The Pirates of Pacta Servanda

Chapter Thirteen

“We have a hundred soldiers with Major Sima,” Mari said. “If we send them into the city to reinforce the walls… what?”

Alain shook his head. “The people here know nothing of us. If they see us landing soldiers on the waterfront, they will assume we are also attacking the town.”

Captain Banda nodded in agreement. “And if they think they need to defend the waterfront, they’ll strip some troops from the walls, weakening their defenses there and possibly ensuring the city falls.”

“We’ve got to do something!” Mari said. “We can’t just sit here and watch that town fall because we didn’t arrive a half-day earlier!”

“We have the Pride’s deck gun,” Captain Banda said. “It’s a light-caliber weapon, but still ought to impress anyone we fire on.”

“Your gun has enough range to reach the attackers?” Mari asked hopefully.

“We’ll have to get closer to ensure accuracy, but yes.” Banda grimaced apologetically. “We are low on shells, though. The Guild has allowed us only ten rounds.”

“Ten?” Mari felt like yelling in frustration. “If the Senior Mechanics were going to pay to put a light gun on this ship, why wouldn’t they pay the much smaller sums to provide it with a decent amount of ammunition! What else can we do? Alain, can you or the other Mages do anything without getting close to the fight?”

Alain frowned in thought. “We are still on the water and have access to little power to change the world illusion… An illusion. That is something that can be done without the use of Mages. We do not have enough soldiers to assault those who are attacking the town. But the attackers do not know that. If the ship Dolphin moves as if preparing to land soldiers outside the town, and our soldiers are seen on the deck, it will look to anyone watching as if we are readying a powerful strike against those attacking the walls.”

Calu had joined them, his arm still bandaged. He nodded. “They’ll have to break off the attack. Have the Pride’s gun go after that ballista first, and if we knock it out drop some shells on the guys just outside the walls.”

The Pride and the Dolphin moved slowly closer to the coast, feeling their way through an unfamiliar harbor, while Mari tried not to scream with frustration at how long it was taking. She kept hauling out her far-seers to check on the defense of the town, seeing the thin ranks of those on the wall repeatedly throwing back attempts by their attackers to reach the top.

“The guys holding that wall are tough,” Calu commented from the rail to Mari’s right. “They’re not giving any ground at all.”

“But there aren’t enough of them,” Alli said. She was standing next to Alain, who was just to Mari’s left. “Just imagine what those guys could do if they all had rifles. If they all had the new rifles we’re going to make!”

Mari, worriedly watching the fight near the town wall, was surprised when a sudden boom announced the firing of the Pride’s deck gun. She could see the shell fly out in a flat trajectory toward the ballista that was firing on the wall. The shell struck and exploded, throwing up a fountain of dirt and grass a dozen lances from the ballista.

She saw Mechanic Deni making adjustments to the deck gun while it was reloaded. Deni stood back and pointed at the gunner, who fired again.

This time the shell struck only a few lances from the ballista.

Those attacking the wall had been absorbed in the fight, but the sounds of two explosions had drawn their attention. Mari saw some of the attackers edging away from the wall, pointing out to the ships in the harbor and shouting words impossible to hear from this far away.

A third boom, a third shell flying out, and an explosion right next to the ballista that sent its crew flying away. Some of the ballista’s crew got up and ran, but others lay still.

“Shift your target to the soldiers in front of the wall!” Captain Banda called from the quarterdeck.

The next shell exploded in the rear ranks of the attackers, blowing apart a new ladder being brought up as well as those carrying it.

“Dud!” the gunner yelled.

Mari watched the gun crew yank open the breech and hastily pull out the shell that hadn’t fired. Two carried the shell to the edge and tossed it as far from the ship as they could, the unexploded shell making only a large splash as it hit the water.

“Only five rounds left,” Mari said.

“The Dolphin is in position,” Alain pointed out.

From this angle Mari could see how thin the ranks of soldiers on the Dolphin’s deck were. But from the shore those ranks should look deep and solid. The Dolphin’s crew was making an elaborate production out of preparing the ship’s boats for lowering.

Another shot from the Pride’s gun slammed into the force outside the town wall.

The attack collapsed, those who had been trying to breach the wall now running away from it in a confused mass.

