Midst Toil And Tribulation – Snippet 18
.II.
HMS
Destiny, 54,
The Throat,
Kingdom of Old Charis,
Charisian Empire
“Well, this would’ve been a nasty business, even if we’d won at Darcos Sound,” Phylyp Ahzgood, Earl of Coris, said.
The earl stood sat on the breech ring of Destiny‘s number three quarterdeck carronade as he gazed across the sunlit, blue and green water of The Throat, the long, narrow strait which connected Howell Bay to the Charisian Sea, at the tall walls and imposing battlements of the centuries-old fortress which guarded the island Charisians had named simply “the Lock.” That island sat almost directly in the center of The Throat, and it was flanked by even larger fortresses on either shore of the strait, overlooking the ship channels which passed on opposite sides of Lock Island.
Those channels were too broad to be entirely covered by the fortresses’ guns, but the Charisians had dealt with that. Floating batteries — little more than enormous barges with five-foot thick bulwarks . . . and two complete gun decks each — had been anchored to sweep the narrowest portions of the channels. Coris was pretty sure the batteries he was looking at were replacements for the ones whose construction King Haarahld rushed through to cover The Throat prior to the Battle of Darcos Sound. These actually had recognizable prows, rudders, bowsprits, and stumpy masts, indicating they were designed to move (clumsily, perhaps, but move) under their own power rather than simply being towed into position. And each of them mounted at least forty guns — very heavy guns — in each broadside. Some showed as many as fifty, giving them twice the firepower of any galleon ever built, even by the Charisian Navy. The possibility of any conceivable fleet forcing the Throat against that sort of firepower simply didn’t exist.
“You might‘ve gotten through against the original batteries, My Lord.” Lieutenant Aplyn-Ahrmahk stood on the other side of the carronade, his arms crossed, his hat lowered on his forehead to shield his eyes against the sunlight, and his expression was somber. “They weren’t this powerful,” he continued, confirming Coris’ own thoughts, “and they were armed completely with carronades, not krakens. But, yes, it would’ve been a ‘nasty business,’ My Lord. Almost as nasty as Darcos Sound.”
Coris looked quickly at the younger man.
“I didn’t mean to bring up unpleasant memories, Your Grace.”
“Not your fault, My Lord.” Aplyn-Ahrmahk smiled briefly. “And there are a lot of good ones to go with them. He was a man, King Haarahld. A good man, and a good king, and I was luckier than I ever deserved to have known him.”
“It may be hard for a Charisian to believe,” Coris said, “but a lot of Corisandians would’ve said the same thing about Prince Hektor.” He shook his head. “He had his faults — enormous ones, in fact — but I’m sure even King Haarahld had at least some faults, and Hektor’s subjects by and large thought well of him. Very well, in fact. And he was my friend, as well as my prince.”
“I know that, My Lord.” Aplyn-Ahrmahk looked back across at Lock Island and grimaced. “And it’s not hard for a Charisian — this Charisian, at least — to realize different men are different people to different people. For the most part, though, you’d be hard put to find a Charisian who didn’t take a certain satisfaction in Prince Hektor’s death.” He shrugged, never looking away from the island as Destiny sailed slowly past it. “When everyone thought the Emperor had ordered his assassination, the main reaction was that it was a fitting punishment. And feelings ran even higher than that in Chisholm. In fact,” the lieutenant smiled a crooked smile, “I think the Empress Mother is still a bit disappointed that Cayleb wasn’t the one who had him assassinated.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.” Coris watched the young duke’s profile. “For that matter, I’d probably feel the same in their position. But attitudes — even or perhaps especially emotional attitudes — can influence thinking in ways the people doing the thinking never realize they have.”
“Oh, I know” Aplyn-Ahrmahk snorted. “I suppose the trick’s to get past it, and I’d think reminding yourself it can happen even to you would have to be the first step. It’s hard though, sometimes.”
His eyes strayed from Lock Island to where Princess Irys and Prince Daivyn stood in the shade of the canvas awning stretched across the quarterdeck, watching the same island.
“Yes, it is,” Coris agreed, following the lieutenant’s gaze. “And it was especially hard for Irys. She loved her father a great deal, and he was her father first and her prince second. I think she’d probably be one of the first to admit she shared his ambitions, at least at secondhand, but that was because they were his ambitions, not because they were hers.”
