Traveler of the Blue Road
Part 3 - Chagum and the Hawk
Chapter 5 - In the Hawk's Talons
When Senna went to collect the prisoner’s tray from outside his room, she frowned. The glass of fruit juice was empty, but he hadn’t touched any of the food. There was a film of oil over the meat and vegetable stew.
Senna sighed. She remembered the boy’s anguished cry of despair on the deck and shook her head. She didn’t understand much Yogoese, but she grasped the general situation well enough. She’d overheard most of the conversation between him and Hugo from the stairs that led to the ship’s cabins. While most of the words had been gibberish, there was one thing she was sure of now: the prisoner was the Crown Prince of New Yogo.
Hugo had called him that, and he had called himself the future Mikado; there was no room for doubt. The boy was not simply a noble as Hugo had claimed. Senna knew from the start that he was a valuable hostage, but she never would have guessed how valuable. She found herself wondering how she’d gotten herself mixed up in this plot to destroy--or save?--New Yogo.
For money. Duh.
Senna sat down on the stairs and rested her chin in her hands. Knowing that the prisoner was a prince didn’t really change her current situation much. She didn’t regret capturing him or worry about what would happen next--but for some reason, her stomach was bothering her.
Is this what being used by the Talsh is like? She frowned at the Crown Prince’s door, sighed again, picked up his tray, and left.
Hugo caught sight of Senna returning to the kitchen with an almost-full tray of food. He was alone on the deck, leaning against the ship’s side while looking up at the stars. He kept thinking about the spectacular sunset after the storm.
Crown Prince Chagum can see Nayugul.
The tales and songs of his association with a water spirit from the world of magic were not simply tales. There were probably people in his faraway homeland who could see Nayugul as well. If Chagum had managed to escape today, he might have found friends who were able to restore him to the ordinary world, if that was what he wanted. He could also have chosen to remain in Nayugul, away from the world’s problems.
It must be rough to be a Crown Prince, with powers like that.
It seemed that Crown Prince Chagum was able to run away to Nayugul practically at will. Remaining in this world and performing his role were conscious choices on his part. Hugo could easily understand the temptation to flee to Nayugul to escape his situation.
It was unfair to rest the fate of an entire nation on Chagum’s shoulders, but the more Hugo learned about him, the more encouraged he felt. Perhaps Crown Prince Chagum was uniquely suited to his role in ways that he himself didn’t understand.
Hugo stayed up late that night thinking as the stars twinkled overhead and the wind blew through his hair. He was almost home.
“Huh? You want to stop in Yogo before we head for Rahan?” Sodok asked.
Hugo sat across from him in his cabin. They were talking over a glass of wine after dinner.
“No way,” Sodok said. “Making such a large detour when we’re this close to delivering the merchandise is foolish. There’s no reason to stop there, is there?”
Hugo tapped his fingers along the stem of his glass. “I want to show him how Yogo functions under Talsh rule,” he said. “I think that if he saw how the Talsh govern, he would cease to oppose us. He would certainly understand us better.”
Sodok frowned deeply and looked down at his own shaky reflection in his wine glass. “You’re planning something,” Sodok muttered darkly. “I can feel it. “
Hugo’s eyebrows drew together. “Something like...?”
“You’re Yogoese through and through, and that Crown Prince has gotten to you,” Sodok said. “You plan to support him, don’t you?”
Hugo smiled bitterly. “What purpose would that serve?”
Sodok’s shoulders stiffened. “None. It was a joke.”
Hugo grinned. “That’s not really something to joke about. The boy’s decision will determine what Talsh does next--and I’ve never been a traitor.” His smile took on an unsettling edge like a predator’s. “If he were arrogant, we could use his vanity to manipulate him. If he were stupid, we could simply lie. But he isn’t proud or an idiot, so we need more sophisticated methods.”
Sodok’s smile was false and plastered on. “That almost sounds like praise.”
Hugo chuckled darkly into his wine glass.
Sodok thunked his glass on the table with a scowl. “Do you have any idea of the position you’re currently in?” he whispered threateningly. His eyes reflected the light of the cabin’s candles. “You’ve always taken untenable risks and acted unpredictably. We’ve known each other for a long time; I know how you operate. Sometimes, you scare even me with your recklessness. I never know whose side you’re on. All I know is that I wouldn’t want you as an enemy.”
Hugo kept smiling.
“Never forget how high you’ve risen, Hugo,” Sodok said. “You are not Talsh. Prince Raul saw promise in you; without that, you wouldn’t be here. There are a mountain of people who would love to take over your position it you made so much as a single wrong move.”
Sodok leaned forward and whispered, “And this prince is a magnificent prize. You’re a Yogoese spy bringing in a Yogoese Crown Prince. The Talsh see no difference between New Yogo and Yogo. They’re not going to trust you no matter what you do.”
Hugo looked up from his glass and sighed. He stood up. “I appreciate the warning. I’m not expecting you to stick your neck out for my sake.”
