by Alex Paul
“I hope we arrived before the Tolarians,” a No-fur said.
“We did,” the other spoke. “Yolanta nearly killed us rowing in the calm each day. The Tolarians had no idea we were after them, so they would never have rowed as hard. Now we just wait for them to arrive and we attack.”
Ord was amazed he could understand everything the No-furs said. His father’s Lantish lessons had served him well. He wondered who the Tolarians were and why these No-furs planned to attack them.
He had to warn his people about these ships. What if they attacked the Water Cave after they attacked these Tolarians? No matter what the No-furs planned, he had to tell his people because the No-furs were so close to their home. He followed his scent trail through the dark trees back to where he had left his equipment. He would rise early and warn his people. His plans had changed, but if he saved his people from slavers, perhaps he wouldn’t have to leave the Water Cave after all.
CHAPTER 16
ASHER’S TRUE IDENTITY
The captain assures me we will reach the River Zash soon and hear the sound of the falls, since the huge river has a waterfall close to its mouth. Joy and hope have filled the ship. Everyone looks forward to good red meat after eating fish endlessly.
—Diary of Princess Sharmane
“Oh, my back and arms are so sore,” Asher complained. “I am so glad we’re turning around for home tomorrow.”
Asher lay in his hammock while Arken sat at the small desk in their cabin and tapped a rock against a piece of obsidian he was shaping into an arrowhead. The ship rocked gently as the early evening wind moved over the ocean. Little shafts of light chased each other across the dark wooden wall as they shined through the ceiling grate. Heat hung over him like a blanket he couldn’t toss from his bed. Arken was glad for the strip of leather around his forehead, because it kept the sweat out of his eyes as he worked.
“For once I agree with you,” Arken answered with a groan. “I think they must be trying to set a record, I’ve never rowed so many hours in one day. I’m working on these arrowheads because I’m so sore I can’t lie still.”
This was his seventh arrowhead. He’d worked on them nearly every day and had managed to average a completed arrowhead every two days. Balloom had given him a supply of obsidians and chipping stones in case he had free time. He’d found making the arrowheads calmed him.
He was glad for something that gave him a moment’s peace because the officers of the Sea Nymph seemed intent on working them to death. Arken had sometimes worried he would pass out from fatigue, but the officers always stopped training just short of that point for a lecture, which let the cadets recover from their physical labors. Lar insisted this was the only way to train young boys; exhaust them with exercise until they paid attention.
Their training had included learning the names of all the ship’s parts and performing sailor’s duties; they had learned knotmaking, sail repair, and celestial navigation by the twin stars to the north, the stars that remained fixed in the night sky. They had even raised and lowered the great brown- and blue-striped sail repeatedly until they were almost as fast as the sailors. Using the stars and the magnetic compass, they learned how to navigate the open oceans of the world. They had learned if they didn’t have a compass, they could tell direction from sunrise, which led them east, or sunset, which led them west. They also learned that the point where the sun rose and set never changed, so it was always a reliable indicator of direction, except if they navigated close to the poles.
Lar warned them that at the north and south poles the sun never set, so if they found themselves in such a land, they would know they were truly lost.
“This entire trip has been painful! I would never serve on a Lantish ship. I’d make a bad example because I could never keep up with the crew’s rowing. They’re too strong. I can’t believe even Captain Dunn rows, he puts everyone else to shame he’s so strong. In my country, slaves row the boat.”
“Too much weight,” Arken said.
“Too much weight?”
“A ship powered by slaves has twice the people needed on board,” Arken explained. “It’s better having warriors who both fight and row. For any given size ship, you have twice the men able to fight.”
“Hmm...” Asher reflected. “Still, it’s miserable making officers row.”
“It makes them stronger. We won the war between us, you have to admit.”
“Oh, I admit you’re right,” Asher said. “I’m just saying I’m leaning toward being a healer on dry land, treating kings and princes.”
“You can choose your own profession in your country?” Arken looked at him with disbelief.
“It depends on your social rank.” Asher’s tone indicated he couldn’t believe life could be organized in any other way. “With my father’s high social position, I have options.”
“Not in my country.” Arken shrugged his shoulders. “If you’re a noble, you go into the Military Academy and become an officer. If you fail the Academy, you take up a trade, and you’re obliged to serve as a common soldier or sailor, depending on how many men the king requires.”
“They lose their royal status if they fail to graduate from the Academy?” Asher sounded shocked.
“Yes,” Arken says. “The king is serious about wanting every royal to be in the military.”
“Sounds like everyone is motivated to graduate and become an officer!” Asher observed. “In my country, you aren’t required to enter the military to keep your royal standing, though many do as a matter of custom,” Asher added. He held up a hand, making a circle with his index finger and thumb, which he squinted through as the hammock swung back and forth.
“What are you doing?” Arken asked.
“Oh, just seeing how far the hammock moves with each wave. I’m trying to see if the swell is bigger or smaller from day to day.”
