The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock Page 4

  “What does that mean?”

  “Take Bifor,” said Malock. “He's a pagomancer, which means he's good at ice magic. You know, freezing things, making it snow, stuff like that—very useful in cold weather, you know, when you need someone to break the ice off the ship and keep the sails from becoming frozen solid.”

  Kinker looked up. The sun was shining and it was quite warm.

  “But as you can see,” said Malock, gesturing at the ship, “we are not in cold weather; in fact, it's the middle of summer. While all mages, Bifor included, know general magic in addition to whatever they specialize in, most mages are generally useful in their specialties. Therefore, Bifor, for example, could heal someone with a healing spell, but he couldn't cure someone of a deadly disease or heal a fatally-wounded person because he's not a panamancer.”

  “Then what's he even doing on this ship at all?” Kinker asked. “And why is he the only mage? Surely, as the prince of Carnag, you could have hired more?”

  “I did,” said Malock. “Before we lost the rest of the fleet, each ship had a dozen or so mages, each one specializing in a particular field of magic that are helpful in sailing, such as aquamancy and aeromancy, for example. I personally handpicked every mage to make sure we got the best mages we could.”

  “What happened to them?” Kinker asked.

  Malock sighed. “Weren't you listening? We lost the rest of the fleet, including the mages. A variety of disasters took them all out. It's a miracle Bifor survived because he was on Our Beloved Lady, the ship that exploded due to the mishandled gunpowder in its hold. He was, sadly enough, the only survivor of that ship.”

  “Oh,” said Kinker. “Must be hard for him.”

  “It's hard to tell,” said Malock. “He doesn't confide much in other people. Personally I think he was traumatized by it and his ceaseless work ethic is how he deals with it. He's been trying to make himself useful, doing whatever he can do, even if it wipes him out.”

  “Hmm,” said Kinker. “Well, why don't we continue the tour? I want to see the rest of the ship and meet the rest of the crew.”

  “All right, then,” said Malock. “Since you're going to be a fisherman, I should introduce you to the fishing crew. They're at the stern and are in charge of the trawl.”

  A few minutes later, they reached the stern of the ship, where they found the oddest group of fishermen that Kinker had ever seen.

  For one, the only one who looked anything at all like a fisherman was the young man who introduced himself as Deddio Mannon. Even then, Kinker didn't see the usual signs of a fisherman, such as scars from the mishandling of fishing hooks, on him. Malock informed Kinker that Deddio was currently the head of the fishing crew.

  The next one was a young woman named Jenur Takren. And by 'young,' Kinker didn't mean early twenties or something. She looked closer to 18, possibly even younger than that. He could tell her age because of her hair, which she had short and dark. Her grip was strong, however, when they shook hands, even stronger than Deddio's, much to his surprise.

  Then he was introduced to Gino and Magnisa, an aquarian couple. They both resembled goldfish, with orange skin and large eyes, and were much rounder around the waist than their fellow fishermen. They were friendly, though Kinker felt rather timid around them due to his lack of experience with aquarians.

  And finally, there was Daro Loman, an unusually thin man whose eyes always seemed to be somewhere in the distance. At least, that was the most charitable interpretation Kinker chose to give of him because Daro did not look him in the eyes when they were introduced and only barely managed to remember his own name when asked for it.

  “All right,” said Malock to Deddio, “you show Kinker the ropes. I'll be back in an hour to finish our tour of the ship.”

  Kinker looked at Malock in surprise. “Where are you going?”

  “Back to my stateroom, of course,” said Malock. “I have some things I need to attend to, some very important things, and I cannot put them off any longer. Besides, this is an excellent opportunity for you to get to know your fellow fishermen, as well as the kind of job you are going to be doing from now until we reach World's End. Sounds fun, doesn't it?”

  Kinker glanced at the assembled fishermen, feeling uneasy about them for some reason, and said, “Sure. Fun.”

  After that, Malock departed, leaving Kinker alone with the fishing crew, none of whom had said a word since being introduced.

