The way of courage, p.19
The Way of Courage, page 19
Bess said nothing but nodded, and Stone led them around the edge of the village to the top of the cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a steep track down to the rocks on one side of the point, but Bess had said it was just as easy to leave from higher up. The moon was bright, but a storm was brewing, and the clouds hid its light more than half the time. The wind whipped across the top of the cliff, and it began to rain. Bess kept the weave in place that hid them and sent another weave out over the ocean looking for a ship.
Just after midnight, she found one struggling to get close to shore through the heavy seas and wind. Bess turned to Stone and said, “The ship’s further out than I expected, but it’s struggling against the wind and waves. I’ll bring us down to the water and then move us toward the ship rather than waiting for them to get closer.”
Bess turned to Efren and said, “I’m going to use magic to help us get to the bottom of the cliff and out to the ship. You’ll not see any of my magic, and I suspect you’ll be afraid. Still, you need to stay quiet.”
“Yes, Master. I will stay quiet.”
Bess nodded at Stone, who stepped off the edge. Bess lifted Efren with her aether, then stepped off the edge with him dragged along behind her. Using air and gravity to slow their fall, Bess froze a platform of ice at the base of the cliff and made the air around the platform become still. After forming a wedge at the front of the platform, she reduced the friction across the lower surface of the ice. She used gravity to drag it out toward the ship. The ship was almost two leagues out to sea, and it took almost three-quarters of an hour to get close. As they approached the ship, Bess calmed the air and waves and then waited until they were spotted before moving closer. She brought the platform close to the hull, and one of the sailors lowered a ladder.
Stone was first up the ladder, followed by Efren. As Bess stepped onto the deck, she dissolved the ice platform and turned to see the ship’s captain approaching her. He came to attention and said, “Welcome aboard, your Grace. I am Fredrick, captain of the newly renamed Vengeance, and I apologise for being late. The storm developed more quickly than anticipated. Duke Gareon has placed the Vengeance under your command.”
“Thank you, Captain Fredrick. For now, let us move away from shore. If you are free, I suspect your advice will be most welcome to determine how to best approach our destination. Although I trust those on board, I would prefer to keep the destination a secret as much as possible. I am not as competent as Senior Mage Marin with controlling the weather but can assist if it would help in any way.”
“It would be helpful to get us out of the storm. Perhaps I could direct you from the command deck while your companions make their way to your berth?”
Bess nodded to Stone and indicated Efren should go with his father, then followed Fredrick to the ship’s command deck. The Vengeance was half the size of the Severance. Still, Bess had no trouble scaling down all that she’d learnt. She was able to identify every part of the ship as they made their way to where the first officer was giving orders to turn the ship around.
While on Jagged Isle, Bess had spent many nights learning the best weaves to calm and manipulate the waves and wind. After a quick discussion with Fredrick, she suggested how the sails might be set and then formed a strong breeze to move the ship in the desired direction, even as she calmed the ocean in front of them and reduced the frictional forces between the ship and the seawater. Within minutes, the Vengeance was skimming across the water faster than it had ever travelled before.
Fredrick said, “I’ve not been aboard ship with mage Marin, but I suspect even she does not have the Severance move at such speed.”
“Perhaps not. Even so, I know she is more than capable of doing so.”
Ten minutes later, Bess slowly reduced her use of aether, and with Fredrick directing her, she brought the Vengeance to the best heading to move westward in the calmer conditions, then Fredrick followed Bess to her cabin to discuss their route to Kishmeld.
CHAPTER 3
As the Heptatic Empire was being formed, the mage lords had decided to restrict the use of aether to males of noble blood. As per their modified strictures, they killed all non-noble male potentials along with all female potentials, regardless of nobility. By the time the continent was almost fully conquered, Brandon’s descendants had been accorded the title of Emperor. All that remained was a long isthmus that jutted out into the Ocean of Despair, then turned and headed east, running along the entire coastline of the main part of the continent. The name of the body of water had been earned by the wild storms, rough seas, and the treacherous rocks which ran along the entire northern side of the isthmus and destroyed every ship that sought to navigate the waters close to shore.
The mage lords were weary of the constant wars. As the isthmus was sparsely populated and, to their knowledge, was free of mages of any sort, they paused after the century of war to begin rebuilding after agreeing to pacify the isthmus after a time of recuperation. Somewhat ironically, the Heptatic emperor at the time was called Relentless, and it was he who began both excavating and building Haven’s Gate. During this time of peace, Relentless baulked when it came to destroying girls with potential once it was discovered that his daughter had the potential to be a mage.
He had her taken to the isthmus and effectively banished her. Despite his attempt at secrecy, his action became widely known. During his reign, dozens of female nobles were allowed to flee the Heptatic Empire instead of being killed. His son, an avid student of history and the strictures, closed the small unofficial loophole when he ascended the throne. Even when his own daughter was found to have potential, he enforced the strictures and had her killed.
