by P. S. Power
The task took up most of the day, and while Salina actually did a good job, once she got the hang of things, the clear winner was Princess Lissa. Prince Erold didn’t do poorly either, and Duma Sett and Eltha both at least matched him. Part of that was simply down to the fact that Lissa had, rather cleverly, taken on a treasure that was both large and in the direction they were headed.
So, as the day wore on, it kept getting easier for her to call things to herself. Even if she gasped and panted while doing so, not taking it easy at all.
Anders, Depak and Hoatha all simply fished. Martya came out and collected some lobsters from the sea bottom, for her part. In all, it was a good enough day spent doing things. Largely playing, really, since nothing was needed, in particular.
Everyone groaned at him that evening, when he started having them practice everything they knew how to do. Even Depak and Hoatha seemed slightly annoyed to be included in that part of the work. Sweyn did it easily enough, at least.
Well enough that Anders patted her on the shoulder, as she finished up, some hours later.
“Tomorrow we’ll work on fishing. You’ll need names for that.”
The pregnant woman sighed then.
“Fish, because it’s too hard to take coins for someone like me?”
He snorted, rudely, directly at her.
“No, fish, because we can eat them. You should learn to summon coins as well. Really, that’s a good plan. Then we can all work on making things with the metal and gems. Depak Sona will guide us through that part? He’s the best at such things, I think.” Certainly, better than Anders was.
There was a low level of grumbling about all the work they were doing, but only half of it was lacking in good natured fellow feeling. That part, oddly, was truly there, from some of them. Princess Lissa even moved off to help Sweyn work on her phrases for summoning, after mentioning that she needed to refine her own process that way.
Anders probably did too, he realized, once it was mentioned. He hadn’t taken much from the waters that day. Two fish, of fairly normal size. They’d eaten it and what the others had caught, for their late meal. It probably seemed a bit lazy, to the others. His internal excuse, having been commanding the winds to blow the whole time, didn’t mean that much, really.
He hadn’t wanted to sit all day, gasping in pain. Which meant that he needed to be doing that the next day, himself. Even if he didn’t need gold or riches, in particular.
Then, no one had complained about his plans for art or giving such things away to those in need, so far. To that end, he tried to work on ways to get things from a distance that would take less power to make happen. That idea occupied the rest of his evening, and a bit of the time he should have been using for sleeping. Not that there wasn’t plenty of rest had as well. It stayed dark long enough for that and there was no real reason for him to get up before first light. He did that, since it was his habit, but there was no real reason for it.
Which meant, since he pushed himself, that he had a tidy collection of gems and coins of his own to give away, by mid-day. Some of the men on the crew looked at it enviously, but unlike on the pirate ships, no one thought about slitting his throat or even cleverly stealing it from his room, later. It meant that, instead of stopping when he’d planned to, he redoubled his efforts, collecting even more, so that the men could have a nice bonus.
He was still keeping half, to play with, for a while.
The hard part was in getting the Captain alone, in his office, before the late meal. The coins, polished with magic, were in a piece of linen. That was one of the table cloths, meaning he was glared at for having taken it. The man didn’t scream at him over the idea, however, even before Anders untied the rough knot at the top. The whole thing was sitting on Fornath’s desk, and he goggled a bit when what was being held inside was revealed.
“A large treasure. I’d heard you and your friends were collecting such from the ocean’s waters, Anders. I didn’t think it would be this much.”
He chuckled a bit.
“It’s more than this. This is just the bonus for you and the men. I figured it would be best coming from you. I’m not trying to buy their loyalty, after all.” Which was true enough. They were men working a ship that he’d probably never encounter again.
The Captain was silent for a long while.
“This is too much. Not that I’m too proud to take it, but even as a gift it’s... I’ll need to give this out over several years, or else I’ll lose my crew, with them buying their own ships, instead of working the Sea Otter. This truly isn’t a hardship?” The man wanted the gold. He even, for a moment, considered keeping it for himself.
That was set aside, since it was for the men. A prize even then, of course. If it came from him, even with Brolly’s name mentioned as who gave it, he’d be purchasing the loyalty of his men for a decade or more. So would Anders, of course. Even if he was trying to be modest, in the moment.
“I have more, to give to the poor, when we make landfall. So do the others. I just didn’t want to leave our friends out. Now, I should... Find something to occupy myself.”
The Captain nodded at the words, his words seeming almost stern, when they came.
“We’re making port tonight, if the tide is with us. We made a month’s journey, one that can take three times that if there are no winds, in mere days. We’ll even get the evening breeze to take us in, so this entire journey has been blessed. Now, I can portion part of this out to the men, to waste in dock? Not too much. I wasn’t joking about not handing all of this out at one time. We’ll lose half the crew if we do that!”
Anders bowed then, using first courtly.
“As you think best, Captain. Remember, some of that is for you as well. If that won’t give insult?”
There was a strange look, in return, but it wasn’t a glare. What the feeling that went with it was didn’t make a lot of sense, either. Not that Anders was reading his thoughts. No, he was merely looking at his face, which was still, and a bit stiff, with a light smile.
