Chapter Twenty #2
They laid Keldon into one of the bunks, and he groaned, cradling his arm.
When Adreona unwrapped the bandage, Lorath was shocked by how quickly the wound had festered.
The bite seemed to have opened his arm in a grotesque blossom of flesh.
Tendrils of discoloration snaked under his skin from his hand to his shoulder, and a livid algal growth had taken root in the deepest recesses of the injury.
Adreona pulled back his clothing, revealing the extent of the contamination. “What is that?” Lorath asked in horror.
She bowed her head, appearing more defeated than he had ever seen her. “The Drowned can spread a necrosis through their violence,” she said. “There are times when the injuries they give turn their victim into one of them. That is the true curse of Atanos.”
“What can be done?”
“Nothing. If we had amputated his arm when he was first wounded, we might have saved him.”
“Can we not amputate now?”
“No.” She pointed at the veins that almost seemed to be wriggling beneath his skin. “The corruption has reached his chest. There is nothing to be done. We have seen this many times before. Too many times. We have an elixir to ease his passing, but…I am sorry, Lorath. I blame myself.”
“It isn’t your fault,” said Lorath.
“He was my responsibility—”
“He would not see it that way, I promise you. He knew the risks when he agreed to take you on his ship. His Arabel. ”
A shiver took hold of Keldon that racked his whole body and rattled his teeth. A grimace of pain contorted his pale face.
“Give him your elixir,” Lorath said.
Adreona nodded and was gone for only a few moments. When she returned, she carried a vial of a clear syrup, which she poured into Keldon’s mouth. He sputtered and coughed as it passed his lips.
“Shh, shh,” she said. “Just drink it down. I know it burns, but it will help.”
The sailor smacked his mouth, eyes clenched shut, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
Adreona leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I am sorry, Keldon. Be at peace.” Then she rose, and as she passed Lorath on her way out of the cabin, she took his hand and squeezed it. “He may come back to himself for a few moments.”
Lorath nodded, and after she was gone, he crouched down next to the bunk and watched as the tension in Keldon’s face and body slowly eased. A few moments later, his eyes fluttered open.
“Where am I?”
“The forward cabin.”
That seemed to please him. He closed his eyes again, but in rest, rather than distress. “Am I dying?”
“You are.”
“I wish I were at her tiller,” he said, “but I suppose a bunk is good enough. At least I’m at sea.”
“You are,” Lorath said. “You got us to safety.”
He nodded. “Before I die, I need you to know something.”
“What, Keldon?”
“It’s about my debt to the Harbormaster.”
“Surely that doesn’t matter now—”
“It matters.” He opened his eyes and looked directly at Lorath. “I need someone to know the truth.”
Lorath felt his urgency and nodded.
“You asked if I knew who killed my wife and child. Well, I do. I tried to find the ones that did it, but I was drunken and clumsy and full of rage. I was useless. Then, one night, the Harbormaster pulls me up out of the gutter and brings me to one of her warehouses. She says she can give me the ones responsible. She takes me inside, and there they are. Three men, gagged and bound. The Harbormaster shows me a necklace they tried to fence. My wife’s necklace that belonged to her mother.
That’s when…” He shut his mouth, and for a moment, he blocked his lips with the fist of his good hand.
“The Harbormaster puts a knife in my hand. And I use it. I take that knife, and I go to work on those three unarmed men.” He stared up at the ceiling of the cabin, tears running down his temples.
“I lost myself to the rage. I carved them up ’til there weren’t much left. ”
Lorath had no words, nothing of comfort to say to his friend, and that shamed him.
“But here’s the thing,” Keldon went on. “Afterward, I was still full of rage. I wish I could tell you that killing those men gave me peace. But it didn’t. Maybe there was some justice in their deaths, I don’t know. All I know is, my wife and daughter are still dead.”
“I’m sorry, Keldon—”
“I’ve seen that same rage in you.” He turned to face Lorath, rolling as far onto his side as he could manage.
“I saw it the moment I met you. That’s why I need you to hear me now.
You see, I realized something, in time. I realized that giving blood and violence to my rage only fed it.
If I wanted peace, I had to let it go… You need to let it go, lad. ”
“How?” Lorath felt out of breath; there were tears in his own eyes without him knowing why. “How do I let it go?”
