Chapter 12

    Kayeen sat by the shore alone. His mind was numb. It had been just moments since he had bound Kessen to himself and the shock and reality had not yet set in. Beyond that, for the first time since leaving home, Kayeen was reflecting on all that he had done.

    He was a murderer. It had been a shocking and difficult moment, but Kayeen knew that he’d had the power and control to subdue that man who had tried to slit his throat just like he did the others. He had simply let his anger get the best of him.

    He was a thief. Kayeen could blame his taking control of the Blue Spray on what those sailors had tried to do to him. Even if others bought the lie, though, he couldn’t convince himself. He knew that before he had even stepped aboard the Blue Spray he was scheming to make it his own.

    He was a rebel. Kayeen had run away from home. There were no goodbyes, there was no warning. He simply got up from the dinner table and walked out of their lives. The only thing he had taken with him was his father’s sword. The old man probably wouldn’t even miss the thing, but it didn’t give him the right.

    Now to crown it all, Kayeen had in effect declared a one man war on the Society. He might try to say that he was following in his parent’s footsteps but that rationalization rang hollow. Kayeen’s parents had been kicked out of the Society but the Society had not been kicked out of them. They followed the rules of their exile to the letter decades after the Society had left them behind. Though they had been left behind, Kayeen knew that it was only a matter of time before someone tracked him down. They’ll be coming again, but this time it will be with guard up and weapons drawn.

    “What have I done?” Kayeen thought aloud.

    Life back home in the north seemed so simple compared to the tangle he was now in. It seemed so peaceful compared to the chaos he was now the center of. In his mind’s eye Kayeen saw his youngest brother, Sevi, kneeling at his cot saying his nighttime prayers. Kayeen tried one of his own.

    “Creator, I’ve never been much for prayers. They always felt like a ritual to me that I was on the outside looking in on. Blood, I don’t even know if You’re real. But if You are, I could sure use some help right now. Cuz I don’t see a way out of this mess.”

    As he was praying, on the far side of the docks, a young boy opened a crate and buried himself among the contents. As best he could this child closed the lid back up above him.

    Kayeen leaned back and grabbed a flat stone next to him. As he skipped it across the water his left hand instinctively reached down and rested on the hilt of his sword. His thumb began rubbing the ruby while his right hand picked up another stone to skip.

    Yes, back home was peaceful, but it was also boring. His parents were condescending and his brothers annoying. Yes, he had taken control of the Blue Spray, but wasn’t everybody better off because of it? Avril and his crew were making far more now than they ever had before bringing Kayeen aboard. Yes he had killed a man but it was dark and he had nearly been asleep when the guy and his buddies attacked him. It wasn’t murder as much as it was self defense and Kayeen should be proud of the restraint he showed in not killing the rest of his attackers. And yes, he had taken this man from the Society by force, but hadn’t the guy just threatened to do the same to him? Where does the Society get off thinking they can barge in and kidnap anyone they want?

    Kayeen stood and resolutely began making his way back to the inn.

 

    Kessen cringed when he saw Kayeen come striding back into the inn. For the last couple hours the man from the Society had been replaying that fateful confrontation in his mind and trying to figure out what had really happened. For the first few minutes after Kayeen had left Kessen hoped that the bind would weaken when Kayeen’s concentration slipped, but over time that hope faded. He briefly thought through the oath he had been made to take, but there were no loopholes that he could see. Clearly it was something that Kayeen had worked out in advance and not something that had come to him on the fly. That realization truly frightened Kessen. It said something about his nature that the boy had worked out at least part of this confrontation in advance.

    Kessen had also been thinking about the sword. As he’d worked on stopping the bleeding in his hand, he wondered what part that sword played in everything. When Andrei was still on the Council, did he have a sword? Kessen was sure he would have remembered that sword but he hadn’t really known either of the parents well. If it didn’t come from the parents, where did it come from? It clearly was a thing of magik, but was it a Focus or a Source? Surely a sword like that cannot escape attention for long, but it did not fit the description of any magik sword Kessen could think of. Where did the bloody thing come from?

    Kessen’s eyes were fixed on the sword’s hilt and scabbard as Kayeen strode toward the older man.

