BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 106:
"Will you please come to bed?" Lyzbet Walkyr demanded.
"What?" Edymynd Walkyr turned back from the rail as his wife appeared behind him. She looked at him for a moment, then folded her arms and shook her head.
"I said that it's time you came to bed," she told him severely.
"Yes, I know. I'm just . . . getting a little fresh air."
"Standing up here trying to gather the courage to tell me you plan on leaving me home next time, you mean."
Edymynd winced slightly at the directness of her acerbic challenge, but then he shrugged.
"That's part of it, I guess," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I know it's going to make you unhappy — which probably means I'll be lucky to get back to sea myself without getting my head split open with a cookpot! But, there it is. I'm not going to have something happen to you, Lyz. I'm sorry, but I just can't do that."
He couldn't see her face very well on the darkened poop deck, but he recognized the softening in her body language. He didn't speak all that often of the depth of his love for her, although he knew she knew how deep it truly was. She stood there for another moment, then crossed to his side and put her arms about him.
"Don't you dare cheat that way," she said softly, laying her cheek against his chest. "And don't think you can turn me up all soft and obedient with a little sweet talk!"
"Oh, believe me, I'd never think that," Edymynd told her, hugging her back.
"Good." She stood back, holding him by his upper arms as she gazed up into his face in the dim backwash of the anchor lights. "I wouldn't want you thinking I'm going soft in my old age. But –" she leaned closer and kissed him "– if that's the way you're going to be about it, I suppose I'm going to have to put up with it. This time, anyway."
Edymynd was wise enough not to breathe any prayers of gratitude where she might hear them.
"In that case," he said, instead, "let me make one more swing around the deck, and then I'll be happy to come below and turn in."
"Good," she repeated, in an entirely different tone, and he grinned as he heard the challenge — and promise — in her voice.
He gave her another quick kiss, patted her on her still remarkably firm and shapely posterior, and started forward.
* * * * * * * * * *
"All right, let's go!" Sergeant Dekyn whispered harshly, and his platoon started moving silently — or as close to silently as twenty-five cow-footed infantry troopers were ever likely to move — down the length of the dimly illuminated pier.
He glanced over his shoulder at the under-priest who'd attached himself to the platoon. Dekyn didn't much care for the priest's fervent manner. And he cared even less for the feeling that the platoon had two sergeants now. Or for the fact that the second one was senior to Dekyn himself.
Enough room for things to go straight to hell already without having the troops looking to someone else for orders at the same time, he thought grumpily. Why, oh why, can't officers and priests just stay the Shan-wei out of the way and let the sergeants get on with handling the details?
He returned his attention to the task at hand as he and his men neared the first vessel on their list. They were just coming even with the lantern at the foot of the ship's gangway when there was a sudden shout from further up the pier.
"You, there! Stand aside! We're coming aboard!"
"Shan-wei!" Dekyn swore as he recognized the voice.
He'd never thought a great deal of Sergeant Zohzef Stywyrt, who ran the company's second platoon. In his considered opinion, Stywyrt was stupid enough to make a perfectly serviceable officer, but they'd both been present when Captain Kairmyn gave them their orders. Which meant even Stywyrt should have gotten his men aboard the very first ship on his list before he started shouting challenges from pierside!
"Okay, let's pick it up!" he barked at his own men as shouts from the Charisian galleon's harbor watch responded to Stywyrt. The Charisians didn't sound very happy — or cooperative — and Stywyrt shouted something louder and considerably more obscene.
"Idiot!" Dekyn muttered under his breath. "What the fuck does he –?"
The sergeant's question chopped off as the shouts were abruptly punctuated by the unmistakable "chunnnng" sound of an arbalest's steel bow and a throat-tearing scream.
"Goddamn it!" Dekyn snarled.
Less than a minute into what's supposed to be a quick, quiet job, and that stupid son-of-a-bitch's already letting his men shoot civilians!
* * * * * * * * * *
Greyghor Walkyr was fourteen Safeholdian years old. He'd spent almost a third of his life at sea on one of the family's two galleons, but this was the first voyage when he'd been allowed to actually begin discharging some of the duties of a real officer, rather than being stuck as a glorified cabin boy. It had been a heady experience, but even that hadn't been enough to blind him to the tension gripping his parents, especially since their arrival here in Ferayd. He didn't fully understand all the issues involved — in fact, he didn't fully understand any of the issues involved — in Charis' confrontation with the Church. He'd been too focused on his own suddenly expanding professional horizons to worry a great deal about that.
