Ubara of Gor Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: Les Passagers du vent

I would like to say that storm clouds gathered ominously overhead as we made our final approach to the Bastion, but in actual fact it was just another hot equatorial day with no significant omens or portents of the days to come. Grigor may have been surprised to see a Port Kar ram ship accompanying the Larl, or perhaps he was just past the point of caring now.

“You can't do that!” he exclaimed after Yishana stood there on the beach and told him she had come to collect the Lady Saffia. “Do you have any comprehension of how these ransom deals are supposed to play out? The Ubarate of Cos expects me to...”

“Are you particularly fond of your tongue?” enquired Yishana as she drew a long sleen knife from her belt sheath? “I am thinking of taking up a new hobby of nailing the severed tongues of men who irritate me to the mast of the Larl. I've been wondering which tongue I should begin with.”

I lay in the sand at Brinn's feet and I could see he was both amused and perplexed by the way Yishana seemed to intimidate the master of the Bastion. I think Brinn feels that if a man can be intimidated by a woman then he's not really a man and on that basis he has no particular sympathy for him. Twenty of Brinn's scarlet clad warriors stood with him, while twenty Askaris flanked Yishana. Brinn's men flew the swooping tarn banner that was known throughout central Gor, and here as well it seemed for Grigor had been extremely courteous to Brinn once he had been introduced.

“I have had enough of this,” shouted Grigor in fury. “I am not without martial strength myself.” This time around he had not brought his usual handful of men, but rather a full compliment of fifty warriors of his own. They now lined up behind him with their spears overlapping their shields. From the battlements of the Bastion far to his rear I could see men standing with crossbows primed.

“What do you think you're doing?” said Brinn as he left me momentarily to advance up the sand to face off against Grigor. “Tell your men to lower their spears or you will set in motion consequences you will not appreciate.”

“I mean no insult to you, Brinn of the Sardar, but I will not tolerate this posturing woman any longer. I ask you to stay out of this, and then...”

“Are you telling me what to do? You see my men?” asked Brinn. “They're warriors. The best warriors on Gor. Not like...” he regarded Grigor's line of nervous looking spearmen and rolled his eyes in disapproval. I don't think he would have taken any of Grigor's men into his service. “My men on your sand today are hand picked and capable of punching through your line with a single charge. It would be the last thing you would ever see. Now give the Ubara her prisoner.”

“I... I can't... I mean, if I did Captain Matias would...”

“Captain Matias is going to be dead soon,” said Yishana. “I will drink paga from his hollowed out skull. He won't be coming back to complain. And this sack here...” Yishana motioned for one of her men to throw a heavy sack of coins onto the sand close to Grigor's feet, “is twice the fee you were supposed to make on this ransom. I will conclude this business personally. Your services are no longer needed. Now bring the Lady Saffia to me while you still can. I thought you'd be glad to see an end to this.”

“Yes, but, if Matias lives...”

“He won't,” said Yishana. “He will come for me and I will kill him personally.”

Like a dog with its tail between its legs, Grigor retreated back up the sloping beach to order Saffia brought down from her tower. We waited as the sea breeze blew onto the shore until one of the lower flood gates opened to reveal a couple of men leading a wailing and protesting free woman towards our line.

“Grigor! Good, noble, Grigor, you can't mean to hand me over to the sea sleen?!” screamed Saffia. “My beloved will kill you if you do!”

“I'm sorry, Lady, but you are no longer my responsibility.” Grigor had been forced to gamble on who the greater threat might be and had cautiously concluded that the greater threat was the combined forces of Brinn and Yishana. “I wish you good fortune for the unpleasant ordeals to come.”

“No!” Saffia was wailing piteously as Grigor's men had to force her down the final stretch of sand towards Yishana's waiting chains. Grim faced Askaris stripped away her outer gowns and robes and then clasped her ankles and wrists in sirik and attached a leading chain to the wrist arrangement so that she could be steered back towards the Larl. “My ransom!” she cried.

“I told you I had no intention of ransoming you, Lady,” said Yishana. “If your beloved wants you, he will have to come for you out on the Thassa with swords and shields.”

“He will come!” cried Saffia.

“Good. It's what I want.” And then she signalled for Saffia to be led away to the Larl and a fresh captivity.

Brinn waited until Grigor and his men had retreated back through the flood gate before speaking. “So,” he said as he gazed out to sea. “You've cast your dice and now the Priest Kings watch as they spin and roll.”

“The Priest Kings are not my Gods,” said Yishana as she replaced her sleen knife. “Older, darker Gods hold sway out here. My Gods are fierce and terrible.”

“The Priest Kings are my Gods,” said Brinn, “and I shall make a sacrifice to them tonight before I set sail.” He regarded Yishana in her flowing gowns and unveiled face. “This is the final point at which you can change your mind, woman. Hand the free woman back to the admiral on the flagship of Cos and what comes next can be avoided, for even with our planned ambush there is no certainty in war.”

“All I am, and all I have done leads to the moment that fast approaches. I will have my vengeance, Brinn of the North, even if I have to call down all the Gods themselves to bear witness. I do not fear fate. Do you?” She gazed into his eyes.

“No.” Brinn smiled. “I do not fear fate either. But I will placate my Gods before battle.”

“As will I,” said Yishana. “My sacrifices will be blood ones.” As she saw Brinn's eyes narrow, she added, “Animals. I'm not a savage.”

I saw Naomi briefly as we walked back to our waiting ships. She stood by the long rowing boats with Yishana's silent, brooding sorcerer, Kerim Shah. His eyes seemed fixed on Brinn as if trying to ascertain what sort of man he was and what his presence here might bring.

“Emma, I wanted to say goodbye to you,” said Naomi as she approached with the permission of her mistress. “Perhaps we shall see each other again after this day, but if not, then let me say you will be in my heart and in my prayers.” She reached out and took my hands in hers.

“You were an amazing first girl, Mistress,” I said as I turned that touching of hands into a full on hugging embrace. “I'm going to miss you so much.”

“And I, you, pleasure slave. But we know you will be with your children again, and we want you to be happy.”

“I hate losing people.” I could feel myself begin to cry. “I've had to say goodbye to so many friends. It's the hardest part of all of this.”

“We go where our masters and mistresses dictate,” said Naomi as she held me close. “And now you have a different master to me.”

