06
Life on the island returned to its bustling self after the delegates returned from the cave, though on a slightly different note. It was clear that its end was approaching and the assembly was slowly winding down. Within two rounds after the treasures were laid to rest, ships began to set sail in order to be present when the flood of trade began to flow out of the godowns. There were the many weddings and parties to wrap up successful courtships and alliances. There was also, it seemed, a growing darker undertone as well, as affronts, new and old, which had been pushed under the carpet for the bulk of the assembly, now could be settled without disrupting the assembly. Things grew a little rowdier.
We'd gone down to the slowly evaporating ship-city for dinner. The food definitely beat synth-food, even with Cin's personal touch, and she readily admitted that so we went every round. Now we planned to lay up a stock of food that would keep for a while against the day the Temtres would be gone since our coins had not run out. (Cin's modest haul had included enough gold to keep us well supplied with all the coins we needed day to day.)
Cin had gotten ahead of me, and was waiting at a stand "down the street" for some grilled lizard on thin sticks. I never made it a point to think further than the finished product. Feathered lizards were four legged chickens as far as I was concerned, and they knew how to fix them. I was waiting at a stall that served baked crusty rolls with a spicy savory center of what I assumed was lizard meat - when in the Pela, you eat lizard - and preserved peppers with who knows what else, when I heard a ruckus down the street - eight or nine rowdy broad-feathered Temtres, dressed entirely in black, an unusual Temtre color scheme. They were led by a tall, black feathered, fellow with the sash of a Clan Chief across his chest. They were roaring out abuse and singing a rough song, clearly well into their cups. They strode down the lane, casually overturned the tables and stalls on either side, capturing and heaving anyone who hadn't scurried out of their reach into the air. Since these scurrying folk were pirates themselves, it appeared that either these were pirates most preferred not to tangle with, or they were merely waiting for reinforcements to quell them properly. I suspect the latter.
Cin didn't even attempt to move out of their way. A matter of pride, I suppose. Still, we'd spent our whole time scurrying out of the way of the Temtres, so why she just stood there now, well, I don't know. Nor why, when one of the big burly fellows tried to grab her to fling her into the air for her defiance, she deftly dropped under his arms, flipped back, and grabbing hold of the tough grass, gave him a two legged kick in the gut, sending him into the air to join his victims. It wasn't out of character; it was just out of the character we had assumed to enjoy the Assembly.
Cursing under my breath, I hurried towards Cin. I wasn't afraid for her. She could handle any number of drunk rowdies, but doing so would attract the attention we had so successfully avoided. I reached for my sissy in my inner trousers, but hoped to use my tongue to talk us out of this without attracting a great crowd.
The rowdies lurched to a stop at this unexpected resistance. I recognized the leader. I'd seen him at the Darting Dragon match - EnVey himself, Clan-chief of Captain SherKe of the Darting Dragon, who, unbeknown to him, was said to be holding us for ransom. In short, the last people we'd want to be brawling with. The Clan-chief roared a string of abuses and ordered two of his mates to 'Break the fine-feathered wench's legs!' Prospects for settling this dispute with talk were looking extremely iffy, as were our prospects of getting out of this without expending a generous amount of darts. With the possibility of not getting out at all...
Though two of the drunken gang approached Cin on the Clan-chief's orders, I was still not too alarmed about her immediate prospects. I was certain that Cin was quite adept in martial arts, including the martial arts of low gravity or free fall. Those required a different set of moves since gravity won't keep you grounded. Any sort of move that broke contact with the ground would likely leave you in midair unless you could use your target to get you grounded again.
She chose to rely on the legs they'd been ordered to break. Moving with lightning speed, she once more flipped backwards to grab a hold on the island with her hands and swung her legs in a half circle, sweeping the thugs' legs clear of their hold on the grass. (Being broad-feathered and long toed, they just wore thin sandals to allow their long clawed toes to hold on to the ground.) She followed that up with two kicks to the gut, sending them flying upwards, howling in pain, by the time I reached her side.
The EnVey Clan-chief roared in anger and yelled, drawing his sword, 'You'll pay for that, you fine-feathered wench!'
