“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Joel.
“It is the way of life sometimes.” He shrugged, a tinge of sadness in his eyes. Then he sat up straighter and slapped his knee. “But let’s not talk about that. Now that I’ve gotten to know each of you a little better, I’m anxious to hear about how you came to my beautiful village.”
Joel looked over at Esther and said, “Well, this whole journey began when the Madrausan’s raided southern Ardmorr. I think Esther would tell it best as she experienced the initial results of that raid firsthand.”
The Satrap turned to Esther and listened intently as she recited all that she had experienced, starting with the night of the raid on Tewksbury. No one interrupted her as she told her tale, concluding with their arrival at Deyr. She left out the part about Ikenna. “Now we’re hoping to pass on the information about the plot to assassinate your King so that you can warn him about it. We’re afraid of what the outcome of the coming war will be if he’s killed.”
The Satrap nodded. “I agree that war is coming,” he said. “I’ve heard tales of this new Madrausan Emperor who somehow united the barbarian kingdoms. No one knows how he did it, and all of Hadiq is holding its breath to see what he will do next—but the part about the King’s uncle being in league with the Madrausan’s to assassinate the King?” The Satrap shook his head. “That seems highly unlikely. No Hadiqan would collude with a Madrausan.”
“Actually, sir,” said Esther, voicing her own thoughts on the assassination plot for the first time, “I don’t think that the uncle is in league with the Madrausan’s. I think that the Madrausan’s have manipulated him into making this move to try and place himself on the Hadiqan throne and take power for himself. I agree that I think it highly unlikely the Uncle would ally himself with Hadiq’s mortal enemy, but if he were manipulated to do so…”
The Satrap sat back, stroking his beard. “If your tale is true,” he said, “that would be terrible indeed. Do you have any other evidence of the Uncle's treachery? Some correspondence perhaps?"
“No,” Esther said, her eyes dropping to the floor.
“Then it will be very difficult indeed.” He paused for a moment. “I believe what you are saying, but without further proof, your cause is futile. I am a Satrap of a lowly fishing village. My endorsement wouldn’t mean anything—and even if it did, without further proof, it would only ruin me.”
Esther’s heart sank, and, as she looked around, she could see everyone else’s hopes deflate as well.
“I must say, Esther, that you remind me an awfully lot someone…” the Satrap remarked. Esther was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic, “When I was a boy and my parents visited their cousins in Al Farnaka, I would play with my second cousins. One of the girls and I would play all day long together. She and I got along very well. It was a delightful, innocent time. You remind me a lot of her. It’s been so long, I don’t even recall her name.”
Sensing there was more to the story, Esther asked, “What happened to her, Satrap?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t rightly know. Her father—my mother’s brother—was a scholar who studied Western culture and history. He took his family and emigrated to the Kamakuran Empire in the west a long time ago. I haven’t seen them since. However, I didn’t bring that up to simply reminisce. Something came to my mind when I noticed how much you reminded me of her. I have another cousin, Malachi, who lives in Al Farnaka and is a guard in the King’s palace. If you pointed him in the right direction, he might be able to find out more, or perhaps dig up additional evidence.”
“Oh no,” said Joel, shaking his head, “We’re not going to Al Farnaka. We need to get back to Ardmorr. He’s your King. We’ve delivered our message. It’s time for us to get back to our own Kingdom.”
The Satrap looked at them sadly. “It’s not quite that simple,” he said. “Even if Malachi is able to unearth additional evidence, unless the King’s uncle is caught in the act, then Esther’s testimony about what the Madrausan High Priest said will be needed. And a written document wouldn’t be enough. Without her actual presence as a witness, it wouldn’t mean anything. I’m afraid that if you really believe the King is in danger, and if you are truly serious about thwarting an assassination attempt by his Uncle, then you Esther, at the very least, will need to travel to Al Farnaka.”
CHAPTER 21
The Beach
My initial words to Geoffrey upon first meeting him were said in anger. Now I feel like he’s a good friend. Throughout all of this, I have found good friends who have been so kind and helpful to me. If anything will get me through this, it will be them. I firmly believe that they were put in my path for this reason. I hope my friends back home are alright, and those that were captured on the transports were able to make it back to their loved ones safely…
With the obvious exception of Oluchi and Nkiru, Esther could see that her companions were a bit melancholy at the thought of not being able to return to Ardmorr immediately. Esther herself didn’t know how she felt about it. On the one hand, she missed her family very much and desperately wanted to find out if her father had survived and made it back to her mother and siblings. On the other, she had this driving urge pushing her from within to do what she had to do to save the Hadiqan King and prevent Madraus from disabling the only ally powerful enough to come to Ardmorr’s aid. The opening salvo of the war which would follow the King’s assassination would likely be the death knell of Ardmorr. With the raid on southern Ardmorr, Rodheim and the other Northern Kingdoms were likely being mobilized even now, but it had been ninety years since they had been involved in a large conflict and Esther didn’t believe that they were prepared to withstand the onslaught that Madraus could unleash.
