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‘They’re expert finders and searchers,’ said Arthur, thinking back to the vision he’d seen of Leaf and the Coarts and not to be trusted,’ Dawn scoffed ‘They sell their services and the secrets of others They have never answered to any authority within the House, save the Architect’s, and since her disappearance I doubt they have grown more obedient to anyone, not even Lord Sunday’
‘He’s ultiht?’
‘After a fashion,’ replied Dawn ‘Superior Saturday has the day-to-day ement of affairs, as it were Lord Sunday’s s to know’
‘They’re both traitors to the Architect,’ Arthur stated boldly ‘Saturday and Sunday, and all the other Morrow Days’
‘Where do you wish to go?’ asked Dawn, her tone even frostier than usual
‘The Triangle,’ Arthur answered firle,’ Dawn confirmed ‘I cannot approve of this desire to deal with the Rats, but does this o in search of the Will? To aid milady?’
‘Yep,’ said Arthur Soer than yeah and more heroic than yes He hoped he could live up to it
He pushed on ‘I’et the Raised Rats to help find the pirates’ secret harbour Then I guess I’ll work out soht Including Lady Wednesday’
Daas silent for a while, save for the sound of her constant wingbeat In a sled, she finally said, ‘Thank you’
Then she folded her wings and dove towards the sea, with Arthur justback on before they plunged through a slow rolling wave
The journey to the Triangle was ht it would be Even the Line of Storms didn’t bother hiers in his ears He figured that if the lightning hadn’t fried hi to now
Shortly after crossing the Line, the sea suddenly changed colour and tee-tinted seas full of tiny floating flowers So, black water, full of sularly shaped chunks of faintly luminous ice It was as if millions of radioactive ice cubes had been dumped into the sea Fortunately Arthur did not feel the full effect of the cold, for the golden radiance of Wednesday’s Dawn surrounded him and kept hi, leaving it abruptly for the blue waters of the Border Sea and, very soon after, another crossing of the Line of Stor suddenly fell off Arthur’s nose Without e amount of water and panicked He had no idea how deep they were swiet to the surface He just wanted air irip of Dawn’s tentacle, fighting against her as he tried to push up to where he iined the surface was
Dawn didn’t release her hold, but she quickly slanted upward Her huge wings gave one enor out of the sea and into the air Arthur tried to take a breath but had toofit that ended in hiallons of water Even ed a few racking breaths, interspersed with bouts of coughing, till he hung exhausted in Dawn’s grasp, unable to stop thinking about whatspell had failed when he was underwater in that black, freezing sea
‘We are nearly there,’ said Dawn ‘Though it will take longer now that I cannot go by water’
Arthur nodded, unable to speak Her flying speed see out of Arthur’s nose, and he could breathe norle lies dead ahead,’ Dawn inforh it is unusually empty There were reportedly thirty or forty ships there a few days ago Now, I only count eight’
Arthur looked down At first all he saas the sea, with the white tops of the waves relentlessly aze and saw eight ships of different sizes floating next to one another, in the lee of what at first sight appeared to be a sheer rock that thrust out of the sea On closer inspection, Arthur realised the protrusion was actually the top of a pyramid, its stones heavily weathered by wind and ocean It rose several hundred feet above the sea, and was perhaps half aon each side If it had once ended in a point, that was gone, leaving a flat platform about the size of a basketball court, which was alle six-foot-thick rope tied to the ring, swinging down the lee side of the pyramid into the sea The ships were either tied up to this rope, or rafted up to a vessel that was
‘Can you see the Flying Mantis?’ asked Arthur ‘Or the Rats? What kind of ship do they have?’
‘The Mantis is not there,’ said Dawn ‘As for the Rats, one of their putrid, smoky steamers is tied up on the eastern side of the raft, next to the four-masted ship Undine’
‘A steamship? The Rats have steamships? Why doesn’t everyone else?’
‘They are forbidden by Drowned Wednesday,’ said Dawn ‘With good reason, for they are foul and unclean But the Rats have their exemptions Besides, only the steam vessels made by Grim Tuesday work in the Border Sea, and they are fuelled with Accelerated Coal,from Grim Tuesday, the price of this coal is exorbitant’
‘That’d be right,’ said Arthur ‘Where is the Rats’ ship again? I can’t see it’
‘Next to the big four-ain This time, he saw the Rats’ vessel It was only a third the size of the four-masted barque next to it, and his eye had been momentarily confused because the Rats’ ship could sail as well as steae central funnel that was not currently s
‘We will land on the Undine,’ said Dawn, ‘and see what is happening It is unusual for so few ships to be here Everything looks strangely quiet’
She began to spiral down Arthur closed his eyes as their rapid descent ain until he suddenly felt a solid deck under his feet and Dawn let hio
She had already transfor a kind of naval unifor with e silver epaulettes Arthur wondered how she e clothes
There was no one on board to greet the her forehead There was no one to be seen on any of the other ships either The only sounds were the groan of the wooden hulls, the high-pitched squeaking of theropes, and the wash of the sea
Dawn opened her hand and gripped the air, and a flah it was obviously ical, it was not like the Mariner’s harpoon It didn’t make him feel odd when he looked at it, so he hoped it wouldn’t have the horrible side effects the Captain’s harpoon did when it was used
‘The guard boat isall one’s faithful Nisser’