By Jane Carver
“The promise of a woman—a Radiant—to Gambrel Sarjean.” Vangee stood before Captain Merlo with Gambrel at her side. The rest of the passengers and crew surrounded them. “I pledge my life to you, my body, heart, mind, and soul. I live for you as surely as you live for me. Our blood will continue on through our young and theirs. We live forever in that way. A Radiant is long-lived and shares the moons of our lives with our mate. Neither of us will live without the other. When we pass to the gods, we pass together. Our love will sustain us through the well and dire times. I take you to my heart, forever and always.”
“I accept you as my mate, Vangee Windrum. I pledge my love, my strength, my very being to your happiness and our young. May the best in both of us pass to those who come afterward. All the times of our togetherness will be a blessing from the gods of the universe. My life was made anew the day you spoke your love for me. May I ever deserve that love so freely given.”
Full hearts rejoiced as the Fenix limped with her ailing sisters to the port of Cabrilla. Three men remained apart from the celebration, secluded by choice while laughter, song and merriment filled several 60-brace before Gambrel took his mate by the hand and led her to their cabin.
* * * *
The burrblin cut off automatically when the Fenix entered an atmospheric height that provided air for its passengers. All breathed easier as the ship leveled off and skimmed the deep turquoise waves of Ambiax’s ocean. Gambrel leaned against the rail between Pessios and Vangee. The overwhelming contentment of being her mate vied at the moment with the excitement of making port.
Behind the Fenix, eleven other ships prepared to set down. According to Merlo, Haggin’s ship lay three rows back. It would rest at anchor at least two days before going in to the repair dock.
“Why the interest in the Unseen, ‘Brel?” Vangee leaned over the rail far enough to wave to Effie and Dara who stood at the other end of the deck. Jacon’s daughter, Bassik, elbowed her way in beside Pessios. The question went unanswered, forgotten in excitement.
“Will the captain allow us time to visit the markets?” The girl’s gaze sparkled in anticipation as she turned first one way then another, trying to take in all the activity on the dock.
“’Brel, what do you think?” Concern clouded Vangee’s features. This was an unknown planet. Even he advised caution.
“Folks here are friendly enough, but Captain Merlo will make the final decision without our influence.” Gambrel spoke to all but nodded to Bassik who dropped her shoulders in apparent disappointment.
“Perhaps if we traveled in a large group and promised to stay in the market and not venture beyond? Then do you think the captain would give his permission?” She seemed determined to leave the ship.
A humph escaped Gambrel as something heavy rammed into his boot.
“Dara. Where did you come from?” He raised the little one to ride the muscles of his arm. She threw both arms around his neck. Her squeeze barely gained his attention because she jabbered nonsense in his ear. Only she understood the conversation.
“You three make a striking view,” Pessios pointed out.
“How so, sire?” Vangee tugged one of Dara’s curls then took the child from her husband’s arms. For a moment she snuggled in the woman’s embrace. But shortly, she reached for Gambrel again.
“You are a vision in dark green gown and silver tunic, lady. The shawl forms an intriguing cowl around your face making you appear as mysterious as…well,” Pessios joked, “a Radiant.” He turned to Gambrel who tickled Dara. “And you, sire, imposing in dark leather and long flapping coat. Your height and mass. You intimidate those who know you not. Yet upon your arm sits an enchanting sprite. She enslaves you to her every whim, I think. Her brilliant burst of fiery color against such somber wear. A smile in contrast to your dour expression and Mistress Sarjean’s hidden beauty.” Pessios paused a breath before adding, “Captivating.”
Vangee started then smiled at Gambrel. Her new name sounded strange yet, but she told him often enough how proudly she bore it.
“Dara, where are you?” Effie pushed her way into the group around the couple. “I should have known.” A smile pulled at her lips. “She is too young to remember my mate. I think she choose you as the next best thing, Gambrel.”
Still too new at making small talk to be comfortable, he kissed the child and handed her to Effie. “Perhaps one day we will have a young one like her,” he whispered. “I would like that.” Faint color rode his roughened cheeks as the pair moved away.