Things were quickly getting out of hand.
The remaining five cohorts, seeing three of their mates doubled up in pain floating overhead, may've quickly sobered up since they made only a halfhearted effort to draw their swords and move in Cin's direction. I doubt killing had been part of the program. And killing even a lowly fine-feathered wench, was likely something only a Clan-King might get away with.
Cin was armed with a dagger, as was I. I was certain she could've easily handled the EnVey Clan-chief, but I wasn't prepared to stand by and watch. Perhaps I felt I'd something to prove.
Leaping forward, I managed to get between Cin and the raging Clan-chief before they had time meet.
'Enough of this!' I exclaimed in my best, captain-esque voice. 'Put that sword away and move along before anyone gets into more trouble than they already have.'
That stopped him for a second. He stared at me in disbelief. Who was I, a fine-feathered servant/slave, to address him, much less order him about? Who indeed?
Angrily, he turned to one of his reluctant mates. 'Give this creature your sword, Roka. I'll not desecrate mine with an unarmed fine-feathered blood.'
Roka reluctantly drew it. The Clan-chief impatiently grabbed it from him and tossed it my way, hilt first. I managed to snag it, and even as I did, the Clan-chief charged.
I managed to leap to the side and back, avoiding his first charge while I drew my dagger. He swung about and attacked.
I was familiar with swordplay in free fall, having practiced it for many years aboard the Starry Shore - while wearing magnetic soled boots. I quickly found that swordplay in free fall attached to the ground by claws on the tips of my boots was something else again. My usual style was to give ground while waiting for an opening. With magnetic boots you could slide your feet back, but with claws in the turf, well, you need to release the claws by sliding your foot forward, or tear them clear in panic, like I did in my first retreat, managing to retain a tenuous hold on the island with one foot while I met the onslaught of raging opponent's flashing blade standing, frantically parrying his first hurricane of slashing, saber-style cuts. But not quite frantically enough to parry them all.
I fell for a high feint and failed to parry a lunging thrust to my chest with my sword. I managed to dodge most of the thrust, though his blade sliced through the lizard-leather vest, and ran along my ribs under armored shirt across my chest. Not a hopeful beginning.
His angry lunge carried us crashing together, shoulder to shoulder, both of us somewhat off balance. I brought my sword arm down across his sword arm, momentarily trapping his arm against my chest and then swung my off arm around to jam the dagger deep into his arm at his shoulder. Only my Unity Standardness had prevented me from setting it in his heart. He bellowed in anger and attempted to pull his arm free. I gave my dagger a wicked jerk, tearing more muscles. He cursed as his blade drifted free, his hold on it weakened by the damage my dagger was doing to his arm. I let him jerk his arm free of my pinning arm. He grabbed his shoulder with his free hand and roared a string of abuses at me - which I silenced with a blow to his jaw, led by the sword's hand-guard. My 500 generations of St Bleyth ancestors rather demanded that. He fell backwards and silenced by the blow.
'Anyone else anxious to die?' I asked his followers, who looked on, stunned by the turn of events. None seemed anxious to volunteer, so I tossed the sword
back to Roka and stepped away to allow them to attend to their Clan-chief. In the background, another member of the entourage climbed on his mate's shoulder to drag their still floating, still groaning comrades back to the island.
Cin had stepped forward and I was afraid she'd finish the lout off, but exclaimed in wild alarm, 'Are you wounded my captain?' - her cold grey eyes laughing. She loved to playact.
'If so, only a scratch, my dear,' I replied, replying in kind, as I shifted a shoulder belt to cover the slice in my vest. By all rights, my chest should be drenched in blood, but the armored shirt had prevented the blade from cutting through. I'd not been wearing an armored shirt under my Temtre costume for nothing. I wore it for my health. I didn't know if it could stop a direct thrust, but it proved to be strong enough to prevent the Clan-chief's blade from reaching me. I'd likely have a welt or bruise, but no more. I hoped everyone would assume the blow was more glancing than it actually was, otherwise questions would be asked. It had happened very fast, and now, if we made our escape...
