Chapter 48

My nightly dreams had me tossing and turning through the night and I finally gave up and left my bed in the predawn light. I pushed the window shutters open, watching dim rays of light play across a sea of mist that drifted over the estate. A pair of guards making their rounds caught my eye and we waved to each other until they dissolved like ghosts in the fog. I glanced around the empty bedroom, thinking about my dreams.

My mother had contacted me at the academy and I was sitting on a leather desk chair in my cadet room. I watched her video message as she beamed with joy at my announced engagement and my promotion to cadet commander. My mother told me her brother was going to pick me up during the school break to talk about some important clan business.

Focusing on the present, I turned and looked out over the estate, wondering how much my mother had suffered at my sudden disappearance. Feelings of love and comfort warmed me through my mindlink with Derwen, washing away my moment of sorrow. Derwen was awake and close by, so our mindlink felt particularly strong. It only took a few steps to find my lovers, as Derwen and Mercedes were feeding our children in the upstairs guest room. Since the birth of our children, both women always looked full of energy in the morning, perhaps the results of the many active nanomites in their systems. I told the women about my dream, casting aside technology details that would have no context to them. They were both happy that I had a new fragment of my life back, neither felt concerned about the revelation that a former lover had a tie to me. It surprised me how casually they accepted that I had another woman somewhere. Perhaps not mentioning I came from another world helped their attitude.

The other dream affected all of us though. The bulk of the Caldavian raiding fleet had sailed around the eastern tip of Convey, taking a less traveled route to the northern ports. Two small groups of galleys were operating independently, with the smaller group heading for landfall between Port City and the neighboring estate of Lord Oxnot to our immediate east. The second group had swung around the western part of the island and they would likely pass our fishing village Grundy. Convey's diminished fleet elements were in their normal positions, either around the northern ports or in Port City. Since the northern ports received all the commerce from mainland merchants, they received more coastal protection.

I found one of the waiting express riders and sent a warning to Lord Oxnot about the likely arrival of unwanted guests. The manor lord was on friendly terms with Derwen and he deserved our help. Hajin had begun to station a couple of marine messengers at the manor since our last discussion at his tower, so I found the marines to send word to Hajin about the raiders too. Since the second marine was handy I sent him to find the estate manager to stop all unescorted travel east of the estate. Any of our wagons traveling the southern coastal road would be in danger of the southern raiding party. The small number of ships making for the southern coast was no threat to Port City but travelers and the few small villages along the road were another issue all together.

The morning was cooler than normal with scattered, high clouds. The temperature was pleasant enough to eat outside, so we did, with the slight breeze wafting the teasing aroma of warm cheese bread and garlic to our noises before we sat down to eat it. Breakfast was a somewhat subdued affair, but eating together with the mothers of my children in safety had a calming effect on me. We played with the children on the grass until Hajin arrived with a troop of men. I recognized all the men were rangers. They dismounted and went to water their mules and Hajin's horse as Hajin strode over from the stable.

"Good morning, Lady Derwen, Lady Mercedes," Hajin offered, nodding his head in respect.

We all greeted him and he continued, "We received your message about the raiders and sent riders to alert the local freehold villages. I called up all the retired marines living in the freehold and sent word for them to rally in our fishing village at Fort Wolf."

"Fort Wolf?" I scoffed.

Hajin grinned and responded, "The men call it Fort Wolf because of the Wolf crossbow that commands the cove entrance to Grundy."

"It's hardly a fort," I protested.

"Don't listen to him, Hajin. Von is feeling grumpy today. He's especially tense because of the raiders," Derwen interjected, the mindlink broadcasting my raw feelings to Derwen. "He was relatively calm until your warriors arrived."

I took a deep breath and attempted to calm myself, causing Mercedes to laugh. Her beaming smile settled my remaining nervousness while Derwen looked on and then joined in with smiles all around the table.

"That's better, Von," Derwen said.

"Any more news about the raiders, Von?" Hajin asked.

"At present, location magic only works after..." I thought of how to say this, "I commune with Moon Mother at night."

"Your early warning is already worth a wagon of silver," Hajin stated confidently. "We will need to greet the Caldavian raiders on the coastal road. I have sent a pair of scouts towards the anticipated landing, with orders to report back with information about their numbers and movements."

"Von, has already sent a warning message to Lord Oxnot," Derwen added.

A hearty laugh spilled from Hajin, before he said, "That old goat will not push forward to investigate. We can only hope the estate lord will rally his troops in the market village and not at his manor. His troops have limited training as a group, so Lord Oxnot will not risk an engagement. He will trust his men to fight for their own homes."

"Hajin, I'd rather we decisively defeat these invaders and not put all your men at risk, alone on the coastal road," I protested.

"We need the estate men here to reinforce Fort Wolf if the raiders press home their attack," Derwen muttered.