“The king?”
“There is one if you can call him that. He’s the unseen man in the high castle. Rumor says he’s drunk and womanizing all day, every day, but most of us suspect he’s long dead.”
“But doesn’t he make the rules? Enforce the laws?”
“The laws come down to the people from his ministers. As the number of jobs diminishes, men and women sign on with the crown’s recruiters to work the mines. Can’t say as I’ve ever seen any return.”
“You leave a lot unsaid,” I told him.
“And suggest you do the same if you should decide to go ashore. Keep your mouth shut, don’t carry any valuables or a fat purse, and be back on this deck by sundown. Now, I have an appointment with my pillow for the first of my naps today.”
I held up my hand to stall him. “Can we talk about Vin and Dagger at another time?”
“Gossip? Of course, but it would be nice if you’d share a story or two with me in return. Nothing like gossip going both ways, know what I mean?”
He left me sitting there.
A woman wagged her finger to draw my attention. When I noticed her, she scowled and said, “I wouldn’t put too much credence in what Mr. Bandy says, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
“Why is that?”
“He doesn’t even live there. I don’t think he’s been ashore in Trager for three or four years. My husband sits on the Trager city council, and half his job is trying to prevent vicious rumors like Mr. Bandy spreads. Trager is a wonderful home, and yes, there are problems, but where are there none?”
“I see,” my voice answered while my mind decided which person to believe. It didn’t take long, if only because I didn’t like her haughty manners.
The map on the wall drew my attention again as she strutted away. Thinking back, we’d been told it would take five days sailing to reach Trager, six more to Vin, and another three to Dagger. I’d heard a ship sails at about the same speed a person or horse walks, but there are differences. Ships do not have curves in the road, nor hills to climb. For the most part, ships sail in straight lines, and they don’t stop for eating, sleeping, and detours. They don’t sail fast, but they do it all day, evening, night, and morning. At a guess, a ship travels four times as far in a day as a man walking along a road, maybe a little more if you include stops to speak to other travelers, eat, ask directions, and rest.
So, to get a better perspective, I multiplied each day of shipboard travel by four. Using that as a guideline, it would take about twenty days to walk to Trager, assuming I could walk over water. The idea was silly, but the comparison gave me a better understanding of nautical distances. We’d traveled from one end of Dire to the other in five or six days, the most travel I had ever done. Since boarding the ship the day before, we’d already traveled that far again.
The dashes on the map indicating our route had us near the shoreline. Even though I couldn’t see it, somewhere on that shore was Kendra’s dragon, as I’d started calling it in my mind. I knew that because my mind asked questions like an open book lying on the table. I needed to turn a mental page and go on to the next. I did.
Examining the map intently, I noticed again that Trager sat on a huge, round bay with mountains to the north that reached the end of the map. However, tracing the line upriver indicated that the large river went inland to the foot of the mountains. There two rivers converged in a Y. One flowed along the base of the mountain range, but the other went up between the mountains, where several smaller rivers joined it here and there. But the main river continued deep into the mountains.
My eye moved up higher on the map a little and found the beginnings of another river that flowed south until it met with another and another. The space on the map between the heads of the two rivers was small. One flowed north to Trager, the other south. Although there were few designations on the map, I knew a mountain pass when I saw one.
Most of the way to the top of the map sat the small city-village of Vin and at the top of the map, the capital, called Dagger, a name with a built-in warning. The map was confusing, at first, because Dagger, the city furthest south, was at the top. Modern maps have standardized with north at the top, so I assumed the map was a copy of an old one.
A glance out the windows of the salon revealed the front of the ship and most of the main deck. My sister and the two girls were up and walking. Getting a little exercise and staying out of the damp, moldy cabin with the two filthy canvas hammocks, was my estimation. A wise choice for people who didn’t know of the other cabin.
I felt the need for a nap. The constant, but gentle movement of the ship treated me like a child’s cradle. A spacious cabin awaited. Another glance out the window and I knew the cabin would never be mine. There was room in it for three people, all female, to live comfortably. The hammock without a pair of women hanging in my face all night was the best I’d get.
My dilemma was simple. Sure, I could sneak off and nap, but sooner or later Kendra would suspect something amiss, and that would be my downfall. She could always tell when I lied, either by active words or by omission. Catching me in such a lie would cause her wrath to descend upon me like a black blanket over my head on a moonless night.
A tiny sound drew my attention. I had been alone in the salon, and someone had entered silently and crossed most of the room in my direction. Without conscious thought, my magic drew moisture from the surrounding air and spread a thin film over the wood floor behind me, then used ambient cold to freeze it.
The sound of a foot slipping and a body striking the floor came next. I turned. A man sat there rubbing his leg. He didn’t attempt standing. His fingers slid over the thin layer of ice, a puzzled expression turned to me. His eyes lifted to meet my cold stare. It was the stranger who had been trying to spy on us.
“Nicely played,” he drawled as if chagrined and amused simultaneously.
“You have been watching me. Now you tried to sneak up on me.”
“I have done those things, I admit.”
His simple, but elegant answer and admission took me by surprise. “Why?”
“Princess Elizabeth ordered me to protect you and your sister—without your knowledge and at all cost. Two problems arose from that. First, there are four of you, and I had to assume she also wanted the two girls watched. Second, you managed to spot my interest in you almost from the beginning. My reputed skills say I’m better than that.”
“It was an accident,” I said while holding out my hand to help him stand. “Damon.”
“I use many names. Today, let’s use Will, as in I will do a better job of watching over you than I have in keeping myself hidden.”
“Okay, Will, it is. Now, is it your duty to report to the princess?”
“Sadly, no. My orders instruct me to remain at a distance from her, and of course, watch over her, also. However, she is not aware of that being part of my commission.”
His story confused me. “I thought she hired you.”
Will smiled, “Yes. As well as her father.”
“I see. If he did that, does it mean his health has improved?” My question caused my breath to choke while waiting for an answer.
“He seems a young man, again. Full of fire and spit. And he is angry, which is why the princess has been dispatched on a secret diplomatic mission to Kondor. Depending on the outcome of her mission, Dire may be at war within days.”
My relieved breath whistled between pursed lips. The man served two masters but had confided more to me than he should have. I told him so.