Still, he'd felt the anxiety, and — like his mother (and, for that matter, every other member of the crew, as well) — he knew exactly where his father went to worry about things aboard Wave. He wasn't about to intrude upon his parents. His ears would have rung for five-days from the clout his mother would have fetched him if he'd dared to do anything of the kind! On the other hand, a junior officer, even one in the early stages of his training and career, had certain responsibilities. Which was why Greyghor had taken to making his own quiet rounds of the ship before turning in at night.
He'd been careful not to get too close to his father and mother as he waited for them to go below so he could be about his self-assigned additional duties without the undoubtedly sarcastic comments they would have made if they'd realized what he was up to. But he was close enough to see his mother's head snap up as voices shouted somewhere further along the pier. Greyghor was still trying to figure out exactly which direction the shouting had come from when it was interrupted by the most horrible scream he'd ever heard in his life.
He jerked to his feet from where he'd been seated on a coil of rope and started across the deck towards his mother just as she crossed to the pierside bulwark with three or four quick strides. She grasped the rail, looking down towards the pier.
"Who are you?!" she shouted suddenly. "What d'you think you're doing?!"
The shout from dockside was too indistinct for Greyghor to understand. Something about "Mother Church's name," he thought, even as he heard his father shouting something urgent at his mother from further forward.
"Stand off!" his mother barked. She charged down the steep poop deck ladder to the main deck and towards the head of the gangplank. "Stand off, I tell you!"
"We're coming aboard!"
This time, Greyghor understood the shout from the pier, despite the Delfarahkan accent of the shouter.
"The Shan-wei you are!" his mother shouted back, and snatched a belaying pin from the pinrail beside the entry port. "This is my husband's ship, and you bastards aren't –"
The meaty, ripping "thud" the arbalest quarrel made as it tore through his mother's body in a spray of blood was the most horrible sound Greyghor Walkyr had ever heard.
The impact threw her aside, without even crying out.
"Mother!" Greyghor shrieked. He thundered across the deck towards her even while he heard fresh shouts — angry, conflicting shouts — coming from the pier.
First time I’ve ever seen an arbalest-based cock-block…
I can see how the emotions presented in these last few scenes will serve as justification for when a reprisal fleet arrives from Charis to destroy this port. The church’s inexperience with Martyrdom is showing, but then again such concepts will become new to Safehold.
The snippets are sure milking this particular chapter
May the Church burn in hell…. they’re nothing more than a bunch of rats. Only way to deal with them is to exterminate them.
ahh! such a small snippet…
But sadly as I thought those at the pier are “toast” those further out in the water will be the ones with a fighting chance
Have a great weekend everyone
Oh well, it has started…not good for the good people of Safehold. There is nothing so foul as a war over faith, which is suspect is DW’s point in all this…. It begins…
Have a great weekend everybody!!! :-)
In a several years, it would seem that 14 year-old is likely going to be one dangerous RCN officer…or perhaps privateer captain.
Either way, a stupid NCO (I wonder if he was hoping that doing such a thing with a church agent along would improve his chances for higher rank?) is likely going to lead to further anger towards the church.
Run out the guns and sweep the pier with grapeshot and canister, repel boarders with cutlass, pike, and grenades. And in the worst case fire the magazine, surrender is not am option here!
Only DW knows if that kid will actually live to become a real officer of Charis’ navy or not. I just hope the mainlanders get the crap blown out of them. Oh yeah, THE FIGHT HAS STARTED, DON’T YOU DARE STOP THE SNIPPETS NOW
I think DW should have had one of the under priests do the shouting. Sergeants are not as self important as religious figures, and much more likely to be aware of the consequences of giving any enemy advance warning. A combat soldier knows his objective is to defeat the enemy, not to impress them with his personal importance. Not that stripes cancel stupidity, but the sergeant knows he can be shot at; the priest does not. CS
Charisian merchant sailors have military experience. The King of Delfarahk doesn’t like to spend money on his military. Delfarahk likely has limited naval forces and 1/3 should be unfit for sailing due to maintenance. Their galleys are more ‘personal yachts’ and not military vessels. With no significant enemies or funding, their army is more like a large militia to enforce policy. Limited training. Skeleton gun crews for the waterfront batteries only.
This reminds me of someone going up to a hornet’s nest and shaking it to see if they are inside. I expect some will be captured, maybe the boy, but this town will be burnt in vengeance by the remaining crews. Then the departing ships could seize and destroy the gun emplacements on the islands at the entrance.