“You let yourself feel whatever the rage is guarding. You let yourself see whatever is hiding behind it. For me, that was my grief.” He relaxed and rolled onto his back, out of breath, closing his eyes.
“But there’s a beauty in grief. It’s akin to love, you see?
I’ll take grief over rage. There’s no beauty in rage. None at all.”
“Keldon, I—”
“But now I’m ready to put down my grief too. I’m…I’m ready to put it all down. Bury me at sea…and when you see Donan, you tell him I’m glad he sat down at my table. You all gave me back my ship. You gave me back my Arabel…”
The old sailor trailed off and let out a sigh so deep his chest seemed to collapse. Then he was gone.
They wrapped Keldon’s body in a spare jib Lorath found stowed belowdecks, and they weighed it down with a small but heavy chest they found among the sailor’s personal belongings.
The chest was locked, and Lorath had no desire to open it.
Whatever it contained belonged to Keldon, and it would go down to the bottom of the sea with him.
Lorath had worried about his body becoming one of the undead Drowned, given the corruption that had taken hold, but Adreona assured him that the elixir prevented that.
The old sailor would become part of the sea where he settled.
No one spoke as they eased the body over the gunwale beneath the light of the moon.
It landed with a splash, floating for a moment before the chest pulled it down by the feet, and then the waves closed over the head, and he was gone.
Adreona stood close at Lorath’s side. Their shoulders touched, and she took his hand.
“I will remember him,” she said. “I saw the virtues in him. He showed great courage. He defended life. He possessed wisdom.”
“I think he possessed more wisdom than I realized,” Lorath said. “You know, when I first met him, I doubted him. I insulted him. I wish I’d apologized for that.”
He stood a moment longer, watching the dancing reflections of the stars and moon as the place of Keldon’s burial fell behind them.
Then he turned from loss toward the task ahead of them.
He released Adreona’s hand and faced their eastward course.
Tavie stood at the tiller, steering the ship around Athulua, while the other Amazons worked the lines to trim the sails.
“What is the plan when we reach Temis?” he asked.
“I go to the palace and report to Queen Etara,” Adreona said.
“What about Myrina?”
“What about her?”
“I’ve inferred there is some…discord between you. Do you expect opposition from her?”
“It’s true that she and I don’t always have the same priorities, but I trust that our differences can be put aside for the good of Skovos.”
“I will support you however I can, but I think we both know I won’t be much help when it comes to palace politics. I’m still a mainlander.”
“You’ve done more than enough,” she said. “Leave the rest to me.”
She stood there in the moonlight, and he wanted to pull her into an embrace, a kiss.
If they had been alone on the deck, he would have, and he hoped that she would have welcomed it.
But they were not alone. A small company of her subordinates surrounded them, so he treated her as the captain she was.
It was dawn when they reached Temis. The colossal statues guarding the entrance to the Great Harbor seemed to shine with golden light as they passed beneath them.
Lorath prepared to lower the sculling oar into the water but noticed the same cutter that had towed them in upon their first arrival speeding toward them.
Adreona waved, but as the vessel drew up alongside them, Lorath saw a crew of Askarra Guard, and an Amazon at the helm instead of Parmo.
“In the name of Queen Etara,” she said, “I hereby impound this ship.”
“On what grounds?” Adreona demanded.
“I do not have that information,” she answered. “I only have my orders. Please, throw down a towing line, and we will row this ship to its berth.”
None of Adreona’s Amazons moved, waiting for her to command them. Tavie strode up beside her and asked, “What is this?”
“I don’t know.” Adreona glanced at Lorath. “Perhaps one of your comrades got into some trouble?”
“Unlikely,” Lorath said. “Out of the three of us, I am the one most likely to cause trouble. The other two have a much easier time avoiding it.”
“I can believe that,” said Tavie.
Lorath had spoken the truth about his comrades, but he nevertheless worried that Tyrael or Donan might have been exposed as Horadrim, or that the true nature of their mission had been discovered, either of which could lead to diplomatic complications.
He leaned in closer to Adreona and said, “Whatever this is, don’t risk anything on my account. ”
“I won’t,” she said, arms folded. “I just don’t like being kept in the dark.”
