Deathmaker

  She hadn’t given it to him and wondered when he had gotten it. It hardly mattered when she was leaning against him—damn, she didn’t even remember doing that, but somehow the back of her head was resting against his chest again. Maybe she was just tired. And afraid of the moist, bumpy growth on the wall.

  “Cas,” she said.

  “Ah, thank you. Cas, then. I have always considered Zirkander an enemy—as I told you, he’s the reason I was cast out of the Cofah army—but time has worn away my bitterness, and I no longer imagine that his death would fill a great emptiness in my soul. I’ve had enough of death, to be frank. I also find myself reluctant to lose your... well, I don’t know if I have anything of yours, but I should not like to earn your utter hatred. Nor, given your accuracy with everything from pistols to rocks to hammocks turned into nets, would I want you gunning for me for the rest of my life.”

  She thought about telling him the net had been a trap, not anything she had shot or thrown, but waited to see what else he had to say instead.

  “After hearing that soldier’s story—and I saw the fear in his eyes when he relayed it, so I don’t think it’s as tall a tale as you believe—I’d like very much to find a way to speak to Zirkander and find out more about this woman.”

  “You want the sword,” Cas guessed.

  “If she is a sorceress, trying to take the sword could be suicidal. I might not be above trying to find some clever way to do so, I suppose. But if the weapon came out of those mines, not unlike your power crystals, maybe it’s possible I can find one for myself. For my sister, actually. I mentioned her, I believe.”

  “Yes,” Cas said, though she didn’t know if she believed this sister was truly who he wanted the sword for. If there were such things as magic swords, and they were as powerful as he suggested, they would be worth a fortune. Or maybe he thought he could channel the sword’s power for himself, for some new invention of his. Just because he had treated her fairly so far didn’t mean she had seen the real man. “Here’s the problem: I can’t imagine the colonel wanting to sit down and have a chat with you, about sorceresses, swords, or even his latest toenail fungus. You and your pirate buddies are loathed where I come from. You especially.”

  “I know. I suppose that’s where I see you coming in.”

  “Arranging a meeting?”

  “Yes. Preferably without weapons.”

  “Uh huh.” Cas turned around to face him. “Listen, Tolemek. I appreciate that you’ve been decent to me, and I believe that maybe you were thinking of letting me go back in that jungle, but on the other hand, I figure you’re a bright fellow, and you could be telling me all the things you think will make me want to help you. Either way, what you want probably doesn’t matter all that much when your captain is the man we’re meeting at midnight and who is presumably taking us to Iskandia. And who is, as far as I’ve seen, the person you answer to.”

  A long moment passed, during which Cas hoped Tolemek would proclaim that he wasn’t utterly loyal to the captain, but he eventually said, “Yes. He is.”

  “I won’t ask why, because you didn’t ask why I wouldn’t think of betraying my colonel, but just in case you didn’t know about it, I will say, he told me that he’s not afraid of you. That he’s crossed you before and would do so again.”

  “I would not expect him to be afraid of me. He was my instructor at the proving grounds more than ten years ago. And when we both ended up cast out of the military, he was the one to offer me a position here. To allow me to do my research and explore my interests with minimal interference.”

  Cas thought he might go on to explain how and why the captain had crossed him before, but he either knew about it and was dismissing it or he didn’t believe her statement. Uttering it a few more times wouldn’t make him more likely to do so, so she didn’t mention it again. Maybe she had planted a seed and she would get lucky. But she doubted it. Tolemek and the captain had seemed close from the beginning, and nothing in this conversation suggested otherwise.

  “As long as you’re following his orders...” Cas stopped herself before declaring that she wouldn’t arrange anything between Tolemek and the colonel. She ought not be so honest with him if she was entertaining the idea of trapping him somehow. “That’s a problem,” she finished, since he could guess that much anyway. “Unless you’ll consider leaving him.”

  “There is... nowhere else for me to go.” His hand came up, brushing the side of her head, making her shiver a little, or maybe it was the poignant sense of regret that had entered his voice.

