chapter TEN
One of the merpeople shouted an order, and the others drew back a little. A few of them were female, but they all wore belts of some kind of reptile hide, they all carried knives, and they all looked angry. One held a weapon that looked like a wooden spear gun. With a grim expression, Charter dropped the knife and held up his hands. Emilie held up her hands, too.
Two other merpeople dragged Daniel up the stairs, despite his resistance. He caught Charter's eye and said, guiltily, “Sorry. They just burst in through the door-” One of them poked him to tell him to be silent.
Charter said, “It's all right.”
Emilie knew it was anything but all right.
The merpeople searched them first, taking the knife and the rest of Emilie's matches. Emilie thought they would be shoved into the room with the Cirathi, but instead the Nomads prodded them up the stairs. There was a door on the next landing, with a merman standing guard outside it. At a gesture from the leader, he pushed it open.
They were guided into a big room, lit by several lamps, bare of furniture except for a few clay water jars. But it was the occupants who captured Emilie's attention. Rani and an older Menaen man were facing five merpeople. Emilie started forward, only to be dragged back by her guards. She called out, “Rani! Are you all right?”
“I'm well, Emilie.” Rani looked her over, her scaled brow furrowed. “These idiots have not hurt you?”
“No, I'm fine.” She hoped, for the moment. Rani didn't look hurt, and her head wasn't bleeding anymore.
The older Menaen man had to be Dr. Marlende. He had shaggy gray hair and a beard that badly needed to be trimmed, which kept Emilie from spotting any resemblance to Miss Marlende. He wore a rather shabby tweed suit coat over a somewhat the worse-for-wear workman's trousers and shirt. He said, “Charter, Daniel, how good to see you!”
One of the merpeople was less enthused to see them. Holding one of the translation shells, he turned to Rani and said, “You lied. You said you were alone.” He was young, very handsome, wearing a necklace of polished shells and a reptile skin belt set with disks of silver metal. The others with him, three young men and one older woman, wore the same kind of finery; Emilie suspected they were looking at the Nomads' leaders. Or at least the leaders of this group of Nomads.
Rani snorted, amused. “Of course I lied. You keep dragging me and my people off by force. We are not friends, Prince Ise.” To Dr. Marlende, she explained, “That is Emilie, who came here with your daughter.”
“Excellent!” Dr. Marlende said, and nodded to Emilie.
Prince Ise rounded on Charter, demanding, “Where are the others?”
They haven't caught them, they don't know they're aboard the airship, Emilie thought, relieved. His expression stony, Charter said, “I don't know. We split up, to look for Dr. Marlende and the Cirathi.”
Prince Ise spoke to the mermen guards in his own language, and three of them hurried off, probably to organize a search. Emilie just hoped no one thought to check the airship. Prince Ise turned back to Dr. Marlende and Rani. “You can't expect me to negotiate with you after this. You have tried to escape, to attack my people-”
Rani eyed him with contempt. “Oh, and if you were in our position, you would sit in a cell and do nothing, and wait for your captors to 'negotiate.' Is that what you would do?”
Ise set his jaw, furious. He's young, Emilie thought. Younger than the Queen, certainly. Dr. Marlende said, “Oh, I think in our position Prince Ise would be fighting quite hard to escape. And I think we can agree that it is generous of him to speak to us at all, with everything he has to deal with at the moment.”
It had given Ise time to get his self-control back. He said, more evenly, “I have been generous. I offer you an alliance. If you would help us fight the Queen's forces, we would treat you as honored guests.”
Dr. Marlende shook his head. “My airship is for exploration, not war. And neither we nor the Cirathi have any business interfering in your disagreements with the Queen. Our involvement would cause you nothing but harm in the long run.”
Ise folded his arms, his whole body communicating contempt. “I might have believed that, before the metal ship joined the Queen's fleet. Our spies say they have the same magics and projectile weapons that you do. I'm only asking you to even the balance.”
