God of Eyes

The next day was only a bit brighter. I had not actually thought to get food for myself, so I ended up spending more on fresh bread rather than cooking in Manne's limited kitchen--a waste of money, even if it was better than I would have done with the unfamiliar oven. Eating dry bread and water for breakfast--not even toast--brought back memories of being a young man, of times before my life was caught in a series of loops known as adulthood... and of course, before all this. Even the temple had some fruit preserves and old butter to help keep people's spirits up as they fed on stale bread, although I was sure they were running low if not entirely out, now. I resolved to do some food shopping soon.

The shipwrights had gotten to the point where they were spending a good part of the morning hauling wood away from the wreck rather than detaching wood from the wreck. That was good, and it was nice to see that the wreck was much smaller and would eventually be gone, but I felt like they didn't have much pep in their step anymore. Either this wasn't the part of the job they liked, or Mel had gotten mad at them and they were dragging their feet in response.

Around midmorning, a trio of small schooners came into view, and after confirming that at least one was headed into port, went to fetch Mel. She was busy, and asked me to stall for a bit, which wasn't going to make anyone happy. As it turned out, though, I needn't have bothered: all three pulled into port, and the captain of the lead vessel demanded without disembarking that I fetch the mayor at once. After being told that I already had and she was coming soon, they settled in to wait, and I retreated to my post.

I had some hopes that they were here about the whole slaver/refugee thing, but after thinking it through, decided that the timing didn't work out. Mel had sent notice to the capital, but that was overland; unless they had a very dedicated mail service, or unless the capital was right nextdoor (I was pretty sure it wasn't, and was in fact high up in the mountains somewhere to the north-northeast), I figured it would be weeks before that message arrived, much less a reply. Most likely it was something mundane... or some other major problem.

Mel arrived maybe an hour after the ships docked, and the look on her face said she knew the ships meant business. The three ship captains also clearly recognized her, and all came out to meet her, along with an additional two funcitonaries and two guards. What shocked me, though, was the realization that none of them were human. Instead, each of those seven seemed to be a different breed of half-animal humanoid. Exactly which kind of animal each was, was something I couldn't put a finger on (certainly not without using godly power, and I was trying not to get into the habit of relying on them); they were mostly ambiguous canid or felid types, with one that was clearly a half-avian and another that was some kind of sea-mammal I didn't recognize. Mostly, they just... walked and talked like people, but I could tell from their walk that they would run very differently, and the aquatic one would doubtless swim very differently than the others. The avian... didn't show any signs that he could actually fly, which was probably more disappointing to him than me.

"Melnora de Olissandra," read one functionary, a vaguely feline woman, from what turned out to be a long, official-looking scroll, "mayor in good standing of Olesport, you are hereby given official notice that Olesport, as a city of Belma, is to draft a levy of soldiers before the turn of winter, when an invasion from the nation of Parre is to be expected on the eastern border..."

Words flashed instantly through my head, words I had seen among Manne's documents: "East man says fall". I swallowed but continued to listen.

"...no less than one company of regular or irregular soldiers, and one squad of auxilliaries, to serve in place of the Warrior Clans, who will be busy fighting the Parre forces." The woman collapsed the scroll, giving a smile that was probably more of a defiant smirk or scowl. "Failure to do so, as always, will be grounds to replace you as Mayor with a candidate of our choosing."

"Subject to the Weaver clans' approval." Mel's voice was icy, and I felt a strange tug. What was that?

"The Warrior Clans have every right--"

"Spare me." Mel--Melnora? Really? A nice enough name, I guess--stuck her nose in the air, and the atmosphere between them all was tense. But there was something... I realized suddenly that my Other Half was calling, and when I connected, I found myself in the Little Gods' Room... with Melnora de Olissandra, mayor of Olesport.

She wanted, desperately, to See. To See a way out, to See a way through, anything. It wasn't fully a prayer; she didn't seem to be there in the way that Felli had been. She was searching for an answer, and the prayer came only from her heart, not her mind.

Curious, I followed my instincts and pushed the image of Manne's note at her. Watching Mel flinch, seemingly out of nowhere, I reminded myself to be more gentle next time, and silently asked my Other Half to see if there was anything we could see to the east that would help. But, as an outsider with no understanding of the terrain or locals, I didn't have a whole lot of hope.

"Among our many responsibilities--"

"Among your responsibilities," cut in Mel, "is to protect our people from slavers." She gestured to the wreckage on the beach, "This, you will be greatly displeased to note, is all that remains of a battle between such people and two gods who descended, in the flesh, to right the wrongs you could not..."

My godly instincts twitched. Not because it had found something in the East, but because I felt immediately and distinctly that one of the functionaries--not the cat woman who read the scroll, the other, who was the half-avian--and one of the captains had all know about the slavers. Because... they had felt no reaction whatsoever to the fact that slavers existed, or that people--humans--had been affected. No, they knew those things, and they considered it offensive that Mel considered it "wrong".

