‘I did, but before you interrupt let me finish...’
‘Supreme Majesty, Kelian! Are you joking? Please tell me you’re joking! Have you gone completely mad?’
‘Settle down Colonel,’ Kelian said curtly. ‘At least allow me the courtesy of explaining myself in full before I hang you from the yard arm for your insufferable ignorance.’
Borgulnay sat back on the bunk and glared at Kelian. ‘I apologize, your Majesty,’ he said stiffly, gritting his teeth.
Kelian gave a deep sigh and frowned at Borgulnay. ‘Borg...’ For a moment he didn’t quite know what to say.
‘Let me help,’ said Timbul. ‘Borg, if Kelian told you right here and right now to return me, would you try?’
‘Definitely.’
‘So what’s the difference? Take the ship...kill the guardian... I’ve never seen you balk at something because it’s difficult. Why the hesitation?’
‘Tim, we can’t sail this ship. We are too few. Even if we could kill everyone and drop them over the side, this just can’t work. He wants me to come up with a plan for something impossible.’
‘Kelian’s not planning on killing everyone. He mentioned earlier that we were going to need a crew.’
‘Oh.’ Borgulnay stared guiltily at Kelian. ‘Majesty...’
Kelian was still looking rather coldly at Borgulnay.
Borgulnay sighed. ‘I didn’t listen to the whole plan.’
‘You didn’t listen to the whole sentence!’
Borgulnay managed a small, embarrassed smile. ‘I thought the whole sentence was to be hung from the yard arm. There’s more?’
‘Borg, most of my best friends are in this room, including you. I will do anything, mad or otherwise to get everyone off this ship, but first we need to find out where the ship’s going and what Penn’s planning to do. I know you think I’m bereft of reason, but we can’t let him get away with this. And if he’s just a pawn in a larger game, then I intend to find out what the game is, and put a stop to it. And you will do exactly as I ask you to do.’
‘Yes sir.’ Borgulnay was now entirely serious. ‘I take it that means we don’t actually want to take over the ship until we know its destination? We should start sneaking around picking up as much information as possible.’
Gilgarry gave a grunt of agreement. ‘And we’ll want any useful papers and maps I can lay hands on from the Captain’s cabin.’
‘That’s right,’ said Borgulnay. ‘Before we actually take the ship, we also need to find out if there’s a remote chance this crew will follow our orders and sail us home afterwards. And if they won’t take our orders, we need to get rid of them in a place where we can sign on a new crew of our own choice.’
‘We’ll have to do that without anyone noticing,’ said Gilgarry. ‘We can’t do it if we’re in a harbor somewhere signing on a new crew. This is going to take some time. And regardless of our plans, we need some decent food and some sort of privy arrangement.’
Borgulnay fidgeted uncomfortably. ‘Your Majesty...’
‘Borg, I know if I give this job to you and Gil, what I’ll get is the best chance of survival we can be given, however small that might be. If it doesn’t work, at least I can be sure I had the best men on the job.’
‘Thank you Majesty.’
‘My name is Kelian. Can we stop making this sound like a state function?’ Kelian complained.
‘I’m sorry Kelian, and I’m sorry about what I said. And I think I can give you a bit better than a small chance of survival.’
‘Good. Get to work then, Colonel.’
‘What do you want me to do,’ said a sleepy little voice, and Kalinya peered over the edge of the bunk.
‘Good! Colonel Kalinya, you’re awake.’ Kelian reached up and lifted the little boy to the floor. ‘I have a very important mission for you.’ He paused as though considering. ‘Tim, is anyone coming? Is anyone in the vicinity?’ he thought quickly.
‘No, it’s all clear.’
‘Yes?’ Kalinya leaned forward eagerly.
‘Not far down the hall is a jug of water and a towel. We need it to clean up everyone’s wounds. Can you bring it to me without getting caught?’
‘Of course I can!’ Kalinya darted towards the door and wrenched it open. He paused thoughtfully in the doorway. ‘Did you want to leave this door unlocked? Don’t you think they might be a bit suspicious if they come down here and it’s unlocked? And just so you know, it’s not a ‘hall’ it’s called a passageway ’cause it’s on a ship. And you need to clean the blood off this door. It looks suspicious, like someone got squashed in there.’ With that the boy disappeared. Kelian looked with distaste at the blood on the door.
