Captain's Fury (Page 55)

The problem was that the door wasn’t his obstacle. The law was. Tavi could have ordered Cyril to release him, but it would have required him to violate a number of laws, and that could have repercussions for him in the long run. It was by no means guaranteed that simply being Gaius Sextus’s blood heir would be sufficient actually to give him the power of a Princeps with which to protect Cyril from such actions. There was no guarantee that Gaius would accept him-and even if he did, there was no guarantee that the House of Gaius would continue holding the Crown.

He hadn’t dared to ask Cyril for much, for his own sake. He hadn’t told Cyril anything of his plans. He hadn’t asked for any cooperation of any kind, in fact. If things went bad, and Cyril was questioned by a truthfinder, later, he would honestly be able to say that he hadn’t helped Tavi escape and had no idea where he was going or what he was doing.

Where the crows was Ehren?

Waiting for dark, of course. From inside the cell, Tavi had no way of guessing where the sun was. He stretched, sighed, and settled in to try to sleep. Many soldiers learned how to take immediate sleep during any free moment- but officers rarely had any such time to spare, and Tavi hadn’t been able to pick up the trick of it. He lay with his thoughts for two hours, waiting for the sun to go down, until he finally managed to begin to drift off to sleep.

Naturally, that was when Ehren came. Footsteps approached the cell door, and Tavi sat up and swung his feet off the bunk. By the time they’d hit the stone floor, the cell door rattled and opened, and the sandy-haired little Cursor stood in the doorway, dressed in simple and well-made traveling clothes, a bundle of clothing under one arm. He tossed it to Tavi.

Tavi lost no time shedding his uniform and donning the unremarkable civilian’s clothing. "Any problems?"

"Not yet," Ehren said. He shook a rather large, rather heavy-looking purse at his side. It jingled. "I wouldn’t have thought Cyril had this kind of money."

"Merchant family. They have a lot of connections in the Senate." Tavi finished dressing, paused for a moment to consider, and then laid his uniform clothes out on the bunk, positioned as they would be if he had been sleeping in them. "There."

Ehren snorted. "That ought to make for an interesting rumor or two."

Tavi grinned. "Can’t hurt. What about the guard?"

Ehren tapped the purse again. "Two of the girls who used to work for Mistress

Cymnea have him pretty thoroughly distracted. We could smash our way through the wall with mining picks, and he wouldn’t notice."

Tavi let out a small sigh of relief. "Good. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt over this."

"The night is young," Ehren said.

Once Tavi was dressed, Ehren tossed him a long, dark cloak with a deep hood, similar to his own. They pulled the hoods up and left the cell. Ehren locked it behind them. They left the command building by the back door and hurried away through the darkened streets.

"How long before the wind coach arrives?" Tavi asked.

Ehren grimaced. "There’s a problem."

Tavi arched an eyebrow.

"Windcrafters were expensive and hard to find even before the war," Ehren said. "Legions all over Alera have been offering incentives to recruit more of them. All the fliers who haven’t gone into the Legions are overworked already, even with their prices raised through the roof."

"I don’t care what it costs. We need a coach."

"We aren’t getting one," Ehren said. "We’re in the middle of nowhere. None of the coaches are willing to fly all the way out to a war zone with empty seats."

"Crows," Tavi spat. "Where are we headed?"

"The docks," Ehren replied. "The others are waiting there."

Tavi stopped and blinked at Ehren. "A ship? We’ll have to sail halfway around the coast to get to the Gaul."

Ehren shrugged. "Beggars and choosers. It will take even longer to walk it."

Tavi sighed. They walked down one of the many wooden staircases that led down the riverbank to the extensive docks that lined both sides of the river. Taverns and warehouses lined the waterside, and if the Legions had departed, the traders and rivermen hadn’t. The docks were as busy as any other night, and Tavi and Ehren had no trouble blending in.

Ehren led them to one of the larger docks, and out along it to its lone occupant, a lean and ill-favored ship conspicuous for its lack of furylamps-and passersby. No one but themselves seemed willing to pace down its wooden length, and Tavi was just as glad. In the darkness, Tavi could just barely make out the letters on the ship’s prow proclaiming it the Slive.

Several cloaked figures waited at the bottom of the gangplank, and one of them broke away from the others to walk toward Tavi.

"Chala," Kitai said quietly, and embraced him. "I missed you. You are well?"

Tavi kissed her hair. "I’m fine."

His mother was close behind Kitai. She gave him a smile and an uncertain nod. Tavi released the Marat woman and went to Isana, hugging her.

Tavi felt a sudden sense of relief surge through her. She hugged him back, hard.

"Well have some time. We’ll talk," he said quietly.

She nodded, not speaking, and they broke the embrace.

Araris stepped forward from the shadows and nodded to Tavi. He offered Tavi his sword belt, and Tavi accepted it gratefully, glad to feel the familiar weight of the weapon once more at his side. Araris, his eyes in constant motion, moved silently to stand behind Tavi, watching the length of the dock between them and the shore.

"Captain," Ehren called quietly. "We’re ready."

A man appeared at the head of the gangplank and walked quietly down it. He was a little taller than average and lean, and wore a long blade at his hip. He stepped onto the dock and stopped when he was standing just out of reach of Tavi’s gladius-but within the range of his own weapon. He had a flat, cool mask of a face and the guarded, calculating eyes of a professional swordsman.

"This is Captain Demos," Ehren said. "He was the man who got me back to Alera in time to warn you of the Canim fleet."

Demos nodded to Tavi. "Who are you?"

"Rufus Scipio," Tavi replied.

Demos blinked once and shrugged. "All right. Ehren here tells me you have a job."

"I need passage to the capital and back. I need to move some goods discreetly. Can you do it?"

Demos shrugged. "Probably. If the price is right."

"Let’s talk price, then," Tavi said.

"I don’t haggle," Demos replied. "You pay it. Or you find someone else."