Free Quillblade by Ben Chandler Page B

villagers would get. Lenis doubted their wall would hold against a full-on assault.
    Lenis shuddered and turned to the captain, who was sitting on the steps leading up to the bridge. ‘Have the Demons ever attacked Gesshoku?’ The question was out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
    â€˜A few times,’ came the reply. ‘Not often. This used to be a crucial outpost in the defence against the Demon hordes, but the Yûgure clan abandoned it about forty years ago when they bought their airships from the Puritans. This airdock allows them to ferry troops here quickly, so they no longer need to keep a substantial portion of their forces here. It frees their warriors for ... other things.’
    Lenis suspected those other things involved rebellion against the Warlord. ‘I don’t know how people can live so close to it.’
    â€˜What wisdom forbids –’
    â€˜Necessity dictates,’ Lenis finished the captain’s thought and stared glumly over the railing. The Wasteland miasma that was not quite a fog seemed to be growing denser the longer he stared at it. It was almost as if it were encroaching on the village, though Lenis knew that was only an illusion created by the strange gas.
    A peal of laughter interrupted his thoughts and he looked across the deck to see Ignis and Atrum playing with Namei. Somehow the two Bestia had gotten hold of Namei’s scarf, and she was trying to snatch it back while they fought over it. Lenis smiled as he went over to help, though he was more interested in watching their game than in returning Namei’s scarf. The cabin girl was trying to look stern and scold the pair of Bestia, but she was laughing so hard it spoiled the effect. Lenis wondered if she’d spent much time with Bestia. He had to remind himself it was not just airships that wererelatively new here. Until the Puritans had come, the people of Shinzô had never thought to harness Bestia power, which had been discovered in Heiligland after Shinzô had sealed its borders.
    â€˜Namei!’ Hiroshi’s bellow startled the Bestia into dropping the thick strip of fabric. They climbed up the side of one of the holds and disappeared from sight. ‘Come and help me with these pots!’
    As the girl retied her scarf the cook hefted an armload of iron pots and pans onto the deck. Namei made a face at Lenis and disappeared below. She returned a moment later with a large tub of water. Lenis helped her carry it across to the rapidly growing pile of dirty dishes.
    Namei leant over and whispered, ‘You’d better disappear before –’
    â€˜Give us a hand, lad,’ Hiroshi called. ‘It’s a few less pots Namei has to deal with!’
    Lenis made a face. ‘Too late.’
    Namei giggled as Lenis called Ignis over to heat the water. When it was hot enough the two of them began scrubbing.
    Hiroshi settled back on the deck. ‘I’ll just take a quick breath or two before I make a start. Those pots were heavy.’ He pulled a pipe out of his robes and jabbed some tobacco into it before lighting it and holding it to his lips. The cook breathed in deeply and then let out a long puff of smoke. ‘Ah, that’s better. Now, I was going to tell you about the time I was somebody’s master, wasn’t I?’
    Lenis looked up from his work. ‘Yes, sir.’
    Hiroshi smiled around his pipe. ‘In my youth I was known throughout Shinzô as a great shugyosha, or what you would call a wandering warrior, or something like that. I was a master of the Tantô no Subayai-ryû, the agile dagger style. Now, this was at the beginning of the Divine Restoration, and both the Warlord’s court at Itsû and the Emperor’s divine court at Nochi were in need of heroes.’
    â€˜And on whose side did you fight?’ the captain asked him from his perch on the bridge’s steps. ‘To support or to overthrow the