I was crying bucket loads as I held on to Naomi. My time on the Larl could easily have been a nightmare, but thanks to Naomi and her girls it hadn't been. They had cared for me, welcomed me, and helped me. Naomi most of all.

“I understand you are no longer first girl to your master?” said Naomi.

“No. Chloe is first girl now in the Sardar. But I'm still his love slave.”

“I see.” Naomi looked me in the eyes as she held my face straight with her hands. “And you trust this Chloe? You trust her with your master?”

“I do.”

Naomi smiled as she separated from our embrace. Yishana was waiting to row back to the Larl and was calling out to her first girl to get back to the shoreline. “I hope you are right, Emma, pleasure slave. I hope you are right.”

And then she was gone.

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I watched the Larl sail away from Brinn's ship as I stood at the starboard rail. It was Yishana's task now to lure Matias's flagship to the archipelago of islands where Brinn's ram ship would lie in wait. There, caught between the two of us, Matias would become our prey.

“Look at the slutty pleasure slave in her red tunic,” said Chloe as she joined me to lean at the rail. “It probably feels strange to wear more than a scarf knotted around your hips?”

“Yes. It's been a while,” I said with a smile. Brinn had given me a standard slave tunic to replace the garment I wore as a ship girl on the Larl. “This is practically robes of concealment for me now.”

“It's good to have you back,” said Chloe as she put her arm around my waist. “We have a lot of catching up to do when the men finish their fighting.”

“Just one last thing before I can go home...” I sighed. “There always seems to be one last thing before I can go home. More swords. More blood. More screaming and dying.”

“I spoke to your first girl today,” said Chloe. “She said very nice things about you. First girl to first girl, you know. A professional courtesy and all that.”

“Oh?”

“It was sort of like a handover. She recapped what you are good at, what your weaknesses are, and what areas I might want to develop in future to make you more valuable to your master.”

I smiled. “And where did I score high?”

“I think you know,” laughed Chloe. “Slut. Naomi said you were very popular on board ship.”

“That I was. And where did I score low?”

“Oh, that's for first girls to know.” She winked. “Perhaps I'll give you an appraisal at the end of the year?”

“You know, I have a horrible feeling you might do just that,” I laughed. “Congratulations, first girl. Brinn must have been impressed by you.”

“Well, the competition wasn't up to much.”

“Ooh, Chloe's head is swelling! Talking of heads, I do really like your new hair style. I always thought it was a bit 1980s before. This really suits you.” I ran my fingers through the soft, silky mane. “Keep it like this and I'll have some competition to worry about!”

“Not with Brinn you won't. He's been really depressed without you, Emma. He won't tell you that, but it's true. He has really missed you. I suspect you'll be chained to his bed for the first few days once you're back in the Sardar.”

“Yum!” I laughed. “And what about this man you've been all doe eyed over? What are we going to do to make him beg Brinn to sell you?”

“I'm... working on him... It'll be a lot easier for me once you're back at the estate. I won't be spending much time in Brinn's bed once you're there. Then Geralt will be all mine!” Chloe imitated an evil Bond villain laugh.

We sailed towards the archipelago of islands called the Pontarr which resembles the Galapagos islands in its diversity of flora and fauna. There we would conceal Brinn's ram ship, the Waverider, until Yishana arrived with Matias's vessel in close pursuit. The Waverider was bigger than Yishana's ship and was capable of carrying more men. It had been loaned to Brinn by the High Council of the Sea Captains of Port Kar, probably on the recommendation of Samos who had reason to respect Brinn.

I spent the nights pleasing my master in his Captain's cabin, making up for all the lost time since that day he had left the Sardar for his mission in Port Kar. I felt safe with Brinn, but I still had a nagging fear of what was to come. I had lived through too many 'adventures' on Gor to feel confident that the future might be kind to me.

My collar was soon replaced by one of Brinn's own. We didn't have the key to Yishana's collar, and she hadn't thought of supplying it, so a metal worker laboriously and carefully cut the lock away. It felt good to wear Brinn's collar again, though my time with Yishana had been more than tolerable.

“She is not cruel to her slaves, Master,” I said to him on the third morning as we lay in bed together after some mind blowing sex. This seemed to surprise him, for free women ordinarily despised slaves. “She treated me well. Within certain parameters.”

“I have never known you to speak well of a free woman before, Emma,” said Brinn as he played with my breasts. “This is a first.”

“I'm just saying, you have no reason to hate her. She is a complicated woman, but I would not want you to seek vengeance against her because of me. She treated me well.”

“Because of you?” Brinn seemed confused.

“Because she owned me for a time. I don't want you to be angry with her because of that.”

Brinn simply laughed, rolled me onto my stomach and began to fuck me again. “You do say stupid things sometimes, Emma.”

To my surprise the slaves onboard the Waverider were new to me. None of the girls had been on the estate when Brinn and I had lived there. Chloe explained soon after that Cassandra had sold many of the original girls when she thought Brinn had been murdered, including all the girls loyal to me, and Chloe had over the past year restocked the slave pens with new girls. Consequently none of these kajirae knew me as a former first girl. They understood that I was the mother of Brinn's children, and they had heard about me from second hand stories, and I think they were wary of upsetting me until they figured out just what I meant to their master, but they didn't think of me as having any formal authority on board ship, not that I particularly cared any more about that.

On the fourth night as we approached the Pontarr coastal inlet, east of the archipelago, Brinn presented me with a small goblet of what looked like wine in his bedroom cabin.

“Are you having some, Master?” I asked as I took the cup from his hand.

“No. This drink is for you, Emma.”

I sniffed the cup. There was a sweet scent to it that I didn’t associate with ka-la-na. When Brinn saw my puzzled expression, he explained.

“It is the releasing agent for slave wine. I have decided it is time to breed you again.”

I looked at him in shock. The last time I had been given the releasing agent it had been mixed in with my food and drink and I had been oblivious to the fact I was suddenly fertile.

“Breed me?”

“Yes,” said Brinn as he stroked my thigh, tracing his fingers over my brand as he liked to do while I sat on his couch. “A warrior needs sons. I want you to give me more sons. Strong sons.”

“It may be daughters,” I said, butterflies in my stomach as I gazed at the drink. Like all slaves I had no choice at all in the matter of whether I might bear children or not. The man who owned me would always decide that.

