Chapter 46

The trip to the other side of the Kingdom by the northern route was pure agony. Our emergency rigging had been somewhat repaired while we were in the harbor, but we could not really do that much in the limited time we dared to be there. We removed some guns and left them for the islands even though we hoped they would never need them. As a replacement, we took all the lumber they could give us. Well, we also had several barrels full of fresh water and fish. Lots of preserved fish. Still, I couldn’t help worrying about what we would be seeing - or if we would see anything. After all, that red code meant that the people should take everything they could and leave the valley as soon as possible.

So, worst case, they might already be far away at sea when we got to our safe harbor. Finding those people on the open sea ... I didn’t want to think about that. I had gained some of my magical strength back, but the slow progress made me wonder just how much of my magic I had really used and if it would ever fully come back. On the other hand, if I could reunite with my family I wouldn’t care about that at all.

It was also clear that the men had been talking among themselves about the Magicians and me. Clearly there now was something between us that hadn’t been there before. There had been a small change in their behavior after rescuing Kara, but now it was clear. Mother Earth, most of the men were older than me, old enough to be my father.

When I asked Baggi if I should step down from being a captain and offer the position to somebody more experienced, he had looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“You got be kidding, Stian. There’s no way that any of those men would start giving orders to you!”

So, ‘Sir Stianelder’ was now also Captain Stian Elder. Maybe I should have laughed at that, but I just couldn’t. I would have liked to push the frigate a bit more, but since our main mast consisted of two pieces, instead of one solid piece of wood, I didn’t dare to do that. I had no real idea how far we would need to sail. When, for the first time, I really dared to see if I would be able to sense Kara or the other women, the connection was there, as strong as ever, I almost burst out crying. Well, maybe I did, but because of the rain it couldn’t be seen.

I was even more relieved when I was finally able to sense a group of people exactly where they should be. The people who needed to be there: no Magicians, no Trolls. If there were some extra prying eyes now, I didn’t care. Without doubt, at least the Trolls would be able to track our people to this place. There was no way that you could get hundreds of people, supplies, ponies and other animals through the forest without leaving tracks. However, the fact that all our people were where they were meant they probably had received the pigeons - and they had taken the message seriously.

We raised a big, maybe a bit crude, flag that we had made during our voyage, but I was sure that it looked enough like the flag we had been using during our previous trips that they could be sure of our identity. As though there would be any serious doubt, because there were at least three men in our prow waving madly at the people on the shore.

Since there was no room for three ships in that little hidden bay, we dropped our anchors outside it, far enough from the entrance not to prevent the other ships from leaving and giving us enough room to enter the small bay. At least the weather supported us now, since the wind coming from the ocean wasn’t too strong.

It wasn’t much later when a row boat approached us and I could see Tofi sitting in the stern. As soon as he had climbed the ladder to the deck he ran to me - without asking permission to come aboard!

“Damn you Stian, what kind of captain are you when you allow those bastards to hit your ship?”

Then the older man pulled me into a bear hug and all I could was to start laughing and soon Tofi was laughing, too. This time there was no rain to hide the tears racing down our faces. I didn’t care. I loved the older man just the way he was.

””You have changed, Stian.””

It had taken some woodworking but now the bed in the Captain’s cabin was expandable and it could hold us all. Well, barely. Expanding it also meant that the nice table I’d had there had to be replaced with a small one that was attached to the wall and could be folded. Well, there wasn’t that much need for the table since I didn’t have maps on ‘Dragi’ - which was the new name for our ship. My ship. The only use for the table was an occasional drink or meal - and filling out the logbook. As though there was much to enter besides marriages and babies born. Yes, both had happened and Captain Stian Elder was needed for that. Since the Elves didn’t actually recognize the term ‘marriage’ I was sure that they did that just to tease me or to keep me busy.

I rolled to my side and looked at Bellcauniel: The mother of my eldest daughter and the second woman I had felt this special connection with. I made no attempt to read Bellcauniel anymore since it would be useless to hide things from these women. For a brief moment, I wondered if I should be worried because of what Bellcauniel said but would that change anything?

””I guess I have. Should I be worried about something?””

Bellcauniel let out a little laugh before she sighed. ””Of course! You humans and the way you think. Every time a woman says something serious about her man...””

She didn’t continue. There was that connection between us which revealed that I didn’t need to worry about that. Maybe Bellcauniel could have faked that, but I didn’t believe it. So, I kissed her forehead and waited. Patience. If these Elves would have had a religion they would have worshiped the Goddess of Patience, for sure.

””No, Stian, your eyes look older. They are like Elven eyes on a male. Then, you felt mature for your age before, but now there’s something more.””

I had told all my women about what had happened when the Magicians had tried to attack us, and I was certain that Immianthe and Mylaela now knew something about it. Most likely not everything, because of all the hurry in balancing the cargo between the ships. Now Immianthe and Mylaela were in their own ships with Toki and Tofi and my family was here, on Dragi. As were Hanna, Linnea, Ylva and Siv. But not Luna nor Tariel who had died during the winter I had been away. I had known that it would probably happen but I still missed my old friends who had been there with me when I had had some hard moments in my youth.

But we did have those ponies on every ship - together with other animals. Therefore, having a third ship had been really good luck.

I stopped my mind from wandering and looked at Bellcauniel. ””I’m older now - and some of the things that have happened would make anybody feel old.””

Even as I was talking to Bellcauniel, it was Kara, on my other side, who snorted and then slapped my bare bottom. Not at all gently.

””Stian, you just don’t get it. I told them, but they didn’t really believe it. You probably don’t have any real idea how all those other people think and feel about you. I mean those people who don’t really know you like we do - and maybe Linnea, who has been sleeping with you and knows how you struggle with Mathematics.””

All those nuances Kara added to Old Language would have made a statue blush.