  “I can understand wanting camaraderie, of a sort, and someone to watch your back, but don’t you think it would be better to live alone than to live with villains?” Cas winced, because that sounded so condemning. But these pirates were villains; they weren’t soldiers fighting for their country and couldn’t simply be considered men on the other side of the war. Despite whatever circumstance or choice or fate that had brought them to this lifestyle, there was no denying that they were here, and they were committing crimes.

  Tolemek lowered his hand and spoke so softly she almost missed the words. “Where else would a villain live but among other villains?”

  She didn’t know what to say to that.

  Chapter 10

  A few minutes before midnight, Tolemek led Cas out of the maze of ductwork and into the streets above. The fog had not only diminished; it had been turned off. Stars glittered overhead, and the horizon stretched for miles without a cloud in the sky. He supposed the administrators saw little point in expending energy to create the fog when the Iskandians knew exactly where they were. Presumably the outpost would move soon, but for now, repairs were underway. Lights burned on the ships in dock, and the sounds of hammers and rasping saws drifted on the breeze.

  Tolemek hoped the industriousness meant that the bounty hunters had been called off Cas’s trail, but he stuck to the alleys anyway, walking with caution toward the tavern the captain had named as a meeting point. Cas walked at his side, or slightly behind, not saying much. She hadn’t since she had made the suggestion that he leave the pirates—and he had rejected it.

  It was something he had considered in the past, after Tanglewood and Camp Eveningson in particular. He had gone off on his own for a month that time, but he had been hunted relentlessly by Iskandian and Cofah spies. And more than that, he had learned he hadn’t the stomach for a life of solitude. When he had started to grow excited at the appearance of bounty hunters, realizing that they and their pursuit represented an odd sort of company, he had known he had to return. What was the point of creating and inventing if there was no one to share the results with? When Goroth had sent that note, saying he hadn’t given away his cabin yet, Tolemek had been back within three days.

  A part of him wondered if he should have been less honest with Cas, maybe playing along with the notion of leaving Goroth in the hope that she would consider arranging the meeting he sought. Or maybe in the hope that she would go back to leaning against him and letting him nuzzle her hair. That had been... pleasant. And she hadn’t pushed him away. Of course, she hadn’t exactly given the impression that she was enjoying his touch either.

  Even so, when she had mentioned the idea of him leaving the pirates, he had found himself wondering what he would do if she offered him a home in Iskandia. Not that she could. A lowly lieutenant would have no sway with her superior officers and certainly not with her government. She couldn’t offer him refuge. To even defend him to her people would get her in trouble. Did the Iskandians have courts-martial? Probably.

  “There’s the Crow,” Tolemek said, drawing her into the shadows of a dark storefront a couple of buildings down. “It’s still standing, even if it doesn’t look very busy. That’s our meeting spot.” He didn’t head for it immediately. He had a feeling he shouldn’t stroll in, not after he had been running around the station, knocking out pirates and helping a pirate enemy evade capture.

  “There’s someone in the shadows over there.” C
as pointed toward the alley beside the Crow.

  “Ah, good eyes.”

  But was that someone Goroth? Tolemek circled around the back of the store, so he would come out in the alley across the street from where the man was standing. He didn’t have to guess as to the person’s identity, for the figure met them halfway down the passage.

  “Amazing how much trouble you can get into in a few hours,” Goroth said.

  “Is he talking to you or me?” Cas asked.

  “You seem to only need a few minutes,” he snarled, thrusting a finger toward her nose.

  “Should that make me feel suboptimal?” Tolemek asked, hoping to lighten Goroth’s mood. He didn’t sound happy.

  Goroth merely snarled. He had a couple of bulky bags slung over his shoulders, in addition to wearing all of his gear and weapons. “Neither of you better be seen on the outpost for a while. Come on. We’ve got a new ship.”

  “A new ship? I thought you were making repairs to the old one.”