“You do not help the crew this rise, Sarjean?” Behind him, Gastrojan approached, glowing red eyes, a sign of extreme agitation among those of his race. His two friends stood shoulder to shoulder with him. “Perhaps mated to a Radiant makes one…” His words trailed off but left a suggestion of weakness.
“I owe you no explanation, Gastrojan, but yet will say I am not learned in the ways of docking a ship. In this crisis, there was little time to teach me. I offered my help, but Domas declined.”
“Will the men aboard ship be allowed to venture ashore.” Gastrojan’s half bow mocked full courtesy.
“The captain may not allow such an important person ashore, Gastrojan.” Pharlie cast a scathing glance at Gambrel. Though he sounded sorry, his words too lacked respect. “Come, Lycol, let us approach Captain Merlo and ask if we,” he indicated the trio, “might leave the ship.” Throwing his arms around his friends’ shoulders, Pharlie led the group away.
“If those three think the captain has time to visit, they are sorrowfully mistaken.” Worn old crewmember, Domas, paused beside the group and nodded to the departing men. “Captain’s list is complete this full light. It don’t include social calls.” With a wheeze, the sailor chuckled and left.
* * * *
If others were allowed to leave the ships, Gambrel knew he would have no trouble finding the man called Haggin. Flustos and Herion, the two youths who dogged his steps and imitated everything he attempted, begged him to speak to the captain. Even Effie’s wistful gaze bespoke a desire to leave the now too-familiar decks of the Fenix.
As predicted, Captain Merlo refused to see Gastrojan and his friends. Their grumbles added to others’ wishes to stroll through the port, firm ground under their feet once again if only for a short time.
Gambrel sympathized but had more immediate reasons to get ashore. “Let me go among the Cabrillans, and learn if this is a safe place for our people to venture.” Only after asking did the former enforcer realize he accepted responsibility for the welfare of his fellow passengers. A transformation in attitude as surely as mating signified a change in his heart status.
“A sensible plan. Will you take someone with you?” Captain Merlo obviously thought Vangee should go. After all, who better to sense the temperament of a population than a Radiant?
At first, Gambrel wanted to protest taking anyone, much less his mate. However, suspicions would rise if he complained too loudly. “She will accompany me.”
No stranger to a fight, she made an excellent companion though the thought of her going among strangers did not set well with him. Did a streak of jealousy hide in his soul?
* * * *
“My mate.” His cheery greeting earned him a kiss as he pulled Vangee into his side in their cabin. “Captain Merlo gave his word we might scout Cabrilla. If the town proves safe then others may venture forth. We shall be here a full seven-days.”
A warm touch of lips and a heated embrace almost delayed the leaving as heat coursed through his blood. However, duty called. More than Vangee realized. Only recently had Gambrel’s heart opened enough to think of protection for those with him. But, as ever, that vital organ did not dictate what he needed to do. His soul cried out for vengeance, and only Haggin’s death would satisfy that craving.
* * * *
From the deck of the Fenix, the workers on the dock did not look overly tall. However once among them, the greater height of the Cabrillans almost overwhelmed Vangee.
“’Brel, they tower so. How will we ever see anything?” A half-laugh bubbled from her as she endured one more shove. The taller Cabrillans simply did not notice her moving somewhere around their waist.
“Once off the dock we will fare better, love.” One sharp elbow helped open a way for the pair. “The city market lies not far from the docks.”
They left the busy place with its salty smell and flapping flyers trying to carry off with water dwellers. For all the activity, the area remained strangely quiet. The Cabrillans whistled sharply to seek other’s attention and used hand signals to communicate once they were in visual range.
Away from the dock though, the noise picked up, and smells changed. Spices and wood, the fresh odor of clean clothe and the dyes used to color them flavored the breeze. A yeasty odor filled the air at times. Smoke spiraling out of a baker’s firebox indicated something baking. A light softer than that of the dying Ancadian sun sparkled off street banners and warmed the body.
Here people moved quicker. Most headed in the direction he took. “How does this place seem?” He leaned close to his mate.
Her cape and hood prevented him seeing his favorite sight, her face. “Other than the usual determination to reach market and deal with merchants, the concern for where one’s children are in the crowd, and the typical bickering over prices, all seems well.”