'Are you alright? Those brutes didn't harm you did they? If they did, I'll finish them off,' I continued, playing my role.
'Oh, they didn't touch more than the bottom of my feet. All good clean fun.'
I'm sure it was. Then quietly to her alone, 'Let's lift while we can, my dear. I don't think this scene needs to last any longer.' The fracas had attracted a quiet crowd; who's attitude I couldn't read. They might get ugly. Even if attacked, I rather doubted that fine-feathered retainers would feel free to stick knives into clan captains.
She smiled but didn't object. We turned down the lane. A silent gap opened up in the ring of bystanders and we slipped through. Siss, who'd been off somewhere at the start of the proceedings swam up next to her and hung over her shoulder, growling menacingly at everyone.
'Where are we going?' I asked quietly, for she had set out for the opposite end of the island from our boat. 'We're heading the wrong way.'
'Remember, we're hostages of the EnVey, who's chief you nearly killed. We should appear to be returning to our ship, if we're to keep to our story,' she whispered back. 'Besides I saw trouble coming from the other direction. I don't think we want to answer questions...'
'Wait up, please!' called the "trouble" behind us. Which was the last thing I wanted to do, but Cin shrugged, stopped, and turned back, as did I.
Turning, I recognized the tall fellow who had called out - it was Kin DeKan, the Clan-king of the Temtres himself. He was leading a dozen tough looking mates. If running for it had been an option, I would've taken it. It wasn't. And, well, catching the brightness in Cin's eyes, I'd a feeling she was rather looking forward to the challenge of meeting the Clan-king.
'I'm sorry,' DeKan exclaimed as he caught up with us, leaving his guards several discrete steps behind. 'That I arrived too late to prevent the unpleasantness. EnVey is notoriously an ill-tempered drunk and as soon as word reached me that he was on a rampage, I set out to tame him. But it seems you've done that for me. At his cost.'
'No more than he deserved,' said Cin with a pleasant smile.
'I'm sure you're right,' said DeKan nodded his smiling agreement. 'Are you hurt at all?' He gave me a quick glance as well, but he'd only eyes for Cin.
'They laid not a hand on me,' laughed Cin, 'Though I do believe EnVey's blade has damaged my Captain's lizard vest. And I warn you, I shall demand a steep discount in my ransom for this outrageous affront to our agreement. EnVey has previously offended me with his comments, and with this outrage, I shall demand that the agreed ransom be cut in half, which I trust you will enforce. The honor of the Temtres' word is at stake in this matter.'
DeKan smiled pleasantly. He was another of these tall, lean, elegant broad-feathered fellows, cut from the same cloth as Admiral DarQue. While no doubt a dangerous fellow, he was as suave and courteous as pirates come. 'Yes, I saw how you both dealt with the gang. I rather doubt their drunkenness is much of an excuse for their rout. Still, I am very glad you were not hurt. (This solely to Cin, of course.) I assure you, such actions are not tolerated during the Assembly. I will have a word with EnVey as soon as we come to our understanding.'
'Our understanding? Oh, you mean the terms of our ransom. I'm sure I can settle that with Captains SherKe and EnVey.'
'Oh, as for the ransom, I wave that in its entirety,' said DeKan with a generous wave of his hand, adding, 'Seeing that it doesn't exist, and that you're not ransomees of anyone. I've already looked into that. I keep my ears open to all that goes on during the Assembly. Having heard word of two ransomed prisoners - of SherKe's Darter Dragon, of all ships - for which I hadn't been given my share, I made it a point to confront Captain SherKe. I found him quite unaware of any ship he captured or any prisoners he held for ransom. He was very certain he'd have remembered that,' he said with a smile, adding, 'As would I, since the EnVeys are traders, not fighters. So, would you care to invent another story for me? Though I'd prefer the truth, of course.'
Siss, at Cin's shoulder, who'd been watching this silently, gave a low, warning hiss.
Cin's smile, however, just widened, her eyes sparkling. These tall, broad-feathered fellows may have a great deal of charm, but when Cin isn't trying to kill you, she can be quite charming as well. Indeed, even when she is trying to kill you, she can be, well, if not charming, strikingly pretty.
