Mad Ship

The boy had run out of breath. Ke

"I'm with Ke

A woman's voice was raised suddenly. "Carum! Jerod! Shame upon you! You know what he says is true! You know it!" It was Alyssum. She was standing in the Marietta's boat. Sorcor must have put her there. She pointed accusingly at the young men as she named them. "Vahor. Kolp. You teased Lily and me, saying Father had offered her hand to a madman and mine to his first mate. And what did my mother tell you? That they were men who saw how the future could be! Men who were trying to help us be more than a village on the edge of nothing. And now she is dead! Dead! Ke

Ke

Some of the folk in the back of the crowd were standing more loosely. They had stepped slightly apart from their fellows, and struck poses more listening than threatening. Boj was not one of them. He and the five or so men standing closest to him stood with their shoulders raised and elbows out, gripping their weapons hard. The resistance from the other survivors only seemed to inflame Boj's anger. The young man at his side was most likely his son. Boj's breath came faster and harder, while his mouth worked as if he could not find words sharp enough. "You're wrong!" he roared suddenly. "It's his fault! His fault! He brought them down on us!" His voice rose into a shriek, and then he leaped forward, cudgel swinging. The crowd behind him was suddenly in motion, surging forward like a wave.

Boj's cudgel swept the place where Wintrow's skull had been. The boy had ducked, but not deeply enough. Ke

As Ke

The fighting closed in from all sides. Ke

The sheer indignity of it energized Ke

As swiftly as the melee had begun, it was abruptly over. His pirates were left standing. Anyone in the mob who had truly wanted to fight was down. The rest had withdrawn a safe distance. Somehow, Sorcor had contrived to cut through the thick of it, as usual. As Ke

At his feet, Wintrow had managed to get as far as his knees. In his right arm, he cradled his left, but he still gripped his knife as well. This Etta noticed and she gave a proud laugh. Heedless of his moan, she seized him by the back of his shirt and hauled him upright. To Ke

"I think my arm is broken," he gasped in reply.

"Let me see." She seized his left arm and worked her hands up it. Wintrow gave an involuntary cry and tried to pull away from her, but she held him fast. "It's not broken. If it were broken, you would have passed out when I did that. I think it might be cracked a bit, though. You'll get over it."

"Help me get to firmer ground," Ke