Outcast Chronicles - Sanctuary Part 57

He left the rudder in Vivane's hands, with Vivore advising him.

A light glowed in the small cabin. The toddlers slept packed in the two bunks. Tiasely had lifted the hatch to the hold, and she knelt beside it, holding a lantern.

*Look.' She lowered the lantern into the hold. It wasn't deep. It shouldn't have been filled with dark water. *There wasn't any water last time I looked. All our stores are ruined.'

Sorne sank to his knees. This was why the boat wasn't responding properly. She was too heavy and riding low in the sea. The water flowing back and forth in the hold was crippling her. *When did you last check the hold?'

*When I cooked dinner at dusk.'

And it was only halfway through the night.

*The ship's sprung a leak,' Yosune whispered.

Sorne nodded and signalled for silence. At the rate the hold was filling... It was hard to tell, but he suspected they had until around midday tomorrow before she sank.

*We need all the pots, pans and buckets you can find,' he said. *We're going to have to bail. Get the bigger children onto it.'

He wasn't sure how far they were from the coast of Ivernia. He wasn't even sure if they had pa.s.sed the tip of the north island yet. So much for his plan of sailing south-west until they hit land.

They had to attract the attention of a fishing vessel or a merchant ship. Hopefully they should be nearing Ivernia now, and entering the shipping lanes.

He left Tiasely and Yosune to organise bailing the hold, and went back to the rudder.

*What is it?' Vivane asked.

*I want you two to light every lantern you can find and hang them on the mast and the cabin. I want the boat lit up bright as day. Then I want you to look around and see what you can find to make a raft.'

Their eyes grew very wide.

*We're sinking?' Vivore asked.

*Very slowly,' Sorne said. *So don't frighten the little ones. Just take a look and report back to me.'

They nodded and ran off.

If the worst happened, they could put the smallest of the children on the raft and the others could hold onto it and drift with it. But the water was cold. They would not be able to keep that up for long.

Sorne watched the sail, the horizon and the sky, concentrating on the feel of the boat as she struggled through the seas, and willed the craft to stay afloat.

Chapter Forty-One.

TOBAZIM UNROLLED THE message. *The causare says the sea-raiders had a fiant!'

*What?' Norsasno had been inspecting the temporary shutters. Now he held out his hand.

Tobazim handed him the scroll.

The hand-of-force frowned as he read the news, then looked up. *When I joined the brotherhood I was taught that every dead sister weakened a sisterhood and made our brotherhoods stronger, but now...'

*Every dead T'En weakens the T'Enatuath,' Ardonyx said from the doorway.

That reminded Tobazim. Something had been bothering him since he saw the blue fire. It was something important, and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it was something he did not want to confront.

*Tobazim.' Ardonyx crossed the cabin. *Our dead have been laid out on the mid-deck. Everyone's waiting for you.'

Tobazim did not want to go out there. Every loss diminished him, every loss felt personal. He did not know if other all-fathers felt their brotherhood's grief so deeply. He suspected they didn't, and wondered if the new facet of his gift left him vulnerable to his brotherhood's losses.

Ardonyx's hand settled on his shoulder, firm and warm. *They want you to lead the farewell ceremony, Tobazim. The attack was devastating. They need words to inspire them, words to make their loss worthwhile, to justify their loved ones' deaths and validate their grief.'

At Ardonyx's words, a rush of conviction filled Tobazim. And in that same instant he realised the nature of Ardonyx's gift.

He was the rarest of kind of word-smith. Not only could he choose the right words to say, but he could imbue them with power. Tobazim had heard of only one other living T'En with this power. According to rumour, the playwright who wrote under the penname of Rutz had had this gift. He'd been from Chariode's brotherhood, too. But no one had known this ident.i.ty because...

Because he was Ardonyx.

With realisation came understanding. Since the night they formed the shield-brother bond, Tobazim had sensed that Ardonyx was hiding something.

The very nature of his gift.

He gestured to Norsasno and the Malaunje. *Some privacy, please.'

*What is it?' Ardonyx asked, as soon as they were alone. *What troubles you?'

He wasn't using his gift now. He didn't need to. He instinctively knew the right words to say. It was only when he sensed his words would not be enough that he added the little push of power, as he'd done earlier when Norsasno complained that the causare had held off calling down the blue fire to let the brotherhoods suffer.

For all Tobazim knew, Ardonyx had been doing this all along. During brotherhood confrontations the gifts always ran high, so no one would notice if Ardonyx enforced his words with power.

*Our shield-brother bond is based on a lie of omission,' Tobazim said. *There's something you haven't told me.'

*What're you talking about?' Ardonyx let his arm drop, looking ever so slightly wary.

*You're lying to me now.'

*That's rich, coming from you. You're the one who wouldn't admit to your own shield-brother that you were suffering from gift-addiction.'

*We weren't shield-brothers then, and I've overcome it. Besides, this isn't about me. It's about you and our shield-brother bond. The night we took the oath, I revealed my gift. You showed me a glimpse of your power, but not enough for me to understand its nature.'

Ardonyx went very still for a heartbeat, then Tobazim thought he appeared relieved.

