Imperial Magic by Alma T. C. Boykin

Author:Alma T. C. Boykin [Boykin, Alma T. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-10T22:00:00+00:00

"Hold on!" Ewoud couldn't do much else as Great Fir rose, then plunged into a trough. The hull creaked counterpoint to the wind's howls. Side to side the koog rolled as well, flopping back and forth. None of the merchants had left their bunks for a day and a night, and just the idea of food made Ewoud's guts churn as much as the waves outside the hull foamed and tossed. He dug his fingers deeper into the wood and prayed to Maarsrodi and Donwah.

Spoing. Oh no, Ewoud whispered. No, please Sea Lady have mercy... Rumblerumblerumble Thud! Something rolled back and forth. One of the ropes had broken. No, please no. "Ewoud, come with me," Vansluit commanded. The master eased out of his bunk and crept on all fours as the ship swung and heaved. "Come!"

What could they do? Ewoud flopped out of his own bunk—another shelf. He was tired of sleeping on shelves—and crawled as well. The master found a mage-light and murmured to it, summoning a white-blue glow, then lowering it down the hatch's view-hole to the lower hold and peering down. "Only one barrel, thanks be. We need to secure it before it shakes something else loose."

The two of them opened the hatch and eased down the ladder. The barrel had stopped moving for the moment, and they put their shoulders to it, working it back to its fellows. The deck shifted under them, then dropped a little. Thanks be the barrels had been stacked on end or the whole mass would have begun shifting. "Right." The master hooked the mage light to one of the hull supports. "Brace your back against it and hold it while I get another rope."

Ewoud guessed what the master intended and wedged his back against the wood, then jammed his feet against the edge of the drain-way, or scupper and closed his eyes. He did not want to see what was going on around them, or watch the boat move. Feeling it was bad enough. Ewoud resumed his prayers. He heard something dragging, and murmured pleas, and metal on wood. Metal on wood? "Almost there." Vansluit warned, "It didn't break, but pulled loose from the hull. This will take a bit."

A very long bit passed before the barrel shifted backward behind Ewoud. His legs had started cramping. "Found a puller," Vansluit panted a little. "Back up. Not safe down here in storm." So why were they there? Because the sailors were too busy above them, and passengers also had a duty to the ship. The master clambered up the ladder first, and Ewoud started to follow.

The Great Fir plunged down, shuddering as she slammed into the next wave. Ewoud lost his grip, sweaty palms slick on the wear-polished wood, and he fell. Pain jagged as lightning lanced through his shoulder and head, then he felt nothing.

"That's one way to get out of working the pumps," a dreadfully cheerful voice declared. "But you and Vansluit kept the load from shifting, so it balances.

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