Then lanternlight passed across his face, and I saw the brightness of tears in the corners of his eyes.
FIFTY-NINE
Her Majesty’s Commission
SAMUEL
Victory is not what we have achieved.”Admiral Solace spoke to a table adorned by ornate silver coffee services, platters of victuals and more than one bottle of rum, which the company poured liberally into their coffee despite the early hour.The sun barely touched the swirled-glass windows of Fort Renown’s admiral’s chambers, and there was not a face in the room unmarred by wounds or sleeplessness.
It had been two days since the battle and the height of the Black Tide.My wounds ached and my body was still riddled with fatigue, not to mention the weight of the battle’s aftermath—hundreds of bodies pulled from the water, survivors rescued from wrecks only to succumb to wounds, the haunted eyes of the residents of the Anchorage, and the reality that so, so many good men and women would simply never be found.
Enisca Alamay was among them.
There were some forty men and women present—nearly every high-ranking officer left in the Anchorage, aside from those overseeing the continued recovery efforts, those warding against the remainder of the Mereish Fleet in the west, and those too wounded to leave their beds.
Nearly everyone had noted my twin and I entering the room.
“Our losses were unconscionable.Obscene.And it means little that the Mereish took equal losses before their retreat—they havemore to spare.”Solace looked back to the company.“The most we can say is that we have not yet surrendered.If the Other had not spewed such quantities of beasts into our laps and distracted the Mereish, or our Stormsingers had not rallied… We would not be sitting here today.”
Pride settled across my shoulders, though not at my own involvement.Mary had been a critical force among the Stormsingers, and it was her cyclones that had done the greatest damage to the enemy.
“And the wolves yet stalk the horizon,” a grey-haired man added, his captain’s hat cast boldly on the table.
Admiral Rosser surveyed his peers.“How many Mereish remain in our waters?”
“Eight, of those that broke through,” a woman I did not know replied.She was stocky and looked too young for the captain’s cuffs on her high-buttoned coat.Many other faces at the table did too, officers elevated in battle or in the wake of it as their superiors succumbed to injuries.“Two have already been captured.Just this morning I received word that another was stranded off Barrowman’s Cay when the tide receded.”
Mention of the Black Tide’s waning made me glance towards the window, though little was visible of the Anchorage’s sodden, debris-scattered islands.Beside me, Benedict stared at a bottle of rum, then picked up a pitcher of coffee instead and filled it, black, to the brim.
He took a long sip and met my gaze out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow cocked.
I held out my cup.
Admiral Rosser spoke up.“Mr.Poleye, Mr.Dusset, your vessels are fit for action?”
“Yes, sir,” Mr.Poleye replied, nodding his dark-haired head.
Mr.Dusset, another young and unexpected promotion, murmured his affirmative.
“ReinforceIndomitableup north.No Mereish who broke into Aeadine waters will reach Tithe to claim safe harbor, do you understand?”Admiral Rosser said.“At all costs.We may not have won a resounding victory, but we are not defeated.The Anchorage is still ours.These waters are still ours.And we will show our strength.”
Fists pounded on the table, and a few heartfelt mutters of “Hear, hear,” rippled down the table.
“Yes, hear, hear,” said a familiar voice.“However, there is another pressing matter that must be addressed.”
Down the table, Captain Irving rose to his feet and surveyed Benedict and I with a hatred so direct I felt myself flag.His hair was grey as steel, fastened into a short braid.His narrow jaw was clean-shaven and his form trim, barely touched by age.
“Keep your tempers,” Admiral Rosser said quietly to Ben and I.“He is unlikely to, and that will serve you well.”
“While it is expected that uncommon allowances must be made in times of need,” Captain Irving went on, “I see no reason why men of such ignoble character are present at this table.One is not even commissioned, the other awaiting trial for gross neglect of his former captaincy and the deaths of innumerable souls under his command.”
“They are here because I invited them,” Admiral Rosser replied, tossing down his napkin and leaning back in his chair, wrists clasped over his stomach.“Because, as you said, in times of great need uncommon allowances must be made.As you all know, Samuel Rosser proved himself invaluable during the battle.Benedict, though undoubtedly marked by his past, is still one of Her Majesty’s officers and acquitted himself more than admirably.Together, these two men oversaw the taking or disabling of no less than five enemy ships.”
Murmurs rippled down the table, though whether in surprise, disapproval or support, it was unclear.
I leveled my chin and waited.
“Mere actions—subject to myriad and no doubt venal motivations—cannot cleanse a sullied soul,” Captain Irving countered.His voice was a fraction sharper now, his posture a little less composed.“Benedict Rosser is a man without honor.Samuel, whatever part he played in past events, was still complicit, whether in the orchestration of events or their concealment.”
