by Jamie Davis
Helen put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Morton Creek it is. I’ll pass along the orders to the Freeman and we’ll get underway.”
The two ships were still tied together, mostly to allow them to transfer stores and medicine back and forth while they made what repairs they could at sea.
Helen started calling out orders even as she marched down the passageway from the captain’s cabin.
Cari smiled.
It was good to be back aboard the Vengeance and heading back to a friendly port. She didn’t tell Helen the other reason she wanted to go to Morton Creek.
There was a very good swordsmith there and Cari hoped Heath Fletcher could help her craft a new sword while they were in port. Ever since the slaver orc champion had snapped her beloved rapier in two with one mighty blow, Cari spent a lot of time thinking about how she’d go about crafting a new blade.
With Heath’s help and some luck, she might even be able to pull it off. She had a feeling that a good, reliable blade was going to come in handy before all was said and done. It was going to take a lot of fighting to get Jaycee back to her great-grandmother, the Empress.
A tap at her door pulled her back into the present.
“Come.”
Rodrigo and Stefan entered. They didn’t jostle for space on entering as they’d done in the past. The two lieutenants exchanged nods and Stefan gestured to let Rodrigo go first.
The move surprised her. She hoped it indicated the constant rivalry between the two of them, directed at her, was finally over.
Stefan followed his friend into the cabin and closed the door. He cleared his throat and spoke.
“Captain, um, Cari. The two of us have something to say.”
“Yes,” Rodrigo added. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the two of us have been rivals in a bid to gain your attention for almost a year now.”
Cari hid a smile as she answered. “It has come to my attention. And?”
Rodrigo stopped with his mouth open as if trying to find the words to say next.
Stefan jumped in to continue their point.
“What Rod means is that we’ve been competing with each other to get your attention and it has sometimes affected our decisions and performance.”
“Go on.”
“Well,” Stefan continued. “After the fight on the slaver’s ship, we both decided to put the decision in your hands.”
Rodrigo found his voice again and chimed in.
“Yes, we want you to know that we’ll each respect the decision you make and step aside in favor of the one you choose.”
Cari stood behind her chart table, unable to fathom what prompted the two of them to bring this up now and in this way. They really wanted to force her hand and choose between them?
“What if I decide I’d like to choose both of you?”
“Um,” Stefan stammered. He cast a sideways glance at Rodrigo. “I suppose we could adjust to that if that is what you wanted.”
“Yes,” Rodrigo continued. “We can come up with a sort of schedule if you like, you know, for who is with you on which day.”
“Eww, no,” Cari laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way. What is it with you men and sex. I didn’t mean you both could share me. I meant that I would like to choose you both as friends and traveling companions, that’s all.”
The two men looked confused again. Cari resisted rolling her eyes. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings but, Lord, men were idiots sometimes.
“We are about to embark on a whole new quest and I need to know you’ll both be there at my side, to see it through to the end. We don’t have time for any encumbrances or extraneous relationships. We need to be comrades in arms. Can I count on you?”
That explanation caused a bit of disappointment if she judged the slumped shoulders correctly. Neither of them hesitated for a second when she asked if they were with her, though.
“You can,” they said in tandem.
“Good. Then let’s forget this little moment of awkwardness and get the ships underway.”
“Where to?” Rodrigo asked.
“It has to be Tandon, of course,” Stefan replied.
Cari shook her head. “Morton Creek.”
“What’s in Morton Creek,” Stefan asked. “It’s nothing but an abnormally large fishing town anymore.”
“It’s also a place we can safely leave a message for three friends of ours, right Rod? They should know who we’ve located. It might impact their plans for another imperial heir.”
“Indeed, it might,” Rodrigo replied.
“Good, because as soon as we get there, I’m leaving you behind to make your way to Liam, Chance, and Thad. I want to tell them about Jaycee and I don’t dare risk leaving a letter that might be intercepted and read.”
Rodrigo’s shoulders sagged as he realized she planned on leaving him behind when the Vengeance was repaired and ready to sail again.
“Don’t worry, Rod. We’ll catch back up with each other again.” Cari turned to Stefan. “I have something for you to do as well. You still technically hold a commission in the Duke of Tandon’s guard. I want you to carry the same message to the Duke and see what aid he can lend if it comes to an armed confrontation when we take her back to the capital. Can you do that?”
“If you’re not going back to Tandon,” Stefan asked. “Where will you go?”
“After we repair the ship, I’m going to take Jaycee and the Vengeance and head to Cairn Island until we can come up with a safe way to transport her to the Crystal City and reunite with her great-grandmother. Once we have word back from both of you, we’ll rejoin each other, either in Tandon or possibly here in Morton Creek and begin the journey to restore the Empress’ surviving crown princess to her.”
The two would-be-suitors shuffled their feet, unsure what to do with the directions they’d received. Cari decided they needed some additional orders.
