But then, he had very little idea what to do with the Imperial army. In the Capital, virtually everything was controlled by the Imperial Guard, with whom he had entirely too much experience. He knew the Guilds had less of a direct presence outside of the major cities, but he’d never learned the proper etiquette for greeting a second-under lieutenant as she stood on his deck.
He let none of his uncertainty show on his face. Instead, he returned a haphazard version of her salute—he tried his best, but he couldn’t do anything about a lack of practice—and nodded to her. “Welcome aboard, Under-lieutenant Belyard. I admit, I was surprised to see your flag, but we’ve moved all our weapons and most of our cargo up for your inspection. If you’d like to see the rest, I’d be happy to show you our hold.”
Not ‘happy,’ exactly, because Shuffles was currently in the hold. If they removed the blanket from the cage and came upon an unexpected Elderspawn, he would have some quick talking to do.
A smile flickered over Belyard’s face. “That won’t be necessary, Captain. Give me a moment, and I’ll be off your ship and we can leave you to…whatever you were doing in an empty, condemned town. To which the Emperor has restricted access.”
Calder winced. He hadn’t known Silverreach was restricted, though in hindsight it made perfect sense. The Emperor would have learned about the Elder presence by now, and had doubtless issued the restriction to keep ordinary vessels from stopping here. As a Navigator, he wouldn’t have been expected to dock here at all—Navigators only traveled where they were requested, and who would put in a request for an empty town? Besides, Calder contacted the Guild as little as possible. Even if his Guild Head tried to keep all her ships out of the area, The Testament might never have gotten word.
But that couldn’t be the reason Under-lieutenant Belyard was here. The five ships had been on him before he’d decided to set course for Silverreach.
Why, then?
Belyard pulled the glove off her right hand and knelt, pressing her bare palm against the deck.
Of course. He’d been afraid of a Reader coming aboard ever since they’d picked up Urzaia, but for some reason he hadn’t considered it today. Stupid. It was possible that, with a little luck, she might be able to pick up a remnant of Urzaia’s Intent.
And it was absolutely impossible for her to miss the presence of the Lyathatan, chained beneath their ship. The Elder’s presence was permitted by the Navigator’s Guild, but if she didn’t know that, she might take Calder into custody and turn him over to the Blackwatch. Which would have its own set of complications.
One of which included being forced to abandon Urzaia ashore in an Elder-haunted and abandoned town.
He shivered as he felt her Intent pass through the ship, questing and insistent. After almost fifteen minutes, she steadied herself on the rail and pulled herself to her feet. “I apologize for the inconvenience, Captain. Nothing out of the ordinary here.”
He couldn’t conceal his surprise. She had scanned his ship and found nothing unusual?
“Really?” he asked.
Another quarter-second smile flashed across her expression. “Nothing out of the ordinary for a Navigator’s ship. We’ll take our leave immediately, and I apologize once again for the inconvenience.”
She started to turn, but Calder needed more information. If they were looking for Urzaia, why hadn’t they thought to look ashore? If they weren’t, then why had they chased him into the shallows?
He began hesitantly. “If I may ask, what were you looking for?”
She turned back to him, tightening the glove onto her hand. “These past few months, reports of Elder activity have increased weekly. The Emperor has the entire army, both the Luminian Order and the Blackwatch, and half the Navigators on containment duty. Every city and town supervised, every vessel inspected. It’s hard enough on us, but the alternative is leaving Imperial citizens to the Elders. And the Emperor would never allow that.”
No, the Emperor would never abandon his citizens to danger when he had the power to save them, Calder thought, and he could taste the cynicism. But he had one more question. “I’m sorry. Increased Elder activity…all along the Izyrian coast? Surely there’s somewhere we can safely make port. They can’t be everywhere.”
She eyed him with an expression he couldn’t read. “Not everywhere along the Izyrian coast, Captain. Everywhere. We’ve received emergency reports from all over the Empire.”
His heart began to pound like a war-drum.
“When I said the Blackwatch and the Luminian Order had been mobilized, I meant all of them. The entire Guilds. Every chapter, everywhere.”
Calder nodded acknowledgement to the Under-lieutenant, giving her one of the shallow half-bows that polite society favored in the Heartlands. “Thank you for your concern and your prompt response, Under-lieutenant.”
“Take my advice, and bring your crew elsewhere. I know the Navigators are exceptions to most rules, but this town was quarantined for a reason. There’s no sense taking chances, especially now.”
Under-lieutenant Belyard saluted one more time and left the ship, taking her men with her.
When she left, Calder let out a deep breath. “All hands on deck,” he said quietly, and Andel opened the hatch to shout down for Petal. Technically, he should have brought Petal up on deck for the officer’s inspection, but that would have shaken Petal’s nerves for days. As she was an alchemist, he’d planned on saying she was in the middle of a delicate project that could not be abandoned without risk to the safety of all onboard. In the end, it hadn’t mattered.
Petal emerged a few seconds after her hair, quivering and looking around for soldiers. When she saw none, she scurried up to the stern deck to join the rest of the crew.
Andel stood as dispassionately as ever, hands behind his back, the silver crest of the sun gleaming on his chest. Foster grumbled into his beard and fiddled with a musket. Petal glanced up at him through the veil of her hair. Jerri stood in the center, in a simple green dress totally unsuited for the deck of a ship. Her emerald earrings flickered in the sun, her braid hung down behind her, and she gave him a brilliant smile.
He winked at Jerri but watched the whole crew, minus Urzaia, fixing them into his mind. For once, the Aion Sea was the direction away from the Elders, which showed that everything in the world had gone wrong. And here they were in Silverreach, where they more than expected a Great Elder was buried. If he’d heard the reports of Elder activity before, he would never have stopped here.
But here they were, and Urzaia was ashore alone. Granted, he was the one most likely to survive an Elderspawn assault by himself, but he still wasn’t safe.
In case the worst happened—and in this case, he couldn’t even imagine how bad the worst possibility was—he wanted to remember the crew like this. As they were now.
From beneath his feet, a male voice boomed out in rumbling laughter. Shuffles was joining in.
So they were headed into lethal danger. Strangely, that made Calder feel better. At least he knew.
“We’re going to get Urzaia,” Calder said. “Jerri and Foster, stay with the ship. Andel and Petal, with me.”
There was a moment of communal confusion as everyone worked out what he’d said. Jerri’s eyes flashed. “Petal can stay, I’ll go.” Petal shivered like a leaf in the wind, and even Andel looked confused.