50 pages • 1 hour read
Sailing to Sarantium
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Part 1, Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1
Chapter 4 Summary
Vargos of the Inicii is a free man who has contracted himself out as a servant for the Imperial Post since leaving his hometown. His devotion to Jad and Heladikos are due to their courage, particularly in the face of danger and personal sacrifice. As such, when Crispin saves Kasia from a terrible fate at great risk to himself, he earns Vargos’ respect. When he offers to release him from his contract, because he plans to travel on the Day of the Dead, he garners Vargos’ loyalty. Vargos chooses to honor his original contract, despite the likelihood that the decision will lead to his immediate and painful death. When Crispin thanks Vargos for choosing to uphold his word despite the change in situation, he unknowingly cements Vargos’ commitment. Crispin’s courageous decision to save Kasia gains him not only one new, loyal companion, but two: “It was this artisan from Varena, though, a descendant of the legions, the Rhodians, the blood Vargos had been raised to hate, who had done the bravest thing he knew, last night and now. And Vargos was going to follow him” (147).
The trio leaves town early in the morning in the hopes of avoiding a violent confrontation. With only a minor altercation, they manage to leave the town, but the heavy fog makes it nearly impossible for them to see the road, let alone anyone following them. After a short stop in a chapel for Vargos’ morning prayers, they hear a mob approaching. They move off the road, but the villagers continue their pursuit, complete with hounds. With the baying of the dogs, the group is sure that they will be killed, but instead a zubir—sacred beast of the gods or possible avatar thereof—appears. The bison kills the stablemaster, goring him and taking his heart, but everyone else runs away. Kasia is shocked into a sense of calm resignation when she sees the beast, understanding that she will be sacrificed no matter how she tries to fight it. Kasia resigns herself to her imminent death: “What man—what woman, even more than man—had ever been immune to destiny? Where could you run when your name was known to a god?” (160). In a trance-like state, they follow the bison to the sacrificial site within the Aldwood.
It is only when he is faced with certain death that Crispin suddenly realizes that he wants to live and create a legacy in mosaic form: “It was so strange to realize how it was only at this brink of the chasm, threshold of the dark or the god’s holy Light, that one could grasp and accept one’s own heart’s yearning for more of the world. For life” (163). After this reversal in Crispin’s and Kasia’s thoughts on their forthcoming demise, Crispin feels Linon burn hot on his chest. Feeling strangely bold, he asks the bison if it truly must kill them because it has already taken one human life on the road. Linon finally speaks, explaining that Ludan wants her, not Kasia. This sudden insight forces Crispin to realize that Linon had been sacrificed to Ludan and that Zoticus had transferred her soul to the bird at her death. Linon confirms it and gives her last words, requesting that Crispin tell Zoticus goodbye for her and put her down so that they could leave while they could.
Linon speaks aloud, declaring that she is still Ludan’s, just as she was when she was brought to the woods in the first place. Crispin gives a tearful goodbye and promises to remember her. As they reach the road, he hears a sung musical note in a woman’s voice—Linon’s last cry. Meanwhile, in Varena, Zoticus understands that Linon is gone and mourns her.
Chapter 5 Summary
Once back in relative safety, Kasia and Vargos have questions about their recent ordeal. Crispin lies, saying that he did not know how the mechanical bird spoke with a woman’s voice or why the zubir/Ludan accepted the bird instead of their lives. Vargos wonders aloud about what his history of seeing zubir may indicate about his life. He expresses a crisis of faith, wondering how he is meant to continue to worship Jad after seeing proof of a pagan god. Crispin surprises himself by giving a consoling answer, arguing that the presence of one unworldly being does not eliminate the possibility of another and that that they can continue to worship by acknowledging that humans do not have a full understanding of existence.
Crispin internally mourns for Linon, acknowledging that, though their time together was short, their telepathic bond fostered a more intimate relationship than he had ever had before. They enter a chapel and Crispin is overcome by the famous image of Jad in its dome. He is struck by the realization that Jad, in this depiction, is distinctly unsure of his victory. The mosaic, for all its powerful imagery, is falling apart. Crispin tells the resident cleric that he wants to help restore it, but the cleric is insulted that Crispin would consider himself worthy of the task. The ensuing argument brings Crispin’s numbed emotions back to the forefront of his being.