The Satrap had told them about an additional complication as well. There were no airships scheduled to touch down in Deyr for another month. The last one had come and gone just a few days prior to their arrival. Even if they simply wanted to head back to Ardmorr, they’d have to cross a significant portion of the desert to the south in order to reach a settlement sizable enough to support frequent airship travel. That news had only contributed to the group’s depression.
As the dinner concluded, the Satrap made a suggestion that they walk down to the beach. He said it was a beautiful sight to see, especially when the sun was setting. Needing something to lift their spirits, they readily agreed. The Satrap led them to the head of a path and told them to follow it and it would take them straight to the beach.
The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon as they followed the path northwest around the dunes and an outcropping of sand colored rock. The path dipped down onto a beautiful sandy beach and the sound of the ocean waves washing against the sandy shore was like a balm to Esther’s troubled soul, seeming to leach her emotional pain away. She knew it was going to take a long time to recover fully from what had happened onboard the Ngozi—if she ever did—and she begrudged how weak it made her feel and the time needed.
A cool evening breeze came off the ocean, bringing a pleasant, salty smell with it. The temperatures were starting to fall and though still warm, the sudden change raised gooseflesh on her arms. Esther pulled her sleeves back down. Earlier, she had removed her leggings so that might also account for her sudden chill. She had been so warm all day that even these mild temperature drops caused her to feel a bit chilly.
“It really is a beautiful sight, don’t you think?” asked Geoffrey, walking up to stand next to her and stare out across the ocean at the red, orange, yellow, and purple colors spread across the clouds as the sun set in the west.
“Yes,” she said, “It really is.”
Farther down the beach, Esther could see waves crashing against an outcropping of rock. Geoffrey must have just noticed as well. “I think I’m going to go take a closer look at that rocky outcropping over there,” he said, pointing, “Would you like to walk with me?”
“Yes, but I want to take off my boots first and walk along the water.”
“Good idea,” said Geoffrey, “I think I’ll do the same.”
Esther sat down and unlaced her boots, taking them off.
“Ready?” asked Geoffrey when they finished.
Esther nodded and stood, boots in hand. She walked down to the water washing up onto the sand until the waves covered her feet to her ankles. The bottom of her dress was getting wet, but she didn’t care. The squishy sand between her toes and the salty water running over her feet felt divine.
Esther took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out. It was a nice evening to be strolling along such a beautiful beach. She had been to the beach on the eastern coast of Ardmorr a couple of times when she was younger, but that area had been dominated by rocky cliffs without nice sandy beaches such as this.
Geoffrey stepped up next to her, his feet making a splashing sound in the water. He looked over at her with a smile, then they turned to the west and started walking towards the rocks. Looking back, Esther saw the others enjoying themselves as well. Baird was lying down on his back, staring up into the sky and Nkiru and Oluchi had sat down and were talking together.
“So how are you doing?” Geoffrey asked.
Esther could hear the concern in his voice and knew he meant to ask a much deeper question, but was hesitant to do so. “Are you asking as a doctor, or a friend?” she said, turning to look at him, squinting at the sun.
“Both?”
She smiled, “I’m doing all right.” She looked straight ahead again. “But I really don’t want to talk about any of that right now. I just want to enjoy this moment. The sounds, the smells, the sights, the taste.”
“The taste?” Geoffrey said, looking puzzled.
Esther smiled again, “Yes, can’t you taste the salt in the air?”
Geoffrey looked thoughtful as he sampled the air, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Esther laughed. The look on his face was hilarious.
“Hm, yes, I guess I can,” he said, “I never really thought about it before.”
“And of course, the Touch,” she said, “I’m sure you can feel the sand squish between your toes, can’t you?” she teased.
“Well yes, I can definitely feel that.”
“I just wanted to make sure, because if a person can’t taste the salt in the air, or feel the sand between his toes when he’s standing on a beach, he might have a medical condition. I know this really good doctor I could refer you to, if you’d like,” she said, trying to keep a straight face.
“Ah, I see you have a sharp wit as well,” said the doctor.
“Not so sharp most of the time. Lucky for me, any offense that I give can be attributed to my youth.”
Geoffrey smiled, then sobered somewhat and asked, “And how old are you, Esther Kelley?”
“Sixteen,” she replied, then quickly added, “I’ll be seventeen in December.”
“You act like you’re older than that,” said Geoffrey. He seemed a little disappointed.
Esther shrugged, not knowing what else to say. She felt her heart constrict, though she didn’t really understand why. She had come to find that she liked the young doctor, but even though she’d be marrying age in December, there was still a significant age difference between them. It was a childish fantasy for her to think that he might be interested in her, romantically speaking. We can still be friends though, she told herself. That thought helped lift her spirits a little. He was fun to be around and very knowledgeable in the field of medicine. She could learn a lot from him.
“You look young to be a doctor,” she said at last. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty two next week.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! We can all celebrate your birthday together!”
“Yeah, depending on where we are by then,” said Geoffrey with a shrug. They walked along in silence for a moment.
“So how long were you aboard the Nautilus?” asked Esther.