  “We did. It’s operational now.” Goroth glowered over his shoulder at Cas. Fortunately, it was the most threatening thing he had done. His desire to strangle her must have waned somewhat in the intervening hours. “But we can’t take the Night Hunter to the Iskandian capital.”

  “Sure you can,” Cas said. “I’ll even direct it past some nice wall-mounted cannons in the harbor that you might like to visit.”

  “You’ll be on it with us, girl,” Goroth growled. “I shouldn’t think you’d want it shot down.”

  “It’s a good thing she’s not our pilot,” Tolemek said. “She’s not, is she?”

  “No, I’m bringing Moonface and some other good men. Leaving Drakath in charge of the Night Hunter. Told him if he didn’t take good care of the ship and turn it back over to me, he’d die horribly, due to a booby-trap you’ve set to go off if anyone except me is commanding the ship for more than a week.”

  “Nice way to inspire your troops,” Cas muttered, too softly for Goroth, in the lead, to hear. A good thing.

  Tolemek merely said, “And here I’ve always wondered where these stories about my dastardliness started.”

  “They’ve served you well enough over the years.”

  Until recently. Ah, well.

  “Speaking of dastardliness, I packed some of your supplies.” Goroth unslung one of the bags on his shoulder and handed it to Tolemek.

  Glass clinked inside. No vials with volatile contents, Tolemek hoped.

  “I figure we’ll need some of your tricks when we get there, so that we can accomplish—” Goroth glanced at Cas, “—what we need to accomplish.”

  Cas glared at him, but said nothing. As if she didn’t know exactly what he had in mind.

  “Yes,” Tolemek murmured, thinking of his conversation with Cas, his proclamation that it wouldn’t bother him if Zirkander went on living and her rebuttal that what he thought mattered little as long as he was going along with his captain. He had spoken the truth to her, but he secretly admitted that he would still prefer to see Zirkander dead rather than alive. It was cowardly, but the thought had crossed his mind that if he simply stepped back and let Goroth do the deed, Cas might not blame him. Or might at least forgive him some day.

  They paused at the mouth of an alley, waiting for a repair crew to go by. Tolemek wondered if Cas thought it strange, seeing pirates marching about with toolboxes in hand and lumber balanced over their shoulders. After all the damage the outpost had endured that day, someone would have to take a supply-gathering trip if the station was to be repaired to its former glory. Not his problem at the moment.

  When the route was clear, Goroth trotted across the street to a craft that was more dirigible than airship, with an enclosed cabin snugged below its massive gray balloon. Lanterns burned to either side of the extended gangplank, and Tolemek could just make out the Iskandian flag painted on the side of the envelope.

  “You stole one of our freighters?” Cas asked.

  “Actually I bought one of your freighters,” Goroth said.

  “From someone who stole it?”

  Tolemek smirked, despite the exasperated look Goroth gave her. What did he expect? Love and respect from a prisoner?

  “Will the Night Hunter be following along in the distance?” Tolemek asked as they walked up the gangplank—it was a wider and fancier version of the simple board their own ship employed, one that looked like it folded and extended from the large double doors of the cabin itself. “In case we get into trouble? I imagine that even freighters flying Iskandian flags are boarded for inspection when they arrive in port. Especially if we’re angling for the capital.” He looked at Cas, wondering if she would offer a helpful answer, but she gave him nothing. No, she wasn’t going to help them infiltrate her homeland.

  “Oh, they’ll be around.” Goroth’s grin had a wolfish aspect to it.

  “What do you have planned?”

  “Nothing that needs to be discussed in front of our prisoner.” Goroth pointed at Cas’s nose before unlocking the cabin door. “And I expect you to lock her up. Somewhere without any handy goop nearby for melting locks.”

  Tolemek hated the idea of chaining Cas after all they had been through, but he understood Goroth’s wariness. Gods knew, she would escape and make trouble if she could. Right now, she was trotting along nicely, still wearing his six-shooters in her holsters, but where else did she have to go? Once they neared her homeland, there would be nothing keeping her from trying to flee.

