The Silver Skull - Mark Chadbourn

"What-?" he began, but his question was cut short as Don Alanzo pressed the mask against his face and closed it with a clang. Instantly, his head swam with frightening images, things he had never seen and could never possibly have known. The sensation of movement all across his head unsettled him, until he felt a thousand points of agony as if insects were burrowing into him, through skin, and bone, and into his brain, and he wanted to scream, but could not utter a sound.

Dimly, he heard Don Alanzo saying, "Do as you are ordered and the mask will be removed. Resist us and be damned forever."

And he wondered if he was cursed to be a slave to others for all time, and if his suffering would never end.

CHAPTER 44

Crashing on horseback through the dense forest encroaching upon Lisbon on three sides, Will crested a ridge to look down on a scene that was at once breathtaking and chilling. In the bay on the estuary, edged with the silvery light of the moon amid pools of stark shadows, were around one hundred and thirty ships. The formidable fleet was so dense it was like another city floating alongside Lisbon, candlelight glimmering here and there aboard each ship, banners fluttering gently in the warm night breeze.

The Armada.

Somewhere in the teeming city, lion Alanzo would be meeting with the Armada's commander, the duke of Medina Sidonia, to secure a place for him and Grace on one of the ships about to depart. Will had to find him before the fleet sailed.

Weariness sapped him of any response beyond a dull relief that he had finally reached his destination after constant riding along dusty, deserted back roads, stealing a new horse whenever his mount tired.

It was May 8, and more than two week had passed since his escape from El Escorial with Carpenter and Launceston, close behind lion Alanzo's carriage. At their back, the still night had been shattered by the outcry as the king's men flooded from the palace to scour the surrounding countryside for the escaped spies. They had moved quickly across the desolate terrain, using the spoil-heaps and thickets for cover until they reached the village, where they escaped on three old nags, eventually exchanging them for other mounts along the way. Once they were sure they had left their pursuers behind, Will had instructed Carpenter and Mayhew to proceed to the location where they had agreed to rendezvous with the Tempest. Their orders were to carry the news of what had happened to whatever forces waited to confront the Armada. England's future hung by a thread and they all had a part to play.

Will took a moment to study the array of ships of different styles and strengths before wearily guiding his horse down the road winding around the hillside. At the foot of the hills, Lisbon nestled amid its walls, an ancient city whose narrow streets wound in confusion away from the quay. The architecture, like Cadiz and Seville, bore the influence of the Moors expelled by the Crusaders more than four hundred years earlier, the arches and geometric designs on the grander buildings, the minarets rising above the orange roof tiles.

For eight years now, Lisbon had been under Spanish rule following Philip's determined invasion. He knew how crucial the city was to his plans for his empire's dominance of Europe and the New World, as a hub for trade with Africa, the Far East, India, and the Spanish colonies in the New World. But thanks to the vast harbour in the estuary where the River Tagus flowed into the Atlantic, it played an even more crucial role as the home of the Armada.

As Will passed through the walls he left the fragrant pine-tinged air behind and plunged into a foul-smelling atmosphere where excrement and urine fought with rot in the dark streets. Instantly he could see something was wrong. Lisbon should have been awash with the riches of the New World, evident in the faces and the clothes of its citizens, in overflowing shops, and well-tended buildings, and streets filled with the heady air of exuberance he had encountered in Seville.

Instead an oppressive sense of decay hung everywhere. The narrow streets of the Alfama area were crowded with beggars calling to him and reaching out for his boots, sometimes clamouring so tightly around his horse he could barely continue forwards. Shops along the way were empty and closed, some boarded up. The area swarmed with prostitutes, some of them the roughest and most pox-ridden Will had ever seen; far from their stews, they competed in shrill voices for trade that often ended in violence. In the even darker alleys reaching from the main thoroughfares, Will glimpsed sudden movement and a flash of silver, heard cries cut suddenly short. He passed a body on the side of the street in a state of decomposition, unclaimed.

Will battened down his guilt at his failure. He had let the Skull and Grace slip through his fingers, and now he was sure Grace was trapped within that supernatural weapon. He couldn't bring himself to consider what that meant.

The one thing he could not shake from his mind was Grace's look of betrayal when he ordered the king to be killed in the full knowledge that lion Alanzo would respond in kind and kill Grace. It was an expression he had never seen before, as if all her hopes had been shattered in one moment. The decision had almost destroyed him, but there was no way he could go back on it; what was done was done, and he would have to live with the consequences of his actions.

