The Pirates of Pacta Servanda (Pillars of Reality Book 4) (32 page)

The
Gray Lady
led the way out of the harbor, out between other vessels that sat silent as she and the
Pride
wove their way toward open water.

Alain leaned on the railing as they passed the breakwater. The swells came stronger as the ships entered the open sea, the
Pride
rolling and twisting as she put on more sail and gained speed.

“Go west until we’re out of sight of land,” Mari told Captain Banda. “Then turn south.”

“South?”

“Yes, south. We’ll hold a conference tomorrow, or is it today now? In the morning.” Mari came over to Alain. “We made it. Do you think anyone will pay attention to me any more after that near disaster?”

“You may be surprised,” Alain said.

* * * *

Mari woke to the rolling motion of the
Pride
and a sense of relief mingled with dread at the conference that had to be held.

She got out of the bunk carefully, somehow untangling herself from Alain without waking him despite the tight quarters.

Asha was in the other bunk, looking beat-up but otherwise all right. Mechanic Dav slept on the deck beside her bunk, still keeping guard.

Mari went out on deck, squinting against the light of the sun and a brisk wind that carried salt spray with it. The day looked beautiful, all four ships sailing together with the sun nearly overhead—

Four ships?

Mari shaded her eyes, staring. Each of the four ships flew the square banner of the new day from its highest mast. The
Pride
she was on, the
Gray Lady
was bounding along to starboard, and one of the other two must be the ship that Edinton had provided.

Captain Banda came up next to her, smiling. “A fine sight, isn’t it? Nothing beats a tall ship with the wind in her sails and a fair sea.”

“Where did we get four ships from?” Mari asked.

“That large one there to port is the
Worthy Son
, which was pirated out of the Edinton port itself in a daring raid and is now loaded with many rare and valuable Mechanic tools.” Banda pointed astern. “And that ship with all the boats is the
Dolphin
, a Confederation transport used for landing soldiers. Lost at sea, I was informed, fate unknown. It’s possible it was also captured by pirates.”

“Are there soldiers aboard it?” Mari asked, aghast.

“Aye. I’m not certain how many.”

“The Confederation isn’t supposed to be getting directly involved in anything yet! Captain, we need to hold a conference. I’ll give you a list of everyone who has to be there. They’re probably scattered on all four ships.”

Banda nodded. “No problem, Lady Master Mechanic. We’ll all bring in sail so we’re just drifting, and use boats to ferry anyone needed to the
Pride
.”

Mari gave Banda her list, then went back to the cabin. She found a tray of food and drink on the table and barely managed to avoid wolfing it all down. Alain woke up as she was eating and joined in, managing a smile which was almost perfectly done. From someone who had once been forced to forget how to smile, it was very nice to see.

They left the cabin quietly to avoid disturbing either Asha or Dav. The ships had all furled their sails. Now they rocked in the swells without moving forward, four stationary objects in a vast expanse of water. Mari could see boats already headed for the
Pride
.

Banda had offered his cabin for the meeting, since it doubled as a dining room for the Mechanics aboard and thus boasted a decent-sized table and multiple chairs and benches. When Mari finally entered she saw one seat left empty at the head of the table—the place Captain Banda usually sat—and another empty seat beside it. Everyone else was either seated or standing around the edges of the cabin.

Feeling awkward, Mari walked to the head of the table, steeling herself for the criticism she felt certain would soon be hurled at her. Would these Mechanics, Mages, and commons continue to listen to her after the mess which Edinton had turned into?

She reached her seat and paused while seeking words.

Master Mechanic Lukas began softly pounding the table with the palm of one hand. The others picked up the applause, some smiling at Mari and others just giving her looks of approval.

She wondered if her mouth had fallen open in astonishment.

“Well done, Master Mechanic,” Lukas said as the applause ended. “I wouldn’t have believed it possible.

“There—” Mari began. “There were mistakes—”

“No plan goes perfectly,” Mechanic Ken said. “But every time something went amiss, you knew what to do. How did you get Edinton to give up a ship so easily?”

“And that Mage who warned us,” Professor S’san said. “You sized her up, knew how to use her, and gave the right orders.”

