The carriage arrived at the docks with little fanfare the only person on the docks to see them off was the palace chamberlain and the dockmaster.
Dismounting from the carriage Grego watched as Geoffrey offered Mal a hand in dismounting, he quickly got out the other side to offer Cari a hand only to see her stepping out behind her lady, none the wiser to his offer.
“Ah Baron and Baroness Swan, I thought I would come down and make sure everything was ready for your departure,” he said with a slight incline of his head, “The dockmaster says that besides yourself only three other vessels are departing today and that your ship has reported that they are only waiting on yourselves.”
“Thank you, my Lord Chamberlain, we are indeed all ready to sail my thanks to you and the dockmaster,” replied Geoffrey gesturing for Mal to proceed down the quay towards his ship.
“My Lord Chamberlain, it was nice to see you again.” Replied Mal with a small curtsy.
As they got past the first ship Mal realised that she didn’t know anything about Geoffrey’s ship. Looking down the quay at the line of ships she didn’t feel as sure of her destination anymore. Smiling Geoffrey took her arm in his and led them along the quay.
Eventually, he gestured to a triple masted ship near the end, “My Lady, may I introduce you to The Golden Eagle our home away from home.”
“She looks lovely,” replied Mal not certain what to say about the ship. When they approached the gangplank, Grego was pleased to see a handrail that spanned the distance to the ship that rocked gently against the dock.
When they got to the deck of the ship all of the crew were lined up including the guards that Lord Marshall Deville had ordered to company Mal. At the end of the line was a pinched nose man with beady eyes, who had been busy lining the men up, he wore a wide-brimmed black hat with a feather in it, a loose shirt and some brigga.
“Jenkins?”
“Captain, the men are assembled and wish to offer a blessing on your union,” he replied.
His serious expression softened and pulling a small whistle from his pocket. He blew one long note which caused the men to cheer loudly.
Stepping forward each man offered Geoffrey his hand, which Geoffrey shook before releasing each man then came over and bobbed their heads to Mal and muttered “My Lady,”
Once everyone had presented themselves to the couple, Geoffrey spoke up, “This is Jenkins, my first mate, Jenkins just let me show my wife, her maid and Lord Grego to their cabins while you cast off I will be out shortly.”
“Yes, Captain, you will find all their belongings already in their rooms,” said Jenkins before turning to the crew, “Guards below, the rest of you prepare to set sail.”
Geoffrey led Mal, Grego and Cari below as the crew scrambled to follow the orders of the first mate.
A pair of double doors lead from the deck into a small corridor, that contains a door in front of them and a set of stairs that led down. Opening the doors in front they entered a large cabin a desk sat on one corner bolted to the floor along with some chairs also bolted to the floor. The whole back window had a long cushioned seat along the back and the windows flung open to let as much air into the cabin as possible. A large bed occupied one corner of the room.
“Mal this is our room, Cari and Grego there are three small cabins on the floor below. One for Jenkins my first mate and the other two for you.
As they headed to the stairs grego grabbed the wall to steady himself as the ship started to move out onto the harbour. Geoffrey watched as his face paled and turned a little green.
“Come sit here a moment,” said Geoffrey leading a non-protesting Grego over to one of the window seats. Walking over to a small green bush that grew in the corner of the cabin. He pulled a couple of leaves off and started rubbing them between his hands, then pulling his belt knife he started to chop up the small leaves. Eventually, when he deemed that they were fine enough he scraped the mushed leaves into a goblet and added some water.
“Drink all of this, its as bitter as hell but will make you feel better soon,” he said handing the goblet to Grego who looked at it for a moment before closing his eyes and downing the drink in one quick motion.
“By the gods that has to be the most awful thing I've ever drunk,” he spluttered.
“What plant is that?” asked Mal.
“Its called Sailors Hell, it settles the sea sickness but tastes horrible,” responded Geoffrey slapping Grego on the shoulder, “soon, you might prefer the seasickness,” he finished with a laugh.
—
The ship shook violently as the wind and rain lashed the deck. One moment the ship was on the crest of a wave as high as a mountain the next in the deepest valley. They had been at sea for a month and it had been three days since the storm had rolled over them. Two crew had been swept overboard before they had been able to tie ropes and nets across the deck for them to grab onto if another freak wave swept over them.
They had battled mercilessly for three full days, little sleep and no warm food. When the storm finally broke it was over as quick as it started. With a sigh of relief, Geoffrey ordered the crew to report on the status of the ship.
Soon the crew were scrambling around the ship surveying everything. It turned out most of the food was destroyed by the saltwater. The cargo area had several yards of water in it. After several hours of passing buckets, they had most of the water out and found that a seam had sprung a leak. A tar smeared wadding was soon hammered into the leak and as the water touched it, it hardened and sealed the leak.
