Princess Electra Book 4 School of Medicine

by Dory Lee Maske

  Chapter 18

  Helsop

  After hearing Leif's story, Electra tried to stay busy. She brought her students into the back room of the clinic where her herbs, tinctures and teas were stored. She went over the herbs' properties and uses, quizzing her students on the smell and appearance of each. She tried to keep from thinking about what Leif's story would set in motion, but she could not. Finally she asked her students to roll up a supply of bandages and went to find Dagon at the command post.

  As she opened the door to the post, Dagon looked up with an expression of sorrow. Electra's expression matched his as she took the chair in front of his desk.

  "You know I must go," he said softly.

  Electra nodded. All the reasons she thought might keep him from going were to no avail.

  "I wish I had the ship your father urged me to order from the Caliph," he continued with a smile.

  For a second, hope filled Electra's eyes. Would he wait for a ship to be built? That could take a year or more.

  "I thought perhaps I could rig the rafts with sails," he said.

  Electra shrugged. "I think you must devise a plan that has some faint hope of success."

  "Yes." Dagon tilted his chair back and gazed at a spot above Electra's head. He continued in a voice that seemed far away. "I believe when our grandfathers came here, they arrived in small boats. These were disassembled to build the first houses for those who survived the voyage. Since we had no boats after that, none of us has been able to explore Cold Lake.

  "Perhaps father could buy some small boats and cart them here. We could pay for them in trade," Electra suggested.

  Dagon frowned. "I am not anxious for your father to know I am gone on such a mission. At best he would think it foolhardy and at worst he might use my absence as an excuse to negate our treaty."

  "It is true, your absence will leave Helsop vulnerable," Electra reasoned, eager to enlarge on this weakness. "It might well be foolhardy to leave Helsop without a headman."

  "Certainly I have weighed this fact, but it always comes down to the same decision. I must go."

  Electra took a deep breath and sat up tall in her chair. "I might be of some help were I to accompany you."

  Dagon smiled. "And no matter the truth of that, you know you must not go. I had, however, hoped to leave you in charge here while I am gone."

  "Me? Why should I be left in charge? I am a physician, not a soldier."

  "Your mentor, Physician Rabar, is both a physician and a sea captain. It is possible to be both." Dagon fixed Electra with his gaze. "I do not do this to placate you or to take advantage of your desire to be useful. I think Helsop would be fortunate to have you at the helm. I will need my best fighting men by my side if, as you say, I am to have even a faint hope of success."

  Electra frowned. "Be that as it may, it feels like an attempt to placate me."

  Dagon smiled. "Come, let us go and inspect our rafts. Now you have spent time at sea, perhaps you can offer advice on how we might attach a sail."

  Electra rose from her seat reluctantly. "I suppose keeping me busy is a close cousin to placating me."

  As they walked to the castle to view the rafts, Electra's mood darkened. "What will I do when the workmen come to me for decisions in their castle building? I will insist on a large room for herbs and a smaller one for weapons."

  Dagon smiled. "With your herbs to keep us strong what need will we have of weapons?"

  Electra fell silent when she realized he would not be drawn into an argument. She tried to remember what she could of the rigging on the Spirit of Taz, the ship she had sailed on to Taz, the summer before.

  Dagon studied the rafts, tilting his head first to one side, then to the other. "With a mast for a sail we will be able to rest from rowing when the winds are favorable. At times we may run into ice or shallows that will mean hauling the rafts overland."

  "When you reach this village taken by Vagans, what will you do with the enslaved people? How will you evacuate them?"

  "I think where there are river pirates there will be ships that can be commandeered."

  Electra remembered Leif telling how the Vagans had poisoned King Endor's army to render them defenseless. She thought briefly how many physician oaths she would need to break to even consider sending poison along with Dagon.

  "The Vagans may feel overly safe now they have conquered so many kingdoms along the river," she said. "You might use an element of surprise to your advantage."

  "See there?" Dagon said in an encouraging tone, "You have a bit of the soldier's mind when it comes to strategy. I will likely return to find the castle finished and my job as headman filled."

  The words 'when I return' made their way into Electra's mind and sat there like a warm fire. "You will need to secure your masts to an underpinning of boards that fasten beneath the rafts to give stability. Your sails should be light in weight to avoid too heavy a top weight. You might make a second level to store supplies."

  Dagon's face showed his surprise at her practical suggestions. "I can see the wisdom of these suggestions." Dagon shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I wondered..." He stopped speaking and his gaze wandered from the rafts to his feet.

  "Wondered what?" Electra asked.

  Dagon continued to study the toes of his boots. "I know you have herbs that will put patients to sleep..."

  Electra was thankful he had not asked for herbs that would poison the Vagans. "I will see what I can do," she said.

  Electra walked into the school of medicine and straight through to the new cabinet Dagon had made for her. She took the key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She pulled out dried stalks of belladonna, poppy and morning glory and set to work.