“Daughters are precious, of course, but a warrior needs strong sons.”

“I don’t really have any control over the sex of our children, Brinn. You know that. It’s random chance.”

“Of course. But I know you will do your best to give me what I desire. If you will it, your body will produce sons.”

“It really doesn’t work like that. It really doesn’t. And Jacinta is just as precious and lovely as Marik.”

“Drink,” said Brinn as he watched me. “You will find the taste of the liquid pleasant, delicious even. It is very different to slave wine.”

And so he watched me drink the liquid and yes it did taste nice. “How long?” I asked as I placed the empty cup down on the floor beside the couch.

“Your body will be fertile in a day or two,” he explained as he placed the palm of his right hand on my flat stomach. “Soon you will fill with life again. My Emma, my kajira. The mother to my sons.”

I felt slightly numb with shock. I didn’t know how I felt about this. Brinn had simply decided again that I would bear him more children. It was my function alongside giving him sexual pleasure and carrying out domestic chores.

“Are you sure about this? It might be sensible to wait until we are back in your Sardar home? We are going into battle soon.”

“It is a battle I will win. I like the idea of impregnating you at our victory feast, sparking life in the wake of war. My next son will be conceived on the battlefield, or close to it. War will be his legacy. My next son will carve his name on the thrones of Gor.”

I sighed. There was no talking Brinn out of any of this. And in a sense it was the basis of my power within his household. Other slaves might share his bed regularly, but only I would bear him children. So long as he wanted that of me, no other slave could really compete.

“I’ll give you another son,” I said with a certainty I didn’t feel. “He will be strong, fearless and proud to stand under your war banner. No other slave can give you a son like I can.”

Brinn was a sucker for speeches like that.

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“You have great beaches here,” said Chloe as we waded up to our shins through the coastline surf.

“Yeah, we do have those,” I said, nodding as I stooped to pick up a turquoise blue sea shell that I could see being drawn back along the sand by the outgoing tide. “I can’t believe how well I tan. I’m just the right shade of butterscotch. I’m going to miss my tan when I’m back in the Sardar. The sun here is so much better.”

“You tan quickly, Emma. You’ll be fine.” Chloe gazed out over the water to the sight of the Waverider ship anchored in this small bay. Brinn’s men had set up a temporary camp beyond the high tide point of the sand where they rested, enjoying the sunshine as much as us. Chloe and I had walked along the coastline for maybe two or three pasangs, keen to explore this archipelago of islands before it was time to set sail to join Yishana’s ship against the Cosian war vessel.

“When he was around, Dad used to take us to Cornwall once a year,” I said. “I only really remember two of the years; I was too young for the others; but the last time we stayed close to Marazion. Do you know it?” I pocketed the shell in the tight wrap of my breach cloth and then skimmed a flat stone across the water.

“No, not really.”

“It’s about as far south west as you can go, a few miles from Penzance. A lovely beach with shallow water that you can wade out in before you need to swim. It has this fabulous castle on a little island out in the bay, with a causeway connecting it to the mainland that disappears at high tide. Dad took us to the castle and pretended we were pirates landing there. He gave us all pirate hats and plastic swords and…” my voice trailed off a bit. “Bea played at being a pirate Queen and I was her first mate. Alan was just a new born baby at the time. I ran around screaming while Bea posed next to an old cannon overlooking the bay and dad took some photos. I don't even know why I'm saying any of this.”

And now Bea was on Gor. Bea was in Schendi.

“Emma?” Chloe gazed at me as the wind blew her hair about her face a bit.

“I keep thinking about Bea. She’s here, Chloe.” I had told Chloe all about the slaver house in Schendi earlier that day. She had hugged me and told me to speak to Brinn Maybe he would do something after this was over.

“How can she be on Gor? It just doesn’t make any sense. And how is she a slaver?”

“I don’t know.”

“But at least she’s safe? You saw that for yourself,” said Chloe.

“There’s no safety for women on this planet. There never has been and there never will be. Anything could happen to her.”

“Speak to Brinn, Emma. He cares for you more than he will ever admit. He hasn’t been himself at the estate. Losing you hurt him very much.”

“I want to believe that, I really do.” I gazed out to sea and watched the gulls flying in oblique circles around the cove in search of fish. “I worry so much. I have so much to lose if he ever grew bored with me. He could sell me and there’s nothing I could do about it.”

“He won’t sell you.” Chloe stepped up and held my hand. “You’re his love slave.”

“For now. But men grow restless. They look for other pleasures. One day he may grow bored of me. It terrifies me, Chloe. I sometime I have nightmares of all the other masters and collars I may have in some indescribable future. We’re going to live hundreds of years because of the stabilisation serum. I can barely imagine that as it is, but can you imagine hundreds of years of being bought and sold? Hundreds of years of slave pens and auction blocks? It scares me. I’m not sure I want to live several lifetimes. You’d think it would be a blessing, but the reality is anything but.”

“Brinn isn’t going to sell you, ever.”

“You don’t know that. We’re talking hundreds of years of life. People change in just twenty years. What will Brinn be like a hundred years from now? Mentally, I mean? Physically he’ll still be healthy enough to fight stupid battles with his stupid sword, but what will he be like as a person? I’m not sure our minds are hard wired for those kind of life spans. I think back to my grand parents and how they just gave up on modern society by the time they were into their sixties. I’m probably safe while the children are children, but once they're grown up and forging lives of their own, what then? Brinn has a roving eye. You know he does. He uses other kajirae regularly. While I was away he hardly slept alone, did he?”

“Emma, you’re working yourself up into a paranoid state that isn’t good for you. Yes, the Master uses other girls. He always has done, even in the early days when you were new to him. He’s not going to cast you away. But if you keep thinking this way it’s going to wear you down. There are no certainties in life, but you’re safer than most kajirae. I’m the one who should worry.”

“I’m just… so… so... scared sometimes… it’s like I think if I relax and stop focussing on what might happen, it WILL happen.” I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. “And there are so many kajirae who would want his collar. They’re out there, circling, just waiting to be noticed. They would replace me in an instant. I have no come back, no right of appeal. I could be in chains in the back of a wagon being taken to a slave market because of a stupid argument with Brinn one day. Cassandra selling me opened my eyes to what my future could be.”