‘I may as well do it. I’m already covered in blood,’ said Callian, wiping the blood from the door with his sleeve.
‘It’s probably fortunate that Colonel Kalinya pointed this mess out,’ said Kelian.
‘He’s a clever enough little boy,’ said Immosey. ‘Why are you calling him Colonel?’
‘Because if Borg gets injured when he has to fight the lad over you, I’ve agreed to let him replace the Colonel.’
Immosey giggled as Borg’s mouth dropped open. ‘Hmmm...’ Borgulnay rubbed his forehead and hid his smile. ‘And if I lose? What happens to me then?’ he asked Kelian.
‘Well, if you survive I suppose you could always try blacksmithing, or net mending, or something...’ said Kelian vaguely.
‘Wonderful,’ grumbled Borgulnay. ‘Worse than being hung from the yard arm. Let’s hope the lad doesn’t leave me horribly wounded.’ He picked Immosey up into his arms and cradled her against his chest, and then he moved her until her lips were resting against his own. Kalinya entered the room at that moment, carrying the jug of water Kelian had requested. He stood staring at Immosey with a look of betrayal. She bit her lip, feeling a bit guilty about letting Borgulnay taunt the boy. Borgulnay obviously felt no such regret. He lowered her to the ground and kissed her long and passionately as Kalinya stared at him jealously.
‘If you weren’t the King’s man I’d...I’d...I’d...’ Kalinya raised his nose haughtily. ‘Actually, I won’t have to kill you,’ he said to a highly amused Borgulnay. ‘I’m not going to marry Immy after all,’ he announced grandly. ‘I’m going to marry Louisa.’
Chapter 28
Cathaoir and Jemicka
Dale pulled off the shirt he had borrowed from Eibhear and carried it to the stream. Eibhear found no discomfort in the cold air and Dale had been grateful for the shirt as the nights turned cold. He washed the shirt thoroughly and hung it over the branch of a tree to dry, then he picked through the huge pile of clothing the warriors had stolen and chose a dark shirt with a black leather lace and a pair of plain black pants. They fitted him perfectly and were very comfortable. He rummaged through the pile again and his hand struck something hard. At the very bottom of the pile was a pair of boots. They were brown leather with no adornment. He picked them up and glanced questioningly at Ben who was sitting with his bare feet cooling in the stream.
‘None of the rest of us needed boots, Dale,’ he said, ‘except Raline, and Rez got her a pair too.’
‘Which dress did he bring for her?’
‘All of them.’
Dale laughed. ‘Ben, it’s getting colder, particularly at night. I think we have to find a warmer place for Raline to sleep.’
‘Rez thinks so too. He’s been thinking of taking her up to the farm, the one where we’ve been getting the chickens.’
‘I thought they were wild chickens! Rudi said that the hills were absolutely swarming with birds. And he said that... I suppose he didn’t actually get these birds from the swarm on the hills did he? So, we’ve already broken their gate and stolen their huge chickens. How much chance do we have of them letting us sleep in their barn?’
‘I don’t know. But when everyone gets back, I think we might head that way. We’ve had no luck finding any sort of help in any other direction; we might as well try that way
.’
For the past month, they had explored in many directions. Hope dwindled of finding their ship and finding the remaining crew and the Princesses Lerise and Jade. They had not stayed long in any place, but always they remained within a day’s run of the bay where they had last seen their ship. But they had neither seen nor sensed anything of the ship or the crew. Dale’s heart ached for the knowledge that Enri and Lerise and Jade were most likely dead. He imagined how he might feel when he faced the boy’s parents, Duke Percy and Duchess Vera. The Duke and Duchess had only one child, Enrique, and their lives would be eternally shattered to learn of his disappearance. Dale remembered first meeting the Duke and Duchess and he admired their grace and wisdom. He shook his head sadly, remembering what Enri had said of his father and thought of his own father, who had said similar wise and kind words. ‘Dale, if you’ve no-where to go, you can come home.’ And Enri’s father, ‘If you’re at sea and nothing is going right, set sail for home. Home will be waiting.’ Dale froze with one hand clutching some of the clothing he was jamming into the sack. His heart accelerated and he drew breath sharply. As he slowly breathed out the implication of Enri’s words struck.
