The First Protector

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Excerpts from Ma'el Report. Days 112,557 to 112,584

The weather remained fair and the winds favorable until we passed through the Pillars of Hercules and turned eastward into the Mediterranean, whereafter the wind continued westerly and mild. In spite of explaining that this good fortune was due simply to the operation of the meteorological laws of chance, the crew believed me responsible and thanked me many times for it.

"I am deliberately curtailing the use of my 'magic map' because it would be an unkindness to make the captain too dependent on it before I leave his ship.

"On the second day after repelling the Roman boarding craft off Finisterre there was a ceremonial disposal of the form of flesh that had recently housed the young man Liam. The rite involved the officers and some of the crew speaking words of praise and admiration about his short life and I, although present, did not take part because the philosophical reasoning behind it was unclear to me as there is nothing with any resemblance to this ceremony among the Taelon.

"The damaged helmsman, Tomas. is progressing well after giving the healer initial cause for concern when his stump became inflamed for a few days and required constant poulticing. Now, when the sea is calm, he moves about the deck on two crutches made for him by the ship's carpenter, who has also promised to make him a thick, wooden peg and attachment straps so that he will be able to balance his weight naturally and discard the crutches. The healer insists that this should not be done for several weeks so as to enable the fleshy pad at the end of the leg stump to heal and harden to the point where it will support the helmsman's weight without pain. By now all of the crew know that the healer is female, but they maintain the pretense and use only her title rather than her name, and from conversations I have overheard on my sound sensor it is clear that they would be willing to die rather than allow any harm to befall her.

"I am particularly impressed by the way the helmsman, Tomas, has been able to overcome his disability. The idea of a physically crippled Taelon is inconceivable and repugnant to me.

"Apart from my servants, who are still not entirely at ease with each other, the psychological behavior of the humans on board is very good, a condition which Captain Nolan describes as being in good spirits. When they are not otherwise engaged and the sun is out, they have taken to projecting hand pictures on the deck or superstructure and compete with each other to see who can make the most realistic subjects. As the person who saved them by showing the first picture, the healer is called on to judge the competitions. At times they have a tendency to behave like children, which is strange because their life spans are too ephemeral to waste on activities that are nonessential. But from time to time they do this, and in spite of the desirability of remaining emotionally detached from the specimens under evaluation, 1 am aware of a strange feeling for these ridiculously short-lived beings that is analogous to the affection felt by them for their even more transient and non-sapient work animals and pets.

"It was this strange feeling, as well as the inconvenience of losing and having to replace servants, which caused me once again to intervene secretly so that their lives could be saved

…"

–

They were passing between the southern extremities of Sardinia and the north coast of Africa and turning northeast with a light following wind onto the heading that would take them to Rome, when the triangular sails of two ships were sighted astern. Within moments Seamus joined them beside the wagon.

"Healer, Declan,'" he said, his voice unnecessarily loud because it was plain that he wanted Ma'el, who was resting in the wagon, to overhear him as well. "They are pirate craft out of Carthage by the look of them, with about the same spread of sail as ourselves but with the advantage of rested oarsmen or, more likely, galley slaves who can be whipped half to death to give them the speed they need. A stern chase is usually a long chase, but the captain estimates that they will catch us by midafternoon unless…"

He left the word hanging.

"You want Brian and I to take an oar…?" Declan began.

"No," Seamus broke in, glancing at his long-axe and gladius. "We need you rested if you are to fight well."

Sinead looked at Declan and made an obvious attempt to force calmness into her voice as she said, "If they catch us as early as that, there can be no fearsome beast to threaten them from the sails. Or were you suggesting something else?"

"I don't know what I'm suggesting," said Seamus grimly as he was turning to leave. "These pirates are worse, much worse, believe me, than the Romans we fought off at Finisterre. But Ma'el has withdrawn from us.

Even though he remains friendly he will not even show us his magic map. I was hoping that you would ask your master to help us."

When he had gone, Declan looked up at the wagon and said, "We'd better tell Ma'el about this."

Sinead shook her head. "There's no need," she said, "I have the feeling that he hears and knows everything that is happening on this ship. Whether he will do anything about it is another matter."

They watched without speaking as the pursuing ships crept closer and the climbing sun began to warm the deck timbers around them, the silence broken only by the steady creaking and splashing of the oars, and the drum that gave them their timing. But something incredible was happening, and the suddenly excited voices of the captain and Seamus aft showed that they, too, had seen it. Gradually, and in spite of their filled sails and the sunlight flashing off their oars, the pirate ships were falling behind.

Seamus returned when the ships were shrunken with distance, his teeth making an uneven white line across his bearded face. "The captain says that we must have encountered a strong, northeasterly current," he said jubilantly, "one that our enemies have not been able to find. It is aiding both sails and oarsmen and if we can stay in it the pirates will be out of sight by sunset…" He paused to glance at the wagon, "… So if you haven't done so already, there is no need to worry the old man about this matter."

When he had gone, Declan grasped one of the ropes, many of which the crew had considered unnecessary, that anchored Ma'el's wagon to the vessel's structure, and felt it thrumming in his hand like the string of a silent lute before he looked at Sinead.

"It is not a fortuitous current that is helping us," he said quietly. "I think we both know that it is…"

She raised a warning finger to her lips and said, "He will hear you."

"Yes," said Declan, "but on our first night out of Cobh he told Brian that he did not want to control our minds or how we used them. But I would not want Ma'el to think that my mind was a stupid one."