“No?” Aplyn-Ahrmahk turned to look directly at Coris.
“He was her father, Your Grace.” Coris smiled sadly. “It’s hard for anyone to admit the father they love isn’t perfect or that anyone could legitimately see him as a villain. I think that’s even harder for a daughter than it is for a son, sometimes. But you may’ve noticed my princess has a very, very sharp brain, and she never willingly lies to herself. She still loves him, and she always will, but that doesn’t mean her eyes haven’t been opened to the reasons other people might not have loved him. And she’s a princess, the only sister of the rightful Prince of Corisande. She knows how politics and diplomacy work . . . and however little she may like to admit it even to herself, she knows who actually started the war between Corisande and Charis.”
“I’ve never discussed any of that with her.” It was Aplyn-Ahrmahk’s turn to smile ever so slightly. “Mostly because I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t agree.”
“She might surprise you.” The earl shrugged. “She and I have discussed it, which gives me a bit of an unfair advantage when it comes to predicting how she’d react. The fact that I’ve known her since she was born is an even bigger one, of course, but she’s changed a lot over the last few years. A lot.”
His eyes darkened as he repeated the last two words softly, and he, too, turned his head to gaze at the princess standing beside her tallish, golden-haired companion. Irys was smiling at something the other woman had said, and Daivyn was tugging impatiently at his sister’s sleeve while he pointed to something on the island.
“There’s been a lot of that going around, My Lord,” Aplyn-Ahrmahk replied. “And I imagine it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Just because part of it’s getting worse doesn’t mean other parts can’t start getting better,” Coris pointed out. “That’s what I’ve been telling Irys, and I think she’s actually beginning to believe it.”
“I hope so,” Aplyn-Ahrmahk said quietly. “She and Daivyn have lost enough already. I don’t want to see them lose any more.”
Coris nodded slowly. He never looked away from his prince and princess, but he heard the lieutenant’s tone, and he treasured it. Of course, duke or no duke, Aplyn-Ahrmahk wasn’t even seventeen yet, hardly a gray-bearded and astute political advisor to his emperor. But he was a very mature sixteen-year-old, one who’d seen and done things that would have terrified a man three times his age. And however common his birth might have been, he was the adopted son of the Emperor and Empress of Charis. Although, Coris thought, there were times — many of them — when the youngster seemed unaware of all the implications of that relationship.
Back to Hector and Irys!
And an update on the new Throat.
In Tellesburg soon.
/Rob
Seems like a long way to sail. If they disembarked on the west coast of Charis (where Merlin ‘bought’ a schooner to go rescue Irys and Daivan) they should be in Tellesburg more quickly. Caleb really has to look at developing a port on the west coast, and getting a road/railway built to connect the capital to it.
The problem here is that it’s three days to thursday. (sigh)
Thanks Drak for posting.
Take a lesson from the Swiss, though, and make sure any road/railway that bypasses your natural defenses is mined so that it can’t be used against you.
Uh, without resorting to any snippets the MWW has dropped here and there (out of context of course!) WHO is the tallish, golden-haired woman speaking with Irys? And where exactly did they pick her up? At least we know they’re headed straight to Tellesberg now, which will certainly be… interesting.
As for the end of the snippet, queue the romantic music… Bleek!
@5 I would presume that they picked up a chaperone in Tarot while they were. If I remember correctly the lack of one was emphasised in one of the earlier snippets.
Coris is thinking wedding bells. More correctly Coris is thinking marriage contracts with lots of clauses and paragraphs.
One thing I find interesting is that Earl Coris seems to be encouraging a friendship between Irys and Hektor. I’m not suggesting he is encouraging a romance, but that the Earl looks at Hektor as a friend in court, which makes sense. He also views Hektor as an adult, not a typical 16 year old. Hektor likes both Irys and Daivyn, but as yet we have only seen small signs of romantic interest, such as her hand on his arm. Given the limitations of a naval officer while on duty, that makes sense. If this is a budding romance, it could take multiple books.
@5 I would guess that the golden-haired woman could be the wife or daughter, more likely daughter, of Earl Lock Island. It seems unlikely that they would have stopped in Emerald on the way. Tarot, maybe, doubtful unless they were low on supplies, in which case I have no idea who she is.