Karnith, the emperor’s daughter who had been banished, struggled to survive on her own and was taken in by an abusive and violent trapper who made a living in the mountains and forests at the western end of the isthmus. Karnith suffered at his hands for several years before having a breakthrough. By the time her brother and the mage lords were ready to annex the isthmus to the empire, she’d gathered dozens of noble potentials and created a strong opposing force trained to operate in the rugged environment of the isthmus.
After a dozen skirmishes and five years of talks, it was decided to allow Karnith to form an independent country and exist outside of the Heptatic empire. Karnith called the new country Karnhold. When she heard of her brother’s edict to resume killing all female potentials, she ordered that all males in Karnhold who had the potential to use aether must be destroyed. Not wishing to give her brother’s growing armies more mages, she banished all the existing male mages in Karnhold to the wastelands that covered the eastern end of the Isthmus and placed her most senior male mage, a mage called Kish as its ruler. Kishmeld was formed. Despite their almost fanatical cultural differences regarding gender, Karnhold and Kishmeld had continued to enjoy close diplomatic ties and often used each other to further their own aims.
Although their mages had cleared several channels through their almost impenetrable northern barrier of rocks, whirlpools, tidal surges, monster waves and vicious undercurrents, almost all shipping for Karnhold made its way along the long stretch of sheltered water between the isthmus and the mainland. While Kishmeld had some small ports within the long tranquil southern corridor, their main access points were on their reasonably long eastern shoreline, where several large bays gave merchants access to what had been a wasteland until gold and diamonds had been found in and under the mostly uninhabitable central spine of mountains.
Using information the eyes and hands had built up over the years, Bess, Jenifer and Dreyton put together a detailed map of the eastern and southern coastline, marked the various entry points used by agents, and made notes of the success or otherwise of the missions. They’d also put together maps of the northern coastline and the border regions. Still, they had almost no information on access from the northern ocean as the details had been provided by hands who’d travelled along the coast on foot. Several attempts had been made to enter Kishmeld from Karnhold, but they’d failed as both countries maintained extensive and effective border control.
While in the library, Bess and the eyes had spent days studying and evaluating the information before highlighting three entry points they thought would give them the best chance of a safe incursion through Kishmeld’s security. Bess had been satisfied that they’d done their best until Nasir had brought up the added information from the vaults about Haven’s Gate and the way-lords. Her interest was piqued; she’d spent almost a dozen sessions in the vault—sessions that were unrecorded by the librarians as they had no idea she was even in the library.
It turned out that the oft-quoted statement that no woman had ever escaped the Kish wasn’t true. Four hundred years previously, a slave who’d been born in the Kish breeding kennels had managed to kill the man who’d borrowed her for the night and escaped. Instead of fleeing south as would have been expected, she headed west into the Desolations, as the mountain range that ran through Kishmeld was called. It took the woman, who’d been called one-hundred-and-thirty-eight her entire life, almost eight months to find her way through the mountains and onto the northern edge of the range.
After another month of making her way slowly down the northern side of the range, she finally made a small home for herself on the northern coast, hidden in a small cave that faced out to sea. For a year she watched the waves, the tides, and the rocks and built up a picture of her area. It took her another two years to chisel out a path to the base of the cliff and hollow out a small cave where she put together a raft. It was another year before she finally built up the courage to try and leave Kishmeld. Fifteen days later, she was pulled from the water by a Tarlonin warship who brought her back to Tar Eylia, where she lived in seclusion for the rest of her short life.
News of her survival and what amounted to capture and imprisonment was suppressed, a mild term for the rigour with which the hands of the time made sure even a rumour of her presence was never heard. Over a few years, several eyes and hands did a thorough debrief of the woman. They included everything in a report they then presented to the Mage Advisor of the time, a mage known as Jericho. From what Bess had been able to put together, Jericho had died a few months later. The records had been archived until the new mage advisor could review them, a review that never happened. After reading the report, Bess had used her aether enhanced memory and made a copy for herself in the privacy of her manor.
When Fredrick and Bess arrived in the suite set aside for her and Stone, she found Stone waiting and Efren asleep in a hammock. Once everyone was seated, she said, “Captain Fredrick, we are headed into Kishmeld. I suspect you can work out our purpose, but it is a mission that must remain secret as long as possible. I understand it will be both impossible and impractical to hide the destination from those aboard the ship. Still, I understand Duke Gareon has made provision for this by insisting you not return to Tarlonin for some time. I would prefer it if you did not make port anywhere for several eightdays and even found waters where you would remain unsighted, even by stray shipping.”
Frederick nodded, then said, “I’d suspected something like that after reading Lord Gareon’s orders and his demand for secrecy. Have no fear. The Vengeance will not enter a port for several months just to make certain we do not adversely affect your mission. Staying out of sight of shipping is harder. There are a lot of ships—Kish, Karnholdian, Heptatic, and Tarlonin, as well as dozens owned by the great houses waiting for an opportunity to deal with the Kish. All were plying the eastern and southern waterways around Kishmeld.”
Nodding, Bess said, “I understand, and that is the reason for this meeting before we begin the journey. The plan, which I still have to discuss with my team in greater detail, is for us to go ashore on the northern coastline of Kishmeld.”
