Prologue
Captain Inver of the ‘The
Serene’ made his way slowly across her deck, his head kept low to defend
against the worst of the wind and spray. The combination stung the unprotected
parts of his face, but his parka kept him mostly dry and his beard kept him
warm. It wasn’t a particularly severe storm – he’d experienced far worse in his
long career – but he still offered up a quick prayer. A single harrowing night
at sea was enough to make any man god-fearing, and you quickly learned to be
thankful for small mercies.
‘Hah, try telling that
to that lot down below,’ he thought to himself, furrowing his brow. As
shipmaster, he far too often found himself playing babysitter to the First
Class passengers, obliged to listen to their petty squabbles. Whenever it got a
little too hard to bear he made his excuses and escaped to the deck, secure in
the knowledge that none would follow him out in this weather. Fortunately they
were approaching their destination and would be off his ship within a few
hours, though doubtless there’d be someone ready to complain about the night-time
arrival. ‘Bunch of miserable whingers.’
These days, it seemed like everyone wanted to go to Armoroad.
It’d long been a major commercial centre, but with the advent of
intercontinental travel via ocean liners such as his it had become a dream
destination for thousands of young people who flocked there in their droves,
looking to make their fortune or find adventure.
The poor fools, he
thought, shaking his head. Of course, the sad reality of it all was that
precious few managed to find anything but trouble, with the vast majority
falling prey to the many unscrupulous and unsavoury types eager to exploit
them. With their funds dwindling, the desperate immigrants often found
themselves with no recourse but to turn to crime, perpetuating the cycle. After
all, who better to lure in an unsuspecting newcomer to the land than a native
from his own country?
The sheer number of caves made effective policing
impossible, which meant that they had free reign to wreak havoc on the prices
of legitimate goods such as the ones in his hold. Even if they’d had the
manpower, Armoroad’s criminal element was so entrenched and influential that
any politician who wished to remain strongly supported tended to downplay the
problem... but there he went again, thinking about problems that weren’t his
own.
“Oh dear Captain, sneaking a smoke? Your wife isn’t going to
be very happy!”
Inver gave a start and turned round to see who’d spoken,
visibly relaxing when he realised who it was. The approaching figure was wearing a long dark
coat with the collars turned up, hiding his face, but from the effortlessly confident
way he carried himself Inver could tell it was Lucien Bale, one of his first
class passengers. Ironically enough, the gentleman was actually the cause of
many of his woes; much of the harassment he received from certain “influential”
women was due to them asking after him so that they might introduce their
daughters.
Inver didn’t hold it against the lad though – in fact, he’d
quite taken a liking to him, chiefly because he seldom asked for anything and
always laughed apologetically whenever the captain played messenger boy for
him. He perpetually had a faint smile on his face, as if he didn’t really take
the world too seriously.
“Oh please, you’re twice as robust as anyone else on this
boat – your lovely wife excepted of course.” Lucien pulled to a stop next to
the captain, rubbed his hands together and blew on his fingers, then jammed
them into his pockets. He leant casually against the rail, facing the interior
of the ship. “To tell you the truth, I’ve grown a little bored of their
company.”
“Here, let me help you with that,” he offered, rising. He flicked his wrist in an impossibly fluid motion too fast for Inver’s eyes to
follow; at the end of it Lucien was holding out a lit match towards him. Inver bent his head forward gratefully, rotating the cigar to get an even burn. He took a drag and exhaled through his nose,
savouring the smell. A deeply satisfied smile spread across his face as he
returned to his position looking towards Armoroad, resting his elbows lightly
on the rail.
“Ah, that’s the ticket! Wife can’t stand the things, says
they’re going to drive me into an early grave.”
Lucien shook the flame out and casually flicked the match
out into the waves, then went back to his position next to the captain. “Even
so, a man’s got to have a little fun in his life, eh? Another name for a man
with no vices is a bore, I always say. ”
Inver nodded his assent. “Well said lad! S’no way for a man to
act, sneaking around in these ungodly conditions trying to enjoy a decent smoke.”
He took another deep pull and sighed happily. “Hell of a trick by the way, with
the match. That one of those sulphur-coated ones you can strike anywhere?”
“Ah, something like that. Just a little parlour trick I
picked up on my travels I suppose,” said Lucien.
“This your first time
visiting Armoroad then?”
“No, but I haven’t been in a very long time,” came the
reply. Inver glanced over to his companion and chuckled inwardly; the young man
couldn’t have been much older than 30. Still, he remembered how he’d perceived
time when he’d been that young – every year had seemed an age.
“Well, odds are it’s not changed much since then.”
“Mmm, and I’ve found that people are much the same
everywhere you go.”
“Hah, too right. You visiting family there?”
Lucien made a face. “I’m afraid I don’t really get on that
well with my family,” he confessed. “They’re all rather too severe and devout
for my tastes; we’ve had something of a falling out because of it.”
Inver could sympathise. ‘It’s
been a while since I heard from Thomas, come to think of it. Perhaps I should
write, see how he’s doing,’ he mused. Aloud, he said “That’s family for
you. Still, nothing wrong with a bit of piety.”
Lucien laughed aloud at that. “That’s one thing I can safely
say I’ve never taken to excess!”
“Well,” asked the captain, “if you’re not here to visit
family, what brings you here?”
Lucien winked and gave a crooked smile. “Business and
pleasure; what other reasons are there?”
The captain gave a hearty laugh at hearing the young man echo exactly what he had been musing earlier. It was comforting to have the assurance that at
least one of the youngsters would be able to succeed. Just then the ship
suddenly lurched to portside, almost jarring the cigar out of his hand and into
the briny deep. Lucien regained his balance just as quickly as the captain, his
impressive sea-legs lending credence to the fact that he travelled a lot.
“What the hell are those blithering idiots playing at?”
growled Inver, upset at almost losing his cigar.
“Trouble at the bridge?” suggested Lucien. The captain
frowned; he and his crew had made the journey dozens of times before and they
were still too far out besides, but there was the chance that something
unexpected could happen.
“Hrm, there might be. You’ll have to excuse me I’m afraid,
best I check up on them.”
“Of course, don’t let
me keep you. I’d have had to head back down sooner or later anyway; I’d promised
both Mrs Camersham and Madame Beaumont that I’d consider joining them and their
families for dinner upon disembarking. With any luck they’ll have fought it out
amongst themselves by now.” He pulled out a watch while saying this, making to
check how long he’d been away. Inver had been making to head off, but stopped
and gave a low whistle when he saw it, problems momentarily forgotten.
“Hell of a timepiece you got there, must have cost a
bundle!”
“Oh, this thing?” asked Lucien, putting it back in his pocket
almost carelessly. “It’s nothing special. I daresay you’d be able to get one as
nice with some cigar money. Ones those fine must have cost you an arm and a
leg.”
“Hah, don’t you go listening to everything my wife says! At
any rate, I’ll leave you to your philandering. Try to wait a few hours before
causing mayhem with the debutantes, eh?”
“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything,” said Lucien,
grinning wickedly. With that, he gave a cheerful over the shoulder wave and
headed back towards the stairs leading down to the ship’s interior. The captain
smiled – he could see why the dowagers were all so keen. ‘Still,’ he thought, while the he hurried off to see just what in
the blazes his crew were doing, ‘I can’t
say I’d trust him with any daughter of mine...’