“They were tricked!” Emilie had to interrupt. “They think you attacked the ship, but it was the Queen's people, pretending to be Nomads. And now they're only helping her because they think the Queen has Miss Marlende and me as hostages; they don't know I escaped with Rani and that Lord Ivers has Miss Marlende prisoner. If you let us all go, they have no reason to fight you.”
“Yes, Rani informed me that Lord Ivers has my daughter prisoner,” Dr. Marlende said, sounding grim. “The nerve of the man.”
Ise regarded her a moment in silence, and Emilie couldn't tell if her speech had had any effect on him or not. He looked at Rani and said, “She tells the same story you told.”
“Of course she does.” Rani was exasperated. “It's the truth.”
Prince Ise paced away from them, obviously torn. But before he could say anything, another merman pounded up the stairs, calling out. He spoke rapidly to Ise, who answered sharply in his own language. Then Ise turned to Dr. Marlende and said, “The Queen's forces have found our concealed cove. We'll drive them off, but when I return-” He hesitated again, but added, “This conversation is not over.”
He strode out, the other merpeople following, leaving them alone in the room. The guard outside shut the door, and Emilie heard the lock thunk into place.
Rani said, annoyed, “Well, that was not a timely interruption.”
“I'm not certain it would have been any different had we talked all night,” Dr. Marlende told her. “We might convince him, but the Nomads have many leaders, and I don't know how much influence he has.” He motioned for them to draw together in the center of the room, and said quietly, “Keep your voices low, please. Prince Ise usually leaves the translation shell with the guards.”
“They've made a mistake, leaving us together like this,” Rani muttered. “Surely Ise will recall it and send the guards to separate us soon.”
“You can't use your magic to escape?” Emilie asked Dr. Marlende, keeping her voice low.
Daniel looked offended that she had asked the question, but Dr. Marlende smiled at her. He said, “I can create a few rather flashy illusions, but I need access to my airship's aetheric channeling devices for anything more effective.” He turned to Charter and Daniel. “Any suggestions, gentlemen?”
Charter glanced thoughtfully at the door. “There's a room above this one? Is there a trapdoor in the roof?”
“Possibly, we've never been allowed up there,” Dr. Marlende said.
Rani put in, “But we're three levels up, and there are guards on the ground below. This stonework is not so easy to climb.” She added to Emilie, “I tried earlier. It was very embarrassing.”
“We don't need to climb,” Charter told her. He looked at Dr. Marlende. “Cobbier, Mikel, and Seth are in the airship.”
“Ah.” Dr. Marlende lifted a brow, and exchanged a look with Rani. “The guards will expect us to try to escape through the ground level exit, so they'll concentrate their efforts there.”
Rani said, “Then what are we waiting for?” and started for the door. Charter followed her.
Daniel looked from them to Dr. Marlende. “Do we need a spell, a charm? I can try-”
“They know my abilities,” Dr. Marlende told him. “They wouldn't be fooled by the illusion of an empty room.”
“We are doing it the old fashioned way.” Rani took up a position to one side of the door, and gave Charter a nod.
Charter pounded on it, and shouted, “Help, we need help!”
From the other side of the door, a merman's voice said, “Be quiet!”
“Please!” Charter kept pounding. Rani made a frantic gesture at Emilie. Emilie, interpreting this as best she could, shrieked as loudly and ear-piercingly as possible and flung herself on the floor.
Emilie kept shrieking, and Dr. Marlende began to caper around her tearing at his hair and giving a good impression of hysterical grief. Emilie wasn't sure how long they could keep it up; she felt she was already close to bursting a blood vessel. But a moment later, the door started to open.
The guard was cautious, entering spear first, but Rani moved like lightning. She grabbed the end of the spear, jerked the lighter merman through the doorway, and slung him across the room. As Emilie scrambled to her feet, Daniel hit the staggering merman with a water jar. The jar cracked and the merman collapsed.
The guard still outside tried to shove the door shut, but Charter wedged himself into the gap, holding it open. He cried out and Emilie gasped, knowing he must have been stabbed. But he held the door long enough for Rani to throw her considerable strength against it, slamming it open.