“Cease fire!” Banda called. “Well done! That will teach those scum not to mess with Mechanic artillery!”

“It’s a good thing they don’t know we only have four shots left,” Alli commented. “Now what? Pursue the beaten enemy?”

“I would not advise that,” Alain said. “There is too much we do not know. The size of this warlord’s forces, the nature of the land, what other threats might be near, and how the townspeople would react to us landing soldiers even outside their walls.”

“I’m with Alain,” Calu said.

“Far be it from me to argue,” Alli said.

Mari nodded and turned to face the quarterdeck. “Captain Banda, tell the Dolphin to break off the fake landing and move back into the harbor. I’m going to need a boat to take a group ashore to talk with the town’s leaders.”

“Yes, Lady Master Mechanic,” Banda replied. “I hope you are not assuming the town’s leaders will be grateful.”

She looked through her far-seers at the section of wall that had been most fiercely attacked and most fiercely defended. The men and women atop the wall were not celebrating victory, not cheering or raising weapons high. They stood, weapons at ready, all facing toward the four ships that had entered the harbor of Pacta Servanda.

The warning she had received from the captain of the Gray Lady came back to her. The defenders of Pacta Servanda looked uncomfortably lean and wolfish as they unflinchingly faced what they must see as another threat.

Mari had kept the landing party small but hopefully impressive. Herself. Mechanics Alli and Calu. Master Mechanic Lukas and Professor S’san. All of the Mechanics were impossible to mistake in their dark jackets. Alain, Mage Dav, Mage Hiro, and Mage Alera in their robes. Major Sima and a couple of his soldiers. The captain of the Gray Lady and a few sailors.

The only sound as they were rowed to the town landing was the splash of water as oars dipped and rose. Mari could see abandoned buildings along the waterfront. She could also see groups of people silently watching the approaching boat. Something about the way they stood waiting made Mari grateful for the pistol holstered under her jacket.

Calu shifted his grip on his rifle as he stared back at the silent watchers. “This feels like one of those stories where everyone is yelling at the characters, ‘Don’t go into that town!’ Doesn’t it?”

“No one warned me of any cannibalism in Pacta Servanda,” the Gray Lady’s captain remarked cheerfully. “I’m sure they would have mentioned that if it was anything to worry about.”

A detachment of soldiers awaited the boat as it reached the landing. The soldiers wore the green and gold of Tiae on their uniforms, the colors faded and the fabric worn and patched from age and use. Their armor and the weapons they carried were battered, but in good repair and without a trace of rust.

“These soldiers remind me of some others,” Alain murmured to Mari.

“I was thinking the same thing,” she replied. The inhabitants of the university in Marandur, holding things together within their small portion of the world but showing the strain of being under constant threat and having to make do with the leavings of the past.

The officer in command stood at the edge of the landing, waving off the sailors on the boat who tried to tie up. The sailors took one look at the soldiers behind her, their weapons drawn and ready, and settled back to wait for their superiors to handle things.

Mari didn’t blame them. The soldiers had the grim look of professionals who combined experience with fatalism. Facing a pack of wolves would probably have been less intimidating.

“Why are you here?” the officer demanded, her voice as harsh as her expression.

Mari stayed seated in the boat as she tried to sound both confident and nonthreatening. “We want to meet the leaders of Pacta Servanda.”

“If you seek ransom or an opportunity to pillage, you are wasting your time. The only things of value left in Pacta Servanda are our weapons, and those we will only give you point first.”

“We don’t want a ransom,” Mari said. “We just helped drive off the people assaulting your wall. We are here to help this town. We are here to help Tiae.”

The officer smiled incredulously. “To help Tiae? Are you not a few years late in that task, Lady Mechanic?”

“Yes,” Mari said. “But hopefully not too late. Do you speak for the town? We have an offer for your leaders. Not threats. An offer. Are you authorized to reject that offer?”

As Mari had hoped, the officer had vast experience with confronting physical threats but not much familiarity with diplomacy. “Your ships fly the flag of no country. I will not allow pirates to land in this city.”

“Don’t you want to know whose flag they do fly?” Professor S’san asked, unintimidated.