Soldiers soon arrive, led by tribute Carullus. After a quick exchange of insults, a brawl erupts. Crispin awakens on a litter. Carullus informs him that after he knocked Crispin unconscious with his helmet, Vargos had struck him and Kasia had spat on him. As a result of their actions, Carullus intends for Vargos to be castrated and Kasia to be forced into performing sexual favors for the encamped soldiers. Crispin vehemently refuses to allow either reprisal, reminding the soldier of the clout provided by his permit. When Carullus pushes Crispin, arguing that he could kill all three of them and blame brigands on the road, Crispin points out that the false story would be refuted by the cleric who witnessed the altercation. Carullus begrudgingly acknowledges that he has been out-maneuvered and allows Kasia and Vargos to join Crispin on the litter. Kasia will be left unmolested and Vargos will be treated by the camp’s doctor upon their arrival. While in the litter, the three discuss their immediate future. Vargos is unable to return to his usual work after taking the side of Crispin and Kasia against the villagers that morning. He pleasantly surprises Crispin by announcing that he wants to stay with Crispin as his servant on a permanent basis.
Upon reaching the camp, Crispin makes an unlikely friendship with Carullus through his creative swearing, knowledge of bawdy songs, uncharacteristic lack of pretension for a Rhodian, and apparent penchant for pretending to be more inebriated than he is. In their room at the next Posting Inn, Crispin explains to Kasia that he had strategically pretended to be more drunk than he was to let Carullus feel he bested Crispin at something. This was necessary to allow Carullus to recover the pride he lost when Crispin maneuvered him into being unable to harm Kasia and Vargos. Crispin also notifies Kasia that he will free her as soon as possible and asks about her homeland, intent on sending her back if she wanted to return. Tearfully, Kasia tells Crispin that her mother had sold her into slavery for food money. She goes on to inform Crispin that she can never go back as she will never be accepted in her home village after being forced into prostitution.
Crispin has a dream in which he sees his wife, Ilandra, again, but the zubir stands between them, separating them. As Crispin begins to accept that he cannot reach his wife any longer, the zubir disappears. Soon, Ilandra is in his arms and kissing him. He wakes up screaming once again. Kasia’s concern and his semi-consciousness lead him to explain his sense of guilt after losing his wife and two daughters to the plague. Kasia points out that it is irrational to blame himself for not being able to stop the plague. For the first time since his wife’s death, he takes comfort in sex: “Sleep was a refuge, he thought, walls were, wine, food, warmth, and this. And this. Mortal bodies in the dark” (208).
While they are in Saraudia, the governor files the necessary paperwork to free Kasia and to end Vargos’ contract with the Imperial Post, paying out the money due to him for his labors to date. Carullus insists on going with them to Sarantium, partly to get an answer as to his soldiers’ lack of pay, partly to see the City, and partly due to his newfound affection for Crispin.
Part 1, Chapters 4-5 Analysis
The zubir’s appearance shakes the group’s understanding of the world, prompting a shift in perspective and a crisis of faith for Vargos. Crispin’s words of comfort and rationalization to the distraught Jaddite convert speak to the specific crisis and to the paradoxes of life and accepting that humans will always have a limited view of the universe:
We worship them as the powers that speak to our souls, if it seems they do. We do so knowing there is more to the world, and the half-world, and perhaps world beyond than we can grasp. We always knew that. We can’t even stop children from dying, how would we presume to understand the truth of things? Behind things? Does the presence of one power deny another? (171).
He argues that part of life is accepting their own powerlessness and inability to understand the workings of the universe and that accepting them should not rule out the comfort that religious beliefs and rituals may provide in the face of entropy.
Crispin displays an increasing pattern of behavior: quickly devising cunning, practical strategies to address immediate dangers. The very day after cleverly orchestrating Kasia’s freedom from sacrifice, he manages to protect his Inicii companions from the reprisal of the tribute, Carullus. Beyond this, ameliorates any hostilities that may lead to danger through overtures of friendship and flattering his ego. Crispin’s crafty applications for his intelligence are well beyond what might be expected of an artisan, often making up for his impulsive decisions and choleric nature.
After Crispin proves himself committed to her safety once more, Kasia shares the circumstances of her enslavement, demonstrating the harsh realities of what survival in a dangerous world may entail. After her father and brothers died, she and her mother determined that either Kasia or her daughter would need to be sold into slavery. Without the money, all three would die. Kasia had agreed that her sister had a better chance of marriage due to her beauty and Kasia had a better chance of surviving the horrors of slavery due to her cleverness. To survive, Kasia had hidden her cleverness and personality, trying to keep her head down to avoid additional abuse. After untold suffering and abuse, she had ben genuinely surprised to discover that she wanted to survive. Similarly, Crispin had the same shocking realization when confronted with certain death in the Aldwood.
In addition to his cunning plans, Crispin is swiftly becoming well known for another unlikely gift: inspiring loyalty. Though they have bonded through shared trauma, Kasia and Vargos have not known Crispin for more than a few days. Still, they demonstrate their loyalty to Crispin by attacking his attacker, Carullus, at their own risk. Much to everyone’s surprise, the potential threat the soldier represents is ultimately avoided through Crispin’s ability to quickly inspire such deep bonds of friendship, transforming their trio into a quartet.
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