An Aimless War - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

On the top of the wall, I paused. Going back to Roland was pointless. He didn't have any soldiers with him, only sailors, and there was no way he could sail back to West Draulin and back with reinforcements in time to help Tannix. So instead of running off towards the port, I flattened myself against the top of the wall so I wouldn't be so easy to see, and I watched the battle.
It became fairly clear that Tannix and his men were better fighters, but they were very outnumbered. Prince Kalvahi wasn't even fighting, just standing in the same place as before. He looked bored, like he wished Tannix and the knights would just surrender. He didn't seem to care that his men were dying.
Tannix and the knights had moved to stand in the middle of the road in a loose circle. I tried to watch everyone at once, but more often than not I watched Tannix. It wasn't like the fight with assassins in Zianna. Tannix blocked and countered blows efficiently, and he didn't have to worry about his back, because the others were there.
These were highly trained men who, as far as I knew, had never actually fought anyone. But they were winning. They weren't even using their specialized weapons.
Then suddenly one of the twins cried out, and the other broke formation to rush to his side. Jalor moved to protect them as the uninjured twin—I couldn't tell them apart in the dim light—dragged his brother to his feet. His left leg was already dark with what I could only assume was blood.
The twin's injury seemed to have bolstered the Deorans, who began to fight harder. Tannix and Mandell were forced away from the rest of the group. Acen moved to help Jalor guard the twins. Evrik was cut off completely. I thought of my throwing knives, but I was too scared of hitting one of the knights.
I didn't contemplate using them for long. I watched, horrified, as finally Mandell was separated from Tannix, and at the same moment Evrik's sword slipped from his hand. The injured twin was leaning so heavily on his brother I wasn't sure he was still conscious.
The battle stopped as abruptly as it had started. Tannix had tossed his sword to clatter on the stones by Prince Kalvahi's feet. He didn't look hurt, but he still looked furious.
In the sudden silence, the prince's voice seemed to echo. "A good decision, young Lord West Draulin. I knew you weren't the type to let your men get hurt."
"Evidently you don't mind," Tannix replied, his voice hardly concealing his anger.
Prince Kalvahi shrugged. "They're hired soldiers, they know the risks when they take the job." He switched to Deoran to address his men. They started to move, taking weapons from the now non-resisting knights and binding their hands behind their backs. There was a brief conversation about the twins, and then a handful of soldiers pried them apart. They dropped the injured twin to the ground, where he collapsed lifelessly.
The other twin yanked himself free from the two soldiers who were holding him. In the blink of an eye, his bow was in his hand, an arrow drawn back, pointing at Kalvahi. "Listen, your highness." Kor snarled. It was suddenly very obvious to me that he was Kor, although I wouldn't have been able to pinpoint exactly why I knew. "If you think I'm leavin' him behind, you're—"
"Stand down," Tannix said. He turned to Prince Kalvahi. "You called yourself a gentleman."
After a moment the prince nodded. "We'll let your giant guard carry him." He switched back into Deoran, and a few of his soldiers worked to untie Mandell. Kor's bow was yanked out of his hands and he was slammed roughly against the wall while a soldier tied his hands behind his back. Mandell gently scooped Ender into his arms. Prince Kalvahi noticed that Tannix hadn't been bound yet and snapped at a pair of soldiers, who rushed to pull back his arms. They seemed reluctant to touch him, but Tannix stood still and allowed it.
Prince Kalvahi started to lead the way down the road, back towards the port. It was easy for me to follow along on the top of the wall. I hung back, but if any of the Deorans even remembered that I existed, none of them bothered looking for me.
Before I knew it, they had reached the port and I ran out of wall to follow. I climbed down into the rubble of smoldering warehouse. Embers still crackled and glowed in the darkness. I crept through carefully, avoiding piles of hot charcoal and fragile burned beams that looked like they would snap at any moment. The end of the warehouse closer to the water was actually somewhat intact, and I risked climbing up to the second floor to get a better view of the harbour.
We were at the opposite end of the long port from where Roland was waiting. The wreckage of ruined boats had been cleared out of the way for Prince Kalvahi's little fleet. Four big ships bobbed gently in the waves, creaking and thudding as they bumped against the docks. Tannix and the knights were led onto one of the ships, and one by one they disappeared down a hatch until Tannix was the only one still standing on the deck with the Deorans.