“Let us talk to the leaders of Pacta Servanda,” Mari insisted. “It doesn’t take a genius to tell that this town is on its last legs. Our help can make the difference for you. But what we bring is an offer, not any type of ultimatum.”

Alain spoke up, using his Mage voice. Mari knew he was aware of how little she liked that voice, so he must be using it for the effect it had on the officer and her soldiers. “If you want to change the fate of this town,” Alain said, “and the fates of everyone in it, and the fates of everyone in Tiae, you will not stand in our way. The choice is yours.”

The officer eyed them, slowly lowering the blade of her sword as she did so. “I know what those are,” she said, using the sword to point at the rifles held by Alli and Calu. “I have never seen one in use, but I have heard what they can do.”

“Then you know,” Mari said, “that if we wanted to we could sit here and kill you and all of your soldiers without risk to ourselves.” That was an exaggeration, given how close the boat was to the landing and the crossbows carried by some of the soldiers, but Mari thought the white lie was justified in this case. “We’re not here to threaten or harm you. We are here to offer a deal that will benefit you and us.”

“A deal?” The officer nodded, as if finally understanding. “We are familiar with trade-offs, Lady Mechanic. You will leave those—” she said, using her sword to point again at the rifles held by Alli and Calu—“and come with me.”

Apparently the officer’s knowledge of Mechanic weapons did not extend to pistols, which wasn’t surprising given how long it had been since the Mechanics Guild had a presence in Tiae. No one suggested searching Mari or the other Mechanics.

But from the way the officer and her soldiers watched the Mages, they had heard plenty of stories about them. Mentally, Mari sighed, hoping that the worst of Mage excesses had been forgotten in the years since the Mage Guild had abandoned Tiae.

The boat tied up and most of Mari’s group disembarked, Sima’s soldiers and the sailors remaining at the dock. The officer led the way into the town, her soldiers forming two lines, one on either side of Mari’s group.

The walk through Pacta Servanda showed Mari more of the town. As at the waterfront, some buildings were empty, usually those devoted to businesses. Living accommodations tended to be occupied, though. The commons she could see wore a variety of clothes that implied both townsfolk and refugees from the countryside. Mari had the overwhelming impression of a town that existed only to survive. Trade and business and crafts had all given way to the most basic need.

Professor S’san leaned close to Mari. “There is no trash in the streets,” she murmured. “Just like in the Empire.”

Mari nodded in silent reply. The Imperial government kept the streets clean, which was a sign both of how efficient the Imperials could be and of how much emphasis they placed on maintaining order. The leaders of Pacta Servanda were also keeping it clean, displaying an obvious sign of a government which had the power to fulfill basic functions.

The city hall they eventually reached was a stout building with a worn but well-built façade. Graceful curves marked doorways and rooflines, and vines grew along the front, almost masking the ravages of too many years with too few repairs. The commander of the soldiers escorting them brought Mari’s group to the doorway. “You must wait here.” She entered the building, leaving Mari and others guarded by the soldiers of the town.

S’san glanced around, annoyed. “Waiting on the whims of commons,” she grumbled just loudly enough for Mari to hear.

A crowd was forming at a small distance, silently watching Mari and her companions. “Even the babies aren’t crying,” Mari heard Alli whisper to Calu.

Mage Dav and Mage Hiro walked to Mari. “There is no fear in them,” Mage Dav said. “Not even when they look on Mages.”

“Something has been burned out of these shadows,” Alain agreed in a murmur.

“Can it be relit?” Mari asked.

The Mages looked at her, even Mage Hiro revealing a tiny degree of surprise at the question. “I do not know,” Mage Dav said.

“We’ll have to try.”

The officer stepped out of the building, her eyes sweeping across the group. “You will be allowed to enter,” she said, making the concession sound like a warning.

Mari followed the officer, leading her group into the city hall. Just inside the door was a big entry area with a high ceiling. The entry was vacant of furnishings or decoration, but traces on the walls and floor showed where such things had once been found. After ascending a wide staircase, Mari and her companions were brought into a large room dominated by a long table. In some ways it echoed the room in which Mari and Alain had met some of the city leaders in Julesport, but here there were ample signs that the past glories of Tiae had been sacrificed to today’s necessity. Darker areas on the walls marked where tapestries had doubtless once hung before being sold. Aside from the table, there were very few furnishings for such a large room, leading Mari to suspect most of those had been sold off as well. She knew what kind of prices furniture and tapestries from Tiae were commanding around the Sea of Bakre these days, and wondered how much of those inflated prices had actually gone to the people here who needed the money the most.

