Monford Velaryon came ashore before the last light had left the water.
He brushed aside the sailor's offered hand and climbed to the landing, his sea-green cloak hanging open over his sword. While his men came ashore, he studied the vessels drawn up beyond the harbour.
"Lord Monford."
The Lord of the Tides turned. He had his house's pale hair, tied at the neck, and a narrow face reddened by the passage. He bowed to Jon, then inclined his head to Arthur.
"My lord. Ser Arthur." His gaze fell to Jon's bandage. "I had hoped to find you in better repair."
"The hand will mend. Welcome to Dragonstone." Jon looked towards the second boat. "You have brought Neresso?"
"With my captain. He conducted the search." Two sailors were lifting a small chest clear of the wet steps. Monford beckoned them forward. "His books and letters. Some money. The goods remain under guard at Hull."
"Give the chest to Ethan."
At Jon's nod, two of the castellan's men stepped forward.
"I would hear the charges myself."
"You shall hear him answer them."
The lord allowed the chest to pass. A porter shouted for room, and the men watching the arrivals drew aside for his laden cart.
"You have kept them busy," Monford said. "There was little enough doing when I last came here."
"There will be more when the new yard is ready."
"And four prizes to put in it, I hear."
"Two from the fight. Denys brought word of a third today. The fourth escaped."
Monford looked towards the repair beach again. "My steward's man had a richer tale. Gold enough to build another castle."
"I have one castle to put in order. It will take its share."
The second boat came alongside. Neresso sat between two guards, hands folded beneath the loose sleeves of a brown robe. His beard was trimmed and his hair carefully oiled, but he had lost a slipper coming down from the ship. He put his bare foot upon the step and winced.
"My lord." He was looking at Monford. "I have done all your captain asked. My rooms have been opened, my servants—"
"You will answer Lord Jon."
Neresso looked past him. His eyes went from Jon's face to the bandaged hand, then to Arthur. Jon let him look.
"Ethan will have water brought to you," he said. "We shall speak when your papers are ready."
"There has been a mistake about the men I employed."
"You may explain it then."
Ethan took the guards uphill with the chest. Neresso tried to catch Monford's eye once more before they led him away.
Jon followed with Arthur and Monford beside him, their households behind. At the turn in the road, the lord stopped.
"Which is the collector?"
Jon pointed with his left hand. "The two-master."
"A useful hull. Has anyone examined her lower timbers?"
"Qavo thinks she can be saved."
"Qavo is here?" Monford turned from the beach.
"He is building for me."
The wind caught Monford's cloak. He drew it back over his shoulder. "He would not settle in Hull."
A younger man beside the visiting captain pushed strands of pale hair from his mouth to look down at the collector.
"My brother, Aurane Waters," Monford said.
Aurane bowed. "My lord. I heard you had to tow her home. How much of her steering is left?"
"Enough to reach the beach. She will need work."
"I should like to see her when she comes off it."
Jon took another look at him. Aurane Waters. He remembered what the man had done in the books: persuaded Cersei to pay for ten new dromonds, picked the captains himself, then sailed off with the whole fleet when the Faith arrested her. One of the ships had even been called Sweet Cersei. The magnificent bastard had robbed her and taken her name along for the voyage.
Jon smiled at Aurane's innocent interest in his captured ship. He would enjoy having this one about. He would also remember to count his ships.
"You may have the chance," he said.
Monford resumed the climb. His younger half-brother fell back beside the captain.
"Your merchant has been asking after men in my yards," the lord said.
"Marrec has my orders to find shipwrights."
"Some of those men learned their trade at my expense. I fed their families through winters when there was scarcely work for half of them. They owe more than a few days' labour."
"If they are bound to you, tell Marrec for how long. He will make no offer until he knows."
"And afterwards?"
"Afterwards I shall employ any who wish to come."
Monford looked at Arthur. Arthur walked on without answering.
"You will have every yard upon these coasts bidding against the others."
"I need men to build my ships, Lord Monford. I shall pay them to do it." Jon continued uphill. Monford followed without pursuing the matter.
At the castle, Marros took charge of the visiting guards. Monford's captain joined Ethan while servants brought the lord water to wash before supper.
Jon had ordered fish, bread and onions cooked in butter. He had eaten little since morning, and the smell made him hungry enough to reach for the bread while Monford was still drying his hands. Arthur cut a piece for him without comment.
"The others come tomorrow?" Monford asked.
"Their chambers are ready."
"Celtigar has been asking what all this work costs. He takes an interest in your harbour."
Jon drew his plate nearer. "Have some fish before it goes cold."
Arthur answered Monford's questions about Runestone while Jon ate. Asked after Gawen, Jon said the knight was up and about, though his arm still troubled him.
"Tomas must keep to his bed a while longer."
"The lad who stood between you and the captain?"
"Ser Tomas now. Arthur knighted him."
"My pardon. The news had not reached me." Monford lowered his cup. "A brave deed. I hope he mends."
"So do I."
Monford took more onions and described a mast lost off Massey's Hook. He gave the course and wind, moving a fish bone to show his captain's turn. Aurane corrected the captain's name. Monford went on.
"How heavily laden?" Jon asked.
Monford supplied the cargo, then the amount. Jon considered the turn he had shown.
"He should have shortened sail."
"He should. I have a mast for him at Hull. He will pay for it." The lord set down the bone. "There are lengths there which might serve Qavo. Sound timber, well seasoned. You could lose a year waiting for some of it."
Jon wiped his fingers. "Send Marrec the list and your price."
"I would have my own man speak with Qavo first. He knows what is in the yards. Let them look over the drawings together."
"Qavo can tell him what timber he needs."
"There is more I could offer. Men to work it, fittings already made. I should want the first vessel you can spare when your own are finished."
Aurane reached for the wine and filled his brother's cup. Jon watched the dark stream settle. Seasoned wood and trained men would bring his ships forward by months. Monford had chosen his offer well.
"Qavo's drawings remain here," he said. "Your man will have no need of them."
Monford set his cup down untasted. "A shipwright must know what he is supplying."
"Lengths and sound timber. He shall have the measurements for those."
"My own ships have claims upon the best of it. I might set some aside if I knew there would be a vessel for Driftmark at the end."
Qavo and his family had given their promises, and Jon meant to enclose the yard before work began. Letting Monford's men work beside Qavo with those drawings would give away years of his own knowledge to save a season.
"Finish your ships," he said. "Marrec may bid for what you can spare. I make no promise of a vessel."
"You will pay dearly for timber elsewhere."
"I shall decide what I can afford when I have the prices."
Monford studied him across the remains of supper. Jon reached for his bread. The lord could keep his timber until it rotted if those were his terms; Jon had not come to Dragonstone to build Velaryon's fleet for him.
Ethan entered as Monford took up his cup.
"The chest is open, my lord. The captain is ready."
Jon put down the bread and rose.
"Before we hear him," Monford said. "Neresso lived under my protection. His warehouse pays dues at Hull. My merchants will want to know why I delivered him here."
"Then hear the evidence with me. You will be able to tell them."
"An accusation from men you have taken prisoner?"
"Two men, questioned apart. Your captain searched his rooms."
"That does not make him guilty."
"No. It is why he will be heard."
Ethan closed the door. Monford remained seated, his cloth beside his plate.
"If I yield a merchant whenever another lord accuses him, there will soon be no end of accusations."
Jon rested his good hand upon the back of his chair. "You brought him to your liege to answer for crimes upon Dragonstone. He will answer here. If he is innocent, he leaves with you."
Monford glanced towards Ethan. The castellan stood waiting by the door.
"And if I have something to say in his defence?"
"Say it. Bring anything that bears upon the charge." Jon waited until Monford looked back at him. "Your protection will not buy him free of it."
The lord folded his cloth and left it upon the table. When he rose, Arthur opened the door.
"Let us hear him," Monford said.
* * *
The papers smelt faintly of damp wool.
Ethan had spread Neresso's papers upon the table. Monford's captain had found the letters in a locked box beneath Neresso's bed, the books openly in the room.
Neresso had combed his beard with wet fingers. Jon received the deeper bow; Monford received the longer look.
"May I sit, my lord?"
Jon indicated the chair. Arthur stayed by the door while the merchant settled himself.