“He’s not going to sell you! How many times do I have to… Emma?” Chloe suddenly saw the shocked expression on my face as I gazed over her shoulder and out to sea.

“Oh fuck…” I said with a mounting sense of horror, for we had just rounded a headland and there they were, a fleet of Cosian war ships, anchored in a bay, hidden from view of the Waverider. A Cosian war fleet, this far south from the island of Cos could only mean one thing. Matias had not come here alone with just his flag ship.

I pointed out across the headland and Chloe gazed at the sight of the Cosian encampment on the beach. I counted nine ships, and each one probably carried close to two hundred warriors.

“They’ve come for Yishana,” I said as I dropped onto my belly. “Get down!” I hissed at Chloe. “They might see us.” We both lay low on the cliff top and scrambled as close to the edge as we dared to go. The camp was vast, but it looked like it was being dismantled, ready for the ships to sail again. Brinn had no idea the Pontarr was sheltering the Cosians as well as his own ram ship, and the Cosians so far had to be ignorant of his presence, otherwise they would have sunk what was obviously a Port Kar vessel of war.

“This is very bad,” said Chloe as she gazed at the armed might of Telnus spread out along the beach.

“You think? Yishana is totally fucked. And so are we if we don’t get word to Brinn right now. If the Cosians spot his ship they’ll sink it. Oh God, why didn't we think Matias would do something like this?”

“I can’t see the flag ship,” said Chloe. “It's not there.”

“Of course it isn’t. It’s out on the high sea, luring Yishana to her doom. Yishana thinks she’s luring Matias somewhere she can ambush him, but he’s being shadowed by his fleet. She’ll never survive this. Once she’s in the vicinity of the Pontarr that fleet is going to emerge and envelop her. Even Brinn can’t save her.”

A horrible thought crossed my mind. “And Brinn won’t run away. He won't. Not while Cassandra is on board the Larl. Which means he’s going to die too.”

The Cosian army was impressive by Gorean standards. In this pre-technological age the relative size of military forces was smaller than you might expect. Typically a medium size city state might marshall an army of ten thousand men in the field, and even then they would be loathe to finance such a force for too long. So to see perhaps one and a half thousand men brought together this far south of the equator was a sign of how angry the island Ubarate now was. Yishana had insulted them repeatedly and they had tired of her disrespect at last. If it took ten warships in a crescent formation to trap and kill her, then Cos was now prepared to pay the price.

“We’ve got to get back and warn the Master,” said Chloe. “He will have to warn the Ubara somehow and she will have to flee. She can’t fight all these ships and men.”

“No, she can’t. It’s over for her one way or the other. Either Matias finds and traps her, in which case she faces death or a slave collar in Telnus, or she manages to flee and she carries on running and hiding for the rest of her life. If she sails back down river and hides in the jungles east of Schendi she may escape the Cosian fleet, but there will always be a price on her head, and if it is big enough, outlaw bands will find her.”

We crawled back away from the edge of the cliff, aware now that Cosian sentries stood on flat outcrops of rock at intervals along the coast line. It was a miracle that our men hadn’t encountered them yet, but that miracle couldn’t last forever. If and when the Cosians inspected the coast on the other side of this small island they would find us.

We ran through the grassland in a straight line back to our sheltered cove as if all the devils of Hell were hot on our tail. The sensible course of action would be to run before the Cosians even knew we were here, but Brinn had never been known to be sensible. His fucking honour would be the death of him one day, and that day might be drawing very near indeed. I have a good set of lungs and I ran the four miles easily enough with Chloe at my side. I felt winded when I reached the first of Brinn’s sentries but not so winded that I couldn’t tell him that we were in danger and I had to speak to my Master now.

Chloe and I found Brinn on the sand, gazing at a table on which he had spread and weighted down with rocks some sea charts supplied by Samos.

“Emma?” He could see from the panic etched on my face as I approached that I wasn’t coming with good news.

“There's a fleet of Cosian warships on the other side of the island! If they haven’t found us yet they will do very soon now!”

Brinn didn’t wait for any further information or explanation on my part. He immediately signalled for his runners to despatch news throughout the beach camp that everyone was now on full alert and that we would break camp and return to the Waverider immediately. Only then when men were running and disassembling the tents did he turn round and ask us for details.

Brinn asked me to account for everything and then he told Chloe to do the same in her own words. Where our accounts differed in minor details he cross examined us both to determine the most accurate version. Chloe for example had estimated the size of the army on the beach as being 300 more soldiers than I had. I of course was correct with my figures, but Chloe was convinced she was right too.

“It’s a lot of men, that’s all that matters, Master,” I said as Brinn seemed obsessed with minor details. “One thousand five hundred or one thousand eight hundred, we still have to run.”

“Yishana will be on her way to the Pontarr now, with Matias's flagship trailing her. She’s running straight into a trap within the islands of this archipelago. Her own trap, in fact, only reversed. If Matias has anchored his fleet here, I suspect Grigor may have passed on intelligence to the Cosians. The Ubara has only herself to blame for the way she belittled him.”

Oh, and you never belittled an enemy, I thought to myself. You’re as bad as she is when it comes to angering people.

But I kept my mouth shut.

Being right is of little consolation if it means you feel the whip on our back.

The wind was against us as the Waverider made to leave the sheltered cove on the eastern side of the island. Brinn ordered his men to the rowing benches and took the helm with his Port Kar crew to steer the ram ship away from the beach and out towards the open sea. The inlet in which we had sheltered was vaguely horseshoe shaped, which from a safety point of view worked well, but from a 'getting out quickly before the enemy spotted us' aspect meant we had to steer through a narrow exit point. If we were spotted before we could pass through the narrow straits we could be blockaded within the inlet by the Cosian fleet. It was an anxious ten minutes as we fought against the incoming tide to reach that vulnerable opening. I stood at the prow of the ship gazing out onto the blue water as the men of the Sardar strained at the great oars. I knew we were hidden while the Waverider was grounded on the sand of the beach, obscured from sight by the cliffs to either side, but the closer we got to the opening of the inlet, the smaller the cliffs either side became until they were little more than rocks above the surface of the ocean waves. If a Cosian ship was patrolling the eastern side of the island we would be spotted emerging from our harbour. At least Brinn wasn’t flying Port Kar colours, even if the vessel had the obvious paint designs of that city. Brinn’s standard of the Swooping tarn was plain for all to see. Brinn was a hero of central Gor. He was respected by the Ubars of many cities and more than most men he was allowed free passage to many cities. And then as we cleared the mouth of the harbour my worst fears wee realised and I saw it before Brinn did – a Cosian warship sitting in the water to our starboard. I could see it turning as we emerged under oar power, and I saw it run some flags up its mast to signal lookouts on the island. Those look outs would know to send their own long distance signals to the Cosian camp and from there to any other Cosian vessels already on the water.

