“I like this advice,” Areava said after a moment. “You, of course, must be one of its members.”
Northam was taken aback. “It is not the place of the clergy to become so intimately concerned with politics.”
“Nevertheless, you will make an exception in this case. I need my friends by my side.”
Northam saw the determination in Areava’s eyes. He spread his hands. “If that is your command, of course.”
“It is my wish,” Areava said gently.
Northam laughed at her choice of words, making his wattled throat jiggle. “In that case, how could I possibly refuse?”
The ride in Grapnel’s wagon was stuffy, cramped, and bumpy. By the time Lynan and his companions got down to the docks, they were bruised and angry. They slipped onto the merchant ship as covertly as possible, protected from most prying eyes by bales of cotton and crates of squawking chickens. Seaspray was a small ship, perhaps fifty paces long and, at its widest, a dozen abeam. A single mast sprouted from the middle of the deck, its yard and sail strapped to its length to make it easier to work cargo on the ship. At the stern was a modest poop deck, and below and in front of it the wheel housing. There were two hatches: a large one forward of the mast and a smaller, man-sized one between the mast and the wheel housing.
A small, wiry sailor with forearms the size of hams shepherded the four refugees down the aft hatch to the main deck, where crew were busy shifting crates brought down through the cargo hatch.
“Wait here until Grapnel or the captain come to get you,” the sailor said, grinning slyly, obviously enjoying being part of a ruse to fool the Royal Guards. He returned to the upper deck, leaving them to their own devices.
For several minutes they watched the sailors at work, admiring their strength and their skill with rope and tackle. Huge crates were moved with seemingly effortless ease, but the groaning of the deck planks attested to their great weight. Kumul shifted from foot to foot, uneasy to be idle when there was work to be done, and at one point actually moved forward to lend a hand but was quickly waved back by one of the sailors. “We know what we’re doing,” the sailor said curtly. Kumul returned to his position and resumed his dance.
A short while later they heard the sail drop and then crack as it caught the wind. The boat rolled for a moment, its ungainly width not made for tight maneuvering, until the prow steered clear of the dock and the city was astern. The rolling gave way to a steady pitch that was less nauseating.
Grapnel’s head peered at them from the hatch, and he called them up to the deck. Lynan glanced aft and saw Kendra receding behind them. He wondered if he would ever be back.
Grapnel was standing beside a big woman with no hair and golden skin. “This is Captain Turalier,” Grapnel told the companions, and they exchanged brief greetings.
“Shehear’s taken the bait,” Grapnel continued, “and is well on his way to the palace by now. We’ll have passed the heads soon, and you can be off on your own journey. Hopefully, the attention of any pursuer will stay on Seaspray.”
“You will be captured by the navy,” Kumul said. “Their ships are faster than yours.”
“But their crews are not as experienced or brave. We will head out into the Sea Between and far from the sight of any land. They will not pursue for long.”
“And then what will you do?” Kumul asked him.
“I have friends in Chandra. I will hide away there for a while.” He shrugged. “Who knows what the future will bring for us all? Your path is more hazardous than mine, I think.”
“When do we part?” Jenrosa asked.
“As soon as we’re through the heads,” Captain Turalier said, her voice surprisingly light for such a large woman. She checked the sail and the wind vane. “Probably before the next quarter of an hour. Seaspray’s boat is ready to be put in the water, and is well provisioned. We’ll let it down and put you on board. Then you’re on your own.”
“I wonder how much of a head start we’ll have,” Ager said, also observing the wind.
“The navy always has some of its fastest cutters on standby,” Kumul told him. “Mainly for courier work. If Shehear ran all the way to the palace, the alert has probably already been sounded. We should expect pursuit within the hour.”
Turalier nodded. “Sounds about right. I’ll lower the boat now and you can load her with whatever else you need.”
She left to give the order and Grapnel was called away by the ship’s quartermaster. The others stood together awkwardly. The four of them had been thrown together as a group through circumstances beyond their control. The realization was finally hitting them that for the foreseeable future they would be living in each others’ pockets; more to the point, the life of each of them now depended on the fortitude and loyalty of the other three.
“We still have to settle on a destination,” Kumul said after a while, looking out to sea as if the answer was to be found there.
Ager nodded to Lynan, his one eye regarding the prince keenly. “Your Highness?”
Lynan glanced up, surprised. Why was Ager asking him? He and Kumul were older, more experienced…
“I’m… I’m not sure,” he managed to say. He saw Jenrosa grimace, and suddenly felt he had let her down. Then he saw that Kumul also looked disappointed, as if Lynan had made a slip in basic weapons training.
Ager sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. He was staring at the middle of Lynan’s chest. Lynan looked down, noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m an idiot,” Ager told himself.
“What are you on about?” Kumul asked.
Ager reached out and pulled on the chain around Lynan’s neck, pulling the Key of Unity out from underneath the prince’s shirt. Ager stared at it shining in the sun for a moment before putting it back.
“Don’t you see, you fool of a giant?” Ager demanded, grasping the constable’s forearm. “That’s it! The answer has been there the whole time.”
“I wish you’d stop talking in riddles—” Kumul began, but Jenrosa cut him off.
“Of course! The Key of Union! The provinces!”
“What are you two talking about?” Lynan asked.
“Lynan, you’re the throne’s representative in the provinces,” Jenrosa said. “The Key of Union was given to you by Usharna herself.”
“I don’t think we can count on Areava and Orkid allowing his Highness the opportunity to exercise his office,” Kumul said sarcastically. “I can’t imagine anyone taking his authority seriously, especially if they’re under the thumb of the palace.”
“Not everyone is under that thumb,” Ager said evenly. “And there are parts of this kingdom where Usharna’s authority never fully reached, but where the holder of the Key of Union will be obeyed implicitly if there in person.”
“Not city or town in the kingdom fits that description,” Kumul responded. “Maybe way out in the moors of Chandra, or the rain forests of Lurisia, or the grasslands of the Chetts…” His voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying.
“Exactly,” Ager said emphatically.
Understanding dawned in Lynan then. “You mean I should escape to one of the uncivilized lands of the kingdom, where Areava won’t be able to find me.”
“And where her agents and armies will tread only softly, if at all,” Kumul added.
“And where you can form a rebellion,” Jenrosa said.
The other three looked at her in surprise. For a moment, no one said anything, and then Kumul boomed angrily: “A rebellion against the throne?”
“Be quiet, Kumul!” hissed Ager. “Do you want the whole world to be party to our private conversations?”
“But—!”
“I meant a rebellion against the conspirators!” Jenrosa said fiercely. “A rebellion to see justice done, a rebellion to see Lynan reinstated as a loyal and trustworthy prince of the blood, to see Kumul reinstated as Constable of the Royal Guard and Ager as one of its officers, and to see me reinstated as a member of the Theurgia of the Star; a rebellion to let us all return home and get on with our proper lives.”