Chapter 26
It took a lot of persuasion for the council to agree that bringing Violet to the Stacks would require less effort – and draw less attention – than if they went to see her in Woolport. She was not Association, numerous voices repeated. Eleanor and Don seemed to be the only ones who understood that they could no longer be ‘just’ the Association; that if they thought they were organizing a revolution then they’d better get on with actually organizing it, and for that they needed to be able to hear reports from their new naval captain without transporting the whole council to the mainland. Eventually they’d decided that Eleanor could fetch her if she agreed to be blindfolded during the trip across.
As she rowed back now Eleanor couldn’t help feeling that the precaution was as stupid as it was unnecessary. Violet was an intelligent woman, and she’d see the inside of headquarters soon enough. Only one of the sea stacks was even remotely large enough to conceal such a place, so they were insulting her for no gain. But Violet just laughed when Eleanor tried to apologise.
“Your kind have to be careful,” she said. “I understand.”
Lauren and Stefan were on guard when Eleanor steered the boat between the rocks which sheltered their harbour.
“You can uncover your eyes now,” Eleanor said as the boat knocked against the quay. “I’ll need you to see where you’re going.”
She handed the rope to Lauren and led Violet through the corridors to the chamber where the council were waiting for them. She was about to start introductions when David waved her to silence.
“We have no need of names,” he said. “Let’s get straight down to business.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes at Violet, and said, “Okay, Violet’s here to talk about our new navy.”
“Such as it is,” Violet added. “These things take a while to build up, as I’m sure you know. I wouldn’t call it a navy yet.”
“How many ships?” Ragal asked.
“Four we can call our own,” Violet said. “Three medium-sized fishing craft, and one that was a local supply ship. Traders are much more reluctant to get involved.”
“That’ll change when we start disrupting their routes,” Eleanor said.
“What about smugglers?” David asked. “Or pirates?”
“Smugglers think like traders,” Violet said. “But much worse. They’ll keep their heads down for as long as they can turn a profit, and don’t mind their devotions, either. And you don’t get pirates this far into the archipelago.”
“Not Magrad pirates, no,” Eleanor agreed. “But are there any common criminals looking for plunder?”
Violet shook her head. “The navy keeps that down. Why risk being sunk for piracy when you’re safer with landlubber crimes? It’s harder to run at sea, and Our Lady might scuttle you even if you evade the Empire’s forces. We’ll get more ships, though, don’t you worry.”
“Let’s focus on what we’ve already got,” Don said, striding over to the large map they’d hung against one wall. Red lines marked the frontiers of rebel districts and towns which had already fallen to the revolution, while pins with little blue flags marked what they knew of the Imperial armies: a couple of battalions that had been pulled back from the mountain regions and were now camped near Bastion, a strong force still along the coast, and several units marching to converge on Almont.
Don had made some new pins topped with a tiny ship motif. In his optimism before the meeting he’d prepared three dozen, of which he now selected four. “Where are these boats of ours, then?”
“One here in Woolport,” Violet said. “One at Pierston, one at Westquay, and one over on Hope Island. Keeping them spread out so we’re not spotted before we’re ready.”
Don inserted pins along the coast at the towns she’d named.
“And you’re stripping out the fishing tackle and whatnot to load up with weapons, right?” Eleanor prompted.
“We will be,” Violet said. “We only get ships when we win over a captain, and usually at least a couple of crew, though we should be able to capture some once we’re ready to show our hand. For now it’s best to keep up the fishing – looks less suspicious – but we’re starting to make spikes and rams.”
“How long until we’re ready to fight?” Bill asked.
Violet turned to him. “To do what? We could be making a nuisance of ourselves within a turn of the moon, if we were minded to, but they’d come for us and they’d win soon enough.”
“We need to build up more of a force down here,” Eleanor said, “while the Empress is still concentrating on keeping pirates out of the north. We need enough to control a decent area before we give our plans away.”
“So how long?”
“Six months to find enough ships,” Violet said. “Another two to fit them out and give the fishing crews some half-competent defensive skills. That’s assuming you’ll give us men to do the actual fighting.”
Bill whistled. “Eight months.”
“Never said it was going to be quick,” Violet said with a shrug.
“Recruitment will be easier once we’ve got something to show off,” Eleanor said. “Just like in Almont – we got new volunteers for the rebel guards every time we struck out. Once it’s clear we’ve got a navy, we’ll get captains with rebel leanings coming forwards, but we can’t afford to waste ships on exhibition raids until we’ve got enough to defend our own forces.”
“Any more questions for Violet?” Don asked. There weren’t, and Eleanor escorted her back down to the harbour.
“Stefan can row you back,” Eleanor said. “I really need to stay for the rest of the meeting, but we’ll catch up soon.”
“After the baby comes?” Violet asked, with a glance at her bulging stomach.
“I should have a couple of months yet, before I’m too big to move. I’ll come over for a day or two when I can get away.”
“Get back to your meeting, then,” Violet said, waving her away as she scrambled into the little boat. “Who knows what they’ll be deciding without you?”
Violet re-tied her blindfold without needing to be asked, and Lauren hopped into the boat with her. Eleanor turned and paced back to the council chamber with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d never said mustering a navy would be easy, but she’d hoped it would progress more quickly.
“–much too slow,” she heard Daniel say as she reached the door. She hesitated outside.
“I agree,” Gerald said. “We shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss outside help.”
Now Eleanor pushed the door open, so vigorously that it slammed into the wall behind. The gust of air set their battle map flapping, and one of the pins fell out onto the floor.
“Not this again,” she said, sinking back into her chair. “We all agreed it was too expensive, quite aside from anything else.”
“And what does all this waiting cost us?” Bill said. “We’re using up our reserves. This can’t go on for ever.”
“We have enough funds,” Nathaniel said. “And with access to the rebel supply chain, we’re not spending anything right now. We can afford to be patient.”
“Better to wait than to bankrupt the Empire with promises to the Taraskan lords,” Laban said. “But you’re right, we must end this as soon as we can. Ordinary people are starting to suffer.”
“Anyone who hasn’t joined us yet has chosen to stay a slave of the Empress,” Don said.
Laban gave him a withering look. “Do we believe our own propaganda, now? Most people only care that they have food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What does it matter to them if the Empress is a little overzealous in protecting her personal interests?”
Don shrugged. “She’s overstepped a lot of boundaries. If they don’t care, they should.”