119 The Dyscovera

Hearing the commotion on deck, Kjelnar burst out of his small cabin to see what the shouting was about. Full night had fallen, and lanterns were lit around the ship; he had been resting for a few hours before he was due to take the late watch. Now he felt the Dyscovera lurch.

Two sailors at the capstan had already raised the anchor. He saw men up on the spars, tugging the rigging ropes, setting sail. They spoke to each other in furtive voices, not the usual cheerful bellows, repeating orders from the captain. Before Kjelnar could even catch his breath, the night breeze stretched the canvas and the ship began to move. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Captain Vora had given no orders. “By the Fishhook, what is going on!”

The men paused, glanced at him, then went back to tightening the ropes, as if Kjelnar no longer mattered.

Mia emerged from where she had been hiding by the crates near the chartsman's pigeon coop and ran across the deck to him, her thin face pale in the darkness, her voice hushed. He wondered if she had been assaulted again. “First Mate, they've taken over the ship, and they're sailing away.”

“Who's taken the ship? What does the captain have to say about this?”

“Prester Hannes and a group of men locked him in his cabin along with King Sonhir.”

“You're saying it's mutiny?” Kjelnar clenched his fist and looked for the nearest thing to strike. Of course, the others wouldn't have let the woman sailor in on their plans. “How many remain loyal?”

She shook her head. “I don't know. The other crewmen don't talk much with me, and I can't find Javian.”

The big Iborian strode forward. “Come with me. We'll see about this.”

Off the starboard side, a group of men had hauled up a net filled with struggling forms. He recognized Sonhir's daughters and Aldo na-Curic, all tied together, dripping wet. Kjelnar stormed over to them. “You there, stop what you're doing! What is this madness?”

One of the crewmen looked over at him, flushed with excitement, not even afraid. “We've snatched some of the fallen sea people so the prester can teach them to be good Aidenists. They'll thank us for it.” He seemed to think even the first mate would agree with the scheme.

Kjelnar swung his fist squarely into the man's face, knocking him out cold with one blow. As the sailor crumpled, the big Iborian tore the other two crewmen away from the net. “I'll see you all cast overboard!”

The confused men tumbled to one side, stunned as their heads struck the wooden deck. How far did this mutiny go? Kjelnar handed Mia his dagger. “Cut them free. I'm going to see to the captain.”

The big Iborian charged off toward the captain's stateroom, where several men crowded the door. Not intimidated, Kjelnar grabbed two men by the collar and threw them behind him, then two more, as if he were plucking ticks off a hound. “Captain Vora, are you all right?”

He saw young Javian among the men, looking uncertain, most likely pressured into taking part. Kjelnar spun the cabin boy around and pressed his face terrifyingly close. “Get away from here. Go help Mia!” The boy skidded, stumbled, and ran to where the young woman still worked at cutting the struggling figures free of the net.

Inside the large cabin, a handful of mutineers held Captain Vora and the mer-king captive while a smug-looking Prester Hannes intoned from the Book of Aiden as if he were performing an exorcism. “I know what is best. You may command this vessel on her voyage, Captain, but in spiritual matters I am your master.”

Criston struggled to break free. “I am the captain in all things concerning this ship.” But the prester wasn't listening.

Hannes's angry view of church teachings had annoyed Kjelnar plenty of times during the voyage, and he had had enough. “Prester, release the captain and King Sonhir now—or you'll answer to me.”

But the scarred man looked beatific, utterly convinced of what he was doing. “I answer only to Aiden.”

Shouts and screams rang out from the darkened foredeck, far from the captain's stateroom. “Dyscovera is under attack!” Behind him, Kjelnar saw a handful of sailors face off against shadowy forms that scrambled up the hull and swarmed over the rails.

Sonhir squared his shoulders, even though the mutineers still held him in a tight grip. The mer-king's hair and skin had dried by now, and he looked like an angry god himself. “Stand aside. My people have come for me. They will destroy thee for such betrayal.”

Kjelnar was still trying to understand all that had happened here, what Hannes and his ruffians really wanted—but most importantly, he knew that outsiders were attacking his ship. He shoved the mutineers out onto the deck, not caring about Hannes. “I'll deal with you men later—fight, damn you! You'd better help to defend this vessel.”

Under the faint moonlight he could see ominous shapes rushing aboard, and dark sea creatures swimming in the water all around the moving ship. Then a large thump shuddered through the deckboards as something massive rammed the Dyscovera's hull from below.

Mia sawed on the wet strands of the net with Kjelnar's dagger blade, cutting the struggling forms free. Aldo spluttered, thrust his head out, then tore his way free of the net ropes. He recognized her immediately. “Mia! What's happening? Why are they doing this?”

She helped him to his feet. “I don't know, but I'm not with them.”

Javian came running up. “Kjelnar told me to help you.” As one of the stunned mutineers stirred on the deck, Javian expertly knocked him on the back of the head with a small wooden cudgel he carried, sending him sprawling again.

The terrified sylphs huddled against each other, still caught in the net. Aldo bent over and untangled strands while trying to calm the girls. “Hush. We're getting you out of this. I won't let anyone hurt you.” Rising, the mer-king's daughters shivered in the open air, and Aldo continued, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know why any of this is happening.”

“Prester Hannes said it was necessary,” Javian answered. “He told us that King Sonhir needed to accept the Fishhook at all costs. He said Aiden would protect us, no matter what we did. I think… I think he is evil.”

