Chapter 13

For Watcher Dosa, the sound of dripping water in her room instead of the howling of the wind through the ship and the sound of rain beating against the glass sounding like some alchemist’s holiday trick was enough to bring her fully awake. For three days the rain and wind had baffled the Captain who initially told everyone the rain would be nothing more than a squall and would be over before sunset. Having no reason to doubt him everyone slept confident the rain would be over soon.

Only the next morning the squall was not gone and was now a rain storm. The Captain was not as assured when asked about when the storm would be ending, saying only the gods knew when a storm would end. Throughout the day the storm grew stronger while the Captain grew less assured of their situation, ordering everyone not needed to steer the ship below decks for their safety. When the sky grew dark at sunset the storm grew stronger with the wind and rain battering their ship to the point that some of the passengers offered prayers to their gods for deliverance from the seas.

Listening to the drip, Watcher Dosa guessed someone must still have a connection to their god as the ship had been delivered from the storm. Sitting up slowly, she realized how sore she was from being tossed around by the storm. She had finally acceded offer made by the crew to all the passengers to tie them into her bunks so they would not be tossed out onto the floor by the violence of the storm against the ship. Looking at the other members of her party with whom shared a cabin, she took pity on them as she knew all of them had visited the barrels many times during the storm and none of them had eaten anything after the first day. Just now all of them were sleeping soundly and she had no intention of waking them.

Rummaging in her pack, she found what she was looking for, and romoved the box containing the red crystal she had been given to guide them on their journey for the nature walker. Placing the box on the bed, she took the time to replace the knives she had stashed on her bunk while she had been sleeping there; the last two were from under her pillow which she placed in shammy like sheaths along her arms under the sleeves of the robe she wore.

Being as quiet as she could, she made her way up the ladder with the box containing the crystal in her hands. Stepping out onto the main deck she was surprised the sun was out with only an occasional cloud to be seen. Looking around the deck, she watched as the crew went about their business putting the ship back in order. The first problem being the recovery of the ship’s mast, it that had been ripped from ship and tossed over the side during the night. She had heard the shouts during the night calling the crew up on deck but had been too tired to worry about what they were doing. Looking at the men working, she made a promise to herself that if there were any other calls for all hands on deck, she would investigate for herself. She had no desire to drown if things went wrong.

Walking over to the railing, any thoughts she had of drowning soon vanished; she was captivated by how calm the sea was compared to what it was just the night before. She was unsure how long she stood there looking at the sea, but having the box in her hands reminded her she had work to do. Looking for a place on deck where she could bring out the crystal without being disturbed, she turned away from the sea and headed towards the Captain. He was at the wheel while his first mate was supervising the retrieval of the mast, it was still close by, being held with lines from the deck.

Facing the Captain, Dosa asked, “May I use part of your deck for a few minutes, I need to find out how far we have been blown off course.”

Having been told what his mission was by one of the Grand Masters, he offered, “You may conduct your business anywhere you wish, though a position near where we are here up here would be safest for you.”

Moving away from the Captain to an open place, she answered back over her shoulder, “Safe is good, I have no desire to be crushed by a mast after surviving the storm.”

“Yes, there was something wrong with that storm,” the Captain offered.

“How so?” Dosa asked as she brought out the crystal.

“I have seen many storms at sea including a few capable of swamping a ship. Only this one was during the wrong season for a storm that big.”

Continuing her preparations, she offered, “Could a storm like that not come early?”

“All things are possible but I tell you there was something wrong with that storm.”

Hearing the Captain’s statement, Dosa looked at him for a moment before returning her attention to the crystal. Looking into the crystal she found the nature walker, though now, she could sense the nature walker was moving. Before she could pinpoint the walker’s position, other more disturbing visions intruded, showing her the Captain was right in saying something was wrong with the storm. Not only did the visions show Watcher Dosa the storm was not natural, it had been changed from a squall to a rain storm and finally to a gale, and she had been the intended victim.

“How long before we see anything but water?” Esai asked.

Conni and Anni sitting nearby looked up from the scrolls they had been reading to see who Esai was talking too, seeing no one nearby returned to their reading though Conni offered, “The Captain said we would be at sea for fourteen days or more depending on the wind. We have been at sea seven days now so that means we have another seven, to maybe ten days before we see land then another week going up river before we arrive at the City-State.”

