One wagon, several horsemen, and quite a few on foot. Camden did a quick head count and came up with twenty-eight, not including his own three. He picked out the Ristrofilian prince - the only blond in the lot and hanging back in the crowd. The prince was careful to always keep the wagon between himself and a couple Camden recognized hesitantly as Lord Duke Gamalin and Dutchess Lera of Madav. Rimkal, a pale young woman, and two injured men rode in the wagon that a fifth man drove. Fraol, Gamalin, and Lera rode at the head of the group, with Zarryn trotting along beside them on foot. By his gestures, Camden guessed the boy was chatting with them, or more accurately, chatting at them.
By Fraol's report, there was supposed to be a Dragnok boy in there somewhere. Camden spotted him alongside Tonaylilibee, avoiding the Virans as steadfastly as the Ristrofilian was. He amended his living arrangements mentally. The boy could stay with Zarryn. Zar liked company and by reports these Virans weren't likely to be friendly to a Dragnok. As host, Camden wanted to reduce the chances for dispute as much as possible. He wondered at the prince's reticence, but sharing a cabin with Gamalin, Lera, and the pale woman was several steps removed from sharing the berth with 39 other people.
As they drew with shouting range, Camden donned on his good-host-smile and marshalled his battery of pleasantries. The horse riders dismounted, and Fraol collected their reins. Zarryn led the way to the ship's ramp, and the crowd followed. "Here are your passangers, Captain!"
Camden responded neither to the boy's mischevious grin, nor his words, bowing instead to the duke and dutchess. "Lord Gamalin, Lady Lera, welcome aboard the Wind Harness. You will be staying in the Officer's Cabin. Zarryn, if you would lead them to their room?"
"Aye, aye, sir! If you would follow me, please?" They would, and the three ascended the ramp. Camden turned to the next people in line. "Hello, welcome to the Wind Harness, I'll be your Captain this trip, you'll be staying in the crew's quarter's. Follow Teeth here to your room. Hello, welcome, you'll be staying in the crew's quarters, follow them. Hello . . " He was starting to sound inane to himself when the pale woman reached the front of the line. "Welcome to Harness. You'll be staying in the Officer's cabin." He spotted Rimkal several people down the line, "Rimkal! Show milady to her room, Officer's cabin."
"Aye, aye, sir!" He escorted her up the ramp.
Camden smiled at the next person, who was whispering to his nearest companion, "Who'd have ever thought... a passenger on the Wind Harness. It's like a storybook."
The taller laughed, "Yeah, but in a storybook, the pirates wouldn't be the ones helping us out." He noticed Camden's attention and flushed.
Camden smiled in genuine amusement, and shook their hands genially, "Hello and welcome to the Harness, . . ." The smile became polite again as the two moved on. The Virans couldn't have kept coming forever because he'd counted them earlier, but his throat was beginning to get sore by the time the Dragnok and Prince Tonaylillibee made it to him. "Welcome to the Wind Harness, I am Captain Windy, you'll be staying in the Officer's Cabin, your Highness, and your companion will be staying with our cabinboy." He spotted Teeth watching from the rail above. "Teeth, show these men their rooms."
"Officer's Cabin and Zar's Room? Got it, Captain." He waved the two guests up the ramp, and led them from sight.
That left Camden, Fraol, a bunch of horses, the wagon, and its driver alone on the land. Camden joined where the two men stood together. He was more than tempted to just free the horses into the forest. The only thing he hated more than a horse was a horse on his boat. "I'm not coming, Captain," the driver said, possibly in answer to Camden's dubious look at the horses. "I'll take the beasts along with me, if you don't mind."
The fellow was likely going to make a small fortune selling them, but Camden nodded, "You're welcome to them."
"Thank you, Captain." He accepted the handful of reins from Fraol and began tying them about his wagon. "Name's Wymbleton Hamilok, incidently. Ever need anything in Khamer'Yu, look me up." Horses secured, he climbed back up to the driver's seat, and tipped his hat in parting. "Good day, Captain." He cracked his whip over the wagon's team, and they moved off.
Tobee followed the large man known as Teeth down the hatch into a narrow corridor. Daqyn followed him, looking thoroughly impressed by the ship. Granted she was a very nice ship; sleek, simple, and very swift if the stories about her had any truth to them at all, but despite her fame, she was still small. There were much more impressive ships in the diRistrofil harbor. Teeth's frame brushed both walls as they made the ten strides it took to reach the second door on the left. "Officer's Cabin," Teeth said. "Don't go through my stuff." Tobee hadn't intended to, but now he desperately wanted to do just that. A second look at the pirate and he decided he could forgo his curiosity this once.
