Esther's Innocence

by Benjamin Boswell

  “Ah, excellent selections. Those are some very high quality dupatta’s miss, and I think you’ll be very happy with them.”

  Esther had been watching others purchase from the vendors and had gained a general idea of how much the ones she selected should cost. “Yes,” she said, “Nice enough that I will give you two Eastern sigloi’s for the lot.”

  The merchant’s focused had shifted as he stared over her shoulder, seemingly distracted by something in the market square. “Done”, he said, holding out his hand to accept the coins.

  At first, Esther thought that maybe she had made a mistake about how much her selections were worth since he had so readily accepted her initial price, but then she heard a commotion behind her and someone making a lot of noise. She had been so focused on haggling with the merchant that she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. She started to turn to see what was going on when a hand fell on her shoulder, gripping it tightly. Esther’s memory suddenly flashed back to that awful night aboard the Ngozi with Ikenna’s hand clasped over her mouth, shoving her head against the bulkhead. Fear and panic shot through her like a geyser’s sudden eruption and the next thing she knew, she had twisted out of the grasp of whomever had laid hold on her, pulled her dagger out, and had it against the throat of her assailant.

  What she saw next caused the blood to drain from her face and she felt sick to her stomach. Sitting on a horse about ten paces away was a man surrounded by guards. He had a close cropped beard, much like Malachi’s and appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with a loose fitting light colored tunic, trousers, and a golden crown upon his head. He sat staring at her as she held the dagger to the throat of a man in the uniform of an imperial guard. That’s the King!

  Realizing her mistake, Esther immediately released the dagger. It dropped to the ground as she fell to her hands and knees, her eyes staring at the dirt. Several guards drew their swords and come running toward her. I’m going to die, was all she could think.

  “Stop!” she heard the King shout. Esther heard him dismount from his horse and walk over to stand above her. She was so afraid, her arms were shaking. She didn’t dare look up. He bent down and picked up her dagger.

  “Please, stand,” said the King.

  Esther stood, but kept her eyes down, focusing on the toe of his boot.

  “I apologize if my guard startled you,” said the King, “Young women typically don’t respond in that fashion when my guards are clearing the way for me.” When Esther didn’t say anything, he continued, “This is a lovely dagger. Where did you get it?”

  “I…took it from a Madrausan, My Lord,” Esther replied. She had never spoken to a nobleman before, but she was generally aware of how she was supposed to address them.

  Another guard stepped up next to the King and began speaking softly in his ear. Esther was close enough to hear him say, “Sire, we shouldn’t linger. This market is a dangerous place for a King—especially one who insists on visiting on a whim without proper preparations or security in place.”

  Esther felt amused at the guard’s subtle chiding, but kept any hint of a smile from touching her face.

  The King grunted his acknowledgment and handed the dagger back to Esther. The guard who had just spoken stiffened and grip the hilt of his sword.

  “Relax, Jacob,” the King said, placing a hand on the guard’s wrist, “I highly doubt that this chance encounter brought me into contact with a trained assassin.”

  “I will relax, My Lord, when you are a few feet further from a blade in the hands of someone other than your guardsmen. Until then, it is not my job to be relaxed.”

  “So it is,” said the young King with a deferential nod to the guard. Properly chastised, the King glanced at Esther. “If we meet again, I would love to hear how you came to possess such a unique weapon.” He nodded, then stepped over to the merchant and handed him a piece of parchment, “I was passing through the area and decided to bring the order for the rug we had discussed personally.”

  “Yes, milord,” replied the merchant, “I’ll deliver it as soon as it arrives. It should be here in about two weeks.”

  “Very good,” said the King. He turned and walked over to his horse. Just before mounting, he turned to Esther and nodded to her one last time, then climbed up and rode away with his guards surrounding him.

  Esther turned to Nkiru, who stood off to the side, eyes wide in astonishment. “Not a word to the others about this, do you understand?” She said sternly. Nkiru gave an answering nod, eyes still wide with wonder.

