“Tell you something about me, you say?” Jack chuckled to himself as they navigated their way down to the docks. He was half tempted to tell her some tall tale of a life of adventure or some sort of sad tale of woe. Instead, he decided that it would be best to tell her what passed for the truth of his life, aside, of course, from the treason that he and his comrades were plotting against the Crown of Adeluna. He chewed on his lip trying to decide where to start the tale.
“Well, I warn you now, you did ask. I, as you can tell from my fine accent and lack of fleas, am not from these parts. I hail from the south, in Adeluna, though…” He cut himself off before launching into a tirade against the sitting queen, one that would be counter to his efforts to disguise the true reason he was humoring Saria’s quest. “Never you mind that. I’m from Adeluna, born and bred back these last ten generations. Times were tough back home, out with the Queen worrying too much about her family matters and not about her adopted people, so to speak. So I decided that starving was worse than the army, so I took the bounty and joined the Queens Ranger company, which was stationed over the mountains from here, among the Mamlak types.” He spat to the side of the road to show his contempt for the Mamlaks and the Queen that put Adelunans there to bleed for Mamlaks.
“The black buggers can’t fight a proper way at all, all bluster and shouting but no discipline worth a damn. So they needed us folks to show them proper soldiering, and, more often than that, do their soldiering for them. So when the damned bee things showed up, the horde of ‘em, the Mamlaks turned tail and ran and we were ordered by our officers, all in the Mamlak’s pay of course, to cover the retreat. We didn’t have the men to hold them all and retreat ourselves, see, so they expected us to die for those dark arsed cowards while they got behind their walls and hid.” He paused and stepped over a pile of vomit outside one of the taverns on the road to the docks.
“Me and my lads, the ones you seen with me, we had other ideas. When the lines broke, we cut our way out together, through ‘em, all the way back to the walls where the Mamlaks tried to bar the gates against us coming in. Killed about thirty of ‘em to make it into the city, but they had it coming. Our captain had the good sense not only to not execute us, but promoted us for the rest of the enlistment. But when it was up, we were done with the army and done with being cut up to protect lesser men, so we hiked it out over to here. Now we are looking for work while we figure out our next step. Most of us ain’t got much to head home to, so it’s now a question of whether home’s still worth living in, or if we make it our own way up here.” He scanned the ships in the harbor, looking for the ship his patron had described, with the carved coat of arms of Mad William on the main mast. Spying it at the end of the quay, he waved Saria forward. “There she is, Querin’s ship. Follow me lass.”
A quick conversation with one of the deck hands, along with a few silver crowns, got them both onto the ship. Jack pointed to a barrel on the deck near the captain’s quarters. “Stay here,” he said, “and I’ll go talk to Querin first, man to man, and all that. Don’t want him taking advantage of you, after all.” Smiling convincingly, he took his leave and ducked into the captain’s quarters.
“Who are you, then?” An old, stern looking man with a military bearing peered up from a chart with a look of annoyance.
“I’ve come from the Beacon,” Jack said, the code phrase he had been given, and he placed the carved lion on the map. The other man’s expression changed quickly, growing warm and welcoming for another loyalist to the old regime. He clasped Jack’s hand over the map.
“Welcome then, brother. Rangers, were you? Still have the look, and the cloak. Me, I stole this ship from the harbor with a crew who did not want to see the darkening of the throne, sailed out with others of a mind the day we heard the news. Do a bit of this and that to keep ourselves busy, but mostly we are supplying a growing number of men such as ourselves. This,” he tapped the figure, “will surely help to that end.” Jack could not discern how but he trusted the old sailor instantly. “So who’s the bit of trim you came aboard with?”
“She’s just paying for protection while she’s looking for an elf woman, with more crowns than she knows what to do with. Mage or something, name starts with an R. Just tell us she’s wherever your next port of call will be and we, her, me, and some other brothers in arms, would like passage with you. Leave us wherever you dock and continue to do what the Beacon requires.” The men nodded and shook hands again before both emerging onto the deck.
“Master Querin has heard of your elf mage, lass. He said to me, she’s down… where again, Master Querin?”
“The Pirate City, Vilpamolan, a day or two’s sailing south of here. I have berths on my ship here, if you are looking to follow her fast, and we can even bring your horses. Twelve crowns six men and horses, and you being free, miss, and we’ll provide safe passage and three meals while you’re among our company. I’d hurry though. I heard she’s there now, so we sail at first light if you’re willing?” The deal thus struck, Querin returned to his cabin and hid the small figurine in his personal chest while Jack and Saria returned to the tavern where they had rooms for the evening.
The rest of the men, in varying degrees of sobriety, were sitting down to a meal and Jack brought Saria over to join them. “Lads, we leave tomorrow from the docks. Those that want to bring their horses may, or we can sell the beasts and buy others further south. It’s to each man’s conscience. We’ve got to be at Querin’s ship on the wharf by first light, so let’s not drink ourselves into a stupor, eh Roddy?” The swarthier Adelunan laughed and waved a hand at the accusation while he belched up a bellyful of beer. “As I said, first light on the docks, Querin’s ship. Me, I’ll be turning in now,” he continued, filling a plate with food for himself and grabbing a bottle of Adelunan wine from the half dozen scattered around the table. “Saria, your room is at the head of the stairs, so you will only have to share one wall with us savage types, though it will, sadly, be mine. Be warned, I can snore like a hog.” Laughing, he pulled the loose cork from the bottle with his teeth and spat it back onto the table. “Until the morning, gentlemen,” he shouted, took a long drink from the bottle, and headed up the stairs to eat in private while he made notes of his meeting with Querin. Lord William had wanted notes and Jack was smart enough to know that they could be a blessing or a curse, depending how things turned out, so he would have a second copy of his own. It never hurt, he thought, to be careful.
