for you shortly. We have the whole city to scour, but we need to prepare for the fact that the Empress and young Leopold may already be beyond the walls.’
‘You don’t think they could have been murdered, do you?’ Goodfellow asked and General Ruardin almost speared him with a pointed stare.
‘We haven’t come to that conclusion yet. Everything points to a kidnapping, as there has been neither bloodfoundnor body recovered.’
Just then, one of the captains from the Royal Guard came whispering into Chancellor Donovan’s ear. As the soldier rushed back out, Donovan turned to them all with a look of concern. ‘They’ve just found something in the harbour.’
‘What is it?’ Ruardin asked.
‘A ship,a monstrous ship beyond anything our harbour-men have ever seen.’
‘Where did it come from?’ Anthem asked the man.
‘No one knows,’ Donovan replied. ‘It seems it must have come into the harbour overnight. Everyone has been asked to keep their distance until we can send someone to investigate. Apparently, the ship has floated into the harbour by chance, although such a thing seems remarkable. Its sails are gone and it’s in quite a state, from what I have just been told. The harbour-men are calling it a ghost ship. They are requesting the aid of the Order, just in case. At a time like this, it seems almost certainly connected with the kidnapping. At the very least, we cannot discount the fact until it has been investigated.’
Grand Master Anthem turned his attention to Samuel and Goodfellow. ‘Do you remember me saying you may be needed?’
Coursing across the harbour brought back memories of the night the Merry Widow had been stricken upon the rocks. Samuel was only thankful that it was daylight, as in his opinion the only thing worse than being at sea was being at sea at night, even if they were within the safety of the harbour.
Grand Master Gallivan, standing alone in his magic-driven vessel, led their tiny fleet, while Samuel and the Erics were huddled in another with oarsmen driving them forward. From the moment he first sighted the monstrous vessel far ahead, an awful feeling-a dreaded foreboding-sat deep in the pit of Samuel’s stomach. As they neared, he could see the ship was as thick as five of the Empire’s greatest ships stacked side by side, and longer than seven or eight. It towered above the other vessels, as if a fortress had been somehowerectedon water. Imperial ships had already been brought alongside; each looking dwarfed as they waited beside it. Each craft sat patiently-not too close to the mysterious vessel-waiting for the magicians to come.
The longboats arrived at the side of the ship and Samuel had to crane his neck to look up at it, almost as if the walls of some floating city lay above him. A few soldiers went first, standing in their boats and throwing their hooks up over the side. It took them several attempts,for few of the men had a strong enough arm to reach the top. They scaled up and, after a few quiet moments, a number of roped ladders they had carried with them came tumbling over the side.
The soldiers in the other longboats began scampering up, while the three magicians sat looking at each other expectantly.
‘Right,’ Goodfellow said nervously. ‘Who’s first?’
‘I’ll go,’ Eric Pot added and stood, careful not to rock the boat. He put his foot onto the first rung and started to climb the treacherous wooden slats with Samuel following after him. They had said nothing toeach other duringthe whole trip across the bay and Samuel was thankful to be out of the little boat, if only for that reason.
Clambering over the rails and onto the deck of the ship, Samuel began to believe this truly was a ghost ship. There was no sign of any sailsattached tothe masts, which themselves werebroken andmissing greatchunks. Holes and scorch marks covered the decking, as if the ship had barely survived some heated battle. Goodfellow came up behind him, adjusting his spectacles and swallowing nervously at the scene.
Grand Master Gallivan began inspecting the decks, sending out scores of spells to investigate, while more soldiers climbed aboard. Many stood with their weapons ready, faces looking somewhat pale.
Finally, the commanding officer for the men, Captain Riggadardian, scrambled over the side railing and began looking about without worry or hurry, patting his uniform back into place. Samuel had had little to do with the man previously. He seemed a tad too sure of himself, as Turians commonly did, but rumour had it he was a capable commander.
‘Report!’ Riggadardian commanded.
‘Nothing yet, Sir!’ one of his men shouted back. ‘It looks abandoned and has seen extensive battle. I’d say it’s also been at sea a long time-several months at least. There are entrances to below decks fore, aft and middle, and several doors leading into the deckhouses. This thing is enormous, but it’s in terrible shape. I don’t know who built it or where it came from, but it’s seen better days.’
‘Magicians, what do you sense?’ the captain asked.
Samuel and the two Erics walked over to wherethe captain andGallivan stood together.
‘I can sense people below the deck. Not many. No magicians,’ Gallivan said, eyeing the towering structures of the ship. ‘No one above.’
‘Scour the rooms one by one,’ Riggadardian called aloud. ‘Leave no speck of vessel hidden.’
Just then,a door creaked open and magicians and soldiers alike turned to see some figures stepping out onto the decks. It was a small group of men and women, emaciated and thin. They shuffled out, seven in total, heedless to the swords raised towards them, and they waited, keeping their eyes to the floor.
‘What is this?’ Riggadardian whispered to Gallivan beside him.
‘They are unarmed, Captain,’ the magician responded, ‘and obviously in no state to cause us harm.’
‘Any more of them?’ the tight-bearded captain asked.
Gallivan cocked his head slightly to the side, scanning the ship for signs of life. ‘Plenty of rats and lice, but no other people below decks. Nothing else of note that I can detect. Still, send your men down to look around. There may be clues as to what has happened here.’
Samuel could feel this was true, but there was also something else. Somewhere, deep inside the ship, he could feel that something was present,something heavy with magic, but somehow hiddenfromhis senses. He knew he should make some mention of it, but Gallivan and the others did not seem to feel it. He thought it could be his own paranoia, for it was not so much magic he could sense-more like something…missing.
‘Then the Empress is not here,’ Riggadardian said,with disappointment. He recovered his composure and sent his men scrambling away to look into every nook and cranny on board the vessel. He approached the sorry group that had come crawling from beneath the decks. They looked as if they had barely survived some recent and harrowing calamity.
‘Who are you?’ he asked firmly. ‘Where are you from?’
None of them responded. They continued staring down at the deck, a mixed cluster of men and women, dressed in tattered rags. Their hair was matted and their skin was filthy. Riggadardian’s men eyed the group warily and stood no closer to them than need be.
‘Open your mouths!’ one of the soldiers bellowed, gesturing with his sword from afar, but the people remained quiet and motionless.
‘Grand Master Gallivan,’ the captain implored over his shoulder and the magician stepped up beside him. The two of them faced the emaciated survivors. ‘What on earth can you make of this?’
‘It seems evident that this ship is not within Turian or Garten capabilities. I have never seen or heard of anything remotely like it. I surmise that this ship and these people are not from Amandia and must be from some distant land we have not yet explored. And,from appearances, I’d say they’ve come a long way and are within days of perishing. This ship seems beyond navigation, wouldn’t you say?’
Riggadardian nodded with sureness. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it, but, with no sails and no capacity for oars or any other method of propulsion that I can see, it could have been floating around for any amount of time, although, it seems incredible that they somehow entered the harbour without being caught upon the rocks. There seems to be more than just luck involved. It would take manymore than these few survivors to manage a vessel of this size. I can only guess the crew have all perished.’
‘I agree. Normally I would suggest magic has been at work here, but none of this lot is capable. Let me have a closer look at them.’
Gallivan stepped towards the nearest survivor and held out his open palms to her. Gently, he put his hand to