  CHAPTER 27

  An Unexpected Guest

  Fate is a funny thing and sometimes you meet the most unlikely of people under the most unlikely of circumstances. I can’t express enough how grateful I was to see…

  “Did you find anything?” Shauri asked after returning from completing her errands. Esther held up the dupatta’s she had purchased. “Oh, those are lovely,” Shauri said, “Did you get them for a good price?”

  “Two Eastern sigloi’s,” Esther said.

  Shauri raised her eyebrows. “I’m impressed. Merchant’s here tend to try and take advantage of people, especially young women. Well, we’d better head back to the house.” Shauri picked up Shadi, placing her on her shoulders again, and led Esther and Nkiru out of the marketplace. If Shauri noticed the strange looks that people were giving them as they walked by, she didn’t say anything about it and they walked back to her neighborhood talking about the sights and wonders of Al Farnaka and what it was like living in the capital.

  As they approached the house, Esther noticed a hooded figure in a dark brown tunic and even darker trousers who stood leaning against the wall next to the door, waiting. Anxious at first, Esther gripped her dagger firmly, but when the figure turned, Esther recognized the face beneath the hood.

  “Marigold!” Esther said, so surprised and taken aback that she couldn’t do anything but stare, open mouthed.

  “Esther!” cried Marigold pushing herself off the wall and running over to wrap her arms around her.

  The baggy shalwar trousers and the dark brown kameez tunic looked good on Marigold, but was so different from the scanty outfits that she usually wore, Esther hardly recognized her friend.

  “How in the world?” Esther managed to say finally, to which Marigold gave a hearty laugh.

  “Esther?” Shauri asked.

  “Oh yes, sorry,” Esther said, turning around, “Shauri, Nkuri, this is my very good friend Marigold Meriwether. She’s also from Tewksbury in Ardmorr. Marigold, this is Shauri Mehin, a dear woman who has graciously taken us in—and this is Nkiru.” Esther reached out and took Nkiru’s hand, squeezing it. “She’s an Easterner who has helped me in ways that no one else could.”

  “Nice to meet you Marigold,” said Shauri, “Why don’t we go inside and you can tell us—how did Esther put it? Ah, I remember now—you can tell us ‘how in the world’ you came to be here.”

  Marigold smiled. “Gladly!” she said, following Shauri into the house.

  “Now why don’t you three sit down while Shadi and I get some water to drink and something to eat for lunch,” said Shauri. She turned to her youngest daughter. “Shadi, could you get some cups out of the cupboard for all of us?”

  “Yep,” said the little girl, then turned and pointed to each of them in turn, counting, “One, two, three, four, and five,” she said, pointing to herself.

  “That’s right, Shadi,” said Shauri, clapping her hands together, “Good girl, now go get five cups and put them on the table, then come back to the kitchen and help me get some lunch.”

  “Yes, mother,” said the young girl and walked over to the dinner buffet cupboard to fetch the cups.

  “Some rum wouldn’t be amiss if you have any,” said Marigold.

  Shauri seemed a little surprised, but nodded and disappeared down the narrow hallway. Esther was a little surprised herself and raised an eyebrow at Marigold, but her friend ignored the questioning look and sat down. Esther sat dow
n next to Marigold and reached over to clasp her hands. “I still can’t believe you’re here,” she said.

  “To tell you the truth, I can’t really believe it either.”

  “But how?” Esther asked as Shadi finished placing the cups on the table and ran down the hall towards the kitchen to help her mother.

  “It’s a bit of a long story,” answered Marigold, “and I think I’d better have something to drink before I try and tell it. I haven’t drank anything since the ship docked this morning and my mouth feels like cotton.” Esther thought about pointing out that drinking anything with alcohol in it would only make her more dehydrated, but held the thought to herself for the moment.

  It didn’t take long for Shauri and Shadi to return with a big pitcher of water, a small jug of rum, and some bread, cheese, and cucumbers. Marigold poured her cup full of rum, then took a long drink before setting it down on the table with a sigh.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Mehin, I needed that very much.”

  “You’re welcome,” Shauri replied, “And please, call me Shauri.”