There were no weapons displayed on the walls, either, even though some alcoves seemed designed for that. Every available weapon had been pressed into the defense of the town.

The near side of the long table was bare, but on the opposite side three men and three women sat facing Mari and her group. Mari ran her gaze across them as she walked forward, trying to read their attitudes and determine who would be most open to her proposals. The three women ranged in age from an elderly common with a sharp face and a sharper gaze to a young woman who looked only several years older than Mari. One of the three men was also old, the other two middle-aged like the remaining woman. All were keeping their expressions composed, betraying little, but their eyes were suspicious and wary. They were all lean, even those with stouter builds betraying years of barely sufficient food. Aside from a sword one man wore at his side, none of the city leaders were armed with anything more than a dagger. Mari wondered whether other weapons were hidden beneath the table.

Mari stopped a couple of paces from the table, standing opposite the leaders of Pacta Servanda. She felt her youth more keenly under the gaze of the older commons, but with her jacket on and other Mechanics at her back as well as her Mages, Major Sima, and the captain of the Gray Lady, Mari also felt confidence. She nodded toward the group, trying to address all six of the commons without seeming to single any one of them out. “Greetings. I’m Master Mechanic Mari of Caer Lyn.”

The elderly woman nodded back, her eyes glinting. “Greetings, Lady Mechanic. Were you sent to bring us a message from your leader?”

“Lady Master Mechanic,” Mari corrected. “I am the leader.”

“Then explain your presence at Pacta Servanda,” the oldest man demanded. “Why did you sail your ships into our harbor, flying a pirate’s banner?”

“It’s not a pirate’s banner,” Mari said. “It’s the banner of the new day.”

“You are not pirates?”

“Technically… yes. But our only targets are the Great Guilds.”

The old man made a scoffing sound. “The Great Guilds left Tiae a long time ago. If you have come for payment from them or from us, you will be disappointed.”

Payment?” Mari asked.

“For aiding in the repulse of the barbarians attempting to breach our wall.”

They were being blunt, so Mari decided to do the same. “If you’ll forgive me for saying so, anyone seeing this town would know you don’t have spare money lying around. We did not aid you in the expectation of payment.”

“Then what do you seek?” the middle-aged woman asked. “There is nothing of value in Pacta Servanda.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Mari saw Alain and the other three Mages shake their heads. A lie? What could be here that was of value? Perhaps some artifacts of the kingdom, maybe even some jewels or whatever remained of the crown of Tiae. Nothing that mattered to her, Mari was certain. “There is something here of value to us,” Mari said, “but we demand nothing. We want to discuss what we can give you in exchange for what you can provide us.”

“Words are cheap enough to exchange,” the youngest woman said. “And what do the Mages seek?”

Alain indicated Mari. “The Mages follow Lady Mari.”

The oldest man spoke again, despair apparent in his voice. “The Mage Guild and Mechanics Guild have openly allied?”

“No,” Mari said. “We are not here as representatives of our former Guilds. We are dedicated to overthrowing those Guilds and bringing change to this world.”

Her words didn’t seem to reassure the leaders of Pacta Servanda at all. Another of the men spoke, his voice rough. “You wish to change the world, so you came here? Lady Master Mechanic, whatever you seek, Pacta Servanda does not have it.”

“On the contrary,” Mari corrected, keeping her voice commanding but polite, “your town has exactly what we seek. We want—”

The youngest woman’s voice was low but firm, her face as hard as that of the officer on the landing. “What you want matters little to us who have so little. We will fight before we will allow any outsiders to enslave us. We will destroy this town fighting from every building before we give it to you. Every one of us will die trying to kill one of you. You would conquer only ruins inhabited by the dead. Do not doubt the price you would pay to seize Pacta Servanda, Lady Master Mechanic.”