Neresso opened his book. He readily admitted supplying Pello, the collector's dead captain, with canvas, rope and oil, and paying Borren for the store. When Pello lacked coin, he paid in goods.
"I have dealt with him for nearly four years. Other captains use the store as well."
"Give Ethan their names."
He gave three, then explained the wool, copper and silver with the ease of a man in his counting room. He had been trading before Jon was born and seemed determined to remind him of it.
Jon stopped him at an entry for passage across the narrow sea.
"Who were these people?"
"Men seeking work. I found them berths when they could not pay for themselves."
"And who paid you?"
"The men who took them into service."
Jon left his finger upon the page. "A woman was brought ashore here with her ankles raw from irons. Hessa fed her. Two nights later she was put aboard another ship."
"I was not on Dragonstone."
"Was she seeking work?"
"I never saw her. I cannot tell you what happened to her."
"We found chains aboard Pello's ship," Arthur said.
"Ships from the east carry slaves. Selling a man rope does not make me answerable for everything he does with it."
"And arranging their passage?" Jon asked.
Neresso looked towards Monford. "I can answer for my own dealings. I cannot answer for every story told against a captain who is dead."
"Then answer for these." Jon tapped the book.
"I have."
For the first time he sounded irritated. His hands remained flat upon his knees.
He named two merchants in Tyrosh behind Pello's voyages but would say no more about the passage payments. Jon sent him back under guard.
At the door Neresso turned to Monford. "There is other men's property in my warehouse. Goods held against debts. They will need my books."
"We shall have copies made," Monford said.
He waited until the merchant had gone. "He will say he trusted his captains."
"Do you believe him?"
"No. But some men in Hull will say you killed him for his warehouse. Others owe him money and will be glad to believe the charges."
"Then they can hear the evidence. Bring the mate."
* * *
The mate had been fed and shaved. A raw nick showed beneath his jaw. He eyed Neresso's closed books before sitting.
"You gave us Drennan and the store," Jon said. "Where was Pello taking you afterwards?"
"South. He chose the ports."
"You were his mate. You knew where you were bound."
The man rubbed his wrist. Arthur pulled out the chair beside Jon, and he glanced round at the scrape of its legs.
"Bloodstone. The eastern anchorage, below the old fort."
"Who holds it?"
"Vhalar."
Monford leaned forward. "I heard Rolo of Myr had driven him off."
"Rolo took the south beach while Vhalar's father lay dying. Vhalar never lost the fort."
The mate named eight galleys and ten longboats inherited from Vhalar's father. The two captured northern collectors and the third ship that had stood farther out during the fight were additional vessels.
"When did you last see those eighteen?" Jon asked.
"Before we sailed north."
He could give no reliable garrison count. Jon stopped him counting sailors twice and asked what he had seen ashore: barracks, a repaired wall, guarded steps and a spring below the fort. Monford questioned him about the shallows and had him trace the headland in spilt water.
Histories of Daemon's wars could not tell Jon where a boat could land now. The mate had never followed the path behind the houses; Ethan left that part of his sketch unfinished.
"What did you carry back from the northern stores?" Jon asked.
"Coin. Supplies. Whatever Pello was sent for."
"Where is the coin?"
"Drazen took it."
Vhalar's lieutenant collected from the northern captains. Before Dragonstone, the mate had helped load his ship with chests, some holding gold and silver. He did not know their worth. Borren's store had not yet been emptied when Jon's men came ashore.
"Drazen was aboard the ship that waited farthest out?" Arthur asked.
"Yes." The mate looked between them. "Did she get clear?"
"She did."
He drew his hands off the table.
"Then he'll be going back."
"To Bloodstone?" Jon asked.
The mate stared at the closed books. Ethan waited with his pen above the page.
"My woman is there."
"Does Drazen know you lived?"
"He'll find out. And if your ships turn up asking after the fort, Vhalar will know someone talked." He looked at the guard. "I'm saying nothing more while she's there."
Jon sent the guard into the passage and waited for the door to close.
"Tell me her name."
"Let me fetch her."
"You are staying here."
"Then bring her away first."
"How do you expect us to find her?"
The mate had called the people in the hold cargo. Now he sat tight-jawed, unable to trust them with one woman's name.
Jon let the silence last. He studied the sketch, weighing what it would take to land men at Bloodstone and seize the anchorage.
"I will try to save her," Jon said. "That is all I can promise."
"How?"
"That is for me to decide."
The mate stared at him. His eyes went to the door, then back to Jon. At last he leaned forward.
"Merra. Her brother is Tero, a caulker. Two fingers missing from his left hand. The pitch sellers below the fort know him."
Ethan recorded the names and directions separately and set the folded sheet beside him. Jon poured water with his left hand. The mate drank before looking at him again.
"What did Vhalar want the money for?"
"Moreo. I heard him say Moreo had held the western landing long enough. I was at the fort with Pello."
"Has he attacked?"
"I don't know. The captains were talking of it when we left. Pello said Vhalar meant to move once the collections came south."
Some crews were waiting for their pay. Besides Drazen's collections, Vhalar expected a Tyroshi factor with grain and the proceeds of copper and silver. Pello had heard at Hull and meant to return before him.
"Did Pello say when Vhalar would attack?"
"No, my lord."
Jon told Ethan to have the other prisoners questioned separately about Drazen's cargo. Then he drew Neresso's book towards him.
"What did this man do for Pello?"
"Sold what we brought. Took his share. He's Vhalar's cousin."
Monford's hand stopped beside the sketch.
"Who told you that?"
"Pello. They quarrelled over eight bales of wet wool last autumn. Neresso wanted his money. Pello said being Vhalar's cousin didn't spare him his share of a loss."
Neresso's clerk Harro had inspected the bales; Monford's captain confirmed that he was under guard at Hull. Ethan found the entry, with part of the loss charged to Neresso. Jon left the page open.
"Did he see the captives?"
"Once. In a lighter at Hull. He said two were too old for the price."
The captain looked up from the book.
"Where did Pello get his captives?" Arthur asked.
"Men ashore brought some. We took others from fishing boats. Pello chose who went south."
"And you?" Jon asked.
"I did what I was told."
"Did you guard them?"
The mate looked at Ethan's folded sheet.
"Yes."
Jon thought of Laro running to meet the woman from Denys's ship. Five brought home. There were families still watching for boats that would never bring anyone back.
"How many does Vhalar hold at Bloodstone?"
"Two hundred. Three, perhaps. I never counted them."
That was when he had last sailed. They were kept in two long sheds behind the storehouses, below the fort. Buyers came from Lys and Tyrosh. Vhalar kept shipwrights and smiths for his own use; others hauled timber in chains. There were women and children among them, and some spoke the Common Tongue.
Jon had him mark the sheds and guards, then questioned him about Dragonstone. Drennan's warning had given Pello time to begin emptying the store. Expecting watchmen or a searching galley, they had been caught unready by the night attack.
"Had Vhalar ordered you to take me?"
"We didn't know you were aboard."
"Pello called for me to be taken alive."
"He saw your sword. The knights trying to reach you. He thought you'd fetch a ransom."
"Did he say that?"
"No. I heard him call for you alive. The rest is what I thought."
Nothing supported Jon's suspicion of a man at court behind the attack. Pello seemed to have seized his chance at a valuable prisoner while clearing stolen goods from the store.
When Ethan finished writing, the mate asked whether Jon would spare him.
"I have promised you nothing for yourself."
"But Merra—"
"I will try to save them both." Jon called the guard. "You will repeat your evidence before my lords tomorrow."
The mate watched Ethan put the folded sheet away before allowing himself to be led out.
Monford rose and stretched his legs.
"Moreo Vaharis holds the western landing. He raided with Vhalar's father. With Rolo in the south, that is three pirate fleets on one island."
"What does Vhalar prey on?"
"Merchantmen, mostly. They strip the holds and take the crews. Ransom for those who can pay. The slave markets for the rest." He looked at the sketch. "We need to know where those eighteen ships are now."
Jon nodded. "Bring Neresso back. And send for Abel."
* * *
Neresso drew the book towards himself as soon as he sat down.
"Eight bales of wool," Jon said. "You shared Pello's loss when they took water. What share did you take when a cargo sold well?"
"Whatever we had agreed. I put money into his voyages. That is hardly a crime."
