The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality Book 4) (22 page)

Ken pointed to the banned technology text that Lukas still held. “Anybody else who has managed to get their hands on that can present themselves as a candidate to lead us.”

“We should have an organized group in charge,” Senior Mechanic Gina said cautiously. “But when dealing with issues of Mages and commons, there is only one person who can give orders.”

“I just don’t want her setting herself up as the only one in charge,” the dissenter complained.

“I don’t want that, either,” Mari said. “Believe me. I want to build things and fix things, and when this is over that’s what I’m going to do. Anybody who tries to haul me into a Guild Master’s job is going to face a very nasty fight.”

“That settles it,” Lukas said. “None of us would have been interested in joining—if you’ll forgive me, Mari—a mindless act of rebellion by a girl barely out of school. But the Guild has already made it clear how much they fear your ability to inspire other Mechanics, and it is obvious that you have put a lot of thinking and preparation into this. We’ve been looking for a leader, and we’ve found one. A leader with plans and the means to carry them out. That leaves only the question of where we’re going to take all of the equipment we will hopefully get from Edinton.”

“I want to avoid saying that until we leave Edinton,” Mari said. “There is a place, but since we have a chance of losing someone at Edinton I don’t want to tell everyone yet and risk the Guild learning right away.”

As the meeting broke up, Mari turned to her friends. “Thanks, guys. Alain and I should stay aboard the
Pride
to keep an eye on this bunch.”

“It’s a good thing Master Mechanic Lukas backed you,” Calu commented. “He deliberately brought up issues others might use to try to undermine you so you could address them up front.”

“Yeah,” Alli said, “but he was also testing her. I worked with Lukas enough to be able to spot that. If Mari hadn’t passed, he would have challenged her. Hey, Mari, as long as you’re staying here, maybe Calu and I should go back to the
Gray Lady
.”

“You just want to be alone in that rear cabin,” Mari teased, feeling giddy with relief that she had made it through the meeting so well.

“Stars above, yes! Calu and I got married yesterday, remember? And we didn’t get to spend last night alone.”

“We did get to spend it playing pirate,” Calu said.

“Yeah, we did.” Alli giggled. “That will make a great story for our kids. Playing pirate on our honeymoon night.”

“They probably won’t want to hear about that,” Captain Banda said, approaching. “Master Mechanic Mari, my sailors and those from the
Gray Lady
who are still aboard this ship wish to present you with a gift.”

“What? A gift?” She turned to see the commons gathered nearby, one from the
Gray Lady
in front.

That sailor stepped forward and offered Mari something.

She stared at the object in the sailor’s hands. “A knife?” Mari picked it up carefully, turning it to examine the weapon. It was a sailor’s knife, with a short, broad, heavy blade designed to handle dozens of tasks. The handle, gleaming hardwood inlaid with mother-of-pearl from seashells, contrasted with the dark metal of the blade. Folded into the handle was a curved spike that could be swung out for use. “It’s beautiful. Why are you giving it to me?”

“It is traditional, Lady Mari,” the sailor said. “To gift a knife whenever someone is initiated into the fellowship of Jules.”

“He means the pirates,” Captain Banda explained. “You can be certain that most new pirates don’t get a knife nearly that nice.”

“Most new pirates aren’t the daughter herself,” the sailor said. “Any doubts anyone had disappeared when we saw you take this ship like Jules would have. Her blood is in you.”

“Thank you,” said Mari, looking down at the knife, simultaneously feeling proud of the gift and embarrassed by it and the praise. “I will do my best to, uh…”
Be a good pirate
didn’t sound right. “Live up to the example of Jules.”

The sailors backed away, smiling and nodding.

“Put the knife in your teeth,” Alli suggested. “Let’s see how piratical you look.”

“Weren’t you and Calu going back to the
Gray Lady
?” Mari asked pointedly. “You’re going to need your rest. How many days until we reach Edinton, Captain Banda?”

“If these winds hold, about three days,” Banda said.

“Three days?” Alli said. “What do you think, Calu? Are you up for three days of serious
resting
on our honeymoon?”

