Esther's Innocence

by Benjamin Boswell

  Chidi turned to Esther and quickly asked her, “Are you sure you want to go up there? Now that he’s given you that warning, he definitely won’t slow down or hold back. In fact, he may even go a bit faster just to see if you can keep up, and the rigging can be a very dangerous place.”

  “I’m sure Chidi,” Esther said, patting him on the shoulder, “I worked the rigging on the Nautilus for almost two full days. I know that’s not a lot of time, but from the look of them, I doubt most of these keobere-osote have been up there as long.”

  It turned out that Esther was right. The skills she had already picked up working in the rigging on the Nautilus allowed her to not only be able to keep up with the other keobere-osote, but she was able to outdistance most of them as well. The dress that Chidi’s wife had altered for her performed perfectly, allowing her full range of motion. The morning passed swiftly as she followed Leftananti Obi around the rigging on the different masts, learning the terms that she had come to know on the Nautilus—but this time in Hadiqan. She felt like a sponge, soaking up whatever knowledge that the Leftananti would share.

  Finally, about mid-day, the Leftananti called an end to the class and ordered the keobere-osote to descend the rigging and get some lunch. Esther was a bit fatigued from all of the climbing, tying, and concentrating in another language, but she was still sad to see the class come to an end.

  Almost as soon as her feet touched the deck, Chidi was there. His sudden appearance startled Esther and her hand flew up to cover her mouth as she gasped in surprise. “Chidi!” she said, lowering her hand and smiling, “You startled me!”

  “My apologies, Miss Esther,” he said with a smile and a slight bow, “I did not mean to frighten you. I was simply coming to see if you were hungry for lunch. Onya-ugbo Amadi has invited his guests, including you, to join him.”

  Esther thought briefly about refusing. She still felt upset at Amadi for not believing her, but she knew that she was acting childish. If their positions were reversed, she would have had a hard time believing someone as young as her as well. She’d been forced to grow up so much over the last several days that she forgot that she was still just sixteen. She nodded her head. “Yes, I am hungry. I would be honored to dine with Onya-ugbo Amadi.”

  Chidi smiled, then turned and gestured towards the quarterdeck. Esther smoothed her skirt and walked in the direction he indicated.

  - - -

  Esther climbed the stairs onto the quarterdeck and saw her fellow Ardmorrans seated at one of the tables that had been setup for the luncheon. There were a lot fewer of the tables than last night. It seemed that this meal would just be with Amadi, his family, and his foreign guests.

  “Does the Captain eat on the quarterdeck often?” she leaned over and asked Chidi.

  “Yes, when the weather is nice he does,” Chidi replied, shrugging, “I think he likes the fresh air.”

  Esther nodded and made her way over to where Joel, Mac, Geoffrey, and Baird were sitting.

  “Well hello, Esther,” said Mac, standing, “We were hoping that you’d make time to join us for lunch,” he said, winking.

  Esther lowered her eyes, a bit embarrassed.

  Mac laughed at her expression. “We saw you with the midshipmen. I hope you had an enlightening experience?”

  Esther smiled. “Yes, very much so. Leftananti Obi was kind enough to conduct his class in Hadiqan, so I was able to follow everything he was saying. And, of course, I love going up into the rigging.”

  “Yes,” Joel replied, “We saw you hopping around up there like a genuine rigger. You do us proud, Miss.”

  “Yes,” said Mac, “Although at first I was a bit nervous about having you up there, especially in a dress.” He looked down at her dress, studying the divided skirt, “But then I saw that it had been modified and you were wearing leggings. Where on earth did you get that dress?”

  “Chidi,” said Esther, gesturing at the tall Easterner who had gone to stand over by the stairs leading below deck, “His wife altered it for me.”

  A look of concern crossed Mac’s face, “Did you ask them to do that?”

  Esther guessed that Mac was afraid she had placed inappropriate demands on their hosts. She shook her head. “No Mac. When I woke up, it was in the trunk next to my bed. Chidi’s wife was kind enough to stay up late and alter it without me even asking her to. Chidi somehow guessed that I would prefer something like this to a traditional dress.”