“I can’t believe sailing is so boring. When we left Tarantis there was always the shore to look at as we sailed north, now we see is this blue water with some green patches. What did the Captain say they were? Sea mounts?” Esai asked.

“You know what the Captain called them, now you’re just being annoying. Every day you come up here while we’re taking our lessons, asking how long before we make it to land and the answer is always the same. Maybe you should sit down and read one of our scrolls, at least you’ll have something to do,” Anni answered for her sister.

“I told you, I do not know how to read,” Esai shot back.

“Sit down and we’ll teach you.”

“Won’t your mentors be upset with you teaching a slave how to read?”

“Now you’re just being contrary. Wahleia has said you and your brother are not slaves; she left you the choice to wear the collar to keep others from saying anything or bothering you. So you’re using the collars to hide, nothing more. Are you afraid of just sitting down here and letting Conni and I work with you?”

Esai turned and walked away, looking down and not saying anything to either sister.

Sitting at the stern, Tuda and Renn listened as Esai complained to the twins about their travels. The ship had been at sea for more than a week and this was now the third day in a row the two friends had watched Esai complain to her friends about being bored and their lessons, keeping his voice down, Renn asked, “Why does she keep complaining about the voyage? Nothing can be done to make it any faster than it already is.”

Not bothering to look up from the scroll he was reading, Tuda answered, “She’s afraid.”

“Of what?” Renn asked perplexed.

“She’s afraid she’s not smart enough to learn how to read; she wants too but does not want to look bad in front of Conni, Anni, or even Wahleia if she isn’t able to learn your letters and words.”

“That’s silly, I taught you how to read, so why can’t she learn?” Renn asked.

“I learned how to read because I don’t care as I know I will not live to see the end of our journey.”

Thinking about what Tuda said, Renn asked, “How do you know you won’t be with us at the end of our journey? I always took you as a warrior and not a seer, are you able to see into the future?”

Shrugging as he returned to his reading, Tuda offered, “I know what I saw and I know I will not be there when Wahleia meets her mate.”

“What you just said is a long way from being dead. There are many things that may happen to keep you from being there when she meets him besides being dead.”

Shrugging again, Tuda said again, “I know what I saw in my dream and I will not be alive to see them together.”

“Okay then, what about me and my sisters; will we still be alive then?”

“In my dream we were all alive until I was gone, after that I have no idea as my dream ended.”

“Well then, if you insist on thinking you’ll be dead by the time we get there, I’ll just have to believe you’re wrong and make sure whatever fate awaits you is not the death you envision.”

“We shall see, until then if you want to help out your sisters in understanding my sister, then you might mention to them, she is afraid of looking bad, if they can get around her fear then she might be willing to learn.”

“Couldn’t you do the same thing with your sister telling her anyone can learn to read?”

With a snort, Tuda answered, “I tried already, how do you think I know what’s bothering her.”

Returning to his own scroll, Renn offered, “I will talk to my sisters during our midday meal, telling them what you have told me.”

Sitting one deck below them, others were listening to every word the boys above them said.

Hearing the two boys move once lunch was called; Captain Oster spoke, “That boy of yours is way too young to be having such dark thoughts as his own death. Death will come for all of us; there is no reason to hurry it along.”

Sitting across from the Captain, Wahleia nodded, saying, “I agree, and with most people it isn’t an issue but he is part Orc. I fear his reasoning comes more from his Orc father than his human mother, meaning once he is fixated on a goal or in this case a dream there is nothing anyone can do to change his mind. Myself I think I’ll just keep him close so I can protect him until he believes his prophecy has passed.”

“You surely seem attached to this child, wouldn’t it be better to send him away to some safer place until this prophecy has passed?”
“I considered doing just that, leaving him in Greenwater but leaving him behind is just as dangerous with Tarantis threatening war. If Renn’s letter makes an impression with this Overlord then maybe I would consider leaving him behind, though what he would do there I have no idea. Being a half breed I would think his chances of staying out of trouble would be very small indeed with or without the training he received in Greenwater.”

“If you’re really concerned for him, I have an idea, you could leave him with me. He has proven to be teachable, as far as sailing goes and who knows maybe, after a couple of years he would make a very good first mate,” Captain Oster offered.