I looked closer, intently. I would not have believed my luck to see it, but I pushed a feeling at Mel, using the connection she had opened. Showing her a ring on the finger of one of the captains, a ring I was certain was made of Tear Zinc.

I watched her eyes fall on the ring. I watched her stumble over her words, watched them fall flat on her tongue. And I watched as the other captains, and the two functionaries, followed her gaze. The captains did not know what she was looking at. But the half-avian did.

"Guards!" Mel's voice was amplified almost beyond belief. I would have thought it an overreaction, except that I saw, with perfect clarity, both of the guilty parties moving to draw weapons even before Mel sprung into action. The captain was too close to finish drawing; Mel kicked his weapon arm right in the bicep, with enough force to dislocate his shoulder, then hopped on her supporting foot and thrust-kicked the other nearby captain, who was completely surprised, in the face. The avian had a knife held underhand, but Mel was out of his range too quickly to be in danger. So, in a move that made not the slightest sense to anyone, he slit the guilty captain's throat, released some kind of magical burst, and rocketed over to the ship the two of them had come in on.

Its crew had reacted to the disturbance by immediately casting off, and for a long moment, I could only stare, watching the bird-man land gracefully on the suddenly departing ship, then release another magical burst to speed them on their way. Although I was only a dozen feet away, I couldn't possibly get there in time, not without some kind of godly power or magic that I had no way to explain. Although, I felt, my body might now be strong enough to run and dive... I had only just recently used the excuse of being sick, and couldn't see myself getting away with any kind of heroic mad dash to stop them.

"Alanna!" Mel's voice rose to the heavens. "Please...!"

But there was no response from the temple. The two captains started to flee back to their own ships, with the two guards they had brought along quickly drawing blades and fighting back Mel. After only a moment, Mel got a bad cut on her leg and another on her forehead, enough that she was clearly out of the fight. I couldn't do anything, except charge at them and--

No. Something in me told me that instinct was wrong, and I paused and looked around again. There were the two guards, yes... but there were also the two captains, and the cat-woman with the scroll. They were the ones the guards had sprung into action to protect, and they were the ones in charge.

I quick stepped in their way, spreading my arms to show I was without weapon. "Please," I said. "Call off the guards. Mel--"

"She attacked me!" The injured captain snarled at me, and took two steps foreward and lunged at my throat. Although he was furious... I trusted my instincts and let him grab me by the throat, keeping my arms spread and lifting my chin as much as I could.

"Words... can solve this..." I could barely breathe. "Please..."

The cat-woman looked back, and I thought she didn't understand what she saw. So I pushed, with my godly body, the image into her mind of the avian diplomat slicing the throat of the captain and fleeing. Immediately, she turned back and looked at the fleeing ship, and laid one hand on the captain's arm.

"Captain..." her face was now deadly serious. "We've been betrayed. Halan had his neck cut open, but Melnora has no blades, and she doesn't use them. Meanwhile, his ship has already left--with that bastard bird aboard."

That captain threw me down and looked to the fleeing ship. "What kind of crew would embrace their captain's killer?" The sound of his voice was rough, and there was an unmistakable bloodlust in it--now, thankfully, directed somewhere safer than me or Mel.

"Ring," I pressed, coughing as my throat wanted to spasm uncontrollably. "Captain's ring... slavers. Mel saw it."

The cat jogged back to the body, snarling a quick "Stand down!" at the guards who were reading to face off against the town guard that approached. After only a moment, she picked up the captain's hand and had the ring off of it.

"It's just a ring," she snapped at me. "No markings of any kind. How could you know it was--" she paused, and squinted at it. "It's... is this..."

I heard Mel say something, and although I wasn't able to hear the words myself, I knew what she said. And sure enough, the cat woman cut a thin strip of fabric and rang the ring, and the sound was so pure and loud I was sure the men aboard the two ships still docked all heard it plain as day. From where I stood, I could almost see the blood of the two captains run cold, and the one who had been kicked in the face turned and gave what I would call a generous accounting of the sexual proclivities of the dying, traitorous captain.

By now the town guard arrived and surrounded their mayor, with Captain Bard immediately detailing someone to bring her to Cortnee--an order that Mel countered immediately, and she struggled against her headwound to sit up and snarl at the cat who had delivered the nation's ultimatum.

"Do your duty," she said, "and we'll answer your call for soldiers... but get those... blasted... slaver, pirate... necromancers..." She shook her head, looking more and more woozy, and Bard had her immediately hauled off, with another two guards detailed to protect her.

