Chiu looked down at the glowing jeweled dragon embedded in her forearm. “I can still hear them, if I really try.” Her voice was small. “There is so much power there… and now here.” She touched her chest, over her heart. Her eyes were wide. “Without even touching you,” she said to Gareth, “I can feel your heart beating. I can feel Kelarth’s heartbeat, and more faintly, his mother’s.”
Gareth looked first at Chiu, and then the others. “We should go now. The dragons saw no storms to the west as they approached, so we should be good for a few days. We should push on as fast as we can.” As they mounted he touched Lyndra’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to leave you out of this bonding, but I want you to be sure about it. We know where the dragons live.” He gave her a gentle smile. “If you still wish to stay with us after a year, then we will see.”
“Thank you, Gareth, but you needn’t have waited.” Her smile was crooked, faintly self-mocking. “I’ve finally found my family. I’m not about to let them go.”
Darbuk, finally finished climbing up into his saddle, looked over at them. “Where to now?”
“Home, my friend.” He shot Lyndra and Chiu a wink. “I need time to sit and think. We’ve been on the trail for so long I’m beginning to consider sleeping in caves and under hedges normal.” He edged his horse into a walk.
“What about us?” Ria asked as she scampered from rock to rock like a squirrel.
Gareth frowned, and then grinned as he understood what she was talking about. “Chiu, in that house I’ve never seen, are there at least six bedrooms?”
She shot him a faintly amused look. “There are at least thirty bedrooms—for the staff alone. There are double that number if you add the master’s quarters with the guest quarters.”
“I’m nobody’s master.” Gareth rumbled, glaring. “That implies slaves, and I don’t buy into that.”
Chiu’s smile was wide. “Simply a figure of speech. You are the boss of the household. You give the orders. The staff and help are hired by the government, and paid very well indeed. Positions in household staff are eagerly sought, and tenaciously held once obtained.”
“Well then.” He turned in his saddle to face Ria. “Unless you would rather go to your home, there is a place for you in my house, and you are welcome.”
“Do they accept elves among your people?”
Gareth laughed. “First of all, the people on Eldenworld I’m closest to are the dragons. The people of Oseothan are the Aebbea, or shapeshifters as you know them. Your arrival may just spark a whole wave of young Aebbea girls becoming elves and running off to see the world so garbed. The people of Oseothan took me in. They will take you in too.” He glanced over the elf’s head at Darbuk, who was clinging to his saddle horn with grim determination. “They would probably take the dwarf too, if he can refrain from cursing too much.”
Darbuk raised his head and glared at Gareth. “I’ll come with ye.” He growled. “At least for a while. I’ll need to go see my family sometime soon, I think.”
“So, discounting Kuan, that makes all of us.” He said more to himself than anyone else.
“You can add in Kuan.” Chiu murmured. He hadn’t heard her approach, and her thigh was almost brushing his. “I spoke with Kuan as we descended in The Yeugate. Mother had him broken out of jail to guide for us. I’m sure they’re still looking for him in Molva.”
“But if Kuan’s a shapeshifter, he can just change shape, can’t he?”
“Mother wasn’t sure just what Kuan was or wasn’t. She thought he might even be human.”
It was a madhouse world where the humans, as a species, were the odd man out. Gareth mused.
~~~
It was a light knocking on the cabin door that woke him from a fitful sleep filled with portents of an unnamable doom. His mouth tasted like the south end of a north bound camel. Slipping on his pants and shirt, he opened the door quietly and stepped into the corridor.
The young seaman looked at him with wide eyes. “Capin’ Athan asked me to tell ye,” He said in a whisper. “that we’ve sighted land. From the lights, it looks like Puasheehchester be fine on our port bow.”
Gareth grinned. “Thank you. I’ll be up directly.”
The lad put a knuckle to his forehead, out of respect, grinned, and disappeared up the ladder to the deck, scampering like a lithe monkey. Chiu had her eyes open when he entered, and raised one arched brow.
“Land?” She asked softly.