BTW, did anyone notice references to “Duke Coris” in the previous book? I only noticed it while listening to the audiobook.
— Bob G
@6 I think it was here:
“She felt the lieutenant at her side, her assigned escort here on Destiny‘s deck. She was the only female member of the galleon’s entire crew, and she wondered how the Charisians had come to overlook that minor fact. It was . . . an unusual experience to find herself without a single maid, female body servant, or chaperone, and she had no doubt three quarters of the court back in Manchyr would have been horrified by the very thought or her suffering such an insult.”
Was there a mention they were stopping in Tarot?
On the chaperone, it’s not mentioned how she joined Irys but I suspect that the Admiral had sent a schooner ahead of the fleet to report success and the schooner returned with the chaperone.
Oh, I’m not saying who she is. [Very Big Evil Grin]
As if the grinning dragon isn’t hint enough ^.^
@10 Drak – You’re trying very hard to make us forget that you have that OH SO TIGHT snerk collar around your neck. While your “helpful” suggestions are always quite logical, I have to wonder if you’d really risk life (and I’d say limb but being beheaded isn’t losing a limb!) just to give us a small tidbit like this. Besides, based on the textev there WERE no schooners in the squadron – that we know of. ;)
If the woman is who I THINK she might be, a REALLY fast schooner would have been needed to pick her up – at a STRANGE place to report success. (I’d have expected Thol Bay.) There ought to be more people on deck who weren’t mentioned, so my theory that the chaperone is the woman the MWW mentioned in one of his spoiler snippets may not work out. (Despite the Very Big Evil Grin!)
Which probably means Drak’s theory is as good as any and I’ve made an idiot of myself. Not the first time on this subject! Bleek!
I don’t think it’d be Sharlean. If I remember correctly, she is a Brunette.
@13 Sharleyan is indeed a brunette, and as far as we know, she and Cayleb are waiting for them in Tellesberg, which I expect will be covered in a snippet not far in the future. (Irys and Sharleyan together – oh my!) Irys’ dad had Sharly’s dad murdered, and Irys thought Sharly had HER dad murdered. Sparks may fly… (and not the GOOD kind!) Bleek!
OTOH, Sharly has been watching Iris for years now, and Iris has had a definite revisit of thinking on her original assumption on who killed whom and why. I am sure they won’t be “BFF’s” at first meeting; that there will be at least some coolness and formality betwixt the twa’. HOWEVER BOTH are WAY to smart to hold each other responsible for things that they had nothing to do with. They both know who their real enemy is. And once they get on the same page…. (shudder)
@11 Sadly I don’t have the books with me and her names escape me right now, but my guess would be a certain former madame from Zion. Now wouldn’t that be a formidable role model for Irys. Sharleyn would also be a good role model, but there is too much history and bad blood for that to work.
I can think of a certain Earldom that a schooner might have been dispatched to with news, so that the message could go overland (through the mountains) via semaphore to Tellesburg. Matter of fact, Duke Hekt– er Lieutenant Aplyn-Ahrmahk, is acquainted with the Earl, a former Marine, IIRC.
@16 Do you mean like, too much history for Cayleb and Nahrmann of Emerald to get along?
I’ve been overemphasizing the drama of Irys meeting Sharleyan to have fun with it. While it’s true that Irys’ father is responsible for the deaths of both Cayleb AND Shaley’s fathers, the EoC has conquered Corisande and Hektor is dead. Irys has come to realize that her daddy wasn’t a very nice man. And the Inquisition just tried to murder her and her baby brother…
As Coris told Zhevons when the seijin showed up in his tower bedroom in the middle of the night to discuss their escape, “from everything I’ve ever learned of Empress Sharleyan, she and Irys have a great deal in common, including an absolute, unswerving determination to avenge their fathers’ murders. I don’t say Irys is going to be prepared to accept Charisian dominion over Corisande, because, frankly, she is her father’s daughter and she’s thinking in terms of protecting her brother’s birthright. But I will say that in so far as she can without prejudicing Daivyn’s claim to the Corisandian throne, she’s probably at least as hungry to see Clyntahn’s blood as any Charisian could possibly be. I think there’s at least the possibility of an … understanding in that.â€
As KenJ says, they both know who the enemy is, and Irys wants revenge. The only way she is going to get it is through the EoC. And since Merlin is the one person besides his sister who Daivyn trusts implicitly, I don’t expect much trouble in convincing him to swear fealty to Cayleb and Sharleyan.