Teeth opened the door, revealing its three other occupants, Gamalin, Lera, and Qili. Lera and Qili sat on a lower bunk, chatting softly, while Gamalin peered into one of the chests that sat in each of the room's corners. Teeth's face darkened, and crossed the room with a swiftness that seemed impossible for his size. Despite himself, Tobee stayed to watch. The pirate slammed the chest closed, nearly taking off Gamalin's fingers. "Stay out of my stuff," he repeated, trying and failing to make it sound like a warning rather than a threat. "This is my room, this is my stuff, you understand this?" Keeping his temper apparently wasn't his strong suit, but he was trying.
Gamalin stood and retreated two steps, which meant he had crossed almost two-thirds of the room. "Right. I'm just the guest."
Lera rolled her eyes, "A very bad one, it seems, too."
"Hrmph," Teeth grunted. "C'mon kid, I'll show you your room," he stalked toward the door.
The scouts followed his progress, and discovered Tobee and Daqyn standing there. Teeth pushed passed them and waved for the Dragnok to follow him further down the hall.
Tobee smiled uncomfortably at his new roommates. "Hi. Found me. Wymbli didn't happen to mention why you were looking. So what do you want with me?"
Lera turned over her hand, "Your brother asked if we could help find you, Your Highness. Daara likes to help and Gam and I like to meddle, so she sent us."
"Call me Tobee, please, your Ladyship, I'm on vacation." It was as good an excuse as any. While he was at it, he might as well try to complete his own mission, "Do you think Vira could take in about fifty or sixty refugees, mostly women and children?"
"Lera and Gamalin, please. Captain and Commander if you must use titles. Refugees from where?"
Ah, that would be why he shouldn't try using other governments to finance Ristrofil's clandistine activities. They asked pesky questions. "Nevermind."
A short silence fell over them until Gamalin broke it. "How'd you end up on the Harness, Tobee?"
Tobee shrugged. "Wymbli hired us passage."
"Heading home? Or to your next job?" Gamalin pressed for more information.
"Back to Rae, now, since you say he's looking for me." Which made little sense, since the man was even more talented in the fey arts than Tobee was. If he wanted to know Tobee's whereabouts, he could find them. Of course, his brother might just want Gamalin and Lera away from Vira for awhile, so he wasn't about to mention that fact to them.
"Our job seems a waste of time then," Gamalin muttered in frustration. He glanced toward his wife. "We'd better head straight home to help Daara recover the soldiers."
Lera nodded and turned to Tobee again, "Can we call on you for help if we need it?"
"I would have to check with my brother for Ristrofil's assistance, but I'll offer what support I can personally." Sounding helpful without actually offering anything was something Tobee had learned to do very early.
The duchess even sounded grateful. "Thank you. I hope we won't need to ask, but better to be prepared as much as possible."
After dropping the two Scouts off at the Officer's Cabin, Zarryn joined the current of Virans and pirates advancing toward the crew's quarter at the end of the corridor. They flowed into the bunkroom, where a forest of posts rose from the floor to the ceiling. As a small child, Zarryn had loved playing amid the double bunked hammocks. Now, in addition to the normal compliment of forty, their were ratty old hammocks and blindingly clean new ones strung up along the side walls to make room for the extra passangers. The usual piles of junk on the extra bunks had already been moved away to the hold. According to Bras, even more hammocks were set up in there for the overflow as well. Virans and pirates argued over who got bottom bunks, who got new bunks, and who was left with old ones, or worse, got sent into the hold.
Zarryn broke up two fights with threats of going to his father, and another three by offering rewards to those who voluntarily gave up their spots to go to the hold. He mediated two others into sharing a bunk - half the journey in the hold, half in the quarters. When things settled down comparitively, Zarryn exited into the now empty corridor. Voices wafted from the Officer's Cabin, so he positioned himself against the wall to listen. He identified the speakers as Tobee, Gamalin, and Lera. Hadn't Gamalin told Wymbli that they were looking for the prince? Seemed they had worked out whatever had been the problem. The conversation turned boring as they discussed who got what bunk, and Zarryn continued toward the hatch.
