Chapter 20

When Jabbit and Sybelien reached the tavern the storm had considerably lessened. As they entered, the middle-aged man standing behind the counter of ‘The Drowned Sailor’ greeted Sybelien with a nod. The blonde returned his greeting and told Jabbit to take a seat while she talked to the owner. The only other people in the tavern were a group of six rough looking men sitting at a table to the left of the entrance. Every one of the men had a mug in front of him and in the center of the table sat a larger clay tankard, easily within reach of any of them. They drank in utter silence, their eyes scrutinizing the new arrivals.

Sybelien walked over to the tavern owner and Jabbit took a chair at an empty table close to the fireplace. After a short conversation, the innkeeper and Sybelien left through a door behind the counter. Only a moment later the door to the tavern opened and two more drenched customers entered the taproom. They looked around and then walked up to Jabbit.

“Good day young man,” the older of the two men greeted. “My brother and me are soaking wet and would like to sit with you and share the warmth of the fire to dry our clothes.”

“Good day to you, too,” Jabbit greeted in return. “Take a seat; I would like some company.”

“Ingbert and Kort Stonkas,” the older brother introduced. “We’re fishermen and were just about to leave the port for the Garossa Sea when the storm surprised us. We’ll wait it out and set sail with the next low tide. You look like the storm surprised you, too.”

“I wasn’t surprised by the storm,” Jabbit replied with a smile. “I’m used to it; such things always happen to me.”

The brothers looked at him curiously.

Jabbit ignored it as he remembered a line from his past. “You’re sailing to the sea and I would like to come with you,” he mused. “I’ve never seen the ocean.“

The brothers looked past him where three of the men from the other group dragged their chairs over and sat down at Jabbit’s now slightly over-crowded table.

“I heard ye,” the biggest of the three said. “There isn’t room on a fishing boat for passengers. I’m Captain Durgon Phess of ‘The Sullen Mermaid’. Like the fishermen, we’re just waiting out the storm before we’ll set sails for Ibanee. My ship is a trading ship and we’re a little light on cargo on this tour. I’d be happy to have you as a passenger,” he offered with a grin, which looked only a bit sleazy.

“Don’t mess with this one, Durgon,” the innkeeper interfered, returning from the back room. “Sybil came with him and wouldn’t like it. Believe me, you don’t want her to get angry at you.”

“The little blonde?” Durgon asked, grinning even wider. “We have room for her, too, on the Mermaid!”

Apparently, his men found their captain’s generosity funny - they laughed.

Sybelien exited the back room on the heels of the innkeeper. She took in the scene at Jabbit’s table and walked over to them with a bundle of clothes in her hand.

“Here are some dry clothes for you,” she said to Jabbit and handed him the bundle.

Then she turned to the captain of the Sullen Mermaid. “What are you trading in Ibanee - livestock?” She asked with a frown.

“A good guess,” Durgon answered. “We sell livestock indeed. Ye and yer friend are welcome aboard my ship to sail with us to Ibanee.”

“The only kind of livestock shipped to Ibanee are slaves,” Sybelien replied.

“True,” the captain conceded. “And slaves are the only livestock I trade. I know the market in Ibanee; yer friend will earn me a fortune. The scar on yer face will harm yer selling price; otherwise, ye would be very valuable too.”

The discussion was interrupted as the door to the tavern opened once more and four more soaked people rushed into the taproom; a whore, two princesses, and a former pirate captain.

“See, I told you it’s easy to find him,” Rhaseris boasted as the four walked to the already crowded table. “You simply have to focus on the treasure he gave you and you’ll know where he is.”

“I only have a yearning itch to focus on; the treasure he gave me slipped out of me when we were done,” Anseyla replied and stuck out her tongue.

Rhaseris laughed. “You’re a slut - but I like you!”

Reaching the table, Anseyla ignored anyone else and plopped down in Jabbit’s lap. “Do you like me too, my Lord?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before he could answer.

Durgon and his men leered at the new arrivals.

“That’s what I call a boatload of precious merchandise!” The captain rejoiced and then looked across the room at the three men still sitting at his original table. “Seighon, run and come back with more men. We take them all! Neydeg, Oshar lock the door and guard it.”

The three men jumped off their chairs to obey their captain’s command.

Sybelien snorted. “Yeah, run Seighon,” she commented. “If you run fast enough, you might escape the one who certainly will join us next.” She noticed Kuwasi’s questioning expression and explained. “This is Captain Durgon, a slave trader. He has a ship and wants to sell us in Ibanee.”

“Abduct us?” Rhaseris groaned. “Not again already.”

“Ahh! Now I understand,” Kuwasi exclaimed. He turned to the captain and a grin split his face. “I feel for you; faced with such an opportunity, I also would become excited.”

Anjatta laughed. “Sorry, captain,” she said. “As far as I am concerned, I fear you’ll have to discuss your intentions with my mother first. She has already made plans to sell me.”

Durgon and his men looked from one of the new arrivals to the other.

