Esther's Innocence

by Benjamin Boswell

  CHAPTER 14

  Others

  I’d never felt a thirst like that before. It was hard not to simply dip my head into the ocean’s salty water and drink, just to quench my thirst. The need and desire was incredible, but I knew I would die for sure if I did that, so I resisted. It took all of my willpower, but I did it.

  Esther woke with a start from a nightmare about dark shapes beneath the water. In her dream it had been her in the water with the sharks instead of the Madrausan priest and he had sat there with his cackling laugh as the sharks ate her alive.

  Sitting up slowly, she surveyed her surroundings. The sun was well above the horizon and the day was already starting to get warm. It was a welcome relief from the chill she had experienced during the night, but Esther knew it would soon become oppressive—and without any source of water, the heat would also be dangerous.

  The ocean spread out away from her in all directions, a vast abyss that she had no way of crossing. The dead Madrausan’s wreckage floated some fifty yards away. Nothing else was visible as far as she could see.

  “Well,” she said to herself aloud, “I guess this is it.”

  She sat there, staring off into the distance for a while. Despite the overwhelmingly melancholy emotions within her, she couldn’t make herself just lie down and die. She fidgeted around for a little while and then came up with a plan to get to the dead man’s wreckage. She’d hook them together somehow and then have a much larger space. She’d need something to paddle with, however. She wasn’t about to stick her hand in the water—not with all of those sharks around.

  Esther lay down on her belly to help stabilize herself on the platform and started pulling on the edge of one of the wooden planks, trying to get it loose. It took some time, as the plank was nailed down and she couldn’t get very good leverage laying like that, but eventually she got it. She sat up with her new paddle and wiped her forehead. It was really getting hot now and her lips were already starting to chap from dehydration. Ignoring the discomfort, Esther used the wooden plank she had worked loose to paddle towards the other piece of wreckage.

  She hadn’t taken the time to examine it the previous day. It wasn’t quite as large as the piece that Esther had been on, nor was it as flat as hers. It had several pieces of wood protruding out of it at different angles. She bumped her own platform up against it and looked it over, hoping to perhaps find some supplies or useful items. She didn’t see anything, however. Disappointed, she sat down. There wasn’t anything to lash the two pieces of wood together with, and there really wasn’t a point to doing it anyway, so finally she just gave up.

  The day passed slowly as she became progressively more hungry and thirsty. She thought about her family and friends and hoped they were safe. She spent a lot of time thinking about the Madrausan’s and their aim to conquer and pillage. When her own thoughts began to bore her, she stood, balancing on the platform. She shuffled back and forth in an attempt to dance, carefully maintaining her balance. The platform proved to be too unstable for her to take more than one or two steps in any direction, so she finally contented herself with just standing and staring off into the distance.

  It was then that she noticed a dark smudge on the horizon. She stared at it with intensity, wishing she had a telescope. Was it a mirage? She stared at it for several minutes more, trying to determine if it was an actual object, and, if it was, whether she should attempt to get closer to it or not. Even if the object had desperately needed supplies, if it was full of rapacious Madrausan’s, then she’d rather die of thirst. “Well,” she said aloud, “there’s only one way to find out.” She sat down and started to paddle.

  After several hours, she was able to see that it was a fairly large piece of wreckage, and there appeared to be at least two people on it! She couldn’t tell from this distance whether they were Ardmorran or Madrausan though. She kept paddling.

  It soon became apparent that the people on the wreckage had caught sight of her because one of them stood waving his arms. She could hear shouting as well. It sounded Northern! Esther’s heart beat a little faster and she started to get excited. She paddled faster.

  The late afternoon heat beat down upon her as she drew nearer and her shirt was now damp with sweat from the exertion of paddling. While she couldn’t make out their faces, she could tell that they were definitely Ardmorran. There were four of them. It only took a few more minutes to get close enough to shout and be fully understood.

  “Esther, is that you?!” called one of the men. He looked and sounded an awful lot like Mac, the captain’s steward.

  “Yes! Is that you Mac?!” Esther shouted back.

