He looked back at the pool of blood that only moments before had held one of the greatest secrets of the craft. Perhaps we will one day truly understand what happens when a Forestallment dies, he thought. And why the sky seems to break apart when it does. Perhaps Wigg and Tristan will learn the secret-provided they can find the Scroll Master and the Well of Forestallments.
But for now all I have is another dead traitor upstairs, and his secrets will go with him to his grave.
CHAPTER LXIX
Standing alone in the bow of her flagship, Tyranny took a final draw from her cigarillo. She lazily blew out the smoke and tossed the cigarillo's charred remains into the sea. The waiting was the worst part, she knew. Half of her wanted the impending conflict to start, and the other half hoped that it never would.
After what the traitorous consul in the archery shop had told them, the Conclave knew that Wulfgar's Black Ships were on the way. But given so much coastline to guard-and with only her twelve ships and the remainder of the Minion fleet with which to do it-the task before her seemed impossible.
For the last three days the Reprise and the other vessels under her command had dutifully plowed up and down the Sea of Whispers. Their mission was to patrol the waters between the coastal city of Far Point and the huge bay that bordered Farplain. So far, everything had been quiet.
Faegan had strongly advised her that when Wulfgar arrived, he would probably try to anchor his ships as close to the pass through the Tolenkas as possible. Reaching the azure wall in the mountains would be his first priority. That meant that the most logical staging point for his invasion would be somewhere along the coast that lay just north of Shadowood.
Only fifty-one Minion warships had survived the prior battles with Wulfgar's demonslaver fleet, and their captains were doing their best to help Tyranny patrol. As for the Reprise, her repairs had been hurried but adequate. Though all sixty-three vessels in the fleet were filled nearly to the sinking point with eager warriors, Tyranny shuddered when she thought of how much Eutracian coastline remained open to invasion. She hoped that Faegan's assumptions about Wulfgar's battle plan would prove to be correct.
She cast her gaze back out to sea. It was almost seven o'clock, and the sun had just disappeared below the western horizon. When she was aboard ship, this was always her favorite part of the day.
Tonight the sea was relatively calm, the winds were steady, and the fleet's pace was more than adequate. Unless a fog formed, the visibility would be excellent. The other vessels followed the Reprise in a line, at intervals of approximately one-half league. Just now they were in the midst of yet another northern leg of their patrol, and the mysterious area of Shadowood would soon come up along their port side.
At least K'jarr's scouts were keeping the vessels in some form of communication, however tenuous, she thought. Others continually patrolled as far to the east as they dared. This added great range to Tyranny's search, and she was thankful for it. But a squad of four such scouts had already perished when they had overestimated their endurance. She was determined to keep loss of life to a minimum, no matter what it took.
Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, she turned to see Shailiha, Sister Adrian, and Duvessa walking toward her, the princess carrying an open bottle of red wine. Adrian held four glasses. Duvessa carried a stone jug of akulee. They were all smiling. Tyranny raised an eyebrow.
Shailiha and Duvessa held their bottles high. "Reinforcements!" the princess announced cheerfully. "At least that's what Tristan likes to call it."
Duvessa and Adrian laughed.
Shailiha poured out three glasses of wine, while Duvessa served herself a glassful of akulee. Tyranny accepted a glass from Shailiha, raised it in a silent toast, then drained it in one long, welcome draft.
"Bless you," she said. She held the glass out for a refill.
As she took another sip, Tyranny looked at Duvessa's body armor. Since that day in Valrenkium when Reznik's beasts had come snarling up out of the earth, all of the healers who had participated in the fight with Duvessa had been granted the additional distinction of the red feather. Embroidered into the leather, it crossed over the white one at a sharp angle.
When Traax had seen how well the women fought, he had immediately requested permission from the Jin'Sai to grant them warrior status-without the need for the customary rites of ascension. Glad to see that his vision of adding females to the warrior ranks was taking hold, Tristan heartily approved.
Upon seeing the honor of the red feather emblazoned upon the healers' armor more female Minions had requested warrior training. Even the stern Traax-who at first had harbored grave doubts about the prince's idea-now touted the concept every chance he could find. Duvessa found that amusing, but she did not chide him about it.
Ironic, Tyranny thought as she stared at the red feather. The Minion women were such wonderful healers, and yet now such accomplished takers of life, as well. Tyranny had requested that a small group of these new warriors be assigned to each of her sixty-three ships, and she was particularly glad to have their dual skills at her service.
Shailiha walked to the gunwale and leaned her arms upon the rail. She smiled to herself as she remembered that she no longer needed Faegan's spell to combat her seasickness. She was beginning to understand her brother's love of the sea.
But when she turned back around to the others, her face was worried.
"If Wulfgar catches us out here with his Black Ships, do we have any hope of stopping him?" she asked Tyranny bluntly. "Worse yet, can we survive it?"
Tyranny didn't answer. Striking a match against one of her scuffed knee boots, she lit another cigarillo. After taking a luxurious lungful of smoke, she shook her head.
"I don't know," she answered. "But if you put a dagger to my throat and force me to choose, I would have to say no. Faegan and Wigg seem to believe that the Enseterat will come with his Black Ships first, because they are so much faster. Then the demonslaver war frigates will follow. If the wizards are correct, in the beginning we will have superior numbers. But at the Citadel, you and I saw firsthand what the Black Ships can do. And don't forget about how huge those vessels are. They were built to carry something. But what could that be-more demonslavers, perhaps? Or will it be something even worse? We barely got away with our teeth that night."
"Remember that day not so long ago in my cabin?" she added. "After K'jarr had described what the Black Ships were capable of, I was practically ready to have him keelhauled! But in the end he was exactly right."
She took another sip of wine as she gathered her thoughts.
"And we still don't know what these seven captains of Wulfgar's are capable of," she added glumly. "Wigg and Faegan claim that they were once powerful wizards. But in their present form, can they still employ the craft? No one knows. But I needn't tell any of you about the kind of destruction seven full-fledged wizards could wreak upon our ships. We might never know what hit us."
Tyranny gave Sister Adrian a respectful nod. "That is why I petitioned Faegan so forcefully to allow us to have some of the acolytes of the Redoubt along. If the seven captains of the Black Ships still command their powers, perhaps our ladies can pay them something back in return. I would have loved to have Jessamay here with us as well, but Faegan swore he couldn't spare her. Something about how she was the only one who could help him in his seemingly never-ending research, he said. Tell me. Does he ever stop studying the craft?"