I ran back to the aft deck where Brinn was in conversation with his captains. Chloe was already there, speaking to Brinn, who surprisingly listened to her advice. This was a new one to me. Brinn listening to the advice of a kajira? I mean, he often listened to me, but not necessarily to other kajirae. Chloe really was in his good books, it seemed.

“…because after all they’ve seen us, and they’ll be considering our reaction now,” said Chloe as she gestured with her hands. “If we run it will be an admission of guilt.”

“Agreed,” said Brinn as he stood there with his hand on the hilt of his sword. “My thoughts exactly, kajira.”

“But if we act friendly, they may think this is just a chance encounter.”

“It’s worth trying,” mused Brinn as he spotted me running up the steps.

“What are you going to do?” I asked as I skidded to halt before Brinn and Chloe.

“We’re going to greet the Cosian ship,” explained Brinn. “They don’t know we’re allied with Yishana.”

“They might do. Grigor may have told them.”

“No,” said Chloe. “Grigor only met Brinn a few days ago. The Cosian camp has been here for some time. We only reached the Pontarr yesterday. There is no way the Cosians could have rendezvoused with Grigor after we left and then got here before we did with enough time to set up a large camp like the one we saw. Grigor has told them Yishana’s plan, but they think she’s on her own.”

“Oh.” Chloe seemed to have thought this through well.

“But this is a Port Kar warship. That makes us an enemy.”

“True, but we have a full compliment of warriors on board. A single Cosian vessel will think twice about engaging us on the open sea. We’re too equally matched, or perhaps too dangerous a target. Unless the Captain has standing orders to engage a Port Kar ram-ship on equal terms he’ll stay clear. After all he has a far more specific mission in mind – to hunt down the Ubara of the Black Coast.”

“Brinn is right, Emma, a pair of carnivores in the wild will avoid one another,” said Chloe.

“I hope you’re right.” I watched as Brinn ordered our ship to slow its pace but continue to move in a straight line parallel to but away from the Cosian vessel. It was nail biting time as I saw further signal flags hoisted in the distance. Gazing out towards the shore line of the island I could see men waving a series of specific pennants for the ship’s captain to read. The messages would be in code but orders would be relayed to and from shore.

“We’re just going to act as if everything is normal,” said Brinn as we continued to glide across the water. “We both know we’re enemies, but neither of us is going to start anything. Everything will be fine. There's no need for fighting.”

“And then?”

“And then once we’re clear of the islands we’ll find Yishana and warn her,” said Brinn. “I’ll escort her to the mouth of the river that leads into the jungle and once she is safe in one of the estuaries, provided she gives me Cassandra, I’ll leave her to find some hiding place deep inland where Cos may never find her.”

“What if she doesn’t want to hide?” I asked.

“Then she can give me Cassandra before she chooses to commit suicide. Otherwise she’ll be fighting me as well as Cos.”

My instincts were telling me we should unfurl all our sails and just run at breakneck speed, but Brinn ordered the Waverider to maintain a slow, casual pace, as he gazed across the ocean at the Cosian vessel. It kept pace with us to our starboard, and when I picked up a telescope device I could see that the deck of the vessel was now packed with armed Cosian warriors.

“Their men are on deck with spears and shields,” I said to Chloe.

“Warriors do that,” she said. “It's like two cats watching each other, hissing in warning.”

“I really think we should run while we can.” I snapped the telescope shut and placed it back on the command table.

“You worry too much, Emma,” said Brinn as he gazed over the starboard rail. “I’ve fought in many wars and nine tenths of the time a military campaign consists of two armies manoeuvring around one another. You’d be surprised how little fighting actually takes place.” He caught sight of a flash of sunlight from the lens of a telescope on the Cosian vessel, indicating that someone there was watching us, the way I had observed them and, seeing that, Brinn smiled and waved to them in what I thought was a very unconvincing fashion. Brinn is very good with a sword, but not so good at pretending that he's friendly. “I fought once outside the gates of Venna in a ploughed field slick with mud, but it was the ninth attempt to force battle with the enemy. We had been alternatively refusing to stand and fight for weeks. Either we occupied the best terrain, and therefore the enemy declined to meet us, or they occupied the best terrain and we declined to meet them.”

“Brinn…”

“Don’t interrupt me, Emma. The battle outside Venna was brief and bloody, and not at all conclusive. Because that’s the other fact of war, soldiers rarely fight conclusive battles. A conflict can be over as quickly as it began as one of the two sides decides to pull back. The role of the skirmish screen for example…”

“Brinn!”

“What?” Brinn glared at me. “I don’t like it when you interrupt me, Emma, it’s not how a kajira should…”

“There are three more Cosian war ships!” I stabbed my arm out, pointing to the three armed vessels that had just rounded the headland and were now turning in the choppy sea to face us in a broad crescent formation.

“Oh.” Now Brinn snapped open the long range glass of the Builders and viewed the ranks of armed warriors crowding the decks of each warship. “That isn’t good.”

No it fucking isn’t, I thought to myself. The ships were signalling to one another with flags run up the masts as they tacked their sails into the wind and dipped broad, flat oars into the sea to increase speed.

“It appears they do want a fight after all,” said Brinn as he snapped the glass shut.

“You’re not going to fight them?” I said with alarm. “Tell me you’re not going to actually stand and fight four Cosian warships?”

“Of course not, Emma. A certain degree of military manoeuvring is permissible within my codes in a situation like this.”

I watched as Brinn shouted orders across the deck of the Waverider. Men sprang into action and suddenly our relaxed passage through the sea turned into full speed rowing as the men of the Sardar strained at the oars to put speed and distance between themselves and the Cosians.

“So much for that,” said Chloe as she joined me at the rail. “They must really hate ships of Port Kar.”

