'Certainly,' I said.
'How long have you known this?' asked Callimachus.
'I have suspected it for some time,' I said. 'I was attacked by him on the wharves. In defending myself I injured him. That night, in our meetings, he appeared with an injured shoulder, claiming to have fallen. In spite of this, and his resemblance to the courier of Ragnar Voskjard, I dismissed the possibility of his guilt. He was well known to you, and you vouched for him. He was, too, one of us, and a high officer of Port Cos. Then, again, when we were betrayed, because of the small number of individuals who knew of our plans, and his resemblance to the courier of Ragnar Voskjard, and the injury, it seemed it must be he. But then, again, because of his high position, and the confidence which you placed in him, I rejected this possibility. I decided that the traitor must be Peggy, the Earth-girl slave. It could only have been she. But, later, when the southern fleet of Port Cos did not support us in the battle, continually denying us her succor, in spite of our desperate need, I became at last fully confident of the justice of my suspicions. All things, then, fell into place.'
'Why did you not speak to me?' asked Callimachus.
'The burdens of command were much upon you,' I said.'Little would have been served by my burdening you with cruel and unproven conjectures.'
'You were wise,' said Callimachus, sadly. 'Doubtless I would not even have considered them.'
'Nor would I, doubtless, in your place,' I said. 'But now, incontrovertibly, the proof kneels before you.'
'What were done with the ships of Port Cos, your fleet?' asked Callimachus of Callisthenes.
'They are safe,' said he. 'I withdrew them to Port Cos, on the pretext of fending a threatened attack on the town. On the ruse of undertaking a mission of reconnaissance I then joined the fleet of the Voskjard.'
'Where is the Voskjard?' asked Callimachus.
'He is journeying east on the river, in his black ship, _Spined Tharlarion_, to rendezvous with Policrates here, and then to take command of their joint forces in the control of the river.'
'Captain,' said an officer, coming up to report to Callimachus, 'in the marshes the battle is done. Fifteen pirate ships have been destroyed. Many pirates have been killed or captured. Some twelve to fifteen ships escaped. Too, other pirates have fled into the marshes.'
'Victory is yours,' I told Callimachus.
'Had we ampler forces,' said Callimachus, 'our victory might have been more complete.'
'Do not rise to your feet,' I said, warningly, to Cailisthenes.
He looked up, at Callimachus. He smiled. 'Do not forget that we are friends, Callimachus,' said he. 'The affection that I bear to you remains unchanged. As children we played together in Port Cos. We have been brother officers.'
'You are crying,' I said to Callimachus.
'It is the wind,' he said. Then he said to the officer nearby, indicating Callisthenes, 'Put him in chains.'
We watched Callisthenes being led away, between two soldiers, the officer following.
'Would you rather that the traitor had been the slave, Peggy?' I asked.
'No,' he said.
I thought that an interesting response on the part of Callimachus. I had, however, little time to ponder it.
'The fleet of Policrates!' we heard, from the height of the wall. 'The fleet of Policrates is at the mouth of the channel!'
'Bring our forces, and their prisoners, within the holding!' called Callimachus.
'Policrates cannot retake the holding,' I said. 'We would hold it against ten thousand men!'
I followed Callimachus tip the stairs to the height of the wall. There was no possibility of our tricking Policrates, of course, as we had Alcibron and Reginald, and the others. Escaped pirates would only too quickly inform him of what had occurred. Too, smoke from burning ships, from the sea yard, and in the channel, climbed skyward.
Callimachus and I, on the wall, regarded the fleet of Policrates at the mouth of the channel. He had returned from his work on the eastern river. He had returned for his rendezvous with the Voskjard.
'We have nothing to fear from Policrates,' I said.
'You do not know Policrates,' he said.
Chapter 13 — CALLIMACHUS AND I ARE PASSENGERS ABOARD THE FLAGSHIP OF POLICRATES; POLICRATES WILL VENTURE TO VICTORIA
My arms were taken far behind me. The ropes on my wrists were tight.
'Secure him well,' said Policrates.
I winced, my back arched over the port shearing blade of Policrates' flagship. Involuntarily I cried out with pain. Then the ropes were drawn even tighter. My legs were then drawn back, ropes tight on my ankles. Ropes were adjusted. Lying as I was, bound upon the blade, looking to my right, I could see the port rail of Policrates' flagship. I put my head back. I could see blue sky and clouds. I could not see ahead. On the other side of the ship, similarly secured, fastened to the starboard shearing blade, as I understood it, was Callimachus.
The ultimatum of Policrates had been clear. Callimachus and I must be surrendered to him, Callisthenes, Reginald and Kliomenes must be freed, else Victoria would be subjected to fire and the sword. Defenseless Victoria, we had vowed, must not perish. We had, against the protestations of Miles of Vonda, whom we left in command of the fortress, surrendered ourselves.
'Put about!' I heard Policrates call to his helmsmen. I felt my body move with the blade, as the ship came about in the channel.
'Though you cannot see ahead, surely you can hear,' said a voice at the port rail.
I looked upward and to the right. There, at the rail, stood Policrates.
'It is my hope,' said he, 'that we shall have an engagement.'
'Whither are you bound, Captain?' I asked.
'Victoria,' he said.
Momentarily, in rage, I struggled. Then I felt blood running at the blade. In frustration, moaning, I ceased struggling.
I heard him laugh. Then he turned away from the rail.
In misery, in fury, I lay bound, not moving, over the blade. I felt the steel, hard and narrow, in my back. The ropes were tight. I felt the motion of the ship. I saw the blue sky and clouds. I was absolutely helpless.
Chapter 14 — RAGNAR VOSKJARD MEETS POLICRATES; RAGNAR VOSKJARD LEARNS THAT HE IS NOT FIRST ON THE RIVER
Bound over the great, curved shearing blade I could see little but the sky. But I heard another ship nearby.
'It is _Spined Tharlarion_!' I heard cry. We must now be in the vicinity of Victoria. _Spined Tharlarion_, I knew, was the personal ship of Ragnar Voskjard. He had come from the west on the river to rendezvous with his fleet and the ships of Policrates. The rendezvous was supposedly to have taken place, we had learned from Callisthenes, at the holding of Policrates. Scout ships, however, had been left at the channel's mouth, that he might now, rather, be directed to Victoria.
'You are Policrates?' I heard call.
'I am,' answered Policrates.
'He is,' called another voice, from my right. 'He is Policrates.' That was the voice of Reginald, who was known to them both. I remembered it from earlier, from outside the sea gate, at the holding.
'Where are my ships?' demanded the first voice, from my left. The voice was furious. Only recently, I gathered, surely only with a few Ahn, had the Voskjard become apprised of the fate of so many of his ships. The