Mari gazed back at the young woman, seeing the suspicion and anger in her, but also the strength and determination. “I don’t doubt you at all. I have seen such a place. My Mage and I have been to Marandur. I don’t think even you can imagine the horror of that city. It is our goal to avoid such a fate for any other place in Dematr.”

“Marandur?” the third man asked. “Is it no longer forbidden? Why did the Emperor permit you to visit?”

“He didn’t,” Mari replied dryly. “He’s actually really upset about it, which is why Mage Alain and I have avoided every opportunity to personally discuss the matter with Imperial authorities.”

“You’re under an Imperial death sentence?” the oldest woman asked. “And seek to hide here? You’ve made a poor choice.”

“Looking at you, and listening to you,” Mari said, “I am convinced that we made a good choice. I hope you will also make a good choice: to accept what we can offer.”

The youngest woman answered her again. “Beware the gifts of Mechanics, for their price will always be beyond your means. Have you heard that saying, Lady Master Mechanic?”

Mari gave her a flat look, annoyed by the way these commons were deliberately overemphasizing her full status and grateful that that level of sarcasm had never infected the ranks of unimaginative Senior Mechanics. “I’ve heard worse than that. Why not listen before you make up your minds? This town is clearly a bastion of order and decency in a land where such things have become rare. Tiae was given too little aid and too little consideration by the Great Guilds, who were more concerned with trying to limit the spread of anarchy than they were with helping those who needed it. But alone you can’t hold out forever, and alone you can’t return Tiae to what it once was. We’re prepared to offer our weapons and our skills and our power to help you defeat your enemies and expand the area you control. We will help you to return order to Tiae.”

“And in exchange?” the oldest man inquired in the silence that followed Mari’s words.

“In exchange you give us what you have, and what we need. A secure place to operate from, a place to set up workshops, access to raw materials, and a labor force willing to work for us.”

The oldest woman nodded slowly. “Now I grasp why you’re here. The Great Guilds are beginning to crumble just as the Kingdom of Tiae did. You seek a place where you can build up enough strength to challenge your Guilds.”

Mari wasn’t sure she liked the way that sounded, but she had to admit the truth of it. “Yes.”

“You wish to place the people of Pacta Servanda, the people of Tiae, in the middle of a struggle between the Great Guilds and renegade members of those guilds? Has Tiae not suffered enough?”

Mari liked the way that sounded even less. “The people of this town, the people of Tiae, won’t be in the middle.” How to say it right? “They’ll be alongside us.”

“Alongside?” the youngest woman asked with broad skepticism.

“Yes. We’ll defend you just as we’d defend ourselves.”

“As you rebel against the authority you were sworn to obey,” the oldest man said. “As you lead forces against them and overthrow them and… then what? We have seen this. We have lived through this. Many others did not. Why should we aid any warlord, even if she wears the jacket of a Mechanic and has Mages at her command?”

Mari wondered if her expression conveyed how much the charge had shocked and hurt her. She stood wordless for a moment, struggling with anger.

Alli’s voice rang out. “How dare you? Mari’s trying to gain freedom for this world, she’s trying to gain freedom for every Mechanic and Mage and common, and you accuse her of being a warlord?”

“She’s never asked anything for herself,” Calu added, his voice brimming with outrage.

“Lady Mari,” said Alain, his Mage voice revealing a cold fury, “does not seek gain or glory. She does not seek to harm. Her goal is to prevent the Storm that approaches this world, a Storm which has been foreseen by the Mages and which will turn all of Dematr into a place of death and ruin. Tiae was the forewarning of the Storm that the Great Guilds have tried to ignore. If the Storm is not stopped, Tiae represents only the beginning of the destruction to come.”

“I would follow no warlord,” the captain of the Gray Lady spat. “I follow her. I follow the daughter. You know not who you insult.”

“The daughter?” The oldest woman blurted out the name, her eyes wide. “Impossible. She did not come when Tiae needed her. She will never come.”

Mari’s anger faded as she thought about all of those who had waited, and hoped, and died. “I’m sorry. I… I was born when I was.”

The youngest woman leaned forward, studying Mari. “You claim to be the daughter? What insight led you to know that about yourself?”

“The sight of Mages,” Mage Dav said. “We see her, and we know. We see the Storm approach, and we know.”

