'You could always try asking, first,' said Miphon, mildly.
'Try what?' said Drake, incredulously. 'Asking,' said Miphon. 'Politely. You might get quite surprising results.' 'Hmmm,' said Drake. Miphon looked at him, sternly.
'Now don't go looking at me like that!' said Drake. 'All I said was 'hmmm'.''Yes,' said Miphon. Speaking volumes.
'All right then,' said Drake. 'You win. I’ll try asking politely to start with. Come on, let's find Blackwood. The sooner we get going, the better.'
Miphon was not sure he even wanted to get going, since the last thing he wanted to do right then was venture all the way south to Ling. But he let Blackwood do the arguing, which Blackwood did with great vigour, concluding as follows:
'We're men of command with serious responsibilities in Estar. We can't go whoring off on fairy-tale quests to the Deep South.'
'But you're questing heroes!' said Drake. 'Aye, famous for it! You, and Miphon, and Morgan Hearst. Why, man, when I held the Gates of Chenameg, I heard many a tale about-'
'What we did,' said Blackwood, 'was done under the gravest necessity.'
'My wife sickens. Is that not necessity? She sickens towards death. Is that not dire?'
'Friend,' said Blackwood, 'an afternoon's brawling in Lorford can see half a dozen dead. One person's tragedy cannot outbalance the needs of a town, or a nation.'
'But Hearst's taking care of Lorford,' said Drake. 'Aye, and of Estar entire. And Trest, man.'
'Yes, and we hold in trust the red bottle and the death-stone. Those are great resources, which Hearst may need to call on. We cannot risk them on – on-''On saving life,' said Drake.
Then said much more. But, when Miphon made it clear he supported Blackwood, Drake abandoned argument. And started planning, instead.
64
They had had quite a party. They had started early in the morning. Come noon, their behaviour had become so riotous that Hagi had thrown them out of his bar. So they had continued on the beach. But now it was night, and all had crawled off home – all but three.
Old Gezeldux, who had been one of the leading lights of the party, was asleep on the sands, his sleep warmed by a dragon-coloured fire. Zanya was asleep on the same beach, her head resting on Drake's lap.
Zanya had not drunk much that day: her body could no longer tolerate more than a little alcohol. But she had done her best to join in the fun. She did not like to confess how weak she felt, and how she had suffered as a consequence of her brave endeavours to fake merriment when she should have been resting. Zanya was fearfully afraid of becoming a true invalid. For what then? Would Drake leave her?
The problem troubled her dreams, in which she was being chased by a dragon.
Drake was still awake, picking his nose with a finger which smelt of woodsmoke, and staring out to sea. He was not admiring the beauty of Brennan harbour by moonlight. No, he was thinking, something he did well.Zanya moaned faintly.
'Dearest heart,' murmured Drake, and stroked her cheek with the hand which was not otherwise occupied.
He felt lumps beneath his fingers.
Zanya grunted. Her dream-scene shifted. The dragon was gone. Instead, she was in the temple of the Orgy God on the Ebrells. The change was not for the better.
Drake heard Zanya give a thin, terrified whine. He kissed her. She grunted again. Shifted. Settled.
He had not told Zanya that her salvation might lie in Ling. He wanted to rouse no false hopes. Ling, after all, was many days distant. And Blackwood and Miphon still did not seem disposed to helping Drake get there. The pair of them were staying in a house lent to them by Gezeldux. In that house they had all of Hearst's soldiers, who had been refused permission to join the party. Funny, that. One could almost believe the two exiled rulers of Estar did not entirely trust young Drake Douay.Well, he'd show them.
What did he need for the journey south? A boat. Yes, well, that was simple enough. Any fishing boat from Brennan Harbour would be stout enough for the voyage, as long as the summer weather held fair. Men? He'd like to have a few men with him. But he could sail a fishing boat single-handed if he had to.But what he really did want was the death-stone.And the bottle.
Since they were so close at hand, it would be foolish to go without them. Man, he'd taken Runcorn near enough to single-handed. He'd captured the Gates of Chenameg. So he should be able to handle a house full of soldiers, yes
The ghosts of a thousand dead generations breathed a little more life into the night breeze, and Drake shivered. The night was cooling. He threw a hunk of driftwood onto the fire, kicking up a shower of red sparks.'The whip!' said Zanya, startled almost to wakefulness.'Hush, dear heart,' said Drake. 'Hush. Hush . . .'And soothed his fingers over her neck, over her smooth and beautiful neck. Finding a little lump which he knew must be sky blue. Her sickness was spreading to more of her body.
On the wind, Drake heard a voice. He thought, at first, that he had momentarily fallen asleep, and that the voice had spoken to him from out of a dream. Then he realized that it had come from out on the harbour. Yes. There were some boats out there, sails dark in the night. How many? One, three . . . five. Close to shore. Moving as if in convoy.'Explain yourself, boats,' muttered Drake.And reached out to shake Gezeldux awake.
Gezeldux breathed up beery fumes, then burped, bringing up a mouthful of half-digested fish, which he swilled round his mouth then swallowed again.'What's problem?' said Gezeldux. 'Sky caught fire?'
'Boats,' said Drake. 'That's the problem. Look! Those are island boats, I hope.''How should I know?' said Gezeldux.'Man, you live here.''A boat is a boat is a boat,' said Gezeldux.
He was too full of liquor to rightly care. So Drake, who had much experience of drunks, let him go back to sleep. Zanya had woken.'Darling treasure snake,' she said, 'hold me close.'
'Man,' said Drake, giving her a perfunctory hug, 'I don't like those boats. Come on, we'll rouse the others.'
In truth, while he was suspicious of the boats, he had an ulterior motive for sounding the alarm. It gave him a good chance to test the defences Miphon and Blackwood had organized for themselves.
On reaching their lordships' house of exile, Drake found sentries posted, and wide awake. He was admitted into the interior, which was hot, and heavy with the smell of enclosed sweat. Miphon and Blackwood were swiftly roused, and made no effort to hide their suspicions. Clearly they thought Drake was playing some kind of trick.
'Man,' said Drake, 'trust me. If you won't trust me, then take my wife as hostage, and come see.'
So, leaving Zanya as hostage, they went to see his mystery boats, which, in the interim, had come in close to the shore. The crews were making no particular effort to keep quiet. The watchers heard voices, and one of those voices:'Grief of suns,' hissed Drake. 'That's Sully Yot.'
Miphon and Blackwood knew that voice as well. So they joined Drake as he backed off hastily.'How did he know we're here?' said Blackwood.
'Man,' said Drake. 'Likely he doesn't. Likely he's fled Estar for fear of what we'll do to him when we get ourselves organized. Likely this is his first stop on some flight to wherever. But, man, he'll likely find we're here, aye, soon enough.''What do you suggest?' said Miphon.
T suggest your house is a trap, so get your men out of it.'
Shortly, Blackwood, Miphon, Drake, Zanya and all the soldiers were lying in the dark in the scrub in some low dunes at the edge of town.
It was hard to judge how many men Yot had on each of his five boats. But Drake suspected six, easily – which would mean Yot's people outnumbered them about two to one. Six men per boat? The figure was just as likely to be ten.