"Did you know the ships were Vhalar's?"
"Of course."
"Your cousin."
Neresso looked at Monford. "His father was my uncle."
"You might have told me," the lord said.
"And would you have heard another word?"
His uncle had commanded ships for Maelys, then lost his warehouses years later backing the wrong man for Archon. He had fled Tyrosh and plundered his enemies' trade until his death, leaving Vhalar the fleet and fort.
"I sent provisions to my own blood. I have never hidden that I trade with his captains."
"You called it trade when they brought you stolen goods," Jon said.
"Then bring the owners here. I will answer for what I bought." He turned to Monford. "Your men watched the ships unload. You took your dues."
"Did I give you leave to sell men?"
"I found them passage."
Abel came in with his gown over his nightshirt. Jon showed him the six passages from Hull and repeated the mate's evidence. Abel turned through the books while Neresso explained his expenses: food, freight, the lighter's hire.
"The mate saw you inspect those people," Jon said. "You complained that two were too old for the price."
"A prisoner who hopes to save himself. What have you promised him?"
"An attempt to help two people at Bloodstone. Nothing for himself."
"He will still tell you what you want to hear."
"Harro and your boatmen will be questioned as well."
Neresso's thumb stopped upon the edge of the book. "They knew only what they were paid to do."
"Then you can tell us the rest."
"They were Pello's debtors. He had a claim upon their service."
"Did you see a judgement against them?"
"No. I had his word."
"Did any of them ask you to find them work?"
"Pello made the arrangements."
Jon waited until Neresso met his eyes.
"I asked you whether they asked for work."
"No."
Abel set the second book beside the first.
"Your expenses were repaid here," he said. "Food and passage, in full. This later payment was your profit."
"My fee."
"A share of what the buyer paid for six people. It is entered beside Pello's."
Neresso turned back a page, then forward again.
"I advanced the money. I stood to lose it."
"You knew they were being sold," Jon said.
"They were sold in Tyrosh."
"And you arranged it from Hull."
For a moment only Abel's pages could be heard. Neresso looked to Monford, who left the book between them untouched.
"Lord Monford knows how long I have traded in his harbour. I have paid every due asked of me."
"You will answer Lord Jon."
The merchant straightened in his chair.
"Yes. I found the ship knowing they would be sold. I received a share. But I did not take them from their homes, and I never ordered Pello to take them. Write that too."
"Where did he get them?"
"He said a coaster. I do not know which."
"You said they were debtors."
"That was what he told me."
Jon made Neresso name the ship that had carried the six east and the buyer. He supplied both but denied knowing anything after the sale. When Ethan read the account back, Neresso corrected the vessel's name and made him repeat the words concerning Pello.
Jon went on to the northern buyers of the stolen goods. Neresso supplied names and directions for men at Duskendale and Maidenpool, slowly at first, then more readily when he saw Ethan recording his help.
"Some bought without knowing where the cargo came from," he said. "You will ruin honest men if you seize everyone who traded with us."
"They will be questioned."
Monford knew one of the Tyroshi houses Neresso had named; he had bought pitch through them himself. Jon would have to separate the stolen cargo from the lawful trade.
Neresso produced a receipt for his payment to Drazen but knew nothing of the other collections. A letter confirmed the Tyroshi factor had sold copper and silver and would bring grain and the balance to Bloodstone. Abel found the consignment in the book.
"When does Vhalar expect him?" Jon asked.
"Five weeks. Perhaps six, from now. It depends upon the grain and the wind."
"The copper was stolen?"
"Taken from a ship. I was not there."
Jon left Abel checking the remaining entries. Neresso watched the books pass out of his reach.
"You will need men in the eastern ports. I can write to merchants who would shut their doors to your captains. Have them watch for Drazen and the factor."
"And what do you ask?"
"Let me return to Hull, under Lord Monford's eye. Keep my goods until I have done what I promise."
"No."
"I am offering you a means to find them."
"Give Ethan the names. Any letter you send will be read." Jon stood. "Tomorrow you will answer the charge in my hall. If you wish to call a witness, name him tonight."
Neresso remained seated until the guard came beside him. Then he rose and straightened his robe.
"Lord Monford, I ask that you be there."
"I will."
He went without help, asking at the door for water to wash and a clean garment for the hearing. Jon nodded to the guard.
Abel needed more time with the books. Jon told him to have copies made so that the records of lawful business could return to Hull.
"My harbourmaster will answer for this," Monford said.
"Find out what he did. If he took money, bring him here. We still need to know which ships passed through."
The lord looked sharply at him. Jon held his gaze. He would not let the enquiry end with the punishment of a careless harbourmaster.
"Ethan will send a man with your captain," he said.
Monford inclined his head. "You shall have an account."
In the cold passage, Arthur woke a servant dozing on a bench and sent him for a candle. Jon drew on his cloak.
Monford lingered by the door.
"My father said he knew every master who came into Hull." He watched the servant disappear into the darkness. "I used to believe him."
Monford wished them good night and followed the servant towards his chambers. Jon waited until they had turned the corner, then took the sketch of the anchorage from Ethan and left with Arthur.
* * *
Arthur waited until the chamber door was shut.
"You need not go to Bloodstone."
Jon laid the sketch upon the table. "You have decided where I am going?"
"You asked about the fort long after you had enough to judge the men who served it." Arthur took off his cloak but did not sit. "We can clear your coast without taking a war into the Stepstones."
"And wait for Vhalar to send more men?"
"Make it costly enough and he may turn elsewhere."
"To a merchantman with fewer guards. Or a village farther south." Jon pulled out a chair. His right hand caught against the back; he stopped until the pain subsided. Arthur watched him sit.
"You have been through my plans," Jon said. "You sat with Abel this morning. You know what the works will cost."
"I know we left money against need."
"We did. It will not pay for every work I have begun."
"The eastern orders will bring more."
"They will. But in Essos it is still the smaller men placing orders. It will take time for the richer merchants and magisters to see the clocks and want their own. Then William has to make them. I cannot pay men with orders we have yet to receive."
Arthur draped his cloak over the other chair.
"Then let the harbour wait."
"For how long? We need workshops and trained hands to fill those orders. Wait for the rich men to come to us, and they will have to wait in turn."
"And Bloodstone will pay for all this?" Arthur sat. "We have a prisoner's account of the place and a drawing that ends at the wall. Drazen may already have warned Vhalar. You could spend more fitting out than you bring home."
"If Drazen brings the money, Vhalar can move against Moreo. I mean to strike before he does."
"Drazen left before we knew his name. He may already be there."
"Then we have less time."
"Send a ship ahead. Find out whether Moreo still holds the western landing, and what stands between you and that fort."
"No. I will not wait for a man to go there and come back. If Vhalar takes Moreo's ships while we wait, we shall have those to fight as well."
"You do not even know how many men defend the wall."
"I know."
Arthur stared at him. "How soon?"
"The day after tomorrow. With the ships already fit to sail."
Arthur pointed to the sketch. "We may arrive to find he has done it already. You are risking the men on a hope that he is slower than you."
Jon had considered that. Drazen had the better start, and no wounded men or household to settle behind him. Jon could lose the race before his ships left the harbour.
"We are going."
Arthur looked at the bandage resting in Jon's lap.
"You have another expedition planned. What became of finding your wealth in the east?"
"The expedition will have to wait."
"You spoke of finding buyers and bringing craftsmen here. I would sooner see you finish preparing that voyage than take on a pirate fleet because tonight we learnt where its master keeps his gold."
"And sail in what? The ships Qavo has not built?" Jon drew the candle away from the edge of the sketch. "I considered taking the vessels we have. They will serve in the Stepstones. For the voyage I intend, I want the new hulls."
"Then give Qavo time."
"He needs a yard, workshops, materials and men. He cannot make all of that from my drawings. Enough of the works must be ready to build those hulls. Until then the expedition waits."
"And while you wait, you would fight a war to pay for it."
"I would punish the man who sent slavers into my waters. Neresso did not act alone. Vhalar has people shut in sheds waiting to be sold, and ships crewed by the men who put them there. There is justice to be done there."
"There are slavers all across the eastern sea."
"This one has made himself my concern." Jon met his eyes. "And yes, I want his money. I want his ships. You need not make me confess it. They would help us here, and leave him unable to send another Pello north."