  It was Deddio who broke the silence by stepping forward and saying, “Well, Mr. Dolan, we were told you are a fisherman. Have you ever used a trawl before?”

  Kinker scratched the back of his head. “I'm more used to a rod and line, to be frank, though I've worked with trawls before.”

  “Well, I'm sure you'll catch on,” said Deddio. “The rest of us did.”

  “What do you mean, 'the rest of us did'?”

  Deddio's smile never wavered on his sunburned face. “None of us are trained fishermen. Well, I think Daro's father took him fishing for a few summers when he was a kid, but that was years ago; right, Daro?”

  Daro, whose eyes were on the sky, nodded. “Yep. Didn't catch a thing, not even once.”

  “And this is Jenur's first time as a sailor on a ship,” said Deddio, gesturing at the young woman. “Gino and Magnisa used to hunt fish underwater, but—”

  “But we never enjoyed it,” Gino said. His voice, like that of most aquarians Kinker had heard, gurgled, as though he always had water in it. “Always bought our food from the market. We never even learned how to use a fishing rod, much less a trawl.”

  Kinker ran his hand through his white hair, feeling a little exasperated. “Then why are you five on the fishing crew at all?”

  Deddio shrugged. “I don't know if you've been told, but we lost nearly the entire fleet over the last month and with them plenty of experienced fishermen and women. Frankly, Kinker, there are very few people on this ship who are in jobs they are actually trained or qualified for. Probably why the Captain was so eager to dump you here with us.”

  “How many pounds of fish do you bring in daily?” Kinker said.

  “About forty, sometimes fifty if we're lucky,” said Jenur, who was leaning against the bulwarks. “Why?”

  “How many sailors are on this ship?” Kinker said. “Including aquarians.”

  “A hundred and twenty,” said Jenur, just as promptly as before. “Again, why?”

  Kinker did the math in his head and didn't like the answer he got. “Fifty pounds of fish can't possibly be enough to feed one-hundred and twenty hardworking, full-grown sailors, human and aquarian. How have you survived this long with so little food?”

  Deddio crossed his arms over his chest and looked out into the sea. “We used to have half a year's worth of food in the hold. Ran out of it pretty quickly, though, which is why we made this trawl.”

  “How did you run out of so much food so fast?” said Kinker in disbelief. “And what do you mean, you made the trawl? Didn't you have one on board already?”

  “We didn't store the food correctly, so we had to toss it all out,” Deddio said. “As for the trawl, we didn't need one at first. Therefore, we had to make do with what we had.”

  “And what did you have?” said Kinker.

  Deddio glanced over his shoulder at the ropes tied to the railing on the edge of the stern. “You know, we were just about to haul in the noon catch, so we'll just show you. You can watch us and see how we do it.”

  Kinker did just that, retreating about a dozen feet while the five fishermen grabbed the ropes and began hauling in the trawl with their combined strength. It took them at least half an hour to haul the entire thing onto the poop deck, which did little to improve Kinker's mood. It actually did the opposite; the more he saw of the trawl, the more depressed he became.

  When they finally laid the entire trawl on the deck, Kinker got a good look at it. It was at least twice as long as Daro, but instead of being made of fiber web (the best kind of material for trawls
), it was made almost entirely of rope, with some netting for good measure. Rather than being cone-shaped, however, it more closely resembled a fishing net, being much wider and open at the mouth than a normal trawl.

  Not only that, but it was missing a codend. And he thought that Jenur's estimate of fifty pounds of fish to be very liberal. This catch, at least, was probably only forty pounds, some of which the fishing crew had to throw back into the sea because they were not fit for consumption by anyone, human or aquarian, thus making the actual weight probably closer to thirty-five or maybe even thirty pounds.

  “Let me get this straight,” said Kinker, watching the others gut and clean the fish. “That is your trawl?”

  Deddio, who was expertly cleaning the fish he handled, nodded without looking up at Kinker. “Yep. We had to put it to together ourselves when it became clear we needed a way to get a lot of fish fast.”