  Mac looked relieved. “That was very kind of them.”

  “Yes,” agreed Esther. “I’ll thank Chidi’s wife directly when I see her.”

  Just then, someone shouted something in Easterner and the crew on deck stood at attention. Esther turned and saw Onya-ugbo Amadi and his family climb up the companionway and step onto the quarterdeck. Joel, Mac, Baird, and Geoffrey stood. Esther was already standing, so she simply waited as Amadi said something in Easterner and the crew relaxed. He led his family over to the tables and pulled out a chair for his wife. She wore a simple yellow dress with her long hair pulled over her shoulder in front of her. Their children took their seats as well.

  “Please, have a seat,” Amadi said, gesturing at the chairs. He looked over at Esther. “We missed you at breakfast, Miss Kelley. I hope you are feeling well?”

  Esther dipped her head and nodded.

  “Well thank you all for joining me for lunch,” he said, addressing them all, “It’s a nice change of pace to entertain visitors.”

  “The pleasure is ours,” replied Joel, as they all took their seats, “Our host has been most gracious to us and we’d again like to thank you for the timely rescue and exceedingly generous care you have given since we’ve come aboard.”

  Amadi waved his hand dismissively, “It is nothing more than honor demands.”

  Two men placed trays of small sandwiches on the table in front of them while two women poured water into cups. Esther was a bit dehydrated from the morning’s activities, so she downed her cup of water quickly and raised it to one of the serving women for more.

  Amadi’s wife turned her head to Esther and spoke in Northern equally as fluent as that of her husband, “So it seems that the dress fit well enough Esther?”

  Esther looked down at her dress, then back to Amadi’s wife. “Yes, ma’am, the dress is wonderful. I understand that you donated it and Chidi’s wife, Nkechi, altered it. Thank you so much!”

  “It was my pleasure, and please, call me Adaeze,” she replied, “I was just happy that you liked it and have put it to such good use already this morning. I saw you with the keobere-osote up in the rigging and it appeared that you were causing them to work hard just to keep up with you.”

  Esther smiled and felt her cheeks heat slightly.

  “Yes,” Amadi said in his booming voice, “I saw that as well and was impressed at not only your agility, but with your knowledge of the rigging. I think you must have left something out of your story last night because I don’t recall you mentioning where you would have gained such first-hand knowledge.”

  Esther gritted her teeth when Amadi used the world ‘story’ to describe her account of events. It made it sound like he was implying that she had just made it up. But then she realized that she was just being sensitive and stomped firmly on her temper.

  “I’m afraid that would be my fault,” said Joel, “After the initial battle, Esther had asked one of the young officers if she could help out. The officer in question was new to the ship and had been asleep when Esther came aboard. He had no idea who she was and, at the time, she was still dressed as a boy. So he sent her to me to help out in the rigging. I knew who she was, but we were severely short-handed at the time, so I put her to work.”

  Amadi laughed at that. “Very good. Well, if you’re interested, Esther, this afternoon Leftananti Ekem will be teaching the midshipmen how to use the sword. Since you saw fit to join their class this morning, perhaps you would like to join them for their lesson’s this afternoon as well?”

  Adaeze turned
to Amadi angrily, a rush of words in Easterner flowing out of her mouth. Esther didn’t think that Amadi was trying to be rude with his suggestion, and in fact, Esther was very pleased by it, especially since she had faced Madrausan’s in combat several times now, and had likely only survived because they had underestimated her along with a good bit of luck. However, his tone of voice and his wording left her feeling a bit marginalized—as if dismissing her womanhood because of her interest and participation with the young men in what were deemed as ‘men’s’ activities in most cultures of the known world. Adaeze had obviously taken it to be rude as well and was scolding her husband. Esther was fine though. She felt like a woman and knew who she was. As long as she got what she wanted, she didn’t really care what Amadi thought of her.

  Amadi, still smiling, said something to his wife in Easterner. She replied with a few abrupt words to which he simply laughed.

  “I’m afraid my wife isn’t too happy with me at the moment and insists I apologize to you, Esther,” said Amadi. “In all sincerity, I meant no offense by my offer and will retract it if you desire.”

