And so, I gathered the supplies, slipped them into a gunny sack, and left the pit, feeling useless and lost. I paused in the companionway, however, where the door to the great cabin was ajar.
“Oh, Ensign Blue,” said Worley. “Are you looking for the captain?”
“Just fetching supplies,” I said.
“Would you like to come in?” he asked.
“To the captain’s cabin?”
“Yes,” he said. “He has some books for you.”
I already had read three.Bending the Runes:Essays in Alchemical Layering,A Protracted History of Naval Magik,andSpells for an Above-Average Midshipmage.Riveting page-turners, one and all.
“Come in. Come in.”
I shouldn’t have, but I did, carefully stepping into the most sacred place on such a ship as this. The desk littered with maps, the journal with the strange set of runes, a sideboard set with a wine service of silver and gold. Linens pressed and folded on an embroidered chair. Mullioned windows scrubbed so clean that I could actually see through them.
“Let me see where he’s put them now…”
As regal as it was, it wasn’t for me. I could never be a ship’s captain. Far too much responsibility. I could barely command my own life, let alone a hundred others.
“How is Mr. Fahr?” Worley asked, shuffling papers and opening drawers.
Dying.
“On the mend,” I said, and I tried to smile.
“Good. Good. And Bilgetown? My stars, that must have been terrifying.”
“It wasn’t. Just sad.”
He turned to look at me, eyes curiously bright.
“Is it whales? I’ve heard they roam the seas by lines attached to whales. Like an ox-drawn carriage, but with whales.”
“I…should be getting back to shore.”
“He hides all his valuable books with a veil,” he said. “Such a suspicious man, but then again, when you’ve lived such a life— Ah, here!”
And he pulled out a huge, dusty album, pushed it into my arms.
Bonavanczek: Brotherhood of Benevolence,by Stephanus Bonavanczek IV, Crown Prince of Oversea and All the Countries of the Northhelm.
“It has illustrations,” said Worley. “And I know how much you love to sketch.”
I took it with more than a little wonder.
“Was this written by the king?” I asked.
“When he was but a crown prince, forty years ago or thereabouts. He’s much older now, I’ve heard.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Nor would I. I’ve never met him or seen him, to be sure. He’s lost two sons to theRhi’Ahrnow, hasn’t he?It’s impressive that there hasn’t been an all-out war staged earlier. He’s sure to be an impressive man, running all of Oversea as he does. I’d give my birds to meet him in person.”
“Ensign Renn?”
The captain swept by, smelling of salt and sweat and well-oiled wood.