Mal sat down on a small cask beside Geoffrey tar smeared across her cheek and hands. Rubbing the sweat from her brow with the back of a semi-clean hand she smiled at him, ”So much for a boring trip,” she said elbowing him lightly in the ribs.
Geoffrey laughed ”Only the best for you, my love” he replied nudging her back.
Over the last month, Mal had gotten to know her new husband. She had made a good choice, he was a decent man and he treated all of his crew like family.
As they sat exhausted in the early evening sun, Mal noticed that more and more of the crew would walk past the two of them, and when she caught their eye they would nod to her.
Seeing the look on her face Geoffrey spoke up, “They see you as a sailor now, a full member of the crew not a simple passenger. A captain that treats his crew badly ends up with a bad crew that will abandon them when needed most. I know these men would stand beside me in the roughest sea and, I them. They saw you in the heart of the storm working with them and not a soft lady hiding in your cabin but a true sailor, you earned their respect, although it would be more fitting to describe it as. If I am their father, then you are their mother,” he finished kissing her lightly on the forehead.
As they spoke Cari appeared Mal hadn’t seen much of her in the last three days, she had kept watch over Grego, whose sea sickness had been debilitating for him even the sailors' hell potion had stopped working. Cari had looked after him while everyone else had battled the storm.
“How’s Grego?” asked Mal and Geoffrey at the same time.
“Sleeping now that the sea is finally calm”
“Cari, you have my thanks for watching out for him you,” replied Mal,
Seeing the tiredness on her face she continued, “Cari, you looked exhausted, go and sleep for a few hours,” replied Mal.
“You too my love,” interrupted Geoffrey,
Mal’s head whipped around, “No, there is much to do.”
“There is but everyone is tired the storm has passed and it is time for everyone to rest only a skeleton crew will be awake for the next couple of hours. As soon as the cook can make some food most of the crew will be asleep,” replied Geoffrey.
Nodding to a group of the crew that were sitting down by the rail of the ship. Mal could see a few heads bobbing or already asleep. She didn’t realise how tired she was until Cari’s hands gently persuaded her to rise.
“I’ll see her to bed first my Lord,” murmured Cari as she led Mal off to her cabin.
—
Mal woke to the early morning sun streaming in through the window of the cabin. A gentle breeze billowed in and around the cabin. Rising she dressed in her breaches and jacket that would give her free movement around the ship. Pulling a latch on the front of a tall cabinet she lowered the door to reveal a porcelain sink with two taps. Pulling on the cold tap she filled the bowl of the sink with a small amount of freshwater and washed most of the grime from her face before drying her face and closing the door of the cabinet again. Reaching down she opened two small doors and pulled out a bucket that contained the wash water, grabbing it she headed to the deck to throw it overboard.
As she arrived on deck, men were scurrying everywhere. One saw her carrying the bucket and came over, “Here Mam, let me get that for you,” he said, before grabbing it and throwing the contents overboard.
Striding forward to where Geoffrey stood with several members of the crew. The shifting of their attention from Geoffrey to her by the crew alerted Geoffrey to her presence. With slight nods to her, the crew went about their allotted tasks.
“How much damage did we take in the storm?” She asked as he turned to face her. She loved the way that his lips would curl up at the ends when he noticed her and that his smile shone brightly from his eyes at the same time, not in a fake way but in the most natural way possible.
“Not much as luck was on our side, we didn’t have a full cargo or we would have faired much worse as it is a lot of that cargo and supplies were ruined. How are you feeling this afternoon?” he replied.
“Afternoon? Just how long was I asleep.” she exclaimed, looking around for something to do.
“Don’t worry about it enough of the crew is awake, any that aren’t awake will be let sleep and take a later shift. It will take several days to get over the storm, not just from the damage but the physical toll it takes on people,” he replied, wrapping her in his strong arms.
She let herself relax into the embrace for a moment before breaking contact, “I am sorry for the two crew you lost. They were nice to me from the start.”
“Their families will be looked after when we return, they were good men, dependable, such a tragic loss to the crew.” The sadness in his voice spoke of the close bond he had with his crew. Nodding towards the doors behind “Look who’s finally up and about.”
Turning Mal’s face split into a grin as she saw her cousin Grego walking towards them,
“How fares you Grego?” and then she noticed a large black bruise on Cari’s face she finished, “Cari, what happened your face?”
“Better now, Mal, thanks to the Lady Cari” responded Grego.
Mal noticed that Cari, had stopped arguing with Grego about being a lady, Secretly she was amused that Grego had gotten the better of her.
