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while& get up in a bit for supper.
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Supper& sounds good. Kharl realized he had no idea if he d eaten, or what,
or how often. He didn t like the idea that he had no idea what had happened to
him. He did appreciate the loyalty of the captain and the first. Slowly, he
rose, and putting one foot in front of the other, gingerly, headed back to
sick bay.
LII
The Seastag waited two days more to leave Worrak, because the captain had been
promised a cargo of brimstone for delivery to Dellash. Brimstone was a good
cargo, provided it didn t burn or get spilled, and Hagen had planned to port
at Dellash anyway, according to Rhylla. Kharl didn t complain about the delay
because he appreciated being able to begin to walk on a steady deck. His
damaged boot had been patched, but he felt unbalanced, even though he had lost
just his littlest toes, rather than his largest.
By the evening before the Seastag s departure, Kharl was walking with a slight
limp, and the stabbing in his ribs had receded to a dull ache. He d tried a
little work with the lathe, but he could only manage it for a quarter of a
glass before the pain in his ribs began to worsen. He stopped, but that was
better than he had been doing.
After sitting on Tarkyn s stool for a time, he made his way back onto the main
deck. The sun was hanging above the low hills, just to the south of where the
Fakla River entered the harbor. There was enough of a sea breeze to carry the
harbor odors inshore and leave the deck with the clean scent of the Eastern
Ocean, although the breeze was brisk enough that the deck would be chill once
the sun set.
Cooper? called a voice.
Kharl turned. Ghart, the second mate, stood several cubits aft.
Yes, ser?
Captain and the first are on the poop. They d like to see you.
I ll be right there. Kharl headed aft and went up the ladder, carefully and
slowly. So long as he moved smoothly, the pain in his ribs wasn t too bad.
Hagen and Furwyl stood waiting under the aft mast.
Kharl stopped several cubits short of the two officers. Captain, ser, you
asked for me?
That I did, replied Hagen. I ve been thinking, Kharl. We ve got a long
voyage ahead. Tarkyn says you re good, better than most ship s carpenters. You
saved us from losing everything. So, we re going to pay you as the carpenter s
second. Hagen smiled. And you start wearing carpenters grays onboard. You
won t be doing deck work, but you ll have to take in-port gangway watches once
we get to Ruzor.
You use any sort of weapon besides that staff? asked Furwyl.
I m not bad with a cudgel, Kharl said.
That might be a little handier on watch, replied the first, with a laugh.
Hagen handed Kharl a small pouch. That s your pay for the last eightday.
Thank you, ser. Kharl wasn t quite sure what else to say.
The captain nodded, as if he did not wish to be thanked. Ghart is in charge
of in-port watches. He ll be letting you know which sections you ll stand.
Yes, ser.
Tarkyn s rustled up two sets of grays for you, added Furwyl. Says they ll
fit you just fine. We can use another subofficer.
I ll do my best, captain, ser.
You already have, Hagen replied. More than most. That s why you re crew,
now, for so long as you want.
Yes, ser.
Hagen nodded, as if to dismiss Kharl, and the cooper-carpenter s
second-stepped back and climbed down the ladder. He doubted that he really
wanted to remain a ship s carpenter, but if he couldn t find a place where he
could be a cooper, at least he d have shelter and coin and something useful to
do-and with woods, which he knew.
He stopped as pain shot through his ribs.
Most healers were black mages. He wondered if The Basis of Order had sections
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on healing, and if they might teach him something about how to speed his own
healing. He might as well read through it and see. He certainly couldn t work
full-time as a carpenter. Not yet.
And, based on what he d already experienced, the information-if he could
understand it-might prove useful.
LIII
A-gainst strong blustering gusts that were nearly direct headwinds, it took
the Seastag five days-with frequent tacking and the use of the engine-after
leaving Worrak to make port in Ruzor. Kharl was glad for the respite, because
every time the ship had rolled or pitched heavily, and he had been caught off
guard, his ribs had reminded him that they had not yet healed. He thought that
the efforts he had made to cultivate a sense of balance within himself had
helped speed the healing, but that could have been wishful thinking.
Whatever the reason, there were times-brief moments-when they did not ache,
and those seemed more frequent with each day. Even so, he was glad that the
Seastag had ported, even if Hagen had said that they would be in Ruzor but two
days.
Kharl had two in-port watches, but one was that afternoon, and the second the
following morning. Ghart had given him an easy watch schedule, clearly in
deference to his injuries, but Kharl had no doubts that his duties in other
ports would include night and midwatches. He had been down in the carpenter
shop since after breakfast, using the tools to tighten the grip on the cudgel
he d taken from the weapons locker, and was headed back up to replace it.
He stopped halfway up the ladder from the carpenter shop as he heard voices
from the main deck, as if two people were standing right outside the hatch.
& most fortunate to have captured the pirates& understand you have a cargo of
two hundred stone of brimstone&
& already have a binding contract for the brimstone& sell it here& and
Synadar wouldn t give me a copper were I broke and legless&
& understand that, but the Prefect is willing to pay a third more than your
contract price& would free cargo space&
Why is the Prefect of Gallos so interested in my cargo of brimstone? asked
Hagen.
The Prefect is having trouble with the province of Kyphros& the Prince of
Analeria is always claiming another part of Gallos& The prince has no mages,
and gunpowder is useful.
His troubles don t matter to me, replied Hagen. All a trader s got is his
reputation. I sell out a cargo and a buyer, I lose that buyer, and anyone he
tells&
It s not wise to anger&
It s not wise for you to anger him. Hagen laughed. The Prefect doesn t have
more than twoscore lancers here in Ruzor. The pier s stone and long. You send
em down that pier, and I ll cut the lines and be off. Then I ll tell every
trader to steer clear. Ruzor s the Prefect s only port, and he s got no
fleet.
& you re a hard man, captain. Someday, you ll regret that.
Regret what? Being honest? Being fair?
There was a long silence.
& tariffs are twenty golds on the cotton, the Brystan apples, and the tin
ingots.
That s twice what they were last year, Hagen pointed out, his voice
indifferent.
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