One hand on her arm to kept them close. He guided her to an open-air square with stalls marked by banners and shaded by bright awnings. Smoke rose where merchants cooked everything from meat to plants. Vendors thrust unknown food at them, all the while urging them to buy. Jewels glowed in the morning rise light and brilliantly colored cloth swayed with the breeze. Large tools almost blocked the path at one point. Beyond the tools was a stall where fabulous weapons, phasers, knives, longer blades and small boomers lay on display. Gambrel pushed his mate on while she pressed nearer to his side.
Rooms opened onto the square. Patrons purchased and ate food, sitting at small tables with benches. Nooks and crannies offered inviting niches where lovers could hide. Such darkness also bid the worst of the universe to shelter from the light of justice.
He remembered those places. Such hid justice breakers, and that’s where he looked. Even before he lay down his career as an enforcer and sought Haggin, he lived more in darkness than light.
As they scouted the area, Gambrel’s soul lay torn between revenge and his love for Vangee. Stopping now when the final murderer hid so near was no choice. Nor could he give up his mate, the splendor of his soul. What to say to her when he sought his final retribution? For the first time in his life, he felt like a coward, putting off the inevitable. She would foreswear him when he left for his final assignment.
He laid his somber thoughts aside for the moment to enjoy the morning rise with his mate. Out of the light for a bit, they enjoyed a meal of meat wrapped in soft edible leaves and sipped a clear drink that started sweet then left a sharp tang in one’s mouth. A group of musicians played nearby and serenaded the shoppers. Universal coins jiggled in the small basket in front of them when those passing by rewarded the players.
“Let us venture off the market place to see what the rest of Cabrilla looks like.” Vangee gestured beyond the crowded square. Once again, the throng did not seem threatening to the Radiant.
More than two city squares they traveled before stopping. Homes with large grassy plains in front of them caught her attention. “‘Brel, there. See the tiny one with the youth. And that furry animal.” She pointed out the greenery swaying above their heads. They lined the side of the path and shaded them from the sun that grew warmer with time. “Their flyers are smaller, more colorful.”
“And noisier,” Gambrel commented as flyers set up a singing kind of racket. She thumped him in the chest but laughed at his small joke. A deep sigh left her looking wistful.
“What is it, my love?” The large hand that snaked inside Vangee’s hood wrapped her neck in warmth. He sensed she wanted something.
“Nothing.”
“Something, I think.”
“I would our new home be this lovely in years to come. We have much to do to make it so, but if it please the gods some day it will be this peaceful.” Heartfelt words. Sincere and wishful.
“May it be so for your sake.” Gambrel’s kiss restored his mate’s smile. With little urging, they returned to the Fenix to report to Captain Merlo.
* * * *
Gambrel followed Gastrojan and his two friends at a discreet distance once the trio left the ship. He wasn’t interested in following so much as avoiding them. He planned to observe the Unseen from the edge of the dock. If Handid/Haggin sailed on her, he would not miss the opportunity to come ashore.
Fellow justice breakers tended to know where each other hid, and Gambrel wondered if Haggin knew such in Cabrilla. After all, his shipping enterprise put him in touch with all manner of unsavory characters.
“What the fick!” His shoulder hard against a grimy wall, Gambrel’s gaze followed a large man coming down the deporting plank from the Unseen. “Ah, so Walys is here too.” If Walys, Handin’s second-in-command years ago, was around then the leader was not be far behind.
Follow the second or wait for Haggin to leave? Gambrel debated then decided to follow the bulky man who walked quickly away from the area.
As suspected, Walys wound his way through the market and into an alley. Gambrel stopped at the head of the dark opening and scanned the surroundings before blending into the shadows. Old ways of search and survival served him well.
The second tapped at a door and entered when it opened. Gambrel climbed upon some stacks to observe through a dust-shadowed glanton. “Great universal gods, what do we have here?” Haggin’s man sat among seamy looking characters. Not the finest of Cabrilla’s population.
