“You make this trip often?”
“Oh, aye. Time on time. Up we go with stuff for the Lord Paramount, and back we come with stuff for Mahahm. Grain and the like.”
“How does the stuff get to Mahahm?”
“Well, them Frangians, they haven’t a speck of sense among ’em, but down to the south, where the Notch is, the land falls off in three or four great shelves, and on the lowest one—which is a good deal lower now than it used to be, the way the water’s rising—there’s this port with a wall around it, and the people inside that wall, they an’t Frangians, quite. Oh, they speak like, and they dress like, and I suppose they believe like, but they don’t act like.”
“You say port, so there must be ships?”
“Oh, aye. They sail out along the Stone Trail, carryin’ cargo to Mahahm. Grain and fiber and food of all kinds.”
“I’ve never heard about that.”
“Well, not many have because not many have ever been there. I was there once, years ago, when my pa took me. My pa was in the ship-rigging trade out of Shaller, in Merdune, afore it got drownded. They sent for some of his folk to come over there and teach ’em better ways to rig their ships, so that’s how I know.”
“And what do the ships bring back from Mahahm?” Genevieve asked.
“Not a thing. Sand for ballast, and otherwise empty,” said the old man.
“No P’naki?”
“I hear that comes in the Lord Paramount’s airships, that does. So’s to be sure of it gettin’ here safe.”
“But if the sea’s so dangerous, aren’t the sailors fearful of the voyage?”
“Not so’s you’d know it. Oh, no doubt they lose a ship now and again, but don’t we all? Hmm? Even on Havenpool that can happen.”
Someone shouted a summons, the excise-men scrambled into their little boats and skimmed off for shore, and both barge and ship continued on their way, leaving Genevieve to wonder.
The trip ended at a small port in Bliggen, where Genevieve parted from Carlotta, was met by her carriage, and spent a day traveling across the boring plains, arriving well after dark at the resort. It was there she first saw the passenger list for the airship that would carry them to Mahahm.
“Aufors, I’m the only woman on it,” she cried.
“The list isn’t complete,” he said. “Is it?”
“I wouldn’t know. But if it is, I’m the only woman. I’ll need a maid at least, with the baby coming. . . .”
On the morning, Aufors asked for and received an audience with the Prince. The royal suite was all velvet, gilt, and carved surfaces, and the Prince sat at an ornate desk littered with paper. He looked up, when Aufors was announced.
Aufors bowed sweepingly. “I have come to beg that some other woman be included in the party, Your Highness. Otherwise my wife will be very much alone.”
The Prince looked back at the papers on the desk before him. “She was educated at Blessingham, was she not? She has learned how to manage solitude?”
“Not interminable solitude, sir.”
“I can assure you, it will not be interminable.” The Prince smiled tightly, though with genuine amusement. “I am not fond enough of Mahahm to stay long.”
Aufors gritted his teeth and tried again. “May one inquire why there will be no other women in the party?”
Delganor drew himself up and said, coldly, “There would have been had Earl Solven, his wife, and child joined us as was planned. The Countess and her child would have been company for the Marchioness. I am not unmindful of the feelings your wife expresses, but I am unable to assuage them.”
“She will need help with the baby, sir.”
“Your continuing to press me on the matter is close to presumption. I will consider your concern for her, however, and be lenient.”
“Your Highness is too kind.” Aufors bowed, to hide his flaming face and the fact that he choked on the words.
“As for assistance with the child, we can hire someone when we reach Mahahm. As for her needing company, you are her best company, as she has made clear. If your duty to me conflicts with your concerns for her, I know I can trust your honor implicitly, Leys, though I cannot speak for hers.” The Prince went back to his papers, looking up with a malicious smile at the sound of the door closing.