With the guard's captured spear, Rani slashed at the remaining merman, and he ducked away and stabbed at her again. Emilie reached the door and caught Charter as he slumped, staggering under his weight. The right shoulder of his shirt was already soaked with blood. Behind her Daniel reached the doorway, just as another merman charged up the stairs. Daniel was still holding the cracked water jar and, leaning down, slung it across the floor. “Oh, clever!” Emilie said, as it rolled down the first few steps, struck the merman in the shins and knocked him flat.
With a sudden lunge, Rani shoved the other guard's spear up, flipped her spear around and whacked him in the head with the butt hard enough to knock him back into the far wall.
Dr. Marlende reached Charter, trying to take his arm to support him. Charter said, “No, get up to the roof, signal the airship! I can make it.”
Dr. Marlende snapped, “Then hurry, damn you, I'm not leaving anyone behind!” and charged up the stairs. Stumbling a little, Charter started after him.
Emilie hesitated, her first impulse to help Charter, but Rani and Daniel had plunged down the stairs, going to rescue the Cirathi. No, better help them, she thought, hurrying after them.
The merman Daniel had tripped with the jar had hit his chin on the stone steps and was dazed. Daniel snatched up his spear in passing and Emilie, about to step over him, remembered, that door is locked, we need the key. Hoping this was the guard from that landing, she stooped down to pull at his belt, looking for the key, but there was nothing there. Suddenly he grabbed her arm, and a surge of panic almost blinded her. She snatched his big knife out of the sheath and hit him across the head with the hilt. It made an unpleasant thunk as it hit his skull and he fell backward. She pulled away, breathing hard. Hitting a person was very different from trying to hit the plant-creature who had attacked Miss Marlende. She felt sick, but there was just no time for it. She hurried down the steps.
Another merman was already down, sprawled on the floor of the landing, and Rani and Daniel blocked the stairs, struggling with three others. Emilie dashed to the fallen merman, found a round metal knob attached to his belt with a cord, and jerked it free. As she stood and shoved it into the lock opening, Daniel fell backward and Rani lunged in to cover him. Gritting her teeth, Emilie forced the key to turn. The lock clicked and the door flung open, nearly slamming her against the wall. But a strong scaled hand caught her arm and steadied her as several Cirathi rushed out the door. They overwhelmed the mermen on the stairs and drove them back down the steps.
The Cirathi holding Emilie up was a young woman, only a little taller than she was. She spoke in her own language, then switched to Menaen, saying excitedly, “You are rescuing us!”
“We are!” Emilie replied.
The young Cirathi threw a worried look around. “How?”
“Oh, right! Up, we have to go up, to the airship!” Emilie said hurriedly, pointing up the stairwell. Rani shouted something in her own language that must have confirmed this, because some of the Cirathi started up the stairs, a few remaining behind to help Rani and Daniel hold off the merpeople.
Emilie followed them, past the next landing and up to the very top. They found Charter struggling up the stairs, and one of the larger Cirathi caught him, heaved him over a shoulder, and continued to climb.
They reached the landing at the top of the tower, where a doorway set at an angle opened into a large room. There was no trapdoor in the ceiling. “That's not good,” Emilie said under her breath. There were windows, fortunately, big round ones with no glass panes; Dr. Marlende was hanging out of one, waving a lamp that burned like a white firework. As Emilie reached him, he pulled himself back in, saying with satisfaction, “They've seen it, they're coming!”
Emilie looked past him and her heart leapt. In the light from the ground lamps, the big silvery shape of the airship was lifting above the other towers, turning toward them.
Dr. Marlende said, “Where's Charter? Ah, there he is.” Charter was upright and conscious though bleary-eyed, leaning on the shoulder of the Cirathi man, holding a crumpled handkerchief to his bleeding shoulder. Five other Cirathi had come up with them. All except the man supporting Charter were fairly small, scarcely taller than Emilie. Rani must have ordered the younger ones to flee up the stairs, with the one adult to take care of Charter.