While Gambrel squatted in vile odors of filth, Walys gestured wildly, a dervish in the midst those made of ‘crete. The locals sat, stood, or leaned in total silence, nary a movement. From the shadows at one end of the room, a man of better appearance stepped forward. His clothes fit him and seemed cleaner than his companions. Trim cut hair and a fashionable beard, he appeared savvy among a group of miscreants.
Cursing the glanton, its cover of dust and lack of clear vision, Gambrel wanted to hear the conversation. Whatever Walys wanted, the man supplied, it seemed. They clasped arms as if in agreement. What did Haggin and his lieutenant want with such men? One scraggly looking man pushed off the wall where he leaned and gave the alley with a discreet scan. He ushered Walys out before closing the door with a definite click.
Gambrel stayed in his position until the second-in-command cleared the immediate area then trailed him, sure he would head back to the Unseen and report to Haggin. True to his years as Haggin’s second mate, the man returned to the ship. Neither appeared for several sixty-braces.
* * * *
Dara snuggled against Gambrel’s chest as his wife sort vid-squares in their cabin. “I think Effie likes Thacton,” Vangee ventured as she returned to her husband’s side on his bed. “She sounded quite excited when she asked if I would keep Dara for a sixty-brace while she spent time with him.” Vangee giggled when the child did a flip on the covers between them.
“Come here, tiny one. You will break your head doing such things.” Gambrel scooped up the child and tossed her in the air, encouraging Dara’s adventurous nature.
“Let her try her wings, wife. I will teach her to fly in safety.” Saying that, he taught Dara how to do a flip by tucking her shoulder in and rolling. In no time, the child turned four flips in a row across the bed, saved from dumping her body on the floor by Gambrel’s long arm.
“Enough, ‘Brel. She tires and might get hurt.” Vangee took Dara on her lap and brought up a vid-square of a childhood story. While his wife read to the girl, Gambrel wandered the cabin.
He planned to follow then eliminate Haggin. His plan to make the man’s death look like an accident kept getting sidetracked by Vangee’s soft voice.
Would she still speak so when she learned of his deed? Would she ever learn of it? With his talent as a killer, he could get away with this last bit of vengeance. Not murder. Nothing since Lindan’s death deserved the label murder. Haggin would die, whether fast or slow; whatever Gambrel choose, but die he would.
Then he might become the man he wanted to be, a husband, maybe a father. Again. Dara listened to Vangee, totally absorbed in her every word. What he wouldn’t give to have such a family.
This night would not see his plan laid with any conviction. The sight of the tiny one and his wife appealed to him more. He eased onto the bed next to Dara.
Some time later when Effie came to claim her child, Vangee nodded where her husband lay with the girl curled into his chest, one strong arm around her. To move one would wake the other. Both women agreed. Dara would stay the full-dark. Gambrel opened one eye as the door closed.
Aware her husband followed her every move, Vangee slipped into the gown he liked best…to tease him when they woke as a trio the next morning rise instead of a couple. She giggled behind her hand because her lusty husband’s desires would simmer until Dara left. Mirth turned to a sigh of satisfaction. What loving would follow. But night would be long. Her final sigh sounded heartfelt. She snuggled against her husband’s back after placing a kiss on his muscled shoulder. His breathy sigh matched hers—a long night indeed.
* * * *
Vangee and Gambrel often spent the full light apart, each taking care of whatever suited them. He still moved among crowds with a nagging sense of discomfort. After all, a man alone as he for so many seasons did not accept the company of others in such a short time.
“I will accompany you, friend.” Pessios scooted into a seat next to Gambrel at the morning meal. His calm demeanor always soothed. However, the enforcer did not want company.
“I have no need of a companion, Pessios, though I thank you for your offer.” He worked hard to maintain an even appearance and mental thought. His plan would fall to pieces if Vangee sensed his desire for Haggin’s skin. Pessios, he learned long ago, read his mind well.
Because his Lazzard race tracked through the sense of smell and taste, Pessios would probably follow him. He might get hurt. Let the man come or not?
“You need company this rise.” The Lizzardian ate without looking at his table mate. He seemed determined to go with or without his friend’s blessing. “You are aware that Canfanto and I can communicate mentally?”
