As I’d done; as I was doing even now. I shivered. It was noon now; but night would fall. If they were so strong even in the light, those shadows, what dominion must darkness bring them?
Suddenly I was very damn glad I hadn’t gone ashore.
When the others came trooping back on board, dusty and footsore, they agreed; they had good reason to. They’d found a spell of fear upon the whole dockside quarter, and few willing to answer aloud what they asked; for the Chorazin had indeed come in, only hours before the dawn, riding before a storm that seemed to crack the heavens, only to set sail again before light. And it was whispered that strange shapes had come stalking through the streets to meet it, and that those who crossed their paths had not returned.
‘Half of the folk still squatting in their shacks shaking!’ said Jyp grimly, sipping gratefully at the goblet of cool sherry Pierce’s steward handed him. ‘Or rushing to their houngansfor exorcisms and traitements. But the houngans are just as jumpy; hell, you can hear the drums from here!’
‘Aye, and the singing!’ Mall had added, no less sombre. ‘But it’s whispered that there’s some of the heathen priests – those they think are secret bocors, that they guess serve with both hands, as t’were, the bright powers and the dark – that went a’purpose to meet the black ship. That all their gear’s gone from their shrines, all, as if packed for some great festival elsewhere –’
Even she jumped; we all did. Pierce’s crystal goblet shattered in his great paw. The door of the great cabin flew open with a crash and Le Stryge in all his squalor came storming in, more or less dragging the girl-creature along by her wrist.
‘Mists!’ snarled the old man. ‘Vapours! Think they’ll pull those over my eyes, do they? Tien, they may think again!’
‘What?’ roared Pierce, licking sherry off his fingers. ‘You have them, sirrah? Upon which heading?’
‘South – east – they follow the coast – you have but to do likewise! Go, follow while you can! That veil grows thicker as they near its source! I had to resort to desperate measures.’ He wheezed exhaustedly and sank down among Pierce’s silken cushions. ‘Or would you stand about arguing while they pick the bones of the precious, the expensive Clare?’
Pierce and Jyp were already out of their chairs, pushing past Stryge’s companion without a glance. But I saw with a shudder that though her face remained blank and unmoved, from below her left eye a thin straight thread of blood ran down, like a tear. Overhead the big brass bell jangled the crew from their rest, and the cabin floor quivered as men thumped from their hammocks below. Le Stryge sagged like a disjointed doll.
‘Nearer its source?’ I demanded. ‘What source, then?’
‘Idiot boy – how should I tell? But unless the Stryge is a fool, which he is not, they are heading for some secret anchorage. Leave me now, I am exhausted! If you want to know any more you can look with your own damned sheeps’ eyes!’
And so I’d been doing, intently scanning sea and land in the few short minutes Mall would spare me from her savage exercise. She seemed more determined than ever to drive some skill into me, and more and more often I found myself facing the point as well as the edge of that unforgiving sword. I might have to face the real thing soon enough, of course; but I suspected that she was really trying to keep me too busy to worry. I found myself thinking lightheadedly what a squash partner Mall would have made, whirling around me, lunging, feinting, cutting with fluid grace while I clumped heavily after her across the heaving deck. It was evening now, and my legs felt like lead, and ready to melt at that.
A swift ripple ran through the forested coast above. A land breeze like a long slow sigh played about us – not cool but hot, languorous, heavy with strange scents of musk and spice and smoke, and an eerie babble of birdcalls. I was distracted – and Mall lunged. With a wild effort I managed to parry, bind and swing the swords about. I meant to drive hers back against her as she’d taught me. Somehow, though, the swords kept on swinging, right up to the vertical. Mine was the one pushed back. We met, hissing fiercely, forehead to forehead. Sweat ran down our faces. Mine; Mall was hardly even warm. At least I’d held her –
Then somehow her blade rolled lazily over, and steel sizzled wickedly as it shot right past mine. Something licked at the side of my neck with cold catlike delicacy. It left the faintest icy tickle. Then a hot welling wetness brought a sharper pain – right over my jugular.
I yelped and shied like a fly-stung horse. Of course she’d set the whole move up with scalpel accuracy, damn her! The ship heaved gently at a sudden sultry gust. The bind collapsed, our swords clattered to the deck and I overbalanced against her; we clutched at each other to steady ourselves –
One sting after another. Suddenly I was acutely aware of her bare arms against mine, the touch of smooth suntanned skin, the cool silky flow of her hair on my throat – so intensely female, so close. She tried to jerk back, but faltered, and only ground her hips more heavily against me. The strength of my reaction startled me; I pulled her sharply closer and kissed her. And, wonder of wonders, she responded. Her hips shifted against me. Her lips pressed hard against mine. Then for one luxurious moment her teeth parted on salty warmth and a langorous, twining tongue.
One moment. Till the silence crashed around us, and the needling awareness that every eye in the whole damn ship was goggling at the pair of us. Mall’s pale eyes blazed open. She snaked irresistibly out of my grip and recoiled explosively, panting, spitting, rubbing her forearm across her lips. A wave of laughter rocked the ship, and I had the uncomfortable feeling I wasn’t going to live this one down in a hurry. Assuming I lived at all. Mall was standing, staring down at her sword. Hastily I ducked and scooped up mine. I had a definite case of the shakes – and so, by God, did she. You’d think that things had gone a whole lot further than one quick squeeze.
Peacemaking? It seemed like the natural thing to try, till I saw the way her fists were clenching and unclenching. The last natural thing I’d tried hadn’t turned out too well. I glanced around quickly. On the quarterdeck Jyp was grinning sardonically and Pierce was tactfully doubled up, his face as purple as his port-stained waistcoat. No use taking refuge in respectable company, there wasn’t any. The shadow of the foremast shrouds fell over me, and it occurred to me that I’d never been up the rigging yet, and there was – after all – no time like the present.
Easily, without undue haste, I slid my sword into my belt, reached up as I’d seen the sailors do and swung myself over the rail. I felt a lot more at home on shipboard now, or so I told myself. And as far as risks went, the one I’d just run looked a lot bigger. I looked down at Mall, and she looked back at me, her face expressionless but flaming. I dug my feet into the ratlines and began to climb.
I even quite enjoyed the challenge, at first. Rock-climbing had quelled any great fear of heights; and I needn’t go all the way, after all, just up to the top platform. The taut shrouds weren’t much harder to climb than a ladder, but the step-like ratlines flexed slightly under my hands at every movement of the ship, strangely alive. I’d never felt so keenly aware of the Defiance as a living thing before, the sailors’ sense; it was like scaling the mane of some immense sea-beast. Almost as frightening, too. This wasn’t like a rockface; it swayed, casually, unpredictably, as if it had a mind of its own. And the higher you got, the wider the swing. The first time I looked down the deck seemed miles distant already, Mall not more than a speck staring up at me, blonde fluff blowing. She couldn’t be thinking of coming after me, could she? I found myself hurrying to reach the top; but when I got there, it was almost scarier to sit on that bare platform in the whistling wind with no rail or anything else to hold onto. Only the masthead, with its crow’s-nest for the look-out, offered any kind of security. I didn’t want to go slinking down again so soon, even if Mall had cooled off a bit in the meantime. I stepped into the topmast shrouds and began to climb.