“I'll try,” Malta grudgingly conceded. She tossed the dry bread down onto the table in front of her. At least it would be something to tell Delo about. She was always subtly bragging about all the young men who came to her house. They were all Cerwin's friends, Malta knew that. But Delo knew their names, and they made teasing jokes with her, and sometimes brought her sweets and trinkets. Once, when she had been allowed to go to the spice market with Delo with Rache accompanying them, one of Cerwin's friends had recognized Delo, and made a big sweeping bow to her, with his cloak blowing out in the wind when he did it. He had offered to treat them to spice tea, but Rache had said they must hurry home. It had made Malta look like an infant. Just for once, it would be nice to tell Delo that a young man had come to her house, to see her. She didn't need to tell Delo he was probably covered with warts. Maybe she could make him seem mysterious and dangerous. . . . She smiled to herself and looked afar dreamily, practicing the look she'd wear when she told Delo about her young man. Her mother slammed a pot of honey down on the table in front of her.
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“Thank you,” Malta said absently as she helped herself to it.
Maybe Cerwin would be jealous.
“Are you going to let me live?” Kyle Haven asked softly as dawn began to tinge the sky. He tried to speak flatly, but harshness tinged with fear seeped into his words. Wintrow could hear weariness as well. The long night was nearly over, but it had taken both of them on the wheel and all Calt could see and all Vivacia could call back to them to get them through the channel. He had to admire his father for his tenacity. He had lasted it out. He still stood canted, sheltering the ribs on his left side, but he had helped bring the ship through. And now he asked for his life from his son. It had to be bitter.
“I will do all I can to see you live through this. This I promise you. ” He glanced from his father to Sa'Adar, who still leaned on the stern. Wintrow wondered how much he himself would have to say in any decision to come. “You don't believe me. But your death would grieve me. All the deaths on this ship have grieved me. ”
Kyle Haven stared straight ahead. “Another point to port,” was all he said.
Around them the water suddenly spread and calmed. Crooked Island was falling behind them and Hawser Channel opened up.
His son corrected their course. Overhead, men shouted to one another in the rigging, arguing as to what they should do and how. His father was right. There was no way they could sail the ship with only two experienced and able hands. He gripped the wheel. There had to be some way. “Help me, ship,” he breathed softly. “Help me know what to do. ” He felt her weary response. It was not one of confidence, only one of trust.
“There's another ship behind us,” Sa'Adar observed aloud. “It's getting closer fast. ” He peered at it through the insistent gray rain.
“It's the Raven flag!” The joy in his voice was clear. “Sa has truly provided!” The man tore off his rag of a shirt and began waving it at the other ship.
“There's a boy at her helm!” Sorcor shouted down at him. The storm had died down, even the rain was ceasing, but still he pitched his voice to carry through it. “And a mess on her decks. I think they've had a mutiny. ”
“All the better . . . for us. ” Kennit shouted back. It took so much effort. He was so tired. He drew a long breath. “Make ready a boarding party. We'll take her as soon as she reaches the main channel. ”
“The kid seems to have a nice touch on the wheel, even with the sails set all wrong. Wait!” Disbelief was strong in Sorcor's voice. “Captain, they're hailing to us. It looks like the man is waving us alongside. ”
“Then let us oblige him. Boarders ready! No. Wait. ” He took a breath and tried to stand up straight. “I'll lead them myself. Gankis! Come take the wheel. Etta, where is my crutch?”
It was true. The ship was his for the taking, his luck had held. He had believed in it, he had persevered, and there it was, his beautiful liveship. As they gained her side, he thought he had never seen anything lovelier. From the castle of the Marietta, he could look down on her. There were bodies heaped upon a pile of fallen canvas, and her sails were hiked up like a bawd's skirts, but her silvery hull glistened and the clean lines of her were like music.
He swayed and Etta clutched at him. Gankis had the wheel now. The old sailor gave him an odd look, half of pity and half of fear.