“Those were Alli’s, and Calu’s, and Alain’s ideas!”

“You obviously listened to them,” Mechanic Kasi remarked. “And gave the right people the right jobs. What now, Master Mechanic?”

“Um…” Thrown off by not having to defend or excuse her actions in Edinton, Mari took a moment to gather her thoughts. “You are?” she asked a man in uniform.

“Major Sima,” he replied, standing up and saluting. “On long-term leave from the Confederation military to deal with family issues.”

Captain Banda smiled. “Exactly how many members of the Confederation military on long-term leave for family issues are aboard the
Dolphin
?”

“One hundred and three, counting my officers and me,” Sima replied.

“You’re not here representing the Confederation?” Mari asked.

“No. Anything I happen to do while on leave is strictly unofficial, unsanctioned, and unapproved.” Sima paused. “We had little time to find volunteers with long-term family issues, or there would have been more of us, daughter.”

“All right,” Mari said, managing not to flinch this time at the use of the title. “Two things. First, we’ll need to have my Mages check your soldiers to ensure none are spies for the Great Guilds. Or the empire.”

Sima nodded. “I understand. Since I do not want to attempt to lie to a Mage, I will confess freely that my superiors have asked me to keep them informed about your actions, daughter.”

“You’ll need to keep that information vague for the time being,” Mari warned. “Anything the Confederation learns might reach the Great Guilds, and we are going to need time before the Great Guilds muster an effort against us.”

“I understand, daughter.”

“Which brings up the second thing. I am…really…uncomfortable with being addressed as…her. I would prefer just Lady Master Mechanic.”

“But there are other Lady Master Mechanics,” Mechanic Kasi pointed out.

“Perhaps just Lady?” Major Sima said. “Or Lady Mari? Stories from the Northern Ramparts say you used that title there.”

“Lady Mari will be fine,” Mari said. “How many Mechanics do we have now with everyone who joined us at Edinton?”

Senior Mechanic Gina answered. “One hundred fifty-six. Mechanics and Apprentices. None of the Senior Mechanics at Edinton were sympathetic, but we picked up ten more Master Mechanics among the hundred fifty-six.”

“You’re kidding.” Mari took a deep breath.

“Mage Dav told me that an additional twelve Mages joined us as well,” Alain said. “Three are Mages who can create Rocs.”

“So, that’s four counting Mage Alera? Mage Dav says all the new Mages are all right?”

“He does. I have told him the new Mages must not mistreat anyone and must not deliberately insult Mechanics. I will also speak to them of this,” Alain said.

“Where are you taking all of these people?” Professor S’san asked. “What is your plan from here on?”

Mari gestured to Captain Banda, who unrolled a chart. “Tiae,” she said. “The Broken Kingdom. We’re going there, where no one will expect us to go, where we can find commons to train, and where we can begin fixing the problems of this world at the place where they have done the most damage.”

She had expected the first reaction to be an outburst of protests and objections, but instead Mechanic Kasi laughed. “I kept telling the Senior Mechanics that we should send a strong force into Tiae and rebuild things! It would be like melting down scrap metal and reforging it! But all they could think to do was try to seal off the break.”

“Where in Tiae?” Lukas asked. “If what I know is even remotely accurate, there are warlords and bandit gangs everywhere. How could we keep them off our backs?”

The captain of the
Gray Lady
cleared his throat. “If I may, honored Mechanics and honored Mage, I do have some information regarding Tiae.”

Captain Banda raised a disapproving eyebrow at him. “I was informed that you had spent much of our time in Edinton prowling the waterfront taverns.”

“Aye, that I did. How better to learn what could be learned?” The captain stood up and gestured to the chart. “I posed as a member of the fellowship, you see, one who had become too well known in the north and was seeking safer waters to ply the old trade until things cooled off in the waters I normally sailed.”

“You posed as a pirate?” Banda asked. “That must have been difficult,” he added sarcastically.

The captain of the
Gray Lady
smiled in response. “There were those I spoke to who had been south of Confederation waters in the last several years. Not many. Few ships go to Tiae now. There are the pirates along the coast, and the embargo.”

