Chapter 41: Landfall

Audette stood in the doorway, her eyes traveling over the deck of the ship as her eyes adjusted to the quasi-darkness of night. The deck was worn, the wood weathered, but it was still basically smooth. It still did its job, keeping the vessel together and allowing a place for the sailors to walk. She wondered if there was wisdom in that. Age might not bring beauty, but it did afford a certain practicality.

She looked up into the night sky. Stars twinkled in the black tapestry and the young woman picked out her favorite constellations. Her eyes moved from Oros, the tortoise, to Aver, the Hare, and then onto Caffold, the angry lion. There were others up in the deep black but those three were the ones which her eyes always sought out first. Those three figured prominently in most of the bedtime stories with which her father had often regaled her. She’d always enjoyed those stories.

She was scared. She was truly and completely frightened. She couldn’t help but hear the words of her brother echoing through her mind.

‘Father is sending you off to die in Wenland – and you’re such an idiot, you’re actually prancing happily to do it.’

She knew it wasn’t true. Her father had explained things to her. She knew her brother was just trying to frighten her – and it worked. She was frightened.

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She sought her center, her balance. It was what Ko’Natu was built upon. Centering your existence. Finding the balance of nature.

She opened her eyes and forced herself to focus on the night sky. Both moons were out but on opposite sides of the sky. Fiere, the disgraced son, fled to the west, away from the sun, his angry father. Meanwhile Melur, the obedient daughter, waited in the east for her father to rise once again. Fiere was nearing a new moon, nearing the time when he’d return once again over the night sky for his father to catch him as he turned full. Melur, the smaller of the two, was already almost full.

A strong smell of fish blew in on a nighttime breeze and Audette crinkled her nose at the odor. She’d been on the merchant ship for more than four long days, but she still hadn’t gotten used to the smell. Or the smell which rose from below decks, for that matter. The smell of unwashed bodies and stale sweat was the more repelling of the two.

It was still an hour to first light. She hadn’t been able to sleep. She had hoped the rocking of the boat would make it easier but it proven to have the opposite effect.

She hadn’t slept much the past few days. Everything just moved wrong on the ship. Her Aunt Vondi had cautioned her with horror stories of seaborne illness she’d termed sea-sickness, but her Aunt’s worries had proven unfounded. Some of the Royal Guard had succumbed to heaving their stomachs’ contents over the rails, but she’d been fine.

She ambled onto the deck. With the constant rolling of the floor, she couldn’t very well walk onto the deck. An amble had been the best she could manage.

She made her way over to the rail with a purpose other than adding her dinner to the bottom of the sea. She’d found she enjoyed standing at the rail, watching the water. It calmed her. At that moment, she needed calming. She needed calming enough to brave the sickening fish smell for a time. The day promised to be exciting, but also terrifying.

As she stood at the rail, she sighed. She finally realized the sea air held a briny odor but the annoying, fishy smell wasn’t coming from the sea. It must originate from the boat.

The crew, as they had since she stepped on the ship four days ago, largely ignored her. They were always unfailingly polite when they’d accidentally meet her. They acknowledged her presence with a nod, smile or sometimes even a mild ‘hello.’ Mostly, they just avoided her.

Perversely, she considered ordering them to at least bow when they came near – she was the empress-an, after all – but then chuckled to herself at how silly she was being. She’d always hated the way the nobles had scraped and groveled to her father. It was something he’d freely admitted to finding onerous as well. Yet, here she was, thinking about forcing the sailors to do the same thing.

“You couldn’t sleep either, I take it?” a voice questioned.

Startled, Audette half-turned. In the murky light of the twin moons, her eyes made out the face of Vondi approaching. She shook her head and chuckled nervously. “The rocking motion isn’t as appealing as I’d thought.”

“There’s no need to be worried,” Vondi admonished as she reached the rail. The older woman leaned against it, her forearms settling heavily on the wood. She secretly doubted the rocking of the ship was keeping her niece awake. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I’m not worried,” Audette started but then she paused, thinking it over. “Well, not very worried.”

She let her eyes drift out to the sea as she continued. “I’m ... excited, I guess. This is my first trip.”

She was even more startled to find her words were true. Her fear was a thick seam along the edges of her excitement.

The black-haired women looked at her niece in curiosity. “Your first trip? You’ve been all over the Empire.”

“Yes, ‘all over the Empire’,” the red-haired young woman agreed, emphasizing her country. “This is my first time outside the Empire. And it’s my first time on my own...”

She glanced at her aunt. “Well, mostly on my own,” she amended. “But it’s definitely my first trip as the empress-an!”

“You’ll be on your own soon enough,” Vondi replied with a sigh. She shook her head. “You know, with the notable exception of soldiers and some merchants, unless we go to war, most in our land will never travel more than twenty or thirty leagues away from their home. Even the ones who will travel will only be farmers or tradesman going to sell their wares at market. You’ve seen much more of the world than the majority of our people – noble or commoner.”

“Oh, I know,” Audette replied immediately. “And I’m grateful. I know I have opportunities most won’t ever have thanks to the accident of my birth.”

She paused and looked out, towards the front of the ship. She could just make out the shadowy land to which they were sailing. It was a black mass which hung low on the darkened horizon. “I’m just excited to be traveling I guess.”

Vondi nodded in satisfaction, the corners of her mouth turning up. “Well, don’t place too much faith in your title. It won’t mean overly much in Wenland.”