He had barely moved a step, when a pair of shiny black boots appeared on the top rung of the ladder. Camden decended easily, using the side ropes more from habit than need. Above, Landire's shouts could be heard as the crew prepared to cast off. Father and son nodded to each other, and Camden opened the second door on his right. "Come in, Zar." Zarryn followed him into the Captain's Cabin.
"Take a seat." It was more order than invitation. Zarryn perched on his father's clothes chest. Camden settled into one of the two chairs at the round table in the middle of his room. "Zarryn, just what did you think you were doing? Hiring Lord Gamalin and Prince Tonaylillibee as passengers? I taught you to recognize the heads of intelligence networks so you could avoid them."
Zarryn smiled innocently, "But, da, wouldn't you have done exactly the same thing in my place? I mean, think about how much we could learn from those four people in the Officer's Cabin. Oh- I found out who that girl is. She's Princess Qili from Ahnalahkhasan. She was in the Dragnoki dungeon. Her and his Highness escaped somehow. I think the boy had some hand in it. I'll get the story from him before long."
His father might have been annoyed when they'd walked in, but now he laughed. "I don't doubt it. Especially since you're sharing a room with him."
"I am?" he repeated, surprised. Then he brightened. "Oh, boy! A roommate! I always wanted a brother! He's in my room now?"
"Yes, Zarryn," Camden laughed, "You'll have to get an extra hammock from the hold. Go, shoo, have fun. I have work to do."
Zarryn popped up to his feet, and ran out of the room. There were two pirates in the hold when he entered, but they didn't bother him when he took down the nearest hammock and left with it. Apparently it wasn't one either of them had claimed.
Half folding it, and half tripping over it, he hurried down the corridor to the last door on the right. Knocking not being a common convention aboard a ship, he opened the door without offering his new roommate any warning. "Hi, I'm Zarryn. I'm the cabinboy aboard the Harness and this is usually my room, but we'll be sharing it while you're here. Here, help me set this thing up."
He handed him one end of the hammock, "What's you're name?" He didn't get an answer other than a shrug. Zarryn thought about that as he jumped up on the bunk to hook his end up. The boy watched him closely, then did likewise minus the standing on the bunk. The dragnoki boy was tall enough to reach from the ground. Zarryn looked down at him from his moiunt on the bed, and grinned, "I'm taller now." It was true, too. The boy smiled back, mildly amused. Encouraged, Zarryn asked, "How old are you?"
The boy held up ten fingers and flasked five more. Zarryn raised his eyebrows, "Fifteen? You're not fifteen!" But the boy maintained he was, indeed, fifteen. Zarryn hopped down and sat on his bunk instead, putting himself at shoulder level with his guest. He lurched suddenly on a swell Zarryn barely noticed. After he catching himself he joined Zarryn on the bed.
"You're first time on a ship?" The boy nodded. "You get used to it. I like it. Wouldn't want to live on land."
An awkward silence fell and Zarryn studied the Dragnok's shoes. They were kinda like his da's. Soft leather, well worn but not so much so as to be falling apart. The boy's tied on, though. That was different. He seemed to be taking in Zarryn's few momentos. Mostly books, a few drawings . . . his studies. "You don't talk much, do you?" The boy almost smiled as he shook his head.. He probably got asked that a lot. "Do you read?"
He seemed undecided for a moment, then nodded. Zarryn perked up, "Have you read any of these?" He swung over the side of his bed and brought them up a couple at a time. They were his favorites. He kept them in easy reach just in case he woke up before his duties called him, or if he couldn't sleep at night. If he moved around, his da would notice and tell him to sleep. The dragnok inspected the leatherbound volumes, but he didn't seem to recognize any. "You never told me your name."
The boy opened one of the books and isolated a letter on the page, and showed it to him. "D." Again, "A." He searched longer this time, then shrugged and showed him another. "K. Dack . . . Dake . . Daqyn?" It was fairly popular Dragnoki name. Well, if must have been, to be one of the ones he knew. The boy grinned. "One of my books had a Daqyn in it," Zarryn explained as he tore apart his tiny room looking for it. At last it appeared in one of the drawers under his bunk. He seized it truimphantly, and presented it to his new friend. "Wanna read it?"