He channelled his feelings into a slow-burning hatred for Mayhew. So much misery would not have come to pass if not for him, and so many of his strange actions were now explicable. How the Unseelie Court had managed to breach the Tower's defences, where Mayhew's post had made him uniquely aware of its defences and its prisoner. How knowledge of Will's destination in Cadiz had fallen into Spanish hands before the soldiers tried to surround him near the cathedral. And the one that angered him the most, how Grace's secret hideaway at Hampton Court Palace had been brought to the attention of the Enemy. Her life would not be in danger now if not for Mayhew.

Will was happy to move away from the worst-afflicted region of the city and head towards the slopes leading up to the Castle of Sao Jorge overlooking the city. Once the royal residence, the homes of the city's wealthier inhabitants clustered close to its protection. Here the streets were quieter. Will eventually located the house he required in a long, white terrace of the wellkept homes of merchants, far enough away from the rich and important residents to avoid attention.

A gentle knock was answered by a man in his late twenties, strong, clean-shaven, and tanned, black hair framing an intelligent face. He matched the description that had been made available in the Palace of Whitehall.

"You are Luis Inacio dos Santos?" Will asked.

"I am," he said in heavily accented English and gave a formal bow. Once Will had announced the password, Santos admitted him into the gloomy interior. The Portuguese man carried himself with the strength and control of a soldier, but his face had the sensitivity of an artist. Both were true. Will knew he had been an acclaimed artist in Lisbon until the Spanish invasion, when he had fought in the resistance. The Portuguese lost in the face of Philip of Spain's overwhelming force, but resentment boiled away in the shadowy streets, and Santos was an easy turn for Walsingham's men. He hated Spain, and Philip, in a more visceral manner than any Englishman.

"You have a ship moored off the coast," Santos said. "Word came through this morning to prepare for the possible arrival of an English agent. Though," he added, "that word has been flying back and forth for months now. I sent missive after missive about the buildup of the Armada. Why was I ignored?"

"The queen has her favourites," Will replied, "and she does not always heed the most trustworthy voice."

"You must be exhausted after your journey. I can offer you food."

"A bite, but matters are pressing and I cannot rest." He explained to Santos about lion Alanzo and Grace.

"This afternoon word reached me of a new Spanish nobleman in the city, but I have no knowledge of where he stays or which ship he will be joining. You can afford at least a few hours' rest. This past hour also saw the arrival of a messenger from Philip's palace. He is believed to be carrying orders for Medina Sidonia to launch the Armada, but that will not take place until tomorrow at the earliest. The duke has waited two weeks for the order already. Another day will matter little."

Will wondered if the attack on El Escorial had prompted Philip-and Malantha-to move with haste. If preparations were not wholly complete, that could work in England's favour. "I cannot rest. If it is not possible to locate lion Alanzo in the city quickly, I must get aboard one of the ships," Will pressed. "The arrangements will take time, if that is even possible. Even though I speak Philip's tongue, or could pass as a French mercenary, the chances of discovery are high."

Laughing, Santos held up a hand to slow Will's anxious words. "These matters are in hand. Rest. The world will not end before dawn."

Although Will knew the truth of Santos's words, he couldn't shake an oppressive feeling of mounting doom, of secret plans coming together in the darkness. Yet after weeks with only a snatched hour of rest here and there, his eyes drooped quickly and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. He was woken by Santos later when the room was filled with the warming aromas of food.

Santos indicated a fine spread. "Red mullet from Setubal and mussels from Cabo da Roca. Goat cheese from Sobral de Monte Agraco, zimbros from Sesimbra, and pastries from Malveira. Cheese cakes and nuts, and for your pleasure, a bottle of Muscatel, also from Setubal. The best of Portugal, still, despite the Spanish occupation. Eat and drink your fill."

Santos's hospitality was as much a mark of his pride in his country and his defiance of Spanish rule, but Will was just as thankful. He ate hungrily, and when he was done, was ready with the questions that weighed upon him.

"What has happened to Lisbon?" he asked. "As I rode through, it was worse than the worst parts of London, filthy, seemingly poor. Where are the riches? Where is the food?"