I, on the other hand, slowly let my hand find the slit in my Temtre trousers, and undid the seal on the pocket of my inner trousers that held my sissy. It was beginning to look like darts were going to be flying.
'Take your time, I am eager to hear you improvise a second story to explain your presence here. I'm sure it will be an amusing one. Amuse me.'
Well, I was at a loss to invent an amusing tale. It would seem something of the truth would have to do? But then, he wasn't talking to me.
'I think, Clan-king, you must agree that we did not fly here on our own. We were brought here. I'm not sure of all the ins and outs, but I believe it would be very indiscreet of me to say by whom,' she said, with a smile and a pretty shrug. 'I'm sorry, but that is your affair, not ours. Our affair is demanding an apology from Clan-chief EnVey. We'll demand satisfaction. And not only from him, but from you as well for questioning our right to be here.'
I didn't think that line of attack was going to end well. Darts, and darts alone seemed likely to settle things.
DeKan shook his head sadly. 'Satisfaction you may have against EnVey. You're welcome to it. No tears would be shed. And if you have any right to be here, the right to defy your Clan-king, and I can't imagine you have that right, you'll have my sincere apology as well. All you need do is to prove that right.'
'Our presence, and your ignorance is proof enough.'
What was she thinking? I didn't think DeKan was going to fall for any bluff.
He shrugged, showing no anger. 'Come now, the truth, please. You cannot be here unaccounted for.'
Cin, with a shrug and with a glance to me - as a warning - abandoned our pretense, 'As you wish. I'm afraid the truth, Clan-king, is quite boring. We're shipwrecked sailors, driven to this island by a great storm. You've seen the storm's destruction so that you cannot doubt the truth. We were here when your ships arrived, and saw no reason why we shouldn't enjoy the festival. Which we have, thank you. However, being unfamiliar with the Temtre clan - we come from far, far away - we decided that it would be best not to reveal ourselves or our plight. And that, is the simple truth.'
'Where in the Saraime do you come from, that you do not to know the of Temtre?'
'We don't come from the Saraime.'
'Yet you speak our language.'
'We learned it,' she shot back.
'You learned it very fast, to speak it so fluently.'
'Have you ever heard of Cimmadar? There are many similarities that made learning it easy,' she said, adding in pure Cimmadarian, 'I'm willing to wager that you can understand the purport of what I'm saying.'
His eyes narrowed, 'So now you're cla
iming to be from mythical Cimmadar.'
Cin shook her head. 'No. We've crossed courses with people who claim to be from Cimmadar, and learned their language. However, we've never been there.'
DeKan closed his eyes for a moment, seeking to separate lies from truth, if he could. 'Cimmadar is spoken of in the myths and sagas. I've never believed it to be a real realm.'
'They may've been liars for all we know, but that is what they claimed. They said however, that Cimmadar lies many, many tens of thousands of rounds away. They were driven from it - in exile.
'Fine-feathered like you?'
'Both broad and fine-feathered. You wouldn't recognize them as people out of a myth.'
'Where then is your wrecked ship?' he asked abruptly. 'The one that carried you here from tens of thousands of rounds away, in the storm. And why haven't we seen any evidence of it?'
'Oh, it is small, and well hidden in the jungle while Captain Canary makes the necessary repairs.'
'Our hunters have not reported seeing it.'
'Did I not say it's well hidden?' Cin laughed. 'If you don't believe the truth, make up your own story as to how we are here and for what reason.'
He'd no answer for that. But he wasn't prepared to give up.
'And yet you, though you claim not to come from the Saraime, you spend their coins for clothes, weapons and food. How do you explain that?'
How indeed? Cin hesitated, so I was about to say that we traded gold and silver for them...
'I borrowed a few,' said Cin with a little apologetic shrug. 'An unfortunate necessity.'
'I believe the word you're looking for in Temtre is "steal" rather than "borrow". Though you must be good at borrowing, since I've not heard any complaints. As a rule, we're not careless with our coins,' he replied rather grimly. Clearly neither careless or especially generous.