    “You like it? I’m sure you’ll be seeing plenty of my sword in the days to come. But not here. Not now.”

    Kayeen gestured toward Kessen’s bloody hand.

    “I don’t know the first thing about healing so if you do, feel free to fix your hand.”

    Kessen muttered “spala, scurta” as Kayeen continued, “I tried healing some of the squirrels I’d cut open back home, but it never seemed to work. Maybe I was reading it wrong or something.”

    “Reading? I’m sorry, I missed something there.”

    “Everything I learned I read in a book. My parents took the rule of their exile seriously and never talked about magik in front of us. On the flip side, we never spoke magik around them. In fact, I don’t think my parents even knew I could speak magik.”

    Kessen smiled at the naivety of that last statement.

    “They know. Some things you can’t learn by reading it in a book. You need to be shown and you need to practice. In time, spotting someone with the spark will become second nature.”

    “That’s why I’m glad you’ll be around.” Kessen bristled as Kayeen made that statement and continued, “Since I’m not going to the Society, I’ll need someone to teach me this stuff. Every day we’re ashore, you will meet with me after lunch to teach me whatever you feel it is best I learn. Just when we’re ashore, though. At sea I’ll have other tasks for you.”

    Kayeen stood again and made for the exit. Kessen cleared his throat loudly and the young man stopped and looked back at him.

    “Oh. Sorry. You can get up. Get some rest, we’ll be off early tomorrow morning.”

    Even though he was hungry, Kessen promptly stood and went directly to the innkeeper. When he had the key and the location of the room he had purchased for the night, Kessen went straight to it. Unlocking the door, he went right over to the bed and lay down. Before he could even shrug off his clothes and crawl under the blanket, Kessen was asleep.

 

    Leaving the inn, Kayeen headed back down to the docks. As he came up on the Blue Spray, Ragan moved in to walk in step with him. For a moment nothing was said as both walked slightly past the Spray and stopped before an empty dock.

    “The wind was good tonight. She raised anchor just moments before you arrived.”

    “Blood. I hoped she would wait till dawn.”

    “We know where she’s headed, boss. You’ll catch her.”

    Both men watched the cutter that was retreating in the distance. The Mist was larger and faster then the Blue Spray. It was the newest and best of the eight ships used by the Kanati House. Beyond the normal running of furs down from the north and supplies back up, it was a poorly kept secret that the Kanati smuggled gold mined in the Great North Range. Ragan had sniffed out the fact that there was about 150 pounds of unrefined gold hiding in the Mist right now.

    “So do your boys know their part?”

    Ragan spat into the sea in contempt at the question.

    “Course.”

    “And how many of Arsin’s men have we brought over?”

    “A bit less than half. Almost as many are willing to stand aside and see how things play out. The one man who refused to go along has been disappeared. Tiev has one officer with him. I don’t know which. The rest are in the dark.”

    “Let’s do this. We leave at first bell.”

 

    “Sir, there’s someone at the door.”

    “What? At this hour? Send them away.”

    “I would sir, but it’s Mati, the Captain of the Guard. He says it’s urgent.”

    “I know who Mati is.”

    Navari put the book he had been reading down and hefted himself out of his padded chair. With a pained look on his face and a hand on his lower back the old man waddled his massive bulk into the parlor. Upon entering the room a well built man in his mid thirties stood and made a gesture of apology.

    “I am sorry for the intrusion, Overseer, but I bring a most distressing piece of information.”

Navari motioned for the younger man to sit while he himself lowered his massive bulk into another chair. While faking a yawn the Overseer noted that the captain had neglected to unstrap his Katana from behind his back and was still wearing his leather boots. What was so important to make this ambitious young man overlook propriety?

    “Sir, there was a confrontation at the Broken Nail. Magik was used.”

    At this point Mati paused. Making a guess at what probably went down, Navari goaded the captain to continue.

    “And what would a man of the Society be doing in that hovel?”

    Mati bit his lower lip. He sucked in air deeply and then let the words spill out. “He wasn’t the only one to use magik. The details seem conflicting since all the witnesses I have apparently ran away at this point but everyone agrees, sir, that blood was spilled and that this man from the Society has been taken captive.”

