The Huntsman's Amulet (28 page)

Chapter 41

The Sailing Master

T
hey tied a sack
over Blasco’s head and bound his hands for the trip down to the docks and the row out to the
Typhon
. Soren hoped that his brush with death would make him all the more grateful when he realised that he had in fact been rescued, rather than brought to his place of execution. It was a cruel trick, but considering who he was and what he had done, Soren felt it was well earned.

Once they were all up on deck, they removed the hood, but left his hands tied. He squinted into the bright sunlight as he slowly became aware of the people standing around him.

‘We’ve kept our part of the bargain, Blasco. You’re out of prison, and as soon as you’ve finished helping us, you’re free to go wherever you want,’ Soren said.

Blasco looked at Soren and narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re that slave what was on the
Tear
,’ he said.

Soren felt the overwhelming temptation to hit him, but restrained himself. ‘You said you’d tell us anything we want to know if we got you out of prison. We have, and now it’s time to start talking.’

‘Free to go, y’say?’

‘Free to go. Once you’ve helped us.’

‘And what do you want to know?’

‘We’re looking for Sancho Rui, and you’re going to lead us to him.’ Soren said.

‘What d’you want him for?’ Blasco said.

‘Just because we saved you from the headsman’s block doesn’t mean that we won’t put you right back there if you don’t help us,’ Soren said. ‘We’ve been through a great deal of trouble to have you freed and our patience is wearing thin. If you want to continue living, you don’t have much time to impress me with your willingness to help.’

Blasco stared at Soren. He looked about and rubbed his chin. He was on a ship in the middle of the roads. If he made a run and jump, they would have him fished out of the water or killed before he had swum a hundred metres and he knew it.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘I’ve no love for him since he left me here to have my head taken off. I’ll tell you what you want to know.’

Varrisher led them both into his stateroom and opened the largest of the charts from his rutters.

‘Where’s he headed?’ Varrisher said.

Blasco stood over the map and studied it for a moment. He stabbed a stubby finger down on the chart. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘although this chart isn’t much use. There’s a small cove on this island with a little town. Rui calls it Point Vermeil. It’s not much, just a few warehouses, bunkhouses and the like. It’s Rui’s own little kingdom. It’s almost impossible to see into the cove from the sea, so it’s a perfect hiding spot for a ship. What’s more, the entire area around is littered with reefs and sandbanks.’

‘Same could be said for the whole of the Spice Isles,’ Varrisher said, impatiently.

‘Aye, but it’s more the case there. The reefs come right up from the bottom with no warning, deep water, then suddenly you’re aground. Rui knows the safe channels like the back of his hand, but for anyone else the waters are treacherous. He’s gone back there because he knows that the Conclave are comin’ after him, not to mention the bounty that was put on his head after he took the
Gandawai
. I suppose that’s why you’re after him.’

‘Running and hiding, is he?’ Soren said.

‘From the likes of you, maybe. He’s lookin’ to fry some bigger fish though. He’s been spoiling for a fight with the Conclave ever since they gave Valkdorf to Ramiro Qai. They were the two strongest, but that put Qai on top until Sancho took the
Gandawai
and became as rich as the rest of them put together. Fancies setting himself up as a Prince of the Isles, but first he has to get rid of the Conclave.

‘He’s been breaking the Accords every chance he gets in the hope that he could draw them out. Tried to kill Ramiro a few weeks back, but it didn’t work out. His plan is to lure them back into dangerous waters that he knows. He’ll run them up on the reefs and kill them at his leisure.’

‘And you know these reefs, and how to navigate through them safely?’ Varrisher said.

‘Who do you think piloted the
Tear
while he was down below with one of his wenches? Of course I know them, and if you want to get to him without ripping the arse out of your ship, you’ll need me to get you through them. Your charts barely even show the island, let alone the nasty stuff waitin’ for you under the water. You’ve saved my life and I’m grateful for that; won’t have it be said I don’t pay my debts, but I’ve got nothing, so if you want my help, I’m going to need more,’ Blasco said.

He was brazen, Soren had to give him that at least. ‘We’re listening.’

‘When you kill Rui, I want the
Tear
. You can take what you want, just leave me the ship and enough lads alive to run her. I can make nice with the Conclave and take over what was his.’

Soren looked to Varrisher, who shrugged. ‘Fine,’ Soren said. ‘It makes no difference to us. You get us safely into Point Vermeil, and the ship and whatever is left of his crew once Rui is dead is yours to do with as you please.’

Blasco smiled. ‘Well then, let’s get going.’

Chapter 42

The Hidden Cove

‘W
here?’ Soren squinted as
he scanned the craggy cliff face. It was covered with vegetation wherever a plant could gain a foothold, which made it even more difficult to make out the features.

‘There,’ Blasco said, pointing with his stubby finger.

Soren followed the gesture with his eyes, spotting what looked like a darker patch on the cliff. ‘That’s it?’

‘That’s it,’ Blasco said. ‘It curves, so you can’t see in from any angle. Told you it wasn’t easy to spot.’