“She did not want this of herself,” Alain added. “She did not want the burden.”

“The burden.” The young woman looked at Mari again. “Is that how you see it?”

“Yes,” Mari said. “It’s a very tough job, and a great many people want to kill me, and quite a few of them have already tried. I wouldn’t have volunteered for the job, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“And yet you are a Mechanic,” the oldest woman said. “And you partner with Mages. Neither have been friends to common folk. Mechanics consider us beneath contempt. Mages do not consider us worthy of any concern or notice.”

“We’re different,” Mari said. “Do you think that if I felt that way I’d be here talking to you? That I’d be giving you an offer for a deal that will help Tiae instead of an ultimatum to do what I ask, or else? And my Mages have spoken to you. Have you noticed? They admit you exist. Well, not all of them yet. But we’re working on that. I have commons here who can tell you that they are treated with the respect they deserve, because all of us, including me and Mage Alain and even Master Mechanic Lukas and Professor S’san and Mage Dav and Mage Hiro and Mage Alera and Mechanics Alli and Calu, we have all been treated with contempt by others. Those others are the leaders of the Great Guilds. And we realize that the only way to earn real respect is to really respect others.”

“I could believe it,” the middle-aged woman said. “It could be her.”

The young woman was resting her chin on one fist as she eyed Mari. “Tiae has no ruler. The royal family has been wiped out.”

Mari once again saw Alain shake his head slightly. The woman was lying. But why?

“You come seeking to help,” the woman continued. “Suppose every word you say is true, suppose you provide the means to rebuild Tiae. Then what?”

“Then we defeat the Great Guilds,” Mari said.

“That’s not what I mean. Who is in charge of Tiae?”

Mari shrugged. “I don’t know. Whoever you decide should be in charge.”

“You?”

“Me?” Mari physically recoiled at the suggestion. “No. Absolutely not.”

“But the daughter could unite our people again,” the oldest woman said. “You could found a new royal family. The daughter of Jules would bring a proud and mighty lineage to replace that of the old royal family, which was destroyed in these years of revolution and lawlessness.”

“I said no,” Mari insisted. “That will not happen. Tiae finds its own leaders, and its choices do not include me.”

“Suppose we insisted, as a price for cooperation?”

Mari shook her head. She wanted to look back, to gain some insight or advice from the expressions of Professor S’san and Alain and her other friends, but that would be too obvious. And her own feelings were clear to her. “Then we have no deal. We’ll go elsewhere, try to find another place where we can begin to rebuild Tiae and stave off the Storm. My job, my only job, is to build up enough strength to overthrow the Great Guilds, free the common folk from being vassals to the Guilds, and allow change to come to this world so that the Storm won’t destroy it. What commons and their governments do with their freedom is their decision. I will not be a party to substituting one set of rulers for another, even if one of them is me. No, that’s not strong enough. Especially if one of them is me.”

“Your words are full of promises and ideals,” the young woman said. “But they are words. Mechanics have been known to lie. Mages are infamous for lies. Is there any proof great enough to demonstrate the truth of your words, Lady Master Mechanic?”

Mari nodded. “I understand why you would be skeptical. Someone once told me that nothing he could say would convince me he was being truthful. All I could do was judge his actions. And I do have that kind of proof available.” She turned to Alain and reached out. He gave her the text she had asked him to carry, and then Mari carried it to the table and set it down in front of the young woman. “Do you know what this is?”

“No,” the woman said, puzzling over the words on the cover. “Demeter Projekt?”

“This a text of Mechanic technology,” Mari said. “Technology that even the Mechanics Guild has for centuries banned Mechanics from seeing or using. Now I show it to you. Go ahead and read it. You may read anything in it. You may copy it and share those copies with anyone.”

The woman’s gaze dropped to the book again, her expression shifting to amazement. “I don’t believe it.”

“You wanted proof,” Mari insisted. “There it is. We’re ready to teach Mechanic skills to any person in this town. Any person in Tiae. We’re ready to install equipment here and build workshops. To build Mechanic devices faster and in larger quantities than anyone has seen before. Better devices, too. What would you say to a promise to provide every single one of your soldiers with a Mechanic rifle that fires faster, farther, and more accurately than anything the Mechanics Guild has offered? Along with all of the ammunition they can carry? And small devices that let those soldiers talk to each other across long distances. And medical devices that can save those who now die of their wounds. We will give you the means to rebuild Tiae. We’re ready to help, if you’ll let us.”