Arthur leaned back.
"Tomorrow I will ask the lords for ships," Jon said. "I expect excuses. Let Ethan take them down. I would sooner sail with our own men under Denys, but they shall answer me before one another."
Arthur studied him.
"What are you hurrying to get ahead of?" his uncle asked.
"You know there is more to prepare for than Vhalar."
"I remember the throne with nothing alive left to rule. You told me that dream. You did not tell me we were running out of days."
Jon could not have given him a day or a year he trusted. Too much had changed. He knew only how long the work would take, and how little of it was done.
"We have work enough for years," he said. "I will not let every chance pass because it comes before I am ready for it."
"A chance to gain something, or a chance to lose you?"
"Both. I know that."
Arthur's jaw tightened. He glanced again at Jon's hand, then made himself look away from it.
"Is this something Bloodraven has told you? Or have you had another dragon dream?"
Jon folded the sketch along its old crease. He had told Arthur what he had seen. Explaining how much else he knew was another matter.
"I will tell you when I can."
Arthur remained seated. Jon let him weigh the answer without adding to it. At last his uncle reached for his cloak.
"I'll hold you to that."
* * *
By noon the yard was full of other men's colours.
A groom led away a horse beneath the red crabs of Celtigar. Beyond him, Lady Mylenda Bar Emmon brushed a speck from her son's shoulder. Duram endured it with his chin raised. His sword hung too high; as soon as she finished, he put his hand upon the hilt.
Jon waited beside Arthur. Lorren had forbidden him to hold a sword, write with his right hand, or touch the dressing. Beneath the linen, it itched.
Lord Ardrian bowed over the hand Jon offered. He was broad through the middle, his beard neatly trimmed beneath pale brows.
"My lord. Two cases of wine from Claw Isle. Your steward has the tally."
Jon thanked him and sent Olyver to see the bearers in. Ardrian beckoned a square-built knight forward.
"My sister's son, Ser Corwyn."
Corwyn made his greeting, though his eyes had already gone to Arthur.
"Ser Arthur. Might I join you in the yard tomorrow?"
"If we have time."
"Thank you, ser."
He followed his uncle up the steps, looking pleased with the visit already.
Guncer Sunglass brought a septon and several of his household. Jon recognised the knight at his shoulder a moment before he bowed.
"Ser Eustace. You came."
"You asked me to, my lord. When my cousin said he was sailing, I begged a place."
"Have you recovered from your turn with Ser Arthur?"
"I have been trying to finish my attacks." Eustace glanced at Arthur. "He said I broke them off too soon."
"We shall see."
Guncer presented his septon, then his nephew, Ser Elyas. The young knight carried a bow case and a book damaged during the crossing. A table of the stars, he told Jon; might his maester have a copy? Guncer ended the introduction before his nephew could show them the spoiled leaves.
Mylenda let her son speak first.
"Lord Jon. Thank you for receiving us."
The words had been practised. Duram got through them without looking at her.
"Lord Duram. Lady Mylenda. A good passage?"
"Very good," the boy said.
"He was on deck before dawn. He meant to have the first sight of Dragonstone."
"I saw the smoke."
"Your chambers look towards the mountain," Jon told him. "You may watch it from there."
Mylenda thanked him and called forward Ser Garon Bar Emmon. He carried a packet wrapped against the sea air.
"Our shipping accounts. Ser Garon has seen the work upon the galley himself. He can answer for the repairs."
Ethan received the packet.
"The master's estimate is folded inside," Garon said.
Jon waited for Duram to finish looking up at the towers, then followed Ethan into the hall.
The chair upon the dais had been made for a larger man. Jon refused a cushion. His feet reached the step; that would do.
The households found their places. Word of Neresso had travelled from the yard, and several men turned when guards took up stations at the side door.
Arthur called Monford forward.
The Lord of the Tides knelt and gave his hands. He placed them carefully beneath Jon's bandaged right, without a glance at the wound. His oath carried through the hall. Men at the back who had been whispering fell quiet.
Jon promised him protection and justice, and raised him. Monford had disputed the loss of a handful of workmen last night. Today he pledged his strength.
Ardrian followed him, then Guncer. The septon watched Sunglass kneel before a lord who kept the old gods. Guncer spoke without hesitation; Jon received him with the same words he had given the others.
Duram came last, his mother a pace behind.
The hem of his cloak caught beneath his foot. Jon reached out and steadied him before he fell.
"Take your time."
The boy's ears reddened. He found the beginning of the oath and kept his eyes upon Jon until he finished. Mylenda followed, undertaking as regent to govern Sharp Point in accordance with her son's sworn duty.
The hall stirred as they rose. Arthur stayed beside the chair, and the servants with the wine remained at the far doors.
"There is a judgement to be heard," Jon said. "Bring in Neresso."
The merchant wore a clean robe sent up from Monford's baggage. He had fastened it high at the throat and smoothed his beard. He bowed to Jon, then turned sufficiently to be seen by the other lords.
Ethan read the charges. Neresso had supplied Vhalar's ships, found buyers for stolen cargo, and knowingly arranged the transport of captives to be sold across the narrow sea. He gave the dates the books supplied. Where a witness remembered only a season, he said so.
Ardrian's steward began to write.
Neresso looked from Ethan to Jon.
"I have not denied my dealings with my cousin. I have given you the names of men who can speak to them. But I never sent Pello to take those people. I did not know where he had found them."
"You knew they were being sent for sale," Jon said.
"I arranged the passage. Pello had them brought to Hull. They were his."
"And you received part of what they fetched."
"For the passage, the food, the trouble of finding a ship. I explained the account last night."
Jon looked to Abel. The treasurer opened the book upon the table below the dais, but Ethan still had the dealings at the Dragonstone store to read. Neresso heard Borren's name and raised his voice.
"Borren paid the watchman. I did not. I knew nothing of that payment."
"We have no proof that you ordered it," Jon said. "Ethan, make that plain."
The castellan amended the account. Monford watched him write.
The mate came forward, his hands clasped, and described Neresso inspecting the captives at Hull and objecting to the value put upon two of them.
"This man was aboard the ship that fought you," Neresso said. "He would have carried you south himself if Pello had won. Now he hopes you will spare him for giving you a richer man."
"He has been promised nothing for himself." Jon turned to Abel. "Read the entry."
Abel gave the cost of six passages and the food advanced. Those expenses had been repaid. Then he read the sum left to Neresso from the sale, showing where it was entered apart from them.
"The better the price, the greater his return," he said.
"Without my money they would not have sailed," Neresso answered. "I stood to lose it."
"And expected to profit," Jon said.
"As any man would who advanced it. I did not take them from their homes."
He spoke towards Monford now, still hoping to leave Pello with the blame.
Sunglass stepped forward when Jon invited questions.
"Were these admissions freely given?"
"I have been held under guard since yesterday," Neresso said. "And I had heard how the other prisoners were questioned."
"Were you beaten?"
"No."
"Threatened with torment?"
"No one needed to tell me what might follow if I displeased him."
Sunglass looked up at Jon.
"The mate was struck after we took his ship," Jon said. "I ordered it. Last night he was fed and questioned apart from Neresso. No one struck either man."
"I was there," Monford said. "Neresso disputed the account Ethan read back to him and corrected the vessel's name. He admitted arranging the voyage for a sale and receiving his part of the money. He also said that he had not known where the people were taken."
"That is what I have said here." Neresso faced Jon again. "I have helped you find the men you want. I have answered what I could."
Sunglass withdrew. Neresso watched him return to his place, then addressed the dais before another question could be put.
"If a fine is required, I can meet it. There are goods at Hull, debts owed to me. Men who will advance money upon my word."
"Some of those goods have owners," Mylenda said. "Their claims must be heard."
"Of course, my lady. I am speaking of what is mine." His courtesy remained exact. "Lord Monford knows how long I have traded in his harbour. I can pay."
Monford kept his eyes upon Jon.
Jon rose, leaving his injured hand against his body.
"Neresso of Hull. You arranged for six people to be carried from Hull for sale, knowing why they were being sent. You received a share of the price. Your book records it, and you have admitted it before these lords."
"I have admitted no part in their taking."
"I have heard you." Jon waited until the merchant stopped trying to speak. "You will be beheaded at dawn."