Then, Bard made the unwise choice of ordering the arrest of the ship guards, and there was an immediate clash, which neither side showed signs of winning without casualties. I struggled back to my feet and rushed forward. "Captain Bard! Stop!"

Bard, to his credit, clearly heard me, took a moment to recognize me, and put a hold on his order. But the town guard did make sure to circle around and keep a threatening pressure on them, as though ready to charge when he gave a word.

With Mel gone, that left me in the position of trying to smooth this all over alone. So I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Captain... the guards were doing their duty. The ship captain now dying here," I gestured to him, "...Mel saw his ring. I trust she told you about that, and you heard it yourself. The captain and another drew blades when they realized she knew, but the guards only saw her attacking. The other escaped..." I turned and pointed out the fleeing ship, "and the rest, I think, had nothing to do with it, or they would have gone too."

"How sure are you sure this man and the one who escaped drew blades before Mel attacked?" Bard's voice was on edge, but I think he was doubting that part of my story as much as he was believing everything else. "Think hard."

"From where I was looking, sir, it was clear. Their knives were on the back of their belts, and I was behind them." That was true enough.

Bard looked right in my eyes, and I was intimidated, not by him, but by the chance I might blow my cover somehow. I suppose that guilty conscience was a bad sign at a time like this, but everything I said was true, so all I could do was act like it.

"And who are you?" Bard levelled his next question to the cat woman. I had to trust that my part in this was over, and I backed away gratefully.

"Prenima de Selmont, second cousin to Velimar de Selmont, leader of the Selmont Trading clan." She hadn't looked quite that haughty before, but having been given the chance to give her title, it had perked her up right away. "We were here to discuss business with Menora de Olissandra. In particular," she gave a toothy, somewhat predatory smile, "a conscription notice."

From the looks the guards shared, they didn't like that idea one bit, but Bard kept a straight face. "Three ships, none of them a ship of war. I can easily believe that you came from Selmont... or from the Warrior Clans." He switched his eyes out to sea, where the last schooner was well on their way, probably well past the point of catching. "After all, one third of your number were traitors."

Oh, that burned them. I had to struggle not to laugh, since unlike the guards, I had no armor, no weapon, and no shield. A few of the guard did laugh out loud, but others among their ranks--I assume officers of some sort, or just the more level-headed ones--shut them up pretty quickly. Prenima stared daggers at anyone who laughed, and oddly, I could sense a vague prayer in her heart--not to me, since she knew nothing of me, but a vague request that she gain the ability to literally hurt people with only her eyes.

The thought of granting that prayer amused me, but I didn't have time to try before the moment passed. I made a mental note to look into that, and also to ask Alanna if I now had some kind of actual domain over Eyes or if that kind of general prayer reached all gods. Maybe just within a certain range? I didn't know. I had guessed that Mel might have heard of me from Felli, or possibly even from Lucile, but maybe I had just been close enough to hear a general prayer?

"Enough," said Prenima, after she straightened up and restored a touch of dignity. Suddenly, she just looked tired. "Laugh, if that's the kind of men you are, but we are expecting an invasion come winter. You will serve, or your precious leader will be replaced by someone more willing to serve the Clans."

"If that is what the Weavers decide," replied Bard.

"The Weaver clans are not the rulers of Belma!" Prenima's snarl was fierce. "And they will not save you. They would not save us, and we are far more important to their business than you are. So put your faith in them if you must, but know this: neither humans, nor Olissandra, nor her town here, are an exception. We rule, and we call upon you to fight, to defend our nation and our home."

With a quick move, she stole the sword out of one of the ship guards' hands, stepped forward with a twirl, and ended with the tip of the blade at Bard's throat. The town guard started to rally, but Bard raised one hand to stop them, managing to keep his cool in spite of it all. Prenima didn't seem impressed by his composure, instead stepping forward while keeping the sword tip in place, so she could speak much more softly. I couldn't quite hear, but from the tone of it, she was defiant, trying to see if he dared oppose her directly.

He didn't.

So she passed him the official conscription notice, and the five remaining loaded the now-dead captain's body aboard Prenima's ship, then the two ships departed without further fuss. They also, I realized, hadn't boarded any supplies; I suppose that meant they weren't going far. Without a map, I couldn't have said if that was important or even interesting, but it certainly suggested to me that they werent' going to chase the fleeing ship. After all, who knows where that chase would end up; I decided an experienced captain would probably be wary of giving chase without extra supplies. That, and the woman's attitude didn't seem to suggest she cared.

But then, she had called the half-avian man a "bastard" and phrased his actions as betrayal. And the one captain had definitely been pissed.

Either way, they departed in roughly the same direction as the fleeing ship, and made some haste to get underway. As I watched them go, I couldn't help but think one thing, over and over.

Olissandra and her town? Really? So this was Olissandra's Port? I guess that makes sense.