Dr. Marlende looked around the room, tapping his bearded chin. “Now if we can just hold off our captors until our transport arrives...” The lamp he still held was the usual sort the merpeople used, a convoluted shell hanging from a woven strap of reed or seagrass, which burned fish oil. Except this one was glowing white and spitting sparks. Emilie assumed Dr. Marlende had done something magical to brighten it so that the men in the airship could see it.
Shouting, thumps, and crashes sounded from the stairwell, and Rani, Daniel, and the rest of the Cirathi hadn't appeared yet. There was no door, nothing they could use to block off the doorway. Emilie ran to the opposite window, the one above the front of the tower. Two of the young Cirathi were already there, looking worriedly down at the shadowed compound. One pointed for Emilie and she saw a group of merpeople running toward the tower. “Yes, they're sending reinforcements.” Emilie bit her lip. It sounded like Rani and the others could barely hold off the guards now. She turned to Dr. Marlende. “Can we do something? Go outside, to keep more of them from coming into the tower?”
Dr. Marlende strode over to look out the window. He nodded grimly. “Yes, I think we'd better try a fire illusion.” He glanced around the room. “If you could find me another couple of lamps...”
Emilie hurried to the doorway, taking down the lamp hanging near it. Even if it was an illusion, some of the merpeople might not be willing to test it too quickly. The young Cirathi didn't all seem to understand Menaen, but they saw what Emilie was doing and ran to collect the other lamps in the room. As they returned to the window, Dr. Marlende hefted the lamp he was holding, eyeing the nomads running across the compound. As they neared the base of the tower, he flung the lamp out the window.
As it plunged toward the ground, white fire burst out of it. Emilie winced away, seeing stars before her eyes. She blinked hard, trying to see what had happened. The lamp had hit the ground, still blazing, if not quite as brightly. The nomads scattered and retreated in confusion. But Emilie couldn't feel any heat from the fire, and knew in a moment or so the nomads would realize it too. Dr. Marlende said, “Now we'll try this on our antagonists in the stairwell, though I fear they'll realize it's illusory.”
He started toward the doorway, but Emilie stopped, caught by the view out the opposite window.
The airship was above the tower now, the balloon huge above the smaller suspended cabin, trying to angle down to reach the window. Emilie saw Seth hanging out the open cabin door, holding a bundle of rope under his arm. Behind her, a deep voice said, “Tell them to drop a harness, this one can't climb.”
Emilie glanced back. Without the lamps, the room was very dark, lit only by the dim light coming through the windows. After a moment, she realized the speaker was the Cirathi man who was helping Charter. “I can make it, Beinar,” Charter said through gritted teeth.
“Of course you'll make it,” Beinar said, as he helped Charter toward the window. He sounded annoyed that there was any doubt at all.
Emilie was glad Beinar was confident; it made it a little easier to ignore the tight panic in her chest. She leaned out, shouting up at the airship, “We need a harness; Charter's got a wounded arm!”
Seth waved at her and ducked back inside. A moment later, a chain ladder with wooden rungs dropped out of the airship, dangling just out of reach. It was followed by a sturdy rope with a bundle of leather straps on the end, presumably the harness. The airship angled closer, and Emilie saw the propellers at the back of the cabin starting and stopping as it maneuvered toward the tower. She stretched, reaching for the ladder. It swung toward her; she made a wild grab and caught hold of a rung.
Charter rasped, “Careful, if the ship moves up, it'll jerk you right out!”
“Right,” Emilie muttered, bracing herself against the side of the window as she hauled at the heavy ladder. The airship seemed lighter than air, but it was far too heavy for her to anchor by herself.
A Cirathi girl hurried to help her, their combined strength dragging the heavy ladder up to the sill. Then Beinar propped Charter against the wall, and took the ladder, pulling it into the room. Holding on to it, he stretched out a long arm and snagged the harness.
Emilie realized Beinar couldn't help Charter into the harness and hold the ladder at the same time. She motioned frantically to the Cirathi girl that she was about to let go. The girl nodded and called out to the others in her own language. Two ran back from the doorway to grab onto the ladder, and Emilie went to help Charter.
