Faucher nodded.
“Who are they?”
“That,” Faucher refilled his cup, then mine without asking, “is a question for my betters.I do know that Usti warships left Tithe to pursue the matter.That must signal some… gravity, to the situation.”
My Sooth’s senses prickled.There were five Usti warships stationed in Tithe, but none of them had been in port during our brief stay.TheStar of the Sea, the very ship we had intended to hand Monna over to, was one of them.
“I would prefer, naturally,” Faucher went on, “that the Mereish be allowed to pursue their own investigation into the disappearance of our people, but the Usti were quite firm on handling the matter.”
“They could be dead,” Illya pointed out.
Faucher shrugged noncommittally.“I have reason to believe otherwise.”
“The incident took place in the Free Channels,” I mused.“The Usti are bound to keep the peace here, and neither the Mereish nor the Aeadine have jurisdiction.It is part of the Accords.”
“The Accords which serve the Usti very well.”Faucher’s tone took on an icy edge.“I suspect the Usti will report—grudgingly, tactfully—that the Aeadine are at fault for the disappearance.And where will that leave us Mereish?With more fuel for the fire but only the word of our oppressors to ignite it.”
Oppressors?I sat back in my chair, looking more directly and openly at Faucher than I had since we arrived.“You are a Separatist.”
Faucher’s laugh was light and sincere.“No, no, no one with half their wits would support the Separatists, at least not in mixed company.”His gaze scanned between the two of us.“And our company is rather mixed, is it not?An Aeadine privateer, an Usti smuggler?A ship reeking of fresh paint and the figurehead of a stag?”
I withdrew my hands from the table and prepared to stand.In contrast, Illya leaned more heavily back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and stacked his feet.
“What do you want?”the big Usti asked with only a slight narrowing of the eyes.
Faucher leaned forward.“I came looking for a ship calledHart.I found him, it seems, but this…” The Mereish waved his finger between Illya and I.“Has given me pause.Why disguise yourselves when you have Usti papers giving you free passage?Unless your quest is unsanctioned.”
“Why would you be looking forHart?”I asked.Denial, again, seemed a waste of breath.
“Because I want to know why the Usti queen has hired Aeadine privateers to do her dirty laundry.”Faucher sat forward, elbows on the table, legs braced wide beneath.“What are you doing?What missions does she send you on?Tell me, be honest.You and I need not be enemies.”
I calculated our options.Illya and I could fight our way to the longboat, but, even if we made it, we would be open targets traversing the distance betweenThe Red TempestandHart.
“First, let me remind you,” I began.“You have no jurisdiction in the Free Channels, and, regardless, we have committed no crime against you.I do have a Letter of Marque from the Usti, and I am justified to use whatever means necessary to accomplish my goals.”
Even if those goals are selfish?a small, aloof voice inquired.
The Mereish captain’s gaze raked my face.“Sailing under false colors is a crime.”
I smiled at that, wry and knowing.“True, Captain Faucher.This world, this sea, this war—it makes criminals of us all.I am bound by contracts and obligations, as are you, and too often my greatest sacrifice is my honor.”
That felt a little too honest, a little too raw.But I had gambled correctly.Something passed through the other man’s eyes, something like solidarity.
Resting his elbows on the table, he looked from Illya, now silent, and back to me.“I might say the same.We are the sum ofour choices, and what are we to do when all those choices are evil?When the powers who govern us push us away from peace and into further violence?”
“We heed our consciences,” I replied.I sat forward, mirroring him across the table.
“In this too, we agree,” the other man said.“Which is why I will not apprehend you, as I have been instructed to do.Instead, I will let you go and give you this.”He reached inside the breast of his coat and pulled out a stack of folded papers.“You are in a unique position in this war, Captain Rosser.I hope you will use this evidence wisely, and that perhaps—” he held up the envelopes meaningfully “—some day you might repay me in kind.”
Illya stood and I accepted the papers—waxed and scrawled with Usti lettering.My heart beat too quickly and my blood felt light, bubbling through my veins.Whowasthis man and what was he after?
My Sooth’s senses were silent.
DITTAMA[ditt-ah-mah]—An Other-born creature with a form reminiscent of the Sunjani’s thick-billed giant storks.They may stand over six feet tall and possess a wingspan double this length, which serves them both in the sky and underwater, as these creatures are both aerial and aquatic.Dittama are known to hunt and consume infant mages, more rarely adult ones, and are traditionally considered ill-omens in both Aeadine and Usti folklore.
—FROMTHE WORDBOOK ALPHABETICA: A NEW WORDBOOK OF THE AEADINES
ELEVEN