Daqyn took the book and looked over its red cover. "It's pretty good," Zarryn explained, putting away his other books, "It's about this boy named Krissen and he gets caught up in this adventure to save the world from evil trolls or something. Daqyn's only in about half the book, but . . . he's interesting. You'll see. I've been looking for a book with a Zarryn in it, but I haven't found one yet. It's funny to see how book people compare with real people when they got the same name. Like . . .this book." He held up one of them, "Has a 'Teeth' in it. That's the cook's name. Well, it's not really but . . . anyway, neither of 'em can keep his temper, and they both like to cook, 'specially onions. D'you want a tour of the ship?"
He herded up the last of the books in a pile and stuck them under his bed, supported on one side by the post and on the other by some wood he jammed under there. It barely fit and it was a little diagonal, but it wasn't going anywhere. Didn't matter too much if it did, he'd just set it back up again and be careful to not step on the books on his way in. No one else came in here. He grinned excitedly as Daqyn followed him out the door, a little less steadily for lack of sea legs. He flung open the door to the crew's quarters and they looked inside. Mostly Virans now, the crew having finished their disputes and gone topside to cast off. Zarryn grinned at the few who'd looked up and closed the door. "That's crew's quarters. Most of the Virans are there now. Overcrowded 'cause we don't really have enough room for everyone. He half dragged Daqyn down the hall. Next room was the Officers Cabin, "That's where Prince Tonaylilibee, Lord Gamalin, Lady Lera and Princess Qili are staying."
He showed him the captain's door next, but didn't take him inside. He doubted his da would appreciate that. Later in the trip, maybe, he would introduce him to captain. Not now. Zarryn settled for a brief explaination of Captain Windy's repuation ending with, "You probably won't see him too much." Daqyn's expression puzzled him, it seemed more like he was trying to look properly impressed than actually being impressed. Well, the boy was a land dweller, and probably inland upperclass by the looks of him. Most like, he didn't know any better. He gave his charge the benefit of the doubt and brought him down the hall, pointing out the guest cabin. "And this is where Teeth and Landire are staying. Usually they're in the Officer's Cabin. Landire's first mate. And across the hall is the Mess Hall. That's where we eat." He launched into a discription of the meal schedule and proceedures as he led Daqyn up the ladder to the deck.
The boy followed wordlessly, nodding every so often to show he was listening to Zarryn's chatter. How closely was anyone's guess.
"Patrol thirty degrees starboard!" the pirate in the crow's nest called out.
"We can stay ahead, but watch him!" Landire called back.
Zarryn leaned in conspiratorily to his new friend. "We didn't smuggle in much this run, and nobody knows 'bout you and the Virans bein' aboard yet, and anyways you all could hide or pretend like you're us, so's we don't really need to outrun 'em, but it's good to stay in practice. 'Sides, Dragnok ships are barges and couldn't keep up with us if we wanted 'em to. Hard to sink 'em, you'd need a real pirate ship to even mark 'em, but we can sail circles 'round 'em. Harness is mostly a smuggling vessel. Y'need more swordsmen and archers than we can fit aboard here, we're mostly sword-trained sailors. We can defend ourselves if we have to, but we ain't gonna go looking for fights. Early in D-read Captain Windy's career, we used to have archers aboard, and we did some piracy ourselves, but now that's handled by the bigger ships in the fleet. The Harness ain't been a pirate ship for more'n eight years." Since he had been born actually, according to Landire. Captain Windy swore Zarryn's presence hadn't been the deciding factor. Zarryn suspected his father of lying.
"Ain't a good i-dear, Capt'n."
"Objection noted," Camden replied dryly, "Now tell Teeth to have food for five people brought to my cabin. Also, I'll need three extra chairs, and Zarryn to play waiter." When the chairs and food arrived, he took charge of their arrangement, chasing away his first mate and his cook. "Zar, get the good wine and some water, and set it up on my clothes chest. I'll get the guests."
"Aye, sir."
"You're playing waiter, but you need play it only as well as a regular cabinboy would play it. Ask before refilling cups, and offer to take away empty dishes. If you spill anything apologize. Otherwise don't talk."
"Got it, sir. Oh- what if I'm spoken to?"
"Answer in as few words as possible, preferably 'yes' or 'no'."
Zarryn nodded. "Aye, sir. Oh- by 'yes or no' do you mean, 'yes or no' or 'aye or nay' or 'yea or nay' or -"
Camden shook his head, half amused, half exasperated, "Whichever you want."
Zarryn grinned. "Got it, sir."