“The two of you should get back on deck. Check in with the first mate see if you can help Miss Doolan get underway. The sooner we can get sailing, the sooner we’ll get started on our other important tasks.”
* * *
———
* * *
It ended up taking four days for the two ships to sail to Morton Creek. The slower Freeman held the Vengeance back from making her best speed to port.
The crew of the two ships continued making what repairs they could during the trip and the progress on the Freeman, in particular, surprised Cari.
The freed slaves made Merk, the fisherman who’d helped her escape, captain of the captured Sultanate vessel. The triangular sail configuration more closely resembled the sails used by the small fishing boats these folks were used to and they were able to effect repairs based on long years of practice, along with some trial and error.
By the time they made it to Morton Creek and sailed into the harbor, the Freeman’s damage, primarily limited to damage to the rigging and the foremast, was repaired. All that remained was to seat a new mast where the old one had been cut away. The captured ship would be ready to return the freed slaves to their villages again so they could begin rebuilding their communities.
Cari met Merk on the dock where both ships tied up.
“Captain,” Cari said. “Once again I must commend you and your crew on the speed and quality of your repairs. What are your plans once the new mast is in place?”
“Many of the folk wish to return to their villages and rebuild their lives and homes. We will return them to their homes.”
“You said ‘many.’ What of the others?”
“We have enough men and women to crew the Freeman and we’ve decided to take her into the mercantile trade here in the western end of the Empire.”
“An excellent decision. May I ask a favor of you for your first voyage?”
“Certainly, we owe you our lives.”
“I am sending Lieutenant Claridge back to Tandon with an important message. I see no other large vessels here in port and the overland journey will take far to
o long.”
“You’d like us to take the lieutenant with us and deliver your message? Of course, we’d be honored to help you in your continuation of your families calling to protect the Empress and the Empire from its enemies.”
Cari cocked her head to the side, curious at the last statement.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to hide it from us, Princess. We know who you are. Actually, when you look at all the evidence, it is surprising it took us all as long as it did to figure everything out. I suppose it’s hard to realize when a fairy tale told to you as a young child really comes true.”
Cari sighed. “I really have to stop playing the hero all the time.”
“What was that?” Merk asked.
“Nothing, I just hope I can rely on your discretion on revealing my identity. I’d just as soon remain just the Dread Raider Cari, captain of the Vengeance.”
“I can vouch for myself and most of the crew but the others are already ashore and I’m certain most of them are telling anyone who’ll listen about the daring rescue executed by the Lost Princess of legend. The story circulating on the Freeman of how you ripped the slaver’s manacles apart with your bare hands is spectacular enough that no one will believe it anyway.”
“I suppose I can’t run away from it too much longer; still, I’d like to hold off owning the title for just a little bit. It’s only going to make what I have to do even harder.”
“If there’s anything the Freeman’s crew or I can do to help you, you know you only have to ask.”
“For now, helping to deliver the lieutenant with his message for the Duke of Tandon is enough. I wish you luck on the final repairs and Godspeed on your journey. I have business to attend to in town. Farewell, Captain.”
“Farewell to you as well, Captain.”
Cari turned and started into town, leaving the hustle and bustle of the activity around the two ships behind her. She headed up the hill to see about crafting herself a new sword. It would be interesting to see what her friend, Heath, had been able to do with the crafting magic Cari taught him to use before she left almost a year ago.
* * *
Quest accepted — craft a new blade
Chapter 33
The steady rhythm of hammer blows sounded from within the smithy, announcing to Cari her friend was in his shop. The smithy had changed since she’d last been here. What had been an open forge with a roof overhead in a large spacious yard surrounded by a tall fence was now fronted by a little shop displaying various metal wares and weapons for sale while the smithy was now hidden behind the small building facing the street.
A young woman of perhaps fifteen years stood behind the counter in the shop. She smiled at Cari when she entered.
“Can I help you, ma’am? We have many fine things you might be interested in.”
“I actually came to see Heath. Is he in?”
“Mr. Fletcher is out back working, ma’am. May I tell him who is here calling on him?”
“I think I’d like to surprise him if you don’t mind.” Cari brushed past the shop girl and walked through the rear door of the shop into the forge yard behind it.
Sterling Fletcher, who looked to have grown close to six inches since she’d last been here, saw her first. He sat working at the grinding wheel, honing a new blade to razor sharpness. From what Cari could see of his work, he had picked up some of the crafting skill, too.
Sterling stood and reached out to clasp wrists with Cari when she entered the smithy yard behind the small store out front. “Cari, what are you doing back in town?”
“I came to visit you all, of course. I said I’d be back when I could.”
Heath, Sterling’s father, looked up from where he was working on a piece of steel bar stock. The metal glowed with a dull yellow hue from heating in the forge. He set the bar aside as a huge grin spread across his face. Heath’s smile, always infectious, brought a smile to her face as well.
“Cari, I can’t believe it’s really you. Have you been to the house yet? Becca and the other children will be so glad to know you’re in town.”