He left the office space, since people needed to get their things ready. His pack was prepared, but he had more than twice the coins with him now, making the thing almost too heavy for him to lift. True to his word, they made port no more than three hours later, the Sea Otter sliding into the dock well after true dark had fallen.
Interestingly, since there was no hurry, they were expected to stay on the ship that night, instead of finding an inn at the northern dock. That meant they could arrange carriages for travel the next day. They’d need those, for at least Sulana Meegan and Princess Sweyn. Duma Set and Lady Martya, as well. Hoatha could ride in the back of a wagon, of course. Normally Martya could as well, since she wasn’t some kind of fainting flower.
There were impressions to be made, and appearances to uphold, at the same time. Which meant that, if possible, he needed something special for Eltha to ride in, as well. A spectacle that was great enough that everyone seeing her would know that it was a truly grand and special day when Eltha Tennet came to see about getting married.
So, the next day, he headed out into the port town alone, with enough gold to purchase half of it, he thought. That, it turned out, was a good thing, since, while he could rent a dozen stout wagons, drivers and sturdy horses to pull them along, the carriages were much harder to come by. There were six of the things in the town, but four of them were so beaten up and decrepit that the man who owned them seemed ready to cry, on hearing who was there, needing their services. So, Anders bought them, wholesale and spent the morning repairing them. Thankfully he’d done enough work in wood that he was able to create something worthy enough. Then, since he owned those, he had to purchase the horses to pull them, and then hire several drivers.
When they pulled up at the docks, he felt that everything was well enough appointed, at least. His new carriages shone as if covered in gold and deep burgundy scrollwork. Three of them matched, with the fourth actually glowing, with a rather gaudy shifting patter
n of color. He was willing to take that off, of course. It was too much, but he didn’t have a better idea for what to put Eltha in. When everyone came out, the ship men helping them to unload their bags and food, without being asked, Depak Sona moved over to him, smiling.
“Well, this will make a show. I suppose you plan to put me in that one, so everyone will know who to dun for favors and magics?” A tan finger pointed at the one shifting colors.
Anders chuckled.
“Not at all, Depak Sona. That’s for the Great One of Modroc and her teacher, Duma Sett. Then we put the princesses and Prince Erold in the next ones, with Sulana Meegan. You, Hoatha and Lady Martya after that, with some of the Modroc dignitaries behind you, and I’ll be in the back wagon, making sure nothing breaks down. Unless you want to ride with me, back there? We can push some of the remaining food over, if you wish?”
Depak smiled, and then nodded.
“Let’s do that second one? Really, we can dress like drivers and see if we can become invisible? That could be a worthy thing to practice, I’d have to think...”
Having seen how much the people there loved their Great One, Anders actually had to agree with the words.
Chapter six
Anders was crying, when they rode into Lo’usa Tet, several days later. The trip would have been quicker, except that Princess Salina and Princess Lissa had both hired people along the route to take gifts of food, useful goods and at times coin, directly to those who needed the most help.
He was weeping, with a smile on his face, since the girls had decided to tell everyone that it was a gift, from the Great One of the Modroc, Eltha Tennet. Also sending runners to explain how this woman of great power had come from another land to heal the rift between them, with her own body. That was a bit pointed, to Anders’ way of thinking, but the men and women who lined the streets to see her seemed to think that idea was not only grand, but a thing to literally cheer about.
They were almost to the palace complex, a thing that was larger by at least ten, if not twenty, times the rather grand place that King Matheus kept for himself, when a man on the side of the road pointed at Depak Sona, and called out.
“That’s the Great One! Depak Eta is in the last wagon!”
That had their rather plain wagon surrounded almost instantly, people who had politely let everyone else pass actually clambering and physically reaching out to touch poor Depak.
Sighing, he nodded, then muttered a few words, barely heard by Anders, his clothing shifting into a rather nicely decorated robe. It was one of his standard wear ones though, nothing made specially for the event. People acted as if that, a changing of an outfit, was a high magic, and called out, loudly.
“It is the Great One! He’s here!”
It was odd, but a few of the people seemed to be shouting that they were saved. Though, as far as he could tell, and Anders had checked several times per day, nothing so major was going on that anyone needed to be saved from it.
Their wagon, pulled by two nice brown ponies, didn’t have much in it. Some sweets in boxes, a bit of jewelry that Anders had been working on as they rode and their driver, who looked half panicked as they were cut off from the rest of the line they had traveled with.
“Great One... Can you heal my hand? A donkey kicked it, three days ago...” That was held out, showing that it not only had major bruising, and a cut on it that was infected, if lightly, but that at least a few bones had been broken as well. The man, an older fellow, with silver hair and a full beard, smelled a bit, from the heat of the day and a lack of regular washing. Anders could tell, because, for all he was trying to talk to Depak, his hand ended up almost in Anders’ lap.
“Nand indict, swerla, xeles, insana. Nisk soloa inna ot ona. Bolod soloa, fen.”
There was a soft sound, followed by a gasp, as the bruising and swelling faded and the bones fixed themselves. The skin sealed together, leaving a soft silver scar. He could have fixed that as well, but the man pulled back, and held his hand up for the world to see.
