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In apparent confidence, he turned his back on the man and walked away from him.

He did not deign to look back. His keen ears picked up the soft footfalls of the priest following him.

He had judged him well. The air of mystery and secrecy drew him to come alone, without waking his comrades.

Kennit strode on past other sprawled and sleeping men until he came to two others he had chosen earlier.

Dedge slept with his arm thrown protectively over Saylah.

She was curled around her own belly. He nudged Dedge twice with the tip of his crutch.

He indicated the man’s companion as well, and then moved on.

Obedient as a dog, the man woke the woman and then silently followed him.

They moved through the mostly sleeping ship.

Those who did stir or open an eye were wise enough to keep their thoughts to themselves.

Up on the deck once more, Kennit led them into the aftercastle.

He stopped at the chamber where Kyle Haven was confined.

A curt nod of his head to the map-faces made his will known.

Dedge unceremoniously opened the door and entered the chamber.

Kyle Haven started up from his untidy bunk.

His hair straggled wildly down his shoulders.

There was a stink of unwashed flesh and urine in the room, reminiscent of the slave-hold.

Kennit wrinkled his nose against it. His voice was mild as he stood in the door and suggested, ‘You should come with us, Captain Haven.’

Haven’s wild glance circled those who faced him. Sa’Adar was smiling. ‘You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?’ he asked hoarsely.

‘No.’ Kennit didn’t particularly care if the man believed him or not.

He turned to his map-faces. ‘See that he comes with us, silently.’ He lifted one eyebrow at Haven as he added, ‘I don’t particularly care what they have to do to ensure the silence.

Your cooperation is not essential, but it would be easier for both of us.

’ He turned away without seeing who would comply or how.

Sa’Adar annoyed him by hurrying to catch up with him.

‘Aren’t you going to wake the others? So they can witness this?’

Kennit halted in mid-stride. He didn’t bother to face the other man. ‘I believe I said I wanted silence,’ he observed.

‘But ’

The move came so naturally. He did not even think about doing it.

He caught his weight on his good leg, braced a shoulder against the wall and lashed out solidly with the crutch.

Sa’Adar caught the blow against his thighs and staggered back.

He clutched at the wall, mouth open with pain.

Kennit turned away from him. If the companionway had been wider, the pirate reflected, the arc of the blow would have been more effective.

He considered this as he continued his swinging stride to the deck.

It might be something he should practise.

He halted by the captain’s gig and waited for the others to catch up.

It pleased him that Haven had kept silent without being gagged or clubbed.

Obviously, the man believed in his power.

Perhaps he also realized that anyone roused by his cries would be unlikely to help him.

Whatever his reasoning, his compliance made everything much easier.

Ankle got to her feet as the others came up.

Kennit looked at his map-faces. ‘Fetch the chest. You know which one. Then prepare to launch the boat.’ The man immediately obeyed him.

The others waited silently. No one was stupid enough to ask any questions.

He rode in the bow of the boat. Ankle sat in the stem near the chest, and the two map-faces took one set of oars, the priest and Captain Haven the other.

Kennit pointed the way. From time to time, he quietly commanded changes in their course.

He guided them between two small islands and into the lee of a third.

Only when they were out of sight of both his ships did he finally point towards a fourth island that was their true destination.

Even then, he did not permit the map-faces to land on the beach of Keyhole Island.

He had them row on until they came to the mouth of a small bay.

Kennit was well aware that it was more than a bay.

What appeared to be an island was in fact little more than a wall of forest-topped cliffs, shaped like a near-closed horseshoe.

The bay filled its interior. One large island and a smaller one dotted the interior bay.

The sky was beginning to grey as he directed the rowers wordlessly towards the shore of the larger interior island.

From the water, it looked like any other small island.

It had an unremarkable shoreline, and was forested with scrubby trees and coarse brush.

Kennit knew that on the other side, there was a good deep-water anchorage, but for his purposes tonight, the rocky beach was sufficient.

At his gesture, the map-faces took the boat into shore.

He sat in it like a king on a litter as all the others clambered over the side and seized the gunnels to run it up on the shore.

They were scarce clear of the waves before Haven predictably let go of the boat and made a run for it. ‘Get him,’ Kennit commanded tersely.

A well-aimed rock from one of the map-faces felled him.

Wintrow’s father scrabbled on the rocky beach, but before he could come to his feet, Sa’Adar was upon him, seizing him by the throat and slamming his head to the ground.

Kennit was annoyed. ‘Bind the captain’s hands behind him and bring him.

See that the priest doesn’t harm him,’ he ordered his map-faces.

To Ankle he said, ‘Assist me. But only if I say I need it.’ The girl squinted at him but seemed to understand. She shadowed him.

While the map-faces were prying the two cursing combatants apart and restraining them, Kennit clambered from the gig.

The rock and sand of the beach were trickier for both his peg and his crutch than the smooth decks of the Vivacia had been.

Stones shifted under his weight and sand gave way unexpectedly.

Traversing it was going to be more difficult than he had supposed.

He gritted his teeth and tried to make his turtle’s pace looked measured and deliberate rather than laboured.

‘Well? Follow me!’ he snapped at them when they stood watching his progress. ‘Bring the chest.’

He found the old path without too much trouble.

It was overgrown. Probably the pigs and goats were the only creatures keeping it open now, he reflected to himself.

Few others besides himself had ever come to this beach, and it had been years since he had passed this way.

A slippery pile of fresh pig droppings confirmed his theory.

He navigated carefully around them. Ankle was right behind him.

Next came the priest and Saylah carrying the chest between them.

Dedge followed, manhandling Haven to make him keep pace.

Haven was not being quiet, but Kennit no longer really cared.

They could do what they wished to the captain, as long as he arrived intact. He was sure they understood that.

For a short time the trail led gently uphill.

Then it dipped and began to wind down into the gently rolling interior of the island.

Kennit paused for a moment on the lip of that small valley.

Forest gave way to tussocky pastureland.

A grazing goat lifted its head and regarded them warily.

Little had changed. To the west, he saw a tiny thread of smoke rising towards the sky.

Well. Maybe nothing at all had changed. The path gave a twist then headed through the forest towards the smoke. Kennit followed it.

The damn crutch was eating a hole in his armpit.

It needed more padding. More cushioning was needed in the stump cup, too.

He set his teeth and refused to show his discomfort.

Sweat was trickling down his back before he reached the clearing.

He halted once more on the edge of it. Dedge swore in wonder.

The woman muttered a prayer. Kennit paid no heed to them.

Before him stretched the tidy garden, laid out in neat well-tended rows.

Chickens clucked and scratched in a pen just beyond a small henhouse.

From somewhere, a cow lowed questioningly.

Beyond the garden were six cottages, once as alike as peas in a pod.

Now five of the thatched roofs sagged pitifully.

Smoke rose from the chimney of one that retained a roof.

Other than that pale moving pillar, all was still.

Beyond the cottages, the upper storey and shingled roof of a larger house were visible.

Once this had been a small and prosperous freehold, now this handful of houses was all that remained.

Years of careful planning had gone into it.

The entire settlement had been laid out with loving precision.

It had been an ordered and tidy world, designed especially for him.

That had been before Igrot the Terrible discovered its existence.

Kennit’s eyes travelled slowly over all of it.

Something stirred inside him, but he stifled it before the emotion could make itself known.

He took a slow, deep breath. ‘Mother!’ he called out. ‘Mother, I’m home!’