“You are a true scientist.”
“Maybe that’s what I’ll do with my life.”
“I envy you, Asher, being born into a noble family and being so free.”
“I am fortunate in my birth,” Asher agreed.
“Then you win!” Arken snapped his fingers, mimicking Asher.
“I’m too sore to say I’m winning now.” Asher rolled out of the hammock and groaned as he got to his feet. His tunic was stained in sweat, though he’d put on a fresh one when he came in from rowing. “Only the top of my head doesn’t hurt.” He stretched his arms above his head and yawned, and then sat on the three-legged wooden stool at the desk opposite Arken’s. “Speaking of birth rank, how did you get into the Academy if your father’s not a nobleman? Not that I’m opposed to the idea. In my country, if you provide good service to the king, you can become a royal.”
“That would be nice,” Arken said. “It’s only by birth in Lanth. It’s a long story.” Arken examined the arrowhead in the shaft of light entering their room through the overhead vent grate.
“Tell the short version.” Asher leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his palms.
“There isn’t one,” Arken objected. “It wouldn’t make sense told short.”
“Well, this is a hot and boring afternoon. I want to hear!”
“My father Nortak is of average height but very strong,” Arken began as he put the arrowhead in a pouch, placed it in his pack in the closet, and climbed into his hammock. “Which you couldn’t tell from looking at me.”
“I don’t know about that. You’re strong and you sure row without any trouble,” Asher pointed out.
“I’m not tall, though; I’m shortest in the class,” Arken said. He hoped Asher wouldn’t ask how he was so strong while being so short.
“That will come,” Asher insisted. “At least, my advisors assure me I will grow taller.”
“That’s the hope.” Arken put his arms under his head and watched the ceiling as he swayed slowly back and forth. Before grandfather told him about being a Nander, he never believed Balloom’s assurances about gr
owing taller someday. But now he was sure of it.
“Father was a sailor in the King’s Sea Service before my birth,” Arken went on. “One night, father acted heroically during combat at sea, and the king granted him some favors in return.”
“Good for him,” Asher said. “What did your father do?”
“It happened in the port of Lazorran, a neutral city-state south of Tolaria. One night a Tookan pirate ship attacked father’s ship.”
“This isn’t boring!” Asher got up from the stool and climbed back into his hammock. “Swordplay, violence, a dark night!”
“The pirates anchored their ship outside the port on the far side of some cliffs,” Arken continued while smiling to acknowledge Asher’s joke. “Then the Tookans rowed longboats into the harbor. They wrapped canvas around their oars and oarlocks to keep quiet. Nightmist had formed on a moonless night, so no one saw them coming.”
Some boys walked past their cabin, talking loudly, so Arken waited until they were gone before continuing. He shifted on to his side and put his hands on his chest. He hated being so tired that he couldn’t relax.
“The lookouts would have seen the Tookan raiders even with the nightmist and no moon, but on that night, the ship’s officers hosted a dinner party on the main deck for Lazorran royalty. The party’s lanterns made it hard for the lookouts to see while the noise hid the boarders’ sounds until it was too late. When the alarm sounded, the crew was below decks in their sleeping quarters, giving the officers privacy.”
“Not too smart of the officers,” Asher remarked.
“The pirates slaughtered them in seconds since they weren’t wearing weapons,” Arken added.
Asher raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
“The pirates tried to lock the crew below decks in their sleeping quarters, like the one on this ship: one big room, but it was below decks. Anyway, before they could, my father pushed his way out. He had a sword and began hacking pirates and yelling at the top of his lungs for the rest of the ship’s company to join him.”
Arken had never been able to understand how his father could have pushed his way out of the closed cabin, but now he knew. Nanders were five times stronger than humans, so his father had to be at least two or three times as strong as a normal man, if not more.
“The crew of my father’s ship rallied and killed all but one boarder, who they made prisoner. Then one of the crew discovered that their captain was clinging to life.”
“That was fortunate their captain was still alive.” Asher turned to lie on his side.
“The captain had terrible wounds and knew he was dying, so he asked who of the crew had rallied the men and saved them from capture. They all said it was Nortak, my father.”
“Ahh...” Asher nodded.
“So, the captain wrote and signed an order making father the new captain. He didn’t want his men accused of mutiny when they returned home. With his last breath, the captain asked that his men avenge him.”
“And did they?”
“Yes! The raider they took prisoner revealed his ship’s location and offered to guide them to it if he could have part of the huge gold treasure on board.”
“What a traitor!” Asher protested.
“Good for Father, though!” Arken exclaimed. “Father said he’d spare his life and give him ten percent of the treasure if he helped them board the ship by yelling out to his comrades.”
“That’s too much to pay him!” Asher complained.
Arken shook his head.