Gareth nodded as he slipped on his shoes. “Finally.” He replied. It had been a long tiring voyage, filled with perverse winds and squalls that appeared out of nowhere to toss the ship about like a cork. No monsters, save something unseen that flew out of the darkness to carry off a shrieking crewman, had been sighted. Even the playful dolphins were few and far between.
The night stars were still out when he arrived up on deck, and Cassiopeia’s wide arms seemed to welcome him to the darkness. The air was crisp and filled with heady sea scents, while on the far horizon Gareth could just make out the glow of Puasheehchester, the capital of Oseothan. In the whole world, as far as he knew, it was the only country to have regained the use of electricity, and now the night fled before its incandescent bulbs. To him the lights of the distant city felt like home.
On the wide quarterdeck, Gareth watched the controlled bedlam as the Arrow entered port. Men scampered nimbly through the tall rigging, furling the sails at the sharp cries of the first mate and bo’sun. Beside the helmsman stood the newly arrived harbor pilot, directing the Arrow to her proper anchorage.
The helmsman turned to the captain, a frown on his tanned face. “Capin? They want us to dock at a private pier, reserved for visiting diplomats.”
Captain Athan turned to Gareth. “Well?”
Gareth sighed. Obviously, someone recognized the Bonnie Blue Flag Gareth flew from the stern of the ship, since the Stars and Stripes were unavailable in this current day and age. “Park us where they will. Someone knows that Chiu and I are aboard.” Without pointing a finger, Gareth felt a Senatorial influence in their arrival. The dock was long and made out of stone, and there was another ship tied off just in front of them.
“What the bloody hell is that??” Athan snapped, leaning out over the railing and staring.
Gareth grinned. “They finally got it built.” He mused, staring at the white hulled ship floating before them. A sleek eighty two meters by eleven, the ship had a single funnel and two short masts to support loading booms. Even from this oblique angle Gareth could see the Bonnie Blue Flag flying from her stern. “That, Captain Athan, is the future. That is a steam powered ship.”
Athan frowned. “Steam ye say? What makes her move then?”
“A steam engine turns a propeller beneath her stern.” Gareth grinned. “She can sail directly into the wind.”
Athan shook his head. “The hell ye say.” The captain mumbled under his breath as he scratched his head.
In a sort of daze, Gareth was the first to step off the Arrow onto the long quay, and made directly for the moored white vessel. Her narrow, straight up and down bow was designed to slice effortlessly through waves, and when he rapped his knuckles on the smooth hull it rang like a struck bell. Resisting the impulse to board immediately, he continued his way along the side of the vessel, noting all the small exquisite details in workmanship. On the raked fantail, in golden letters was the name SS Spray.
Gareth crossed his arms. “You can come out now, Athena. We should have a little talk.”
She stepped out of the dark, her soft Grecian gown making soft whisking sounds as she walked toward him. There was the barest hint of a smile on her face. “Did you want to talk to me?” Her violet eyes were wide and innocent and her guiltless expression was a lie.
“I gave Kiang, Chiu’s father the rough plans for a steamship.” He glared at her. “It wasn’t this.”
Athena sighed. “You need something better than what Kiang would have built from your plans. As soon as Kiang had his interest engaged, I
arranged for the original drawings to get lost. Kiang works every day in the library, trying to sift through the vast knowledge contained in the data cubes you gave him. It was only natural for him to do a search for a steamship. I made sure that his search returned the full technical plans for the Nanyetsu Maru, a small Japanese freighter built for the Danes in eighteen ninety, and sold to the Japanese. It was sunk in nineteen twelve in a hurricane. The technology involved is almost identical with what is available in Oseothan today.”
Glancing up the sleek hull toward the bow, Gareth frowned. “Did the original plans call for a deck gun?”
Athena bit her lip. “No.”
He studied her face. “Why did you decide to start an arms race?” He asked glumly. “Knowledge of gunpowder had been lost, and I was happy to leave it that way.”
“Gareth, there won’t be time for an arms race, and you will need the protection of a steel ship with a big gun.”