Then it’s off to Corisande! Eventually. I expect they’ll accompany Sharleyan to Chisholm first, since she’s scheduled to go there for the summer as the constitution requires.
Cayleb will be gallivanting in Siddarmark by then… Bleek!
@16 Meaning its too personal for Sharleyan. She knows that Hektor was responsible for her father’s death and her lost childhood. She had to assume the burden of the throne at a much too tender age. At least Cayleb was in his 20s before he assended to his throne.
@10 tall and blonde and Drak grinning like a fiend – Does anyone know if Nimue was blonde? i can’t remember if we got a physical description in the first book and don’t have mine to hand,.
@21 TenofSwords: I seeem to remember that Merlin’s coloration (black celt: black hair, deep blue eyes, and fair skin) came from Nimue’s original configuration (as did the height and shoulders).
/Rob
@21 I likewise don’t have OAR handy, but your description sounds familiar.
@10 A couple of snippets ago Merlin was on Helene Island when he was conversing by com with Sharleyan, Cayleb, and Staynair. I’m not sure how easy it is for Merlin to create a female persona, plus it would be hard for him to be that lady attending to Irys and then to be able to meet her in person later on once he gets back to Tellesburg (on the assume his presence in Charis isn’t public knowledge as he can’t arrive before Destiny or can he?). So I’m going out on a limb and suggesting it might be the wife (if she wasn’t golden hair and tall then I’m wasting key strokes) of the elder Wylsyn brother (Samuel?) who was smuggled out of the Temple Lands a while back. Likewise, in that same snippet Staynair’s reply to Merlin’s “..God helping those who help themselves?†hinted that he had started on something.
Has any woman in the series been described as blonde aka golden haired?
Having Merlin/Nimue serve as Irys’s chaperone would require either that he be out of action everywhere else for the duration of the voyage (and afterwards be gone repeatedly for extended periods — not very chaperone-like behavior), or have a lot of very difficult questions to answer from someone who isn’t cleared for the inner circle yet.
@22 – I believe that Nimue chose the “Merlin” persona in part because it would be too difficult to reduce her height. And because an extremely tall man is somewhat less unusual to most people than an equally tall woman. @25 is also well-taken – acting as chaperone would greatly limit her ability to respond to unexpected events, since Irys is most certainly not yet in the inner circle.
We may see Nimue before the story’s over, but not yet. People cleared for the inner circle and others would respect a female font of knowledge but many more would not. It’s probably Adori or one of the wylsyns.
Hah! Am I the only person to suspect that those batteries are just for show? After all, with rifled cannon on shore, there’s no real need for them…but Clyntahn doesn’t know about those!
@7. No, Coris is thinking that while Hektor may not consider himself a representative of the Imperial Family and it’s attitudes, he truly is. Which bodes well for Coris’ charges. PLURAL.
According to OAR, Nimue chose a male persona (Merlin) because Safehold is a muscle driven society and she/he would not have enough influence as a female to do the job tha needed doing.
R
kbus888, IIRC you’re correct. However, I do believe she thought that her height would make her extremely unusual as a woman.
@26 Nimue’s main reason for changing herself into a male was that Safehold is a patriarchal society – almost entirely ruled by men, since it’s technology is based on wind, water, and muscle, so women have little power on their own. (Sharleyan being a rare exception.)
So if Nimue was going to have the influence she wanted to in Charis, and especially access to the King Haarhald and Cayleb, she was going to have to become a he, and so she did. The rest, as they say, has been very entertaining history. (Especially the rugby match!) Bleek!
@32
I’ve just been rereading the series from the beginning and Drak is correct that her height was also a factor she thought would be a factor for consideration, although the primary reasons for Merlin’s creation was the patriarchal and muscle power driven nature of the world she had awoken into which you cite.
I keep expecting a trap to be set for Merlin in which an explosion too large for any human to have been anywhere near and lived damages him too much to show up immediately and claim not to have been near the explosion. Merlin will have to be retired and Sharleyan will acquire a tall personal maid/bodyguard named Nimue. Of course, that would be a dead giveaway to anybody with a list of the mission personnel…