Page 40 of Tempest

THE MERIDIAN WARSHIP wasted no time closing the distance, turning to catch the wind. In what felt like seconds, the imperial vessel the Paladin approached. The ship was smaller than their own, with fewer gun decks, but still a formidable ship of the line.

To Ryman’s dismay, sailors cleared away the breakfast table, leaving him befuddled with his half-full bowl of porridge in one hand. Cat tried to press herself against the rail, both to keep out of the way and hide herself. Certainly, the navy would not want a woman in the center of their military business.

She caught Lieutenant Fell’s eye in the fray. She wanted to ask what was happening but knew he would not answer. The officer was too busy jockeying for position next to his captain, far more concerned with his own prospects than Lady Rose’s. He managed to plant himself at Quine’s side, to receive the party from the Paladin in a place of great honor.

Cat shrank back even farther, safe in the shadow of the quarterdeck. Keeping her distance, but well within earshot.

“What news, sailor?” Quine said, facing the officer from the Paladin when he clambered on deck.

The man panted, still breathless from rowing between the ships and climbing up the sea ladder. But he bowed, holding out a piece of folded parchment.

“Captain Quine,” the officer said. “I bring word from Captain Kent.”

Shading his eyes, Quine glanced over the man’s shoulder and back to the Paladin bobbing some distance away.

“He is a long way from his posting in the Stills. Well, your captain is welcome to join me for tea if he likes,” Quine said as he took the parchment.

It was a polite, if useless, offer. This was the deck of a warship, not a Brycam City parlor. But Meridian etiquette dictated such things, Cat knew. Even here, in the middle of a hostile sea.

“Thank you, sir,” the officer replied. “But we have orders to sail for Longdawn with all haste.”

A shadow crossed Quine’s face and his eyes narrowed in confusion. “Longdawn?”

Cat tried to picture the map of the Lyrian, imagining Longdawn through the scattered archipelago. It was the southernmost colony in the Lyrian Sea, the farthest outpost for the Meridian navy. Home to a fleet of ships left to patrol the far reaches of the colonies.

Quine broke the seal of the folded page with a swift slice of his finger.

Even from a distance, Cat could see the letters were hastily scrawled, written by a shaking hand. Worse still was Quine’s paling face, and Lieutenant Fell frowning next to him.

Of course, it was Ryman who bullied his way in to face Quine head on.

“What is it, Captain?” he demanded, oblivious to the porridge at the corner of his mouth.

The captain stared back, his face a combination of fury and bewilderment. For a moment, Cat thought Quine might strike her husband for his impertinence. She suddenly wished he would. But the captain held his temper. Instead, he passed the parchment to Fell at his side. The lieutenant took it quickly, reading the letter for himself before looking up to face the assembled crew.

His steel eyes found Cat amongst the crowd.

“Captain Kent brings us word from the Continent,” he said, his voice echoing down the deck. “Allisport has been attacked by the Esperese navy. The city is in ruins.”

A gasp ran through the crew, from the highest officers to the cabin boy swabbing the rail. Ryman turned pale again, and Cat thought he might be sick over the side. For once, she could not blame him. Her stomach twisted, a wave of nausea washing over her. Even she knew what this meant.

Allisport was a naval stronghold on the Meridian coast, one of the great shipbuilding centers of the Empire, and a well-known anchorage for the fleet. The Royal Naval College was only a few miles down the coast and most officers aboard the Venerable passed through Allisport during one commission or another.

Some might have families there, she thought, searching their faces. Most were white like Quine, ghosts in uniform. This was a terrible blow to the Meridian navy, and the Empire herself.

“So you sail for Longdawn,” the captain said slowly. “And then the Continent. Back to Meridia.”

The Paladin officer bowed. “Those are our orders, sir. They may be yours soon.”

A chill ran through Cat despite the tropical heat.

“Any other news?” But Quine’s eyes swept out to the waves, his mind clearly across the ocean, in a burning city Cat had never seen.

The officer shook his head. “Little of note. We spotted a black flag two days ago, on the horizon, but heading south into the Furies.”

Cat saw it again in her head, a white skull with a red arrow in its teeth. The monstrous ship that waylaid the Credence, the captain with his green coat. And Valerian Kane, his eyes the same color as a storm.

“Pirates are hardly my concern now,” Quine muttered. “Give my regards to Kent. Good hunting to you all.”