“You’re keeping secrets again that affect my future.” Staring into her violet eyes, he simply shrugged. “I’ve trusted you so far, and you haven’t led me astray… much.” He added with a sly grin. “I guess I’ll have to trust you a little longer.”
Leaning forward, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “The answer to what you’re looking for lies close by.” She breathed into his ear, and was gone.
Gareth concentrated on reducing his heartbeat as his eyes automatically continued to follow the lovely lines of the ship. A trickle of smoke was rising from the single funnel, and he frowned as he sniffed the air. COAL? He thought to himself. Footsteps drew his eyes away from the trickle of smoke, and he smiled at Chiu’s look of amazement. “Marvelous isn’t it?”
She gave a bemused nod. “This isn’t the plan you gave father.”
Gareth’s smile turned slightly sour. “How nice of you to notice. Athena decided to improve on our design. She let your father keep the original long enough to get hooked, and then made sure he lost it. When he went to find a replacement in the data archives we saved from the library in Iyreeqeka, Athena arranged for him to find the plans for this. This…” Gareth waved a hand at the ship. “is the reason he never finished the steamship on time. He had to design a whole new technology… technologies to support the construction of this one ship.” His smile widened. “Of course, now that he has the technology, Kiang and Shaw Sai-Bo, your father and mother are going to be fabulously wealthy.
Chiu shot him a strange look. “I know my father better than you. As the originator of the idea, he will have put all the rights in your name.” Her smile was smug. “I’m married to the wealthiest man in the country.”
Gareth glanced down the quay to where seamen were beginning to unload the Arrow into a row of waiting wagons. “I suppose we should…”
“Are ye going te stand there all day or come aboard yer ship?” A voice called down from the deck, interrupting Gareth’s thoughts.
Gareth grinned at Chiu. “Well, that settles the question of ownership.” He looked up at the figure looming over them and smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you again, Captain Duras Evvos. Permission to come aboard?”
“Permission granted.” Captain Evvos waved them aboard grandly, grinning like a proud father. “Kiang said you’d probably stop here first, an he was right.”
Gareth took Chiu’s arm as she stepped aboard, his eyes taking in the taut sparkling ship. “How about the crew?”
Evvos snorted. “Most of the old crew chose to stay. I had te hire a half dozen specialists is all, and a few more te man the gun.”
“I want to see that gun.” Gareth exclaimed anxiously.
“I thought ye might. I already took the cover off.”
Gareth frowned as he ran his hand over the long gray barrel. Athena, this looks like a French 75 field gun I saw on display once.
It is, dear one. The 75 is the first ‘modern’ field artillery piece, and is one of the simplest.
You did a hell of a job here.
In his mind he felt her cheeks dimple and redden. Thank you.
“… and we cover it up with a canvas that snaps to the deck when we’re moving.” Evvos was saying. “The gun covers a full three hundred degrees and the shells are lifted up from below by a small hand cranked elevator.” He pointed at a brass square set flush with the deck. “It be the slickest thing ye ever did see.”
With his hand resting on the cold barrel, Gareth forced a smile, for in the depths of his mind he saw this beautiful and deadly ship sailing into the churning black clouds of his future.
Chiu clutched his arm, and he looked down into her pale face. “What was that I saw in your mind?” She asked in a hushed voice. He could feel her trembling.
“It comes from something I learned as a boy from my father, before I ever became a soldier. ‘I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.’ That was said by a famous American Captain; John Paul Jones.” He touched her hair tenderly. “I suspect that very soon we will be taking this very ship in harm’s way.”
On his other side Captain Evvos rumbled. “It’s what she was built for, lad. Ye don’t do great things sittin’ in yer bathtub.”
Chiu wrinkled her nose. “Speaking of bathtub.” She pulled Gareth’s arm and he noticed for the first time a black landau carriage beside the quay, waiting to take them home. “You need a bath, sir.”
Giving Evvos a wink, he turned to the boarding ramp and took Chiu’s arm. “Lead on good lady. If you’re nice I’ll wash your back for you.”