Between the two of them, with Beinar giving quick instructions, they got Charter's arms through the loops and Emilie quickly buckled the straps. In the dim light, Charter's face was pinched with pain, and he was sweating and shaking with the effort of standing.
Beinar took one hand off the ladder to tug on the straps, said, “Good,” then hauled Charter around and shoved him out the window.
Emilie couldn't help a strangled noise of protest, though she knew this was what they had to do. Charter hung in midair for only a moment, before the ropes were hauled rapidly upward. They must have a winch, Emilie thought irrelevantly, sticking her head out the window to watch.
Mikel and Seth caught Charter as he reached the walkway and hauled him inside, then Seth reappeared, signaling wildly. He shouted, “Send the rest up!”
Emilie pulled back in, got a scrape on the cheek from the swaying ladder, and reported, “He says to come on up!”
Beinar spoke in Cirathi, and one of the girls started up the ladder, climbing quickly and agilely. As the next one started to climb, Emilie ran to the doorway. From the landing she could see bright white light glowing up the stairwell. She couldn't hear fighting anymore, though she could hear worried voices speaking in Cirathi. She called down, “Dr. Marlende, Rani, we have to go!”
She heard Rani's voice give an order, and several Cirathi charged up the stairs. Emilie pointed urgently toward the ladder, and Beinar called to them. As one of the newcomers took over helping to brace the ladder, the last young Cirathi started up.
Daniel bounded up the stairs next, breathing hard. His clothes smelled of male sweat, musky, something that wasn't nearly as unpleasant as Emilie thought it should be. He said, “Dr. Marlende's made a fire barrier across the stairs, making them think we've set the place alight. But he has to be there to maintain it.”
“Can you do a charm-” Emilie began.
He shook his head, interrupting, “There's no way they would believe this room is empty, and they'll be able to hear us-”
“To make them think there's a door here?” Emilie finished, determined to be heard. “It's dark, and the way this doorway is angled-”
“Yes!” He grabbed her shoulders, startling her so badly she almost slapped him. “Not a door, we can't do that, but another fire barrier! It might work, just long enough.”
Daniel plunged down the stairs again, calling to Dr. Marlende, and Emilie waited tensely. After a moment, he reappeared again, with Rani and Dr. Marlende behind him.
Emilie stepped back into the room. The only Cirathi left were Beinar and one other man, anchoring the ladder. She hadn't heard any screaming or other commotion, so she hoped that meant no one had fallen.
Rani stopped, looking around the darkened room. She was breathing hard, and Emilie couldn't tell if she was wounded. She said something to Beinar in Cirathi, and nodded at his answer, then she squeezed Emilie's shoulder and started for the ladder. “We are almost there, Emilie.”
“Almost,” Emilie agreed, following her. She thought there was still plenty of time for everything to go hideously wrong.
At the window, Emilie leaned around Beinar to look down. Merpeople had gathered below, agitated, obviously trying to figure out what to do about the airship. Others had climbed to the top of the nearest tower, and one tossed a fishing spear at the cabin, though it fell short. “It's too high,” Beinar muttered to Emilie. “So far they haven't brought out any spear guns.”
“They are probably shooting at the Queen's people with them,” Rani said grimly. She spoke to the other Cirathi man, taking his place at the ladder. He started to climb.
Emilie watched anxiously. The merpeople on the other tower cast a few spears, calling out angrily, but the man climbed rapidly, all the weapons falling short. Emilie let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and looked back at Daniel and Dr. Marlende.
Daniel stood at the doorway, his head down in concentration, Dr. Marlende standing silently behind him. “Dr. Marlende can help him do the charm?” Emilie asked.
“He hopes he can. Daniel's magic is different, apparently,” Rani said, watching them worriedly. “Emilie, you climb now.”
“Oh.” Emilie had somehow managed to ignore the fact that she was going to have to climb the ladder too. Telling herself it wasn't as bad as climbing down the narrow tube into pitch darkness, she came around to grab the rungs and start the climb.