Neresso stared up at him. Behind the lords, someone drew a sharp breath.
"Your property will remain under guard while claims are heard. Goods belonging to others will be returned where ownership is proved. What remains yours is forfeit. You may speak with the septon before morning, if you wish."
"Lord Monford."
The merchant's voice had changed. Monford met his eyes, but offered nothing. When the guards took Neresso's arms, his knees gave, and for several paces they bore most of his weight. Near the door, a woman drew a child out of their way.
Jon waited until they had gone. Abel's account remained upon the table below him. Six people had been entered there and a sum paid against them. Whether they still lived would take longer to discover. He would have Marrec begin today.
"My lords. We will speak in the council chamber."
* * *
Ardrian waited until the servants had set down the bread.
"You will have claims from every port between here and White Harbour. A man hears of a warehouse seized, and remembers a cargo he lost ten years ago."
"He will have to prove it," Jon said.
"That can be expensive work."
"Sharp Point can spare you some of it," Mylenda said. "We have Neresso's receipt."
Ardrian turned to her.
"Oak for our galley, ash for the oars. Paid for. He said the timber was at Hull, but when our master went to see it, the lighter had been delayed."
"Give the receipt to Abel," Jon told her.
"If he has sold it twice, my lord, I should like to know whose claim comes first."
Abel opened the smaller book. There were other advances and cargoes held against debts, he said. The chest would not cover the sums already claimed against it.
Ardrian's gaze moved from the chest to Abel's list. His bread lay untouched.
"Nothing is to be spent from it until the claims have been examined," Jon said. "Lady Mylenda's with the rest."
She accepted that. Beside her, Duram picked at a crack in the crust of his bread. He had said nothing since Neresso was taken away.
Denys brought the chart to the table. His coat was fastened loosely over the torn shoulder. Monford moved a cup so that he could unfold it without reaching across, then remained standing beside him.
"The people he sold," Sunglass said. "Will you seek them?"
Jon turned from the chart.
"We have the vessel's name and the buyer's. Marrec will make enquiries."
"And if the buyer will not give them up?"
"First we must find him."
Guncer did not look satisfied. He could offer a man or a ship if he wished to hasten the work. Jon turned back to Denys.
Denys laid a report beside the chart. The captured galley had been sighted from the headland; she should make the harbour that afternoon.
"Is that the galley your admiral took?" Ardrian asked.
"Yes," Jon said. "He brought our five missing people home on his own ship. The galley is following. Drazen escaped."
"With a warning for his master," Monford said. "If he has any sense."
"And the collections," Denys added. "We must expect Vhalar to have both by now."
Denys gave the mate's account: eight galleys and ten longboats, besides the northern collectors and Drazen's vessel. Their present whereabouts were unknown. Vhalar held the eastern anchorage beneath the old fort, Rolo the southern beach, and Moreo Vaharis the western landing. Pello had said Vhalar meant to attack Moreo once the collections came south.
Neither prisoner knew the value of Drazen's whole cargo. The separate Tyroshi consignment would bring grain and the proceeds from copper and silver, Neresso thought in five or six weeks. They had no sailing date.
Denys laid Ethan's sketch beside the chart. He went through what the mate had said of the sheds: two or three hundred captives at his last visit, some kept to work, others awaiting buyers from Lys and Tyrosh.
"From our coasts?" Sunglass asked.
"He heard the Common Tongue among them," Jon said. "He could not tell me more."
Sunglass bent over the sketch.
The lords' captains would look to Driftmark or Claw Isle when Denys gave an unwelcome order. Jon preferred his own command. He would ask all the same, and remember their answers when they next sought a favour.
"You mean to take it," Ardrian said.
"I mean to take the anchorage."
Duram broke his crust. In the pause, the sound was surprisingly loud. Mylenda put a hand beside his plate and he laid the pieces down.
Monford looked from the fort to Jon.
"Daemon chose that place for a base. Stone above, galleys below. You will not take it by climbing over a rail."
Monford's eyes went once to the bandage. Jon left his hand where it was.
"I mean to strike before he takes Moreo's fleet as well."
"Has he not taken it already?"
"We do not know."
"Then send men to find out."
"They would need time to reach Bloodstone and return. I intend to sail tomorrow."
Monford set down his cup. "Without anyone having seen the defences?"
"Without waiting for scouts. I will take the ships we can make ready."
"You have not seen the place, you do not know its strength, and you will be putting men ashore before you can judge either."
"I may find more than I expect. I may also find him before he has swallowed Moreo's camp. That is the chance I mean to take."
Sunglass looked towards Arthur. Jon's uncle did not speak in his support.
Ardrian addressed Ethan across the table. "With the yard being built? The houses? Can you spare the men for this?"
Ethan looked to Jon.
"What ships can Claw Isle have ready?" Jon asked.
"My armed ships guard trade. Several are promised to voyages already paid for. Calling them home would break those agreements."
"And those at home?"
"Promised to other convoys. I cannot take a merchant's silver and leave him to the men you wish to punish."
"Then name the first you can spare."
"Before we name ships," Monford said, "we should know what they are being asked to do. Burn a pirate's boats? Take his fort? Hold Bloodstone?"
"His anchorage," Jon said. "We take his fleet and free the people he holds there."
"And when you have them?"
"Leave. With the captives, the ships and what we can carry. I have no intention of playing conqueror."
Not yet. Jon disliked leaving the anchorage for another pirate to claim, but Dragonstone was consuming his money and trained hands. He could neither supply a distant garrison nor spare ships to defend it. In five or six years, perhaps, with a larger fleet and the income to maintain it, the Stepstones need not be beyond him. He would plan for that properly.
Monford drew out his chair and sat.
"Then send to the Hand. The Free Cities will hear that a Westerosi lord is attacking Bloodstone. Tyrosh has merchants who sell to these pirates and buy their plunder."
"Some may have bought my people."
"They will not put that in their letters."
Sunglass leaned forward. "Your cause against Vhalar is plain. The men who lend him money may care more about what they stand to lose."
"And ask their archon to recover it," Monford said. "Sailing home will not necessarily end the quarrel. Lord Arryn should know what you intend before Tyrosh sends him its own account."
Denys spoke before Jon could answer. "If Drazen has brought the pay, Vhalar need not wait for the Tyroshi cargo. Moreo's ships could be his before that factor leaves port."
"Waiting may give you a sound ship in place of a hurried repair," Monford said. "You have a prize coming in today. Have you examined her keel?"
"No."
"Then we do not yet know whether she adds to your strength or your shipwright's work."
"Qavo examines her when she comes in," Jon said. "Denys will reckon only the ships fit to sail."
Monford continued before Ardrian could take up the objection.
"Make your ships ready while your men find out what is there. You need not sail before Lord Arryn has answered."
Jon had waited upon distant decisions in his first life. He knew how easily one letter became three. While Arryn considered, Vhalar could be paying crews and loading captives for Lys.
"I will send him an account today. I mean to leave on the first tide after dawn, once Neresso's sentence has been carried out. The ships that can sail will go with me."
"Then you ask us to commit our crews tonight," Mylenda said, "to an attack for which you cannot tell us the enemy's strength."
"I have told you what we know. I am asking whether you will send them."
Sunglass folded his hands upon the table.
"My oath requires me to defend these coasts. My ships will answer for that. I cannot leave Sweetport Sound bare while we discover how many enemies this raid will bring us."
"Nor can I leave our merchants without their escorts," Ardrian said.
"And Sharp Point has one galley under repair," Mylenda said. "You have heard what became of the timber for her."
"Our cog has carried men," Duram said.
His mother turned towards him. For a moment Jon thought she would silence the boy outright.
"Between our own ports," she said. "Where her master knows the water, and can put in if the weather turns." She faced Jon again. "She may serve here. I cannot pledge her to Bloodstone."
Duram kept his eyes upon his plate. Jon turned to Monford.
"Driftmark?" Jon asked.
"When the Crown has settled what is to be done," Monford said. "I will not lead my men into a quarrel with Tyrosh upon the strength of a prisoner's account."
"Enter their answers, Ethan."
Jon took his hand off the chart while the castellan wrote.
"Then I shall take my own ships and men. I will command them."
Ardrian began to speak, but Jon was already turning the chart towards the Gullet.
"Your coasts will require a guard. You have all agreed upon that."