True, CS, but at the same time there are probably just about as many stupid seargeants as there are stupid priests as there are stupid anything else…
It’s not unbelievable. Unlikely in a truly professional army like Charis or the US or the like, but not unheard of even on rare occasions in “top of the line” armies. And more so in ones that are merely average and especially so in the completely sub-par ones. I get the impression this army is probably fairly average. Their kingdom hasn’t been swallowed up by the Empire, which suggests a decent probability that at least one of the following is true A) somebody else is distracting the Empire so they haven’t gotten around to these guys yet, B) these guys have an understanding with the Empire (i.e. they pay tribute but maintain nominal independance) or C) they have some decent soldiers and probably a terrain advantage to prevent the Empire from steamrollering them easily. But even if C is the case I wouldn’t be surprised if the ones so far away from the “front lines” are the local equivalent of those too stupid to pour piss out of boot with instructions written on the heel.
RH
Kim we don’t know for sure that the King doesn’t like to spent money on his military. We only know that he “pinches Marks until they squeal”. Since he’s not actively at war and we know the batteries aren’t fully manned as a result that probably means he isn’t lavishing money on his military, but he also has the Empire right next door, so failing to maintain at least SOME military would seem extremely stupid to me. Then again, there are also probably just as many stupid Kings as there are stupid sergeants…
RH
Gah that didn’t come out right. I mean to say that failing to maintain some military “in fighting condition” (I.E. well trained and at least decently equipped) would seem extremely stupid. On the other hand, as I said to CS earlier, I’d expect those “better” troops to be paying more attention to the border with the Empire (or perhaps the one with Sodar, if I’m reading the map right) instead of the port…
RH
Garrison Troops=F*%kups does seem a universal rule. I still think the point would be better made by a self assured inquisitor.
Thinking about it, a ship rigged galleon would require a crew of thirty to fifty men to handle sail quickly in heavy weather. In the days when piracy was common all hands and the ship’s cook were competent with close quarters weapons. A short squad of garrison troops with no knowledge of ships on a hostile ship in the dark could get themselves in deep do-do at those odds. Maybe all the ships tied up at the quay aren’t instant captures. I wonder which way DW goes with this one. Numbers and rage on one side, better weapons, surprise, questionable discipline and inexperience on the other. Messy-messy.
Amazing how predictable Weber and his most loyal fans are. I knew she was toast the first I heard she was onboard.
It sounds as if this person is known for being dumb. I bet these guardsmen are more used to dealing with local civilians and minor crooks that are easily spooked. Also, this person…Stywyrt is maybe one of those who, given a part in a big task want to show off and think they know better how to handle a situation – or WANT to provoke a fight, again to prove they can crack heads. Especially, when they are used to people immediately obeying their orders.
I believe that the dumb guy’s actions are a reflection of the self-denial in people which states that the Church’s will is a key to any situation.
There’s going to be a lot of people running on willpower without brainpower in the future as the means of power that the Church holds is destroyed. An entity which seeks to preserve authority over winning a conflict in the most efficient way possible is virtually guaranteed to waste a lot of resources and lives (I.E. Robert MacNamera and micromanagement in Vietnam) as well as lose. What MacNamera did with statistics, the Church will probably do with dogma. In this case, the Church won’t set back their military by merely 20 years, but with the Empire’s advantage in Merlin, the Church is going to be behind by centuries (if not millenia, given that ships like the Dreadnought outdate galleys and triremes by a couple thousand years).
The Church is probably going to start micromanaging resources as their trade/transport situation worsens to the point where kingdoms start aiming for more self-sufficiency. The management of human capital via church dogma will probably cede more power to either Church magistrates (who are supposed to be above the local kings) or grant more authority to rulers (the idea of the divine right of kings to rule) which would work to preserve order for a generation or two. However, the right of kings to rule is a double edged sword in that the Church can’t take back its word easily when every ruler will call them out on it, and over time the authority of the church will wane at the top levels of society.
The final trump card I can conceive of the church possessing (apart from the KB sats and angels) is the use of the ignorant populous. Properly formed doctrine can instill fanaticism, and the inquisition seems to be full of people of the kind to believe in authority as being freedom from having to think about the morality of their actions (given that someone like Clyntahn got to the top).
This promises to be as good as the first one of this series was. So many wars in human history have been based on religion. In fact we have one on-going with Islamic terrorists today. This snippet covers enough information to make me want to read more of the book.
Gayle
wow ..an exciting snippet .. a promise of things to come in the future …
charis isnt going to be happy with the slaughter of innocent non-conbatants . .
i wonder how cayleb will react?? …n merlin ?
Two words: Punitive Expedition.
One paragraph: A fleet from Charis will arrive and deploy troops in the city. All citizens will be encouraged to leave whilst all members of the Inquisition will be detained. The members of the Inquisition will be hung from yardarms like macabre pinatas and the fleet will commence a sustained artillery barrage on the city itself before departing.