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."
Fengel stared. Henry's jaw dropped open.
"Is he insane ?" whispered Henry.
"Even with the war in Salomca," said Fengel, "there is no way the King would stand for that. And especially not the Prince. There would be dreadnoughts off the shore of the Colony as soon as they could sail there. Why haven't I heard of this?"
"Fresh news, sir," said Lucian. "And our tale isn't quite over yet. The Marine contingent was leaderless,
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."
Fengel stared. Henry's jaw dropped open.
"Is he insane ?" whispered Henry.
"Even with the war in Salomca," said Fengel, "there is no way the King would stand for that. And especially not the Prince. There would be dreadnoughts off the shore of the Colony as soon as they could sail there. Why haven't I heard of this?"
"Fresh news, sir," said Lucian. "And our tale isn't quite over yet. The Marine contingent was leaderless,
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