*You should be the one to lead the farewell,' Tobazim told him. *You're that rarest of word-smiths. You can imbue words with power. You're the playwright Rutz.'

His shield-brother's mouth twisted in a wry smile. *Took you long enough.'

But Tobazim refused to be charmed. *It was your gift that helped you convince Kyredeon to take you into his brotherhood, even though you came from the inner circle of another brotherhood. Tonight, when we talked about the blue fire, you used your gift to divert Norsasno. Why?'

*Anger and blame are pointless. We had work to do.'

It was true, but...

*Ask yourself this,' Ardonyx said. *Have I ever used my gift for anything but the good of our people? And it's a flawed gift at best. I could not save my ships and cargo when I returned from the Lagoons of Perpetual Summer.'

*Why didn't you tell me?'

*For precisely the reason we stand here now, having this conversation.' Ardonyx shrugged. *Honestly, how could I have told you back when I first entered your brotherhood? Then, I did not know that you were going to become my shield-brother. And if Kyredeon had suspected the true nature of my gift, he would have had me killed.'

Everything he said made sense, but Tobazim still felt betrayed.

*Have I offended you, shield-brother? I don't want this to come between us,' Ardonyx said. *You can trust me.'

*To say the things you think I want to hear.'

*No. I say the things I believe you need to hear even if they are not welcome. That is what an all-father's voice-of-reason does.'

But even this was what Tobazim wanted to hear.

There was a knock on the door.

Tobazim raised his voice. *Come in.'

*They're ready for you,' Norsasno said. *And the warriors have been asking if you'll arrange trystings.'

*Tonight?'

*We've survived death's shadow. We want to bathe in sisterhood power.' Norsasno had trouble controlling the rise of his eager gift. *It's natural after what we've been through.'

*We'll see.' Tobazim headed for the door.

*Tobazim?' Ardonyx called.

He paused, shut the door on Norsasno and turned around. Ardonyx was the person he most admired. The gift his shield-brother had been cursed with was one of the rare, dangerous powers that could get a T'En killed just for having it. No wonder he'd hidden its nature even from his shield-brother.

*Are we all right?' Ardonyx asked, his voice raw.

*Yes.' Tobazim saw his shoulders relax. *But don't ever lie to me again. It must be all or nothing.'

Ardonyx looked down, then up. *All or nothing it is.'

And they left the cabin together.

Hueryx and his brothers filled the foredeck, while Malaunje from both their brotherhoods shared the mid-deck. They remembered the fallen, celebrated their lives and then they sang. The voices from both brotherhoods combined, deep and powerful, as the blue fire flickered on the masts above them.

When this was done, there was silence, then a soft murmuring as the Malaunje parted for Hueryx and his inner circle.

Tobazim came down the steps to meet the all-father on the mid-deck.

*I hear you're arranging for trystings,' Hueryx said. There was cheering from the brotherhood warriors. *I expect the causare will be honouring you with a trysting, to recognise your voice-of-reason's role as fleet commander. Or will she strip Ardonyx of his command, since we've suffered such terrible losses?'

A ripple of angry muttering travelled through the gathering. Tobazim thought they'd come through the attack pretty well, considering the odds, but his brotherhood expected him to fully support Ardonyx. Anything less would appear weak.

And just like that, he had to approach the causare's ship or admit that Ardonyx had failed.

*We're changing course now,' he said, and caught Ardonyx's eye.

His shield-brother returned to the high rear-deck to speak to the helmsman.

*Excellent.' Hueryx grinned. *I wonder if I can lure the healer into my arms. They say she can control a man's body to prolong pleasure.'

Tobazim blinked, his mind a jumble of images.

Hueryx laughed and headed back to his end of the ship.

From this day forward, Tobazim would never look on the healer the same way. Not sure if he had been played, he joined Ardonyx to watch the celebrations. The pipers had struck up a lively tune and the dancing had already begun.

*You can't lay yourself open to the causare's power so soon after fighting off gift-addiction,' Ardonyx said softly.

*I have to approach her. If I don't, it weakens our leadership.'

*I know.' Ardonyx said the words as if they left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Tobazim gripped the rail as his eager gift tried to break free. He wanted nothing more than to open himself to the causare's power. He wanted it so desperately, he knew it would be a mistake.

*Fiant take Hueryx,' Ardonyx muttered. *Kyredeon's adepts will be watching us. You'll have to approach her.'

Tobazim nodded. He did not trust his voice. Did not trust himself. Then it came to him. *The gift-benediction.'

*What about it?'

*I didn't have the skill to carry out the gift-benediction, you guided me that night. Tonight you aren't injured. Tonight you can join me and help shield me.'

*You want me to share a trysting with you and the causare, and shield you from her power?' Ardonyx's voice sounded strained.

*Can you do it?'

Ardonyx swallowed.

*Can you? Because I can't go to her alone. I want her too much.'

Ardonyx hesitated.

Tobazim laughed. *Come, when are two shield-brothers, so new to leadership, going to get a chance like this to tryst with the most powerful female of our generation?'

Still Ardonyx hesitated.