Chasing the Lantern(27)

Lucian was capable of being subtle when fishing for compliments. He just rarely bothered. "We could not have done it without you," said Fengel dutifully.

His first mate beamed. "Damned right you couldn't have. Oh, but it was worth it, though. Tweaking both Natasha and Mordecai. Right to their faces. That was worth the effort." He laughed. "They were mad as all get-out. Old Mordie chased me down to the Waterdocks, then back up to the top of the terraces and into the jungle. Caught all my blinds, backtracking, and cheap tricks. Almost didn't get away." He paused to take a bite of toast.

"Do you know if she's got any supporters in town?" asked Henry. "Anyone who'll give her a lift after us?"

Lucian shook his head. "When you first cooked this up, I thought Weatherby might throw a wrench in things. But he's delayed, stuck pillaging out west longer than I thought he'd be." The first mate sat back and smiled. "We're free and clear to go wherever we want."

Fengel stole a muffin from Lucian's plate. "Capital. Then we make course east by southeast. Engmann's Run looks strong at the moment, so we'll follow the shortcut of her curve 'til we hit the coast if we can. If Mr. Grey is right, then the Albatross should be wrecked along the mouth of the Silverpenny river." He reached into his coat and pulled out a map. Unrolling it, he spread it out on the table, placing the muffin at a recalcitrant corner to keep it flat. "Surprisingly, Dawnhawk has an excellent stock of maps. This is a recent survey of the south-western coastline." He placed a finger along a poorly sketched portion. "And here is the river."

"So far south of Breachtown," mused Henry. "What was the Albatross doing down there? That's all wilderness and jungle, not even really explored."

Fengel waved this off. "That just means that the ship is ripe for the plucking."

"About that," interrupted Lucian. "This trip isn't going to be as easy as it seems."

Fengel raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

His first mate sighed. "Well, for one, Grey was right. The gemstone's cursed."

Fengel blinked. His steward looked up from the map.

"Really?" asked Henry.

"Really," said Lucian. He paused to take a bite of boiled egg. "Grey's not the first to hear of the thing. It's been causing a stir over in Breachtown since before we left for Triskelion. Grey's been angling for the gem for awhile now. I think he's been watching and waiting for an opportunity just like this one. He's probably been driving his Breachtown contracts all over the place, sniffing about. The Albatross has only been missing for a few days."

That explains the timing. "Interesting," said Fengel aloud. "But what did your contacts say?"

"That the gem's cursed," continued Lucian. "Looks like it was found only a few weeks ago. Adventurer by the name of Silas Thorn brought it back to Breachtown from the Interior."

"Oh!" said Henry. "I've heard of him. The one in all the penny-papers." The steward paused a moment. "You related?"

"No. My name's got an 'e' on the end. Anyway. Silas brought the gem back and sold it to a local merchant. The merchant was fairly discreet, but one of the porters blabbed and it got all over town; a unique gemstone, big as two fists, pale and milky that glows like a lantern. Apparently Thorn got it from some strange tribe in the jungles of the Interior. Porter wouldn't say much more, and died shortly after. Atop that, more than a few people noticed that Thorn's party was a good deal smaller than it had been going out, just the porter and Thorn himself returning. The adventurer wouldn't talk, just got on the next steamship back to the western lands."

The first mate paused to chew more toast. "Now after all that, everyone was quite a bit curious. All sorts of things are being hauled out of the Yulan jungles, knickknacks of the old Voorn race and suchlike. A completely new type of gemstone had everyone's interest. Thing was, though, the merchant? Became all reclusive. Wouldn't see anyone. But midnight one eve, he was suddenly in the streets, running about like mad and babbling nonsense. Fell over stone dead in front of a constable."

Lucian paused to sip from a mug of freshwater. "That hardly sounds like a curse," muttered Fengel.

Henry raised an eyebrow at him. "That sounds exactly like a curse, Captain."

"Hold up," said Lucian. "Our tale isn't finished yet. Listen to this. Our constable, he picks up the gemstone right? Being a sensible and opportunistic sort, he gives it as a gift to his girlfriend. Well, that girl has a lover on the side, and ends up passing the gem to him, only that man's the Major of the local Royal Marine contingent. Lover policeman finds out, kills the girl, and then gets promptly done in by our boy in the Service. The Major's accused of murder, but he's got pull— and quite a handsome bribe for the Breachtown Governor." Lucian chuckled. "It didn't do him much good. Apparently his dead girl was riddled with syphilis and the Major was shortly committed to a local sanitarium. That's pretty much the end of him. But the Governor now...he was quite taken with his new prize. Held a week of events, galas, masquerades, etcetera, just to show it off. Incidentally, that's also how our stone got its name. But I digress. It was at about this time that our Governor began to make some very, very poor policy decisions. Such as announcing the sovereignty of Breachtown from the Kingdom of Perinault."