Night fell as they climbed the switchback stairs and terrace boardwalks, and Haventown blossomed to life around them. The air filled with catcalls, raucous laughter, and the sound of breaking glass. Lanterns and candle flames were lit, illuminating foggy windows and setting dirty glass aglow. Pirates, smugglers, and sailors appeared as they ascended, all swaggering and strutting through the rebel town. Barkers stood before the brothels and better taverns to hawk the goods inside. Three footpads waited in a narrow alley while a young woman lured in victims. Past her two rival captains shouted at each other while their crews placed bets or called out barbs of their own. An aetherite conjured up dancing, living flames for his own amusement. Fengel spied Blackheart's Bandits, keeping things peaceable if not exactly keeping the peace. High above them floated the airships in Skydock, the fabric of the gasbag frames and their skysails reflecting the light back below like great, soft lanterns.
Fengel focused on the buildings, ignoring the crowd. Where was the Bleeding Teeth? Farther up? Had they passed it already?
Henry's voice floated up to him. "The Sheikdom of Salomca started it all."
Fengel started to prepare a response. But the steward was talking to Miss Stone, not to him. Hmm. This could help a bit. I must remain canny. Fengel slowed, eavesdropping as they made their way up Haventown.
"This was, oh, twenty years back or so, lass. The Sheikdom started preying on Royal Navy ships, the ones making the new trip to the Yulan Colony, what everyone now calls Breachtown. They founded Haventown here to launch their raids. When the fighting heated up back home they left, and the towns here had to fend for themselves. Between that, and the merchants sucking treasure out of the Yulan, well, you get pirates."
"But why doesn't the Kingdom just clean us out if we're such a bother?" asked Miss Stone. Lizzy? No. Molly? Fengel tried to remember her first name. Lina, that's it.
"They try, on occasion. But we're two weeks away by ship and they still wage war with the Sheik. Also, the Copper Isles are bigger than you think, lass. A whole chain, not just what we saw outside."
They ascended the last stair and found themselves on the topmost terrace. Here the town spread out to either side, its boardwalk stretching out across the clifftop like a crescent moon. Taverns, sailmakers, warehouses, and brothels all clustered together in the middle, dwarfed in turn by the wide platforms and cleared-jungle enclosure of the Brotherhood Yards where they spilled out over the cliff. Opposite the Yards at the far end hung the Skydocks, piers stair-stepping up a slope in the cliff. Several airships floated at mooring there; the closest caught Fengel's eye.
The Copper Queen was crafted from dark oak, an old sailship in truth, rope and cabling hanging it from a gasbag balloon. Thick hawsers and chains lashed it to the overhanging pier of the Skydock. There was something about that ship, some important fact that pricked at his memory, demanding recall. But the information was hidden, and he turned away. It was obvious that the ship hadn't flown in years, and wouldn't again anytime soon.
Fengel turned back to the nearest buildings, peering through the crowds for the Bleeding Teeth. He seemed to recall that there was a signboard above it, with a scarlet smile carved into the wood. There. It lay a hundred feet up the boardwalk, sandwiched in between two other buildings and half-built onto the slope of the jungle cliff top. Food and drink!
Henry and Lina conversed behind him as he approached the tavern. "That's good to know," said Lina. "But what's this about obeisance?"
"Well, we're not really like a proper town now, are we?" replied Henry. "Haventown works because even pirates need a place to sell the booty, repair the ship, and have a few drinks. But it's anarchy lass, everyone's only real allegiance is to their ship. Sometimes things get ugly. Twenty years ago it was pretty bad; ships firing on each other, vendetta murders in the brothels. Then one of the first sky-pirates had his drink shot out by a stray pistol-ball. Euron Blackheart put his foot down, knocking heads and sinking ships until everyone agreed that he was in charge, the king. So now whenever a captain comes back into port they have to swing by and acknowledge him before anything else. Usually he holds court in the Bleeding Teeth."
Fengel reached the front of the tavern, climbing several steps up to the porch. Henry's story was familiar, was right, but he had forgotten something, something important.
"So who is Natasha?"
"Well...Euron's getting a little long in the tooth. Copper Queen back there is his ship, and it hasn't flown in a decade. Day to day things are run by his daughter now, Natasha Blackheart."
Lina's voice dropped low, conspiratorial, with a strange edge to it. "You mean Captain Fengel's wife?"