“Let them take the ship,” Lorath said. “We’ll find out what’s going on soon enough.”
Another moment or two went by before Adreona finally agreed with a nod, and one of her warriors tossed a line down to the cutter.
Not long after that, the Arabel lay secured to a dock among warships.
As Lorath disembarked with Adreona, a company of Askarra Guard thumped down the pier toward them, armed and resolute.
They halted a few paces away, at which time their leader stepped forward.
“Captain, we’re here to take this man into custody. If you would please step aside—”
“Is he under arrest?” Adreona asked, stepping between Lorath and the silks.
“I’m afraid he is.”
“What crime is he charged with committing?”
“That is not your concern—”
“It is most definitely my concern. This man has risked his life and proven himself an ally of Skovos. Moreover, he has been in my custody, and I would know if he had broken our laws.”
“Captain, please, we are under orders—”
“Whose orders?”
“The queen’s.”
From behind, Lorath could see Adreona’s posture lose some of its strength.
The Askarra Guard held their weapons in a stance that suggested a willingness toward violence, if that became necessary.
He knew Adreona’s warriors would fight if she commanded it, especially given the disdain they held for the silks, but Lorath refused to let Amazons fight Amazons on the Temis docks over him.
“I accept the queen’s judgment,” he said, stepping out from behind Adreona.
“I will go peacefully. I don’t want any conflict on my account. ”
“You flatter yourself,” Tavie said, glowering at the Askarra Guards. “This conflict has been brewing for a long time.”
“All the same,” Lorath said, turning to Adreona, “I’ll go with them. For now.” He took his polearm from his back and gave it to her. “Hang on to this for me.”
She took it with a nod. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”
“I know you will.”
He turned away from her and marched forward.
At his approach, the leader of the silks stepped around him and bound his hands behind his back.
Then the Askarra Guard escorted him from the pier into the city, where Lorath ignored the stares of suspicion he drew along the way.
He did not know Temis well, but the silks did not seem to be leading him back to the garrison where the Horadrim had been held captive the first time.
Instead, they moved up the tiers of the metropolis, but not in the direction of the palace—or, at least, not toward a part of the palace Lorath had seen before.
They stopped a few levels short of the city’s crest, just below the royal complex, facing a heavy gate in a massive retaining wall.
Askarra Guards stood watch on both sides of the entrance.
“I know a dungeon when I see one,” Lorath said.
His escort said nothing, and a moment later, they handed him off to the two guards waiting outside.
Then the gates opened, admitting the three of them into a subterranean complex of Firstborn passageways, chambers, and cages, all lit by wavering torches.
It was a prison, and quite a few of the cells held captives—many of them bandits and pirates, if Lorath had to guess based on the rags that had once been their clothing, but some of the prisoners appeared to be farmers and other common folk.
The fetid air smelled of sweat and the buckets they all used as chamber pots.
Lorath’s escorts prodded him along, eventually pushing him through a doorway into a private block, where he passed a row of empty cells before coming upon a cage holding Donan.
“Lorath!” the younger Horadrim stepped up to grip the bars.
“They got you too, eh?” Lorath said as one of the guards unlocked the cell opposite Donan’s. The other removed his bindings, freeing his hands, and then heaved him into the small chamber. The bars closed behind him with a clang, and then they were alone.
“Where is Tyrael?” Lorath asked.
“I don’t know,” said Donan. “They arrested me on Celestia days ago. Put me on a ship and brought me straight here.”
A gray-haired Askari woman stepped forward into the torchlight in the cell next to Donan’s.
“Who’s this?” Lorath asked.
“Alenia,” she answered. “And you must be Lorath. Donan has told me about you.”
“I’m sure he has.”
“Alenia was helping me as a guide,” Donan said. “When the Askarra Guard arrested me, they grabbed her too.”
“Why did they arrest you?” Lorath asked. “Did you break any of their laws?”
“Of course not,” Donan said. Then he lowered his voice.
“But I know why they took me. I think they’ve been following me since I left Temis.
” He glanced around, looking up at the ceiling and into the shadowy corners as if someone might be spying on their conversation through a peephole.
“They know we’re Horadrim, and they want the vault. ”