He waited until Ardrian's attention followed his hand.
"Two armed vessels from Driftmark. One each from Claw Isle, Sweetport Sound and Sharp Point, with fit crews and provisions for forty days. Send the orders today. Ships already in your harbours are to come here at once."
"The same ships cannot—" Ardrian began.
"You have told me your merchants cannot be left to these men. I agree. One armed ship will join the patrol. Your officers will help search the landings."
"Claw Isle as well?"
"All four coasts. Lord Sunglass has acknowledged the duty. I require the same service from you."
Guncer looked at Ardrian. He did not withdraw the offer.
"One vessel," Celtigar said at last. "You will have her name."
Mylenda asked whether her armed cog would serve until the galley was fit. Jon agreed. Garon was to go through the repair account with Ethan, so that they would know when to expect her replacement.
Monford let them finish.
"Who commands these patrols?"
"Denys will draw their orders. He is my acting admiral. Before we sail, he will choose a captain to command in his absence, subject to my approval. One of my armed ships will remain until your patrol is assembled."
"Driftmark supplies two of the five ships. My masters know these waters and have served beneath my house for generations."
"Then give Denys the names of the men you trust with the duty."
Monford looked down the table at the admiral. "You would choose between them?"
"I would want to speak with them first," Denys said. "A captain who knows one approach well may know little of another. Their orders must cover all four coasts."
Jon waited for Monford's answer.
"My captains will report here," he said.
The assent was curt.
Ethan set out the searches ashore: harbour officers were to supply the names of masters who traded with Neresso, and local men would examine the smaller landings alongside Jon's officers.
"Hull has already been searched," Monford said.
"Neresso's rooms," Ethan replied. "We need the men who brought his goods through the harbour."
"My harbourmaster can find them."
"He can begin today," Jon said. "Your captain takes the names back with him. My officer will hear what they say."
"Is my harbourmaster accused as well?"
"He has questions to answer. So did one of my guards."
"Hull trades with half the narrow sea. Men who have bought a coil of rope from Neresso should not have their doors broken because your officer does not know them."
"Then let yours show him which door to knock at," Sunglass said. "Mine will have to do the same."
Monford turned sharply towards him. Guncer went on.
"I would sooner have my own man present than learn afterwards what was asked in my harbour."
"There will be no seizure for having dealt with him," Jon said. "No ship detained merely because a name is in his books. Ethan will put that in the order. Where there is evidence, I expect it brought here, with the man who can answer it."
"And until then the harbour remains under my officers."
"They continue their duties. My men go with them."
Monford considered the words. "Copies of the statements to me."
Jon agreed. The originals would come to Dragonstone. Ethan recorded both provisions, and Monford watched him do it.
Mylenda named a creek that could take a laden lighter at high water. Monford corrected its depth. She named the master who used it, and he asked that the man be sent to Denys.
They knew their waters. Jon listened and let Ethan fill the page.
Ardrian asked about prizes.
"If my captain takes a raider, Claw Isle will expect a return. His crew cannot spend forty days earning nothing while another crew takes their place upon a paid voyage."
"The prize terms will be settled before they sail. Identifiable goods go back to their owners upon proof. The taking crew receives its reward, with provision for the wounded. Captured hulls come here for judgement."
"And a share of what is taken at Bloodstone?"
"No."
"Our ships will be guarding your waters while yours go south. That frees men for your expedition. The service has a value."
Jon heard Mylenda shift beside him. It was a better claim than he had expected Ardrian to make.
"It does. Your people will have the same protection as mine, and your crews the same terms upon patrol. If you want a share of what is taken at Bloodstone, send a ship to take it."
Ardrian looked towards Monford. The Lord of the Tides was reading the search order.
"We shall need the patrol terms in writing," Celtigar said.
"You shall have them."
Disputed seizures would be heard here, Jon added, with captains and claimants present. Ethan put it in the order.
"There is one further matter," Jon said. "I will have a man from each of your households with me. Aurane Waters. Ser Corwyn Celtigar. Ser Garon Bar Emmon. Ser Elyas Sunglass."
Mylenda looked up from the repair account. Monford's face had lost the guarded satisfaction it wore when the patrol orders were settled.
"Aurane has duties upon Driftmark."
"He will have duties aboard my ships. So will the others."
"You have heard why we cannot furnish an expedition," Sunglass said.
"I have heard why you cannot spare ships. I am requiring four men. Their passage and provisions will be at my charge."
"Ser Garon is needed for the galley," Mylenda said.
"The master is to answer for the work. Garon will give Ethan the accounts before he leaves."
She put down the paper. "He has served this house well."
"Then you have sent me a useful man."
Ardrian looked towards the door. His nephew was somewhere in the castle, hoping for a place in Arthur's practice yard.
"Corwyn is a knight of my household."
"He remains one. He will answer to my officers while he serves with me."
Their houses would receive neither a separate command nor a share for sending them. But when their kin spoke of what Jon had risked and won at Bloodstone, there would be someone at each table who had been there.
Monford leaned back. "You ask us to trust our blood where we will not send our ships."
"I am going with them," Jon said. "They will serve under the same orders as my own men."
"Elyas is young," Guncer said.
"Denys will give him duties fit for his experience. He will learn the rest."
Sunglass glanced at Arthur. "Will they be under your eye?"
"When they are with me," Arthur said. "They will obey the captain when aboard."
Sunglass considered him, then nodded. "Elyas will report to your admiral."
Monford waited until the others had finished. "I will speak with my brother."
"Tell him to report to Denys before supper. All four are to come."
Ethan entered the four names beneath the patrol orders.
By the time the papers were gathered, the servants had twice come to the door and been sent away. Ardrian drew his chair back.
"We should send a joint account to Lord Arryn," he said to Monford. "The judgement, and our concern about extending the fighting. There may be arrangements with Tyrosh we have not heard."
Sunglass agreed. Mylenda offered her steward to make a fair copy.
Jon let them settle which clerk would write it. Forbidding the letter would only give Arryn another reason to mistrust what he was doing.
"Ethan. Send for Stewart."
Ardrian stopped speaking.
"My account goes today. The evidence, Neresso's sentence, the patrols, and the force I am preparing. Each lord's answer to my request for ships. Lord Monford's presence at the questioning is to be included."
"I witnessed the evidence against Neresso," Monford said. "I have pledged no ships to your expedition."
"The letter will distinguish them."
He would read it himself. Arryn should have the evidence before being asked to restrain a child carried away by victory. Jon could imagine Stannis asking for the ships' names, Robert asking whether the slaver was dead yet. Let them have their answers.
Ethan opened the door for the servants. The fish had waited through the whole council. Jon lifted the cover from his plate; the butter had begun to set along the edge.
* * *
The council broke apart slowly.
Sunglass went to find his septon. Mylenda sent for Garon and the repair account. Monford remained with Ardrian until the Celtigar steward arrived with fresh parchment. Jon waited until they had gone, then turned to Denys.
"Show me what we can sail."
The admiral spread his roll beside the chart.
"Qavo must examine the galley," Denys said. "Even if she is sound, I cannot put the same oarsmen into her and the ships we have."
"Send for Hewyn. I want all six centuries ready to embark, with their centurions. The fifty at Saltcliffe stay with their optio. No one is to draw upon them."
"And the works?" Ethan asked.
"Recall the two hundred. Send riders now. That includes the twenty working at Saltcliffe, not the fifty guarding it."
Ethan had yesterday's assignments beneath his hand. "Otho will lose his haulers. Some of the stonework will stop."
"Leave him the craftsmen and civilian labourers. Have him secure anything he cannot finish."
"And the men Lorren is treating?"
"Stay. Hewyn is to bring me the fit roll, not six hundred names. Your garrison remains yours."
Jon turned to Abel. "Keep the money committed to the works. Use the reserve for fitting out and transport hire. No promises against Neresso's goods."
"Merchantmen?" Denys asked.
"Whatever sound hulls are here and can sail with us. They carry us and bring us home; our armed ships protect them. Reckon room, food and water for three hundred more on the return. We cannot count upon ships we have yet to take."
Denys put a finger beside two names on his roll.
"Not these by tomorrow. One needs work below the waterline. The other has too few hands."
"Leave them. And leave one armed ship for the coast until the lords' patrol arrives. Choose her captain today."