He and Prince Kalvahi had a quick conversation before Tannix was dragged through a doorway, into what I remembered was called the captain's quarters. The prince shouted out orders and his men dispersed, some leaving the ship, some disappearing down various hatches and doorways. Finally Prince Kalvahi also vanished from sight.
I stayed hidden in the warehouse for a long time, as the sun slowly started to rise. I didn't know what to do. It seemed fairly safe to assume that Tannix and the others weren't being hurt, not if the prince wanted to ransom them back to Tandrin. King Tandrin.
For the first time since Lord Tandrael's death I really considered the fact that I had a friendly relationship with King Zianna. The sheer absurdity of the thought broke through my worry for a moment and I almost laughed. A nearby scraping noise abruptly brought me back, and I glanced around, ready to flee if anyone was nearby.
A small bird was perched on a broken piece of wood near me. It shook itself, then fluttered away. It was getting too light out. If I didn't move quickly, I would lose the shadows.
I made up my mind in an instant—I had to get to Tannix. Part of me, the common sense that had kept me alive so long on the streets of Zianna, protested. The part of me that loved Tannix won out.
After surveying the docks carefully, I climbed down to the ground. A pair of soldiers walked by and I silently ran out behind them, practically diving behind a stack of boxes to hide myself from view. Slowly but steadily, I made my way over the docks towards the ship. The closer I got the harder it was, but eventually I was crouched next to the ship's hull, behind three barrels.
My heart pounded furiously. Although I was pretty comfortable sneaking around city streets, sneaking onto a ship was completely different. Being so close to the water wasn't helping in the slightest. I closed my eyes and forced myself to ignore the fear. Then, before giving myself a chance to think too much about what I was doing, I climbed the side of the ship and rolled onto the deck. I quickly scrambled behind a stack of crates.
I froze, waiting for any indication that I had been seen. When it didn't come, I carefully peeked around the crates. The only men I could see were standing on the highest piece of deck near the wheel, deep in discussion. A third man was scrubbing the wood on the other side of the ship.
I gave myself a moment to calm down and plan out my next move. I could see the doors Tannix had been led through, as well as the hatch the knights had disappeared down. I wanted to find Tannix, but I knew that he was probably being watched by more guards. It would make more sense to get the knights first, and then they could get Tannix.
I offered a quick prayer to Zianesa, and a second one to Lukk, asking them to help me go unseen. Almost immediately the two men near the wheel turned and walked away, their backs turned. I took the chance to tiptoe from my hiding place. At the hatch, I crouched and grabbed the handle. It was heavier than it looked.
The hatch slammed shut as I was suddenly yanked away. A hand clamped over my mouth and an arm wrapped around my body. I immediately began to struggle violently, to no avail. As usual, the man holding me was much stronger than I was. Since that obviously wasn't going to work I tried something else and bit the hand over my mouth.
"Tufa," the soldier swore in Deoran exactly the same way we did in Old Ziannan. My triumph only lasted a second, he moved his hand but shoved a wad of cloth into my mouth. It tasted like dirt and salt.
Then Prince Kalvahi's voice cut across the deck. The soldier turned me around to face him, muttered something about me. He let me stand on my own, but still held my arms firmly behind my back. After a brief conversation, Kalvahi pulled the cloth from my mouth.
"You're loyal for a guide."
I ducked my head, unable to actually bow to him. I wouldn't usually bother, but I knew enough to try to get on his good side. "The lord you took offered me a lot of money if I agreed to show him around the city, sir," I said. Lying came back to me easily. I knew I could be convincing. "If you take him, he can't pay me. I just want my money."
He was inspecting me carefully, obviously trying to decide whether he believed me or not. "How much money?"
"A thousand siyas," I replied without hesitation. A thousand siyas was easily enough to convince a poor Native to do anything that was asked. Enough to explain why I would risk my life sneaking onto a guard-infested ship.
"A thousand? I supposed that's more money than you've ever seen in your life."