“My Lord is too kind,” she replied “Half the time I was just trying to stop from falling over,” she finished gesturing to the large bruise on the side of her face.
“In my incapacitated state all I could do was watch helplessly,” replied Grego giving her hand a light squeeze.
Mal noticed that as the crew went past they would nod towards Grego, While he had been incapacitated and unable to help during the storm he had been on deck when the storm had swept over them, he was the reason the crew were only mourning two members and not three members of the crew. He had caught the arm of young Josh the youngest member of the crew and dragged him back on to the deck before the rest of the crew had been able to get over and help get both him and Josh to the safety of the cabin.
Most of the crew spent the day mending holes in the sails. Once the repaired sails were hoisted up into the rigging and unfurled the wind caught the sails and the ship gave a small lurch forwards.
“Which direction do we go, Captain,” asked the first mate.
“I checked our position last night by the stars, we are probably only a few days away from Prila,” replied Geoffrey pointing to the map spread across the desk in front of him, Mal and the first mate, seeing the look of confusion on Mal’s face he continued, “It’s a small island kingdom in the middle of the Ariean Sea, we should be able to get fresh supplies there,”
In the end, it took nearly a week after the storm had passed they were left with only a slight breeze, which was barely strong enough to move them with the reduced sail coverage.
—
As they approached the island of Prila, they sailed along the tall cliffs.
“They say that Once you see Prila, you will never want to leave, Mam,” said one of the sailors who was busy at a task near to Mal and Cari as they stood watching the bleach white cliffs as they passed, “Just wait until we enter the bay, Mam.”
As the Golden Eagle sailed into the bay, Mal’s breath was taken away from her as the steep cliffs dropped down to the edge of the water. hundred’s of buildings seemed to be built almost one on top of the other. Each building was painted a bright colour and in the bright sunshine, they seemed to glow.
The sailor that had spoken to them an hour before walked past and seeing the looks on their faces spoke with a light chuckle “Told you so,”
Docking at Prila went smoothly a harbour pilot had sailed out to meet them and when he had boarded gave quick concise instructions of where to dock before disembarking and letting the first mate dock the ship without much fuss or interference that Mal had experienced on other journeys.
There was only one other ship in the harbour so they were all soon on the pier, Grego let out a satisfied sigh when his feet were at last on the solid stone pier.
“Captain, If you will excuse me, I will take a couple of the boys and get the supplies in that we need,” bade the first mate before calling out to two of the men and proceeding up the pier towards the city.
Geoffrey gestured along the pier, with a smile Mal took his arm and they headed up the pier to the city.
“It’s so beautiful!” Exclaimed Mal looking at all of the wondrously coloured buildings. “Where should we go first?” The eagerness in her voice betraying the excitement she felt.
“My Lady, we should see if there is a seamstress here. A couple of your dresses were destroyed in the hold.” Interjected Cari, always thinking of her mistresses needs.
“Blah, to those dresses” replied Mal as they approached the first building she saw a long grey coat in the window, it looked like it would keep the weather off and allow freedom of movement, “In here,” she pleaded with Geoffrey.
“Whatever you wish my love,” leading her up the steps and into the shop.
The tutting of Cari quietly in the background brought a smile to Mal’s face. She truly did love Cari and felt she was more a friend than a servant if she could just make her see that to everything would be perfect.
As they entered the shop a bell chimed to announce their presence to the owner, who was busy in one of his account books on hearing the chime of the bell he wiped the stylist he had been writing with and stood up.
“Ah welcome to my humble store, My name is Nate, how may I be of service Captain?”
“My wife here is quite taken by the coat in the window,” replied Geoffrey pointing to Mal with a wave of his hand.
“A lovely coat, Mam, I made it for the Captain of a Merchant ship, Alas word had only recently arrived that his ship was boarded by pirates and he was killed in the battle. Hence why I have just this morning put it in the window to try and recoup some small amount for the time and the quality of the material,” he said as he proceeded to take the coat off the stand and lay it across the table in front of Mal and Geoffrey.
“I’m afraid that I would not have enough material to extend it to fit your husband, it was quite expensive you see,” he apologised.
“Actually, it’s for me, I’m looking for a coat that will allow me the freedom of movement, for using a sword or a bow,” replied Mal, “May, I try it on?”
Nodding Nate lifted the coat and came round to Mal holding it up Mal proceeded to put the coat on, it was too big by a couple of sizes.
“Don’t worry about the fit, Mam, I can take the coat in and shorten it a bit for you as well, for a small additional fee,” said Nate reassuringly, “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” replied Mal something about the coat felt right and the sword at her hip didn’t feel restricted by the material. Moving her arms and pretending to draw a bow, Mal realised that the cut of the material lent itself to the comfortableness she felt.