"Another thing for which we must thank the Spanish," Santos said bitterly. "The Armada has brought more than thirty thousand men to Lisbon, all of them whoring, fighting, and thieving while the ships sit uselessly off our harbour for week upon week. They consume our food faster than we can replenish our supplies. Everything is scarce, and what is available is beyond the wages of the common man. We starve by the day. The Spanish run riot through our city, and the Portuguese have locked themselves behind their shutters, but even then there is no escape. In their filth and degradation, the Spanish sailors and soldiers grow diseased and ill. They desert by the score, and good Portuguese men are pressed to fill their spaces. Lisbon can take no more. The sooner we are rid of this damned Armada, the better."

"Do not wish it upon England," Will said, "but I understand why you are keen to help."

"And help you I shall, to all my power. A spy within the fleet itself may do little alone to turn the tide of battle, but still you may cause some damage in the thick of it. And if the worst happens, when the force lands on England's shores, you will have valuable information that may aid any resistance."

"If the Spanish set foot upon England, the hour will be dire indeed," Will replied. "But how will I disguise myself effectively among Spanish sailors for such a long sea voyage?"

Sitting back in his chair, Santos folded his hands together and smiled. "You will not be among Spanish sailors."

"Who, then?"

"Among your own kind. Englishmen."

Will eyed Santos incredulously.

"Not all your countrymen have the same pure motives as yourself. There are some two hundred Englishmen among the Spanish crews. Mercenaries, those driven by the passion of our Lord who believe this a crusade to return the one true religion to your land, priests who plan to become rich converting heretics, and exiles keen to reclaim their fortunes and their estates once rightful order has returned."

"A ship of traitors, then." Though unsurprised, Will was still angry that some were so eager to betray the land of their birth.

"Ships," Santos corrected, "for they are scattered among the fleet. I know for certainty eight are aboard the Nuestra Senora del Rosario. And there is rumoured to be one of great status aboard Medina Sidonia's flagship San Martin."

"The flagship? There is an Englishman in the command?"

"They call him lion William."

"Sir William Stanley," Will noted coldly. "The treacherous dog. I had heard he was in Dunkirk marshalling another part of Parma's invasion force. Stanley cares for nothing but himself. He betrayed the entire city of Deventer in the Netherlands to the duke of Parma. If he is here, he feels success in his blood. How did you come by this information? And how will I gain the necessary papers to find a berth without being press-ganged and ending up a slave at the oars of one of Medina Sidonia's galleys?"

Raising a candle to guide his way, Santos motioned for Will to follow him. As they climbed the flights of creaking stairs, he said, "It may be that your woman will be aboard the Santiago. La Arca de las Mujeres is the name by which it is commonly known."

"The Ship of Women?" Will translated.

"It carries the wives of many of the married officers, the only women permitted to sail with the fleet. No whores to distract the men. Though I have heard tell that one officer smuggled his wife on board disguised as a man, to provide him with comfort on the long nights at sea. Medina Sidonia does not want his men's fighting edge blunted by nights of carnal pleasure. But the Santiago is one of the most heavily guarded ships in the Armada. You will not get aboard it."

Will stored the information away as Santos led him up a final, short set of stairs to an attic room. The smell of blood and urine washed out the moment the door was opened. As Santos's candle drove back the dark, Will saw a man chained to the far wall on a bed of straw, his head hanging down so it was impossible to tell if he were alive or dead. As they walked in, he stirred and grunted, but he was barely conscious. Santos had clearly beaten him to get the information he required.

"Who is he?" Will asked.

"An English mercenary who goes by the name of William Prowd. I found him drunk in a bar and lured him back here on the pretence of more wine. He told me all I need to know, and I have his papers, signed by Medina Sidonia's recruitment officer, so you will be able to slip on board." Santos collected the wine-stained papers from a stool and handed them to Will.

"Unless he has friends aboard."

"He tells me he travelled alone, as his regular acquaintances feared England's firepower, even against a fleet of this size."

Lifting the man's battered and bruised head, Will studied him for a moment while he thought. "There will be risks aplenty, but this will at least give me an opportunity. I thank you. Now I must disguise my appearance as much as possible, for I have unfortunately been the subject of several pamphlets published in London detailing my adventures, each of which came with an engraving, which, although it failed to capture my true heroic nature, could make me recognisable."