“I don't know where your crutch is. Here. Let me get you to the railing. ” She grunted with effort as she tugged him along. He came with her in lurching hops until he could lean on it with both hands. “My love,” she said very quietly. “I think you should go below and rest for a time. Let Sorcor secure the liveship for you. ”
“No,” he said savagely. It was so damn hard to remain on his leg, and she had to waste his strength with stupid arguing. “No. She's mine and I'll be among the first on her decks. She's come to me by my luck. ”
“Please,” Etta said, her voice breaking on the word. “My darling. My love. If you could see yourself just now . . . ”
“Sar,” Sorcor had joined them and he swore the word out on an exhalation. “Oh, Kennit, oh, sir . . . ”
“I'll be leading the boarding party,” he told Sorcor. His mate wouldn't argue with him. He'd make the damn woman stop arguing with him, too.
“Yes, sir,” Sorcor confirmed very quietly.
“You can't mean it!” Etta cried out to Sorcor. “Look at him. He's exhausted, I never should have let him stay on the deck, if I had known what it would cost. . . . ”
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“Let him go. ” Sorcor spoke quietly. He had brought Kennit's crutch, but he set it carefully down on the deck. “I'll rig a bosun's chair for you, sir. And I'll see you safely to the deck of your liveship. ”
“But . . . ” Etta began, but Sorcor cut her off. “I promised him,” he said harshly. “Look at him, woman. Let me keep my promise to my captain. ” In a lower voice he added, “I think there's little else we can do now. ”
“But . . . ” she said again. She looked at him and when he met her eyes, something in them seemed to go very still. She did not seem to breathe, only looked at him. Then she looked at Sorcor past him. “I'm going with him, then,” she announced quietly.
“We both are,” he confirmed it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - RESTORATIONS
THE MATE ROUSED ALTHEA FROM A DEEP SLEEP WITH A CAUTIOUS TUG AT HER SLEEVE. “HEY,” GRAG TENIRA said in an undertone. “Captain wants to see you now. He's on anchor watch, so meet him on deck. Roll out now. ” Grag turned and left without waiting to see if she would obey.
A scant second later, Althea's bare feet hit the deck. Around her, the forecastle was dark and quiet. The rest of the crew had liberty tonight. Without exception, they'd gone ashore to carouse. Althea, more eager for solitude than beer, had pleaded lack of coin and stayed aboard to idle and sleep.
The Ophelia was in port at a small island city called Rinstin. It was one of the few completely legitimate settlements in the islands of the Inside Passage. Originally founded near a tin deposit and possessing a good supply of fresh water, the town of prosperous tin miners was beginning to be a trade center as well. The inhabitants could afford a few of the Rain Wild goods that Tenira had to offer. He'd turn a nice profit selling off the casks of salt meat he'd taken on in Jamaillia as well, and depart with tinwares to sell in Bingtown. The man was a savvy trader. In her brief time with him, Althea had already grown to admire him.
As she emerged onto the deck and looked about for Captain Tenira, the oddness of the situation suddenly struck her. The captain was on wheel watch in port? And he'd sent the mate to fetch her? A terrible suspicion welled up in her. Ophelia had given away her secret. When Althea spotted the captain smoking his pipe up by the figurehead, her suspicion became certainty. The young sailor perched on the railing nearby would be Grag, waiting to witness her exposure. Her heart sank into her b
elly.
Althea paused a moment in the shadows, to smooth her hair back into its queue and rub the sleep from her face. She straightened her worn clothing as best she could. As bad as it had been to be thrown off the Reaper, this was going to be worse. These men knew her family, and would take this tale home with them. So. Head up. No tears, no anger, she promised herself. Dignity and pride. She wished her stomach would settle. She wished she'd had more warning.
As she walked forward, Ophelia's rich voice carried on the night air, almost as if she intended Althea to hear her words. “And you, Tomie Tenira, are turning into a cranky old curmudgeon, with no sense of adventure left to you. ”
“Ophelia,” her captain warned her.
“No sense of humor either,” Ophelia confided to Grag. The deck lantern left the mate's face in shadow, and he made no verbal response to her. Althea felt her mouth twist in an ironic smile. She wondered what Grag Tenira thought of his former dance partner now.
She smoothed the smile from her face. She kept her features dispassionate as she greeted Tenira with, “Reporting, sir. ”
“Indeed,” Captain Tenira said heavily. He took his short pipe from his mouth. “You know what this is about, don't you?”
