There were more ships.
Hundreds of small ships.
The vision ended as quickly as it had come. He was still standing. The swell of the sea felt right underneath his feet. He was at home on the water. This Urkan ship was smaller than his command, theVaillante, but it was faster. It cut through the waves of the Dark Channel like a dolphin in the water.
He walked over to the helm where the captain was standing and saluted him. “I think, Captain Moulton, that you’d better raise a white flag before we come into view of the Kaulish Navy.”
“Aye, ’tis a good point,” the man said, rubbing his blond-and-gray-braided beard. “We should be upon them in less than an hour.”
“Already?”
The rotund man handed Gerard his telescope. Gerard brought it to his eye and twisted the lens to focus it: the sails of the Kaulish Navy. There were so many of them; it was like a city on the water. He turned slightly and saw that they were outside of Bhailmore, the capital of Urka. The white smoke that surrounded them was not clouds but cannon fire. They were already shooting the city. He had arrived too late.
Gerard handed Captain Moulton back his telescope. “Thank you, sir.”
“Do you think they’ll cease-fire for negotiations?”
“We can only hope.”
Gerard walked to the front of the ship. He prayed that his people would recognize not only him but the white flag of truce that Captain Moulton and his men were currently hoisting to the highest sail.
* * *
It was almost exactlyan hour before the smaller Urkan vessel reached the waters where the Kaulish Navy was. For the last quarter of an hour, his navy had not fired on the capital or on his ship. Still, sweat poured from his brow and his hands shook a little.
Up close, the larger Kaulish ships looked worse for wear. The storm that had caused him to land his smaller vessel had not been kind to them. Most boats were tilting to one side. Masts were broken and nets tangled, an eerie silence over them. Few of the Kaulish sailors would have traveled through the Dark Channel before, and if they did not fear it then, they would fear it now.
He saw theIntrépidepainted on the biggest ship. He called to Captain Moulton to direct his vessel toward it. The Urkan vessel was half the size of the admiral’s ship. Captain Moulton steered his ship so closely that it bumped the starboard side of theIntrépide.The Kaulish sailors dropped down a ladder.
Saluting Captain Moulton once more, Gerard climbed the rope ladder onto the deck of the ship. A wave of memory swept over him—of his own crew—Petit. He hoped they were all right. But he could not think of them now; he had a task to do. He walked up to Admiral Rapace and saluted him before bowing.
“Captain Batard, this is a surprise,” he said. “Where is your ship? What are you doing on an Urkan vessel?”
Gerard reached into his pocket and took out the letter from his brother. He handed it to the admiral and watched the man read it.
“Inconceivable! King Pierre is dead.”
He could only nod; his father’s death was complicated for him. He did not doubt that his father deserved it, but somewhere deep inside he still longed for his father’s love. “Long live the king. Long live King Alexandre.”
Admiral Rapace echoed him in a louder voice.
The words were repeated by the crew members of theIntrépide.Then the ships closest to them. The message echoed from ship to ship. Gerard’s heavy heart lightened at every echo of his half brother’s name. Alexandre was now the king. Kaul would never be the same. Gerard would finally have a name.
Admiral Rapace shook his head. “I thought your father was overextending himself and our country. To take on both Urka and Sania is folly.”
“He died at the hands of his courtiers, not the Sanians.”
The admiral breathed in deeply. “Your half brother, I think, will be more moderate. Am I to take you back to the capital?”
“I am afraid not, Admiral,” Gerard said. “My business in Urka is not complete. I am tasked by the king to make a treaty with them. But I recommend that you and the rest of the navy make posthaste back to Kaul. To Drennes. It would appear that more than one ship is in need of repairs.”
“I told King Pierre that he could not beat the Seer Queen or their mother goddess.”
Gerard reached into his pocket and felt the hot stone inside of it. He was half tempted to tell his old commander that he was now the seer.
Would his people respect him?
Fear him?