'I believe the Temtre word is "looted", but why quibble? I'm very good at stealing, looting or borrowing. It is my profession. As for being careless, I'll let you be the judge since I borrowed them from you.'
'Me?'
'Well, from that big chest that you keep in the small strong room just off your quarters. Oh, it was filled to the rim with all sorts of coins, jewelry and gems. I could've filled my pouch with a fortune in glittering bobbles, but no, I confined myself to just what was needed to outfit ourselves as Temtres, and a few coins for meals and such - mostly small coins so as not to attract any unwelcome attention...'
'You stole from me? How?' he demanded, growing dark and angry, losing much of his calm civility. A thief who resented being robbed. 'How could you? How dare you?'
'How dare I steal the loot of a pirate chief?' she asked archly, ignoring his growing anger. 'How did you acquire it? The opportunity presented itself and I took it, as you did before me. As to how, that is a professional secret. The why, you already know. Really, Clan-king, I should think that instead of getting angry about missing a few coins that you'd never miss, you'd stop and realize I could have taken much more if I'd chosen to. All I really did was redistribute my ill-gotten gains from your ill-gotten gains to your kinsmen and women. Nothing has left your clan.
'And if you are really all that petty and miserly, I will send along the sum with interest to you at the first opportunity, after we set up shop in the Saraime. No doubt we'll run into some Temtre traders in some port some time.'
'I'm neither petty or miserly. I just draw the line at stealing - from me,' he added grimly, but regaining a spark of humor in his eyes. 'I'm simply curious as to how you accomplished that feat. Were my guards asleep at their post? My locks not foolproof?'
'I think I'll keep my air of mystery. Now, I believe we've settled everything. You have your answers. If you're concerned about a few coins, extract them from your drunken Clan-chief as compensation for his shameful and cowardly assault on a lady and her captain. I'll not delay you any further. Fair sailing, Clan-king.' She made to go.
He shook his head, sadly. 'I'm afraid very little has been settled. I'll need to know much more about you, in order to decide what to do with you.'
Cin grinned coldly. 'I will freely give you my word, and that of Captain Canary, that everything we have learned here will remain a secret. We've no ill feelings against either you or the Temtre - up till now. We have enjoyed your people. I hope that won't change.'
'I'm afraid I must ask you to accompany me.'
'I think not. We're returning to our own ship.'
'You will notice that my men now surround us. I would prefer that you come peaceably, but if not...'
I could almost feel the air grow colder as Cin tapped her cold, ruthless St Bleyth heritage in her, low, slow reply. 'I doubt, Clan-king, you'll find much satisfaction in insisting on that. I hope you realize just how close you are to being dead. Please believe me when I tell you that neither you, nor your men, can prevent us from returning to our ship.'
'I'm no fool. I've seen you both in action, and have the greatest respect for your skills. Still, I wouldn't be here talking to you if I feared you,' he replied coolly, his eyes just as dangerous as Cin's. Which alarmed me greatly.
'Ah, but that was only the two of us. Now that our friend has joined us, we're three, and indefatigable,' I said hoping a little humor might ease the situation. 'Siss, here, is fearless. She's already challenged a great blue dragon defending us, so I'm certain she has nothing to fear from you. Perhaps Siss, you might get into position to take a large bite out of the Clan-king where he'd most regret it should he make one wrong move. Or thinks one wrong thought.'
Finding the idea amusing, Siss gave a low barking laugh, and settled down to waist level, to stare intently at the Clan-king's crouch, her toothy jaws open for that first bite.
DeKan stared down at her for a second or two - at a loss as to just what to make of Siss. However, with Simla dragons as common in the Temtre clans as they were, he knew she could react to a thought. And as comical as it looked - as it was intended to look comical - a three-meter-long Simla dragon half a meter away was a real threat, not only to his manhood, but to his life. He had little choice but to break out with a grim laugh. Which he did after considering it for several seconds.