Now why did the he throw out that piece of information? Gambrel chewed the tasty bread in silence as he adjusted his plan somewhat. Today he sought a place to set a trap. Nothing suspicious about walking around town. However, he could not be in two places at one time. He also must know if Haggin or Walys left the Unseen. Perhaps Canfanto could report to Pessios if either man departed the ship. But would the two help him without seeking explanation?
He hesitated to ask. Pessios answered his question as if it were spoken. “We two are bound to you. You saved both of us while learning the trade of sailing and during the flaming rock storm. Friends help friends. No explanation is necessary.”
A shiver raced down Gambrel’s spine. Too close. Pessios spoke too close to his own thinking. “Let us meet on deck and discuss a plan of action.” Pessios nodded once. Gambrel left knowing the others would find him as soon as possible.
* * * *
The tangy stench of the dock along with its weird silence fell behind Gambrel and Pessios. Their steps took them into the market place where other smells filled the air. The sound of haggling voices and the whine of tired children assailed the ears.
Armed with all his phasers, boomers and blades, Gambrel stayed close to the edge of the market rather than walk through it. Today he sought places a justice breaker would seek. Though Haggin now appeared to be a respected man of business, Walys’ actions proved he still dealt with the criminal world. Enlisting the help of locals threw a twist into Gambrel’s plan only because he did not know how Haggin planned to use them.
If his trap caught more than one breaker then so be it. Cabrilla would not suffer for the loss of those he saw talking to Walys. He moved through the crowd, ever watchful yet his thinking returned to seasons ago when no one owned his love or allegiance. Hard thoughts from a hard man.
His heart now claimed a wife and friends, such as the one who walked beside him, observing the same caution as he. Did not Pessios, Captain Merlo, Jacon and others on the ship claim his allegiance? Should he not open his full mind to his mate and share this trial?
The muscles in his face grew tight. No, he owed Vangee his love and Pessios peace. Their knowledge of his plan would not ensure peace of mind, so best they remain unaware.
Pessios stopped. He listened to something Gambrel did not hear. “Canfanto reports Haggin and his man, Walys, walk the deck of the Unseen, but make no attempt to leave the ship.”
How many times had he wished for the kind of talent the Lazzardians exhibited? He always worked alone. Seldom did he work with others on enforcer jobs. An underling with such skill would have been helpful though. He nodded to Pessios, acknowledging the information.
Four sixty-brace did the two meander among the structures of Cabrilla. Never did Gambrel indicate one location appealed to him more than another. Best not give Pessios any idea that he picked a spot for the trap.
“Let us join Canfanto, Pessios.”
The Unseen rode her anchor next to a dock cluttered with repair equipment. Local Cabrillans scrambled around the hull, pulling off smashed planking. New material lay stacked nearby. The sharp tapping of hammers against seasoned planks resounded through the air. The eye-watering reek of sealer permeated the area, leaving one momentarily gasping for breath.
The two men stopped next to Canfanto. Aboard the Unseen, Haggin moved toward the departure plank. A word to Walys sent the man below.
For the first time in five seasons, Gambrel observed his enemy. Haggin weighed more than he did when last they met. But the mass appeared more added muscles rather than the flab of old age and lack of exercise. The gray at the man’s temples lent dignity to smooth brows, a long shapely nose, and full lips.
A smile graced Gambrel’s lips when he noticed that Haggin still walked with a limp. A gift from their last meeting. His phaser blasted through the man’s thigh muscles. A marked man. A lifeless man still breathing. Haggin strolled to a shipwright’s building.
What did Haggin’s mate think of him? Did she know how he earned coins in the seasons before they met?
A chill swept Gambrel and left him shivering like an elder. Those same questions could be put to Vangee. No, she was unaware of how he earned a living. What would she think of him when…if…she learned of his plan? The man’s resolve hardened as he shook off his worries. This plan took precedent over everything. Avenge Lindan’s death. The only thing that mattered.
Hey, hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was long but leads up to some unexpected events.
Have you checked out The Sergeant and the Knight on Amazon yet? I loved writing that story. It’s so unusual!
A Story Begins Now 
Leave a comment