Dragon Choir (22 page)

“
Oh, very profound indeed,” Kobb dabbed his mouth with a white
silk napkin, eager to join the conversation. “And from the mouth of
an ogre no less. You must tell us your story, Hurn-Ka-Gop. Ogres
with brains are in short supply around here.”

Hurn snorted
at Kobb and repositioned his legs, bumping the table again.

“
Is this going somewhere, Kobb?” Delik dropped his spoon in
his soup bowl, making a clatter on the porcelain.

“
Yes, yes, be patient. I always begin with a soup; it is nice,
isn’t it. Hungry hmm? You can have the scaler’s too if you like, he
won’t mind.”

Tikis hissed
at Kobb and rose from his chair, but Delik grabbed his shoulder,
urging him to keep calm. The pseudodragon batted the air with its
wings and swung on its perch with a hiss of its own. Kobb feigned
misunderstanding, acting shocked by Tikis’s reaction. With a knife
at everyone’s back, they would all have to be patient and endure
the performance.

Amber hadn’t
touched her soup. Uighara stared over the table at her while he
ate. Amber kept her eyes down, shoulders slumped under the weight
of the redeemer’s eyes. There was a thump under the table and
Uighara flinched, screwing up his face in pain, eyes darting
between Delik and Minni.

Minni pointed
her finger at the redeemer. “Leave the child alone, dog.”

Uighara
sneered and returned his foul gaze to Amber.

Elrin grabbed
his fork. He’d pin the poaching bastard’s hand to the table; that
would break his hold on the poor girl. Uighara sensed the intent
and turned on Elrin, binding his hand with magic. Crushing pain
seized him as if the redeemer’s own heel was standing on the young
man’s wrist.

Minni kicked
under the table again, diverting Uighara’s attention and releasing
the magical grip. Elrin took the chance to drop the fork, rubbing
his wrist in pain. The redeemer’s strange magic left him racked by
guilt for his offence, festering with a sense of not amounting to
expectation. Just a scraping of the foul priest’s oppression had
made him wilt in mere moments. What poor Amber had suffered as
Uighara’s acolyte was beyond him.

Kobb tapped
his bowl with the spoon. “Now, now, children! No fighting at the
table! Commodore, get a leash on your hound. Or I’ll tie him up my
own way.” The flamboyant pirate stood, snapping his fingers at
Uighara. “Hoy! Over here! Eyes on me, poacher.”

Uighara shot
his gaze upon Kobb; vile pride smearing his lips into a smile. Kobb
grasped at his throat, wheezing. The tiny dragon flew to Kobb’s
shoulder and hissed at Uighara, whipping its long tail. A guard
pressed a blade into Uighara’s neck, piercing the flesh, spilling a
line of blood onto the white silk collar of his robe.

Gasping for
air, Kobb fell back into his ornate seat. The face of Uighara’s
guard rippled like a bucket full of eels, morphing the guard’s face
into Fjhor’s. Fjhor’s body had not moved, but his face was alive
with moving black ink. He was both here and there. Elrin had seen
sorcerers teleport themselves around Calimska. He’d even heard of
invisibility spells, but how was this possible?

With a final
hiss at Uighara, the pseudodragon encircled its serpentine tail
around Kobb’s arm and nestled its body in to the ruffles of his
shirt, satisfied it had nullified the hostile magic. Breathing
easier, Kobb scratched the little creature’s chin. “My dear,
Prisella. What would I do without you?” Prisella nuzzled up to
Kobb’s cheek, appreciating the gratitude. Bolstered with confidence
in his pet, Kobb waved off Uighara’s guard. The warrior withdrew
his blade and the tattoos on his face rippled away, dissolving into
the black pools of his eyes, his original features restored.

Kobb leapt
onto his chair and rising as high as a human might stand, he thrust
a quivering finger at Uighara. “That was your last chance. Use your
ill-gotten magic on my ship again and I’ll have you flogged till
the Lord’s black star shines white.” The poacher priest maintained
his greasy self-satisfied smile, tilting his head in mock
acquiescence to Kobb’s scolding.