“I came here first, though I do intend to stop by and visit.”
“You’d better. Becca’d have both our hides if she found out you were in town and didn’t stop by to see her, too.”
Cari had lived with the Fletchers for a few weeks while she earned enough money to pay for her initial trip to Tandon a year before. It was then that she’d learned her smithing skills and leveled up her bladesmith skill several times until she became a master smith at blade craft.
“I am in need of a new blade, Heath, and I hoped you and I could talk about what might be needed to craft a new one. I have some ideas to improve the design I had from before and make it even better.”
“How could I say no to you. It was you who opened my eyes and my abilities to the possibilities lying within the blades and metal I’d never seen before. Do you know one of my swords took the prize as the best masterpiece at last year’s Crafters’ Fair in the Crystal City? Since then, my metal work has become the most desirable in the Empire and I’m back ordered for several months. I owe that to you.”
“Congratulations are in order then. You deserve the credit, too. I taught you what I could. It was your smithing skill and innovative thinking that took your blades to the next level. I’m hoping you can find the time over the next few days to help me with crafting my new sword?”
“Definitely. Let me finish what I’m doing here and then we can sit down in the front showroom and talk about the design you’re thinking of. In the meantime, Sterling will fetch you some refreshments and food.”
“That would be wonderful. Sterling, lead the way.”
They headed back into the shop out front. The shop girl seemed flustered about Cari’s intrusion in the forge. She reached out to grab Sterling’s arm, then dropped it, self-conscious at the sudden, unexpected physical contact with the strapping lad.
“I’m sorry, Sterling. I tried to stop her and ask about her business. She just pushed past me. Please tell your father it’s not my fault.”
“Don’t worry, Maisy. This is Cari Dix. She’s an old friend. She’s going to wait in here while father finishes the piece he’s working on. Can you go into the store room and bring out a bottle of wine and some of the biscuits mother sent in with us for lunch this morning? I think there are a few left.”
“Of course.”
Maisy, whose eyes had gone wide as saucers when Sterling mentioned Cari’s name, performed an awkward curtsy and rushed into the back of the small shop.
“She’s a cute one, Sterling.”
The boy blushed and Cari laughed. “Did I detect a little something going on between you two?”
“Well, we have been talking together a lot since Father hired her. She’s the daughter of a dry goods merchant down near the docks and he was glad to find work for her because his older children already run his shop.”
“Oh, so she’s not only cute, she’s also connected to another guildsman in town, too. She’d be a catch.”
“You sound like my mother. She’s been saying much the same for the last few weeks and has been after me to ask her back to the house after work for dinner.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, Sterling, but you should listen to your mother. She has good instincts. I think she gets them from Grandma Gerald. Speaking of whom, I don’t suppose my arrival happens to fall at the same time as her regular trip here to visit.”
“No, you just missed her. Granny left a few days ago. She’ll be angry she didn’t see you. She was just remarking on all the incredible stories we keep hearing about you from sailors in port and from the few traveling bards who pass through.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Sterling. It’s all exaggerated.”
Maisy returned with two cups and a bottle of wine on a tray. There were also three fresh, flaky biscuits, arranged on a plate, too.
Cari picked up one of the biscuits
and took a bite while Sterling poured the wine.
“Cari, it may be exaggerated, but Father says it can’t all be false. He said you’d proven your ability to do great things right here in this smithy. Did you really save Crown Prince Timron’s life?”
Reluctantly, Cari nodded. “But it wasn’t anything like the bards and troubadours tell it.”
“I’m sure. From the way they talk, you’re the Lost Princess returned.”
Maisy, standing nearby, blurted out a nervous laugh. She paused then her pent-up words blurted out in a stream. “Sterling, don’t you see. She is the Lost Princess. She’s not just the Dread Raider Cari we hear about from the few traders that come through the town. She is THE Cari Dix from all the old stories. My father says that with everything she’s done fighting the raiders, saving the Crown Prince, and more, that there’s no other explanation. She is the Lost Princess returned to save the Empire.”
Sterling smiled. “Maisy, she’s just Cari. She’s like a big sister to me and my siblings. I was joking about what my dad said. Cari stayed with us last year when she got stranded here. She worked here in this smithy for a time to earn her passage west. Does that sound like something a princess would do?”
“But you told me she taught your father something he’d never seen before, something that changed the way he made his sword blades. You called it magic.”
“I did say that, but it was just a figure of speech. I meant it was like magic. She’s just very talented and helped dad learn something new.”
“On top of that, she just admitted to saving the prince. That means she’s accomplished with a sword and in battle. She’s also the youngest captain anyone in these parts have ever heard of, and she has single-handedly fought off the raiders sailing all along the coast.”
Sterling started to argue, but Cari could almost see the wheels spinning in his brain, putting the pieces together. Maisy had made a strong argument and his affection for the girl helped him accept what she said and the arguments she made.
He glanced over at Cari as if appraising her in a different way.