She found immediately that the big difference between this ladder and the one down through the island was that this one was horrifically mobile. It swayed, the chain links clicking, the wooden rungs creaking and turning under her hands. Keep going, keep going, Emilie chanted mentally. She looked down, saw the ground and the angry merpeople, and almost vomited. She looked up at the dark airship looming hugely above her and that was somehow worse. She forced herself to go on, ignoring the shouts from the merpeople on the other tower, refusing to look at them in case that somehow improved their aim or spurred them to throw hard enough to reach her.
When someone grabbed her arm she choked back a yelp, but it was Seth. He dragged her up and onto the airship's catwalk.
Emilie found herself clinging to the railing, the wind tearing at her hair, her legs trembling violently. She couldn't believe she had made it. And why weren't the others following her?
“Where are they?” Seth demanded. “What are they doing?”
Emilie shook her head. “They can't- They're blocking the room off with an illusion, but if the merpeople realize what it is-” She couldn't see the front of the tower from here, but the merpeople on the ground suddenly turned and ran around the curve of the walls. “Oh hell! Someone must have figured out the tower wasn't on fire-”
Then the ladder suddenly jerked as a figure climbed out the window. It was Dr. Marlende, followed closely by Beinar.
Emilie watched, gripping the slender railing. They were almost up to the airship when Daniel started to climb. He had his head turned, shouting back down to the window, as he climbed. Then suddenly the ladder came loose, swinging free.
Emilie gasped in horror, but an instant later she saw Rani was hanging onto the end. She pointed wordlessly, and Seth swore. He turned, leaned into the doorway to shout, “Up, lift her up!”
Dr. Marlende reached the catwalk, pulled himself up, then turned to reach for Beinar. Below, Daniel had stopped climbing to cling to the ladder as it swung wildly. Merpeople hung out the window of the tower now, casting spears. They came within a hairsbreadth of Rani and Daniel, but the ladder's motion confused their aim.
Beinar reached the top, but hung on to the strut of the railing, waiting for Daniel. The airship was lifting up, slowly and ponderously, and Daniel had started to climb again.
Seth and Dr. Marlende were looking down at Daniel and Rani, exhorting them to hurry; Emilie kept watching the merpeople, looking from the window to the roof of the nearby tower. It took us too long, she thought, holding them off, getting the airship over here. They've had time to- She saw the figures in the window make way, saw someone holding the long shape of one of the projectile weapons. She yelled, “Look out! Gun! There's a-”
Daniel was nearly to the catwalk, Rani just below him. Rani ducked down against the ladder, but Daniel looked wildly around. A bolt glanced off the ladder near his hand and he jerked away, lost his grip and hung by one hand. Beinar, holding on to the strut, stretched down to make a grab for him. And the next bolt struck Beinar in the neck.
Emilie froze, a sob of dismay caught in her throat, as he slumped forward. Dr. Marlende flung himself flat on the catwalk, reaching for him, but Beinar tumbled off and fell. Emilie looked down, unable to help herself, and saw his body strike the ground, far below now.
Rani scrambled up the ladder, reached Daniel and pulled him back up. Seth crouched down, and he and Dr. Marlende hauled Daniel up. Rani swung up after him. The airship was well above the towers now, turning away into the dark. Seth and the others dragged up the ladder, Dr. Marlende helped Daniel through the door. Then Rani caught Emilie's arm and pulled her inside.
The cabin was dark, lit only by the soft glow of small electric lights set under the windows. The floor under Emilie's feet was soft and oddly textured, like a cork mat. The Cirathi were silent with shock, standing numbly at the windows. They must have seen everything.
Rani drew the two nearest into a hug, and someone sobbed quietly. Emilie knew if she stood here another moment, she would burst into tears. She turned and started toward the bow of the cabin.
It was too dark to see much, but she made her way past a few boxes and bags of supplies, stumbled into a padded bench, then down a short corridor lined with wooden cabinets. It was very quiet, as though they weren't in motion at all. The only indication that this was a vehicle was the faint vibration traveling through the floor from the propellers at the rear of the cabin. It was very strange.
