Chapter 20

Well, I didn’t drop the planks on my toes, and from the look of the man’s face, I was able to tell I wasn’t the only one who was shocked. As soon as the planks were securely in place, the man said something that sounded remotely like The Old Language to my ears, but the only word I could figure out from it was ‘Dagfinn’ - the name of my father. I shook my head.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t speak your language, whatever you may call it here. But if I heard correctly, you mentioned the name of my father, Dagfinn. My name is Stian, Stian Elder, son of Dagfinn and Helle - or Nestariel, as she was called earlier in her life.”

Before the man was able to form any reply, another figure, a woman, moved rapidly next to him.

“You can sleep in your ship and we will bring you some supplies and fresh water. Then, when the weather allows you can leave this island ... for good.”

Well, welcome to you, too! There was enough magic in her voice that I might have felt intimidated if I hadn’t met ‘The Man,’ earlier this year. Now, her words just got me pissed.

“Thank you for your kind words, Ma’am. However, as far as I know, this island is still part of the Kingdom, and I might like to do some trade here since I’m newly in business and eagerly figuring out new areas and ways of doing business.”

I put just about the same amount of magic to my reply as she had used, but after that, I forced myself to calm down.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude. However, the ladies and I would be delighted if we were allowed to come ashore and maybe even have a warm dinner in some dry place. Sailing into this harbor wasn’t such an easy task for somebody as inexperienced as I am, especially in this kind of weather.”

“There ... there are only three of you - and who are you?”

It was like the woman had only now noticed that, instead of full crew, our ketch only had the three of us, since both Kara and Hantaliel had now moved next to me.

“Yes, here are Kara and Hantaliel. Without them, we would have never made it here. When it comes to myself, I was sort of hoping that somebody here might be able to give me some answers.”

There was a quick exchange of words between the man and the woman and I was almost able to feel Kara’s ears moving towards them as she listened to what was being said. Then the man turned towards us.

“I’m sorry about the words of my wife. It’s just that we have had some bad experiences with some guests and it has made us a bit wary. You are welcome to visit our village and spend a night or two in a warm bed instead of a dank cabin. Just bring what you need. Your ketch will be safe here.”

The place where we were shown looked like an inn or a tavern, but it felt more like a place where the local people would meet and lodge, if needed.

“We have some warm soup and some bread left, if you would like to have it.”

I have no idea what was said between the man and his wife back on the pier, but now she was quite polite towards us. I smiled back at her.

“Thank you, we would be really grateful. I have to admit that I didn’t realize how tired I was until I got here and felt the warmth. I’m quite sure that both Hantaliel and Kara will also enjoy some warm food.”

“You may want to wash and change into some dry clothes, first. Unfortunately we only have one unoccupied room at the moment, since we have more than normal number of boats here because of the weather. However, we’re just adding an extra bed there. There’s also a washroom with some warm water and a place where you can put your wet clothes to dry.”

It wasn’t much later when we were back in the large room with several tables, eating tasty, warm soup with lots of fish in it and there was also some hot tea and beer to drink. The woman turned to Kara.

“I thought that you might prefer tea over beer, considering your state.”

Kara just nodded and thanked the woman. I smiled, since I was sure that Kara had been concentrating on listening to what was being said at another table where a group of men were having their beers - and something else. I was able to tell that they were curious about us, but it also felt that they had been ordered to stay away from us, at least for now. Then the man who had met us at the pier joined us when we had finished our soup.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t properly introduce ourselves. My name is Gunni and the name of my wife is Katla.”

“We all are grateful for your hospitality.”

“That’s nothing, really. Look, somehow I’m quite certain that we will have quite a lot to talk about, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. There are some other people that should be present and I’m also certain that you all are exhausted after your day at sea. Just tell me, what made you try today? Why didn’t you wait for some better weather?”

I smiled, but that smile was probably a bit grim. “And when would that better weather be here? I have no skills in guessing the local weather and how it will change. As far as I knew, it might easily have taken a week or even more, especially during this time of year. Sailing back to some suitable harbor on the coast and then back here ... I didn’t really like that idea. Besides, with the little experience I have had with sailing, it felt wiser to come in with the wind coming from our back.”

“Where did you learn sailing, then?”

“Mostly in the Slow River - and on my way up here, of course.”

The look on his face was something to see.

