Way Down The (Ley) Line
The Five-Minute Witchy War, Part 4
American Ley Lines (Source)
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Chapter 11
Would you believe that Bad Bill is still having a bad time? Prison is one thing, poverty another, but getting lashed regularly by one of maybe three people you hate most in the world is a hard pill to swallow. A ray of hope manages to pierce the hulk, though: he has a curious ally on the inside, a Dutchman who pretends to be deaf and mute. His name is Jacob Hop, and he works for the warden, Bayard. An interesting development.
With the Philadelphia Blues, Obadiah Dogsbody has largely abandoned his favorite vices and started reading his old Bible. The minor fixation on Sarah has become a more potent force on his behavior of late, leaving him conflicted because he knows she probably hates him.
As for Sarah, her encounter with the beastkind leaves her with heaps of questions, plus a new series of challenges: they represent a powerful alliance opportunity, but they also offer that alliance through marriage to their monarch, The Heron King. Sarah knows enough to act regal and use court speech around the beastkind, though she has to be careful in how she skirts the offer of marriage.
She does want their help in finding her siblings, though, and they seem to know where Bad Bill is, so she accepts their company en route to New Orleans. The beastkind’s names are Grungle (male, a humanoid tortoise) and Picaw (female, a humanoid waterfowl).
Chapter 12
Bad Bill actually catches a break for once! During a drunken row, Bayard Prideux admits how he ended up the warden of a worthless hulk on the Ponchartrain Sea: his murder of Kyres Elytharias was ordered by Thomas Penn himself, and Bayard accidentally let this slip to the chevalier of New Orleans at one point. The chevalier keeps Bayard on the hulk for insurance, as well as leverage/blackmail on Emperor Penn for his conspiracy. Later, with Jacob Hop’s assistance, Bill is able to write a letter to Emperor Penn as though from Bayard, taunting him to provoke a response.
Meanwhile Sarah, Calvin, and Thalanes get a ride on the Mississippi in a boat full of Germans. While experimenting with her Second Sight, Sarah detects they’re being followed by another boat two days behind them—and it’s full of “Lazars,” or necromantic thralls once expelled from England by William Cromwell. Though nervous, Sarah finds comfort in Thalanes’ counsel and her silver-loaded weapons; the advanced warning helps too.
Finally in this chapter we meet Kinta Jane Embry, a woman who handles duties on Bad Bill’s prison ship, ferrying back and forth between the shore. Jacob Hop entrusts her with the letter from Bad Bill, and also passes her a coin with a plow and a sword on it—Kinta Jane recognizes that as the Heron King’s coinage. She’s a student of in-world history and magic and as such, she knows it’s an omen of a new conflict to come, primarily spiritual in nature, as New Orleans is no stranger to gods.
Chapter 13
Sarah’s party arrives in New Orleans and we’re treated to some more of Butler’s fictional history for the city in-world, including a monument to the Laffite Brothers and a story about Andrew Jackson. They check in with a local bishop and get a better lay of the land, and Sarah pays particular attention to a legend of a “one-eyed queen” to come.
The bishop in question is a complicated figure, sitting at the head of a multi-faceted organization: Chinwe Ukwu is his name, and his son Chigozie is a priest, while his other son Etienne is more of a shady businessman/enforcer type who handles the bishop’s money. It’s this very Etienne who beat up Bad Bill over some unpaid debts.
The party mostly deals with Chigozie, the priest; when Thalanes tells Chigozie that they’re being followed by Lazars, Chigozie arms them with silver, which helps against necromancy. Later they’ll go visit Etienne who, according to Chigozie, might have a lead on Bad Bill’s location.
Reverend Angleton’s party also arrives in New Orleans. While the Blues attend to military business, Obadiah wanders the city, musing over his ever-growing fixation on Sarah and his inner conflict. The chapter closes on a visit to Bad Bill in prison, as he gets word from Jacob Hop that something really good is about to happen, though he’s short on details. Now all our focal characters are in the same city…
Chapter 14
Sarah & Co. work against the clock to find Bad Bill before the Lazars arrive in New Orleans. Sarah tries using her Sight but it won’t work unless she has a personal item belonging to Bad Bill. The beastkind, who have already met Lady Cathy, take Sarah to meet the high-end prostitute at the bar where she and Bill like to talk. While Cathy doesn’t immediately trust Sarah and her allies, she is anxious to find out what happened to Bill after he was hauled off two weeks ago. She knows he’s in the hulks.
Meanwhile Obadiah Dogsbody continues to undergo some profound character development in New Orleans. He reflects on a marriage that might have been when he was in England, only the girl he loved ran off with someone else, and that started his villain arc. He didn’t fight for her, he instead fled to the New World and made himself into a menace. Now, with the effects of the love spell long gone but the hunger for love reawakened, Obadiah remembers higher things from his youth and remains committed to finding Sarah.
The chapter comes to an explosive conclusion when Angleton meets the chevalier of New Orleans, and just as they’re talking, Bishop Ukwu arrives with Bad Bill’s letter, written as though it were a confession from Bayard Prideux about the murder of King Kyres Elytharias. The bishop threatens to expose all involved. This accelerates the need to capture Sarah (and, conceivably, her siblings) in order to protect the Emperor from exposure. The chevalier agrees to help Angleton.
Chapter 15
Needing an item of Bad Bill’s in order to See him, Sarah’s party eventually has to go to Etienne Ukwu’s gambling house/nightclub, since he is known to have pilfered some items from the gentlemen. We’re treated to a contrast between Etienne and his priestly brother Chigozie; during the exchange, Thalanes puts more confidence in Sarah and her Sight, and she’s able to negotiate for some of Bill’s possessions from Etienne.
But just to make things extra spicy, we check in on Bill, and boy howdy, the freaking boat is on fire. Bayard Prideux is freaking out because the chevalier is coming, and there’s news that he no longer finds Bayard useful to him. Bayard tries to kill Bad Bill, but Bill beats Bayard to death, avenging the murder of his friend Kyres long ago. Before the hulk burns into the sea, a yacht pulls alongside it and Bill hops aboard; it’s none other than the chevalier’s vessel, there to rescue him and give him a new task:
Kill Bishop Ukwu, who has become a “danger to the souls of New Orleans.” The chevalier restores Bill’s hat, sword, and other effects to him.
Conclusion
I love that there is so much happening, and it’s all happening for a reason, and it’s all piled on top of itself. This has always been a rewarding fantasy to read, not just for the rich lore and history, but for the big twists and developments along the way.