Sodok glared at Hugo’s retreating back as he left the cabin.
When the ship entered the harbor, Chagum’s door and porthole were shut and locked. The weather was cool that day, but without any air circulating, Chagum’s room quickly became stuffy and hot.
Chagum laid out flat on his back and stared at the ceiling. He was sweaty and lethargic; it was so hot that he couldn’t even think about anything.
The sailors shouted and stomped above him as they left the ship. When everything was quiet again, Chagum’s door cracked open. Hugo appeared in the doorway; bright sunlight streamed over his shoulders.
“Would you like to come up to the deck, Your Majesty?” he asked.
Chagum remained stretched out on the floor and didn’t move. He didn’t really want to get up, but the breeze blowing in through the open door felt quite pleasant. He stood up slowly and stretched. Hugo waited patiently as he composed himself, then led him up to the deck.
When Chagum saw the harbor, he briefly lost the ability to speak. The buildings were the largest he’d ever seen. They extended so far into the sky that they seemed to touch the clouds. Those buildings couldn’t possibly be real; the heat must be making him hallucinate.
The ships in the harbor were like a tiny forest grove surrounded by mountains: the masts were like trees and the buildings enclosed the harbor on three sides. The sails of the ships were all different colors; people from many lands must come to trade here.
“This is Manon,” Hugo said. “It used to be Sangal’s southernmost port city. That Talsh still use it primarily for trade. Many of these buildings are new construction.”
Chagum looked at Hugo with an expression of disbelief. “You mean that all Talsh cities are like this?”
Hugo shook his head. “Nah, this still looks like a Sangalese city for the most part. The streets are narrow and not well-maintained.”
The streets here are narrow? Compared to what? All the roads Chagum could see were wider than the ones in Kosenkyo. The scale of the streets and buildings and their unsettling regularity were completely unfamiliar to Chagum.
“Who lives in Manon?” Chagum asked. “Rich people from Sangal?”
Hugo narrowed his eyes against the harsh, bright light of the sun. “This is a nice place to live in a lot of ways,” he said. “It’s well-guarded by Talsh soldiers and thrives in trade. But...” He paused and frowned. “Well, they’re a conquered territory. If they don’t send their sons to war, the Talsh impose heavy taxes on them. Most of the families that live here are like that. They’ve lost fathers, brothers and sons in Talsh wars.”
Hugo faced Chagum and said, “It’s the same with every nation that Talsh conquers. Waging war takes a lot of resources, so the Talsh heavily tax the conquered nation’s best product or industry. Most people choose to pay the taxes at first--but men who fight with honor in Talsh wars gain citizenship for themselves and for their families, which exempts them from paying. That’s how the Talsh get the men of the nations they’ve conquered to fight for their cause. They want to spare their families the burden of the heavy taxes.”
Hugo looked out at the harbor. “Talsh becomes rich by stealing the wealth of others. The Emperor directs the ravening horde to their next target. The Talsh empire is a beast that devours other nations for the sake of its own survival.”
Why is he telling me this? Chagum wondered. He’d never truly understood Hugo’s motives, but he did want to know more about the Talsh empire.
“What do the people think of the Talsh?” Chagum asked. “Are they unhappy?”
Hugo didn’t look at him; his eyes were fixed on something far away. “The Talsh call what they do ‘conquest,’ but it’s slow. They leave a nation’s language and currency and culture alone--for a while. They assimilate new nations into the empire very slowly, so most people just get used to it. Yogo was conquered more than twenty years ago; you can still find some of our old coins in circulation, but it’s rare. Warriors, merchants and children speak the Talsh language as well as Yogoese. They have to; the best-paying jobs require it. In a generation or two, I don’t think anyone will speak Yogoese anymore.”
Chagum’s face went white.
“Would you like to see Yogo, Your Majesty?”
Hugo’s question shocked him like a slap to the face. See Yogo? Was that even possible? His ancestors were from there. Seeing it would give him a glimpse of one possible future for New Yogo.
“Yes,” he said. “I’d like to see it, if I can.”
The corners of Hugo’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Then I shall take you there before we go to the Talsh capital. I was planning on stopping there already, which is why we’re staying in Manon for the night. This may be the last time the pirates get to take a breather until this mission is over.”
Chagum frowned slightly. “Why were you planning to go to Yogo?”
Hugo answered without hesitation: “I wanted to show you that New Yogo wouldn’t be destroyed. Seeing it with your own eyes would be more persuasive than anything I could say.”
Chagum felt uneasy. Hugo was always giving him mixed messages. But if he could go to Yogo before being led before the Talsh emperor, so much the better.
As he looked out at the harbor, he was strangely glad that he was here in this foreign port at just this moment. If he’d never been kidnapped, he would never have learned so much about the Talsh or seen the world with his own two eyes. The world was so much richer and more complicated than the confining palace he’d left behind in Kosenkyo. He was being led directly into the heart of enemy territory, but not everything about that was bad.