    The Overseer rocked back in his poor chair that creaked and groaned in protest. Whatever the old man had been expecting to hear, this wasn’t it.

    “Well, we’ve got a bit of a problem on our hands don’t we? Have you begun working out plans on how to deal with this yet?”

    “Sir, the man who won the fight is an officer on a ship that is scheduled to leave dock tomorrow.”

    Navari leaned back forward rubbing his hands. “Good. See that he does as soon as possible and our problem is solved. Let some poor old fool in another port worry. It will be out of our hands.”

    “The ship that is leaving tomorrow is the Blue Spray.”

    The Overseer’s hands froze in place and his smile died on his face. For a moment silence reigned while the wheels in Navari’s head were spinning.

    “Has House Urnov been informed of the situation?”

    “I am sure they are well aware.”

    “Not good enough. I want you personally to go there tonight with as much information as you can gather. Give them my assurance that the city of Takino will back them in whatever way they deem necessary. Also have messages sent by pigeon to every dock the Blue Spray might reach and warn them of the possible danger that ship possesses. No, wait on that. If House Urnov is actually behind this and is making a move on the Society we can wait to see how this plays out. But lets hedge our bets. Send a man back here in an hour. One who cannot read. I’ll have a message to be delivered to Nago.”

    “To Nago?”

    “He’s the contact for the Society here in the city. I’m sure he will have already heard and sent messages as well but it wouldn’t hurt for him to think we’re doing a favor.”

    After Mati left, Navari continued to sit in his chair muttering, “It would be just like Urnov to disinherit a favorite son just to use him in some play like this. But where’s the benefit? What am I missing?”

 

    “Ship ho!”

    As the Blue Spray skipped across the water, the lookout in the barrelman in the crows nest called out the sighting nearly everyone had been expecting.

    “Ragan, get everyone in position or out of the way. Arsin, Tiev, in two minutes I want all of the officers in my cabin.”

    Arsin immediately knew what was going down. The moment took him by surprise, but he had been expecting the event for some time. Ever since Kayeen began adding to the crew, Arsin had been making plans of his own. At the entrance to the cabin that had once been his, Arsin caught Tiev’s eye and raised his short sword a quarter inch from its scabbard. His first mate gave him a knowing look as the two entered the cabin followed by a half dozen other men. Avril, his son Nikolai, and Tiev sat at the table leaving a spot for Kayeen while the other five crowded behind. Before entering, Kayeen gave some instructions to Kessen.

    “Go with the men being led below. Kill the first man who makes a false move.”

    As Kessen turned away, Kayeen entered his cabin and sat at the table. He looked first over at Arsin, up at those standing behind the table, and then over at Tiev. The tension in the silent room was so thick you could slice it with a knife.

    “Which one is with us?”

    Looking Kayeen in the eye, without saying a word, Tiev put a hand on Nikolai’s shoulder. Kayeen laughed and shook his head while he spoke the magik that froze the other six in place.

    “Your son shows some promise.”

    The veins in Arsin’s neck bulged as he strained against his invisible bonds.

    “Tie them up. After that, Nikolai, I want you with the archers. Tiev, I want you with me.”

    Before Kayeen left the cabin, Kessen made his way below deck. Almost as soon as he did, he saw a man passing out swords. The man let out a cry of surprise and pain. He dropped the swords to clutch his left arm. Before he had hit the ground, the hapless soul was dead.

    Kessen’s lips moved but no sound came out. In their heads every man below heard his voice: “I have been ordered to kill the man who makes a false move. Please, please, don’t make me do that again.”

    Every man below slowly backed away with eyes wide in shock and fear. Some men who already had swords slowly lowered them to the floor. Others dropped them as if they were hot coals. Kessen himself leaned against the wall and wept. Alone.

    Above Kayeen gave his instructions to Tiev. “I want to push us past them to right about there. Then we can swing back and come at them with the sunset to our backs. If all goes well, we can do this without bloodshed but it wouldn’t hurt to grab every advantage we can.”

    Tiev began barking out orders to the remaining crew while Kayeen called up the wind. And then there was nothing to do but wait.