Midnight on the Manatee by D.H. Willison

Author:D.H. Willison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: D.H. Willison
Published: 2022-09-08T16:24:02+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

After four days at sea, we’d learned precious little. With just a quarter of an hour per day on deck for exercise under the watchful eye of what appeared to be professional mercenaries, there wasn’t much to see. Lydia seemed to be leader of the mercenaries, we identified at least five of them, and they rarely spoke in our presence. Henning knew quite a bit about ships. The Manatee was a modern steam ship designed to carry both passengers and cargo. Despite our being the latter, ours was originally a passenger cabin. At triple the intended occupancy. It was toward the back of the ship—the ‘stern’ according to Henning. The hatch was secured by both a bar and a lock: only accessible from the outside. The porthole opened enough to get an arm through, but a locking bar was secured with a sturdy bolt. We might have been able to break the glass, but the frame would have been too small to squeeze through.

The ship sailed close enough to see shore from time to time, but it would have been a virtually impossible swim, even if we escaped the attention of carnivorous sea creatures—the odds of which would cower even the most audacious gambler. There were two small boats on little cranes called ‘davits,’ which would have been just the thing to escape with. Yet they were on the upper deck by the crew’s quarters, and secured by a massive iron padlock.

But today I had been summoned to the purser’s cabin to hear whatever sham charges they’d dreamed up. I wasn’t exactly optimistic, but it would mean seeing a different part of the ship. Knowledge was power, and both were in short supply.

I put on my bravest face, a face that was wearing thin.

The guard shut the hatch behind me.

The purser’s cabin was about the size of ours, but with a single occupant rather than seven. There was a bunk at the back, a desk and hutch with numerous tiny drawers and a scattering of office supplies—fountain pens, ink bottles, blotters, neatly sharpened pencils with no chew marks, index cards. And a gun cabinet.

Locked.

“Good news for you, Miss Brianna,” said the half-elf in an almost genuine tone.

You’d like to give me the key to your gun cabinet? “Really?”

“There have been so many important matters to attend to, that I’ve just today been able to review your records from the city constable.” He made a show of straightening a stack of notebooks. “You see, we make port in so many different cities all with their own laws.”

If you’re trying to impress me, your highness, it’s not going to work. “It sounds like a lot to manage.”

“Quite.” He nodded bemusedly. “Apparently in Barricayde, the charges of resisting arrest and unpaid city entry fee only carry a three-day prison sentence. So as far as the city is concerned, once you pay the fines, you will be a free woman.”

I’m going free? Guess it was lucky that I held my temper in check. I blinked.

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