“Do you have anything against our setting out at dawn, since that’s when they’re usually biting the most?”
“Not at all,” she answered, with a wide smile.
They awoke a little later than they’d intended, but, after a quick breakfast, they were nevertheless ready to leave. As soon as they’d installed themselves in the boat, he began rowing with even strokes. The boat sliced through the sun-soaked surface of the water, leaving a trace of glittering bubbles foaming in their wake. The sky was clear blue and in the distance, they could see a flock of white birds lifting from the water on flattering wings. Once the ship was out of sight, they steered in towards a grove of tall trees and didn’t have to wait long, once they’d baited their hooks, before the fish began to bite. When they were working together to pull up a large fish, the movements of Shays’ muscular body seemed to loosen something within her and made her blush.
“You, as a captain, must have met many beautiful women?” she suddenly asked him, with a forthrightness that surprised her.
“Absolutely not, and definitely no one who can be compared to you,” he answered, quickly.
“Oh, that’s what you say to all of them,” she said, casting her eyes down shyly.
The sunlight streaming down through the leafy treetops endowed her face with a magical aura, and he thought that she, with her pure lines and twinkling eyes, was as beautiful as a goddess. With an almost drunken abandon, on an impulse and with a pounding heart, he decided to embrace her with a kiss. Panting in surprise, she looked at him wide-eyed, but quickly recovered, so that when they eventually peeled themselves away from each other, she laughingly asked him if he was always so fast with women.
“No,” he answered, with a shake of his head. “Usually, I’m about as quick as a turtle.”
“I just can’t believe that,” she giggled.
They took their time before returning homewards, so that when they finally arrived at the ship, with several large fish in the bottom of the boat, dusk was once more upon them.
“So, there you are,” said Ixter. “We were beginning to think you’d encountered some sea monster or something.”
“No, you, we do everything we can to avoid that rascal,” laughed Shay.
That evening they cooked the fish on an open fire, then ate them with seaweed and yellow breadfruit. When Caver complained with a grimace that the food was tasteless, Desia said that he’d better get used to it, unless he thought it was possible to make some spice from the bark of some of the trees in the swamp.
“Why not?” he said. “I think I’ll try it.”
“Good thought,” agreed Anderika. “Most discoveries have been made because someone dared to do something in a new way.”
To check out the situation, the next day they set out to collect a number of different kinds of bark, which Desia then ground into powder and which, to their surprise, tasted excellent with fish. The spice, which was christened after its discoverer, Caverk, and was eventually followed by both Allur Powder and Desia Leaf.
CHAPTER 11
Early one morning, as Flores awoke, she playfully wove her fingers through Esai’s golden hair, and asked him if he loved her.
“You know that I do, my princess,” he answered. “I’ll never love anyone else but you.”
“Is that true?”
“Completely.”
After a few minutes of silence, he sat up and gazed at her seriously.
“What is it?” she asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Do you want to marry me?”
“Of course, I want to,” she said, happily, “But how would we do it? There’s isn’t any minister here.”
“It doesn’t matter, since Shay, in his capacity of captain and acting authority, has the capacity to officiate over weddings.”
“Oh, that would be totally fantastic, my love,” she said, and hugged him tightly.
The next day, at lunch, they went down to the Olina and presented their intentions to Shay.
“The way you two have been carrying on, it really seems about time,” he laughed, heartily. “Just decide when and where and then we should be able to arrange everything without any problem.”
When Hug heard the news of the wedding arrangements, he summoned his courage and decided to go down on one knee before Lidia and propose to her. The answer, which he had thought should be obvious, was not what he expected.
“If that’s the case, I’d first like to know who you are,” she said, seriously.
“What do you mean?” he asked, bewildered. “I’m Hug. You know me!”
“Well, I certainly know your soul, and you are also the person whom I’m in love with. Still, in spite of that, you’re still a stranger to me in some ways.”
“And what would those be?”
“That’s exactly what I’d like you to tell me.”
“And if I was to be something else than what you think? Would you still love me?”
“Yes, my love for you is firm and indestructible, but I want to know the truth.”
When he remained hesitant, his face pale and his gaze shifting, she tenderly took his hands into hers and looked him in the eye.
“I just want to know the truth,” she repeated.
So, he decided to tell her everything. At first, he was still hesitant and stuttering, but once he’d begun, the words poured out of him. When he had finally finished his confession, he fell sobbing into her arms.
“What have I done? You can’t love me now?”
“Yes, I can,” she calmed him, and stroked his hair. “What you’ve told me is what I’ve thought all along.”
“You have? Since when?”
“Ever since the point when Hug was no longer someone who I was hopelessly in love with, even though it wasn’t mutual, and who I had long been in the process of leaving, to the point when everything suddenly changed. From having been cold and stingy, he suddenly became the tender, attentive man I’d always dreamed of, which was itself an amazing experience. At the same time as I felt incredibly flattered by his love, I realised that there was something that didn’t fit.”