  Adaeze glared at him, obviously none too pleased with his ‘apology’, but Esther interjected before she could say something more.

  “No. I would love to continue participating with the koetere-osote in their lessons. I have needed to use those skills quite often of late and would be grateful if you allowed me to participate.”

  Adaeze gave her husband another glare, then turned and nodded her understanding to Esther.

  “Of course,” replied Amadi, “I will have Chidi make the arrangements.”

  “That reminds me,” interjected Mac, “if I may be so bold to ask, I was wondering what role Mr. Chidi serves aboard-ship. He has seen to our every need amazingly, but doesn’t seem to be a regular member of the crew or serving staff.”

  “We don’t typically use titles such as Mr. or Mrs.,” replied Adaeze, “unless they are associated with a military or national political position. You may refer to him simply as Chidi, or, if you want to be very formal, N’okpuru Nochite Chidi, or simply Nochite Chidi. It means ‘ambassador’, although perhaps that is too elevated a term. He serves as the intermediary between our merchant trade house and those that we encounter in foreign lands. In essence, he is our very own ambassador and represents us in every way, with the exception of political policies.”

  “Well then,” said Geoffrey, “he honors us by spending so much of his attention on us.”

  “I think that you’ve already discovered how insightful and intelligent he is,” said Adaeze, “but he and his wife, Nkechi, are also very down to earth people, as well as being very kind. I believe he enjoys spending time with you—especially young Esther here. He’s told me that he finds her very intelligent and soaks up whatever knowledge is placed before her.”

  Esther’s companions chuckled at that. Esther blushed and lowered her eyes.

  Mac leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t forget what Captain Karlsson taught you about learning to accept praise.”

  Esther nodded, her chest constricting with a bit of sadness at the mention of Captain Karlsson’s name. She hoped he had survived and made it to safety.

  CHAPTER 17

  Oluchi

  I think I’ve found something I love as much as books and dancing - Training to use a sword and dagger! I mean, it was almost like dancing in a way with the moves and countermoves—it was just amazing. I plan on…

  An hour later, Esther was walking down the steps of the quarterdeck behind Chidi. They walked over to Leftananti Ekem, who had dropped a bag of wooden swords onto the deck and now stood with the keobere-osote surrounding him, waiting. The sun had grown warm and the keobere-osote had all taken off their yellow jackets, leaving just their boots, yellow leggings, and white shirts. Even still, the heat drew beads of sweat on their dark skin. Esther felt a little envious—her dress didn’t have sections she could remove and the long sleeves and leggings had become a bit stifling. This was the first time she had worn leggings in a dress and she could feel dampness on her legs as the heat drew perspiration. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

  Chidi leaned over to her. Given his towering height, he had to lean quite a ways. “I will leave you to your lesson as I have other duties to attend to, but I will check on you often.” Esther nodded and he turned and walked away.

  “Welcome,” said Ekem in rough Hadiqan, “I haf been told that you will be joining us fo’ our instruction with the sword today. We rely heavily on our warriors for any close boarding actions, but Onya-Ugbo Amadi, like most great leaders, feels that every man should be instructed in the way of the sword so that they may take part if the need arises. Of course, you are not a man…” he trailed off with a shrug.

  Esther heard a few snickers from the keobere-osote. “No curves,” she heard one of them say in clear Hadiqan.

  She flushed at the thought, looking down at her toes. Of course, she knew that’s exactly how the comment was meant to make her feel, since it had been spoken in Hadiqan. The dress that Nkechi had adjusted and given her was rough and totally obscured what curves she had. However, just as she hadn’t let Captain Amadi’s dismissal of her womanhood deter her, neither did she pay further heed to whomever had made the comment. Just because her curves weren’t as noticeable as her friend Charity’s didn’t mean anything. Instead, she turned her attention back to Ekem.

  “Onya-Ugbo Amadi has said that you would be interested in learning more about the sword, so you should find today’s instruction interesting.” Esther nodded graciously, but said nothing. “I know you older keobere-osote know this very well, but can one of the younger ones name the basic angles of attack for me?” asked Leftananti Ekem.