Responding to the sylphs' underwater scream, mer-people climbed the sides of the Dyscovera, muscular warriors that seemed caught between their human and aquatic shapes. Frantic human sailors grabbed harpoons and spears, stabbing the mer-Saedrans, which only inflamed them to greater ferocity. The Tierran crewmen stood shoulder to shoulder, yelping for assistance as they tried to defend their ship.

Kjelnar charged out of the captain's stateroom, swinging both fists. Seeing nothing but a threat to the Dyscovera, he grabbed the wet-skinned aquatic warriors and unceremoniously tossed them over the side. “Get off my ship!” He picked up a wooden truncheon and struck hard, cracking the skull of a mer-Saedran whose hair hung in long ropy locks. The undersea warrior fell limp.

More and more mer-Saedrans climbed aboard, scaling the hull from all sides. Mutineers and faithful alike fought side by side in a panic, clumped in numerous small battles. Javian ran to join the fray, but even though Mia called after him, the young man vanished into the tumult.

Kjelnar threw himself upon several of undersea warriors, hoping to save fellow crewmen, but the big Iborian overestimated his own strength. As he grabbed two of the wet-skinned men, four more closed around him. They tore the truncheon out of his hand and tossed it skittering across the deck. Though Kjelnar bellowed and strained, they dragged him toward the deck rail.

Aldo saw what was going to happen and shouted at the top of his lungs. “No, please!” He turned to Sonhir's daughters, who had climbed to their feet, shaking. “I beg you, stop them!”

The sylphs wailed in terror, their voices shrill and vibrating, but the mer-Saedrans pulled Kjelnar overboard and down into the water with a huge splash. He was gone.

Inside the captain's stateroom, Prester Hannes slammed shut his Book of Aiden and grabbed a gutting knife from one of the shelves. “Those demons will vanish without their king.” Looking plaintively at Criston, Hannes strode toward Sonhir, raised the knife. “Captain, this is the only way. We must save our ship!”

But Criston took the bottle of kelpwine and swung hard, shattering it on Hannes's head. With a look of astonishment, the prester crumpled, sprawling onto the table.

Criston turned to the mer-king. “Sonhir, I did not mean for this to happen. This is not what my people believe. This man did not act on my orders.”

“Yet he did act.” Sonhir shoved the prester away in disgust. “He is the man who speaks for thy god. He has shown the poison in thy beliefs.”

“No, not my beliefs! Those words were wrong. I didn't mean—” He shook his head. “Oh, it doesn't matter. You must go. Leave this ship, and please tell your people to retreat. We don't want to fight with you.”

King Sonhir searched the captain's face for a long moment as a squall of anger rose and passed. “I shall tell my warriors to withdraw, and they will cause thee no further harm… but too much damage has already been done. My people can never be allies with the followers of Aiden.”

He strode out onto the main deck.

Terrified by the mayhem, some of the Dyscovera crew came toward the frightened sylphs, seeing easy targets, but Aldo and Mia stood protecting them. The young woman brandished Kjelnar's dagger in one hand and her own knife in the other, jabbing at anyone who ventured too close. “Chartsman, get them out of here!”

Frantic, Aldo urged Sonhir's four daughters to the deck rail. “Escape! Go back into the water. I don't want you hurt!”

Two of the girls dove over the side at once, arcing perfectly into the water and submerging with barely a ripple. Another stood shaking as the battle faltered; the last, boldest daughter leaned close to Aldo, gave him a quick kiss on the lips again, then backed away with a smile.

With tears streaming down his face, Aldo said, “I did not mean any harm, I promise.” She dove quickly over the side, accompanied by her sister. He knew now that he would never see their charts of undersea lands and Terravitae, their own Mappa Mundi.

The mer-king appeared on deck and shouted a command in their archaic language, which made the aquatic people pause in their fighting. Looking disheveled, Captain Vora also stepped out into the night. “Lay down your weapons! You men, all of you—stop fighting!”

Grumbling, deeply shaken by the loss of Kjelnar overboard, the Dyscovera sailors backed off, keeping their weapons raised. Across from them, covered with blood and seawater, the aquatic people glared at the humans. Never letting down their guard, they gathered their wounded and dead and slipped over the side.

Two crewmen dragged Hannes's unconscious form out of the captain's stateroom. Criston looked around, studying the men, not sure whom he could trust. Young Javian came trotting back to the captain now, stunned and confused.

After the last of his people had retreated overboard, and he saw that all of his daughters had returned to the water, King Sonhir glowered at the unconscious prester. “I will take that man with me into the waters. The sea will dispense its justice.”

Criston shook his head, even though he knew the mer-king's solution would be much easier. “I cannot allow that. He is one of my crew, and he is the prester of my church.”

Sonhir's face was dark, and the two men stared at each other for a long moment. “So be it. You are the captain of your ship, and you must endure the consequences of your decisions—all of them.” The mer-king turned his broad back on them, bounded across the deck, leaped into the air, and went over the side without touching the deck rail.

Prester Hannes groaned heavily as he returned to consciousness; he blinked his eyes and looked around. Ferociously, Criston shoved him toward Mia and Javian. “Tie him to the mainmast, and if he starts spouting his poison again, gag him! No one is to talk to or release him.”

When he came awake again, the prester wore a broad grin on his scarred face. The Dyscovera sailed on, unguided, pushed by the night breezes.