"Go get the wine, Zar." The boy grinned again and scurried off. Camden looked at his table again and decided everything was ready. A little cramped, but so was everything about a sea ship. Satisfied, he crossed the hall to the Officer's cabin. He was determined to be a proper host. His guests were paying enough. "Prince Tonaylillibee? Princess Qili? Lord and Lady Madav? It's the Captain."
Either they had not yet gone up on deck or they had already returned. A voice wafted through the sturdy wood of the door inviting the visitor to enter. Camden did so, extending a hand toward the nearest guest. "Lord Gamalin, welcome aboard the Wind Harness once again. Lady Lera," he nodded toward the woman standing beside the duke, "likewise." Further into the room, the prince and princess were playing cards. He nodded to each of them in turn. The Ristrofilian folded his hand and placed them face down on the table. Qili placed hers in a fan, face up, and rose from the chest she was using as a chair. Tonaylillibee looked at her cards before rising as well.
The Viran intelligence commander gave a solid handshake and his shrewd green eyes seemed to memorize every detail. Camden refused to be nervous. This was his ship, and he'd walk the plank sooner than hide in his cabin because some famous landlubbers were aboard.
Where Gamalin stood nearly a handsbreadth taller than the captain, his wife stood as much shorter. Despite her size, he suspected she posed the greater physical threat, should he ever be foolish enough to fight either. The slavers must have been mad or blind not to throw the both of them overboard. "As host, I feel obliged to provide some small measure of hospitality. I would consider myself honored if you four would join me for dinner in my cabin?"
They appeared somewhat taken aback by his invitation. One would think they thought pirates had no manners. Lera answered first, with a warm smile, "We'd be delighted to join you, Captain."
The others quickly chimed in their thanks and acceptances as well, then followed him to his cabin. Lera seemed the most comfortable of them all. Qili was plainly nervous about the famous pirate, and the two men watched him warily, though both leaked a element of amusement at the whole situation. As they entered the cabin, Camden invited them to take seats around the round table. Though its normal purpose was to seat two, the five sat without too much jostling.
Zarryn had already returned, and offered each guest an exaggerately clumsy bow. Camden wasn't sure if his near spill of the drink tray was intentional or not. Bowing completed, he placed a glass before Camden and poured the wine. He repeated the procedure for each guest. As he retreated to a corner to observe and wait, Camden took a sip of his wine. Pouring the drinks in front of them and drinking some, showed that the wine was not poisoned. Letting them choose seats showed the dishes were safe. Gamalin and Tonaylillibee appreciated the show.
"Have you dosed yourself with the antidote, then?" the Risrofilian asked with a smile. Qili started, then looked at the food in some alarm. Tonaylillibee placed a hand on her arm, "I'm joking, Princess. He hasn't poisoned us. There are easier ways of killing us now." Qili was less than reassured, and the prince's blue eyes danced in a mischief that was worthy of Zarryn. "So we may as well enjoy this our last meal. Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Windy."
"Be nice to the poor girl," Lera chided, then looked to the princess. "Captain Windy is not going to kill anyone. He's helped us all escape from that demon-nest." She turned to Camden, "For which we thank you. That was enough without such luxuries." She indicated the food in front of her.
"It is the same as the sailors eat. Only the company differs. I fear my cabin is somewhat more cramped than the mess hall, but it is quieter. Besides, just for this one passage, I'm getting paid enough to turn a profit on the Harness for the year, which is something she hasn't done in a while. As flag ship, we let her get away with just breaking even. I feel I should offer some extras."
"Dragnok gold has little value for us, and getting home seemed rather important," Gamalin said.
"That's one of many advantages to my life." Camden gestured to their surroundings. "I'm home now."
The Viran laughed, "You should talk to Jotaz, you sound just like him when he brags about his flag ship."
"Ah... given our respective positions, I would probably rather avoid meeting the Admiral." He paused, then continued, "Speaking of whom, my sources inform me that Jotaz and his fleet recently captured the slaver leaders who caught you. Most of the crews were killed in the battle, but the officers were saved for a slower death."
"Doubtful. Daara can be vicious on occasion, but she never uses torture. More likely, she'll try to trade them for the other Viran slaves, or offer amnesty in exchange for a confession she can use for diplomatic leverage." The conversation moved to more general topics, the length of the journey, the destination, and the likely weather conditions. After dessert, Camden escorted them back to their cabin.
When he return, Zarryn had brought the dishes to Teeth, and was wiping the table. Overall, he had to say the dinner went reasonably well. The conversation had stayed civil throughout, and only brushed the more controversial topics. "So, Zar, what did you learn?"
