Sanctuary - Lynn Abbey [149]
“And I won’t remember it, so don’t bother. One emperor’s the same as another, or a king.”
“Well, the emperor’s army chased the pirates out of the palace and sent them sailing out to Scavengers Island. The people of Sanctuary welcomed him—”
“That’s what Sanctuary does best: welcome its froggin’ conquerors, from the Ilsigis to the froggin’ Irrune. We are sheep-shite Wrigglies.”
The Land’s End steward rode past, a hundred or so paces ahead of the carts. He wouldn’t so much as look at them, and neither would his sweated-up horse, so Flower loosed a bray worthy of her she-ass mother. She spooked the steward’s horse and the teams pulling two nearby carts. The steward put brutal strength on the reins, bloodying the horse’s mouth and flanks while he kept it in froggin’ order.
The drovers had a harder struggle. One drover won, the other didn’t. The inside rear wheel of his cart skidded off the road, struck a stone, and popped off its axle. The loose wheel missed Flower by less than an arm’s length an instant before the unbalanced cart overturned, dumping sacks of grain directly at Cauvin’s feet.
By rights, Cauvin should have helped get the cart righted and repaired-if only because the accident had Flower trapped, too. And he would have helped—the pounding he’d taken from Soldt had left him aching, not injured—if the sheep-shite steward had bothered to ask. The Ender looked through Cauvin as if he weren’t there, so Cauvin told Bec to continue with his story.
“The emperor’s governor was a fair man. He didn’t go looking for trouble. He proclaimed a pardon for any pirate who laid down his trade. Those that could lay it down sailed back to Sanctuary. The rest hid on Scavengers Island. Woe betide the ship that ran aground on Scavengers Island!” Bec dragged a finger across his throat. “If not enough ships ran aground, then the pirates would scavenge each other, or lurk near Sanctuary’s harbor. The pirates raided merchant ships as they sailed in or out, and there wasn’t a lot that Sanctuary could do to stop it, until the fish-folk arrived. If their ships couldn’t run a pirate down, they’d stare him down instead—”
Bec had his thumbs and forefingers against his eyes, holding them unnaturally wide open. Froggin’ sure the Torch hadn’t done that.
“Between the fish-folk, Tempus and his Stepsons, the witches, the gods and demigods, the hazards,” Bec counted the threats on his fingers, concluding with—“and all the resur- resur- resurrected dead in the streets, the pirates decided that Sanctuary was too dangerous for them and stayed away. Then the witches got rid of the gods, and the gods got rid of the witches. The dead people disappeared … so did Tempus and his Stepsons. The pirates thought the time was ripe for raiding.
“They stole people off the streets at night and stuffed them in barrels bound for the island. The stolen people, they were mostly lowlifes, thieves and troublemakers. Some other people thought the pirates were doing Sanctuary a favor, but not Grandfather. Grandfather said that stealing thieves was worse than stealing honest folk because honest people always came through the front doors. No matter how much they got tortured, they couldn’t tell the pirates anything about the holes in Sanctuary’s defenses. Stealing honest people was a moral outrage and demanded retrib- retribution, but stealing thieves was worse. Thieves could be bought without torture. Thieves knew where Sanctuary was weak. Thieves could lead the pirates in—”
Cauvin interrupted. “Grandfather said that That froggin’ pud knows more about sneaking in and out of Sanctuary than any froggin’ thief. The froggin’ pirates should’ve stolen him.”
Bec started to protest. Cauvin waved him down. The drovers had righted their cart, and the steward was shouting orders to get the caravan moving again. By chance, Cauvin snagged the Ender’s attention. No good would come from arguing with the mounted man in a froggin’ sour mood, so Cauvin bent his neck and studied his feet.
froggin’ sure, Cauvin knew his place. He was a sheep-shite orphan who’d walked out