“Only about four months,” said Geoffrey, “I’ve known pretty much all my life that I wanted to be a doctor, but like I said before, my family is not wealthy. My father is a simple tailor in Lancaster and doesn’t make a lot of money. He would never have been able to pay for my education. As part of my navy scholarship, I am committed to provide my services to them for six years after I finished school. I’m in my first of those six years.”
“And do you like it?”
“I like being a doctor—and I like making a difference. The Navy is alright.” He paused for a moment, then asked, “So what about you? I’ve heard many times about how you came to be aboard the Nautilus, but what was life like for you before the raid on your village?”
“Slow…but a lot of hard work,” Esther replied, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear that the faint breeze had blown into her face. “I’m the oldest of eight children and the daughter of a farmer. I spent most of my time helping my mother with my siblings, or sewing, cooking, mending, and the daily activities of helping my father on the farm.”
“And this was your adoptive father?”
“Yes,” said Esther.
“And you know nothing of your birth father?”
Esther shook her head. “My mother doesn’t like to talk about it. I don’t really know what happened other than that he died before my mother arrived in Ardmorr. I don’t even know where she came from, though most people I’ve talked to suspect she was Hadiqan, given her physical appearance.”
“Wow. It must have been pretty traumatizing for her if she still hasn’t talked to you about it after all these years.”
Esther shrugged.
“So when you did do something for fun, what did you do?” Geoffrey asked.
“Well, I love to read and learn all I can, so I spent most of my free time reading anything I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, Tewksbury was not very big and didn’t have a lot to choose from. When I wasn’t reading, then I was dancing.”
“Oh yes, of course,” said Geoffrey, “I was going to ask you about your dancing. You were just amazing when I saw you dance. You were so graceful—you made it look easy.”
“Thank you.”
“I went to a formal dance once while I was studying in Lancaster,” Geoffrey said, “I got up the nerve to ask the prettiest girl in the room to dance with me. I didn’t know at the time that she was the Duke of Whitehall’s daughter.” Geoffrey laughed. “She was very gracious and agreed to dance with me though. Halfway through, I tripped over my own feet and fell flat on my face.”
Esther covered her mouth as she laughed. “Oh you poor thing,” she said, a pained expression on her face.
“Yes, well, I was never meant to become nobility anyway,” said Geoffrey, smiling. “Now you must tell me something funny about yourself, given that I shared one of my most embarrassing moments.”
“Hmm, well…does reading a lot of books count?” she asked.
“Uh, no,” Geoffrey replied, shaking his head.
Esther thought for a moment. “Well, I’ve never been very good with politics, or people in general,” Esther said, “and I was worse when I was nine years old. I once asked the Mayor of Worchester’s wife if she had ever had any problems with mice. When she asked me what I meant, I clarified by asking her if she had ever found any mice nests in her hair since it was so big.”
“No, you didn’t!” said Geoffrey.
“Yes,” said Esther, nodding her head up and down, “I did. My mother was mortified.”
Geoffrey laughed, “I bet she was.”
After walking a bit further, Geoffrey suddenly stooped down and picked up something off the sand. He held out his hand to her.
“Here,” he said, “These are supposed to bring good luck.”
A small, elongated, conical, cork-screw shaped sea shell about the size of her thumb sat on the palm of his hand. It was mostly a cream color and slightly iridescent with light brown spirals and purple on one end.
Touched by the gesture, Esther reached out and took the small shell, “Why thank you, Geof
frey. It’s very pretty.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But how do you know that they bring good luck?” asked Esther, “Have you been to Hadiq or seen these types of shells before?”
“No,” said the doctor, “but I want it to bring you good luck, so now it will.”
“Oh, really,” said Esther with a smile, “And do you usually get what you want, Mr. Scott?”
“Sometimes.”
“And what is it you want?” asked Esther.
“You mean besides that seashell granting good luck?” he asked and Esther nodded. He paused a moment, then said, “To walk here along this beach with you.”
Esther felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She hoped his comments weren’t out of pity for what had happened to her onboard the Ngozi, or simply his attempt at being her therapist.
They had reached the outcropping of rock and the waves crashed wondrously against the rocks, throwing up big sprays of salty water. Regardless of his motivations, it was nice to have someone to talk to, and she gave him a heartfelt smile as they watched the sun set through the spray of the ocean waves. The comfort and peace of this evening stood in stark contrast to her memories and pain of the other fateful night on the Ngozi. She still felt unsettled and gripped her dagger fiercely, but this evening made her think that perhaps, eventually, she would be able to overcome her fears and fill her heart with pleasant moments like this instead.
- - -
After the sun had set, they hadn’t stayed on the beach very long. They didn’t want to have to try and find their way back up the rocky path in complete darkness. Esther followed Geoffrey and the others back to the Satrap’s home. She was glad that they had decided to heed the Satrap’s advice and go down to the beach. It had been very beautiful and well worth the time.
The Satrap greeted them as they came walking up the trail. “I hope you all found the beach as pleasant as I had described it to be?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” said Esther, “Very much so. And look…Geoffrey even found a souvenir.” She held out the small conical shaped seashell in the palm of her hand so the Satrap could see it.
Esther's Innocence Page 24