Soren rolled his eyes at Varrisher who shrugged. Blasco was an odious man who had done little to endear himself to anyone on the
Typhon
, but true to his word he’d got them safely to Point Vermeil.

Varrisher made no effort to conceal the fact that he still didn’t trust Blasco, and had posted men at various vantage points at the side of the ship and in the rigging to keep a keen eye out for any underwater hazards. He took the wheel himself, being guided by both Blasco’s instructions and the eyes of his own crewmen.

Soren felt that the added incentive of being given the
Tear
if they were successful had been a gift from the gods, and was one that would not have occurred to him had Blasco himself not suggested it. Past consideration was no consideration and however grateful he might have professed himself to be for his life, Soren didn’t believe for a second that Blasco would have kept his side of the bargain had it not been for the ship. He might even have betrayed them to Rui in order to try to regain his place as sailing master on the
Tear
, something that Soren and Varrisher had not yet entirely discounted. With the possibility that the
Tear
could be his, at least their interests coincided.

Despite the apparent safety provided by the near invisible cove and the reefs guarding it, Rui was not one to take his safety for granted and Blasco had told them of an artificial reef of metal spikes that could be lowered down into the water with pulleys to prevent any other ships from getting in.

‘How are we going to get to him?’ Soren said. It was early evening and the sun was low in the sky. It was warm and the fragrant breeze blew gently over the
Typhon’s
deck. It was so serene it was difficult to imagine a fight there.

‘Well, we can’t sail in,’ Varrisher said.

Blasco shook his head in agreement. ‘There’re sentries posted on the cliff top on either side of the cove’s mouth. Sancho probably already knows we’re here.’

‘Why doesn’t he come out?’ Soren said. He already knew the answer; Rui was a coward, and wouldn’t fight unless he had a clear advantage.

‘Why would he?’ Blasco said. ‘He can wait, and hope that you’ll either get bored and leave, or try to sail in. He doesn’t know that I’m on board and that you know about the spikes.’

Soren walked over to the bulwark to get a better view of the cove’s entrance. ‘We wouldn’t be able to fire an arbalest bolt in with a challenge to come out and fight.’ He was running out of ideas, and his frustration was made all the worse by the knowledge that Rui could stay in there longer than they would be able to wait.

There were no suggestions coming from the other two, so Soren racked his brains trying to think of how he could get Rui out of his sanctuary. Then it struck him; Rui had cultivated a flamboyant image of a rakish, swashbuckling adventurer that was far removed from the reality. He was no more than a thieving murderer. The façade was not just for his general reputation, it was also for his crew. Captaincy was by election, not right, and he needed to keep his crew believing that he was all of the things he claimed to be. He couldn’t allow himself to be shown up for a coward.

‘I’ll go into the cove and deliver a challenge to him in person,’ Soren said.

‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’ Varrisher said. ‘He’ll probably just tell you to piss off.

‘Challenging him to a fight’s the only way to get him out.’

Blasco shook his head and was about to speak when Soren continued.

‘No, hear me out. If I can get in there and make the challenge in front of his whole crew or a big portion of it, he’ll have no choice but to accept it. He won’t let himself be made look like a coward in front of them, and I’ll make sure that’s how it will play out if he refuses. To be certain it works, I’ll tell them all that there’s a chest full of gold crowns in our hold to try and tempt him out. I doubt his crew’ll be too happy if they know he’s turned down the opportunity to take a decent prize, regardless of how much they’ve already got.’

Varrisher shook his head. ‘I don’t know. What’s to stop him taking you as hostage and demanding the money without fighting for it?’ Varrisher said.

‘I’ll play to his vanity,’ Soren said. He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince that the plan could work, Varrisher or himself. ‘We’re talking about a man who refers to himself in the third person. I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to turn his ego to our advantage, especially if I can make the challenge out in the open in front of his men. That’s the only thing I can think of, but if you’ve got something better I’m happy to listen.’

‘No, ‘fraid I don’t. I agree with you that it’s the best we’ve come up with so far, but it’s risky. How do you propose to do it?’ Varrisher said.

‘Have a couple of men row me into the cove in the jolly boat, hope the lookouts don’t shoot us with crossbows and then try to make the challenge from the boat. If I’m shouting up to him on the
Tear
, everyone on board will be able to hear what I’m saying.’

‘And if he’s ashore?’

‘Makes no difference,’ Soren said. He was starting to believe that it could work. ‘I’ll issue the challenge to whoever’s on the ship at the time. They’ll have to relay it to Rui. Even if they try to capture me, I’ll have advertised the challenge and he won’t be able to hush it up.

‘I’ll tell him that if I’m not back on board the
Typhon
in half an hour, you’ll sail. I’ll say that if you do leave without a fight, you’ll quite happily spread it around that Sancho Rui is a coward.’

Varrisher nodded. ‘I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t offer to go in on the jolly boat myself.’

‘No, I’m happy doing it,’ Soren said. ‘If something happens to whoever goes in, better that it’s me. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to run the ship in a fight.’