“Apparently so.” I suppose we were just too much of a tempting target. None of this would be happening if Brinn had acquired a ship from somewhere other than Port Kar, but I guess he didn’t have a lot of options to choose from.

And so we ran, with the Cosian fleet in hot pursuit. If I was alarmed at the sight of three vessels joining the first, I was even more worried when I saw another ship round the headland, followed by yet another. “It’s the whole fleet!” I shouted in alarm. “All of them!”

I suppose it made sense to keep the fleet together. All or nothing, especially since we were heading now in the direction that they knew Yishana’s vessel would be coming from, pursued by the Vengeance. We had wanted to warn Yishana, but now we were fleeing directly towards her with the entire Cosian fleet on our tail.

“Brinn, we’re going to lead the fleet straight to Yishana’s ship!”

“Unfortunately,” he said as he calmly drew his sword and began to oil it. “She’ll see the danger once we’re in her line of sight. She’s an experienced sea captain. She will know what to do.”

“Which is?”

“Make for the mainland. We’re going to have to abandon our ships and go inland. There are too many Cosian vessels in our wake. They’re spreading out into a wide line and all we can do is run directly away from them. That route takes us to the mainland. We’ll beach our ships and hide out in the jungle.”

“They’ll burn our ships!”

“Yes, but we have no choice. They won’t pursue us into the jungle, or if they do, then the advantage becomes ours.”

“Will we make it to the mainland?”

“Of course. I’m Brinn of the Sardar. I defeated Tarn Strike and ended the silver mask conspiracy in Port Kar.”

I think he actually believed that last sentence…

Yishana would not be expecting to see us for another couple of days. She would still be leading Matias on a dance across the Thassa, albeit within a prescribed area of the ocean that had been briefed to Brinn. She had wanted Matias to grow angry and careless in his pursuit of her by the time she then led him directly towards the Pontarr, but now with Brinn fleeing the security of the waters and inlets of the archipelago we were almost certainly going to run headlong into the Larl. My greatest worry was that Yishana might be heading in our direction, which meant she would be sailing directly towards the Cosian fleet when she first saw them on the horizon. Sailing ships take time to tack round one hundred and eighty degrees and the time it would take her to do so would bring the Cosian fleet closer and closer. Would Brinn stand with her as she turned, or would he simply sail past her? A stupid question. Cassandra was on board the Larl and so he would stand with her no matter the odds.

“We’re going to die,” I said to Chloe, which wasn’t what she wanted to hear now.

“Don’t say that, Emma. This ship is fast.”

“It is, but Brinn will not desert Yishana’s ship, and the Larl will take time to change direction towards the mainland. The Cosian fleet will close the distance in that time. And Matias will be behind her as she begins to turn. This is going to be a disaster.”

I explained all of this to Brinn and he nodded. “Your assessment of naval strategy is unfortunately correct, Emma. Pray to the Priest Kings.”

A thought occurred to me. Could they hear us? I mean, could they? I knew enough about the Priest Kings to know they weren’t hypothetical spiritual entities but rather aliens with technology so advanced it made them seem like Gods. And I knew that decades ago, at least as recently as the sixties, they routinely spied on the surface of the planet Gor through advanced surveillance devices. Could they see us? Did they routinely track the movements of their agents? Brinn was one, after all, and he had done them a great service, or rather I had. Could they hear his words if they chose to? It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility from what I knew they could do. And right now I was desperate.

“Priest Kings of the Sardar,” I said aloud. “I know you’re real, not like Yishana’s Gods. I know you can see and hear whatever you choose. If you can see or hear me now, please help us. Years ago I saved you from nuclear annihilation. Now would be a really good time to repay the favour!” I don’t know why, but I raised my arms in supplication towards the sky, as if to make a point. “Save us! Please! You can destroy the Cosian ships in the blink of an eye if you choose. You owe us!”

I stood there by the rail as the wind flapped my hair about my head, waiting for, I don’t know, a bright flame from the sky, anything that might put the fear of the Sardar into the Cosians. They could blow all of the ships out of the water if they wanted to. If they knew what was happening now.

“Priest Kings!” I cried to the bright blue sky with its few fluffy clouds. “Help us!”

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

“It was worth a try, Emma,” said Chloe softly.

“Remind me not to save the fucking Sardar mountains again any time soon,” I muttered in anger.

“They probably would help if they knew,” said Chloe. “They can’t be everywhere.”

“No? They’re supposed to be omnipotent Gods, remember.”

The Waverider is a fast and nimble ship, but the same can be said of the warships of Cos. Like Port Kar, it is one of the foremost maritime powers on Gor and as our men swiftly tired at the oars and we reverted back to sail power alone, we soon saw how good the men of Cos were. As the hours passed by we found the Cosians gaining on us little by little. I spent a good part of the day gazing from the stern castle, seeing the Cosian sails grow that little bit bigger than they were before. I watched anxiously as the crescent line matched our pace and, tacking into the wind, gained imperceptible advantage over the Waverider hour by hour.

“Their ships are better than us,” I said to Brinn as I joined him at the helm.

“No. My ship is simply too heavy and crowded for its size. I came here to fight a pirate, not wage war with Cos. I had to carry supplies for the entire voyage. The Cosians obviously have supply bases on islands in the region.”

“It’ll be night soon,” I said as I gazed up at the sun. Already it was lowering towards the horizon in the west where the Thassa ended in terra incognito – the unknown, unmapped territory of this planet. I knew however that the setting of the sun would not bring an end to this pursuit. There had been few clouds if any today and so the night sky would be clear until dawn. The surface of the ocean would be lit up by the almost full moons of Gor and the stars above us. With eyes accustomed to darkness, it is surprising how much you can see away from the coast. So long as the Cosians maintained their crescent formation they could keep us before them and that meant come dawn they would still be sailing to our rear. Ships rarely sail along a coastline at night because of the danger of reefs and rocks and other nautical hazards, but out on the ocean proper it’s possible to keep sailing, though sensible captains will reduce sail and travel slowly. Brinn didn’t dare reduce sail, and so the Cosians didn’t either.

“Get some sleep, Emma. There's nothing you can do,” said Brinn as he stood by the wheel. He had men in shifts holding our course, but he stayed up with them, taking readings from the stars and plotting our course on charts unfurled on his command table, weighted down with stones. Brinn had a good knowledge of the stars from his time in the Tahari when he used to navigate across the burning desert sands on the back of a kaiila.