  “Yes! I’ve got Joel, Baird, and the doctor with me here as well. Baird’s got a broken arm, but other than some cuts and bruises, Joel, the doctor, and I are fine. Are you injured?” shouted Mac.

  “No, I’m fine!” she said.

  Esther decided to wait to ask any more questions until she was much closer so that she didn’t have to shout. Her mouth was dry enough as it was and shouting would only make it worse. She paddled in silence until she was about twenty yards away, then asked, “Have you seen anyone else?”

  “We saw several groups after we first went down, but lost sight of them during the storm,” he replied.

  “And the Madrausan’s?” she asked.

  “Most of them gathered on the front half of the Nautilus after the crash. Last time I saw it though it appeared to be unstable and kept rolling in the storm,” replied Mac.

  “Do you know if the Captain or Mr. Graham made it?” she asked.

  Mac shook his head, “I don’t know.”

  “Do you have any water?” Esther asked hesitantly.

  Mac shook his head, “Sorry.”

  Esther sat back, disappointed.

  “We do have some rope though,” said Mac, “let’s see if we can’t tie these pieces together so that we don’t get separated.

  Esther nodded and paddled toward the others until their pieces of wreckage were touching. Then she tied the rope that Mac handed her to her platform.

  Joel, the bosun, who had been in charge of the rigging onboard the Nautilus had a cut above his left eyebrow. He sat leaning against a piece of the wreckage, as immutable as ever. Baird had fashioned a sling for his broken left arm and sat next to Joel. The doctor stood next to Mac.

  “I’m sorry that you’re here—” Mac started to say, looking at Esther sadly, but Esther interrupted him by holding up her hand.

  “I’m not, Mac,” she said matter-of-factly, “We saved a lot of lives and hurt our enemy—maybe enough to make them think twice.” Esther paused a moment, then continued, “Did you know that there was a high priest on-board that ship? He was one of the Madrausan High Warlord’s advisors, and now they have no idea what happened to that flotilla.”

  When Mac raised his eyebrows questioningly, Esther recounted her conversation with the Madrausan high priest. When she told them the part about the Madrausan plot to kill the Hadiqan King, Joel scoffed.

  “That’s not possible,” he said, “There have been people trying to murder the various Hadiqan Kings for two hundred years and no one has succeeded. Their bodyguards are ruthless when it comes to the safety of their royalty.”

  “Yes,” interjected Mac, “but we have never seen this level of threat out of the Barbarian Kingdom’s of Madraus before either. Their new leader has unified the Kingdoms where no one was able to before. And if the King’s uncle truly has been subverted, then there could be a real threat to the King’s life. I think the threat must be taken seriously.”

  “Well there isn’t anything we’re going to be able to do about it,” said Baird, despair seeping into his voice, “We’re in the middle of the ocean with no food and no water. We’re going to die.”

  “Perhaps we will, Baird,” said Esther, “But I’m much happier dying here with you all, than I would be dying alone. And besides, there is always hope. I’d much rather live with hope than die without it.”

&
nbsp; Mac nodded and sat down.

  Now that she had reached the others, she couldn’t stop thinking about how thirsty she was. Luckily for her, Joel’s thoughts were centered on something more productive.

  “Jiyamna,” Joel said. He paused a moment. “What does it mean? You said that the high priest told you ‘On the Jiyamna before Lughnasadh, he will be dead’. I know that Lughnasadh is the Madrausan equivalent of Lammas, but what is Jiyamna?”

  The doctor—Geoffrey—spoke up, “It means ‘descending one’. It has roots in both ancient Hadiqan and Madrausan. In practical terms, it is the last day of the lunar cycle—the last day of the month before Lammas. That puts it roughly five weeks from today.”

  “So in five weeks, the Hadiqan King will be assassinated and this part of the known world will be thrust into all-out war,” said Baird, “And most probably, our little island home will be overrun and our families and all those people we just saved will be enslaved or murdered.”

  “Unless we warn him,” said Esther.

  “Right,” said Baird in disbelief, “Unless the five of us—who are currently stranded at sea—somehow get to the Hadiqan coast, make our way to the Hadiqan capitol, and then convince the Hadiqan King that his uncle is plotting to assassinate him? And all in less than five weeks’ time?”