  “Had Bifor cast a spell on it to attract fish to it,” said Gino, who cleaned his fish with slightly more difficulty than Deddio. “Don't think it really helped, though, because as smart as that man is, he's not much of a fisherman, you know?”

  Kinker ran a hand through his hair again. “Is it a bottom trawl or mid-water trawl?”

  “Mid-water,” Deddio said. “Not long enough to reach the bottom, sadly.”

  “Okay,” said Kinker. “I'm honestly shocked that you've managed to catch anything at all. No wonder the rest of the crew looks so sour. They aren't getting enough to eat.”

  Jenur stopped gutting a fish and looked at him in annoyance. “Well, Mr. Master Fisherman, if you know how to make a better trawl that will catch us tons of fish, we're all ears.”

  Her sharp tone surprised Kinker, prompting him to say, “Didn't your parents teach you to show some respect to your elders, young woman?”

  “Whatever,” said Jenur, as she turned her attention back to the fish in her hand. “Are you just going to stand there and watch or are you going to help us clean these fish? They're going to be lunch.”

  Kinker wanted to smack her upside the head for her disrespect, but as he doubted that would endear him to the rest of the crew, he simply came over and began helping them clean what little fish they had caught.

  This is going to be a very long voyage, Kinker thought as Deddio handed him an extra gutting knife from his pocket. A very long voyage.

  -

  Malock sat at the desk in his stateroom, looking over a rough map of the southern seas that Vashnas had drawn for him not long after he had hired her. On the opposite side of his desk, Vashnas sat in a rickety old chair that was probably going to fall apart one of these days, scratching the back of her head and yawning every now and then.

  “So, assuming we stay our course, the first island we'll run into is this one,” said Malock, pointing at a small circle on the map.

  Vashnas nodded. “Yes. It doesn't have a name and no one lives on it. I call it Ikadori Island, though, because it has a ton of ikadori peaches along the shore.”

  “Excellent,” said Malock, scribbling a quick note over it. “We'll stop there for a few days and gather as much of those peaches as we can. I'm getting sick of having fish every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to be honest.”

  “We probably shouldn't stay very long,” Vashnas said. “I mean, while there aren't any people on that island, there are animals that live there. Big, ape-like beasts. Pretty protective of their territory.”

  “So what?” said Malock. “We have a lot of skilled fighters and hunters on board this ship. Besides, we're not going very deep into the island. You yourself just said the ikadori trees were along the shore, after all.”

  “True” said Vashnas. “There are so many ikadori peach trees that you could probably get enough to feed the entire crew for the next three months just from the ones lining the shore.”

  “Then we won't have to fight the beasts that live there,” said Malock. “Vash, I just wanted to thank you again for being so helpful. I would be far less confident about our chances of survival if it wasn't for you.”

  Vashnas looked a bit embarrassed, which made her look really cute to Malock. “Oh, it's nothing, Mal. I'm just happy I can be of service.”

  “No, I'm serious,” said Malock. He reached across the desk and grabbed her hand. “This voyage has been extremely stressful for me and we've only been in the southern seas for a little less than a week. You've proved even more faithful to me than Banika. Without you, I would be lost.”

  Their eyes met. She had such beautiful eyes, dark and round as they were. They did not break eye contact until Vashnas slipped her hand out of his, stood up, and walked around the desk. Malock turned in his chair, skidding it across the floorboards of his stateroom, and held out his arms, which Vashnas gently lowered herself into.

  For a moment, the two just stared into each other's eyes. Then she kissed him on the lips; a deep, firm kiss. Her mouth tasted like fish, but rather than being an off-putting sensation, it was delicious. He pulled her in closer, as close as he could, almost causing his chair to fall over, but he righted it before they fell.

  After several seconds of kissing, Vashnas pulled away, but only a few inches. The taste of her mouth lingered on Malock's lips, a taste he hoped he would never forget.

  “What's the matter?” Malock muttered, stroking her back. “There's no one watching. No one to judge.”

  Vashnas didn't break eye contact with him. “It's not that. It's just ... I'm not sure.”

