Free Wild Magic by Jude Fisher Page B

Katla and finally at Mam, his brow wrinkled with puzzlement. ‘Eh?’
    Knobber made a great play of retching deep in his throat, then gobbed copiously onto the tabletop. ‘Fulmar’s gift,’ he said delightedly, pointing at the gleaming spittle. ‘That’s what they do, see, them fulmar-gulls.’
    Dogo looked pained. ‘Don’t see what’s so funny,’ he mumbled. ‘Nor why you’d name your boat so.’
    ‘They’re like that, the Westlanders,’ Joz said, winking at Katla. ‘Strange sense of humour they have.’
    ‘Aye, run you through as soon as look at you, too,’ Mam said darkly. She turned to Katla. ‘You look a lot like your fox-haired brother,’ she remarked.
    ‘People often say that.’
    ‘He’s not with you, then?’
    ‘No. He stayed behind.’ An image of Fent straining at his bindings in the barn, his eyes bulging with outrage, rose irresistibly to the surface of her mind. She dropped her head to hide the smile she was unable to suppress, but Mam saw it anyway and narrowed her eyes.
    ‘I heard Tam Fox’s troupe is giving an entertainment for the King’s wedding at Halfmoon, night after next, and that the
Wolf
would be sailing in this evening,’ Knobber interjected into the moment of silence that fell. ‘Some folk were talking about it down on Rats’ Wharf this afternoon.’
    ‘But we didn’t know ourselves how fair the winds would be or when exactly we’d put in,’ said Halli, bemused. ‘How could they have known?’
    ‘A message-bird came from the ship – one of Tam’s pretty pigeons.’
    Katla frowned. She’d seen no pigeons on board the
Snowland Wolf
; but just before dusk fell she had been surprised to see a raven settle on the top yard, just to the left of the mast-head. It had seemed odd, for ravens were not seagoing birds, but she had been so distracted by the draw of the land that she had thought little more about it at the time.
    ‘Not that there’ll be a welcome for the likes of us,’ the skullcapped man the others called Doc said, glaring at Dogo. ‘Not after we tried to recoup our loss.’
    ‘It was dark, wunn it?’ the small man pleaded. ‘How’d I know it was Ravn’s own ship?’
    Katla stared disbelievingly from one member of the group to another. ‘You tried to steal
Sur’s Raven
from under the King’s nose?’
    Dogo shrugged. ‘They all look the same to me, and Knobber wasn’t much help.’
    The tall man laughed. ‘Got the anchor up and a few of them strong Farem lads on the oars; but with Dogo on one side and me on the other with only the one hand, all we managed was to bang into some other great hulk and go around in a circle!’
    ‘Lucky the King’s preoccupied, shall we say?’ Mam declared dourly. ‘Thought it a fine joke, they say; but Stormway’s no fool. Told the guard to keep an eye on us, and that on no account were we to enter the castle or be allowed near the ship. Still,’ she brightened. ‘Plenty of entertainment to be had away from the rich folks. Why don’t you and your brother come spend Moonday night with us so’s we can show you the sights, eh?’ She grinned evilly.
    Katla saw Halli’s dark eyes gleaming with momentary panic. ‘Relatives to visit,’ she supplied smoothly. She rolled her eyes at the tedium of such a duty. ‘Greetings to bear to our mother’s sister and a dull night hearing of her aching hands and swollen knees, no doubt.’
    Mam grimaced. ‘Life’s easier as a sell-sword. These lads here are my family. I pay their wages and they watch my back. There’s more trust and honour between us than from any family I’ve ever known.’
    After that, the talk turned to old campaigns and jobs undertaken, and Katla was surprised to find herself a little shocked that Mam, Dogo and Joz had all fought at the Battle for Hedera Port, in which her own father had nearly lost his life, but on the enemy side.
    ‘Why fight for nothing?’ Joz said. ‘Especially with the Istrians offering good money.’
    ‘Do you feel no