  “Alright, well, I guess I should start at the beginning,” said Marigold, taking another drink. “After we had finished dancing at the old barn before the Madrausan’s arrived, Tanya and I headed back to the Rosebud. We were talking with Trish and Danielle Michaelson when all of a sudden we heard people yelling. We ran outside to see what was happening and saw the ships attacking the town. People were screaming and yelling, and running in all directions. I don’t know what happened to Tanya—everything was a bit of a blur. I ran back inside the Rosebud with a bunch of other people and we hid in one of the rooms. Knowing the reputation of those from the barbarian kingdoms, I pulled on an old work dress that I found. The Madrausan’s found us and took us outside. They loaded us onto a large platform beneath that huge Madrausan ship,” Marigold started to cry, “Bodies lay on the ground, all around. I saw my dad…”

  Esther’s heart froze.

  “He was lying face down in the grass, his head turned towards me, staring at…nothing. I tried to go to him, but they shoved me back onto the platform and lifted us up into the ship, then put us in cages.” Marigold was sobbing now, the tears flowing freely and Esther wrapped an arm around her friend.

  “I didn’t know what to do,” she sobbed, “I felt so…lost. He was all I had left…” Marigold wiped her tears with her hands. “But then we were rescued by an Ardmorran ship and I heard how a young woman named Esther had escaped the Madrausan’s and sabotaged their ship.” Marigold’s voice was firmer now. “I knew then that I had to find you. However, additional Madrausan ships were sighted and the Ardmorran warship was going to turn and engage them so that we could escape. I felt dreadful because I knew you were onboard that ship and that if I lost you too…” Marigold’s voice faded out as her mind drifted to a future filled with loss that only she could see. Esther noticed a bit of mania in the look in her eyes and felt worry for friend grow within her.

  “Marigold,” said Esther, trying to bring her friend back to the present, “did you see my father?”

  Marigold’s eyes refocused and she nodded. Esther’s heart sank as she braced herself for the worst, expecting to hear that her father’s body had been lying next to Marigold’s.

  “He and the other men who survived the fighting at the town hall were beaten and loaded on the transports as well,” she said.

  Relief flooded through Esther at hearing that her father was still alive. “Do you know what happened to him?”

  Marigold shook her head. “Each of the transport ship’s headed in different directions. He was on one of the other transports.”

  Esther breathed a sigh of relief. There was a good chance that her father was still alive.

  “Port Bergen had been hit hard by the Madrausan’s,” continued Marigold, “but it had held and the remainder of the Southern Fleet had gathered there. Mr. Samuelsson was the lieutenant from the Nautilus assigned to command the captured transport I was on and he and I tried to convince one of the other ship captain’s to go find out what had happened to the Nautilus. Captain Hadrian Wallington of the HMS Halstarr agreed to go search for the Nautilus, but the Admiral in charge at Port Bergen was worried about another Madrausan attack and hadn’t released the Halstarr to go searching until a couple of days later. Captain Wallington tried to force me to stay in Port Bergen, but I stowed away on board.”

  Esther smiled. It seemed that Captain Wallington found it just as difficult to get Marigold to follow directions as her father had.

  “While searching, we saw an Ardmorran fishing boat and stopped to ask them if they had seen anything. They had seen a huge Easterner airship off on the western horizon suddenly drop sail and stop for a while. Later, it set sail again, but on a southwesterly bearing. The fisherman thought they were probably headed toward the Hadiqan coast. Captain Wallington sailed to Deyr, but when you weren’t there anymore and he found out that there were only five of you remaining, he said he couldn’t dedicate his ship to look for you when he was needed back in Ardmorr. I insisted on staying. He tried to force me to go, but I put up enough of a fight and caused enough problems that he finally threw up his hands and left. I met with the town’s Mayor and he told me where I could find you. Fortunately I was able to get a ride on a small coastal runner, those small merchant ships that run up and down the coast. One had arrived in Deyr shortly after I got there and was leaving the next day, moving down the coast heading east towards the Hadiqan port town of Kashpur. From there, I was able to find airship passage using some money that the Mayor in Deyr had given me.”