She didn't speak and he went on quietly, "Look at the ropes holding Ma'el's wagon. They encircle or are tightly attached to the strongest and best-supported cross-members of the hull. When the ship pitches and rolls and the vehicle's weight moves off center, the ropes on one side should tighten and on the other loosen, yet they all remain the same and as tight as…" He groped for a suitable word without finding it and went on, "You are not stupid, either, and must know what is happening because I remember you telling me that Ma'el used to lighten his wagon for the horse's sake."

Still she did not speak. Declan struck the nearest rope with the edge of his hand and watched it vibrate for a moment before he continued, "There is no favoring current. He and his wagon are lifting us so high in the water that there must only be a fraction of the ship's bottom immersed, so that means the light wind is pushing us with greater speed and the oarsmen are assisting it because they have a lesser weight to pull against. There is no doubt in my mind now. Ma'el is a truly great and powerful magician, but he doesn't want anyone to know about it except, for some reason, we two."

Sinead stared for a long moment at the side of the wagon. "I don't believe that Ma'el would hurt anyone for talking about him," she said, "but let us keep this knowledge to ourselves."

In the captain's cabin that evening, the only subject of conversation between the old man, Brian, and the ship's officers concerned the plans for off loading Ma'el's wagon and party at Ostia in two day's time, and the discussion became even more intense when Brian advocated a complete change of plan at the last moment.

"My onward trip to Alexandria is not all that urgent," he said, "and I will enjoy a short stay in Rome while Ma'el is doing whatever it is that a magician does there. It will mean that he can safely leave his wagon on board and away from prying eyes while we use local conveyances for travelling to and from the city. Ma'el, I know my way about Rome and will gladly serve as a guide, as well as gaining you entry to libraries, establishments, and homes of the Patrician families that you might otherwise find difficult of access."

Ma'el smiled the gentle thanks of one who has been offered a service that he might not need.

"After all," Brian added disarmingly, "with you as a close companion it is likely, nay, certain, that I will be able to discover more secrets of value than any obtained during my lifetime of spying."

And so it was that they threaded their way through the constantly arriving and departing grain ships that filled the bellies of the citizens of the Eternal City, to tie up at a dock assigned by the harbormaster while the sights and sounds and smells common to any busy seaport, as well as those peculiar to this one, filled the morning air. Brian, as good as his word, busied himself arranging transportation, Sinead was so bursting with quiet excitement, as was Declan, at the thought of visiting Rome itself that they paid little attention to the organization of the affairs of a docked ship and its crew.

With the quietly listening Ma'el beside them, Captain Nolan and Seamus had been discussing the pay of the off-watch crew members whose turn it was to go ashore, and the advisability of doling it out in small, daily, or nightly amounts so that they would be able to spend it piecemeal on the more substantial pleasures rather than squandering it all away on a few hours of excitement in a gaming house, to return to their ship as poor as they had been when the voyage had begun.

The captain had smiled then and added that these monetary restrictions would not, of course, apply to the more generous pay of his Ionadacht who was free to spend as much of it and as many nights away from the ship as he desired, or as long as his considerable bodily strength could sustain him, and who well deserved a few of the pleasures of the flesh. Seamus had shown his teeth and agreed with enthusiasm that his captain's advice was good and he would most certainly take it.

"Seamus," Ma'el broke in at that point, "the advice is well-meant but it is not good. With respect to your captain, I advise you not to take it."

They joined Sinead and Declan in staring at the old man with their mouths open. It was Seamus who found his voice first.

"You and your servants have done very well by us and we are grateful," he said angrily, "but guard your tongue, old man. This matter is of no concern of yours."

Ma'el shook his head in gentle disagreement. "Without your knowledge or permission I have made it my concern. In a marketplace in Cork I spoke with a young woman who gave me valuable information about your captain and yourself, knowledge which was the direct cause of me travelling in your ship…"

"You, you spoke with Maeve?" Seamus broke in. "What business had she talking to a…"

"… In return for this intelligence," he continued gently as if the other had not spoken, "I foretold the joined futures of Maeve and yourself, as well as promising her that I would try to guard you from harm. But I cannot fend off harm, either physical or that caused by the pangs of mental guilt that a wrongdoing would later cause you to inflict on yourself. Maeve would not, I believe, want her man to do this weak and foolish thing."

The small area of Seamus's face that was not hidden under his thick beard had turned deep red, so much so that the captain, looking concerned, put a restraining hand to his arm. But the high color died and in a moment he shook his head and sighed.

"That she would not," he said in a very serious voice. "For a strong man I can be as soft and weak in some ways as a child. Thank you, Ma'el, for your timely reminder. Captain."

–

"Yes, Seamus?"

"It seems that I will not be spending my evenings carousing in the fleshpots of Ostia after all," he said, "so if you feel like doing so, or visiting your beloved chart room in the museum of shipping, or swapping tall tales or the latest lore of your profession with the other visiting sea captains, I shall stand the shipboard night watches and be reluctantly virtuous."

"Until I return," the captain said, laughing as he clapped Seamus on the shoulder, "bearing a flagon or three of Italy's best red wine with which to toast your distant Maeve."

Before the sun had reached its zenith Sinead and Declan were seated, as befitted a servant and a guard, above and in front of their master with the driver between them, in the extravagantly decorated wagon that Brian had provided, traveling the most famous road in the world, the Appian Way into Rome.