“Oh, I won’t,” the younger woman agreed. “I know people can be provincial. Father cautioned I wasn’t to use my title except with the royals of Wenland.”

She shrugged, then turned back to her aunt. “What did you mean, ‘I’ll be on my own soon enough’?”

“I won’t be leaving the ship,” the older woman imparted.

“You’re not?” Audette asked, shocked.

Vondi laughed. “My presence would negate the reason for your visit. I can’t go into Wenland.”

“Oh,” the young girl said, surprised. She’d just assumed her aunt was joining the whole expedition. Knowing she wasn’t going to be near definitely gave the younger girl pause. Then, her face scrunched in confusion. “Wait, the ship is going to dock in Cava. Won’t you be in Wenland at that point?”

“‘Demi’s Jewel’ is registered with the empire,” the black-haired woman explained. “By treaty and courtesy, the boat is considered Empire soil. It’s why I wouldn’t book passage on the ‘Maiden’s Head.’ That ship is registered in Wenland so would be Wenland soil.”

Audette had wondered about her aunt’s insistence. The ‘Demi’s Jewel’ was a much shabbier ship and left later in the day. The ‘Maiden’s Head’ was a triple-masted thing of beauty, its masts reaching high into the sky.

Vondi sighed. “Besides, I’ve already gone further than I should have. Radu expected me to leave you at Bristol.”

The woman frowned. “I just couldn’t do that.”

“I just assumed Dad had agreed for you to accompany me,” Audette admitted.

Vondi laughed. “Radu honestly didn’t want to send you. He was looking for every way not to send you. In the end, he just knew this was the better way.”

She blew out a long breath. “I admit, he’s right – but don’t you dare tell him I said that. His head is big enough already.”

The older woman paused before letting out another long, slow sigh. “Any other play would have put us into more peril – not less.”

“It’s all happening quite fast, isn’t it?” Audette asked matter-of-factly.

“Radu had his reasons,” Vondi hedged. “Sentiment is a vicious thing. Left to its own devices, it can grow larger and darker over time until it becomes nearly unstoppable. He’s trying to get ahead of it.”

She snorted. “Or, more accurately, to get you ahead of it. If we can catch it before the princess’ capture or death – or another attempt of either – becomes too entrenched in peoples’ minds, your job will be infinitely easier. If we wait too long, nothing you do or say will matter.”

“Dad always said ‘timing is everything’,” Audette nodded.

“Enough melancholia,” Vondi huffed. “I’ll not leave you in depression. I was actually hoping to beat you up here to wait for you. I should have known better. You’ve not slept much since we set sail.”

Vondi held out a rather small, leather bundle.

Audette looked at it curiously. “What’s this?”

“A gift,” Vondi smiled. “For your trip.”

“Okay,” Audette said slowly, dragging the word out to a few seconds. “What is it?”

Vondi shook her head. She grabbed Audette’s hand and put the bundle into it. “Look at it and find out.”

The younger girl opened the small, dark parcel. It was a long glove, made of thick, hard leather dyed almost black. The fingers and palm were supple, but the back of the glove was thicker and harder. The thickness and hardness continued all the way back. The glove would end somewhere close to the crook of her elbow.

“It’s a glove,” she said in confusion, turning her face up to her aunt. “Where’s the other?”

Vondi chuckled and shook her head.

“It’s not that kind of glove,” she laughed. “It’s a falconer’s glove. There’s only one. The falcon is meant to perch on the hard back of the glove.”

If anything, Audette looked even more confused. “But, I don’t have a falcon.”

“Well,” Vondi continued chuckling. “That’s good. It means the second part of the gift will mean that much more, won’t it?”

“Second part of the gift?” Audette asked before her brain could catch up. “A falcon? You got me a falcon?”

Vondi’s face fell slightly, and her lips pursed almost in distaste. “Well, not exactly. The falcon and glove actually came from Werten.”

“You don’t care for him much, do you?” The younger girl asked, her eyes looking over the glove.

“It isn’t that,” her aunt disagreed. She paused a moment, her face drawing close in concentration. “He’s proven his worth to the Empire a thousand times over again. His counsel to Radu has always been wise and measured.”

The woman winced. “I just don’t trust him...”

Her voice trailed off as she winced again. “Or rather, I don’t trust what he can do. I trust the man, but the power he wields is ... difficult to reconcile. Why would someone with such power be content to advise and not lead? I have difficulty in getting my head around that part.”

She turned back to her niece. “I didn’t know I was being obvious about it.”

“He may not know,” Audette shared. “Or, maybe he does. He’s perceptive. I don’t think it bothers him, though.”

She tilted her head. “Or, if it bothers him, he hides it well. I think he’s used to it. Everyone views mages with distrust. Probably for the very same reason. All the power to which they have access ... it’s difficult not to worry they’ll use it against you.”

She shrugged. “It’s been that way forever, though, so I think they understand it and either get over it or move on.”

“You’re pretty indifferent to it,” the older woman pointed out.

“I wasn’t always,” the redhead admitted. “He terrified me at first.”

Her eyes grew distant. “I saw him light the bonfire for the great festival by shooting a ball of flame from his fingertips. It frightened me.”

Her eyes focused on her aunt. “Dad realized it and called me out about it. He explained there were all kinds of power. While Dad couldn’t shoot fire from his fingertips, he could do a lot worse to a lot of people. Eventually, I will find myself with that power.”

She shrugged. “Power is power. If the Arch-Wizard burns a man with fireballs from his fingertips or I have him burned at the stake, the result is the same.”