The captain wasn’t grinning anymore as he looked at Kuwasi. “Ye’re big and strong and from Ibanee,” he gauged him. “I’m a reasonable man; if these people somehow belong to ye, we can talk about compensation. Or, even better for both of us, ye become one of my crew and ye’ll get yer fair share of the revenue when we sell them in Ibanee.”

Kuwasi sighed in response. “I believe you are a reasonable man,” he conceded. “The problem is Eva isn’t as reasonable as you are. Besides, I’m deeply indebted to Jabbit and, I must admit, I’m also a bit afraid of him.”

“Who is... ?”

The captain started but loud shouting and a fist pounding on the tavern door interrupted him before he could finish his question.

“Open the bloody door; I know he is here!”

Durgon looked at the door and then at Kuwasi again. The big Ibanee nodded, a somber expression on his face. The next moment the hinges broke and the sturdy door flew into the room and crashed to the floor. The two crewmen guarding the door were staring at the somehow strange looking man now standing in the open doorway as he was pushed aside and a dripping wet woman stormed into the taproom. Her blazing green eyes swept the entire room and then focused on the scene at the table by the fireplace. Fast as lightning her dagger and falcata were out of their scabbards and in her hands.

“May I handle the introductions?” Kuwasi asked politely. “Captain Durgon, a slaver by trade, meet Evanis Danjala, the most furious of Unganjashi’s Sentshis ... and my best friend,” he hastened to add as he saw the glare she cast at him.

Durgon’s eyes widened. “Evanis Danjala? The mercenary who killed all the priests last night?” Then his head spun around until he could stare at Jabbit. “You are the heretic they wanted to burn today!”

Jabbit paused kissing Anseyla and grinned at Evanis. “I want to see the ocean,” he explained. “The captain offered to take me as a passenger aboard his ship, the Sullen Mermaid.”

“And once in Ibanee, he offered to sell us as slaves,” Sybelien added, grinning too. “The captain is a nice man, isn’t he?”

“What?” Evanis asked too loudly, clearly dissatisfied with their explanations. “You want to see the ocean?” She asked Jabbit. “Maybe your high and mighty divinity didn’t think about it, but there will be a war in Katerra; it already has begun.”

Anjatta var Dosha stepped up to Evanis and embraced the fuming warrioress. “Evanis,” she whispered in her ear. “Don’t let your anger blind you. Jabbit is no idiot; he’s the driving force behind the coming war. You’re a warrior and a commander - what needs to be done to secure the conquest of Katerra?”

Evanis frowned, then groaned. “He wants to conquer Ibanee to control the Garossa Sea and the delta of the Ewu.”

Anjatta pulled the necklace with the seashell from beneath her clothes. “The scholars named it ‘The Pearl White Throne of Death’ - and death will come upon my homeland. I saw it and spent half of my life thinking about how to prevent it. When I finally met Jabbit, he explained the debt has to be repaid. Now I know it’s unavoidable,” she said with a sad smile on her face. “I adore you Evanis. You are his chosen warrioress because he knows you will never stop fighting - and he’s always teasing you because he also knows you will never quit resisting even him. Maybe it’s your nature and you’ll fight him for all of eternity, Evanis. It doesn’t matter because Jabbit is a god and he will wait for you at the end of eternity. But I am not like you; I accepted my fate. I will build him a pearl white throne in Ibanee to save what he will let me save of my homeland and the people I love.”

Evanis took a deep breath and nodded at Anjatta. Then she looked past her at Durgon.

“All right,” she said. “My new friend explained the situation to me. We’ll take your offer, Durgon. Jabbit wants to see the ocean and you’ll take us on your ship to Ibanee.”

The slaver cast a dirty look at Evanis but as he opened his mouth to speak he cried out in pain. A pointy dagger was thrust through his hand, pinning it on the table.

“I don’t like you,” Sybelien hissed, “and I’ll gut you the moment I know you’re of no use to us. So you better think before you talk.”

“Sybil!” Anseyla chastised. “You’re rude. I’m certain the nice captain just wanted to confirm his generous offer.” Then she batted her eyelashes at Jabbit. “I’ve also never seen the ocean and I heard Ibanee is a beautiful island. May I accompany you on this journey, my Lord?”

Rhaseris mouthed the word ‘slut’, grinning at Anseyla.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about what he has to say,” Evanis spat, glowering at the captain. “I’ve made my decision. You’ll take us to your ship - now!”

Sybelien pulled her dagger out of the table and the captain’s hand. Durgon cradled his wounded appendage, rose from his chair and motioned Evanis to follow him as he wordlessly walked to the exit of the Drowned Sailor.

The seven priestly judges had retreated into the High Priest’s study within the main temple. Since the heresy trial had been concluded and the convicted had fled his execution, they congregated merely in their usual function as the highest authorities of the various Orders of the Alorian priesthood instead of the judges they’d so recently been. Apparently, this fact especially aggravated the former head judge.