“Embargo?” Professor S’san asked.

“Aye, Lady. The Confederation, the Alliance, the Free Cities, and even the Empire have all banned the shipment of arms and armor to what used to be Tiae. To control the violence, you see. It was demanded by the Great Guilds.”

“I guess that’s something most Mechanics were never told. How has that embargo worked?” asked Calu. His arm was bandaged, but he looked weak and had a seat at the table instead of standing.

“How has it worked? Not at all.”

“Pirates along the coast?” Banda asked. “How bad is that?”

“Not as bad as formerly,” the captain replied. “Too little prey, you see. But I was warned that any ship sailing off the coast of Tiae, especially off the cities, will attract pirates coming out in small boats, usually at night. The cities are shadows of what they once were, great empty monuments of the past with few people left, but some still find homes in them.”

“What happened to the people?” Professor S’san asked in a low voice.

“Most went into the countryside,” Major Sima said. “They scratch out survival on tiny farms. It was their only hope once food stopped coming into the cities as the roads became unusable due to bandits, warlords, and deterioration.”

“Not many refugees in the Confederation itself?”

“Some. Not many made it across before the Great Guilds ordered the Confederation to seal the borders. I was told that the Confederation was still debating what to do when the decision was taken from our hands. I will confess that is a source of guilt among many of us.”

“Like trying to block the spread of a plague,” Captain Banda remarked.

“We’re going to fix things,” Mari said. “Not just try to seal off what we don’t know how to fix. We can avoid the pirates just by sailing out of sight of land. Right?”

Banda shook his head. “Not if you want to know where you are. The Mechanics Guild has limited the navigational equipment available to us. I have no idea why. But sailing out of sight of land, unless a ship is following clear sailing directions in well-known waters like the Sea of Bakre, is a good way to become lost at sea. Out here I know I can sail east and find the coast, but where on the coast? That I can’t say.”

Mari grimaced and shook her head. “The Guild probably limited navigational methods to prevent anyone getting to the Western Continent. There’s no telling what might be there. It might be something the Guild doesn’t want anyone to know about.”

Everyone except Alain stared at her. “The Western Continent is real?” Banda asked.

“Yes. Alain and I have seen it on…a map. An absolutely reliable map.”

“I’ve always wanted to sail out looking for it,” Banda murmured, his eyes distant.

“We’re not going there now,” Mari said. “It might be completely barren. What else did you learn?” she asked the captain of the
Gray Lady
.

“I was advised that piracy was unlikely to pay but that if I cared to risk it, running weapons past the embargo might gain some valuable goods in trade. However, just about everywhere on the coast is controlled by bandits or warlords who would more likely slit your throat and take what you have rather than make an honest trade.”

The captain leaned and pointed to one place on the coast of what had been Tiae. “Except here. Pacta Servanda. It’s a town with a decent harbor, on the coast about halfway between Minut and Tiaesun. Somehow it has held out against the warlords. The sailors I talked to claimed that it is the only place along the coast where the old flag of Tiae still flies. They are civilized—they’ll make an honest deal if you don’t try to cheat them—but you still must be very careful with them.”

“Why?” Mari asked.

The captain sat down again, his eyes hooded. “It was explained to me so, Lady. Have you ever seen a dog, one that had been mistreated, beaten, starved, for most of its life? If you saw that dog, would you go to pet it?”

“Such a dog would bite your hand off,” Master Mechanic Lukas said.

“Aye, he would. And if you offered him food? Would the dog wag his tail and be your friend?”

Lukas shook his head, looking grim. “No. He might take the food, but he’d still be ready to bite, because to him everyone is an enemy.”

“And just so are the people of Tiae,” the captain said. “Pacta Servanda has held on to the rule of law, but the people of Pacta Servanda have been marked by too many years of dealing with a world that is full of hurt and death.”

Mari nodded, feeling hurt inside herself as she thought of Tiae and its people. “We’ll have to talk to them. Approach them very carefully. Hopefully we can convince them that we are willing to help, long term.”

“If anybody can do it, you can,” Lukas said.