  “So are you suggesting we just quit now and toss ourselves overboard for the sharks to eat?” Esther asked him a bit heatedly. She was tired of Baird’s bad attitude.

  He seemed a little taken aback and paused for a moment, then smiled, “Now that you put it that way, I guess not. I shall hope as well then, and help you in any way I can.”

  Esther smiled back. “I’d get up and give you a hug,” she said, “but I’m just too tired and thirsty.”

  “I shall hope as well,” said Joel, “but unless we get rescued, I’m afraid there is little that we can do.”

  “We can pray, Joel,” said Mac, “We can pray.” Joel nodded and leaned his head back.

  Soon, the sun set and darkness covered the water. Tired and feeling wrung out, Esther carefully clambered onto the piece of wreckage shared by Mac, Joel, Baird, and Geoffrey. She didn’t want to risk the rope coming undone and being left to drift all alone. She found a secure spot to lay down. Baird hummed a tune for a time and Esther drifted off to sleep.

  - - -

  Waking up was difficult. Esther felt like her mind was full of fuzz and it took a while to shake it out and clear her mind. She was extremely thirsty. The urge to scramble over to the edge of the platform and drink the salty seawater was almost unbearable. Not good, she thought. Without water, as the day’s heat rose, so would their body temperatures. Heat stroke would become a real danger.

  During the night they had all cuddled together for warmth. When Esther realized that Geoffrey was laying behind her, butterflies suddenly invaded her stomach and a red blush crept across her cheeks. Thankfully, it was dark so no one could see. His warmth from behind her and Mac’s in front had been welcome through the nights chill though. Even now she was loath to leave his warmth, but Mac was not lying in front of her anymore, so she slowly sat up and looked around. The others still slept. Mac was sitting to her left, staring off into the distance.

  “Mac,” said Esther, weakly. She hadn’t realized how much hunger and thirst had sapped her energy until she tried to speak.

  Mac didn’t move or answer her.

  “Mac,” Esther said a little louder, “Are you all right?”

  Mac turned to her slowly, then pointed into the distance. “Esther, do you see something over there?” he asked.

  Esther looked in the direction he was pointing. For a minute, she didn’t see anything as she tried to clear her water deprived eyes and mind. Then she saw it—a dark smudge against the sky. Esther grew excited and stood as quickly as her water and food deprived body would allow, rocking the wreckage as she did.

  “It’s a ship, Mac!” Esther shouted, “It’s a ship!”

  The others roused at the sound of Esther’s voice. They stood and peered off into the distance at the object.

  “Yes,” Joel said, “but what kind of ship is it? And more importantly, who does it belong to?”

  The smudge in the sky was growing larger as they watched.

  “We should try and signal it,” said Geoffrey, “We need something with bright colors. Does anybody have anything with bright colors?”

  “I don’t know if we should signal it,” said Baird, “What if it’s Madrausan?”

  “I think the lack of water has addled your brain, Baird,” said Joel, “There is very little chance we’ll survive the day in this continued heat if we don’t get some water. At least this way there is a chance.”

  Baird nodded. Esther looked about, but she didn’t have anything other than the dark navy blue pants and white shirt she wore. The only thing any of the others came up with was a red handkerchief.

  Joel took the handkerchief and took off his own white shirt, although the dirt and grime made it more of a creamy gray color. He grabbed Esther’s paddle and fastened the shirt to it, then tied the red handkerchief to the shirt.

  “Well lads…and lass,” he said, nodding at Esther, “This is about the best we can do. Let’s hope it’s enough.” He started to wave the piece of wood with the shirt and handkerchief attached back and forth, back and forth. He waved for a long time as the dark smudge in the sky kept growing in size. As it grew, they could see now that it wasn’t coming directly at them, but was angling more towards the north.

  “Here Joel,” said the doctor, “Your arms have to be getting tired, especially as dehydrated as we all are. Let me have a turn.”