The rag stopped momentarily. "Lord Gamalin clearly doesn't trust you. Lady Lera is more polite, but she probably doesn't trust you much further than she can throw you either. Prince Tonaylillibee doesn't trust anybody except maybe Princess Qili, and she's an innocent. Lord Gamalin still doesn't like you, I don't think, but the duchess and the prince seemed to warm a little as the evening progressed. Of course, that could have been Teeth's cooking. They were all impressed by the quality of our meals."
Camden nodded. "Anything else?"
"Not really, sir. The Virans and the prince seemed more at ease aboard than most landsmen, though."
The pirate chief arched an eye. "At ease, boy? They were far from at ease."
Zarryn waved negligently, "I meant about the swells, not the company."
Camden chuckled lightly. "Such a way to talk about your own father."
Zarryn feigned surprise. "You, sir? I was referring to Dippy and Loopy," he said with a straight face, jerking a thumb at the small glass tank with two ugly-looking fish. They had been a birthday present from Zarryn three years ago. They were the first two fish the boy had caught by himself.
"Very nice," murmured Camden, "Was there anything else you noticed?" Squinting his eyes in concentration, the boy slowly shook his head. "Think about the conversation," the father instructed.
He blinked, as though suddenly startled. "They never asked about your activities."
Camden smiled. "And it probably near killed Lord Gamalin. Now go clean the hall. Just ouside the Officer's Cabin."
"Aye, sir," Zarryn grinned.
Back at the officer's cabin, Gamalin collapsed onto his bunk. "This is going to kill me. I can't stay on a pirate ship without digging for information."
"If Captain Windy spoke truth, which isn't a certain thing, he doesn't use the Harness for much illegal, or there would be more profit here." Tobee pointed out.
"And very little spying is done in either my office or yours, but would I learn more by looking there or interogating one of your agents? This is the flagship; unless Windy just memorizes everything, that room we were just in had files on everything his fleet has done since he took over."
"Or perhaps longer, though from my patchy knowledge of his organization, I think he started the Pirates from scratch himself."
"The ship was around before then, so he may have something about that. But before he took over, I don't think it was anything worth worrying about."
Lera picked up what had been Tobee's cards and resumed playing with Qili.
"So why were you in Dragnoki Kan?" asked Gamalin.
Tobee hesitated, "Ah, just a vacation."
Gamalin snorted, then smiled. "Naturally. I'll read all about it when I get home."
"If you had a proper network in Dragnoki Kan you wouldn't have needed Wymbli and Camden to get you out."
"Wymbli . . . never mind." He paused a moment, and Lera offered, "Surely you understand the difference between passive intelligence and active agents. And surely you realize which is easier in Dragnoki Kan, or you wouldn't be sharing this cabin."
"Of course," Qili murmured, speaking more to her cards than to her roommates, "the good prince might not, since he seemed to think the dungeon of Venkagiri was a vacation spot."
Lera stared at Qili, then at Tobee. "The dungeon of Venkatagiri? Sounds like you've had as hard an escsape as ours. Care to trade stories, strictly off the record?"
"It was a simple misunderstanding. I happened to insult a pair of guardsmen, then accidentally dropped a few coins, which they took as bribery, and then saw fit to introduce me to the inside of a cell."
Gamalin and Lera seemed somewhat less than convinced. "We had a similar misunderstanding," admitted Gamalin. "Some slavers thought we might make good chattel. Once we explained the situation, they let us out easily enough."
"A servant was dispatched soon enough with a key to let me out, and then I left, bringing Miss Qili along, as well."
The two men smirked at each other in mutual skepticism. Lera rolled her eyes. "Men." Qili nodded.
Zarryn scrambled to his feet as the door opened, and he smiled innocently up at Tobee. "Hi." The prince frowned, and Zarryn figured he had a pretty good idea of why the boy was in the hall right there. "Can I help you with anything, your Highness?"
"Just need a breath of fresh air."
"Aye, sir." Zarryn smiled and pressed into the wall to let the grown man pass.
"Enjoy the conversation, son?" asked Gamalin with no trace of anger. "Thinking of a career?"
"Lakes of fire," commented Lera in a loud whisper to Qili, "here comes the recruitment pitch."
"Aye, I did, sir. Liked it very much. But I already got a career. Gonna be a pirate, like my da."