Mari tried to keep a straight face as she shook her head at Alli. “Over the next three days you’re not supposed to be
resting
nonstop, wench, you’re supposed to be helping plan our attack on the Guild Hall!”

“I am not a wench!” Alli said as Calu led her away. “I’m your armaments expert! And don’t you forget it, your daughterness!”

“Don’t call me that!”

Mari noticed Captain Banda smiling at her. “Your friends must be a great comfort in times of stress,” he said.

“I don’t know if they’re always a comfort,” Mari said. “But they do help me keep my head on straight. And help keep my head from exploding when the pressure gets too high.” She indicated Alain. “But by far the most important is Mage Alain. Without him, I couldn’t do this.”

Banda studied Alain. “It’s real, then? I’ve noticed the promise rings but didn’t wish to pry.”

“It’s real,” Mari said, putting her arm through Alain’s.

“You were wise not to make too much of that while convincing the others,” Banda said. “They’ve had enough to take on as it is. We’ll clean out the half of the main cabin that was occupied by the Senior Mechanics so you’ll have a place to stay on the ship. I don’t think any of the Mechanics you’ve freed will begrudge you a little more space and privacy for the next few days.”

* * * *

Alain woke just before dawn two days later. Mari sat in a chair before the window looking out over the stern of the
Pride
. He got up as well. “More nightmares?”

She shook her head, keeping her gaze fixed on the water. “Just very restless. We should reach Edinton tonight, and so many details of our plan have to wait on exactly what we find there.”

“There is something else,” Alain said, walking to stand beside her.

Mari sighed. “Serves me right for trying to lie to a Mage. Alain, I’m worried about what might happen. If I mess up in Edinton as badly as I did at Julesport, we could have a disaster on our hands.”

“You messed up at Julesport?”

“Don’t pretend otherwise,” she said unhappily. “You’ve been very nice, you and everyone else, not to bring up my mistakes. But I still made them, and things could easily have ended up a lot worse because of that.”

Alain moved to be able to see Mari’s face. “Mistakes?”

She glared at him. “You do remember that you were kidnapped, right? Because I wanted to play Master Mechanic and ignored my larger responsibilities? Including my responsibilities to you?”

“This has been bothering you?” Alain sat down on the small ledge running just inside the stern window.

“Of course it’s been bothering me! Alain, if I hadn’t sent you off alone, you wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”

“I was not alone,” Alain pointed out. “I had soldiers of Julesport with me.”

“That’s sort of irrelevant, isn’t it? They couldn’t protect you and I wasn’t there and they died and you got kidnapped,” Mari finished, sounding both miserable and angry with herself. “I messed that up so badly. And now we’re going into Edinton and if I mess up again like that dozens of people could die.”

Alain paused to think his words through. “I understand your worries, but do not blame yourself for Julesport. Mari, you know I was knocked unconscious, and the soldiers were killed by Mages using spells to conceal themselves.”

“Yes. So?”

“The two Dark Mages we found and Mage Niaro could not have so quickly and silently killed that many soldiers. They must have had help. I have discussed this with the other Mages, and they agree that the Mage Guild must have assisted in my kidnapping, using at least several other Mages, then turned me over to the Dark Mages for degradation and humiliation.”

Mari frowned, then gave him a demanding look. “Why haven’t you mentioned that to me before now?”

“Because it has been clear that you did not wish to discuss events in Julesport.”

“All right, but so what? How does that change anything?”

“It means,” Alain explained, “that if you had been with me, you would have been killed along with the soldiers. You could not have defended yourself against opponents you could not see. Perhaps the Mage Guild intended that and were frustrated by you not being there. Perhaps they would simply have taken advantage of the opportunity to kill you. But had we both left the city hall in Julesport at the same time, I would still have been kidnapped, and you would have died.”

Mari stared at him, her mouth partway open. Finally recovering, she shook her head at him. “You’re saying that my unthinking and selfish decision saved my life?”

“And mine,” Alain said. “For without you, Mage Asha could not have led the others to me.”

She fell silent, looking past him at the waves. “All right. But even if it is true that I made the right decision for the wrong reasons, the fact remains that I had no idea it would be the right decision.”