  “That is an amazing tale of dedication to find your friend,” said Shauri.

  “Now that my father’s dead, she’s all I have left in this world,” said Marigold. Esther squeezed Marigold’s hand. “So what has happened to you?” said Marigold, “The Mayor in Deyr only said that you had come here to prevent something bad from happening.”

  Esther recounted what happened after the Nautilus turned to fight the pursuing Madrausan’s. She didn’t leave out any details. It was difficult to recount what Ikenna had done aboard the Ngozi, but it was becoming easier to face as time went by and she acknowledged what had happened. Shauri had been shocked, since Esther and her companions had left that part out of their narrative the night before, but both she and Marigold were very supportive.

  “Now we’re hoping to come up with a plan to save the King,” Esther stated simply.

  Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Shadi ran to answer it, but paused when Shauri called after her, chiding her for trying to open the door without waiting for an adult. As soon as Shauri made it to the door, Shadi pulled it open and Joel and the others stepped inside.

  “Who’s this?” said Joel as he spotted Marigold sitting at the table.

  “Joel, this is my good friend Marigold Meriwether from Tewksbury. Marigold, this is Joel Mowbray. He was Bosun aboard the Nautilus in charge of the ship’s sails and rigging. This is Geoffrey—I mean, Dr. Scott—the Nautilus’s surgeon.” Esther’s eyes met Geoffrey’s briefly and he flashed her an affectionate smile, too brief for Marigold to notice she hoped. “This is Mr. Mackay Jeffries, the Captain’s steward—”

  “It’s just ‘Mac’ to those who know me, Ms. Meriwether.”

  “And it’s just Marigold, Mac.”

  “This is Oluchi, Nkiru’s brother,” continued Esther, “He is a warrior and was contracted aboard the Ngozi. He’s also my instructor on how to use a sword.”

  Marigold’s eyebrows arched in surprise, “You’re learning to use a sword?”

  “I am,” said Esther, smiling, “After all that has happened, I think it will be a useful skill to learn.” Esther looked around, puzzled. “Where’s Baird?”

  “Well,” said Joel, “We found a place for us to stay. Malachi and Shauri have been most gracious, but I think that there are simply too many of us for us all to stay here. The place we’ve found is a bit run down, but the owner said that if we work at fixing up the plac
e, we can stay rent-free until Lammas. He’s going to provide the materials—we just have to supply some labor and tools. Baird is there trying to get some work done on it. If it’s alright with you, Ms. Shauri, could Esther, Nkiru, and their friend keep staying with you? The rest of us will sleep at the new place we found and would just ask to borrow some blankets and bedding?”

  “Of course, that’s not a problem, and you can take your meals here at the house if you’d like.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Shauri, that is very generous and we most graciously accept.”

  “I also like to stay here,” said Oluchi, “I sleep in front room, if that alright?”

  “Of course, Oluchi,” replied Shauri, “That’s not a problem at all.”

  Joel turned to Esther and Marigold. “So…how did your friend Marigold end up here in Al Farnaka?”

  Esther began to recount how Marigold had found them, but was interrupted when the front door opened and Malachi stepped into the house. He looked awesome in his guardsmen uniform and armor. He glanced around at the room full of people, his eyes coming to settle on Marigold.

  “I think that if many more people show up, we'll have to start stacking them in like cordwood,” he said with a smile.

  “Malachi,” said Shauri, “This is Marigold Meriwether. Marigold, this is my husband Malachi. He’s a guardsman in the palace.”

  “This is great!” said Marigold, “You can have him tell the King what is going on and we can return to Tewksbury.”

  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Esther replied, “The only evidence we have is the word of a foreign sixteen year old young woman who was stranded at sea for three days. They will say I was delirious from lack of food and water, and may have heard or seen anything. The supposed perpetrator is high royalty and the trusted uncle of the King. The only thing approaching the King now would do, is get us laughed out of court and watched by the Uncle, or worse.”