Standing down
from his chair, Kobb called the servants to clear the first course
and serve the second. While the food was delightful and filling,
the mood at the grand table was oppressive; dense with undigested
conflict. Their pirate host sulked at the head of the table, no
longer the entertainer. He ate, filling his mouth through each
course, drawing out the long gluttonous silence. The room condensed
the unsaid. A thick expectation of argument clouded the air,
brewing like a thundercloud that would not break.

Only after
dessert was served did the shankakin pirate regain his cheerful
resolve, stabbing cubes of mango with joyful appetite, smiling to
himself and relaxing into his chair. He fidgeted, waiting for his
guests to finish, like a child brimming with a new secret he had to
tell.

Once the table
was cleared, Kobb rose from his chair. “I just can’t think straight
without a meal under my belt. Now that we’re all full and in good
spirits, it’s time for a little game.”

Pelegrin and
Delik stood at the same time.

“
I will not be part of this charade any longer!” bellowed
Pelegrin, slapping his palm on the table. Delik yelled something in
Shankan that Elrin didn’t understand. Minni smirked.

The tattooed
guards deflated their bluster, quietening all protest with a sharp
blade pressing into each man’s back.

“
Aha! I can see you are excited to play. Let me tell you the
rules. Each of you think of something you want, and I will to give
it to you. Sounds good doesn’t it, but in return you give something
to me. I help you. You help me. We all get what we want. Are you
ready to play?”

“
Do we have a choice?” asked Elrin.

“
It would certainly be impolite to refuse. You’ve just filled
your bellies with my generosity, what’s the harm in a little
after-dinner game? Goodness, gracious me.”

Hurn held up
eight of his meaty fingers, with hands strong enough to pluck
Kobb’s head from his shoulders. “This many gifts you take, we take
one. Hurn Ga Kogh knows not equal.”

“
Well, you ate more than everyone else. That’s not equal is
it? One gift is better than none. Think yourself lucky to get
anything. When was the last time you got a present, eh?” The pirate
grinned and his gold teeth caught the glare of afternoon sun
shining through the stern gallery.

“
Got free, got shield, got battle, got little bell song, got
swim. Hurn Ga Kogh much got. You much take. Give
little.”

“
My glory! If I knew the cogs in that noggin had so much
grease, I would have thought twice about saving you.” Kobb crossed
his arms like a petulant child, unhappy with a toy.

“
You no save. Pirate’s little spears bite.” Hurn slapped the
weeping wound on his shoulder.

“
You fired on the ship!” said Elrin, incensed. “How does that
save anyone?”

“
Why didn’t you board the ship like we agreed?” asked
Delik.

“
Enough!” yelled Kobb. “Can we please just get along? Can’t
you understand, I’m trying to help you?”

Delik pressed on. “Why sink that one and not the others? Why
risk
Juniper
at
the same time? You said you would board, not fire. That’s why I got
you for the job.”

“
Enough!” Kobb climbed back on his chair, standing over
Delik.

“
You knew the cargo, Kobb,” said Minni. “How could
you?”

“
Your new toy churned through the sea like some great sea
monster! How was I to know it was the work of this fine young boy,
rushing you all to aid my attack?” Kobb threw his arms up,
innocence personified with a splash of colour. “I panicked! I
wrongly guessed the two others were chasing you. How was I to know
that young Scrambletoe would do so well in his first big cut
up?”

“
That one lies,” said Tikis. “These ones sent messages flying.
That one has long eye. That one knows drakkin sailing Jando
ships.”

“
Yes, yes, perhaps I did stretch the truth a little,” Kobb sat
back down in his chair, deflated. “If you wish the truth dear
friends; I do feel I should be totally honest now that we’ve got to
know one another over a meal.”

Pelegrin
crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair. “Truth from a
pirate grub, this will be a riot.”

“
I was to sink both ships, though I’m not proud of it,” said
Kobb. It was hard to know if his shame was true or just an
act.

“
But our deal was that you got your pick of three of the ships
anyway,” said Delik.

“
Yes, I admit it was fair at the time. Which is precisely why
I had a problem with it. Dear boy, I can’t let you go sailing
about, armed to the teeth. Moral crusaders like you are bad for
business; fighting for a cause is dangerous for those without one.
Doing it this way saved my crew getting too bloodied up, yours as
well I might add, and I still got my ships. Four now; I must thank
you again for your speedy arrival. It did make my job a little
easier.”