“No, because Father wanted to make sure the pirate wouldn’t betray them by warning his comrades. He figured if the pirate could make more money through betrayal, then greed would prevail over loyalty. Father was right. They rowed back in the pirates’ longboats while yelling and making noise like they were successful in their raid. When the lookouts for the ship cried out, the pirate shouted his name and their password.”
“They were lucky he was a turncoat,” Asher commented.
“And there weren’t many pirates on the ship, so Father captured it easily.” Arken smiled. “It turned out the pirates had captured a Lantish merchant vessel earlier in their voyage. That ship had brought gold to buy cargo, and the Tookans had captured the ship.”
“The danger of trade,” Asher said.
“Right! The pirates had the gold on board their ship and the captured merchant ship anchored next to them. Much of the Lantish crew were still alive, so my father freed those men and returned to Lanth with two captive ships and an enormous gold treasure.”
“Did he get prize money?”
“Yes, a captain’s share, one third, thanks to the letter and the king of Lanth.”
“Your father got a third of all the value?”
“Yes.” Arken nodded his head and felt the warmth of pride. “Because the king also got a third of the prize if he honored father’s status as captain. If the king had ruled that the ship hadn’t been properly salvaged, it would have remained the property of the Lantish owners. Then the king wouldn’t have had a share. The king was so happy with his spoils that he gave father a third of the gold as the captain’s due, plus the value of the pirate’s ship and merchant vessel.”
“Making everyone happy?”
“Everyone except the merchant ship owners who lost the gold!” Arken shook his head. “And guess who owned the ship? Gart’s father and uncle.”
“Not Gart’s uncle who is captain of this ship?”
“No, another one on his mother’s side. The entire family is powerful. They protested the king’s decision, but he refused to change his mind.”
“That explains why Gart hates you! Their own relative chose money over family!”
“Yes, his family hates our family, and it upsets them even more that I was allowed into the Academy,” Arken said. And then he thought, imagine how much more hatred they would have if they knew Father was half-Nander.
“Yes, how did you get into the Academy if it’s for royals only?”
“The king asked my father if there were one more favor he could grant, because he was appreciative of the money he’d made from the spoils of war,” Arken said. “So Father thought the best thing he could do for his son was to let him become an officer in the King’s Sea Service. Then I’d have the chance to win prizes like he had done.”
“Good thinking! I like your rewards system for officers and men at sea. I think it makes your King’s Sea Service eager to fight and defeat the enemy.”
“So now I aspire to the ultimate nobleman’s career.” Arken rose up on his right elbow while pretending to remove his hat and bow. “Legal piracy.”
Asher laughed and clapped his hands, and then snapped his fingers and said, “You win!” They both laughed, and then Asher asked, “So is all this the reason Gart threatened to kill you?”
“That didn’t happen until I defeated him days ago in a sparring match.”
“You challenged him and won?”
“I think I was lucky.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Asher said. “He wouldn’t dare kill you now. He’d be the first suspect.”
“I don’t know if fear would stop him.” Arken knew he sounded worried, but he didn’t care, he was scared. “His uncle is captain, what if they did it together? One night when I’m on watch, Gart could sneak up on deck and throw me overboard. If anyone accused him, his uncle could say Gart had been visiting him in his cabin. The captain’s word is law at sea, and no one could ever prove I didn’t just fall overboard.”
“You’re really convinced Gart will try to kill you?”
“Yes,” Arken said. “Maybe Narval too. It’s the reason I carry... never mind.”
“Carry what?”
“Nothing. Forget it,” Arken dismissed Asher’s question. He realized he had almost revealed his hidden knife, even though he had sworn to Balloom he would keep it secret.
“Well, you’re the only friend I have, and I don’t want you getting killed,” said Asher. “I’ll just mak
e sure I’m around you most of the time.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, but to be honest, Asher, you’re not the most dangerous person on this ship! What good are you in combat? I mean, you can barely fight with a sword, you have no idea how to use a bow.” He paused. “I could go on, but you just have no skill at warfare. You’d probably just get in the way while trying to help if you were there while Gart attacked me.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Asher said.
“You’re brave to offer, and if you can stay out of the way, two are usually better than one. So if you want to stick with me, I won’t turn down your help.” Arken felt bad being so honest with Asher when he seemed willing to put his life on the line for him.
“Oh good.” Asher smiled. “I admit I’m not much of a soldier yet, but I have other attributes that make me valuable.”
“Like what? You will now display your deadly hand-to-hand combat skills?” Arken laughed. Asher joined in, jumping off his hammock and heading for the door to their small cabin.
“Promise not to tell anyone what I’m about to reveal?” Asher asked.
“I promise.” Arken twisted around in the hammock so he could see Asher.
“Only Lar and the captain know.”
“Know what?” Arken’s curiosity had the best of him, though he was starting to feel frustrated with Asher. What was he up to?
“I’m not the ambassador’s son. I’m really the heir to the throne of Tolaria,” Asher said.
Arken snorted and laughed aloud. “That’s good, Asher. I’d have believed the hand-to-hand combat skills more!”