‘Supreme Majesty!’ Dale’s words were almost a prayer. ‘Perhaps they’ve gone home!’
Ben sat up straight and stared at Dale with his mouth slightly open. He brushed his hair back off his face with his hand. ‘You can’t be sure of that.’
‘I’m not sure. But I’ll bet that’s what happened! I’m betting the sailors somehow got control of the ship and Enri commanded them to sail for home. He knew what happened to the Captain. I’m guessing he decided the safety of Lerise and Jade was of paramount importance.’
‘Would he have left you here?’
‘Yes. I think he would. But if I know Enri, he’ll be back and he won’t be alone.’
‘Something to hope for?’
‘More than hope. Ben, you might think I’m mad, but I really believe this. I truly think he took them home.’
Ben stood up. ‘They’re back.’ Seconds later Rezon, Eibhear and Rudiger appeared through the trees.
Dale leapt to his feet. ‘Rudi-’
‘We all heard your thoughts Dale. And I’m inclined to agree.’
‘Do I get any privacy?’ asked Dale, feeling a little indignant.
‘None at all. I’m joking Dale. We don’t always intrude, but you were kind of shouting your thoughts. Tiernan probably heard you from the Dwellings.’
Rezon ignored everyone and went over to where Raline was sleeping. She was now wrapped in two stolen blankets and her head was resting on a small, soft pillow. He woke her in his usual gentle manner.
The farm turned out to be closer than Dale had imagined. He’d learned that the warriors’ estimation of the amount of ground that could be travelled in a day was far greater than that accepted by a normal human, but to his surprise by nightfall they were standing on the borders of the property discussing exactly how they should approach the owners. In the end they decided to allow Dale and Raline to approach the people first, since Eibhear could sense that the woman was human. It disturbed him that he couldn’t sense the man with the exception of the occasional obscure thought, and he could give Dale no advice on how to handle him, should he greet them. Dale was hoping the farmer’s wife would answer the door. They had long discussed what their story should be, but when Eibhear sensed the woman’s mind he was adamant that the truth was the only thing she would believe. Once Dale and Raline had established whether the couple might be reasonably friendly or at least willing to attempt to communicate, Eibhear planned to approach to try to assist.
Dale knocked on the door. The door opened a crack and an eye appeared then it opened fully and Dale was relieved to see the woman standing in the doorway.
‘Saldriquel addi neevwanch er ranilia milteah?’ asked the woman.
Dale could answer only the first part of her question. ‘Dale,’ he said pointing to himself. He pointed to Raline. ‘Raline.’
‘Ranilira milteah?’
‘Eibhear?’ Dale thought desperately.
‘She wants to know where you came from. Don’t panic. She’s curious.’
Dale motioned writing and the woman disappeared and then returned carrying writing utensils. She pointed to a tiny table and one chair which stood under a small shelter slightly to the side of the patio. Dale sat and began to draw. He drew the outline of the small bay where they had come ashore and as much as he could remember of the shoreline, the mountains, the streams and the forests. Then he left a huge space on the parchment and drew a vague outline of Alkira. He drew a line from Alkira to the bay and a tiny picture of a ship in the bay. He replaced the quill on the special stand she had provided. The woman’s face was a white as a cloud. She was drawing sharp breaths and then she closed her mouth and swallowed hard.
‘You’re from Alkira?’ she asked.
Dale’s mouth dropped open. ‘Yes! You speak the common speech?’
‘We do,’ she said. ‘But we rarely hear it since we came across the Sea.’
‘Where are you from?’ asked Raline, feeling rocked by this revelation.
‘I came from a farm south of Khynol. My husband... Where are you from?’ The woman was suddenly suspicious.
Dale flinched as Eibhear’s thoughts came into his head with force. ‘You’re not going to believe this, but she and her husband left Alkira because she was human and he was free. They weren’t accepted in either country.’
‘I’m from Castle,’ said Dale. ‘Raline is from a farm just north of Castle. We have friends waiting outside the farm.’
‘Why?’ the woman folded her arms, looking quite frightened.