That night we three occupied that double bed and slept. Just slept, enjoying the warm, soft bed. In the morning, I was barely coherent enough to bring the coffee with me. Coffee I had been carrying all the way from Aston. I wasn’t sure if the people here knew about coffee, but I had decided that I had earned one cup this morning. Neither Hantaliel nor Kara could understand how I was able to like that bitter liquid, but I didn’t care about that. It just meant more coffee for me.

During the morning there were even more curious looks to our direction, but nobody besides Gunni and Katla came to talk to us. I had barely done any sensing around us, since I had no idea what kind of skills these people had. However, the little that I had done told me that all the people around here were natural Mages. All the people. This could be a solution to our problems. The other problem was that they seemed quite content with their life here. Why would they want to change it?

Totally another problem was of a personal kind. Was my father originally from here? If so, why had he left, and how did he end up on the totally other side of the Kingdom, on the North-West coast? I knew that I should not let these questions bother me since we had other, more important things to discuss. Still, there was a chill going down my spine every time I saw Gunni, because he really looked like my father. I was finishing up my coffee when I turned towards Kara.

“Have you been able to figure out that language yet?”

I had kept my face neutral and spoken with such a soft voice that, if somebody was watching us - as they likely were, probably noticed nothing odd. Suddenly, Kara lightened up.

“I think that I’m almost there. It’s sort of strange, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle and the picture is forming in front of me. I think that I can already guess the subjects the people are speaking about... - like fish and fishing, but I don’t know the fish species. Then those men talk about us and I think they are envious of you...”

We were interrupted as Gunni and Katla showed up again.

“Good morning to all of you. We hope you don’t mind waiting a little longer, since there are some people who would really like to see you.”

“No, not at all. In fact, this morning I might really enjoy another cup of coffee.”

When I went into attached kitchen to prepare the second cup of coffee, I noticed that Katla started talking with Kara and Hantaliel. I had had no intention to do all the talking, but thus far, all the questions and comments had been directed to me, which made me wonder how the society here at the Islands worked. My initial thought had been that Katla had at least equal say as Gunni, thinking of our arrival. Now, they seemed to hide the fact somewhat, but I had noticed that even if Gunni was the one speaking, Katla was always there and Gunni kept close to her. It was like Elise had taught me - the person doing the speaking wasn’t always the one who really made the decisions.

I remained mostly silent while drinking my second cup of coffee while the women - or mostly Katla and Kara - were talking about mostly safe topics, like clothes, being pregnant - and where Kara and I lived. Kara was quite able to be vague enough with that question: ‘In a village quite close to the Slow River’. Katla and Gunni lived here, next to this very house and I got a feeling that this wasn’t their actual home, but they lived here because of their ‘profession’ - or something. Listen between the lines, carefully.

Then, all the discussion stopped when an older couple came in through the front door, and both of them were soaking wet. The howl of the wind was even stronger now than it had been last evening, and the rain was probably at least as bad or worse than it had been when I visited the outhouse - and then it was bad. But those weren’t the things that got my attention. No, those were the piercing blue eyes of that older woman that looked exactly like my father’s eyes. Just as my eyes looked like my mother’s gray ones. It wasn’t just her eyes, but the fact that those piercing blue eyes were looking straight at me. Straight through me - and she also let out a loud gasp.

It seemed likely that my private issues would be dealt with before we would be able to speak about our real reasons for visiting these Islands.

Gunni got up quickly, helping the couple. “Hi, mother and father. These are the guests I told you about.”

Before anything else, Gunni and Katla organized somebody to take care of the wet clothes, and that some hot tea was offered to them. Then we all were guided to a smaller room that had one big table and chairs for eight people. The window of that room was towards the harbor and the rain was now so heavy that it was difficult to see to the other side of the harbor.

Once we were seated, Gunni started by introducing us. “Mother, father, these are Stian, Kara and Hantaliel. Stian does not speak our language, that’s why we are speaking Anglon now. Stian, ladies - these people here are my mother and father, Thrud and Stian.”

I was able to keep my face neutral, just barely. Kara who was sitting on my right squeezed my right hand with her left one while there was no reaction from Hantaliel. A part of me had known or guessed this, but it was still a bit shocking to suddenly see your grandmother and grandfather whom you had no idea existed. Not to mention your uncle.