“
And what would you have done with us?” asked
Elrin.

“
I would have thanked you very much and said ta ta, but Delik
here brought so many lovely gifts with him, I had to invite you all
to dinner. I hear it was you who turned it all around. My quarry
was nervous, she upped her anchor and made for Rum Hill to
investigate. I never would have caught them in time. But you out
did this lot, so I hear, and mastered the Council’s secret gadgets.
Magnificent work!”

“
But I ...” Elrin didn’t know what to say; thanks from a
pirate made him wary.

“
So you were prepared to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of
innocents to save a few of your freebooters?” Delik shook his
head.

“
No, no, to tell you the truth, I just didn’t want you to have
the ships. Two shankakin at sea, I don’t think so. I don’t want the
competition.”

“
Braggart!” spat Delik. “All for your damned ego!”

“
And how is it, that you find yourself in the rebellion? Is it
not your own ego? Couldn’t you stand the whispers behind your back
about your father? Is this not an effort to clear your family’s
name from your shame at Tillydale? There is no gain without loss,
dear boy.”

“
Don’t preach to me, Kobb. You’re no holy man.”

“
Indeed not, they’re no fun at all. So let us begin our game
before the day is through, eh? Commodore Pelegrin, we will start
with you. What gift would you like?”

“
I tire of your game and it has only begun,” Pelegrin sneered
at his guard. “Yet, I have no choice. I want my ships, my men, my
sword and my return to Jando.”

“
Well, well, that is quite a list. And as a Jandan you should
know about what is whose and whose is what. All which was yours,
dear Pelegrin, now is not so. How can I give you your ship if it
simply isn’t? I’m not some djinn. I have to work by the law of the
sea. Now remember everyone; only one wish each. Because Pelegrin
had to go first, I will give him two of his wishes, but only for
him because he is such a good friend and has helped me in the past.
I’ll give you a sword and your passage home. In return you tell me
all about your black powder.”

“
It comes from Calimska. That is all I know.”

“
Come now, that’s common knowledge. I could have asked the
scaler that.”

Tikis jumped
forward without warning. Kobb tumbled off his chair, rolling out of
the way of the drakkin’s claws. Three guards leapt on Tikis,
forcing him to the floor. They bound his hands behind his back and
sat him on the chair again, then tied his feet to the legs of the
chair.

Kobb dusted
himself off. “Touchy, eh. You scalers are all so sensitive.”

The drakkin
snarled and lashed his tongue. His muscles strained as he tested
his bonds, making the chair creak. The guard pressed the point of a
blade against the back of his neck.

“
Now wait your turn. Uighara is next and I haven’t even got my
answer from Pelegrin yet. Patience, scaler, patience.”

“
Come on, Pelegrin. Don’t keep us all waiting. Out with it.”
Kobb nodded to Fjhor, but it was Pelegrin’s guard who moved forward
as if the nod were to him. Heavy hands twisted the Commodore’s
freshly healed arm into an awkward position, extracting a grimace
as the newly fused tendons stretched more than comfort
allowed.

Pelegrin
gasped. “Calimska supplies us in exchange for trade and
treaty.”

“
Where do they get it from?” pressed Kobb.

“
We don’t know,” Pelegrin gritted his teeth in
pain.

“
I doubt that.” Kobb gave another nod.

The guard’s
face rippled with ink; Fjhor was in control. The fist came down
like a hammer, snapping Pelegrin’s elbow backwards. The Commodore
issued an involuntary shriek before fainting. His head thumped on
the table, disturbing the cutlery.

Amber rocked
from side to side and an intense pulse of nausea caught Elrin. This
torture was unnecessary and abhorrent.

Kobb slapped
Pelegrin across the face. “Wakey, Wakey.”

Fjhor pulled
the Commodore’s other arm, stretching it up behind his back.

“
Tell me, Pelegrin, or that sword will be useless to
you.”

“
We know it comes from Calimska. They make it.” Pelegrin
gasped.