“Why would you do this for common folk?” the woman asked. “Why would you do this for anyone?”

“Because the chaos the Storm will cause began here, and we will heal that damage where it began to keep it from spreading. Because the Mechanics with me believe that our Guild has done a disservice not only to us but to everyone. They believe we’ll all, Mechanics and common folk alike, benefit from change. They don’t want to run the world. They want to be able to build and design new things. They want to be free, too.”

“And the Mages?”

“The Mages believe that the wisdom they were taught is lacking. They’re looking for a new wisdom which has more room for… well, for being human.”

The young woman looked at Mari, looked down at the text, then passed it to one of the middle-aged men.

The man looked it over slowly, page by page, then nodded and spoke in a wondering voice. “It looks real. This all looks real.”

Master Mechanic Lukas spoke for the first time, looking at the man. “You’re a Mechanic.”

“I used to be,” the man said. “When the Guild pulled out of Tiae, I… I had a family here. A woman I loved. One of the common folk. I decided that this was my home, and I stayed where my wife and children were.” He shrugged. “I stopped wearing the jacket when it became obvious how big a target that made me. I’ve done what I can to help people, but that hasn’t been much.”

“You can do more now,” Mari said. “You can call yourself a Mechanic once again, if you wish. If we can reach agreement.”

The young woman leaned back, tapping her chin with one finger as she thought. Mari realized that the dynamic in the room had shifted. When she and her friends had entered, the six leaders of Pacta Servanda had seemed to be equals. But now Mari felt a strong sense that the young woman was the true leader, with the others deferring to her and following her lead. “There would have to be someone in charge,” the woman observed. “You say that we will command Tiae? Then who directs the larger effort?”

“Only the daughter can do that,” Alain said. “Only she can command Mages, as well as Mechanics, and has the trust of the commons throughout Dematr.”

“Your words are wise, Sir Mage. I’ve never talked to a Mage before. I can barely remember seeing any. But I know of their reputations, which are unpleasant to say the least. Except in one case.” The young woman looked closely at Alain. “A small ship from the north visited us months ago, carrying mostly weapons and armor but also rumors. Rumors of the daughter appearing in the Northern Ramparts, slaying dragons, and accepting no payment for saving commons. The rumors said a Mage accompanied her, a Mage who was willing to sacrifice himself to save commons. Are you that Mage?”

Alain nodded.

“What makes you different?”

Alain gestured toward Mari with one hand. “She has changed me.”

“Because she is the daughter?”

“Because I love her.”

The young woman took a long moment to reply. “I… see. But I also see that she wears a promise ring. How does her partner feel about your love for her?”

“He is my partner,” Mari said. “Mage Alain is my promised husband.”

This time the silence lasted longer.

“I find myself lacking for words,” the young woman finally said.

The elderly man had been silent for a while, but now pointed at Mari’s armband. “You’re all wearing those, and your ships fly banners with the same design. We thought it just the emblem of a pirate, but you called it the banner of the new day. What does that mean?”

“The new day,” Mari answered. “The new day when knowledge will no longer be banned and the grip of the Mechanics Guild on science and technology is ended. The new day when Mages are free to see others as real. The new day when all the people in the world will be free if they choose.”

“That banner will fly over Tiae?”

Mari glared at the man. “That banner will fly over my forces. The green and gold of Tiae will fly over Tiae. How many times do I have to say this? I will not rule Tiae. I want Tiae as a partner in bringing about the new day. That’s all.”

The young woman looked around at her comrades, judging their feelings. “Against all of my preconceptions, I find myself believing you. Perhaps I am even beginning to believe in you. Tiae has had no hope for so long that it is hard to recognize it even when it stands before us. I believe that you do not want the crown of Tiae, Lady Master Mechanic, and that is well, since you would never be offered that crown.”

“It is you,” Alain said, surprising Mari.