  One of the smaller boys raised his hand and Ekem pointed to him. He started to reply in Easterner, but Ekem stopped him and made him start over in Hadiqan.

  “Horizontal left and right, vertical up and down, diagonal…” said the boy, continuing until he’d named several.

  When Captain Karlsson had taught her some basic skills, she hadn’t really spent much time learning the ‘theory’ behind how to use a sword. He had only taught her some basic footwork and how to hold the sword properly. Now she had the opportunity to learn some of the theory behind what Captain Karlsson had taught her.

  Over the next two hours, the group discussed hand positions, footing, thrusts, parries, riposte’s, feints, counter-feints, and even some advanced topics such as tempo and how body language could signal to your opponent what you are going to do. Finally, after it seemed that they had absorbed all they could, Leftananti Ekem gave them a break. “Alright,” he said, “hurry and go get some water, then come right back. We are going to practice sparring.”

  Esther saw Chidi step off the stairs to the quarterdeck and come walking over to her. “I hope you found the lesson educational?” he asked.

  “Oh, very,” Esther replied, “After I get some water, I’m looking forward to putting some of what I learned into practice.”

  Chidi frowned and looked like he was about to say something, but Leftananti Ekem interrupted. “No. Your lesson is over. It would not be proper for you to fight with the keobere-osote,” the Leftananti said.

  “Why not?” Esther asked, confused, “I spent this morning learning the sextant and the rigging with them, and this afternoon learning the theory behind using the sword. What use is theory if you never get to put into practice?”

  “No one said you could not practice, Esther,” said Chidi, “You should practice on your own. It would just be…awkward for the keobere-osote to practice with you.”

  “No,” Esther said adamantly, “Onya-Ugbo Amadi said I could participate in the lessons and I plan on doing just that. I didn’t sit through the insults just to learn about theory. I have faced Madrausan warriors before and I may again in the future. I need to know how to defend myself properly and I can’t do that if I don’t get to learn how to use the sword properly.”

  “Esther
—” Chidi began, but then he saw the look in her eye and stopped. Sighing, he turned to Leftananti Ekem and nodded.

  “Fine,” said Ekem, obviously unhappy with the situation. He looked her in the eye and continued, “If a foreign girl chooses to participate with my keobere-osote, then she will also have to accept the consequences of any possible injury she may sustain. This is a combat class, not a cooking course.”

  Esther nodded, then bent over and picked up a wooden practice sword from the bag, abandoning her initial intent to get some water for fear they would find some other reason to exclude her. Ekem walked over and reached into the bag, pulling out several sets of gloves. He tossed a pair to Esther. She tucked the wooden sword under her arm, then pulled the gloves on.

  The rest of the keobere-osote finished getting water and returned. They sat there, staring at her, not quite sure what to think.

  “Come on then,” said Leftananti Ekem, gesturing to them, “Get your gloves on and grab a sword.”

  After donning their gloves, Ekem looked around and said, “As you know, our guest was sent by Onya-Ugbo Amadi to study the sword with us. She will continue that study as we practice fighting with the swords. I know some of you may have some reservations, but she has insisted that she continue. Therefore, I need a volunteer to spar with her. If I do not get any volunteers, I will have to—”

  Just then, one of the keobere-osote stepped forward. “I will volunteer,” he said. Esther believed it was the one who had insulted her with the comment about her lack of female maturity earlier.

  “Uh…alright,” said Ekem, “Ikenna will fight. Remember, the first one to score a hit, wins. The match is best out of three.”

  As soon as Leftananti Ekem stepped back, Ikenna launched himself forward, swinging with his left fist, not even bothering to bring his sword up. Esther only had a moment to realize what was happening. She turned her head and threw herself to her left as his fist connected against the right side of her head, sending her sprawling to the ground. Stars flashed in her eyes as she landed. The sheer speed with which Ikenna had launched himself at her, and the anger on his face had stunned Esther even more than the blow. She’d been lucky. If she hadn’t rolled with it, she would have been unconscious. She saw Chidi step forward. His face was furious, but Esther held up a hand, palm out.