She came out into a small round room that was mostly window, the glass curving around to form a wide port looking out into the darkness. Two small side windows were propped open, allowing in a cool breath of air. There were more lights here, set low just above the consoles of knobs and dials. They were small and tilted down, to illuminate the controls but not dazzle the eyes of the operators.
Dr. Marlende stood at the small wheel, with Seth and Mikel. Daniel was crouched on the floor, his face buried in his hands.
Emilie rubbed her forehead, trying to collect her thoughts. She asked, “Do you know where the Sovereign is?”
Dr. Marlende said, kindly, “No, my dear, I was going to give Rani a moment to steady herself before I asked. Do you know?”
“Yes.” Emilie closed her eyes, recalling their position when they had arrived at the island yesterday. Yesterday? She thought in surprise. It feels like a week. “When we came up to the island, the Dark Wanderer was behind us. The Queen's fleet was toward the end of the island, off the starboard side, and Rani thought she saw the Sovereign there, so that should be...” Eyes still closed, she pointed.
“Ah, thank you, Emilie, that is exactly what I need to know.” Dr. Marlende turned the wheel, and made an adjustment to one of the knobs, and the floor tilted slightly under her feet.
Emilie nodded, pushing her hair back. It was saturated with sea salt and sweat, and felt like a dry tumbleweed perched on her head. “Is Charter going to be all right?”
“He should be,” Seth told her. “Cobbier took him back to the bunk room to tend his shoulder.”
That was good. Daniel was still on the floor. Emilie felt she had to do something about that. She crouched down in front of him, pulled at his wrists until he lowered his hands and looked at her. She could see his face in the instrument lights, and it was tear-streaked. She said, “It wasn't your fault.” It was everyone's fault; it was no one's fault. Blaming Daniel was as bad as blaming Beinar, for being brave, for being the one who tried to help all the others, for being the one Rani sent upstairs with the younger Cirathi, knowing that he would take care of them.
Daniel shook his head mutely, and Emilie felt a flash of anger. If she could take this without breaking down, he could damn well take it too. “We don't have time to coddle you,” she said roughly. “We need you. Now get up, wipe your face, and do your duty.”
Daniel blinked, then glared at her in outrage. He pulled away from her and stood up. Emilie got to her feet.
Seth and Mikel were staring at her, startled, while Dr. Marlende's attention was studiously on the controls. Daniel turned away, folding his arms and gazing grimly out the port.
Rani stepped through into the cabin then. “We are heading for the Sovereign?” she asked. Her voice sounded a little raspy, as if she had been crying. She dropped a comforting arm around Emilie's shoulders, and Emilie leaned against her solid warmth.
“Yes, Emilie's given us the last position you noted for it,” Dr. Marlende told her. He frowned down at a dial. “We should be passing over the outer barrier now.”
Emilie heard the distant roar of falling water; they must be climbing out of the canyon. I'm flying, she thought suddenly. Another thing she had never expected to do. Maybe I'll have time to enjoy it later. “How will we contact them? If the Queen didn't take any more hostages, maybe they can just run away from her.”
Dr. Marlende nodded to Seth. “Try to raise them on the wireless.” Seth turned, but Daniel said quietly, “I'll do it, sir.” He moved to a cabinet on the far side of the cabin, opening it to reveal a small wireless set.
Seth didn't comment, but exchanged a look with Mikel, and Emilie thought they were both relieved. Daniel adjusted some dials, and the wireless began to hum. He started to tap on the telegraph bar.
To Rani and Emilie, Dr. Marlende explained, “The concentration of aether in the air makes it difficult to get through over long distances, but at this range we should be able to reach them.” He added, with a slight edge to his voice, “I assume Lord Ivers has returned to the surface by now, which is unfortunate. It would perhaps be more satisfying to deal with him here, out of reach of the Menaen authorities.”
“Lord Engal probably thinks so too,” Emilie said. “Lord Ivers kept sending men to shoot at him.”
“I had no idea the philosophical community had degenerated into internecine violence, but apparently it has,” Dr. Marlende muttered. He craned his neck, looking out the port. “Ah, there's the Queen's fleet.”
