Read Online Ison of the Isles by Carolyn Ives Gilman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carolyn Ives Gilman
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rebel outlawry about them. Together they walked down the dock to the waiting carriage, a pasted-together coalition of opposites with the seams already showing.
But that seemed not to matter to the crowd. As the officers climbed into the carriage and set out on a slow circuit around the square, all the bells in town began to ring. Big, deep bells tolled; bright brass bells jangled; boat bells, harbour bells, and hand bells clanged. The music cascaded down from the roofs and windows, washing over them all. Then the big guns far up in the fort joined in, booming in joy, a thundering bass to the treble of the bells. The cheers sounded like breakers on the shore.
Harg felt utterly engulfed in love. It was like sunlight soaking into his limbs, warming him, making him light and buoyant. He wanted to stretch his arms out wide enough to embrace all of Harbourdown, to give them back what they were giving him.
The carriage circled the market square once, then set out down some of the nearby streets, and returned at last to the square, pulling up at Rosenry’s, the tavern that had become the improvised assembly-house of the rebellion. On the steps, Majlis Callow and the other prominent merchants of the town were waiting to welcome them all. After some short speeches, they all went in to the back room, where a feast was waiting. Tankards and lobster broke the ice, and soon Tiarch’s officers, insurgent leaders, and merchants were all laughing and drinking together.
As Harg looked around the room in a golden haze of beer and conviviality, the problems seemed surmountable. The Tornas officers’ protectiveness of their rules and status, the Adainas’ lack of training, the differences in custom, all of it seemed resolvable. He found Barko and Jearl standing on either side of him, and said, “You see, this is what we need. A navy that’s a genuine combination. We’ve got to show the Innings we can collaborate, all of us together.”
“Sounds like a toast to me,” Barko said.
And so Harg called out for quiet and proposed the toast, “All of us together.”
Everyone raised their glasses and repeated, “All of us together!”
Later, he and Barko went out to smoke a pipe on the porch of the inn. A rain squall had passed while they had been inside, and now a reckless wind was rocking the harbour boats, making their masts swing like pendulums. The square was empty.
“So what’s this news about Dorn?” Harg said. “Has he done something I don’t know about?”
Barko took a long, thoughtful pull on his clay pipe before answering. “It’s not so much what he’s done as what he’s saying, and how it’s changing people’s opinions.”
“What’s he saying?”
“You can probably guess. He’s calling us all collaborators. He was questioning our motives even before the news arrived that you had joined Tiarch.”
“I didn’t join Tiarch!” Harg said sharply. “She joined me.”
“Either way. Dorn says he’s the only true Adaina leader, the only one who never served the Innings, never truckled with the Torna. He says he was fighting back while you were sucking your thumb, and now he’s still fighting back while you’re sucking up.”
“Asshole,” Harg said darkly.
“It makes sense to a lot of people.”
It made sense because there was a kernel of truth in it. It also spoke to the deep resentments built up through the years of Torna power and Adaina subjection. It appealed to the base parts of people’s natures.
“Look, I respect Dorn for what he did in past,” Harg said. “But it got him nowhere. His real problem is that there’s a new leadership with better ideas, who want to do what it takes to win.”
Barko shrugged. “All the same, I wouldn’t go into the Adaina section of town alone at night, if I were you.”
This shook Harg to the bone. “Really? Is it that bad?”
“There are people who have been whipping themselves up into a frenzy over this. It’s like you opened the lid, and
But that seemed not to matter to the crowd. As the officers climbed into the carriage and set out on a slow circuit around the square, all the bells in town began to ring. Big, deep bells tolled; bright brass bells jangled; boat bells, harbour bells, and hand bells clanged. The music cascaded down from the roofs and windows, washing over them all. Then the big guns far up in the fort joined in, booming in joy, a thundering bass to the treble of the bells. The cheers sounded like breakers on the shore.
Harg felt utterly engulfed in love. It was like sunlight soaking into his limbs, warming him, making him light and buoyant. He wanted to stretch his arms out wide enough to embrace all of Harbourdown, to give them back what they were giving him.
The carriage circled the market square once, then set out down some of the nearby streets, and returned at last to the square, pulling up at Rosenry’s, the tavern that had become the improvised assembly-house of the rebellion. On the steps, Majlis Callow and the other prominent merchants of the town were waiting to welcome them all. After some short speeches, they all went in to the back room, where a feast was waiting. Tankards and lobster broke the ice, and soon Tiarch’s officers, insurgent leaders, and merchants were all laughing and drinking together.
As Harg looked around the room in a golden haze of beer and conviviality, the problems seemed surmountable. The Tornas officers’ protectiveness of their rules and status, the Adainas’ lack of training, the differences in custom, all of it seemed resolvable. He found Barko and Jearl standing on either side of him, and said, “You see, this is what we need. A navy that’s a genuine combination. We’ve got to show the Innings we can collaborate, all of us together.”
“Sounds like a toast to me,” Barko said.
And so Harg called out for quiet and proposed the toast, “All of us together.”
Everyone raised their glasses and repeated, “All of us together!”
Later, he and Barko went out to smoke a pipe on the porch of the inn. A rain squall had passed while they had been inside, and now a reckless wind was rocking the harbour boats, making their masts swing like pendulums. The square was empty.
“So what’s this news about Dorn?” Harg said. “Has he done something I don’t know about?”
Barko took a long, thoughtful pull on his clay pipe before answering. “It’s not so much what he’s done as what he’s saying, and how it’s changing people’s opinions.”
“What’s he saying?”
“You can probably guess. He’s calling us all collaborators. He was questioning our motives even before the news arrived that you had joined Tiarch.”
“I didn’t join Tiarch!” Harg said sharply. “She joined me.”
“Either way. Dorn says he’s the only true Adaina leader, the only one who never served the Innings, never truckled with the Torna. He says he was fighting back while you were sucking your thumb, and now he’s still fighting back while you’re sucking up.”
“Asshole,” Harg said darkly.
“It makes sense to a lot of people.”
It made sense because there was a kernel of truth in it. It also spoke to the deep resentments built up through the years of Torna power and Adaina subjection. It appealed to the base parts of people’s natures.
“Look, I respect Dorn for what he did in past,” Harg said. “But it got him nowhere. His real problem is that there’s a new leadership with better ideas, who want to do what it takes to win.”
Barko shrugged. “All the same, I wouldn’t go into the Adaina section of town alone at night, if I were you.”
This shook Harg to the bone. “Really? Is it that bad?”
“There are people who have been whipping themselves up into a frenzy over this. It’s like you opened the lid, and
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