The gunsinger told the server, “We’d like a table on the veranda, please. And send for Lilith if you will. Tell her Alysand is here.”
The young man’s body twitched awkwardly as he regarded Madi and I. “I’m sorry. Lilith isn’t here anymore. Left months back to go live with her folks.”
We took a table on the veranda and were soon eating omelettes. The food tasted great to me, and Madi ordered a second. Yet Alysand was noticeably upset.
The man nursed his cup of tea and complained, “I can handle a few changes, but Lilith? What has Gilsby come to? We must ask about and see what information we can find. We’ll head to the light tower after this. Tejón and Pachi will no doubt want to come. I can see about a horse first, so we can ride out. It’s only about five miles from town, but this weather calls for a ride, does it not?”
I agreed and stepped on Madi’s toes when she replied sarcastically, mimicking his accent.
The man at the stables charged Alysand 5 gold to use the horse for a week, and the gunsinger’s face paled at the price. “Times are hard, and besides, I hear you’re tough on horses,” the man said in defense.
We headed out to the light tower at noon, a crowd of children chasing us as we left.
The tower was visible as soon as we cleared the few buildings that blocked our view. Yet the distance was deceptive. It took two hours in a gentle trot till we came close enough to make out a small red door at the tower’s base.
It was a structure of cut stone, ancient-looking and powerfully built. Lichen clung to the side that faced land, and the other was crusted with saltspray.
As we hitched our horses, Alysand stirred the soil at his feet for a time and stalled.
“What is it, Alice?” Madi asked. “Seems like this whole town is full of secrets, no? You can tell us.” Though she teased him as always, there was a softness in her voice that was unusual.
He cleared his throat to explain. “The proprietor of this lighthouse is… a friend of mine. I’ve known her for years. She is special to me.”
“She’s your novia, you mean? Your girl?” Madi said, cutting through Alysand’s vague answer.
He nodded then shrugged. “In a way. A bullet bard can never offer much romantically. But she is the closest I have had. Anyway, I am sure you two will love her.”
The door was opened, and we followed the nervous man as he made his way up the winding steps. Our footfalls echoed off the stone and the crash of waves filled the tower with a symphony of noise. It sounded like we were walking through a giant’s windpipe. Salt and sun-dried kelp filled my nose. I had decided that I liked the smell of the ocean, but it was a close thing. What other thing balanced the freshness of life with the stagnant rot of death?
At the top, the stairs leveled out to a circular walkway. We circled around to a small red door like the one at the base. This one was closed, though, and we waited after Alysand knocked on it.
An opening formed as someone inside moved a metal shutter, revealing a stark blue eye. “What is it?”
“I am hoping to make a call on Delilah. Is she not in? It is Alysand Deschaney. I am her good friend.”
The shutter snapped closed, and for a moment, I thought we would be refused. Then the systematic clicks of more than a few locks was heard. When the door finally opened, a girl of ten or eleven years stepped out. “Hello, Mr. Alysand. It is nice to see you again.”
“My goodness. How are you, Nora? I haven’t seen you in years.”
The girl explained, “I’m okay. My aunt is gone, though. It is only me in the light tower. Five days a week at least. That’s why I lock up now.” Her words were monotone, muted somehow, especially for one so young.
Alysand shook his head and tried again. “I’m sorry, but what do you mean she is gone? Has she left on a trip somewhere?”
A flutter of emotions passed across Nora’s face then. “She’s… she died, sir. My uncle found her here a few months past, and she was… like I said, sir, she’s dead.”
It looked as if the gunsinger had been struck with a war hammer. He took a step back and braced himself on the railing. His face had gone white. I tried to think of something to do or say, but nothing came to mind. I stood beside him as he trembled with the news.
Nora was braver than I was. She wiped away a tear that had fallen down her face and reached out to grasp one of Alysand’s hands. “I know you two were close. I have some lunch here. It’s only salt cod, but I have a loaf of bread and some butter as well. Have lunch with me, and I’ll tell you what I can.”
The gunsinger appeared shrunken and feeble, and I wondered how old he truly was. He looked less like a hard and peerless gunsinger and more like an old grandfather who had seen too many loved ones die. I supposed he was both.
He clutched at the cup of tea little Nora had given him like a light in the depths of a mountain.
“She’d been training me these last two years,” the girl explained. “Meant me to pick up her vigil, as it were.” Again, I marveled at how mature she was, though my original guess was off by a