Emilie and Rani went to the side to look out. Below them in the darkness were hundreds of little flickering lights, illuminating the large oblong shapes of the big barges, and the smaller darting rafts and boats. In the faint light around the smaller craft, Emilie caught glimpses of waves and a sandy beach. “They're going ashore there.”
“Yes, Ise was right,” Rani said thoughtfully. “They are attacking the island.”
“That must be the Sovereign!” Mikel said. “Here, to starboard.”
Emilie went to his side and saw it immediately. The Sovereign's electric lights had a steady yellow glow, completely different from the fishoil lamps of the other ships, and they reflected off its metal hull. It was one of a group of ships lying just off the concave shore of a cove area, outlined by the lights of the smaller skiffs and rafts that had drawn up along its beach. Seth said, “That cove has a passage in through the canyon wall, to a small protected harbor where the nomads leave their boats. There's a stairway down to the valley floor.”
“Yes, it must be the site of the main attack,” Dr. Marlende said. “She must be using the Sovereign to block any attempt at escape. Hopefully Engal wasn't forced to give them any rifles.”
Then Daniel said, “I've got the Sovereign!” The wireless was now clicking back at him. Seth stepped to the cabinet and picked up a pencil and pad.
“They're very glad to hear from us,” Daniel muttered, his expression preoccupied as he hurriedly translated the code into words.
Dr. Marlende said, “Tell them we've recovered all our companions from the nomads, including the Cirathi and young Emilie here, and that my daughter is not being held hostage by the Queen. Ask if they are free to break away from the fleet.”
Seth scribbled down the message, converted it to code, and showed Daniel, who tapped it out on the wireless. The answer came quickly, and after a moment Daniel translated, “They're free to break away, if you're certain the Queen doesn't have Miss Marlende and Emilie. She was threatening to kill them unless the Sovereign cooperated.”
Dr. Marlende glanced at Rani and Emilie. Rani said, “Lord Ivers has her, we are certain.”
Dr. Marlende nodded to Daniel, who tapped out a brief assent. The reply was longer in coming. Seth translated it, saying, “They say if we can distract the ships around them, they should be able to break free.”
“Tell them to expect a distraction in the next few minutes,” Dr. Marlende said, and turned the wheel.
The deck tilted under Emilie's feet as the airship turned, angling down. She managed to catch herself on a console without turning any of the knobs. She retreated to the doorway where Rani was holding on. Emilie asked, “Are you going to use magic to distract them?” She was thinking the illusory fire could be very effective dropping out of the sky.
Dr. Marlende took the airship into a long dive. “I hope we don't have to. I'd like to conserve my resources for the moment. But I think the flares should suffice. Seth, could you...?”
Phosphorus flares proved even more effective than bright illusions, as Seth, Rani, Mikel, and two other Cirathi tossed them off the catwalk. They ignited directly over the Sealands’ ships, lighting up the sky and causing confusion and terror. Emilie and the others watched from the windows as one long warship sideswiped another and broke off a whole bank of oars. She lost sight of the Sovereign, but then realized that in the midst of the chaos, it had doused its electric running lights and must be steaming for the open sea.
Emilie hurried back to the steering cabin in time to hear Daniel's report from the wireless: “The Queen's naval commander forced them to abandon the Lathi before the battle, and they anchored it off a small island a few miles from here. They're going to retrieve it now before the Queen's forces get re-organized enough to order a pursuit.”
“Oh, I don't think they'll pursue us,” Dr. Marlende said, bringing the airship around for a pass over the other section of the fleet. “The Nomads should take this opportunity to counter-attack. I know Prince Ise has forces hanging back to the south. I should think they'll all be quite occupied for a while. Tell the Sovereign to meet us-”
The wireless interrupted with a sudden series of clicks. Daniel frowned, startled. “That's not...” He scribbled hastily on his pad, then checked the code book. He looked up. “A ship called the Philosopher's Quest?”
Emilie shook her head, baffled, as Daniel hurriedly transcribed another message. Then his jaw set, and he said grimly, “It's a request for assistance. From Lord Ivers.”