Denys crossed out the names. "Fair Wind may have to stay as well. I will not know until Qavo has seen her."
"Then do not count her yet. Load the sound ships today."
Denys looked at the mate's sketch. "He may have every galley there. If we arrive without knowing, there will be little room to choose a fight."
"Give the captains the account we have," Jon said. "They are to know its limits. I will speak with them before we sail."
Arthur moved away from the table. He had argued the matter the night before; Jon could not mistake his silence for assent.
"Aron may know a pilot already here," he said. "And merchants we could buy from if we need more provisions on the passage. I can ask without telling him our strength."
"Ask him today. We sail provisioned from here; we will not wait for anyone to be fetched from Dorne."
Denys began marking the vessels to be loaded.
Whatever remained of Drazen's money could leave in a fast vessel while Jon fought his way through the gate. His injured hand had begun to throb. He shifted it beneath the table, aware of Arthur watching him.
Ethan brought the orders for Hull: Harro and the boatmen held for questioning, the goods sealed pending claims. Jon approved them, then gave the mate's sentence.
"Five years' labour in irons, then the Wall."
Ethan set it down. "The others were given two years."
"He was their mate. He gave orders as well as taking them. His help has saved his neck."
"Have it read to him," Jon said. "Keep him apart until we have checked his account. Drennan's bargain stands."
"And the woman?" Arthur asked.
"I gave my word. Keep their names for me, Ethan."
Ethan kept the folded sheet with Merra's and Tero's names among Jon's papers. It did not go among those being copied for the lords.
Denys waited until Abel had gone to fetch Marrec.
"If I go south with you, I cannot make the other voyage first."
Myr. Viserys and Daenerys. Jon had meant to send a man he trusted to find them. The children would not know anyone was looking.
"Speak to Arthur about his contacts tonight. Have the enquiries begun. If word comes while we are south, Ethan is to get it to me at the first opportunity."
Arthur nodded to Denys. Enquiries could begin; bringing the children away would have to wait.
"The craftsmen can be sought through Marrec's merchants," Jon said. "Keep to the allowance we gave him. Bring me any message that needs a ship of our own."
They would meet with Ethan, Abel and Marrec before supper, while the visiting lords were occupied with their letters. Jon asked Denys to have the first costs ready then.
A call drew him to the window. Fair Wind was entering beneath her prize crew, coming sluggishly into the turn beyond the shallows. Yesterday he had considered taking a ship like her to Valyria. That voyage would wait for the new hulls and the works needed to build them. He remembered ships from his first life that could endure weather which would drive these galleys to shelter. The memory made Fair Wind's turn harder to watch.
* * *
Jon found Arthur in the passage with Corwyn Celtigar and Eustace Sunglass. Corwyn was asking about the fighting aboard the collector.
"Your practice will have to wait," Arthur told Corwyn. "There is too much to do before we sail."
Elyas was farther down the passage, waiting for Stewart to find another copy of his damaged star table. Jon told him to return after supper. Beside him, Garon carried the repair account.
"I have sent for our galley master," Garon said. "He will answer to your castellan while I am south."
"Make certain Ethan knows where to find him."
Aurane was coming up from the yard as they reached the stair. Salt water had dried along the edge of one boot.
"You went down to the galley," Jon said.
"I watched her come in."
"Then you know where to find Denys." Jon looked from Aurane to the three knights. "Go to him. We need merchant transports for hire. You know men trading through your harbours; find which have ships here, ready to sail, and bring their masters to him. Promise no price or share of the prizes. Abel pays from my purse."
Elyas handed his satchel to a servant. Garon delivered the account to Ethan before joining the others in the yard.
Monford drew Aurane aside before the others reached them. His hand rested upon his half-brother's arm. Jon could not hear their words. Aurane pointed towards the harbour, then back at the stair. Monford shook his head and began to speak again.
Ethan came with Stewart and the draft. Jon took it to his chamber and read it with them both. The crimes and evidence were plainly set out, each refusal recorded with its reason. Arryn would have the lords' own words if they later claimed Jon had excluded them.
The letter distinguished the five home patrol ships from the four companions travelling aboard Jon's vessels, without house crews. Stewart added the mate's estimate of the captives and Jon's intention to free them. Nothing pledged him to wait for an answer.
He pressed his seal into the wax with his left hand.
"For King's Landing," he told Stewart. "Send it now."
* * *
The first men recalled from the works reached the camp while Jon was there.
They came up the track in a dusty file, one carrying his boots by the laces. Hewyn sent them to eat before they fetched their arms. Behind the tents, someone was beating the dinner pot with a spoon; the cook had scraped it nearly clean and was shouting for more bread.
Jon had ridden the two miles from Blackburn with Arthur, passing carts laden with casks, sacks and firewood. At the camp gate, Perkin had stopped a leaking barrel from being sent down with the rest.
The six centurions waited outside Hewyn's tent. Malcolm and Rennick stood together, watching their returning men. Norren had a roll open across his palm; Rymond was counting names against it. Beyond them, Gerralt and Brus had set two shields upon a chest and were comparing the space they would take in a boat.
Hewyn brought the roll outside. The Saltcliffe guards had been struck from it, along with the men on Lorren's list.
"The work parties will come in through the evening," he said. "I have men waiting to put each back with his century."
"Denys is hiring transports," Jon said to the centurions. "Each of you goes with his own men. Hewyn will settle the divisions with him. Keep the tens together wherever the ships allow it. I want to know where to find a man when we put ashore."
"Are we to take the camp down?" Malcolm asked.
"Leave the tents standing. Ethan will have them watched. Arms, cloaks, blankets and what Perkin issues for the voyage."
Brus looked towards the track. "Some of mine are still at Wyrm Rest."
"A rider has gone. Muster those you have. Send the others down when they have eaten and armed themselves. Do not keep a whole century here for ten men."
"The boats may part us," Rymond said.
"They will," Hewyn answered. "Put an optio ashore and another man you trust aboard. Count them at both ends."
Jon stopped beside Heward on the way to his horse. The campidoctor was mounted, his bad leg hanging stiffly against the saddle. Rollam and the twelve volunteers stood before him with their practice shields. Several had turned to watch men putting on armour beside the tents.
"Eyes here," Heward said.
They turned back, reluctantly.
"These thirteen stay with you," Jon told him. "You will answer to Ethan. I want them further along when I return."
"They will be." Heward waited until Jon had passed, then raised his voice. "Again. From the beginning."
By the time Jon reached Blackburn, soldiers were waiting above the harbour steps and a merchant was loudly refusing to put to sea.
He was a small man with a beard divided into two plaits. Corwyn stood beside him. Aurane had one foot upon a mooring post and was watching Denys examine the man's offer.
"I was told soldiers," the merchant said. "I have carried soldiers. I was not told Bloodstone."
"You have been told now," Denys answered.
"My owners did not give me leave to lose their ship."
Jon came down the last steps. The merchant bowed when Corwyn named him, then began again about his owners.
"You have not agreed to the voyage?" Jon asked.
"No, my lord."
"Then take your ship where they sent you."
Denys gave the man back his paper. Corwyn watched him go.
"Tell the next man where we are going before you bring him here," Jon said.
Denys had four masters willing to hear the terms. Marrec knew two; Garon had found another discharging cargo, and Aurane had brought the fourth from a ship at anchor. Their offers lay beneath a stone on the admiral's sea chest. He had boarded each vessel himself and rejected the numbers one master claimed he could carry.
"He counted the space his men need to work the ship," Denys said quietly. "I did not."
"Will the four suffice?"
"With the places aboard our own ships. If their cargo comes ashore, and we stow for the people we may bring back as well as those we take."
The largest merchantman lay at the quay. Garon had found a dry place for her remaining bales, but its keeper would not open the doors without Marrec's word. Elyas stood beside the scales with the mate, reading back a tally as each load came over the side. He had tied his cloak out of the way. A smear of something dark ran from his wrist to the elbow.
Abel arrived with Ethan and Marrec before the first master had finished disputing the hire. Jon kept the meeting there. The men he needed were on the quay, and supper could wait.
The four masters heard the destination, then the service required of them. They were to carry the troops and stores, remain with the escort Denys assigned, and come in to a landing when he ordered it safe to do so. Their boats would help put men and provisions ashore there and bring them away again. None was hired to close with an enemy ship or carry soldiers into a defended landing.