“Perhaps you did,” Alain said. “You stayed to fix that Mechanic device, which is of value to the commons in Julesport. That was not selfish. It placed them in your debt. Perhaps that unselfish act is what led them to ask the Confederation warships to protect our departure from the harbor.”

Mari finally smiled slightly. “I don’t know if I believe you, but… It’s nice to think I may have at least made good mistakes.” Her smile vanished. “But Alain, everyone will be counting on me in Edinton. What if my mistakes there are all bad ones?”

“Then you will do something to fix them,” Alain said. “That is what you do, is it not? Fix things?”

That earned him another brief smile. “Why do they trust me, Alain? I’m not somebody like General Flyn. I’m just me. Yet they’re letting me make the big decisions about Edinton, including attacking the Guild Hall.”

“Master Mechanic Lukas did not simply accept you as a leader,” Alain said. “Not until you had passed the tests he asked of you. And if anything goes wrong in Edinton, they know you have proven the ability to make decisions quickly under great stress.”

“You mean like in Altis, where my great decisions trapped us in a warehouse?” Mari said.

Alain shook his head at her. “Your decisions were not wrong. They should have worked. You did not know we were being perceived by that Mechanic device that betrayed our location. I will remind you that you kept making decisions despite the situation getting more and more desperate. You did not freeze in terror or indecision.”

“I came awful close, Alain,” Mari admitted.

“But you did not. You kept thinking and you kept acting.” Alain reached to rest one hand on hers where it lay in her lap. “You have two more important qualifications. One is that those who follow you believe in you. That confidence is no small thing in battle. Call it pure illusion if you will. You know almost as well as I the power that such an illusion can wield.”

Mari grimaced but nodded. “What’s the second thing?”

“You listen to those who know more and are willing to accept their advice, just as you have listened to me and are willing to accept that perhaps you are not so awful a leader as you fear. Perhaps you are even very good at it.”

This time her smile lingered. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You did not kill me when first we met.”

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Mari closed her eyes and sighed. “I should try to get a little sleep. Would you mind lying down with me? When you’re holding me, it’s easier to keep the nightmares at bay.”

“I could be convinced to lie down with you and hold you,” Alain said.

“I’ll bet you could!” She smiled at him. “Thank you. Sometimes I think too much.”

“You will never be someone who thinks too little,” Alain said.

“That’s true. Every time I think you’re totally deluded about me and just seeing some perfect illusion of me, you say something that helps me realize you do know me.” She nodded to him. “Whatever happens in Edinton, I’ll do my best.”

* * * *

The
Gray Lady
and the
Pride of Longfalls
, both flying the flag of the Mechanics Guild, entered the harbor of Edinton just before midnight. A harbor police boat rowed up to the
Pride
, but before those aboard could issue any instructions Captain Banda called down to them in the arrogant and assured tones of a Mechanic. “Guild business!”

That was all it took to get past the harbor defenses, which had been strongly admonished not to interfere in any way with Mechanics Guild shipping.

Leaving behind the unhappy occupants of the harbor police boat, the
Pride
led the way through the harbor, past a variety of large sailing ships which carried out trade all over the Sea of Jules and into the Sea of Bakre as well as many smaller ships whose size, oars, and sails were suited for short voyages up and down the coast. Reaching an anchorage as close to the main quay as possible, the
Pride
tied up to the buoy and passed a line over to the
Gray Lady
so the smaller ship could tether to the larger one.

The boat from the
Gray Lady
and two much larger longboats from the
Pride of Longfalls
came alongside the boat landing a short time later. Crewmembers tied up the boats as thirty-one Mechanics disembarked displaying widely varying degrees of physical skill and agility. Alli arranged the armed Mechanics in front of the group, which produced an intimidating image. “We have as many rifles as two or three Imperial legions,” she commented to Mari.

A few city guards at the landing, previously bored as they endured the tedium of duty during a period of the day when little ever happened, were gaping at the Mechanics. Their officer came forward, looking as nervous as could be expected. “Honored Mechanics, may I request—”