“I’ll stay up with you, Master,” I said as I brought him a blanket. He stood there as I wrapped it around his shoulders and snuggled myself under the warm wool with his left arm about me. “I’m too tense to sleep tonight. Will we reach the coast before the Cosians catch us?”

“Yes,” said Brinn. He had been marking our potential route based on our current speed, and also marked the expected advance of the Cosians in the same intervals of time. I could see in the candle light they couldn’t catch us before we reached the Black Coast. But Brinn had also marked with inscriptions a cluster of points someway before the coastline.

“What are those?”

“That is where I expect we will run into Yishana. If so she will be heading towards us.”

“And it will take time for her to turn round?”

“Yes. The point closest to the coast line is where in all probability the Cosian fleet will enter projectile distance with us if we stand beside Yishana as she turns her ship. Five to ten pasangs from the coastline.” He indicated the marks on the chart. “Based on current speeds. And where I expect Yishana to be now.”

“So they will catch us?”

“They will be firing at us for the last part of our escape. Whether they hit us is in the lap of the Priest Kings.”

“And you can’t abandon Yishana, can you?”

“No, I cannot abandon Yishana. She has my sister.”

“Only that?” I snuggled close to him and felt the muscles of his chest.

“I gave the woman my word. And…” he paused for thought. “I do not think she would abandon me if circumstances were different.”

“She wouldn’t, Master. I know her very well. She would not abandon you to the Cosians.”

“Then how can I abandon her to the Cosians and call myself a man?” He smiled and kissed me. “Tomorrow after dawn we will stand with Yishana, the Ubara of the Black Coast. It is the way of the warriors.”

I was wrong. Some time around four in the morning I must have fallen asleep, because I woke to shouting. Brinn had wrapped me in the blanket and lain me on some sail cloth. I roused myself, feeling tired for lack of sleep and found the sun rising from the east. The shouting meant only one thing – the Cosian fleet had gained on us during the night. You never really know how well the enemy has navigated in relation to your own position until daylight returns. Then you either see the enemy ships or you don’t. To my dismay the Cosians had closed perhaps a third of the distance during the night.

Brinn brought me a cup of hot tea and some ship’s biscuits with a wedge of hard cheese.

“I fell asleep?” I said as I took the cup.

“You did. We didn't want to wake you, kajira.”

“How have they got so close?”

“They have an excellent navigator. I would offer him employment if I could.” Brinn sighed. I watched as he altered the marks on the map that predicted at what point the Cosians might enter long range for projectiles. The mark was now further away from the coastline than before. “If Yishana has to run, I do not think she will make it to the coast before the Cosians catch her.”

“We could surrender?” I suggested.

“Drink your tea, Emma,” said Brinn without looking at me.

The mood on the deck of the Waverider that second day was tense, quiet, and as the saying goes, you could probably hear a pin drop if it wasn’t for the lapping of the waves against the hull and the constant flapping and thrumming of the sail cloth, mixed with the creaking of timbers. So, actually, you wouldn't have heard a pin drop after all. In tense anxious times like this warriors don’t speak much. They sat marshalling their strength as the Cosian ships closed the distance further as the day wore on. The thing is there was nothing much to do. The ship only needed the helmsman and a handful of crew from Part Kar with specialist skills, and so we waited. Men played dice, oiled their weapons, prayed silently to the Priest Kings and trusted in Brinn to do the best he could for them.

Brinn was tense. I had rarely seen him looking so tense. He knew that the lives of his men lay in his hands, and that they were loyal men who trusted him implicitly. That is a heavy burden and a great responsibility on any Captain or Warlord. Brinn wasn't scared of dying, but I think he felt bad that he could not save his men.

He was even too tense to fuck me. I thought it might be good for his stress if he used me, but he pushed me aside when I suggested it. “I can’t be seen to leave my post,” he said as he stood by the helm, gazing back at the Cosian crescent line.

And then sometime mid afternoon we saw the Larl of the Thassa, and she was heading straight for us with a Cosian ship far to her rear. Yishana would have seen us but not the Cosian fleet to begin with. I can imagine her surprise at seeing the Waverider on its own heading towards her at top speed. She would have sensed trouble, but being unable to see the Cosian fleet until it appeared on the horizon, she wouldn’t have understood her danger. If only there had been some way to signal her immediately, but we were out of range for our flags. Nevertheless Brinn ran a series of flags up his mast to spell out danger. Another flag signalled to her to turn and run. But she would see the sails of the Cosians before she was likely to see our signal flags. I cried softly as I saw the Larl continue to sail towards us, unaware she was bringing herself closer to the Cosian fleet.

“Emma, all the slaves have been told to hide in the hold when the fighting begins,” said Chloe.

“I know. I’ve been in this situation many times,” I said as I gazed at the small shape of the Larl. How many times had I hidden in the dark in the hold of that ship while the ululating Askaris had swarmed over the deck of their prey? And now we were the prey.

“We are to submit the moment the Cosians board us. The Master has told us all to be clad in clothing that we can quickly strip away. It may save our lives.”

I had been so close to seeing my children again. Marik, Jacinta, you have no idea how close I had come to holding you in my arms.

And then I think the Larl must have sighted the Cosian fleet as it appeared on the horizon to Yishana's point of view. Because suddenly the sails of the Larl began to tack and the vessel began to slowly turn in the water. But in doing so it allowed Matias’s flagship to gain on her and the flagship of Cos was equipped with catapults and trebuchets and a powerful forward ram.

Yishana faced an agonising choice. If she did not turn then she would sail straight at the Cosian fleet. But if she turned, then she would present the side of her ship to the ram of the Cosian flagship.

“Full speed ahead,” ordered Brinn. “All men to the oars! We attack the flagship while Yishana is turning. Let’s give that warship something to worry about while it preys on the Larl,” snarled Brinn.

So that was it. Brinn would buy Yishana as much time as he could by attacking the Cosian flag ship head on. It was a sensible tactic, because only the flag ship could ram Yishana to begin with. And while Yishana was turning she would be an easy target for Matias. Unless Brinn came at him with his own ram and his own warriors.

I saw flags rise up Yishana’s mast. It was a signal to us, but I could not read naval flags. I turned to Brinn for an explanation.

