The next morning I was roused by Paradox, who told me the others were waiting downstairs. Outside it was dark, and I lifted an eyebrow as I threw the covers aside and splashed water on my face. "What time is it?" I asked, as I pressed yesterday's shirt into service as a towel.
"Four-thirty," Paradox said, absentmindedly checking his weapons. Besides the formidable bastard sword he wore on his back, he also bore two long knives with wickedly sharp edges, and I spied the hilts of two more knives peeking from his boot-tops. But there'd be a half-dozen other knives concealed about his person one wouldn't know about until it was likely too late, and as I dressed in clean clothes, I surmised it was a good thing he was on Ashton's side.
Downstairs, the rest of the party (minus Peyton, who was having his breakfast in the stable) were just commencing on breakfast, and Lanlanor obligingly made room for me between himself and Ailsa. "So who are we going to see first?" he asked, as one of the serving maids handed me a plate. My ears pricked up at the seriousness in his tone.
"Lanny Shayde," Ashton replied, equally as serious.
My ears pricked up even further. Lanny 'The Mad' Shayde was well-named; he was rumoured to be the most insane pirate captain to rule the Laughing Ocean, but his purported insanity was what made him so fearsome, as no one could predict his moves from one day to the next. "Lanny's about had a gutful of Arundel Kaiser," Ashton added. "So we're going to join him and help put Arundel down once and for all."
Arundel Kaiser was known as The Gunner, and like Lanny, he was well-named for his freakish skill with guns and cannons. It was said his cannons had a reach well beyond what most other pirates had, and he ruled the Rainy Sea with as iron a fist as did Lanny over his own domain. The two were bitter rivals, and had competed with each other for years to try and seize the other's kingdom, but while Lanny was mad, he had a streak of decency in him, rare for a pirate.
From the talk that followed, I further gathered Lanny was an ally of sorts, often helping Ashton and his companions sail from one port to another. This deal came about after Ashton and Lanlanor had saved him from hanging after Arundel framed him for an atrocious crime seventeen years ago. Lanny had sworn a debt to Ashton as a result of the rescue, and now the two were fast friends. Lanny often cut him a share of his vast treasures, which Ashton wisely banked against the day he'd need it most, and it was plain that day was coming soon. Ashton wouldn't say what it was, though, not yet.
"It's going to be a hell of a day," he promised. "And at that time, we're going to need all the gold and allies we can get."
I decided not to press the issue, and instead listened with attentiveness as the plan was laid out. Byford Kendall and Early Digby were close allies of Lanny, but had always been cut down by Averill Barney and Beckett Cooper, two of Arundel's best friends. Ashton told us that he wanted to talk to Lanny first about offering a formal alliance to Byford and Early, and thus secure their resources for taking down Arundel and his allies once and for all. The three had never sworn an alliance before, not seeing a need for it, but thirty years of attack and counter-attack were wearing on Lanny and all his allies. Byford and Early were the most skilled, and they commanded fearsome alliances themselves. Joining their efforts to Lanny's would forge a new, stronger alliance, and give Arundel something to worry about the day he tried sailing into Lanny's territory again.
Lanny himself happened to be a half-day's ride away, and as the sky began to lighten in the east, we made our way to the stables, where I made Peyton's acquaintance. He turned out to be a draft horse with an easy-going manner, and he nodded to me when Ashton introduced us. "They call me the 'pack-horse'," he confided, "but I don't mind. I can carry it. I've been doing it long enough, and they always make sure I have enough food to keep me going." He gave an amused whinny. "Half the supplies are food for me, because Ailsa thinks I'm too fat."
"You are," Ailsa chided affectionately as she finished securing the last of the packs.
"I get more than my fair share of exercise hauling your worldly goods from one end of the continent to the other," Peyton retorted, and Ailsa smiled as she rubbed his shoulders.
The other horses were, disappointingly, not gifted with the ability to talk human language, but they were certainly worthy in their own right. Ashton's grey war-horse turned out to be as docile as a puppy, with a name to match. But Koda was as fierce as any in battle, and he was known to split skulls with one kick of his armoured hooves.
Ailsa's chestnut palfrey was named Toffee, and Lanlanor's buckskin gelding was called Squeak. But according to their riders, they were just as fierce as Koda, as was Paradox's stallion, Freckles. Peyton himself was no slouch in a fight, and nor was the bay gelding Barry gave to me. His name was Aspen, and Barry had rescued him from a brutal former owner who pitted him against other horses in murderous races which often cost the animals their lives. The former owner was now bones rotting deep under the earth, and Barry had spent a fair amount of time and money rehabilitating Aspen. "He's very loyal," Barry told me as I mounted. "But he's also slow to trust. Abuse him and he'll never go near you again."
I took the advice. "Aspen won't know harm when I'm around," I promised, and Aspen shook his mane as I gently heeled him after the others. Temara rode on my shoulder, playing a soft melody on her tiny, silver-chased flute as we rode out into the pre-dawn grey. I didn't recognise the tune, but it was a very pleasant way to start our journey, and I found I was quite content. It was a chance from village life, and I knew this was only just the start.
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