She tried not to wince. “I'm afraid so, sir. ”
Tenira leaned back on the railing with a heavy sigh. “We've discussed this, Grag and I. And Ophelia has had her say. And more than her say, as is usual. I intend this for your best, young woman. Gather all your things. Grag will give you some coin and escort you ashore. There's a rooming house on Clamshell Street. It's clean. He'll see you safely there. ”
“Sir,” Althea conceded hopelessly. At least he wasn't shouting angrily at her. By keeping his dignity, he'd allowed her to keep hers. For that, she was grateful. But Ophelia's betrayal of her trust still stung. She looked past him to where Ophelia regarded her sheepishly over one round shoulder. “I asked you not to give me away,” she rebuked her softly. She studied the figurehead's face. “I can't believe you did this to me. ”
“Oh, not fair, my dear! Not fair at all!” Ophelia protested earnestly. “I warned you that you couldn't expect me to keep such a secret from my captain. And I also told you I'd try to find a way for you to stay aboard, if you wished to, under your own name. Now how could I do that without telling him what your real name was?” Ophelia turned her attention to her captain. “Tomie, you're enjoying this. Shame on you! Tell her the rest, right now. The poor girl thinks you mean to maroon her here. ”
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“This is Ophelia's idea, not mine,” the captain observed grudgingly. “She's taken quite a shine to you. ” He took a draw from his pipe while Althea waited in suspense. “Grag'll give you enough coin to fix yourself up. A bath, the proper clothes and so on. Tomorrow afternoon, you'll come back aboard as Althea Vestrit. And we'll take you home. ”
“And,” Ophelia cut in excitedly. “And, oh, this is the best part, my dear, and you can't imagine how hard it was for me to persuade Tomie. Grag was easy, of course, Grag's always easy, aren't you, my lamb?” She didn't wait for the mate's murmured assent. “You'll be acting as mate for the rest of the voyage home,” she announced to Althea gleefully. “Because a day or so out of Rinstin, poor Grag's going to have such a horrible toothache that he'll take to his bunk. And Tomie 's going to ask you to fill in, because he knows you sailed with your father. ”
Grag leaned forward to see her expression at this. At the shock on her face, he burst out laughing. His blue eyes darted to Ophelia, sharing his delight with her.
“Do you mean it?” Althea asked incredulously. “Oh, how can I thank you?”
Captain Tenira took the pipe out of his mouth. “You can thank me by doing a damn good job so that no one says I'm daft to have taken you on. And you can keep it to yourself, forever, that you ever shipped aboard the Ophelia as a boy and I didn't know it. ” He rounded abruptly on his figurehead. “And I expect you to keep your word on that as well, you old busy-body. Not a word of this to anyone, man or liveship. ”
“Why, Tomie, how can you doubt me?” Ophelia demanded. She rolled her eyes and laid a hand over her heart as if stricken. Then she tipped a showy wink to Althea.
Grag choked and the captain whirled on him. “Stop your sniggering, pup. You'll be as much a laughing-stock as I if this gets out. ”
“I'm not laughing, sir,” Grag lied merrily. “I'm just looking forward to the prospect of reading and lazing all the way from here to Bingtown. ” His eyes darted to Althea's to share the joke. His gaze lingered on her face, and she was sure he was trying to see the girl he had known in her grubby boy's guise. She lowered her eyes uncomfortably as his father spoke to him.
“I'm sure. Well, be prepared to make a quick recovery if I decide I need you on the deck after all. ” Captain Tenira swung his gaze back to Althea and almost apologized as he added, “Not that I think I shall. I've heard you can scramble lively and with the best of them. Now. Do you anticipate any problem, ur, changing from boy to girl again?”
Althea shook her head thoughtfully. “I can go to the rooming house as a sailor lad and get cleaned up there. Tomorrow morning, I'll shop about town for 'gifts' for my sister. Then back to my room, change clothes, fix my hair, and whisk out the back. Unnoticed, I hope. ”
“Well. Let's hope it all goes that simply. ”
“I truly don't know how to thank you, sir. All of you,” Althea's warm gaze included Ophelia.
“There is one other thing I'd ask of you,” Captain Tenira said heavily.
Something in Althea braced at his tone. “And that is?” she asked.