Chiu gave a pompous sniff, but he saw her smile. Lyndra stood waiting beside the coach, and all piled in while the coachmen saw to their scant luggage. The driver snapped the reins and they were off. There was a rumble of thunder, and in the distance the ominous clouds moved closer. On his skin, Gareth felt the temperature beginning to drop.
Sitting hunched on a craggy hill five hundred meters above the city, the mansion glowered down on the vastness of Puasheehchester harbor and the sprawling city below. Looking like a part of the hill itself, the weathered granite blocks the walls were built of, along with the ramparts and crenellations made him guess the building had, at one time, been an ancient fortress. He could picture the governor -or the king- looking down from the hill over his city with no little pride. Gareth just felt uneasy, but then it wouldn’t be forever. Soon enough he and Chiu would be back aboard the SS Spray, steaming for who knows where.
Standing beside him with his bag over his shoulder, Darbuk mumbled, “This is where ye live?” with a certain amount of disbelief in his voice.
“This is where I’ve been told to live.” Gareth replied tartly. “There’s a difference. It seems that I’m a person of some prominence hereabouts. It’s one of the reasons I’m gone so often.”
“I don’t blame ye one bit. Crowds give me the hives.”
“That’s funny, Darbuk.” Gareth said in a serious voice. “I can just picture you in a crowded tavern.”
The dwarf returned a glare, and replied in a flat voice. “There are crowds, and then there are crowds.”
Thinking of crowds, Gareth grimaced as he looked out of the carriage window at the line of stiff uniformed staff waiting to greet them. He could have stepped directly into an old Elizabethan novel. A tall gray haired man in a severe uniform stepped forward, a reserved smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Gareth’s eyes widened as his own face broke into a smirk. “I'alen. It is very good to see you my friend.” He frowned. “Aren’t you in the wrong house?”
The tall man rumbled a laugh. “I am steward of this manor until such time as I find a suitable replacement.” He gave Gareth a wink. “Actually, my son is taking my position at the Sai-Bo residence. The experience will do him good and in a few years we will switch positions, and he can take over here.” His blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he hugged Chiu. “Welcome to Adywick Manor, named after the first king of Oseothan, Segemon Adywick. The two of you are looking well.” An eyebrow rose. “
No children yet?”
Chiu flushed scarlet, and then laughed. “It is very good to see you again, I'alen, and no, we have no children yet.” She shot Gareth a quick glance. “Perhaps after this crisis has been resolved we can think about it.”
I'alen nodded thoughtfully. “That’s reasonable, but you may find yourselves under a certain amount of pressure. The Council of Nine are already considering your children for Senate Seats.”
“Oh, give me a break!” Gareth rolled his eyes. “I'alen, since you have them all lined up, please introduce us to the staff, if you would.”
The Steward turned, guiding them first to a tall, willow-thin young woman of perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old who stood at the head of the line. Her light blue dress ended just at her knees and flowered embroidery trimmed her modest décolletage. Her dark auburn hair hung to her waist while her hazel eyes, more brown than green today, were wide and serious. Gareth blinked in recognition.
“Mairi? What are you doing here? I thought that you were still in school, and would have found your own family by now.”
“After searching forever,” she said seriously, “we discovered that I have no family left in Oseothan.” She shrugged her shoulders. “So here I am. I took a few days off from school. Kiang and I travel to the University together most days, with me going to classes while he pours over the mountains of information you brought back from the Great Library in Iyreeqeka.”
Gareth didn’t even have to ask Chiu. “I’m sorry that you didn’t find your family Mairi, but as it so happens you will never have to worry about a family again, young lady. If you would like, Chiu and I will become your mother and father. I will begin the paperwork immediately…” He frowned and looked at I’alen. “although I suspect that said paperwork is just waiting for my signature.”
The steward smiled. “It is indeed sir, at Shaw Sai-Bo’s recommendation.” Turning slightly, he gave the young woman a small bow. “Welcome to Aydwick, Miss Mairi. I will have your things moved here from the Sai-Bo manor, and arrange transportation to the University for your studies.”
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