Seawander thought that the old wooden box had been empty. Only the four who went into the cave knew of the jeweled ring that was dangling from Phen’s neck.
Chapter Nineteen
The harbor master’s office wasn’t very roomy, Phen observed. It stank of pipe smoke, and the desk before him and Captain Trant was overcrowded with logbooks, scrolls, and other loose pieces of parchment. There was a great oak table in the middle of the room behind them. It was covered with documents. Maps, charting tools, and open volumes, all held in place by matching fist-sized brass bells, covered its top. Beyond the table was a big window that looked out over the bay. On either side of the window decorative nets full of rare shells, dried spider- fish, and other ship’s paraphernalia hung from the ceiling. Behind the harbor master’s desk was a series of shelves with even more stuff piled on them, including a perfectly replicated miniature of a six-masted cargo vessel that kept drawing Phen’s eye. The harbor master himself, Phen decided, had probably been a real pirate at one time. He wore a patch over one eye, and had a knife scar that ran from his gnarled ear down to his throat. He was an old man. If asked, Phen would have guessed him to be a hundred. Nevertheless, he was sharp, grouchy, and talked like a proper pirate should talk.
“…fourteen barrels o’ water, and three o’ rum,” he read Captain Trant’s list of needed provisions back to him. “…eight o’ salted beef, and how many rounds o’ cheese?” He peered closer at the parchment, scowled, then looked up at Trant. “Where you going from here, Captain, that you’ll only need two weeks’ worth of rations? They told me your hold was near to empty. You’re not planning on going to old Westland are you? I can tell you, you’ll find no welcome flying the Blacksword there.”
“No, sir,” Trant answered. “We’re going south to a little spring island that’s off the charts.” After he said it, he realized that he probably shouldn’t have, but there were a dozen islands too small for human habitation about two days south of Salazar. He hadn’t said which one.
“What in all the hells for?” the harbor master asked with eyes full of genuine curiosity.
Trant wasn’t sure what to say. He had thought about this conversation at sea, but his respect for the man before him wouldn’t allow him to even try and deceive. Phen noticed the Captain’s hesitation and spoke.
“We’re searching for a rare plant called silverleafedskullrella. My master wants to find a new source of it. It’s used in casting spells.”
“And you think this plant grows on the Pirate Isles?” the harbor master asked.
“The pirates are all Dakaneese,” Phen said. “Master Sholt used to buy our silverleaf from the Isle of Borina, but the Red Priests have gone crazy since Pael called up his demon. The plant grows in the warm humid climate of the islands.”
The harbor master looked at Phen for a moment then burst into laughter. “Where did you get this little turd, Trant?”
He stamped Trant’s request, still chuckling. “What a bunch of nonsense. The pirates are all Dakaneese…” He was laughing now. “If it’s not my business, boy, just say so. You can’t lie to the devil.”
Phen grinned sheepishly. “Sir, can you tell me whose banner is the eagle holding the snake? Their ship is huge. And who flies the lightning star?”
“The eagle is from the land of Harthgar. It takes more than a season to sail from here to there, and it’s open sea the whole way. They say that there be walkin’ talkin’ people covered in fur, with tails like a cat’s livin’ in the hills there, but I ain’t never seen one.” He paused and handed Captain Trant his approved loading ticket. “The lightning star is the Dragon Queen of New Westland’s.”
“She’s not a dragon queen anymore,” Phen said with pride. “Hyden Hawk stole her dragon and set it free.”
“Yes, well, try telling her that, lad. She’s a tariff-happy witch is what she is. They have all the good lumber, and most of the good meat in Westland. Dragon or no, she’s not afraid to make us pay for it all.”
“Off the record, Ralphal,” Captain Trant interrupted and changed the subject, “do you still have those old code legends you used to keep. Show him, Phen. Show him the transcription you’ve started.”
Phen took out the log book he had been copying and handed it to the harbor master. The old man squinted his good eye at the page, turned it, and squinted some more.
“This is old script,” he muttered. “Not pirate, but Elvish… Amazing. Where did you come across it?” he asked Trant, then turned his gaze on Phen.
“It’s from an old text I purchased from a juju wizard on Kahna,” Phen lied.
The old man laughed again. “Juju wizard…” he was still chuckling as he rose and hobbled across the room to a shelf on a wall that Phen hadn’t noticed earlier. “I don’t know how much use this will be to you. The dwarves used to inhabit all of Highwander. Old Port was a dwarven port long before the humans came along. Them short bastards never could get the hang of the sea. The elves used the port more than any. This is an old dwarven, elven, human translation. It was popular before the common tongue of man replaced the other languages. It’s a rare volume and I covet it, but if Captain Trant will guarantee that I’ll get it back when you return from your hunt for magic plants, I’ll let you borrow it.”
“He will,” Phen said over Trant, who had started speaking.
“I can guarantee that, I think,” the Captain glared at Phen. After a moment, he added: “I can assure you, Ralphal, your text will stay in my cabin exclusively. Our young turd can use it there, where I know it will remain safe.”
“Very well,” the old pirate said in a way that told them he had other matters to attend to. Captain Trant took the translation and said his goodbyes, then Phen thanked the harbor master for his help and they were on their way.
Once they exited the building and started back toward the docks to find Deck Master Biggs and the crew, Trant cuffed Phen on the back of the head. Phen didn’t like it, but he knew he deserved the correction.
“ Silverleafedskullrella?” Trant asked incredulously. “You must be daft. What were you thinking? And that talk of Borinian priests… Bah!” He shook his head, but there was a smile on his face.
That evening they all dined in a place frequented by captains and lesser lords. The fare was fantastic and the drink strong. They roomed at an inn called The Sword of Salt, in a section of the city where people, mostly from the eastern part of the mainland, caroused. The Captain explained that there were Dakaneese, and Westland sections of the city as well, but that they wouldn’t be welcomed there. “You might find yourself among a crew of inked up Seawardsman over here, even a Valleyan horse trader or two, but that’s far better company than you’ll find anywhere else on the Isle of Salazar.”
Phen didn’t doubt it one bit. He had seen the aggressive looks that some folk gave them as they made their way back to the ship earlier.
The whole of the next afternoon Phen was in the Captain’s quarters translating. Hyden invited Brady, and Oarly to take a walk through the trading lanes. It took only a short while for them to realize that Oarly was a spectacle for the sailors to jeer at. To avoid trouble, they made their way back to the inn and proceeded to get drunk in the common room.
Hyden didn’t overdo it. In the morning, they were to leave port for the little island that lay four days to the west and south of Salazar, the island where Claret had told him they could find Barnacle Bones’s ship. Then the Captain appeared and told him that, later, the two of them would be dining at Lord Buxley’s manor with a couple of notable ship builders. Hyden had no idea who Lord Buxley was, but Trant spoke of him as if he were a powerful man in the greater scheme of things.
It gave Hyden a chill just thinking about what he had to do after they found the skull. If it was up to him, Zorellin’s gourd could stay where it lay, and the ring Gerard took into the Nethers could stay where it was, as well. The goddess of his people had told him to go after the ring, though, and to do that he needed the Silver Skull. She had helped him and Mikahl destroy the demon-wizard Pael and his minions. There was no way he could deny her. If she said that it must be done, then he would do it. She was a goddess after all.
