Perilous Seas by Dave Duncan Page A

But let’s
be quite clear on this. You lust after Inosolan?”
    Rap
nodded, too shattered to speak. How had he dared? So that was why he had this
crazy dream of finding his way to her side-to be a lover, not just a servant?
She had kissed him once, and then let him return the favor. They had held
hands. Puppy love! Hopeless love. It was unthinkable-she was a queen and he was
a churl. He had been deceiving himself all this time. Gods, Gods!
    And
that was why he had been so disturbed when he had seen a man coming out of her
tent in the looking glass vision. He had been jealous! Fool! Fool! Fool!
    And
Kalkor was watching him with amused contempt as if he could read all this appalling
revelation unwinding in Rap’s mind.
    “More
than you lust after any other woman?”
    “Aye,
sir. “ By the Powers, it was true!
    “Well,
that is a recommendation, but I don’t know how reliable a faun’s
taste would be. Where is she now?”
    “I
don’t know.”
    The
bright-blue eyes seemed to grow even brighter as Kalkor frowned, regarding Rap
carefully. He waited while the ship topped another spume-swept crest, then he
probed with care: “Roughly?”
    “Probably
in Zark, sir. A sorceress abducted her, and she was a djinn.”
    The
thane was surprised. “Truly? I really thought the Wolf had gotten his
head banged once too often! How did you know my name?”
    “Saw
you ... in the ... magic casement. “ Rap had to force the words out. The
pain was knotting him now and getting worse. His arms and legs would have been
a torment by themselves, but he was barely noticing them over what his
extremities were doing to him.
    “Do
you know where in Zark she is?”
    “Arakkaran,
sir.”
    “That’s
two now, Rap! The truth?”
    Struggling
to concentrate, barely managing to speak instead of just scream, Rap said, “The
sorceress said she came from Arakkaran.”
    “But
you don’t think Inosolan is in Arakkaran. Why not?” Shocked, and
hurting too much to plan any convincing lies, Rap blurted out a confused
account of his meeting with Bright Water and Zinixo, and how the wardens had
all been trying to steal Inos away from the sorceress and one another. He
expected the thane to throw him overboard for spinning such a yarn-and it would
have been a blissful release-but Kalkor, amazingly, seemed to believe him.
    The
questions thudded home like arrows, Rap croaked out answers in a blur. Describe
Milflor harbor ... how many men in the Krasnegarian army ... He shaved the
truth as much as he could manage, until Kalkor shook his head gently and said, “We’re
up to five, Rap. I thought I’d warn you. We’re looking at real
damage now, I’m afraid. Next question . . .”
    His
instinct for truth and falsehood seemed to be infallible, although Rap’s
face was so battered that it must be very hard to read, and often the wind
whipped the words from his lips. The penalty count was up to “Nine!”
before Rap abandoned any further efforts to deceive. Thereafter he just let his
tongue babble. He didn’t care anymore. The pain in his hands and feet was
driving him mad. If he had the strength, he’d climb over the ship’s
side and drown himself.
    He
must have fainted, because afterward he remembered speaking while lying flat,
his bruised cheek against the cold wet planks. Later he sensed two enormous
dirty feet right in front of his nose. From them young Vurjuk sprouted like a
spare mast.
    “.
. . clean him up,” Kalkor was saying. “Can you trawl him on a rope
without killing him?”
    “Can
try, sir.”
    “Well,
make it brief and find him some clothes afterward, because I would prefer that
he live awhile yet. “
    “A
flogging match?” Vurjuk’s voice rang with boyish eagerness.
    Thane
Kalkor did not answer impertinent questions; the look in his eye was enough to
make the kid bleat, “Aye, sir! “ and jump to obey orders.
    Stripped,
trawled, dried, clothed, watered, and fed, Rap discovered to his surprise that
he was still alive, although he