  “I will,” Tolemek said. He tried to give Cas an apologetic look, but didn’t know if it would be decipherable in the low lighting from the lanterns.

  Goroth disappeared into the dirigible, and Tolemek extended a hand for Cas to follow. He brought up the rear. Judging from the clanking and thumping coming from the back of the cabin, someone was already inside. Lanterns were lit in the wood-paneled corridor and more light came from the navigation area up front. Goroth would have brought an engineer as well as a pilot, and perhaps a couple of other men as well. Tolemek itched to take him aside and find out what he had planned as far as backup went for this little invasion of theirs. Leading a small, secretive team into the city didn’t sound like a bad idea, but that wasn’t Goroth’s standard operating procedure. He liked to make a show of his attacks.

  He had already stomped up to the navigation cabin and was talking to the pilot, so their chat would have to wait.

  “Let’s find a room for you, shall we?” Tolemek asked.

  Cas was standing at his shoulder.

  “Room or cell?” she asked.

  “I’m not entirely sure what to expect on an Iskandian freighter. Would they have cells for restraining prisoners?”

  “Not likely. You might find a wine cellar for restraining the captain’s favorite vintages.”

  A wine cellar? On a freighter vessel? Either she was joking or, “The centuries of war haven’t deprived your people as much as I would have guessed.”

  She snorted and headed down the corridor, but not before taking a long peek toward the navigation cabin. As a pilot, she probably had an interest in anything resembling a cockpit.

  “Can you fly a dirigible?” he asked.

  “Yes, they taught us how to pilot everything at the academy. Not everyone gets picked for a flier squadron. There’s actually quite a long waiting list. I was lucky to get selected for my first assignment right out of school.”

  “Because of your marksmanship skills?” At some point he would have to ask her about her father.

  “Something like that.”

  Tolemek stopped in front of a cabin with the door open. Unlike some of the others, there weren’t any bags or clothes tossed on the bunks. “Does this look acceptable?”

  Cas peered through the doorway. “I don’t know. I don’t see any pipes running along the walls. Where will you chain me?”

  “I thought I’d just lock the door. And...” He found himself reluctant to go on, but he had little choice. “And take your guns. Which are actually m
y guns, so you shouldn’t miss them overmuch.”

  Wordlessly, Cas unfastened the belt and handed it to him. She didn’t meet his eyes. She didn’t looked any more irked than usual—in fact, she was going along with the situation without much objection—but her stance and the lack of heart in her quips made him feel like something had changed. Or gone back to the way it had been. Instead of sharing the adventure of escaping together, they were prisoner and master again, a role that suited him less and less with each passing hour.

  “Cas...” He licked his lips, not sure what to say.

  “Tolemek, you got that girl locked up yet?” came Goroth’s voice from the navigation cabin. “We’re taking off soon. And having a meeting.”

  Tolemek gazed at Cas, wishing...

  She arched her brows. “Don’t worry about me. This is the most comfortable prison I’ve been in for weeks.” She walked over to the bottom of two bunks and flopped down on her back.

  “Yell for me if you need anything.”

  “Some food would be nice. I haven’t eaten since... I don’t know when.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  She gave him a vague salute. He had the feeling that she wasn’t sorry to see him go—she probably wanted to start plotting an escape. He glanced around the room, but aside from the bunks and an armoire bolted to the wall, its doors open to reveal it empty of clothing and anything else, there wasn’t much to use to facilitate an escape. Tolemek closed the door and was about to call to Goroth, asking about a key, when the captain appeared at his shoulder. He jangled a key ring.

  “Allow me.”

  After locking Cas in, he headed for navigation again, tossing the ring on a hook near the exit as he passed. There were two seats up front, and Moonface, a graying man with big cheeks and a round face, already sat in one. An engineer and two fighters from the Night Hunter leaned against the wall. Goroth took the second seat. It was bolted to the floor but had the ability to swivel, and he spun around to face Tolemek.