No Present Like Time

“No!”

“You could do with losing some weight. The same goes for if you tell Gio I’ve been here.”

Ci

“Coward,” I mouthed. I licked salt off my lips.

“Look at you grin. You’re enjoying this! Mad Eszai. If Petrel lands, Gio will kill you. If you turn tail and run home, you’ll starve on the journey. I wonder what San will think when his Circle breaks for Four Immortals At Once? Bet that’d give him a headache.”

I prodded him with the axe. “Where’s Gio now? Does he stay on Pavonine?”

Ci

“It certainly is.”

Ci

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Midnight on the open sea. The attendant hush of an imminent downpour. I flew circuits over the correct position but couldn’t sight Stormy Petrel through the rain clouds. A weak glow backlit them; I homed in on it and descended. Mist had festooned every surface, cable and yard with lanterns showing me where to land. Petrel’s lights blazed on a yellow ring of water in the impenetrable night. She looked like a party yacht, but she yawed and rolled madly.

Lights attached to the main deck railings marked two parallel lines. I had touched down safely between them. Now, sitting at the table in Mist’s quiet cabin, Lightning and I watched her sailors disassembling the lanthorns and hurricane lamps. They were extinguished one by one, until the office and wheelhouse were the only cabins lit.

“Take a good look,” said Mist. “Tomorrow night we burn no lantern. The wind is dropping and our approach is good, thanks to Jant’s spy. You will have the pleasure of sneaking to Capharnaum in complete darkness, through the narrow strait by their beacon islet. You must trust me.”

“Yes, but for god’s sake don’t trust Ci

“Just how did you come to know Ci

“Let’s not go into that,” I said dismissively. I poured myself a quantity of Lightning’s brandy and rested my head on my arms.

“Why is Wre

“He is too young,” said Mist demurely.

Lightning raised his eyebrows. “Why isn’t Rayne here?”

“She is too old.”

“Simply that they would disagree with your methods,” Lightning said.

“Wre

Lightning said, “It is the same as when I tried to eradicate Insects from the streets of Micawater. How do we get rid of Gio and his vicious followers without damaging the town?”

“Or making the Senate detest us more than they already do?” I added.

Mist said, “San gave me the task; I will fulfill it. The way ahead is clear. Listen! Lightning, if you were to remove the leader, the rebellion would collapse. Your skill with the longbow makes you best suited to try.”

In the short silence Lightning gazed at his rummer glass. He said amiably, “You’re asking me to capture Gio? Or assassinate him?”

“Saker, think-”

“No.” He looked at her directly. “No, Ata; I won’t do that.”

Mist folded her arms. “Saker, I’m surprised that you don’t want to regain your honor and take revenge on Gio for stabbing you in the back.”

“It would be less worthy still to become an assassin,” Lightning explained. “I have never killed a man, and if I were simply to hide and shoot him, I don’t know if I could live with myself afterward. I do not want to spend the next few centuries troubled by guilt and introspection. In addition to the fact that it would lose me my esteem.”

“No one on the mainland will ever know. None of your sentiments apply to us in this plight. We’re far from home. There are no ingrained traditions, carved beasts carrying pe

“Why?”

“Because it’ll save Trisian lives! They’re i

“I think mad people want to see the madness in everyone,” I commented.

The Sailor ignored me. “Saker, you must stop him. Can you think of a better idea?”

Lightning slowly replied, “No. Nonetheless, you have my answer. I will not shoot Gio. I do not want it on my conscience for the rest of my life.” He undid the buttons at his collar and pulled the silk down so that we could see a small circular scar pierced front and back through his shoulder. “See this? An arrow shaft. Eight hundred years ago I beat a Challenger and he turned around and shot me. Fortunately he had a terrible aim and failed to take my life. He spent the rest of his days in the Sturge Prison on Teron Island. There is nothing honorable about assassins; I don’t want to be one…Anyway, it would look pretty obvious if Gio is found with an arrow in his chest. It is not for me…” He trailed off, thoughtfully, and stroked the scar on his right hand.

“Jant-” Mist began.

“Ha! Just because I’m not Lord Micawater you think I have no morals! Besides, Gio’s the most dangerous man in the world. Lightning is more capable of dealing with him than I am.”

“But the bastard wounded him. Lightning, your good friend…”

“Yes, and the bastard would run me through if he had the chance.”

“Remember all the awful slander you said Gio lambasted us with in his rally? You said you were ready to shoot him.”

I thought privately of how he slurred Tern’s reputation and my manhood and dependability. Yes, I had been prepared to kill him.

Mist smiled eerily and prompted, “Gio attacked the Castle, Jant. There’s no doubt but he deserves what he gets. A few drops of the drug you keep injecting yourself with should do the trick.”

I looked at Lightning, who shrugged. I said reluctantly, “All right, I’ll do it.”

“Good!” said Mist. Her leather trousers creaked as she stood up. She turned to her cot and began to delve around energetically inside it. “If you make it look like he was addicted and took an overdose, we can discredit him in the Fourlands.”

I gave her a flat stare. “And make the climate dangerous for other people who happen to be users? Thank you, but no. Besides, I need all my supply.”

If an Eszai commits a crime and is caught, the Castle has no power to try him, nor may the Emperor intercede on his behalf. Instead, he is handed over to the court of the country in which the crime took place, to be tried and sentenced there. I couldn’t guess how a Trisian court might work, or how severe the penalty might be. Or if I could successfully talk myself out of it.