kinker's body was
tossed out. It landed in an awkward position at Malock's feet,
causing the prince to step back involuntarily. He did not see who
had tossed out Kinker's body to them, but he understood that
whoever it was, they cared little for the corpse of a mortal
man.

Jenur immediately bent down over Kinker's corpse. It
took Malock a moment to realize that she was crying, actually
crying, which now that he thought about it was highly unusual for
her. He had always thought of her as being tough, as being stronger
than most people, but maybe she really was just like everyone
else.

The rest of the crew gathered around to see Kinker's
corpse. Despite the tears and sorrowful expressions on the face of
every sailor, no one else went to touch Kinker's corpse, as Jenur
was doing. And Malock understood. He understood that far too well,
especially when he thought about Vashnas.

Because they couldn't stand there forever, the crew
had to figure out a way to move Kinker's body out of the city and
back onto the ship. Malock had made the decision that they would
have to head back home now, because they had finally reached
World's End and done what they had come here to do. No one
protested, but a few sailors did seem to be a little reluctant to
leave such a beautiful city so soon (although in Malock's eyes the
city no longer looked as beautiful as it once did).

Banika, as cool and collected as she ever was,
turned up with a stretcher that she claimed to have bought from a
katabans salesman. How she had managed to buy it when they had no
money and none of them could speak the language of the katabans,
Malock didn't know, but he knew Banika had her ways of doing things
and he didn't always know how she did it. At least no one was
trying to get them, so he supposed that she didn't steal it at
least.

However she got it, the stretcher allowed the crew
to move Kinker's body with far less trouble than they ordinarily
would have. Malock led the procession out of the city, remembering
the exact route that they had used to find the Temple of the Gods.
He remembered it only because Vashnas had shown him it when they
were walking and he was trying to savor every last memory he had of
her, now that she was gone.

As before, the katabans moved out of the way, making
room for the crew to pass through with little difficulty. Also as
before, most of the katabans watched the mortals hauling Kinker's
corpse out of the city. Malock didn't know what the katabans were
thinking or if they knew why Kinker was dead. All he knew was that
he was glad they weren't bothering him and the others. Maybe they
were still under orders by Kano or Tinkar not to.

Soon the procession reached the gates, which they
passed through, and not long after that, the
Iron Wind
came
into view again. It looked as battered and beaten as ever and
Malock didn't think it would be able to make the journey back
north, especially now that he was unsure if they had the protection
of Kano anymore.

Yet the
Iron Wind
was not alone. Berthed next
to it was a gigantic hulk of a ship, completely black and
apparently made entirely of metal. It looked completely different
from any ship Malock had seen; in fact, he wasn't even sure it
could sail because it didn't have any sails, at least from what he
could see. Amid the ship's smokestacks was a gray flag that
fluttered in the wind, too high up for Malock to make out its
precise design.

“Oh great,” said Jenur as the procession stopped at
the edge of the jungle. “What the hell is
that
?”

“Not sure,” said Malock. “Could be a trap.”

“Should we wait here, then, Captain?” said
Banika.

Malock shook his head. “We have to go back to the
ship eventually. I mean, it's not like we have very much left to
lose, right? Let's just go down to the beach and see who it
is.”

So the procession started again, heading down to the
dock. The gigantic metal ship was berthed on the other side of the
dock, but it wasn't until they were on the dock themselves that a
familiar female voice shouted, “Hey!”

Malock looked up in time to see Hanarova standing at
the bulwarks of the other ship. On the ship's starboard were
written the words
Clockwork Heart
, which he thought was the
name of the ship. That didn't tell him what Hanarova was doing
there, though.

She climbed onto the bulwarks of the
Clockwork
Heart
and landed on the deck with ease. Malock gestured for the
rest of his crew to take Kinker's corpse up to the ship even as she
approached him with a smile on her face. It was an amused smile,
though, and slightly incredulous, as if she could not believe that
she was seeing them.

“I see you made it to World's End in one piece,”
said Hanarova in an overly sweet voice. “Good job. I thought for
sure the Historic God would have killed you, but I guess he wasn't
very hungry.”

Malock regarded Hana with distaste. “Kinker's
dead.”

Hana didn't even blink at that. “Who?”

“A member of my crew,” said Malock. “Vashnas is also
dead.”

“Oh, I know who
that
is,” said Hana. “I am
sorry to hear about that. Anything I can do for you?”