She finally asked the question that was on her mind, “What is your relation to the little girls?”
“We don’t know,” I answered honestly, then relayed a short version of rescuing them in the storm, without mention of dragons, mages, or enemies.
“So, without a mother or father for them, you decided to travel to Kondor where you do not speak the language, know no one, and hope to perhaps locate their family?”
“When put that way, it does sound strange.”
“Indeed?”
“There is more to our story.”
She smiled. “I would hope so.”
“My sister and I were orphaned in Dire when younger than them. We have often talked of returning to Kondor to search for our roots.” The story was mostly true and sounded good to me.
She said, “One would have thought you’d prepare by learning the language.”
“It all happened so fast,” I explained lamely.
“I see,” she said in a cold manner that said she didn’t. However, she said a word I didn’t know and waited for my response.
I repeated it, and she corrected me, then explained I’d said “hello” in a friendly manner, to an equal. She leaned over the side and watched the water race along the hull in a curl of white. To her, it was probably beautiful. To me, it said more water seeping between the planks and running down the wall of our small cabin, through the weep holes in the floor until it reached the bilge and hopefully a pump sent it back into the ocean. She stood and said a phrase, then told me it asked for a person’s name. I repeated it. She went back to “hello” and returned to ask for a name.
The morning sun burned away the dampness, and the ship sailed in front of a brisk breeze. The wake behind was flat and straight. Before I knew it, we were joined by other passengers, all leaning on the rails or strolling along slowly, talking and smiling at everyone they passed.
Elizabeth was out there too, ignoring us as usual, and Kendra brought the girls out to enjoy the weather. I felt I needed to share the information about the cabin with my sister but refused to cut short my language lesson. Besides, Ella seemed to like me, and I hated to deprive her of my company on a lonely sea voyage.
After we shared a meal of stringy meat and cold vegetable stew at midday, she said she had to return to her friend. Kendra and the girls were sitting on a hatch cover, and they were teaching each other words, but my mind was a tangled mess. I did remember the greeting and used it as I approached. Both of the girls were impressed, and Anna tried to correct my accent.
“Say, where is the dragon right now?” I asked softly.
She pointed. “Way off in that direction.”
I moved a few strands of her hair to tickle her nose. When she wiped them away, I did it again. Her eyes came alive.
“Really?” she asked.
“I don’t understand two things. First is the distance, and the other is how is a dragon staying in the air for so long?”
“We need a map,” she said. “Or, you do. Go find an officer and ask to be shown one.”
“Just like that?” I asked.
“Want me to do it for you?”
I heard a snicker of laughter and glanced behind. Princess Elizabeth was within hearing range. Her sense of humor was often at my expense. The next time we practiced our combat skills, I wanted her as my opponent, and then we’d see who did the laughing. I turned back to Kendra and said in a slightly elevated voice, “I’ll go, but only if you stop acting like spoiled royalty.”
The snicker behind me changed to a choked-off burst of laughter as Elizabeth tried to smother it by pretending to cough. She always could take a joke.
CHAPTER TWELVE
F inding a map was easier than expected. The sailor I asked, told me there was a map with the ports of call for the Gallant hanging on the starboard side of the passenger lounge. I’d have known that if someone had told me there was a passenger lounge. A small sign on the outside of the door informed me it was only for first class passengers. Since I’d rented the new cabin, that would now include me.
I opened the door and entered a wood-paneled room filled with leather sofas, padded chairs, small tables, and food on a sideboard. A glance revealed two kinds of nuts in bowls, purple and white grapes, crackers, and smoked fish. There were small kegs of wine and ale. The room was surrounded on three sides by small windows, but so many of them they almost appeared as one continuous view.
Above the food hung a large framed map on the wall. Someone had used a pen to mark a dashed line between the four ports the Gallant served. I quickly found the Port of Mercia up the river, and followed the dashes to Trager, then along the coastline to Vin and finally to Dagger. A dashed line then returned to Mercia.
The route had taken us from the port out to sea and across it, nearly to the land opposite. A small indication said, “Day One.” It took a full day to sail across. However, a dragon could fly much faster, and while it looked like a fair distance, it didn’t appear impossible. Part of the way across was a cluster of small islands. If needed, the dragon could have rested on one of them.
Following the route on the map again, the Gallant would sail for three days to the west and south, then follow the coastline, but it would probably be out of sight if the markings were accurate. Trager, Vin, and Dagger were all located along the same coast. The dragon could simply parallel our course on dry land if it was trying to remain with Kendra as we suspected.
“Going to Trager, are you?” a gruff voice asked from beside me as he glanced at where my finger touched the map.
A man of perhaps fifty held a plate piled high with slices of smoked fish and crackers. He nodded to my finger and the half-moon Bay of Trager on the map. I said, “No. Well, yes, with the ship, but that’s not our final destination, I mean. We’re going on to Dagger.” I was careful to pronounce it with the Dag portion said softly and ger harder.
He asked, “Even been there? To either?”
“No, I’m trying to learn all I can about them.”
“Name’s Bandy. Grab some fish and a mug of sour ale and let’s talk.”
Bandy settled at the end of one of the small sofas, facing a chair with a table between us large enough to hold our drinks, but we balanced the snacks on our laps. He said, “I do a bit of trading, so know the locals like my own. What can I tell you?”
“Well, since we go there first, what’s with Trager? I heard it has had several fires.”
He stuffed a whole slice of fish into his mouth and chewed. A swig of ale and he said, “Plenty of nearby mountains covered with trees for timber for lumber. Built the whole damned place of wood, they did. Narrow streets, wooden shingle roofs, hot summers to dry out the wood, and cold, dry winters, so lots of fireplaces sending up sparks.”
“I see.”
“Not by the tail of any crowing rooster, you don’t.” He ate again, his eyes angry. “City went for hundreds of years without burning, not like the last few, anyhow. People were careful. Helped each other when there was a fire. Men were trained on what to do, and there were supplies.”
“What happened?” My puzzlement was obvious, but I didn’t care.
“Politics, some say. Others blame it on the Wyverns. There are even tales they spat fire and burned it. First, the Wyverns arrived, then the fires started. Before, they had been rare, the Wyverns and fires.”
A heaviness settled on my chest. Wyverns, mages, kings losing their thrones or dying, unknown committees of rulers. The story was repeating a pattern, and his tale confirming what I’d heard from a sailor. The details were slightly different, but the story the same.