Soren also reckoned he had a far better chance of fighting his way out of any trouble than Varrisher did. And he needed Varrisher to deliver him back to the mainland when it was all done with.

‘I take your point,’ Varrisher said. ‘Anyway, if it comes to a fight, you’re better suited to cutting your way out of it than I am!’

Soren smiled. Perhaps Varrisher’s ego was less prone to bruising than Soren had given it credit for.

‘There’s no point in waiting any longer,’ Soren said. ‘Do you have any preference for when we ask him to come out to face us?’

‘Not especially. Daylight would be nice though; it’ll make dodging the reefs a little bit easier, even with Blasco’s help, which I’m still not convinced about.’

‘Fine. The sun’s setting, so if I go in now, it’s doubtful that he’ll be ready to come out before daylight anyway. I can say that we’ll be gone by sundown tomorrow if he hasn’t emerged. Hopefully that’ll ensure he won’t simply wait until tomorrow night to keep the advantage of his crew’s better knowledge of the local waters,’ Soren said.

By the time the jolly boat was lowered, the sun had set. Ideally Soren would have liked Blasco with him to ensure they could find the entrance to the cove in the darkness, but the sailing master was too valuable an asset and too likely to be taken by Rui to risk bringing him in with them. If Rui agreed to the duel, Blasco’s knowledge could be the difference between ripping open the
Typhon’s
hull on a reef and successfully defeating Rui, assuming he kept to his word. Having him was an advantage of which Rui would be unaware, hopefully making him even more cocksure.

The
Typhon
had anchored in one of the channels that Blasco said would give the ship enough room to swing on her anchor line. It meant a short row to the entrance to the cove.

At first there was only the sound of wood creaking as the oars moved in the rowlocks and of water splashing as the blades dipped in and out. This continued until they grew closer to the island when the sounds of the nocturnal insects began to fill the air; a cacophony of strange and exotic sounds that reminded him of the jungle near Valkdorf. He scanned the dark cliffs for the gap as they went, their blackness barely contrasting with the inky blue of the sky and water. Even having already seen it, it was difficult to spot in the dark

‘There,’ Soren said. They had almost gone past it before he spotted it, and directed the oarsmen and the bo’sun toward it. They rounded the corner and rowed through a narrow gap in the cliff face that would only be barely large enough to allow a ship the size of the
Tear
to pass through. The blackness of the cliffs looming above them almost shutting out the sky gave way to an open cove, bright with moonlight, with a ship anchored at its centre. The
Tear
.

Soren hadn’t known how he would react to seeing it again. He felt a flush of anger as he thought of how Rui had treated Captain Joris and his men. The
Tear
sat stern toward them as they rowed into the cove. Overhead, he could hear two separate voices call out above the constant droning of the insects. They had been spotted by the lookouts. If they were to be attacked it would in the next few moments. If not, what played out after would dictate whether his plan ended in him being rowed back out to the
Typhon
with word of his success or slowly sinking to the bottom of the cove riddled with crossbow bolts.

‘Who goes there?’ came a shout from the ship.

‘I have a message for your captain, Sancho Rui,’ Soren shouted, as he stood up.

‘Who says he’s captain of this ship?’ came back the reply.

‘Tell him Captain Varrisher of the
Typhon
challenges him to a ship-to-ship combat. We await Captain Rui’s answer,’ Soren shouted. He had to concentrate on keeping his balance in the small boat, but his oarsmen were aware of his less than seamanlike legs and had pressed the flats of their oar blades on the water to keep it steady.

There was little to be heard over the sound of the night, but Soren could just make out voices in what seemed to be a heated discussion on the
Tear
’s deck.

‘Hold your position. Come any closer an’ you’re dead!’ came the voice after a few more moments.

Soren sat down. He was still alive, which was better than his worst-case scenario. The oarsmen gently worked the oars to keep the jolly boat in position. The response came only a moment later, delivered by a voice that was both more authoritative and more irritated. Sancho Rui.

‘Who are you?’

‘Just a sailor with a message from my captain,’ Soren said, standing once again.

‘What’s your captain’s message?’

‘Captain Varrisher challenges you to a ship-to-ship combat. He awaits you outside of this cove,’ Soren said.

The sound of his voice and commotion that his arrival had generated had brought a number of shadowy figures to the bulwark of the
Bayda’s Tear
. There seemed to be enough to ensure that any information Soren gave would reach the entire crew in short order. ‘Captain Varrisher also bids me tell you that there’s a chest in his stateroom containing five thousand golden crowns, the purchase money for a cargo of spice he is tasked with bringing north. That will be your prize if you can defeat him.’

‘What’s to stop me taking you and your crew mates there hostage for a chunk of that gold?’ Rui said, which elicited a laugh from his crew.

‘If we don’t return in the next ten minutes, Captain Varrisher will continue on his voyage, making sure to inform everyone he comes across on his way that Captain Sancho Rui was too afraid to face him in combat. My captain bade me tell you that he will remain on station until sundown tomorrow at which point he will depart, again informing everyone that he meets that Captain Sancho Rui was too afraid to meet him in combat,’ Soren said.