Maybe I ’m supposed to be here. Whether I am or not, I don’ t have much choice, so there’s no point resisting.
The Talsh empire was vast and powerful, but they hadn’t won yet. Their war with New Yogo hadn’t even officially started. If luck and time favored him, New Yogo might still find a way to remain free. It wasn’t too late to make the Talsh regret ever capturing him.
Chagum blinked and squinted in the bright light of the sun. He was still unsure of himself. Shuga wasn’t here to help him or serve as a sounding board, so he had to make all the choices himself. He hoped he would choose correctly.
It was like Hugo had said before: thousands of lives depended on him. He couldn’t just abandon his people and leave them to die. As Chagum’s eyes took in the spectacle of Manon’s harbor, he stood up a little straighter.
Someone coughed behind Chagum. When he turned, he saw the Rassharou fisherwoman. She carried buckets full of fish guts and fresh vegetable peelings from the kitchen. She cast the waste buckets over the side of the ship to empty them, then faced Chagum and Hugo on her way back to the galley.
“Do you want to visit Manon?” Chagum called out. She tilted her head; he repeated the question a little louder.
The Rassharou fisherwoman made a face. “Why would I? It’s got Talsh stink all over it,” she spat. She gathered up her buckets and walked away.
When Chagum faced Hugo to express his surprise, Hugo was smiling. “Most Rassharou are prejudiced against the Talsh,” he said.
“Why?”
“When the Talsh took over the islands of the Sugal Sea, they prohibited the Rassharou from entering the ocean surrounding the islands. Rassharou aren’t permitted to live in areas dominated by the Talsh. The ones who wander in by accident are captured and sent to a few different islands to work. Most become fishermen, though I heard that some were used as spies against Sangal.” He paused. “The Talsh conscript their sons for the war effort, too.”
Hugo’s eyes scanned the harbor. “If you think about it, the Rassharou and the Talsh are natural enemies. The Talsh operate by conquering nations that have established borders. The Rassharou have never respected any borders between nations; their home is the sea. The Talsh are harsh on everyone who travels to work--traveling merchants, artists and the like are subjected to strict laws when they cross territory lines. If they don’t have a traveler’s pass, they can get stuck in a Talsh city and never be allowed to leave.”
Chagum nodded in understanding.
A bright voice called out from the end of the plank that connected the ship and the dock. Senna grasped a carefully wrapped package tightly in both hands. She must have bought something in Manon. One of the sailors walked up behind her and tried to snatch the package out of her hands. Senna threw the package up into the air in front of her and dashed toward the deck.
What Senna did next was so fast that Chagum couldn’t see it. As she rushed up the plank to catch the package, the young sailor behind her lost his balance and fell into the sea with a sharp cry. There was a terrific splash.
Senna caught her package expertly and hopped onto the deck of the ship. “You idiot,” Senna called out to the drenched sailor. “You’re ten years too late to catch me! Cool your head in the dirty harbor water, moron.”
Senna tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear and looked at Hugo and Chagum.
“What did you get?” Hugo asked.
Senna shrank back a little, hovering over her package as if it were priceless treasure; then she laughed and started unwrapping the package. “Want one?”
She passed something small wrapped in paper to Hugo. She took another small, paper-wrapped object in her own hand and tore the wrapping open. Inside were small, peach-colored bean jam cakes called chaz.
“Chaz?” Hugo asked. “Where did you even find these, Senna?”
Senna rested a hand on her hip and puffed out her chest proudly. “Duh, I’ve been to Manon before. I know where the Yogoese merchants sell their stuff.” She turned to Chagum. “Have you ever had these before?” she asked.
Chagum tilted his head slightly. He’d eaten bean jam cakes before, but these looked a little different. They were definitely a different color. “Can I have one?” he asked.
“Go ahead.”
Chagum unwrapped the bean jam cake and tasted it. The cake had a smooth, soft texture that was easy to chew; the taste of fruit juice in the filling was incredibly sweet--and very familiar.
Senna watched anxiously for his reaction.
“I haven’t had one of these in a long time,” he said with a smile. A citrus-like aftertaste lingered in his mouth. “This is just like saz.”
Senna’s smile was radiant. “Eating lots of sweet things is the best way to recover your energy and strength, so you should eat lots and lots of them. I’m going to buy tea now. Leave a couple for when I get back,” she said all in one breath, then spun around and immediately ran down the plank back to Manon.
“She didn’t have to do that,” Hugo muttered.
Seeing and tasting saz again put Chagum in an unusually good mood. He grinned down at his bean jam cake and took another bite.
“She talks like a sailor,” Hugo said. “Doesn’t that bother you?”
Chagum shook his head. “Nah. It’s not like she knows how to talk politely anyway.” He glanced up at Hugo. “Does she?”
Hugo laughed and shook his head.
Chagum wondered if what Senna had said about eating lots of sweet things would actually help him get stronger. There was only one way to find out.
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