  Joel gratefully handed the makeshift signal flag to Geoffrey and sat down, obviously exhausted. Geoffrey continued to wave the flag.

  The tension in the air was palpable as they waited and waited. The shape of the ship was distinct now. It must be a very large ship to be able to see it so clearly at this distance. It still appeared to be headed northwest, however, and hadn’t turned in their direction. Esther insisted on taking a turn waving the flag next, but her slight frame and the lack of water caused her to tire quickly. Baird took over for her after a few minutes, his injured arm limiting him somewhat, but he made do.

  The ship was almost perpendicular to them now when Baird suddenly shouted, “They’re turning! They’re turning!”

  Esther looked and the ship was indeed turning towards them. Relief rushed into her and she closed her eyes and sent up a quick prayer of thanks. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been until the ship started turning towards them. May this please not be a Madrausan ship, she thought. Given their position, somewhere on the ocean between Ardmorr, Hadiq, and Madraus, the chances were about even it would be.

  Baird kept waving the flag, his excitement overcoming his exhaustion.

  Without a telescope, it was difficult to tell what flag the ship was flying, but from what Esther could see, it didn’t appear to be of Madrausan design. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean anything as ships were manufactured in different places and sold all over the world, but Madraus had not been a large market for shipbuilders in the past. Besides, this ship was of a unique architecture that Esther was not as familiar with. Granted, her education and experience was very limited in Tewksbury, but she had made it a point in her studies to be familiar with shipbuilding designs of her Kingdoms local neighbors. No, she thought, this design is unique. She puzzled over it a moment, and then she had it! “That ship is from the Eastern Isles!” she shouted, excitedly. If that were true, the chances of it being crewed by Madrausan’s was slim. The Easterners tended to shun the Barbarian Kingdoms.

  “Are you sure?” asked Geoffrey, raising his hand to shade his eyes as he gazed at the ship, “How do you know?”

  “I think she’s right,” said Joel, “You see how the aft end is quite a bit wider than the fore end? That’s classic Eastern Islands build. More specifically, it was designed for their much longer voyages. You have a keen eye
s, Esther.”

  Her heart glowed under Joel’s praise. She knew it wasn’t easy to earn the Bosun’s regard. Excitement and happiness filled her. They were saved. Now we just need to figure out how to save the rest of the known world.

  CHAPTER 15

  Easterners

  Being rescued and drinking water after being so dehydrated was amazing. It is astounding the things we take for granted. As for the Easterners…well, they are an interesting people. I don’t get angry very often, but sometimes I feel like hitting people over the head. I blame any such inappropriate actions on my youth, however.

  Water had never tasted so good and she drank deeply from the large wooden cup clasped between her hands. The Easterners had been very friendly and accommodating. When they’d rescued Esther and her companions, the ship had floated above them and lowered one of its platforms. Two large, dark skinned men—shirtless and bald—had helped them onto the platform before it lifted away from the wreckage that had been their life raft for the past two days.

  The Easterners had brought them water—making them drink slowly—and had seen to their injuries. Then they had fed them and had given them more water. Bread had never tasted so good.

  Two men in yellow robes came and ushered her companions away. They were bald as well—in fact most of the men Esther had seen aboard the ship shaved their heads. A third man came and escorted Esther to a door that led under the quarterdeck into a fairly large anteroom with three doors heading aft, and another door on each side of the room. He took her through the door on the left hand side of the room and into a hallway that led further aft. She followed him to yet another door at the end of the hall, next to the starboard hull.

  When she stepped inside, a luxuriously furnished room with windows lining the starboard wall greeted her. Glorious rays of sunlight revealed a small bathtub in the center of the room, full of steaming water, the sight of which almost caused her to let out an excited yelp of delight—a freshwater bath was truly a luxury indeed. Two Easterners, both female, stood next to the tub, grinning with wide smiles at her obvious excitement. One was an older woman with graying hair and kind eyes, and the other was even younger than Esther, perhaps twelve or so. The girl, with her long black hair fixed in twisted braids bound behind her head, reminded Esther of her friend Marigold when they were younger. The thought sent a dull ache through her stomach as she thought of home.