“Ophelia has told us about your situation with your ship. If I may be bold, young lady, I advise you to keep it a family matter. Oh, I'll vouch for you, if you prove yourself to me. I'll give you a ship's ticket with a mate's stamp on it, if you perform well. I'll even stand beside you in Traders' Council and take your part if need be. But I'd rather not. Vestrit family business should be settled behind Vestrit doors. I knew your father, not well, but well enough to know that's how he'd prefer it. ”
“I will if I can, sir,” Althea replied gravely. “I'd prefer it that way myself. But if it comes down to it, I'll do whatever I must to regain my ship. ”
“I knew she'd say that,” Grag crowed. He and Ophelia exchanged triumphant glances.
“I knew your great-grandmother,” Ophelia added. “You take a lot of your looks from her. And your spirit. She'd want you to have her ship. Now, there was a woman who knew how to sail. I remember the day she first brought the Vivacia into Bingtown Harbor. There's even a notation about it in my log for that day, if you'd ever care to see it. Anyway, the breeze was fresh and-”
“Not now,” Captain Tenira chided Ophelia. He fixed Althea in his gaze. “I've my reasons for asking you to keep Vestrit family business in your family. Selfish reasons. I don't want to be seen as siding with one Trader against another. ” When Althea looked puzzled, Tenira shook his head. “You've been away from Bingtown for a while. Things are heating up there. It's no time for Trader against Trader problems. ”
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“I know. We got enough problems with the New Traders,” Althea agreed quietly.
“Would that were all,” Tenira said fervently. “But I fear worse is to come. I got the word in Jamaillia City itself. You know what that fool of a boy-Satrap has done now? Hired Chalcedean mercenaries as privateers to patrol the Inside Passage. Word I got is that he's given them the right to stop in Bingtown for water and supplies. Free of charge. Says it's the least Bingtown should be willing to do to help clean out the pirates. When we left Jamaillia City, his messenger boat was already two days out. With papers authorizing the Satrap's revenue officer to see his Chalcedean hirelings are treated well. 'To collect contributions for their provisioning' was the pretty paper he wrapped it in. ”
“We've never allowed armed Chalcedean ships into Bingtown harbor
, only trading vessels,” Althea observed quietly.
“You catch on quick, girl. My guess is that we still won't. It will be interesting to see how the New Traders ally. I fear more will support the Satrap and his Chalcedean dogs than . . . ”
“Tomie,” Ophelia interrupted. “Save politics for later. You can bore her to tears with that at every meal from here to Bingtown. But first Athel has to become Althea again. ” Her eyes lifted to Althea's. “Go on, girl, go fetch your things. Grag will see you ashore and safely to the door of the rooming house. ” Her mouth widened in a bawdy grin and she suddenly winked at the mate. “And mind you behave yourself, Grag, for Althea will tell me all about it otherwise. Go along now, but be sure you stop at her door. ”
Althea found herself more flustered at the ship's humor than Grag did. He seemed accustomed to it. “Thank you, sir,” she managed to Captain Tenira. “I do so appreciate this. ” Then she hastened away where the shadows could hide her face.
When she came back out on deck, Grag was waiting for her by the hatch. She shouldered her sea-bag, and was relieved when he had the sense not to offer to carry it for her. She followed him down the gangplank and then up into town. He set a good pace. She found herself without words, and he seemed as shy. The night was mild, and the roads lit with the light spilling out from the sailor taverns they passed. When they came to the door of the rooming house, Grag halted.
“Well. Here we are,” he said awkwardly. He hesitated as if about to say more.
Althea resolved to put him at ease. “Can I buy you a beer?” she offered, gesturing to the tavern across the street.
He glanced at it, and his blue eyes were wide as they came back to hers. “I don't think I'd be comfortable,” he said honestly. “Besides. My father would skin me if I took a lady in a place like that. ” After a moment, he added, “But thank you. ” He didn't move.
Althea ducked her head to hide her smile. “Well. Good night, then. ”
“Yes. ” He shuffled his feet, then hitched up his trousers. “Uh, I'm supposed to meet you tomorrow and bring you back to the ship. As if it's 'by chance,' as Ophelia put it. ” He looked down at his feet. “I don't want to look all over town for you. Shall we meet somewhere?” His eyes came up to her face again.