“Perhaps, Laval. Perhaps. We can only hope it is true.” Again the bell sounded, this time ringing eight. Another tap came on the door, and Cabin Boy Hewitt said,
“The men are assembled adeck, My Lord Captain, and the slain await.”
“Very well, Hewitt.” Chevell stood, the other officers following suit, as did Princess Celeste and Chevalier Roel.
“Captain,” said Celeste as they moved through the door, “if you will allow, I will sing their souls into the sky.”
“Nothing would please me more, my lady,” replied Chevell.
Celeste and Roel were quartered in the first officer’s cabin, and Lieutenant Armond displaced Second Officer Florien, and he in turn displaced Ensign Laval, who then moved to share quarters with the chirurgeon, Burcet.
As Celeste and Roel lay in the narrow bunk, Roel, his voice heavy with fatigue, said, “Thank you for the sweet song, my love. It was well received.”
“The men wept,” said Celeste.
“As did I,” murmured Roel. “It is difficult to see brave men go to their grave.”
“Oui,” said Celeste, but Roel did not hear even that single word, for, exhausted, he had fallen asleep.
Moments later, Celeste followed him into slumber.
Even so, in the wee hours after mid of night, Celeste awakened to find Roel propped on one elbow and looking at her by the starlight seeping in through the porthole.
Celeste reached up and pulled him to her and whispered, “Forever, my darling, forever,” and they made love by the dark of the moon.
Yet for stolen Avelaine, but one dark of the moon remained.
13
Hazard
In the early-morning light, Captain Chevell stood on the bow of the Sea Eagle and stared at the horizon and brooded. He glanced down at the map in his hands and then called up to the lookout, “Anything, Thome?”
“Non, My Lord Captain,” called down the man in the crow’s nest. “But for Low Island, the sea is empty to the rim.”
Chevell again glanced at the chart, and then strode to the stern and said, “Gervaise, bring her to a course three points sunwise of sunup. Destin, set the sails two points counter.”
As the helmsman spun the wheel rightward, the bosun piped calls to the crew, and men haled the yardarms about. The Sea Eagle heeled over in response to the brisk breeze. As soon as she came ’round, Gervaise straightened the wheel, and the ship now cut a new course through the waves.
Lieutenant Armond stepped up from the main deck and said, “My Lord Captain, what have you in mind?” Chevell sighed. “The pirate Barlou has a long lead on us, and his ship is swift, and even though we are swifter, still he will make port ere we can o’erhaul him. Yet he sails a course to take his ship ’round the Iles de Chanson. ” Chevell tapped the map. “We have just passed Ile Basse, and so the Iles de Chanson lie along the course we now sail. If we fare through them, then we might intercept the corsair before it sails into Brados.”
“But, my lord, isn’t that a perilous course to take?”
“Oui, but it seems the only chance to seize the corsair before it reaches safe haven.”
“But, my lord, what of the legends?”
“Legends?” asked Celeste, as she and Roel stepped onto the fantail.
“Good morning, my lady,” said Chevell. He acknowledged Roel with a nod.
Roel nodded in return, and Celeste said, “Good morning, Captain, Lieutenant. And what’s this about legends?”
“Princess,” said Chevell, “in hopes of intercepting the raider, I have changed our course, and it will take us through the Islands of Song.”
“Ah,” said Celeste. “I see.”
“I don’t,” said Roel. “What are these Islands of Song?”
Celeste said, “Lore has it that Sirenes at times dwell therein.”
“Mermaids?” asked Roel.
“Oui.”
Roel turned up a hand in puzzlement.
“It’s their singing, Chevalier; they enchant men with their songs,” said Chevell.
Roel looked at Celeste, and she nodded in agreement and said, “So the stories go.”
Armond said, “It is told that the Sirenes sit on rocks and comb their long golden hair and sing, and men go mad with desire. Sailors leap overboard to be with them; ships founder; entire crews are lost to the sea, drowned in their own desire, drowned in the brine as well.”
“Why not simply plug up the ears?” asked Roel.
Armond shook his head. “Contrary to an old legend, that does no good whatsoever. It seems the spell of the singing depends not on hearing at all, for even deaf men are enchanted.”
Roel frowned and turned to Chevell. “Then, Captain, is this a wise course to take: sailing among these islands?” Chevell smiled. “Some of what Armond has said is true: the Sirenes do sing, and men, deaf or no, are entranced by their songs. Yet heed: when I was a freebooter, I spoke to a raider whose craft sailed those perilous waters to evade one of the king’s ships. He said the crew was indeed spellbound, but they did not leap overboard. Before they entered the isles, they lashed their tiller, and the course they had set carried them on through much of the perilous waters. When they could no longer hear the songs, they came to their senses just in time to avoid disaster and sailed on. The king’s ship, though, did not think to do this, and so with her tiller unlashed and unmanned she foundered on the rocks and sank. The freebooter who told me this does not know what happened to the king’s crew.”
“Ah, and you plan on lashing our tiller?” asked Roel.
“Non, Roel. I plan on the princess guiding us through.”
“Me?” asked Celeste, surprise in her eyes.
“Oui, my lady, for the songs of Sirenes do not affect the fairer sex.”
“But Captain,” protested Celeste, “I know nought of piloting a ship.”
“Princess, ’tis likely that no Sirenes will be at the isles, but if they are, then we’ll need you to steer. Helmsman Gervaise will teach you what you must know to maintain a course, for there is a rather straight run through the Iles de Chanson with but a single turn; it is shown on my charts and supports what the freebooter said.”
“And you trust this man?”
“Oui, for he was my mentor as I worked my way up through the ranks.”
“And who is this mentor?”
Chevell sighed and said, “Caralos.”
“The same man the pirate captain said is the one who seeks the map?” asked Roel.
“Oui. He is now leader of the corsairs.”
“And he is a friend of yours?”
Chevell shook his head and said, “Not any longer. We had a falling-out when I and my crew all became king’s men. Before we left, I told him what we planned. He became furious and attacked me. I defeated but did not slay him. Instead I bound and gagged him and left him alive, but always have I known that we would meet again, for even in defeat he swore he would kill me one day.” Chevell shrugged. “Perhaps that day draws nigh.” They stood for a moment, none saying ought, but finally Roel said, “Captain, I am well trained in strategy and tactics, and if we do not intercept the raider, then we will need a plan for recovering the chart, for without it the princess and I cannot carry on our own quest. I would have you speak to me of this safe haven where the raider goes. Mayhap I can help in laying out how we will go about retrieving that map should it reach Caralos.”
Chevell nodded and said, “Come, we will go to my cabin, for there I have charts of the isle, as well as drafts of the corsairs’ hold.” He turned and said, “Princess, if you would, let Gervaise begin your lessons now, for though we might not need you at the helm, still ’tis better to be prepared.” The princess grinned and sketched a salute and said, “Aye, aye, My Lord Captain,” and she turned to Gervaise.
As Chevell and Roel stepped from the fantail and turned for the captain’s quarters, Celeste overheard Chevell saying, “Brados is an island with a sheltered bay with a raider town lying along its arc. Above the town sits a high-walled citadel, and in the center of that fortress sits a tower-Caralos’s seat-and that’s the most likely place where the map will be found, assuming the corsair reaches him. . ” They stepped through the door to the passageway below, and the princess heard no more.