'Now that's a risk too chancy to run. I suppose I must admit I've met my match. I see no alternative but to accept your promise to keep our secrets safe. You've enjoyed our hospitality, shared our food and fun. It would be ill-mannered of you to betray our secrets. I believe I can trust you, so go on your way. And please, continue to have the run of our Assembly while it lasts, as one of us,' he added with another laugh.
'Thank you,' I said. 'You have our word that we'll keep your secrets.'
Cin nodded when he glanced at her. 'Yes, and give my regards to EnVey. Assure him that he was lucky that Captain Canary stepped in to settle the affair. He's far more kindhearted than I.'
'I'll mention that, among other things. So if you'll excuse me, I'd best be on my way,' he said with a slight bow, and then signaling his men, continued up the lane of ships.
'This way, Wil,' said Cin as she turned aside and struck out for one of the cliff edges of the island, weaving through the anchored ships.
As we drifted cliff-wards, she'd stop and browse at the various stalls we came across.
'We're being followed,' she said as we left the last stall. We'll head over the cliff. You keep going, I'll find a place to ambush our tracker and rejoin you.'
'Dart him lightly, I trust. We don't want any more trouble.'
'Yes, Litang. I shall be very Unity Standard.'
We left the line of anchored ships behind and crossed the grassy margin and found a vine paved ravine to follow down to the jungle side. Once over the side and out of sight, we scrambled down the ravine to put some distance between us and our tracker. At a sharp turn, with a tumble of vines, Cin slipped into the leafy shadows. Siss and I kept going, making as much noise as I dared to in order to draw the tracker on, until I reached the edge of the jungle, where I stopped and awaited Cin.
She join
ed me about ten minutes later. 'Two of them. I hid them in the vines. They'll be out for half an hour or so, so we're clear. Back to the boat. It's been an interesting day.'
It's been an interesting life. Far too interesting.
Before we set out, Cin asked Siss to hold back and cover our retreat in the event there was a third shadow.
As we made our way along the edge of the jungle, up and down ravines, Cin said, 'Thank you for so gallantly coming to my aid. It wasn't necessary, of course. I'm capable of handling a drunk with a blade without the slightest risk of being killed.'
'I know, my dear. Still, if I'm to be more than a rounding error in our partnership, I felt that I needed to do something as well. Not to protect you, but to give you some confidence that you have a suitable partner.'
'You almost got killed.'
'Did not. It may've looked like it right at the start - I'm going to have to adjust my footwork to take into account the fact that retreating with claws on one's boots may not be as fluid as it is with magnets or gravity - but even admitting that, I certainly can handle a drunken Temtre. I did finish the duel in less than half a minute, after all, and without a scratch?.'
She plucked the sliced leather jersey from my chest.
'Yes I know, but the fact remains, I wasn't scratched and he's only alive because I'm a Unity Standard fellow, by and large. Killing him wasn't either necessary nor wise, given our position.'
'Well, you did give me a little scare...' she said, and slipping her arm through mine, pulled me close and then added with a teasing smile 'Still, we're a pretty effective partnership, the three of us. You and Siss certainly make for an interesting team.'
I'd take the partnership, even if she included Siss. For now.
'Siss is one amazing dragon,' I replied lightly. 'I assume that she read my mind, though it was just a fleeting thought as to what he'd most likely regret losing. I suppose that having been around so many amorous Temtres these last two weeks, she may've well have already appreciated its importance in a man's thought. Still, it was a stroke of genius to play it so comically. She reduced the whole potentially deadly encounter into something ridiculous, something too comic for it to be taken seriously. Do you think she knew what she was doing, or was she just being her usual, carefree, teasing self?'
Before Cin could answer, there came a long dismissive hiss from behind us.
Cin and I exchanged grins.
'Thanks, Siss. You saved the day with your quick thinking... Whatever you were thinking,' I called back.
She barked a laugh.
I looked to Cin at my side and thought, "Now if only Siss would get lost..."
Which earned me another loud laughing bark.
She didn't get lost, however. I only could hope that she knew Cin's mind, and that she would get lost when she needed to.
I heard her quietly laugh. Not very encouraging.
Chapter 09 In the Net and Out