Stone, who’d not been privy to Bess’ findings, went still, but he managed to stop himself from reacting in any other way. Fredrick made no such attempt. Almost yelling, not with anger but in surprise, he said, “The north, are you crazy!”
He paused when he saw Bess make a motion for him to lower his voice. He took several deep breaths and said, “Your Grace, it is suicide to look for a way through the Ocean of Despair. I can see that you might get us close with magic, but the ship will be lost as we seek to withdraw. Finding a way through the maze of rocks, shoals, reefs, maelstroms and waves to a point where you could actually scale the cliffs cannot be done. Even if you did, you would still need to cross the Desolations before having access to the Kish strongholds. I am surprised those planning the mission have allowed this madness.”
Stone smirked and said, “We didn’t. Her Grace seems to do things without consultation. Bess, I agree with everything the captain said. Still, have you a plan?”
“I do.”
Turning back to the captain, Stone said, “Then while I listen to her Grace’s plan, we need to assume it is viable. How long will it take to make the journey?”
“Without the duchess’ help, it would take three eightdays or more as we’ll need to head north and away from most shipping routes before circling around to approach the coast. Where on the northern coast do you hope to land, your Grace?”
“Approximately two thirds of the way along the Kish coast heading westward.”
“Then it will be closer to four eightdays.”
Bess said, “Not tonight, but each of the nights after this, I shall help speed us on our way for at least one watch.”
“If you can do as you have done tonight, then the journey may be completed in under two eightdays. I’ll have a more accurate estimate after one such watch.”
Looking over at Stone, Bess saw him nod, and she said, “Thank you, Captain. Head north and prepare a rough plot of our journey. As much as possible, please keep the details from others.”
“As you say.”
After Fredrick had left, Bess moved to her duffle and retrieved the copy of the report that she’d made. She handed it to Stone, then headed for the one bed in the suite and said, “I’m going to sleep for a bit. It’s been a big day.”
“No kidding. I haven’t said it yet, but thank you for helping with those things at the farm.”
“I can’t really say it was my pleasure, but I’m glad we dealt with the lump and hope the babies will be a blessing to Breen and Ryker.”
“I do understand. While I think Halo will be better off, I hope she’ll not hate me for dealing with Martin. I’ve no idea how people stay in a relationship like that.”
“Fear, shame, the children, love, there are dozens of reasons. Just because Halo was abused doesn’t mean she didn’t love Martin. He was also the father of her children, and now she has to bring them up alone. You and Lessa seem to have a solid and healthy relationship. I suspect she was too ashamed to tell you that hers was falling apart. She was possibly motivated by fear; fear of being alone; fear of what Martin might do if he heard she’d mentioned it to anyone; fear of what he would do to the children; and even fear of what he would do to the wider family if you and Ryker weren’t there.
“I imagine she’ll struggle with blaming herself for what happened and will probably struggle for a while with seeing herself as something valuable and worthy of respect and love. If she ever hears it, your comment would make her doubt the way you feel about her, the amount of value you give to her decision-making process and her actions. It would validate all the negativity she’s experiencing. Staying might not fit what you think is rational, but in her worldview, in the reality she’d constructed around her, it made perfect sense.”
Stone was quiet as he considered what Bess said. After a while, instead of responding, he turned and opened the report.
CHAPTER 4
Bess woke early and looked over at Stone, who was still in the same place as when she’d gone to sleep. He was aware she was awake as he turned and said, “I’ve read this three times and looked through the maps I brought. Why haven’t we used this route before?”
Bess explained the history she’d worked out. Stone shook his head and said, “If this is accurate, we’ll probably get into Kish, but it’ll take several eightdays at least to work our way through the Desolations to the Kish stronghold where Marina is. By then, they’ll know we’re on the way.”
“We both know they’re already aware we’re coming. The extra time might work in our favour as they’ll possibly become blasé.”
“We both know that’s unlikely. They’ll be ready. At the moment, I’m a little worried about how we’ll get away.”
“Nasir will assume we’ll keep to the exit strategy and have the ships waiting according to the schedule.”
“No doubt. I’m more concerned that the Kish might have a copy of the plans.”
“Agreed. Still, we’re a step ahead.”
Efren was woken by their talking and sat up. Once he realised where he was, he carefully got out of the hammock and said, “Good morning, Father, Good morning, Master.”
Bess said, “Apprentice, good morning. In future, please remember that it is appropriate to greet me, as your master, before acknowledging anyone else. The only person who has precedence is the emperor, and even then, it is only through me that you will relate to him unless I hand you over to another for instruction, discipline, or training.”
Efren stared for a second, then bowed and said, “My apologies, Master.”
“You are forgiven. Being an apprentice is not easy. Some masters teach what is required by blows and various punishments. I, on the other hand, will usually let you know of my expectations before punishing you. Having said that, if it is something you should have been able to work out by yourself, then I may use the other method to help reinforce correct behaviour. Now, go find the toilets and relieve yourself, then get dressed in a loose pair of trousers and a tunic, and we will begin your training.”