‘Because our friends are from Nyinaku and we weren’t sure if that might scare you. This is a strange land to us, but we are learning that there is little friendship here between the humans and the free.
The woman’s mouth fell open. ‘Send for your friends,’ she said softly. ‘I’m sure they can hear your mind.’
Eibhear, Rudi, Ben and Rezon approached very slowly. Rezon took Raline’s hand and held it firmly, and then he leaned down and kissed her. The woman stared at them and then turned and spoke. Dale couldn’t catch her words, but the warriors exchanged glances then turned around. From the edge of the forest a man appeared. His eyes opened wide when he saw the warriors and he gave a low whistle.
‘How in the name of all hell did you get here?’ he asked. ‘I thought Nandul would have returned you all by now. Or hasn’t he worked out your little scheme?’
‘What scheme?’ his wife asked, looking confused.
‘This dirty, scruffy, pathetic bunch was leading an uprising against Nandul. And they weren’t alone. I might have been among their number if we hadn’t decided to stay here.’ He shook his head. ‘Sorry,’ he said, sensing his wife’s confusion. ‘This is Rudiger or Morlee and his brother Eibhear, and this is Ben and his brother, little Rezon. This is my wife Jemicka.’ He turned to Dale and Raline. ‘I am Cathaoir. Follow me.’
Everyone followed Cathaoir through the house and into a small paved stone courtyard surrounded by high thick bushes, decorated with a multitude of flowering plants, and overhung by a trellis bearing a thick burden of crimson trumpet vine. Raline walked to the end of the paving and peered through a gap in the bushes. It reminded her sharply and painfully of her own farm and the life she had had before the Nailmarni had attacked, and before a massive wave had washed away her home and family. Sheep grazed on a hillside nearby and she could see a sty of pigs and many neatly kept vegetable gardens. She missed her parents terribly.
‘Do you still have family near Khynol?’ she asked Jemicka.
‘No. I never knew my father; he left us when I was only a baby. Mother never said why. Then when I was fifteen she and her brother, my Uncle Lance, died from vomiting sickness, and I was left to run the farm.’
‘By yourself?’ Raline knew how hard a task this would have been. Jemicka sighed as she remembered the hardship.<
br />
‘I was used to the hard work of course, but it was too difficult without mother and Uncle Lance and after a while no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t keep up, and some of the animals sickened and died, and I couldn’t afford to get in any help, but there wasn’t a bite of food left in the house. I’d told so many people that I could manage on my own and I told them to leave me alone, so I was too embarrassed - too proud - to go for help. I got my uncle’s old bow and went into the mountains.’
‘You’re a hunter?’ asked Raline in surprise.
‘Not at all,’ Jemicka admitted. ‘I tried so hard. I had twelve arrows so I had a go at shooting some wild fowl. The very first arrow I shot ended up caught in a tree and I broke it trying to get it out. Then I lost the second arrow. It went into the water, so I swam out to get it, and I actually did manage to reach it, but I slipped when I tried to get out of the lake and when I put my hand down to catch myself, the arrow snapped. Anyway, by this time I was starving, so I kept on trying. Well, if I’m not the very worse shot in the entire land I must come close! Eventually, after a day and a night and then most of the next day with no sleep - no rest at all actually - I managed to hit a wild turkey, but I only wounded it and it kept running. I just couldn’t believe how difficult it was to actually kill something that wasn’t penned in. So the bird got away and I could have cried with frustration! I chased it for as far as I could go before I simply couldn’t go a step further. It about then I noticed that my uncle’s old leather quiver was falling to bits and I’d lost the rest of the arrows. Then I did cry. I knew then that I didn’t have a lot of choice. I knew I’d have to go back home and ask someone for help or at least ask for food from one of the neighboring farms. And I would have, if I hadn’t been hopelessly lost in the hills. I stayed where I was overnight even though it was really cold, and I did manage to sleep a little, then the next day I waited for the sun to rise so I could head south. At least I knew once I left the mountains I could probably find my way home. But as was typical of my luck so far, it started raining and it was so foggy I couldn’t see twenty paces in front of me, let alone where the sun was. I started walking anyway and kept going until I reached the foot of the mountain; the wrong side of the mountain.’
Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3) Page 23