"If there is no safe landing?" asked the oldest master. His cap had left a pale band across his forehead.
"You stay with your escort," Denys said. "I command the approach. My ships will have to clear the way."
"And if you cannot?"
"Then you will not be ordered in."
The master rubbed at the mark left by his cap. "I want that in the agreement."
"Put it in," Jon told Abel.
He had left a warship to guard the home coast. Now another would have merchantmen to protect while he sought a place to land. Asking the lords for their ships had cost him nothing; replacing the help they had refused was already costing money and strength.
The masters bargained over the advance, their daily hire and how long they were bound to remain. Abel made each say what provisions were included. Marrec settled the cost of storing the unloaded cargo, then brought out the other business Jon had asked for. The enquiries for craftsmen could leave with his ordinary letters. Denys and Arthur would speak that night about the children; Ethan would receive any reply while they were away.
Abel showed Jon the advances against his thousand-dragon reserve. There would be more to pay when the ships came home.
"The works' allowance is untouched?"
"Untouched, my lord. Their advances come from the reserve."
Jon approved them. Abel took the masters aside, and Marrec sent a boy running to have the store opened.
The first century came down from the camp while the last bales were still passing ashore. Malcolm halted his men well short of the quay. Those behind him closed up until Hewyn waved them back, leaving a way through for the carts. Long shields turned edgewise to let a team pass; a driver swore at a man who stepped too close to his wheel.
At the steps, a sailor took the first man's spear before allowing him down. The next tried to follow with his shield upon his arm.
"Hand it here. Both hands for the ladder."
The soldier glanced at his optio, who nodded. He passed the shield down and descended. In the boat he sat where the coxswain pointed, holding his bundle between his knees. The next man took the place opposite him.
Brus brought a party down with round shields piled upon a handcart. His men wanted to load them together. The coxswain would take only half: the rest would leave him no room to work the oar. Brus looked at the boat, took hold of the uppermost shield and passed it back.
"Half, then. And no one goes without knowing which boat has his."
One boat pushed off; another came in. The movement made the first look suddenly small. Jon watched a man grip the gunwale until his comrade said something that made the others laugh. He loosened his hand without quite letting go.
Across the quay, Mylenda and Monford had stopped beside the empty handcarts, with Duram between them. Ardrian followed, complaining that someone had sent his boat to the wrong steps. Guncer joined them from the road.
Jon was near enough to hear Mylenda ask, "How many of those men were at the works this morning?"
"Two hundred have been recalled," Ardrian said. "My steward heard the orders going out."
A workman in a soldier's belt had come down the road at a trot. There was white dust in his hair. He stopped to ask where his century had gone, then hurried back towards the waiting ranks.
"He has spent the day hauling stone," Ardrian said. "Now he will spend the night finding his ship."
"Better that than finding his place in a line he has never stood in," Guncer answered. "They know their officers."
"Their officers know the shore," Monford said. He watched Brus pass another shield into the boat. "Denys will have his work with them."
"And with those masters," Mylenda said. "I heard one refuse the voyage."
"A sensible man," Ardrian said.
"A man whose owners had given him other business," Monford answered. "The others have agreed. Their ships are sound enough for the passage."
Ardrian looked at him. "You would go in one?"
"To be carried across the sea? Yes." Monford let a porter pass between them before continuing. "I would want to know where I could put my boats when I arrived."
Mylenda watched another file of soldiers turn off the road. "He will have emptied half his camp before the evening is out."
"He means to take the place," Guncer said. "I would be more troubled if he sent a handful."
"I would be less troubled if Garon were not among them."
Monford turned towards the merchantman at the quay. Aurane was aboard, bent over the rail while a mate showed him where to lead a line. For a while none of the lords spoke.
Jon left them to watch and went to see why the next cart had stopped.
Perkin and the oldest of the hired masters stood beside a stack of water casks. The master had set his heel against one and would not let the porters roll it towards the gangway.
"Below," he was saying. "You fill the deck with these and where do your people lie?"
"They need the water."
"They need somewhere to put their feet as well."
Jon looked from the casks to the open hatch. "Why aren't they below?"
"The last bales are still in the hold. Your man wants to load over them."
Perkin had a soldier waiting at his elbow with another tally. "The boats are waiting for stores."
"Load the other ships while he clears his hold," Jon said. "We have paid for the space. Use it properly."
The master took his foot from the cask.
"And those you bring back," he said. "Three hundred, your admiral said. I won't fit them by throwing their water overboard."
"Nor will I ask you to. Set their room aside now. We keep it even if I find nothing worth bringing home but people."
Perkin nodded and sent the waiting soldier to stop the next cart above the steps.
The tide had fallen far enough to lengthen the ladders by the time Denys returned from Fair Wind. Qavo had found no reason she could not make the passage; the difficulty was still men. The prize crew could bring her into harbour. They could not fight her, and making up the numbers would weaken the galleys Denys already had.
"She stays," Jon said.
He disliked saying it. He had watched her come in and begun assigning her work before her ropes were fast. Denys crossed her from the sailing roll and passed it to Hewyn.
As the light went, lanterns were hung above the steps. The last work parties came down the road in separate groups, collected by men their centurions had left waiting. Jon saw Rymond turn a half-dozen towards a cart where bread and cold meat had been laid out. Further along, Rennick was counting men into a boat with a roll held close to a lantern.
Hewyn brought word from Saltcliffe. Its twenty workmen had returned; its fifty guards were at their posts. The optio had acknowledged the order to remain.
The lords went back to the castle before the loading was finished. Monford waited longest. Only after Aurane came ashore to speak with him did he turn towards the horses.
Arthur sent for horses. Jon had meant to stay until the last century was aboard, but Hewyn still had men to count and Denys had not finished with the masters. His presence was beginning to bring work to a halt whenever an officer turned to make a report.
"Bring the final rolls to me," he told them. "I will see the captains before we sail."
On the road up, he looked back. Boats were moving between the scattered ship lights and the crowded steps. Somewhere in the dark below, an officer called a name and waited for the answer.
* * *
At dawn, the septon finished his prayer beside the block.
Neresso's lips were still moving when the guards helped him kneel. Monford stood with the other lords beneath the steps. When the merchant looked towards him, he did not look away.
Jon waited until the septon had stepped clear. His injured hand lay against his chest. Arthur stood beside the block with a sword drawn.
Jon gave the nod.
The blow took Neresso's head cleanly. For a moment the yard was silent, then Duram made a small, choked sound and his mother drew him against her. A guard spread a cloth over the body.
Jon stayed until it had been carried away. Then he turned to Ethan.
"The island is in your keeping."
"Until you return, my lord."
Ethan walked with him to the horses. Behind them, the septon began another prayer.
The harbour boats were waiting when Jon came down. There were no companies on the road now, no carts blocking the steps. A porter was gathering the loose ends of rope from the quay. Out beyond him, men crowded the rails of the transports to watch Jon's party descend.
Jon and Denys had heard the final rolls and spoken with the captains before dawn. The admiral met him at the foot of the steps.
"The men are aboard. We can go."
Jon handed his reins to Ethan's groom. Arthur followed him into the boat, holding it steady while he found his seat. The four men from the visiting households came after them. Aurane glanced back once; Monford had ridden down behind them and was watching from above the steps.
The boat pulled away. Jon could feel the swell beneath it before they were halfway to the ship.
He climbed aboard with his left hand upon the rope. Hewyn waited by the rail, and beyond him the deck was crowded with men Jon had watched at drill in the North. They made room for him. Some grinned; others stood quietly with their shields against their legs. He recognised one of the men who had come back from the works last night, asleep beside his pack until a comrade nudged him awake.
Jon took his place beside Denys. Arthur remained close, his cloak stirring in the wind. Across the water, the first hired master was calling his men to the sheets.
"Take us out," Jon said.
The oars struck the water. Along the rail, men turned to watch the quay recede. Ethan stood at its edge with the grooms behind him; farther up, Jon could still pick out Monford's pale head among the departing lords.
One by one the ships followed them through the harbour mouth. The roll beneath Jon's feet grew longer as they reached open water. He waited until the last transport cleared the headland, then turned from Dragonstone and went forward.