The Wrath Of the Forgotten (30 page)

Luxi rolled her eyes and brushed past the pirates. She purposely drove her shoulder into Vihori and moved past him toward the gang plank. “As if you could hurt me. Let’s get this over with.” Without looking back, she walked across the gang plank onto the Gallant Fox.

Apisa walked ahead of the group, followed by Flara, then by Rayko, and lastly by Nori. Vihori moved to the gang plank and offered a hand to help each of the ladies onto the narrow wooden bridge. Apisa declined, but Flara accepted. She averted her eyes as he took her hand though.

One of the pirates moved up to Rayko, a lewd glimmer sparkled in his eyes. “You’re a pretty one, what’s your…” He tried to run one of his grimy fingers through her flowing brown hair.

Nori’s hand shot out and grabbed the man by his forearm. His second hand grasped the man by his throat. With ease, Nori lifted the pirate off of the ground. The other pirates brought their swords closer and touched Nori’s skin with their sharp points.

Vihori held up his hand for the others to halt.

Nori narrowed his eyes and squeezed the man’s throat tighter. To his delight, the pirate gurgled.

“I will beat you all to death with my bare hands,” Nori said. “Weapon or no weapon. None of you will touch my friends!”

Luxi’s voice called over from the other ship. “He’ll do it too. I personally saw this man take on six angry Kappas several days ago. He’s not a man to trifle with.”

Vihori slowly approached Nori with his hands held out in front of him. He stopped within a foot of Nori. “Listen to me, friend. I apologize for what my crewman did. That was very improper, and he will be punished for it. Please let him go. I promise that no one else will try anything of the sort. I promise upon my dead father’s soul.”

Nori dropped the man to the ground like a sack of rocks. He placed himself between Vihori and Rayko and offered his hand to help her on the gang plank. She took it, and she stepped onto the narrow bridge. As soon as she was out of arms, reach, Nori followed her.

Vihori gestured to one of the female pirates. “Onesa, take Ralvi here below deck. Have every woman on board give him ten lashes each. Are we clear?”

Onesa nodded. “Yes, Captain.” She moved over and grabbed Ralvi by the arm. The man didn’t struggle as he was escorted across the gang plank.

Vihori turned to the rest of the crew of the Grinning Panda. “You will follow us into port, but you will remain on your vessel until you are given further orders. Failure to do this will result in severe punishment.” With quickness and grace, Vihori moved across the gang plank.

The Gallant Fox sailed away from the Grinning Panda, but Luxi’s ship trailed behind.

Luxi crossed her arms and moved to the bow of the ship. The girls followed her, and so Nori followed them.

“Are all these ships under the flag of Amori?” Luxi asked.

Vihori moved up beside her. “Seriously? How long is this going to go on?”

“I asked you a question.” Luxi’s glare darkened. “Are all these ships under her flag?”

Nori placed himself between Flara, Apisa, and Rayko. Flara and Apisa watched the pair, but Rayko studied the water in the harbor. Her eyes looked wet. Her hand had been drawn to her chest.

Nori stepped up beside her. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if that wasn’t my place, but…”

Rayko plunged into him and gave him a little hug. “Thank you for that. When that brigand tried to touch me, I had imaged of what poor Senna must have gone through. Why couldn’t there have been someone like you on board? I mean… like you in character, not in…”

Nori wrapped his arms around Rayko and gave her a little squeeze. “I know what you meant. You’re my friend, and I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He broke the embrace and turned his attention back to Luxi.

Luxi shook her head. “I’ll be honest, I can’t believe she managed to take control over all of this. Did it take long after I left for her to consolidate completely?”

Vihori shrugged. “About a year after. For a while, she thought that our enemies had kidnapped you or something. You shouldn’t have just disappeared like that.”

Luxi’s arms tightened on her chest, and she lightly kicked the side of the railing. “There are a lot of things that should have happened that didn’t. I swore I would never return to this accursed place.”

