shh.
"I don't understand. I hired the best crew
for her," Halimaldie said, looking at the ship.
“Ah, yes,” Telin said. “The best crews are
always running ships aground.”
Halimaldie actually found himself getting
nervous as he waited. It was a sensation that he didn't feel often.
Nothing was happening. He feared the worst. There should be
someone. Anyone. A person from the crew should be coming down that
sloping gangway.
“The hell,” Halimaldie
muttered. He heard Telin sniff the air behind him. “Telin, do you
see anything?” As long as the Kingsguardian was here, Halimaldie
might as well use him. But when he looked where the man had been,
Telin was gone. Silent as a shark in the
water.
The gangway creaked as
Halimaldie stepped onto it. He wore two daggers - one on each hip -
but he rarely used them. He wasn't even sure if he knew how to use them.
His plan had always been to thrust them at whatever he wanted to
die, but he knew there was much more to it. One dagger had an ivory
hilt with a silver blade, the other had an ebony hilt with a gold
blade. He was convinced they had saved his life on one occasion,
but mostly he wore them because they were from his
father.
They didn't look half bad either.
At the top of the gangway Halimaldie had to
resist the urge to vomit. Body parts lay scattered about.
Halimaldie couldn't really think of them as corpses. The scattered
limbs and torsos would have to have been attached together for
these things to be corpses. The remains were definitely human. The
breeze blew the smell directly into his face.
Halimaldie paled and turned around, waving
his torch and calling his sell-swords back to him. He didn't care
what Telin Lightbearer had told me. This wasn't something he could
deal with alone. “Search the ship," he said to them as they
approached. "Make sure it's safe. This reeks of pirates.”
“This is probably something to report-” one
man started to say.
“Do as I say!” Halimaldie
snapped. He'd already gone to great lengths to keep this a secret.
He wasn't reporting to anyone. “In the morning you go back to doing
whatever it is you wish, but for tonight I'm paying you and if you
don't do as I say you'll wish you were these people.” He indicated the body
parts. “Start with the deck and work your way down. Find the cause
of this.”
Halimaldie had many
questions. His brain always surged with questions. Who did this? What happened? Why? How can I cover
this up with a Kingsguardian poking his nose around in it? But most important to him: is my shipment still intact?
-2-
“N o one?” Halimaldie asked.
“There's nothing alive on this entire ship,”
the sell-sword said. “Most of the . . . er, mess . . . is up here
on the deck, but there are a few corpses in the cargo hold as
well.”
Halimaldie scowled. He took a handkerchief
out of the pocket of his heavy jacket and held it up to his face.
“Stay up here and don't let any of the men off the ship yet,” he
said from behind it. The smell was getting to him. “I'm going to
check the cargo hold myself. If the manifest is undamaged we'll
need to transport it ourselves.”
“But these people . . .” the sell-sword
began to say.
“They're not going anywhere.”
Halimaldie started down the stairs to the
hold, passing a few sell-swords coming up. He said nothing for now,
but gave them a look. He didn't trust other people to do a good
job, especially not this sort, but he had hired who he could on
short notice.
Everything beyond the reach of Halimaldie's
torch was menacing darkness. He felt claustrophobic. Storerooms and
basements were tight quarters and as he walked he felt as if the
walls were a thousand bands thick on each side of him. If he would
have thought about it he would have realized there was open air
just twenty feet in any direction. But here in the belly of the
ship his chest tightened.
He knew the layout of the ship. Despite
almost never unloading these things, Halimaldie
"I don't understand. I hired the best crew
for her," Halimaldie said, looking at the ship.
“Ah, yes,” Telin said. “The best crews are
always running ships aground.”
Halimaldie actually found himself getting
nervous as he waited. It was a sensation that he didn't feel often.
Nothing was happening. He feared the worst. There should be
someone. Anyone. A person from the crew should be coming down that
sloping gangway.
“The hell,” Halimaldie
muttered. He heard Telin sniff the air behind him. “Telin, do you
see anything?” As long as the Kingsguardian was here, Halimaldie
might as well use him. But when he looked where the man had been,
Telin was gone. Silent as a shark in the
water.
The gangway creaked as
Halimaldie stepped onto it. He wore two daggers - one on each hip -
but he rarely used them. He wasn't even sure if he knew how to use them.
His plan had always been to thrust them at whatever he wanted to
die, but he knew there was much more to it. One dagger had an ivory
hilt with a silver blade, the other had an ebony hilt with a gold
blade. He was convinced they had saved his life on one occasion,
but mostly he wore them because they were from his
father.
They didn't look half bad either.
At the top of the gangway Halimaldie had to
resist the urge to vomit. Body parts lay scattered about.
Halimaldie couldn't really think of them as corpses. The scattered
limbs and torsos would have to have been attached together for
these things to be corpses. The remains were definitely human. The
breeze blew the smell directly into his face.
Halimaldie paled and turned around, waving
his torch and calling his sell-swords back to him. He didn't care
what Telin Lightbearer had told me. This wasn't something he could
deal with alone. “Search the ship," he said to them as they
approached. "Make sure it's safe. This reeks of pirates.”
“This is probably something to report-” one
man started to say.
“Do as I say!” Halimaldie
snapped. He'd already gone to great lengths to keep this a secret.
He wasn't reporting to anyone. “In the morning you go back to doing
whatever it is you wish, but for tonight I'm paying you and if you
don't do as I say you'll wish you were these people.” He indicated the body
parts. “Start with the deck and work your way down. Find the cause
of this.”
Halimaldie had many
questions. His brain always surged with questions. Who did this? What happened? Why? How can I cover
this up with a Kingsguardian poking his nose around in it? But most important to him: is my shipment still intact?
-2-
“N o one?” Halimaldie asked.
“There's nothing alive on this entire ship,”
the sell-sword said. “Most of the . . . er, mess . . . is up here
on the deck, but there are a few corpses in the cargo hold as
well.”
Halimaldie scowled. He took a handkerchief
out of the pocket of his heavy jacket and held it up to his face.
“Stay up here and don't let any of the men off the ship yet,” he
said from behind it. The smell was getting to him. “I'm going to
check the cargo hold myself. If the manifest is undamaged we'll
need to transport it ourselves.”
“But these people . . .” the sell-sword
began to say.
“They're not going anywhere.”
Halimaldie started down the stairs to the
hold, passing a few sell-swords coming up. He said nothing for now,
but gave them a look. He didn't trust other people to do a good
job, especially not this sort, but he had hired who he could on
short notice.
Everything beyond the reach of Halimaldie's
torch was menacing darkness. He felt claustrophobic. Storerooms and
basements were tight quarters and as he walked he felt as if the
walls were a thousand bands thick on each side of him. If he would
have thought about it he would have realized there was open air
just twenty feet in any direction. But here in the belly of the
ship his chest tightened.
He knew the layout of the ship. Despite
almost never unloading these things, Halimaldie
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