"Yes, sir," I agreed. "Well worth showing the Telts around the city." I said the word Telts with more contempt than I usually would. It was already a derogatory term, although I usually didn't mean it as one. Maybe using it would remind him that I was a Native Zian. As far as he knew, I had no reason to like the Telts.
"I have a particular dislike for Zian Natives," Kalvahi said idly. I almost winced, unsure if it was a casual remark or a pointed insult. "You're weak. You let the Teltans take your lands, your cities. You let them rule your kingdom, and you do nothing to stand up to them."
I glanced up, confusion momentarily overcoming my nervousness. "What do you mean? That happened hundreds of years ago. It's not our fault we can't do anything about it now. They have weapons and training and money. What are we supposed to do? Get ourselves slaughtered over something that happened before any of us were born? The Telts are here now; the kingdom is the way it is. We're not happy about it but there's nothing we can do."
Prince Kalvahi tilted his head slightly, looking at me thoughtfully. "You don't like them?"
"The Telts never go hungry. They don't get beaten in back alleys. They don't get arrested for the offence of trying to survive. I've spent every day of my life struggling just to have enough to eat." My opinions had changed, at least for some Telts, but the feelings were real enough. "The money I steal is so insignificant to them that they could drop it on the street without even noticing. My mother was killed by one of them. I've been arrested, I've been tortured."
I jerked away from the man holding me so suddenly that I slipped from his grip. But I didn't try to roll away and run. I pulled over the loose collar of my shirt, showing the shiny brand of a T on my left shoulder. "I have no reason to like them."
Prince Kalvahi was silent for a moment, and then he turned to one of the other men who had joined us and spoke in Deoran.
The man nodded and walked into the captain's quarters. He reemerged a moment later with Tannix in tow.
Tannix's eyes locked with mine. I took in the sight of him as quickly as I could. He still looked more or less unhurt. His arms were untied. Without weapons the Deorans probably thought he was harmless.
"What's going on?" hH looked at Kalvahi. "You had me dragged out for this?"
Kalvahi gestured at me carelessly. "Your guide wants his money."
Tannix looked at me again, his gaze indifferent. "And I told him that my captain will pay him." He was angry at me, I could tell. He was angry at Kalvahi and the Deorans, but a small part of it was for me. For not listening when he had told me to run.
He shouldn't have been surprised. I tended not to listen.
I nodded to give myself an excuse to break eye contact. "You did. But your captain doesn't know me. He'll think I led you into a trap."
"Go to him," Tannix said firmly. "He'll pay you."
"How do I—" the soldier nearest to me punched me in the stomach and shoved me to the deck, cutting me off mid-sentence. I landed heavily on my hands and knees. Sharp pain flared in my right wrist, the one I'd broken the year before. For a moment I couldn't breathe. I tried gulping in air but nothing filled my lungs.
I heard Tannix shout and cringed inwardly at the emotion in his voice.
When I finally got my breath back, the same soldier tugged me to my feet and roughly tied my hands behind my back. The pain in my right wrist was already fading away, which was at least a little comforting. I risked a glance at Tannix.
He, too, was being held by one of the soldiers. Clearly, he'd made a threatening move towards Prince Kalvahi. Kalvahi just stood with his arms crossed, and a smirk on his lips.
"I had a feeling about you." It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, not Tannix. "You're quite the speaker, I was almost convinced. But then I realized that a street boy would have to be good at talking his way out of trouble. And you used Lord West Draulin's most personal name when you addressed him. That was the thing that finally changed my mind." His condescending smirk turned to Tannix. "Convenient that your lord isn't nearly as good at lying as you are."
"He's a servant," Tannix said. "Let him go. He doesn't know anything you'll find useful. You need to send a messenger to King Zianna, in any case, courtesy demands it."
"I will," Kalvahi said. "After all, you and I are nobles and we must treat each other with the proper respect. However, I will be sending one of my men with the message, and I'll keep this boy. Maybe he doesn't know anything, but you strike me as the type of man who is very protective over his subjects. The more of them I have, the easier it will be to keep you under control, don't you think?" He laughed to himself for a moment, then nodded at the man holding me.
He pulled me over to the hatch and lifted it open with one hand. I stared at Tannix until I was dragged into the darkness below.