“Excellent, If I could ask you to just stand on this stood for a moment then I will make some measurements,” replied Nate pulling a small stool over for Mal.”
As Mal stood on the stool Nate took a string with a series of knots on it and proceeded to take measurements never once writing down the measurements he took but storing them in his memory.
“Almost finished mam, if I could ask you to pretend to draw a bow please.” When Mal did this he took more measurements of her shoulders and arms in the position.
“And, now of retrieving an arrow from a quiver, please?”
Again Mal complied with his request.
“Thank you, now off the stool please and draw your sword,” he asked when she complied he continued “and thrust, then parry,”
He barked out a series of orders all the while watching Mal every closely. “Thank you, Mam, that should be enough, when would you like your coat completed for?”
When Mal turned to Geoffrey, he smiled, “We sail on the evening tide”.
“You understand that is a tall order Captain, I have several other orders to complete this very day. I suppose that I could delay one or two of them if the price is right?”
“How much?” asked Geoffrey.
“It is made from, Jaderian wool, very expensive to buy, when woven into material like this, it is almost waterproof and highly sought after by ship captains and merchants who are out in all weather. It is an expensive coat already and with the time limit for the modifications, I would have to say ten gold sovereigns,” replied Nate absently licking his lips.
“Ten! Think of this how long will it be until you find someone else that would fit in the coat. You said yourself you had no additional material to widen the coat, six sovereigns,”
The two haggled for ten minutes until they agreed on a price of eight sovereigns and two silver marks.
“A pleasure Captain doing business with you,” replied Nate as he took the money from Geoffrey and scooped up the coat, “I will have this ready in four hours if you could come back for a final fitting then please.”
“We will and my thanks,” replied Mal.
“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m hungry let's go see if there is an inn with a bard and have some lunch. We have four hours to kill after all,” said Geoffrey offering his wife his arm and leaving the store.
—
They had found an inn with a picture of a harp swinging outside that looked promising, the outside of the inn was well tended with white walls and blue window frames. As they entered they were met with the sight of a lamb slowly roasting on a spit over the fire at the back of the room. A small girl was basting the lamb while a woman spoke to a man behind the bar.
“It’s ready, Cook,” said the small girl that was basting the lamb with a ladle,
Turning her attention to the girl the woman saw the group enter the room and nudging the man beside her said, “Customers, Frank”
“Welcome to the Bards Retreat,” said the man called Frank wiping his hands on the apron at his waist, “What’s your pleasure, food, drink or entertainment? We can supply all three.”
“Wine, Some of that Lamb and some entertainment for four,” replied Geoffrey.
“Excellent, Journeyman Dors has arrived not three weeks gone and has been filling the inn with all of the latest tales. I’ll let him know we have some customers and I am sure he will be right down,” replied Frank leading them to a table by the window that would allow them to watch the world go by as they waited on their food and entertainment.
As he walked back to the bar he spoke to the young girl, “Cassie love, get four portions of that lamb for our guests, while I get some wine for them.”
“Yes, father,” responded the girl as she expertly cut portions from the lamb.
Soon the table was full of food from tubers to vegetables that Mal had never seen before. The smells of food making everyone's mouths water, they got stuck in and didn’t notice the Bard until he started to play the Ballad of the mountain Princess.
Mal stopped eating as the ballad started, Geoffrey seeing this waved to the bard and asked for another song. Bowing lightly the bard struck up another song that soon had everyone at the table smiling and tapping their feet. Mal silently worded “Thanks” to Geoffrey while squeezing his hand. More and more she realised that she had made the best decision in marring this man. Silently she said a prayer to the God Hasder wishing that Geoffrey was the father of her unborn child instead of Prince Salistar.
They listened on for several hours the bard happily sang songs, Mal sat watching the Bard, resting her back against her husband his strong arm around her shoulders and his fingers gently caressing her shoulder.
Stifling a yawn, Geoffrey kissed his wife on the head and announced “We need to be getting back my love,”
Paying the serving girl they headed down towards the pier and to Nates shop, entering the shop the chime of the door had Nate look up from where he was working.
Seeing the group, “Nearly finished, just a moment, please” he said finishing the last of his stitching and cutting the thread with a pair of silver scissors.
Standing he held up the coat, the size difference was noticeable, Mal worried that he had taken too much off but stepped up onto the stool when Nate gestured to it.
When Mal put the coat on she was glad to feel that a majority of the weight had been reduced without losing any of the comforts.
Coming back to the room Mal realised that Nate had been speaking quickly trying to remember what he had said, she realised he had been asking her impression of the coat.
“It’s wonderful, thank you it feels so light and flexible,” replied Mal.
“You are most welcome, Mam” replied Nate.