Red Seas Under Red Skies: The Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Book Two (Gentleman Bastards 2)

2

‘It’s called Windward Rock,’ Stragos said. He pointed at the stone tower that jutted from the little island, perhaps a single arrow-flight from the line of hissing white surf that marked Tal Verrar’s outer barrier of glass reefs. They floated at anchor in seventy feet of water, a good mile west of the Silver Marina. The warm morning sun was just rising over the city behind them, making tiers of soft light from its layers of foggy haze.
True to Merrain’s word, Stragos had arrived at dawn in a thirty-foot launch of polished black wood, with comfortable leather seats at the stern and gold-gilded scrollwork on every surface. Locke and Jean were given the sails under Caldris’s minimal supervision, while Merrain sat in the bow. Locke had wondered if she was ever comfortable anywhere else.
They had sailed north, then rounded the Silver Marina and turned west, chasing the last blue shadow of the night sky on the far horizon.
They rode on for a few minutes, until Merrain whistled for everyone’s attention and pointed to her left, across the starboard bow. A tall, dark structure could be seen rising above the waves in the distance. Orange lights glowed at its peak.
Soon enough they had dropped anchor to regard the lonely tower. If Stragos had no praise for Locke and Jean’s handling of the vessel, neither did he offer any criticism.
‘Windward Rock,’ said Jean. ‘I’ve heard of it. Some sort of fortress.’
‘A prison, Master de Ferra.’
‘Will we be visiting it this morning?’
‘No,’ said Stragos. ‘You’ll be returning and landing soon enough. For now, I just wanted you to see it . . . and I wanted to tell you a little story. I have in my service a particularly unreliable captain who has until now done a splendid job of concealing his shortcomings.’
‘Words cannot express how truly sorry I am to hear that,’ said Locke.
‘He will betray me,’ said Stragos. ‘His plans for months have been leading up to a grand and final betrayal. He will steal something of great value from me and turn it against me for all to see.’
‘You should have been watching him more closely,’ Locke muttered.
‘I have been,’ said Stragos. ‘And I am right now. The captain I speak of is you.’