second chance. I will not fail him again.’
Cole looked around as Kramer’s words rolled across the deck. The wind was a constant whistling presence, shaking the mainmast looming over them and buffeting the sails high above their heads. The Redemption’s flag displayed a white background, but in an ironic modification of the arms borne by the Crimson Watch, the Obelisk had been replaced by a gibbet. The significance couldn’t have been lost on Kramer or anyone else aboard the carrack.
In the distance, Red Bounty struggled vainly to keep pace alongside the swifter carrack. The huge cog was loaded with mining equipment and a skeleton crew of sailors and miners desperate enough to risk their lives in an expedition to the Swell. The dark waters of the Broken Sea lapped hungrily at her sides.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Cole imagined drowning in that sea, thrust into an abyss of crushing saltwater that squeezed the very life from his lungs. The thought made him nauseous again.
‘Pay attention to the captain, dog!’ ordered a Watchman to the side of him. The soldier placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. Cole’s eyes obediently shifted back to Kramer.
‘Tomorrow morning we will arrive at the Swell’s boundary,’ the captain was saying. ‘If all goes as planned, our mining operation will be under way within a day or two. We could be stationed at the Swell for as little as a fortnight. I am a hard man, but I am also a fair one. Do as I command and you might well live long enough to return to Dorminia.’
All across the deck men perked up at the captain’s words. Cole wanted to shake them, yell at them that Kramer was just another of Salazar’s puppets, feeding them a line so that they would work themselves to death. They would be disposed of once their usefulness was at an end. He was a Shard – he knew how the Magelord operated.
‘Bullshit,’ he muttered, louder than he had intended.
‘What?’ It was the same Watchman who had warned him before. The soldier’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘Did you just call the captain a liar?’
Everyone turned to look at him. He swallowed. ‘Not at all,’ he replied. ‘Everyone knows that Admir— uh, Captain Kramer is an honest man. As honest as stone, I’ve heard folk say.’
‘And just as dumb,’ Three-Finger added loudly, to Cole’s disbelief. There were gasps followed by chuckles. The face of the Watchman turned an ugly shade of red and he drew his sword. The other soldiers followed suit.
‘Halt,’ ordered Kramer from the forecastle. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ Next to the captain, Falcus had his crossbow raised and was sweeping it over the prisoners assembled below them.
‘These two clowns called you a liar and a dullard, Captain,’ the Watchman answered. ‘Say the word and I’ll put them overboard.’
Captain Kramer looked almost pained. ‘I am loath to waste more lives so early in our mission. Yet insubordination cannot be tolerated, especially from a rapist and a child-fiddler.’
A child-fiddler? Cole’s jaw dropped. A rational part of his mind told him to keep quiet, but the injustice of it all was too much to bear. ‘Forgive me, Captain, but you’re mistaken,’ he began. ‘I—’
‘Silence!’ Kramer screamed. He was shaking with anger. ‘You disgust me. Full details of your crimes were provided for each and every one of you. Some are more unfortunate than others to be here, true, but you, and you’ – he pointed at Three-Finger, and then at Cole – ‘deserve everything that might befall you on this ship. You’re the lowest form of scum.’
Cole bit down on his tongue so hard he tasted blood. This was a travesty!
‘Enough of this,’ Kramer said irritably. ‘You prisoners will be returned to the hold, where you will remain until your evening meal. If I so much as hear a complaint about the food from either of you,’ he added, glaring at Three-Finger and Cole, ‘you’ll both go over the side.’ That said, he turned his back on the crowd and disappeared off towards the bow. Falcus pointed his weapon at Cole, smiled, and then followed after the captain.
‘You crazy idiots,’ Soeman said, once they were back in the hold. ‘You almost got yourselves killed.’ He coughed and spat blood onto the soiled planking beneath them.
Three-Finger shrugged. ‘Death by drowning don’t seem so bad. I can think of nastier ways to go.’ He had an evil look in his eyes that made Cole uncomfortable.
‘Ain’t nothing worse than the