  Malock kissed her briefly. “Didn't we already talk about this? I love you, Vash, and you know that. There's no need to hesitate.”

  Vashnas pushed herself a little away from him, but she was still in his arms. “I know. It's just that we've spent a lot of time doing this together and I'm wondering if maybe I'm distracting you from your actual duties.”

  “You're hardly a distraction, Vash,” said Malock, once again looking into her eyes. “Do you regret that we can't really tell the rest of the crew about our relationship?”

  “No,” said Vashnas, shaking her head. “They already know, anyway. They gossip about us behind our backs all the time.”

  “And?” said Malock. “If anyone gives you any trouble about it, the Captain will punish that person severely.”

  “That's not what I mean,” said Vashnas. “And you don't have to refer to yourself in third person, you know.”

  “Then what do you mean?” said Malock. “Just come out and say it. I can handle it.”

  Vashnas actually pushed herself entirely out of his arms now and stood up.

  “It's just this entire voyage has put a strain on all of us,” said Vashnas. “There are times where I've wondered if we should just go back.”

  Malock stood up, pushing his chair back as he did so. “Just go back? But we've just reached the southern seas. We can't go back.”

  “I know,” said Vashnas. “What I'm really trying to say is ... well, I guess I'm just scared. Scared of what awaits us further on.”

  “Oh, I doubt there's anything we can't handle,” said Malock. “Kano wouldn't have summoned me if she didn't think I could make it. And with your firsthand knowledge of the southern seas, I'd say we're going to be just fine.”

  “Just because I know about the southern seas doesn't make them any less dangerous,” said Vashnas. “And I don't know everything about them. Last time I was here, I took a pretty straight line from the north to the south. I stopped for a rest every now and then, but otherwise I didn't do much exploring.”

  “We're taking the same route as you, so I don't understand what your problem is,” said Malock. “I mean, when did you do that? Five years ago, was it? I doubt the southern seas have changed drastically in that time.”

  “Maybe not,” said Vashnas. “But often, it's not the major things that sink ships. It's the small things, like the tiny holes in the hull that no one notices until the entire ship is halfway underwater. It's the small things I'm afraid of.”

  Malock pulled Vashnas into a hug again. �
�Don't worry, Vash. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I swear this on Kano's name.”

  Vashnas looked at him in surprise. “That's a pretty serious thing to swear by, Mal. You know what that means, don't you?”

  “Yes,” said Malock. “Which is why I did it. I love you more than anyone else in the world, regardless of what any narrow-minded fool thinks about our relationship, and I will defend you no matter what.”

  Vashnas smiled, which made her look even more beautiful. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  Malock returned the smile, but it disappeared when he felt her grab his behind. He looked at her in surprise and saw that she was smiling seductively.

  “Now why don't we ... play a little?” said Vashnas. “I'm in the mood now, if you know what I mean.”

  “I would love to,” said Malock. “But unfortunately, I must leave very soon because I have not yet finished showing Kinker around the ship.”

  “Aw,” said Vashnas. “Well, all right. But maybe later you and I can play, when you don't have anything else to do, of course.”

  Malock smiled. “Of course.”

  ***

  Chapter Three

  Kinker had been so busy teaching the other fishermen about the inadequacy of their trawl that he hadn't realized that an hour had passed until Malock came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Kinker turned to face the Captain, who looked slightly bemused for some reason.

  “I see you are getting along with your fellow fishermen,” said Malock. “But what are you doing with the trawl?”

  Kinker looked down at his hands. He had been showing the others how to make a codend (he didn't have the right materials to make an entirely new trawl), but that had been difficult because the ship's trawl had been designed without a codend in mind. So far he had only managed to make a tiny codend, not big enough to catch anything but the smallest of fish, and it didn't look very good.

  “He's 'improving' the trawl,” said Jenur, making air quotes with her fingers.

  “I tried to stop him, sir,” said Deddio, scratching the back of his head. “But he insisted that the trawl needed a codend right away if we were to catch anything.”