“And yet, here you are?” Vihori asked. “I assume these people have something to do with your return. What secrets do they keep? I can’t wait to find out.”

Luxi peered up at him. “You’re not going to be in the audience with us, are you?”

A broad grin covered Vihori’s face. “Of course I am. I am Mother’s second in command. I am the Pirate Prince after all. What did you expect? I stayed behind and did was I was told.”

“I suppose that makes you a good little son, doesn’t it?” Luxi said. She placed her hands on her hips and jutted her chest out toward his.

Vihori simply reviewed her with the same sense of superiority. “As opposed to other things? When we dock, I’ll escort you up to the palace. You’ll have your audience there.”

“The palace?” Luxi asked. “She built a palace? Oh, that’s not pretentious in the least. She’s no better than the rich snobs in Xian Ba.” Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise. “Well, not that all of the rich people in Xian Ba are snobs. Just most of them.”

Vihori moved past her and approached the girls. Nori moved in front of them, but Vihori appeared undeterred.

“So that’s it, isn’t is it?” Vihori asked. “One of you is a very important person. That makes sense considering the Onistan bodyguard. Which of you is it?”

Rayko stepped forward. “I am. Please do not harass my hand maidens over trying to weasel out my identity. I will be happy to express myself to your mother, the pirate queen.”

Vihori narrowed his eyes at her. “Very well then. I suppose we should get to see Mother sooner than later.”

He moved away from the group and walked up to the helm.

Luxi immediately clustered around the girls. “I’m really sorry for not talking to you about this before. I had no idea what I was going to say until Vihori actually sailed up. I just kind of went with my gut.”

“So what are you planning, darling?” Rayko asked. “This could go very badly very quickly. After all, I doubt few low-life pirates would pass up on an opportunity to try and collect a royal ransom.”

“Yeah, and besides that, do we really have time to be waiting around here?” Apisa asked. “We only have so much time before its harvest time, if you catch my drift.”

Luxi shifted her eyes over to Vihori. The man was currently engaged with a conversation with several of the pirates at the helm. They watched Nori’s group in much the same way they were being observed.

Luxi licked her lips a couple of times. “You mentioned that things are going to get really bad before they get better, right? Well, I thought we might be able to enlist pirate support. Pirates are fierce fighters, and no one but a good smuggler knows the river like a good pirate does.”

Flara locked gazes with her. “Why didn’t you tell us what you had planned? We could have helped you do something.”

Luxi averted her eyes and her lips curled down. Her face grimaced, and her arms went behind her back, clutched at the wrists. She reminded Nori of a child currently being scolded. “I don’t want to get into this now, …but I’m sort of connected to Tadaga Amori… and Vihori.”

Apisa asked, “Were you and him going to get married or something?”

“What?” Luxi asked. “No way!”

“Maybe he was going to marry your sister, or you to his brother. Is it something like that?” Rayko asked.

Luxi shook her head. “What’s it with you two and marriage? That has nothing to do with any of this.”

Nori spoke up. “She said she doesn’t want to talk about it, so we should respect her enough not to press her about it.”

All eyes fell upon him. Apisa and Rayko fiddled with their fingers, and now they resembled children being lectured. Luxi gave him a brief warm smile, and her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly.

“Nori’s right,” Flara said. “How you’re connected to Amori doesn’t matter at this point. So what is Amori like? We’re going to have an audience with her, is she agreeable?”

Luxi shrugged. “It’s been years since I last dealt with her. I’ve heard she’s grown hard in her self-appointed positon of queen. She really wasn’t all too agreeable to her enemies. After all, she is a pirate. Maybe we’re catching her on a good day.”

“If things go badly, can we muscle our way out of there?” Nori asked.

A nervous chuckle escaped Luxi. “Amori is a master swordswoman. She taught Vihori and I how to fight.”

“You and Vihori had the same master?” Apisa asked.

Luxi grimaced. “We grew up together. Let’s change the subject, shall we? We’re almost to port.”