“It shouldn’t have been so impossible?”
“Yes, with him it actually was so, since he’d always had a competing interest in other men, but which stopped as soon as you came into the picture. He didn’t have your technical knowledge, either, which at times has even exceeded that of my professors, when I was studying at the university.”
“I tried my best to hide it.”
“And you succeeded rather well at that, but not with me, since I knew how mediocre Hug was. Sometimes you also talked in your sleep, and said a lot of strange things.”
“I did? And what about?”
“For example, you’d talk about technical terms and foreign names, and places that don’t exist on Loria.”
“That really was strange. Before we left Oleg, we were put through a hypnosis program that was supposed to eliminate that possibility, which must mean that my brain, in some way, must have found a way around that programming.”
“Yes, my love, my guess is that you are different from your fellow countrymen in more ways than one. My suspicions changed to complete certainty, though, when I eventually found the instrument that you build when we were in Oboe and that you had hidden in the wardrobe.”
“The oscillator?”
“Precisely.”
“You knew about it?”
“Yes, I did, and then when you wanted us to go out to the airfield in Sernica, with the excuse that it would be safer there, I knew exactly what you had in mind.”
“Ah-hah, so you knew about that!” he said, shocked about the extent of her knowledge, which surpassed his wildest fantasies.
This only increased as she continued to tell him what she knew.
“Then, when Shay couldn’t set the course for Urduk, I understood that you were forced to modify the oscillator, which was why I was able to help you by pretending to be sick. It was actually really
exciting to watch you in secret as you rebuilt it.”
“You don’t mean that you actually weren’t asleep?”
“Of course not. I simply kept the tablets you gave me under my tongue and spitted them out as soon as I could. I just wanted to be ready to be able to help you if any problems came up, but you solved that thing pretty good on your own. Even when Esai was sticking his nose into other people’s business, you had a good strategy.”
“But why didn’t you say anything about this before?”
“And what about you?”
“That’s true,” he said, bowing his head in shame. “I was simple terrified that you would leave me if you knew the truth.”
“Are you crazy? I love you more than anything else and just as you are. I did want you to tell me about it yourself, though, and now that you have, I’m so deeply happy and pleased. This will be our shared secret, that nobody else will ever get to know, and now I can’t wish for anything more than to marry you.”
After these confessions and explanations, they sat for a long while, holding each other tight in an elated rush of love, with a rare intensity, talking about all their hopes for the future, while the setting sun’s rays settled, glittering and dancing, for the night.
Late in the afternoon, two days later, the wedding of Esai and Flores proceeded out on the Olina’s flower-strewn main deck, where a long table had been adorned with all sorts of delicacies. The atmosphere was one of happiness and exhilaration, which, in addition to the food and pleasant company, Anderika’s wine, made from fermented tree fruit, no doubt contributed to; as had happened so often before, it was late when they persuaded themselves to go off to bed. Since they had no schedules to keep in their paradise-like circumstances, which mostly involved socializing, eating, and sleeping, no one minded.
The next day, Gus and Isla, inspired by the newly-weds, announced that they, too, wanted to get married, and only a few days later it was Hug and Lidia’s turn. Once these had also been put behind them, Shay asked whether anybody else was next, now that he was getting good at it, but apparently the pressure had eased, since nobody else came forward. He himself would have been happy to propose to Baria, but, on the one had there, was no one else who could perform the ceremony legally, and on the other, he wanted to wait to build a family until he could offer her a more secure existence.
Early one morning, after having confirmed that yet another beautiful day awaited, Zania climbed down to the dock for a refreshing swim. The sun’s rays shining down from a clear blue sky warmed her as she swam easily in the soft water that surrounded and caressed her naked body. When the dock was out of sight, she decided to turn back, but had only reached halfway when she heard a splash and, to her horror, saw a large fin approaching. Luckily, Allur was nearby and heard her desperate cries for help. After an explosive outburst of paddling, he arrived at the last moment, just managing to throw his harpoon toward the creature before it reached Zania. The tail fin whipped in violent rage as it counter-attacked, the harpoon swinging on its back, and overturned his boat. Only by summoning his last remaining strength was he able to plunge his army knife into its gaping mouth, so that when Shay and Neiger rowed up in their boats a few moments later, the creature floated on its back, dead, its white belly upwards in the reddening water.
“Hurry up into the boats before the blood attracts others of the same kind,” shouted Neiger.
“I didn’t know you were such a great hunter, Allur,” said Shay, appreciatively, when they had reached safety.
“Neither did I! My God, this monster fish must weigh a ton! If we can bring it in, there’ll be enough to eat for at least a few days.”
With a rope tied to the harpoon, they towed the fish, rowing back to the boat, and had just arrived and managed to haul up the carcass on deck, when two similar fish, attracted by the blood, appeared.
“Wow! That wasn’t a second too soon!” said Shay, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“Yeah, I, for one, couldn’t have handled yet another fight,” said Allur, smiling wryly.