“She can see us in attack speed aimed at the Vengeance.” Brinn lowered the telescope glass of the Builders.

“What do the flags say?” I asked.

“Yishana is telling me to save myself if I can. She has seen the Cosian fleet and can see I am willing to die fighting.”

“Oh.” I was proud of her, my former Mistress. She would face death herself, alone, allowing Brinn to escape if he could with the lives of his men.

“And?”

“I am more prepared to stand with her men than ever before.”

And so the Waverider charged at full sail and oar power directly towards the Vengeance. We had a single catapult on board and Brinn ordered an initial bombardment of the Vengeance as we moved into attack speed. Fire projectiles were raining down on the sea either side of the Larl as the Vengeance manoeuvred to ram the side of Yishana's vessel, while Brinn fired back at Matias. And all the while the Cosian crescent line of battle loomed ever closer, making it impossible for us to flee anywhere other than in the direction of the distant coastline.

“We should get downstairs, Emma,” said Chloe urgently.

“No. Not yet.” I stood by the helm chewing my lower lip in horror as I saw the Larl and the Vengeance close enough to make out figures moving on both decks. Somewhere out there Yishana would be shouting orders to her men. Matias’s ship was so much bigger than hers, but it had seen the threat posed now by the Waverider and its pursuit of the Larl was secondary to its own survival, for maintaining a course to strike the turning Larl would leave its starboard side exposed to our own incoming ram. Far better for Matias to play the long game and allow the crescent formation of his fleet to do the tough work and trap us against the coast.

A loud cheer went up on the deck of the Waverider as we saw Matias lose his nerve and swing away from the Larl, choosing not to ram her if it meant risking being rammed himself.

“Now she has time,” said Brinn. “We shall see how good her sailors are.”

And good they were. The Larl tacked hard and began the slow process of turning about one hundred and eighty degrees in a wide arc. But now the Vengeance turned its attention on us. Brinn had a few crossbows on board but by and large his fighting force was a shield wall and not missile armed. The Cosians however didn't lack for crossbows and as our ships came into range, the Cosians opened fire. Heavy quarrels thudded into the planks of the deck, striking a couple of men who weren't quick enough to pick up shields. Brinn ordered the men who weren't rowing to form a shield wall at the side of the Waverider facing the Vengeance and he screamed for Chloe and myself to get below as more bolts rained down at random. The Cosians were firing up in an arc to avoid the shields, trusting in random luck to hit something. Luckily for us crossbows are slow to load, compared to long bows, and the volleys were infrequent at best.

The Vengeance was simply buying time for the main fleet to come up behind us and open fire with its heavy weapons. And so we danced on the open sea, the Waverider and the Vengeance, neither of us wishing to present an exposed flank to the other, while close by Yishana turned her own ship to face the coast.

With their fourth volley of crossbow bolts, the Cosians on board the Vengeance changed tactic. Now the bolts were wrapped in burning tar soaked rags and again fired over the line of shields at the starboard side to land at random on the deck of the Waverider. Wherever the bolts thudded into timber, fire spread. With most of our men straining at the oars to manoeuvre more sharply and accurately than sail power might allow, Brinn had no choice but to risk his kajirae and order them back on deck with buckets to throw sea water over the rising flames. We ran quickly from the port side of the ship to lower our buckets into the sea and then, having hoisted the heavy burdens back over the rail, emptied the water over the fiercest of the fires. Plumes of black smoke rose intermittently from the deck as we doused the worst of the flames. And working in the centre of the deck away from the protective shield wall we were risking ourselves as targets, for the random crossbow shots were just as capable of dropping out of the sky into our shoulders or legs as onto the deck itself. I saw a brunette girl fall, screaming, as a burning crossbow bolt pierced her left shoulder blade. The smell of burning pitch against her flesh could be smelt as we doused her in water meant for the deck closest to the forecastle where two small fires had already broken out.

And all the while the Larl turned in its agonisingly slow semi-circle, while the Cosian fleet approached to within its own missile range. The catapults mounted on the Cosian ships tested the range, firing burning projectiles of pitch into the sea only thirty yards behind us. But now the Larl had completed its wide turning arc and, alongside the Waverider, was straining at the oars to drive headlong towards the visible coast line with its dark cliffs and tufted foliage at the summit. With combined sail and oar power the Larl and the Waverider simply drove forwards in a straight line, skimming past the cautious Vengeance as it raked our sides with fire arrows. The Vengeance could take its time in turning, for the main Cosian fleet was gaining on us as it drove us without respite towards the distant shoreline beach.

Now we were outside the range of the crossbows, but within the range of the trebuchets and catapults mounted on the warship decks. These far more deadly missiles rained down to our port, our starboard and our rear, and our greatest fear was to be hit by one of the burning missiles before we reached land. There was nothing either ship could do but pray to its respective Gods as we trusted to blind luck.

We were perhaps half a pasang away from the shoreline when a direct hit from a trebuchet landed a burning missile directly on the cabin section of the Larl. The missile stove in the upper deck with the weight and force of the projectile and scattered burning pitch and tar across that section of the ship. I couldn’t hear the screams of the Askaris caught in the path of that destruction, but I saw the dry timbers of the cabins erupt into tongues of flickering flames. The cabins belonging to Yishana and Kerim Shah were swiftly ablaze. Kerim Shah's cabin in particular began to pop and bang with brilliant flashes of fireworks as his various compounds, potions and powders ignited. Everything he had was exploding in sequence as the fireball tore through his alchemical apparatus. All his potions and compounds - the basis of much of his power on board ship - was part of that raging inferno. I saw a few Askaris, who weren’t already manning the oars, try to fight the fire, but it was a pointless battle. Not enough water could be raised in time, and already the timbers that formed the skeleton structure of the cabins were erupting into tall plumes of flame as they crackled, burned and collapsed. All the Larl could do was continue towards the shore, wounded, dying, and desperate.

And then I saw the shoreline itself and my heart sank, for there was a beach, and we could ground our ships on it, but there were cliffs, tall, jagged and impenetrable, with no visible access to the summit. We could land on the beach and make a last stand, trapped against those terrible cliffs, but I could see no way for any of us to reach the top before the Cosians closed in and slaughtered us all to a man.

This would be our last stand.

This would be our death.