Nori fidgeted with his hands for a moment, and finally placed them on his hips. A massive storm of anxiety swelled within his stomach. He leaned on the edge of the railing and watched as the figures on the docks became more distinct. The people who came into sight all wore dark colored clothing that appeared austere in nature. Men and women wore vests or short sleeved shirts with shorts and sandals. Every single person had some kind of weapon on their belts too. Wooden stalls lined the street where the piers connected with the wharf. Vendors demonstrated their wares to sailors and pirates who moved about. Very few of the passing patrons actually stopped through. Some people carried large bags or crates through the crowds, while others merely strolled around lazily. Gangs of children ran about, bobbing and weaving around the adults.

The Gallant Fox pulled up beside a pier. The pirates on the ship scrambled to tie off of the ship and lower the gang plank.

Vihori stood beside the gang plank. “Are you coming or not?”

Luxi rolled her eyes. “By Saito’s ball sweat, he’s such an asshole.” She peeked over at the girls and Nori. “Follow my lead. Things are about to get rough.”

NORI LICKED HIS
lips nervously as he followed Rayko, Apisa, Flara, Luxi and Vihori through the wide cobble stone streets of Gohoda. Several pirates trailed behind him, but they neither said anything to him, nor did they try to make him go any faster. Luckily for them, their weapons were not drawn.

Crowds of people parted ways for Vihori, and they observed Nori’s group with more than a little interest. The people within the city walls didn’t wear the same austere outfits that the dock workers wore. They wore brighter colors, and had more fashionable designs.

The buildings behind the people were all made from stone and had thatched roofs. Even though the streets rose up at a steep angle, the tops of the buildings were all level with one another.

Children pushed through the legs of the adults, and gawked at Nori and the others as if they were on parade. Many people stared at him, but their expressions differed than that of the people of Xian Ba or Jadai. No one regarded Nori with fear or disgust. In fact, they were more awe inspired by the trio of mages that had etched a place in Nori’s heart.

Vihori led the group to the rectangular building with the large dome. It towered over all the other buildings, and it appeared even more magnificent up close. A dozen columns decorated the outsides of the structure. Elaborate carvings of people fishing and sailing on ships covered the columns. A pair of ornate, dark wooden doors faced Nori and the group. The doors were etched in beautiful carvings of people farming the land and growing crops.

Luxi stopped as soon as they got closer to the rectangular building. “Are you serious? She turned the Great Granary into a palace?”

“Well, it was the largest building in the city,” Vihori said. “After she consolidated her power, Mother had two granaries built on the west and east side of the city. There’s a lot more stability since you left. No one goes hungry.”

Luxi moved alongside Vihori and walked with him toward the palace. “That’s rather impressive.”

The closer that Luxi got to the palace, the less sure her steps became. Her shoulders started to slump a little more. Luxi’s face contorted in slight, and barely noticeable, anguish. An icy finger traced up Nori’s spine.

Vihori marched up to the doors and signaled to a pair of armed pirates who had positioned themselves beside the front entrance. With determined speed, they pulled open the doors, and bowed before the Pirate Prince.

Sanded wooden floors spanned the interior of the building, and plaster walls lined the hallways. People moved through the corridors with purpose, and very few of the individuals actually acknowledged the group. They even ignored Nori.

Apisa said, “This place looks more like a city hall than a palace.”

“For all intents and purposes, it is.” Vihori flashed a grin. “Even though Mother carries the name ‘Pirate Queen,’ she treats the position more like a governor role. She takes it very seriously.”

Vihori led the group to a large audience chamber on the second floor of the palace. The audience chamber was quite spacious, and had a gigantic square, red rug dominating the center of the floor. Wide windows peeked out into what looked like an elegant garden.

A woman dressed in an exquisite long-sleeved charcoal grey coat and a pair of matching slacks sat behind a large wooden desk. She had short brown hair that flared out the ends. The woman had been reading an opened scroll, but she peered up at Vihori when he walked in.