“You risked your life to save mine,” said Zania, with a shaky voice. “On Loria, you would have been richly rewarded, but, here, the only thing I can offer you is my diamond necklace, which I now want you to accept as a gift.”
“No, I only did what any honourable man would have done, and I absolutely don’t want your necklace,” he responded.
“There must be something I can do to thank you?” she insisted.
“OK,” he replied, doubtfully, “In that case, it would be to release Xingezing.”
“If that’s your wish, then that’s what it’ll be,” she answered. “It’s actually something I should have done a long time ago. The problem is that there isn’t any door to the cage.”
“That can be arranged,” said Caver, who then went in search of a pair of cutters and applied himself to cutting a hole in the wires.
When the opening was big enough, Zania told Xingezing that now, at the request of Allur, she was free to decide for herself how she wanted to live. It was almost as if she understood exactly what Zania said, for as soon as she was outside the cage and had flown around in circles above them a few times, she disappeared into the distant as a brilliant flash.
“Yikes!” exclaimed Zania, almost falling over in surprise. “Do you think she’ll ever come back again?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s afraid to end up back in the cage again,” said Allur.
Later, they cooked a huge dinner of the monster fish, which, as it turned out, was delicious, and then put the rest into the freezer as a reserve in case their luck at fishing ran out.
Nieger had been brought up to be unemotional and without any needs, so that he could devote all of his capacities to serving the imperial family and ensuring their security, in the same way his relatives had done for generations. His good salary and benefits as an imperial guard were the envy of the numerous hopefuls who applied for the job, but had not been an issue for him in his choice of work. He worshipped the imperial family unconditionally, and would have happily died on their behalf, if necessary. When he’d seen the princesses brought on board the Olina, it wasn’t because of fear, as Caver believed, that he had asked to come on board, but because of his strong desire to serve. If a few members of the imperial family were destined to survive Plan F, then he considered it his obvious right, and even his obligation, to be able to assist them. When they had returned from their usual fishing trip, he requested to have a private talk with Zania.
“Sure,” she said, readily. “You can do that whenever you like.”
“You were exposed to great danger today, but I didn’t do anything to help you,” he said, while washing his hands.
“Well, it was entirely my own fault, for going on such a long swim,” she said.
“Whether it was right or wrong of you is not for me to decide. My role is only to protect you from danger.”
“Dear Nieger, you really don’t have to look after me.”
“But it is what I have been trained for and, until you are safe, I consider it my obvious duty.”
“And how would that be arranged? You haven’t imagined you’d be living in the same house as me?”
“No, of course not,” he replied, blushing a little. “In that case, I’ll make some sleeping arrangements down by your dock.”
“Oh, well, then that’s what we’ll do, then,” she said, flattered by his loyalty, which moved her deeply, as he bowed and turned to leave.
Since Flores had said that she no longer needed his services, from then on he devoted himself entirely to serving Zania. At first, there were some, Kark among them, who had reservations about her having taken him as her servant, but when they saw how happy he seemed to be about this arrangement, no one found they could be bothered about it anymore.
A few days later, they were eating dinner together when Baria turned to Zania what the meals at the palace in Oboe had been like.
“Oh, nothing special, really,” she answere
d, coyly.
“Now you’re kidding, right?”
“Yeah, maybe,” she laughed. “Of course everything was luxurious and fancy, and as far from everyday life here as one can come. At dinnertimes, the cutlery and settings were always newly polished, shiny under the huge crystal chandeliers, and along the walls were elegant serving tables, where the chefs stood slicing the various cuts of meat. And then the waiters brought out a great variety of different dishes from every corner of the empire, all of it placed on gold-embroidered white silk tablecloths, and the whole time we were entertained by performers and magicians.”
“Oh, it must have been fantastic!”
“I’m not really so sure. A cage is always a cage, even if it is a gilded one, and all that belongs to an earlier life that I’ve left behind now, and don’t miss at all.”
“No?” she asked, surprised.
“No, why should I?”
“But, you were nevertheless a princess?”
“That may be, but I no longer have any reason to pretend that I still am one. Life is like a theatre, where one has a role that one plays, in a time and place that fate has chosen for one, and when the curtain rises on a new act, it’s just silly to try to continue in a role that is obsolete.”
“Yes, you’re right about that. Nothing is as tragic as trying to hold on to old memories and not managing to move on.”
When Esai and Flores came home to their treehouse after dinner, they lay close to each other as the darkness deepened, watching the stars lighting up one after one in the velvet black sky. It was totally silent, except for the occasional bubbles from a fish breaking the surface for air. Suddenly she hugged him hard and intensively and told him she felt happy.
“Is that right? Has something special happened to have filled you so?” he asked with a smile. “Or is this just as usual?”
“I’m pregnant,” she replied.
“Are you sure?” he sputtered, surprised, sitting up.
“As sure as one can be. I’ve missed my period two months in a row now, and I feel there’s something growing inside. Aren’t you happy?”
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