Celadonian Tales Vol: 1 Blood and Brass by Walter Shuler

 
    THE CLOCKWORK MEN
    Consciousness returned slowly, and with it came the sound of waves slapping wood. The boy lay unmoving, eyes closed, listening and trying to determine where he was. Aelfgar's body rocked with the motion of whatever he lay upon, and he heard a strangely familiar snapping sound. His senses told him that he was in a boat, on the water.
    With that realization, memory flooded back. His young heart ached as he realized the truth. He cracked open one eye and was rewarded with the sight of leaden clouds above a wooden gunwale. A square red sail hung slack, snapping dully in the fitful breeze. He was aboard a boat – a slaver's boat.
    A shadow loomed; someone grabbed his hair and shook him violently. "Wake up, boy! Get up!" a harsh voice ordered.
    Aelfgar found it difficult to place the accent; it was both harsh and musical. He'd heard stories of the reavers from the northern lands, though, and it took no great leap of logic to make the connection. He was young, but he was far from stupid.
    A booted foot snaked out and kicked him in the ribs, not hard enough to injure, but enough to drive the breath from his lungs. Not willing to damage the merchandise; the thought was bitter.
    The boy wheezed in pain.
    "Get up! We'll be there 'n a moment and you'll do better to be awake than to meet that man half sleeping."
    Glaring in impotent fury, Aelfgar raised his eyes to his captor's face. He was surprised at how young the reaver seemed. Behind a thick beard, his face showed few lines. His blue eyes were bright, but Aelfgar thought he saw something there, some emotion. Guilt? Greed? Or was it fear in the reaver's eyes?
    The boy sat up, and the reality of his situation truly sank in. He glanced aft, but found only gray waves. Somewhere back there was his life. His parents, their small farm – everything he had ever known was gone. Before him stretched rows of oarsmen, each seated on a chest. Their backs bent to the task, and the oars moved soundlessly through the cold, gray water. Beyond the oarsmen, the prow of the longship rose proudly as it cut through the water. It was what lay beyond that caught Aelfgar's attention.
    To port towered a green hill. A city crowned that hill, spilling down its flanks like a glistening gown. The longship was near enough that he could make out the twisting mass of the docks – workmen scurried from ship to shore and back in a flurry of productivity that awed the him.
    Fear rose up in him, burning his throat like bile. He was truly and utterly alone. The slaver hit him then, connecting with the boy's cheek. "Stop gawping like a landed fish, boy. You'll be in the heart of yon city soon enough. That'd be Celadon; welcome home!"
    Rather than putting in at the main quays, the reaver ship moved smoothly past the bay. As they drew nearer to land, Aelfgar could make out individual buildings along the shore. Each had its own small dock, wooden tongues jutting into the sea. Some of the buildings were in good repair, but a surprising number were worn and shabby, victims of neglect.
    The longship put in at a nondescript building, one whose dock was in relatively decent repair. The ship glided to the dock, and a handful of slavers leapt from the ship to make it fast, tying thick lines to the uprights.
    The men hurried him from the ship. Up the quay they went, toward the shore. The building they approached was dark, black windows gaping like the sockets of a skull in the descending twilight. As Aelfgar entered, scents assaulted him – rotting wood, moldering plaster and something else, something cloying and sweet.
    He was herded into a small, dark room where the reavers lit brands against the coming night. They moved quickly; fear showed on some of their faces. The slaver that had charge of Aelfgar gripped his arm hard, fingers gouging into young flesh without mercy.
    "You have brought him, then?"
    Aelfgar’s keeper whirled at the intrusion, pulling the child around with him. The figure that stood in