“Alli and Bev,” Mari called. “We’d better shed the jackets so no one can tell we’re Mechanics. We need to get the supplies we require and then leave this port without any complications.”
She pulled off her own jacket, wondering if the Syndari galleys would notify the city leaders of Julesport about who was riding on the Gray Lady in an attempt to claim the rewards, despite failing to capture Mari themselves. Or if the Mechanics Guild Hall and the Mages Guild Hall had taken note of the battle just outside the harbor.
Mari didn’t make any comments when Mechanic Dav and Mage Asha eventually reappeared on deck, but both Alli and Bev began pestering Dav with mock concern, asking if he had been hurt in the fight and exactly where he had been and what he had been doing.
By early afternoon the Gray Lady had tied up to an anchor buoy only about a thousand lances from the nearest pier. The captain immediately began negotiating with barges that came alongside offering food and water or transport ashore for the crew. The latter left disappointed, since no one planned to leave the Gray Lady.
But Mari was quickly reminded that plans were what people made before they found out what the real world had in store for them.
“There’s a launch heading this way,” the captain called to Mari. “Not normal port tax collection from the look of it. Too fancy. That fellow in the back is not the run-of-the-mill customs inspector, Lady. I’d guess from the cut of his jib that he’s a high official of the city guard.”
“We’ll get under cover,” Mari said, beckoning to the other Mechanics and the Mages. “You see what they want, Captain, and hopefully talk our way out of any trouble.”
“As you wish, Lady Mari!”
The large launch coming toward the Gray Lady flew the flag of Julesport, an official emblem which incongruously boasted the crossed swords of the sometime-pirate Jules. Jules had not just founded this city, but had also been the primary founder of the Confederation. It was from Julesport that she had led a flotilla against an Imperial fleet to win the battle that saved this region from Imperial control and gave Jules the title Hero of the Confederation. Mari was certain that Jules must have received aid from the Mechanics Guild and the Mage Guild in her victory, because neither of the Great Guilds wanted the Empire to grow so powerful it might openly challenge their authority, but she had still been the sort of person whose legend had trouble outpacing reality.
The idea of being linked to such a woman, of being the long-awaited daughter of Jules, was disconcerting for Mari, to put it mildly. But that was who Alain said she was, who the Mage Guild had decided she must be, who the common people saw in her: the person who was prophesized to overthrow the Great Guilds which had ruled Dematr for all of its history. A history that was measured only in centuries, but on Altis Mari had finally learned the reason for that.
Mari gazed through the windows of the stern cabin using her far-seers. The man in the stern sheets of the launch approaching the Gray Lady wore an impressive uniform. “That’s a dress uniform, isn’t it? Not a working outfit.”
Mechanic Dav borrowed the far-seers and took a look. “Definitely. It looks like… uh-huh. The oar handlers have knives, and the guy in the fancy uniform has a sword, but there aren’t any other weapons in sight. They don’t seem to be coming to start a fight.” He lowered the far-seers, returning them to Mari with obvious reluctance. Like other Mechanic devices, the far-seers had been deliberately kept too rare and expensive for widespread use. “These are nice. Made in the workshops of the Guild Hall in Palandur?”
“That’s right. I took an advance on my first year’s Mechanic pay allowance for them.” Mari took another look at the official in the launch, then glanced at Alain. “High-ranking, but obviously not one of the leaders of the city. What do you think that means?”
Alain considered the question. “I would guess that it means they suspect that this ship carries not just any passengers, but that they also wish to know more before making any decisions.”
“I cannot sense any unusual activity among the Mages in Julesport,” Mage Dav said.
“That one steam ship hasn’t fired up its boiler,” Mechanic Bev offered.
The launch was nearing rapidly under the pull of its oars. Mari looked across the harbor, seeing no other activity that seemed out of the ordinary. Work everywhere within sight had slowed for the afternoon break. “The captain told me that we can’t leave without taking on more food and water and then getting official clearance to depart. All we can do is see what that official wants and what questions he asks.”
“It is safe to assume that the leaders of all cities are under a great deal of pressure from the Great Guilds to find us,” Alain said. “Was not Julesport the site of rioting not long ago?”
“Yes,” Mari said. “About the time I went north to find you again. The last I heard, the Mechanics Guild was leaning hard on the city leaders and the city leaders, according to the gossip among commons, were pretending to go along with orders but finding ways to avoid actually complying.”
“My experience with commons,” Mechanic Dav offered, “is that they are really good at that sort of thing. The Senior Mechanics kept telling me the commons were too stupid to understand what they were told, but it looked to me like they were plenty smart enough.”
“That’s what I’ve seen, too. We’ll crack the hatch so we can listen while that guy talks to the captain,” Mari decided.
The wait for the launch to pull alongside and its passenger to climb up the rope ladder to the Gray Lady’s deck seemed interminable to Mari, but eventually she saw the official step on deck, looking around casually. The hatch onto the deck was open but a narrow crack. Mari stood slightly back from it, surely invisible to anyone outside, with Alain right beside her and the others clustered farther back.
Alain murmured in her ear. “This official pretends not to be aware, but he is watching everything. There is a worry inside him that he does not show to other commons.”
The captain greeted the official with a smile and a salute. “The Gray Lady, an honest merchant ship out of Gullhaven, honored sir. Here to pick up provisions and perhaps give the crew a bit of liberty ashore.”
The official nodded, smiling politely back, but only for a moment before his face went serious. “Gullhaven? That was your last port?”
“Aye, sir.”
“That’s odd. We have a report out of Altis that a ship like enough to yours to be her twin left that port under hasty circumstances.”
Mari tensed, but the captain of the Gray Lady only looked surprised. “Is that so? I’ve not seen that ship, sir, or I’d have marked it for certain. Much like this one, you say?”
“Exactly like this one,” the official stated. “Even down to the name.”
The captain looked outraged. “They claimed the name of my ship? That’s not the work of honest sailors, sir.”
“I daresay,” the official responded, glancing around again. “The Mechanics Guild gave us the description and the name. The Mechanics Guild said there was a substantial reward for this ship and its occupants. They want this ship very badly.”
The Gray Lady’s captain looked puzzled. “Why ever for? We’re but honest sailors.”
“Naturally. But the Mechanics Guild thinks you’re carrying someone the Guild wants badly enough to offer that substantial reward for, dead or alive. I might add, preferably dead.”