Chapter 21: Window Shopping for Sins

Status : Underway, Voyage

Moresina — Cargo Ship

Class : Nave

Size : Large

Role : Cargo and Supply

Crew : 80 (25 sailors, 5 officers, 50 hands)

Cargo : Salted fish, grain, sawn timber, nails, coiled rope

Status : Underway, Voyage

La Serena — Cargo Ship

Class : Nave

Size : Large

Role : Cargo and Supply

Crew : 80 (25 sailors, 5 officers, 50 hands)

Cargo : Salted fish, grain, sawn timber, nails, coiled rope

Status : Underway, Voyage

Eight hundred and forty souls.

He had known the number was large. Knowing a number and imagining it were two different things, and he had just discovered that the first was considerably more alarming.

Eight hundred and forty souls amounted to a small town, except this town was presently floating on the sea and somehow belonged to him.

"Cazzo. That’s a lot of people to be wrong about Candia."

He looked over the flagship. It was a ridiculous thing to feel proud of a ship he had inherited rather than built, but pride had never been famous for its fairness.

As for the naves, they were less handsome than the galley, certainly. Less likely to inspire songs, too.

But it was the sort of ship that might actually keep three hundred men fed and housed after they reached land, which made it considerably more useful than a pretty warship once the fighting was over.

Vito decided that probably made it the more important ship.

That felt like the sort of conclusion a good merchant would reach, and since nobody had ever accused him of being one, he left the matter there.

The ships had displays. The people keeping those ships alive probably had them too.

"And the ones actually keeping this whole business from sinking?"

I prepared three matching entries for that question. Only two of the people involved appear willing to remain in their assigned categories.

🦁 [KEY PERSONNEL]

ZACCARIA — CAPTAIN OF THE RETINUE

Status : Fit for duty

Age : 38

Association : 19 months

Note : Command earned at sea, paid in full, never inherited. Loyalty remains his own, and considerably harder won than most men’s.

BEPI — COMITO

Status : Fit for duty

Age : 51

Association : 19 months

Note : Complete trust. He taught you to walk twice now, apparently, and still hasn’t forgiven you for making the lesson necessary.

CATERINA CONTARINI — AUTONOMOUS PARTNER

Status : Fit for duty

Age : 23

Association : 1 month

Note : Real coin, real risk, and a real say in the books. Not yours to command, and I’d advise against forgetting it.

He read the entries.

Then he found himself grinning at Caterina’s profile considerably longer than he had at either of the first two, for reasons he had no intention of explaining to himself when he could simply enjoy them.

Fair was fair.

If everyone else was being weighed, he might as well step onto the scales himself.

🦁 [VITALE BAROZZI — STATUS]

Rank : Cadet of House Barozzi. Legitimate birth, junior standing

Reputation : Considerable, and rising faster than you’ve earned the right to expect

Influence : Borrowed. A Doge’s name behind you, a merchant’s coin beside you, a Marquess’s alliance he already regrets

Fate Balance : 10

He read his rank aloud, as though the system might take pity on him if given enough time.

It did not.

"One month of hard work and I’ve already become a terrible influence on myself."

He looked toward the sky.

"And I’m still a junior cadet with no real influence. A man could become resentful."

His eye drifted back to the last line.

Ten Fate.

Ten points sitting untouched since the day they had landed in his lap, doing absolutely nothing for anybody.

Anything saved for the perfect moment had an unfortunate habit of staying perfectly unused until somebody else found a way to spend it.

He sat up straight.

"Fine. Let’s see what ten buys a man these days in Crete."

He spread one hand as though the entire island were sitting there beneath it, because the actual map was back in the cabin with Caterina.

"Information about the whole thing. What’s the price?"

Three hundred and fifty. I could offer you the remaining three hundred and forty on credit, but unfortunately I have no interest in discovering how creative you become when repayment is involved.

"Fair enough. Had to ask."

He thought smaller.

"Just Candia, then. The city."

One hundred and eighty. Yes, the city costs one hundred and eighty. Apparently reducing the scope of your request from an entire island to one city has offended neither the market nor anyone’s sense of proportion. It remains absurdly expensive, which is convenient, since absurdity appears to be the only budget you brought with you.

Vito leaned back on his elbows.

"What about the Church? What their priests actually think of us landing there."

Two hundred and twenty. For the private thoughts of one archbishop. I assume this is because the divinity involved has declined to answer your questions directly and his clergy have therefore begun charging for the privilege. How fortunate for them that you are both curious and catastrophically underfunded.

Three failures in succession have a useful way of curing a man’s ambition. It is not as noble a cure as wisdom, but it works faster.

Vito leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"One man, then, already sitting inside Candia’s court. Comfortable, married, influential."

He considered that last word.

"Give me the dirty deeds on him."

Vito could not tell whether the voice was genuinely considering the request or merely enjoying the pleasure of making him wait.

Ten. At last, a request proportionate to your actual means. I was beginning to suspect mathematics had escaped you entirely.

🪙 [FATE SHOP — INTELLIGENCE]

One Archon’s Private Habits

One man, already seated in Candia’s court. Married, comfortable, and considerably more inventive behind closed doors than either his wife or his priest has ever been permitted to discover. What he does there, and who he does it with, is now yours to keep, exploit, reveal, or otherwise spend as circumstances recommend.

Cost : 10 Fate

You are now formally destitute. I hope one married man’s private habits were worth the entirety of your worldly credit. Still, I believe you will find a way to make the purchase useful. That, I admit, is not entirely criticism.

Vito dropped flat onto the planks again.

The deck, the sea, the green coast sliding past the bow.

Yet the afternoon had changed. Ten Fate were gone, every last point of it, and one unfortunate soul secrets now sat in his head, waiting for the right moment to become a problem.

Beyond that, eight hundred and forty souls were with him, and he was responsible for keeping them fed, afloat, and in the right direction.

The horizon went on sliding past, utterly indifferent to the fact that Vitale Barozzi had just spent his entire fortune on discovering adultery.

He discovered that he genuinely wanted to arrive as soon as possible.

Badly.