The young woman smiled slightly. “It is me. Lady Master Mechanic, daughter, I will offer to place the forces of Tiae, the resources of Tiae, at your disposal, following your direction just as these Mechanics and Mages do, with the understanding that you will use everything to further the goal you have promised—the rebirth of Tiae as a unified and peaceful country—and that you will allow Tiae’s people to rule themselves. In return, Tiae will offer the home you seek to challenge the control the Great Guilds exercise over the world. And to prevent the Storm you fear. The world would not help Tiae, but Tiae will help the world.”

“You’re personally committing everything in Tiae?“ Mari shook her head in bafflement, turning to Alain. “What did you mean, it is you?”

“She is the ruler of Tiae.”

“But they’re all dead… “ Mari stared at the young woman.

“One survives,” the young woman said. “And as long as one survives, Tiae survives.”

The others behind the table stood up and bowed to the young woman as the old woman spoke with quiet formality. “May I present Her Royal Highness, the Princess Sien of Tiae.” The old woman’s expression reflected both pride and tragedy. “The last surviving member of the royal family of Tiae.”

Mari wondered how she was supposed to acknowledge the introduction, finally settling for a half-bow toward Princess Sien. “You don’t look like a princess,” was the only thing that Mari could think to say. She had always imagined princesses to be pampered, fragile things. This princess looked like a battle veteran resting briefly between campaigns.

“My survival has often hinged on not looking like a princess,” Sien said. “And what title should I use for the daughter?”

“Not the daughter, please,” Mari said. “I prefer Lady Master Mechanic or just Lady Mari. That’s who I am.”

“Then, Lady Mari, we have the deal you wished for. The details can be worked out, but I freely admit what you surely already know. The defenses of Pacta Servanda are being sorely stressed by the so-called army of a warlord who styles himself General Raul. Any assistance you can immediately provide to our defenses would be most welcome.” Sien looked down, then back at Mari. “Understand this. If I have erred in my trust of you, then my life is finally forfeit, and Tiae’s last hope is gone.”

“I have my faults, Princess Sien,” Mari admitted. “Plenty of them. But I never break a promise, and I never abandon anyone.”

“Not even a Mage,” Alain said.

That night Mari and Alain walked along the wall of the town, looking out at the fires that marked the encampment of “General” Raul’s “army.” Accompanying them as both bodyguard and escort was the female officer who had first met them at the landing. “Half of Raul’s fighters are scum,” she told Mari. “The other half are men and women forced to fight, or be killed.”

“Can he be reasoned with at all?” Mari asked.

The officer spat over the wall. “No. Nor would anyone want to. Ask around about Raul’s victims. He’s not human.”

Screams suddenly came drifting on the winds from Raul’s encampment. Mari felt her blood chill at the sound.

“We hear that sort of thing most nights,” the officer remarked, staring into the darkness as if her gaze could deal death to Raul and his minions.

“Prisoners from this town?” Alain asked.

“No, Sir Mage. Raul tortures prisoners from the town in daylight, where we can see them. Those screams might be some poor soul who got caught in the countryside and was brought back for the amusement of Raul and his officers. Or one of Raul’s fighters who ran during the last fight and is being made an example of. Or just someone picked at random.”

“There is a Dark Mage at the warlord’s camp,” Alain said. “The Dark Mage has power, but little skill at hiding his presence. I did not sense him earlier this day. He must have arrived recently.”

The officer glared into the night again. “We have little defense against Mages.”

“You had little defense against Mages,” Alain corrected. “Lady Mari’s Mages can surely stop whatever the Dark Mage intends.”

Mari had not been happy about having to make an attack on Raul a priority. She had considered just waiting out the warlord by repelling attacks until Raul gave up and went away.

Not anymore. She felt the chill in her blood replaced by a growing heat. “Alain, how soon can we take him apart?”

Alain pondered the question, gazing out across the land. “How will Raul respond if attacked by many Mechanics with their weapons, supported by Mages?” he asked the officer.

“Do what damage he can, then run,” the officer replied. “Or maybe just run. He’d head for some other place, maybe a village, tear it apart for the fun of it and to keep his scum happy.”

“We have to trap him, then,” Alain said.

The officer gave Alain an appraising look. “Raul has survived a lot of fights.”

“He has not fought us.”