Gamalin grinned. "That's the great part. You can be a pirate, stay on the ship, and just happen to mention some important things to people while you're in port."
"Gamailn!" Lera sounded genuinely shocked. Probably more because she knew he would get them in trouble than because it was a bad idea.
"I'm not serious, dear. I would never really want to steal Windy's spies." Which Zarryn translated as "Don't spy on me."
"Can't steal me."
Gamalin nodded understanding. "So, just out of professional curiosity, what did you learn?" Lera rolled her eyes.
Zarryn shrugged. He'd answer that for his father, but not for the Viran. "Nuthin'."
Gamalin offered him the same skeptical smirk he'd shared with Tobee.
"Gotta find my da. Bye."
"Good meeting you. . . what was your name again?"
"Zarryn. I'm the cabinboy."
Gamalin nodded his understanding, if not belief, "Good meeting you Zarryn. Stop by again anytime, whether you're ordered to or not."
"I will," he promised. Gamalin grinned, and Lera actually laughed.
Lucee and Glynn landed, exhausted, on the back of a giant sea turtle. Glynn pulled out a perfectly cut diamond the size of his hand. He focused on it and said a few words that only his kind and a set of twins could understand.
"Not going to work," Lucee informed him.
"It will."
Lucee shook her head, wearily, almost wishing he was right this time. "Not the way you want it to. He'll swim all the way to Ahnalakasan now, sure. But we can't ride him the whole way. He's going to go underwater sometime."
No sooner had she spoken, than the creature started to tilt downward. The two faeries launched into the air. "You had to say that didn't you?" demanded Glynn.
Lucee tossed her blue hair. "Besides, the Captain expects us to be able to fly faster than a turtle can swim. We've got to get to the Ahnalakansani castle, convince the Queen and King that Windy's really got the lost princess, AND get them down to the harbor before Windy shows up. We don't have any time to train turtles to swim above water."
"Hey, da," Zarryn said pushing his father's door open. "They tried ta hire me."
"Excuse me?" Camden asked, looking up in surprise.
"Lord Gamalin. He tried ta get me to report to folks on land."
"And you said?"
"'No, thank you, sir.'" When his father just looked at him, he added, "In effect."
"What did you learn?"
Zarryn grinned, "That's what he asked me, too. Didn't tell him, though. Um. First they talked about you mostly. They think the Harness, being yer flagship and all, probably has a lot of information on it somewheres about the Pirates, most likely in this room. They sound like they wanna look for it, but are currently able to stop themselves. That might last fer the whole trip. Might not."
"Wouldn't help them. Most of it is on the Isle. Go on."
"Then they changed the subject, and wanted ta know why Tonaylillibee was in Dragnoki Kan. He said it was vacation, but then the Princess said he was in the dungeon. He said that was just a misunderstanding, and a servant let him out with a key. An' Gamalin said he 'splained the situation to the Dragnoks, and they let him and the rest go." Zarryn's tone told his father how much he believed these stories. "I think they're tellin the truth some, but it's so twisted up that it might as well be a lie. Anyway, then Prince Tonaylillibee wanted to go for a walk an' almost tripped over me. Then I talked ta Lord Gamalin and he offered me a job, and then pretended to back out of it when Lady Lera yelled at him, then told me not to try spyin' on him again, but then before I left he invited me to spy on him again, so I don't know if I'm supposed to or not."
Camden laughed. "He can hardly blame a boy for eavesdropping, so you go ahead. Where's your roommate at?"
"Lent 'im a book with a character with his name. He's readin' it in my room."
Once the cabin boy had left, Lera put down her cards and turned to face her husband. "So what exactly did all that accomplish, Gam?"
"The part with Tobee or with Zarryn?"
"The boy. I understood with Tobee."
"Well, if he'd accepted, or if he accepts later, we get an agent among the pirates. If we have any yet, it's news to me. Plus, the offer warns Windy that we might hire away his spies; he'll probably take it as a challenge, but it might buy us some peace."
"And of course, it was entertaining. And if he takes it as a challenge, it will be even more fun. Right?"
"A pleasant side benefit. A man should enjoy his job, shouldn't he?"
"I don't care if you amuse yourself trying to pry information out of the cabin boy, I just want you to admit it's more for fun than for the information."
"It is my job to learn everything I possibly can that might help Daara make informed decisions. If I happen to enjoy it, that simply shows that I picked the right career." Lera rolled her eyes. Her facial muscles were getting sore from the repeated motion.
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