“The cart boy healed my hand! The Great One’s cart boy did it!”
The words got Depak to smile suddenly and nod.
“Yes! If you need healing, come to the cart boy!”
That meant they were busy for a while, mainly with healing, until a very elderly woman managed to move to Depak’s side, whispering something. Depak ducked his head then and said something back, then waved at Anders.
Speaking in Istlan.
“She has not eaten for five days, lacking funds...”
That, thankfully, was simple enough to start to fix. He kept his sweets and opened his small chest of coins, pulled a small handful and passed them to the woman.
“From Eltha Tennet, of the Modroc.”
They were taken, the lady seeming confused and a bit hesitant to accept the charity. Depak nodded, and smiled, openly.
“Yes, Eltha Tennet, the new Great One of the Modroc, who has come to prevent further conflict, by marrying a man of Barquea! Pass that to all who can hear! If they can’t, then the cart boy will come and aid them, in the next days, in the central market!”
It was an odd thing to say, and probably meant as a jest, since Depak did things like that, on occasion, but Anders could see the use in getting to practice. Besides, he was a Prince there, so it was probably one of his duties, given he had the ability to do that kind of thing. Though it would need to be done in secret, from the Sula. At least done in a humble fashion, so that Prince Naveed would know it was only about his studies and not him trying to impress people, in order to gain in station there.
“From dawn to mid-day, starting tomorrow?”
That had a call going up, even if it wasn’t too likely many would show up for him to practice on. Then, there was always someone around with a splinter or injured foot, if a person were willing to aid them.
It took three hours of healing right there and almost half the coins in the chest before things thinned enough to start moving. Depak had to hand out hugs and well wishes as well. Even Anders was given some of that duty, after a while. Not for being a prince, or even himself. Just because people found the cart boy useful to them, it seemed.
The whole time he claimed that it was Eltha Tennet who had given the gifts. He didn’t know if it would help anything, but it probably wouldn’t hurt. As they finally moved fast enough that they were actually making progress, he mentioned that to Depak.
The man laughed.
“Oh, it won’t hurt her, until the next visit, when she is surrounded on the road, like we were. It’s clever, you not mentioning your own name. You might even be able to do that healing in the market without being surrounded, if you hold to your current attire. I should have and told them that I just looked a bit like that Eta person, but I didn’t think of it until two hours into that mess back there.” The man was a bit grumpy seeming about it, but he covered that with a rueful grin.
Anders held to his current outfit, until they got inside the gates of the palace complex, which were closed behind them, to keep the parade of people who had followed them through the whole city, from flowing in along with them.
Then, a bit reluctantly, he transformed his clothing into rather proper robes. They were for visiting, so he picked a soft cream color, with subtle mint green embroidery on the front and the sleeves. Those were of birds and plants, and could only just be seen, if you weren’t too far away.
The wagon was directed to pull around, letting them out near a small collection of people. There were only five of them, which he understood, instantly. After all, they were hours later than everyone else. He sighed, as he hopped out, using a hand on the wagon to slow his descent a bit. The landing still hurt in the area between his legs, as he hit the smoothed stones.
Instead of grabbing himself, he pretended it didn’t ache and looked at Prince Naveed.
“Sorry about that. We were surrounded by a mob. They demanded healing and the attentions of Depak Sona, since it’s their given right, apparently?”
His weak jest got a polite chuckle. It deserved no more than that, after all.
“We were about to send the warriors out to save you all, when we heard that you were heading this way, finally. Don’t worry, we had word of your pending arrival, so just came back out. Everyone else got to have a proper greeting, and all you three get is me and these others.” Naveed nodded to the driver, which was kind of the man, really. A thing that Anders noted. Not everyone included the people doing the work in their attentions, after all.
One of the people there to greet them, who was about fifteen and a boy, dressed in a simple red set of trousers and a matching loose shirt, with sandals on his feet, waved. It seemed slightly annoyed, instead of welcoming.
“Oh, brother... there’s no need to make such a big production of things. These men wear the robes of magic users, but they can’t be that important, if they ride in a humble wagon like this. We should go in and see if a meal is being provided. That or look at that Modroc woman again? She was pretty enough, I suppose. I should try her in bed, and see if she’s worth bothering with as a wife? I hear that kind is willing to have relations with almost anyone. That’s a bit slatternly, isn’t it?”
Depak Sona, for what was probably only the second time Anders had ever seen it, including in battle, was suddenly enraged. He literally began to crackle with power over it. A thing that had Anders readying himself, in case they were going to have to flee, after murdering this boy.
Anders put together who he was, quickly enough.
“Prince Lassa, I take it?” He sounded fine, even if his friend had been a bit put down.
That, the words toward Eltha, were the real issue, of course. Even for Depak. After all, they’d ridden in the wagon so they wouldn’t seem too important, in the first place. The boy saying that simply meant their plan had, in part, worked. Depak Sona was many things, but vain to the point of anger wasn’t one of them. If the boy had found his robes lacking, the man might have been hurt a bit and tried harder the next time, but it wasn’t about looking impressive as much as the artistry of the thing.