Quint clutched the rail and tried to empty his stomach, but there was nothing left. “I’m willing as long as I can stop the seasickness.”
The purser laughed. “Everyone has a remedy. The ship’s doctor will give you a choice of them.”
Quint took a deep breath and held it for a moment. “It was Calee who knocked me out with a vase. I hope that doesn’t make a difference.”
The purser looked at the door leading to the cabins. “We thought something odd happened when Fedor Danko and his daughter showed up with an escort of military people wearing black uniforms.”
“They might be aligned with the wrong people, but that doesn’t make a difference now, as long as he doesn’t try to toss me overboard,” Quint said.
“Danko can’t mess with crewmembers,” the purser said, “or he’ll find himself in the brig down below for the remainder of the voyage.”
The captain emerged from below and walked over to them.
“Evidently, Fedor Danko is disappointed we brought you on board, Tirolo. Is there a reason why?”
“Bocarre was in a bad way when you left, as you probably know. I thought Danko was a friend, but it appears he was aligned with the same ones who massacred most of the hubites in Racellia including my family and friends, but if black uniformed soldiers escorted them onto the ship, he has already changed sides.”
“But he’s a hubite like the rest of us,” the captain said. “He wouldn’t support a mass killing.”
“Calee was responsible for this,” Quint pointed to his bandage. “I’m willing to put all that aside if I can flee from Racellia. It will soon be swallowed by the newly established Gussellian empire, anyway.”
“As long as you won’t seek revenge on the ship, I will let you work with Horenz, here.”
Quint nodded. “I’m not used to the ship,” Quint said, “but I appreciate your helping me. I’m a wizard and if you need any magic that I can perform, it will be part of my job.”
“That’s what Horenz said,” the captain looked at the purser, who nodded. “I’ll let your superior deal with you and will tell Danko, who is still in my cabin, that you’ll be peaceful on board.”
“I promise,” Quint said.
“Good. I’m sure you have an interesting story, and I’d like to hear it later, especially after Danko tells me his version. I’ve got to get back to the quarterdeck.” The captain nodded, the purser saluted by touching the brim of his cap and Quint turned back toward the sea as his stomach lurched again.
“You’ll have to tell me how to act appropriately, sir,” Quint said to the purser. “I’ve been in the military for a few years and know how to act as a soldier, now you’ll have to teach me about how to act like a sailor.”
The purser took Quint to the ship’s doctor who gave some medicine that the doctor claimed never failed. Quint hoped so. His stomach muscles were sore from the constant activity. Then he was shown to a tiny windowless cabin that was smaller than his closet-sized bedroom when he was a servant in strategic operations. He had enough room to turn around and his bunk was on top of a set of built-in drawers. He laid down and felt the swaying of the ship, but it didn’t seem to bother him as much.
Someone knocked on the door. Quint slid the door aside and looked into the eyes of Calee Danko.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
Quint gave her half a grin. “You can, but this is a tiny place to talk.”
“I’ll chance it,” Calee said, sitting on the bunk with her legs dangling facing Quint, who had her leave the door open.
“We thought you were dead,” she said.
“With all thanks of that to you,” Quint said.
“With thanks to my father. He told me to knock out whoever came through the door.”
“Did he know it was me?” Quint said.
She shrugged. “He said afterwards that he thought it might be you.”
“What did I do to him? All he had to do was say he was safe, and I would have gone away.”
“Father didn’t know that. You had just killed five men.”
“Put them to sleep,” Quint said. “I didn’t kill anyone. It’s easier and less messy to cast a string. As I thought before you hit me, I thought it odd that he would say he expected me and then told me I disrupted things?”
“Anyone else would have killed the guards, wizards and the Grand Marshal if they were anyone but you. The original plan was to blame the Gussellian Empire for the massacre. With your meddling, word spread quickly that it was Giulica’s doing. You unwittingly threw everything into an uproar, spoiling my father’s plans to save Racellia.”
“At the expense of a few thousand hubites?”
Calee bit her lower lip before speaking. “They were Racellian hubites, not hubites from Narukun.”
“Even fellow hubites hate us.”
“Hate you? There aren’t many hubites left on South Fenola,” Calee said. “What does that matter in the grand scheme of things?”
Quint shut his eyes. He had promised not to exact revenge, but the anger swelled at Calee’s callous indifference at his own tragedy.
“That means that your death and the death of your father mean nothing. You’ll both expire at some point and humanity won’t know the difference and won’t care. Do you see how your father’s attitude can justify all kinds of evil acts.”
“Evil is in the eye of the beholder,” Calee said.
“And that is why wars are fought and people die needless deaths because both sides see their sides as the righteous ones,” Quint said. “I promised the captain that I wouldn’t exact revenge while on board his ship. I don’t know when you’d have me killed before I joined you on this voyage, but I have no illusions and know that you would have tried. You helped me get established when I arrived from the south, and there is still that obligation, however, that ended when you…” he looked coldly into Calee’s eyes. “When YOU tried to kill me. I am making my own way to Narukun and will find my way when I arrive. Be civil to me, and I’ll be civil to you. I’d rather not talk or even look at you for the rest of this voyage. Please leave.”
Calee’s eyes widened as she jumped off the bunk and left without saying another word. Quint slid the door closed and climbed into the bunk. He sat, taking deep breaths and trying to put the conversation behind him. He couldn’t carry such anger on the voyage.
