'There'd better be some meat today, not more cursed leaves.' Ialo was already in the line by the cookhouse on the deck. 'We can't row on slops.'
'You won't row at all if I knock you senseless.' The cook made a perfunctory threat with his heavy wooden ladle. 'And leaves stop your gums rotting.'
'Any sailer cakes?' asked Kheda as he and Fenal reached the steaming cauldron.
'Help yourself.' The cook jerked his head at a heaped basket before dumping a ladleful of leaves, roots and roughly chopped fish into the next man's bowl.
'Take one,' Kheda instructed Fenal. 'Follow me.'
'He's a practical sort, our soothsayer.' Paire came over to join them by the side rail, shovelling food into his mouth with a stained horn spoon. 'Reads his omens in anything.'
Fenal looked at Kheda. 'What do I do?'
'Break the cake over the rail, with both hands.' Kheda watched the pieces fall.
A clean break into two pieces, that's a good omen in itself. Plenty of little fish coming up to nibble around that half something larger lurking beneath. Not so good if it eats the fingerfish. Will the sea birds join the fishes? One or both will shun food from a man's hands if there's overt misfortune in his future. Jatta taught you that and he's yet to be proved wrong.
He waited but no dark shadow rose up to swallow the darting silver flashes and a pair of raucous pied sea birds appeared to squabble over the pieces of sailer cake floating away, stabbing at them with their scarlet beaks.
'I see no reason why you shouldn't join the Springing Fish,' he announced.
'Glad to hear it.' There was distinct relief in Fenal's broad smile.
Paire jerked his head towards the cookhouse as he scooped up the last wilted greenery with his spoon. 'Better get fed, Cadirn, or you'll go hungry again, soothsayer or no.'
Are you still waiting for Telouet to appear at your elbow with whatever you need? That's past hoping for. All you can hope for is he lived, even if rumour trailing in merchant ships' wakes is never going to tell you if he died.
By the time Kheda had retrieved his bowl from the shoulder sack slung beside his hammock on the rowing deck, he was the last to claim his share of the stew. The rain was coming heavier again, so he retreated down to the rowing benches to find Fenal and Paire deep in conversation. Most of the stern contingent were down there, relaxing on their benches as the rain drummed on the planks overhead. A couple played an idle game of stones in the circle carved in the midpoint of the gangway.
'Mind where you're putting your feet,' one said to Kheda, not looking up.
'This is Gaska ware, isn't it?' The slighter man was studying Fenal's spoon. 'You've shipped down from the northeast.'
'I've been all over these reaches.' Fenal paused, looking around 'You've come up from the south, Bee says. All kinds of rumours from there are blowing along the beach.'
'Savages have invaded the southernmost domain, Chazen, sinking ships and burning islands with enchantments.' The tense note in Tagir's voice betrayed his fear.
At least that's the same tale as every man who's come aboard in the last four domains; always Chazen, never Daish. They've no reason to lie, so that has to be worth something.
Kheda sat down a few benches away and reached inside his carry sack for the piece of sea ivory. He pulled the sharp narrow knife that one of the prow rowers had given him in return for treating a persistent abscess on one foot out of the split and battered sheath where he wedged the crude stolen blade.
'That's old news,' retorted Paire.
'Is there word of any other domains under threat? Beyond Chazen?' Kheda carved a careful scale into the twisted ivory.
'You've heard the latest from the Daish islands?' Fenal looked grim. 'These savages who took Chazen before the rains have killed Daish Kheda somehow.'
That prompted a sharp intake of breath from Tagir. 'We'd not heard that.'
Is that Janne spreading such a tale to spur other domains into coming to Sirket's aid, lest he be lost and their islands face the murderous savages next? Or is Ulla Safar encouraging the misapprehension, to save himself from suspicion of killing me? Or is Daish invaded?
Kheda marked out another notched and pointed scale. 'But the fighting's still come no further north than the Daish islands?'
If you can keep your hands steady, your voice won't betray you.
'Not that anyone was saying,' shrugged Fenal.
'And bad news flies faster than a honey bird with its tail on fire.' Paire looked to the others for reassuring nods of agreement.
I wonder how many other warlords know just how much news travels outside their message birds, ciphers and coded beacons.
'We can row fast enough to keep ahead of trouble,' said Tagir determinedly.
Kheda blew a frail curl of ivory away from his blade.
'We don't want to run from magic in the south just to fall foul of some barbarian wizard harrying the northern reaches.' He studied his carving, holding it up close to his face, not wanting anyone to see his eyes.
Can I face asking the same questions, time and again? Hearing the same useless answers? Just where are all these wizards that everyone in the south says plague the north like sandflies round a rotting fish?
'Our soothsayer'll be over the side if we see so much as a hint of magic,' joked Paire. 'The very notion terrifies him.'
'I've heard nothing about magic in the north,' Fenal reassured him.
'Take that for an omen, will you, soothsayer.' Tagir wasn't looking amused. 'Stop stirring us all up with your fears.'
'What are you talking about?' Ialo appeared, taking a bench uninvited.
'How there's no magic in these reaches, no matter what disaster's befallen the south,' Tagir said doggedly. 'And I'm not going as far north as Ikadi, just to be sure.'
'You don't have to go to the northern reaches to fall foul of magic,' sneered Ialo.
'You'd know all about that of course,' Paire scoffed.
Kheda froze, head bent, narrow blade dug into the ivory.
I knew you weren't listening, you foul-tempered windbag, when I tried to learn what you knew. You were too busy making sure everyone heard your poor opinion of my clumsy oar stroke.
'I need some of that burn salve, soothsayer,' Ialo demanded.
'How about you trade me some news for it?' Kheda withdrew his knife, careful not to mar his carving. 'What do you know about magic in these reaches?'
'Shek Kul's domain, due east from here.' Ialo waved a spade-like hand vaguely. 'There were sorcerers running wild in his very compound, not three years since. Look, it's this hand. Stupid fool of a fisherman—'
'Shark shit.' Paire shook his head emphatically. 'No magic comes this far down from the unbroken lands.'
'There was something going on,' said Fenal apologetically. 'I was rowing in these waters around then. Kaeska that was Shek Kul's first wife, she was executed for suborning sorcery.'
His words left everybody silenced, not just Kheda, halting in mid-search for another husk full of his salve in his bag.
Paire licked nervous lips. 'Why did she do that?'
'People said it was something to do with her being barren.' Ialo smiled, pleased to be the centre of attention.
'That much was certainly true,' nodded Fenal. 'She was known as such, all through these domains.'
'There are ways around that without resorting to magic,' exclaimed Paire.
'What did she do?' Kheda rubbed a fingerful of salve into a nasty rope burn raw across the back of Ialo's knuckles.
'I never did hear the full story.' The big man looked chagrined.
Everyone immediately looked at Fenal who rubbed a thoughtful hand over his close-cropped beard. 'I'm among friends, aren't I?' At their emphatic nods, he leaned forward. 'Shek Kul indulged the woman's quest for a child as long as he needed her ties with the Danak domain to keep Shek waters secure. Then her brother, Danak Mir, was killed, so Shek Kul and his second wife busied themselves with getting an heir for the domain at long last. Kaeska that was Shek summoned some wizard, to kill Mahli Shek and her newborn child with her.'