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History of Mardon Castle
Chapter Twelve
Part 3
Terniff had to stop as she noticed the scene ahead. She and Renwyn were moving on horseback through the marsh. While her height upon the animal gave her a slightly good view of the terrain, beyond a limited distance all she could see were plants growing up from a layer of water. The sight of a ship moving in the distance did not appear real at all.
Renwyn rode his horse up just a short distance, then looked back to say, “The ship is going that way, so we should go in that direction to head it off. However, how does the river flow?”
“That is the question that has kept our land free from ship traffic, Renwyn. We are just going to have to be careful.”
Another threat of the curse begins to be challenged.
History of Mardon Castle
Chapter Twelve
Part 3
Terniff had to stop as she noticed the scene ahead. She and Renwyn were moving on horseback through the marsh. While her height upon the animal gave her a slightly good view of the terrain, beyond a limited distance all she could see were plants growing up from a layer of water. The sight of a ship moving in the distance did not appear real at all.
Renwyn rode his horse up just a short distance, then looked back to say, “The ship is going that way, so we should go in that direction to head it off. However, how does the river flow?”
“That is the question that has kept our land free from ship traffic, Renwyn. We are just going to have to be careful.”
Terniff knew that her home of Sekurd appeared as an island made from the surrounding land. Thick walls of stone had been covered in pitch, then covered with another course of stone. The citizens of Sekurd thus lived on dry land, but most worked in the boggy land beyond. Captains bringing their ships to Sekurd only saw the ocean meet a line of plants growing from the water. Just as the sight now before here, there were no clear markers between the end of the depth and the beginning of the land. The captains had to trust that the floor of the ocean near the docks had not been covered in silt.
It was not just concern for the edge of the river channel that caused Terniff to stop, but also the yells from those on the ship. She turned to see the poles being used to assure a proper depth for the vessel now being used to find where the land began. As the sails dropped, a catapult suddenly launched the anchor, but its weight had it fall to the ground almost as soon as it left the machine. As hoped, the heavy piece of metal did not fly into the trees, but plopped into the marshy soil near the shore. While lifting it again would take the strength of a number of men, at least it would not have to be untangled from the foliage. Terniff waved with her husband to those aboard the ship before moving to where a gangplank gave passage upon the vessel.
After welcoming the pair on board, the captain said, “Lady Terniff, you are supposed to have maps for me.”
“I have them, Captain Norlurg, but they are only signs of our viscount keeping his promise. You should know that these maps were drawn after referencing those from Baron Russon. While our scribes tried to assure the accuracy of the historic rivers, we all know that the curse has brought its changes to our land.”
Seeing the mounts being brought below deck, the captain sent a crew to regain the anchor before asking, “Lady Terniff, do you know how far until we meet the group of kevalla that are supposed to crew my vessel?”
“No, but I did read the message from Kaervel saying that they would be met well before you reached Lake Nemistry. If we can go to your cabin, I can show you the maps and we can decide for ourselves about where they should be.”
“And where we should be?”
Terniff smiled as she replied, “Let us go look at these maps together.”
The captain was surprised with the quality of the maps. Terniff gained the impression that he had become familiar with the maps of Baron Russon, which was supported when the captain brought out painted tiles that showed sections of the original maps with corrections scratched over the image. After a lengthy period of simply checking the new maps for accuracy, the captain called in a scribe to begin painting new pieces of clay. He then called in one of his experienced crewmen, showed him the new maps, then told him to assure the quality of notes about the course of the river. Terniff found herself wondering if the actions of the captain would result in some river traffic occurring in the future whether the curse was removed or not.
Allowing the captain to return to overseeing the movement of his vessel, Terniff had Renwyn follow her to where another polished solid door sealed a part of the vessel. While the captain had a fine stateroom, the room behind the door showed some comfort. She moved her saddlebags to a bunk in order to gain some items. As she made use of a chamber pot, she heard Renwyn make a comment.
“We are both big people, Terniff. We might not be able to sleep together tonight.”
“We might not want to sleep in a bed at all. There should be a compartment where some hammocks can be found. Once I am finished, my lord, we should return to the deck and get a feel for how steady the movement will be.”
She heard him opening and closing the drawers to a small desk as he said, “This is strange. I have never been on a ship before.”
“My home is near the ocean, so I have been on a ship a number of times. At least once or twice a year, mother would take me on a trip to Aulerk. Baron Russon is a very conniving person, but he has a very sweet lady as his wife. Father took Zuzolt and I out on a military vessel once, and we confronted a military ship of Henagry, the kingdom to the north. No battle occurred, but Zuzolt and I still found it exciting.”
“Is that where Ellish went?”
“No, Ganfurg is in the kingdom of Ledollid, which is even further north.”
She could tell that he sat in a chair to wait for her as he commented, “That is right. I knew that.” Terniff frowned as her husband then said, “I will probably have you throw the mattresses on the floor. We can spend time together there before sleeping where we can.”
With a tone of being resigned to her fate, she replied, “Yes, my lord.”
Some satisfaction in her husband returned as he then began to ask her about particulars concerning their presence on the ship. She had good memories of spending time on the water, so cheerfully answered his questions. When she had completed her business, Terniff gladly moved with Renwyn back on deck.
She recognized a couple of crewman, and traded comments with them as she worked to help her husband familiarize himself with the vessel. He spoke with the soldiers about working the heavy artillery aboard the ship where maneuvering could affect targeting and the limited space affected the operation. While examining an arbalest, he saw a deer and asked for a projectile to gain some fresh meat. A soldier did turn to grab what appeared to be a hefty javelin even as he asked about how he planned to get the carcass aboard the boat. Renwyn stood and held the missile with a blank expression of not being able to answer the question. Terniff moved to help her husband by claiming a harpoon, which she threw with good distance and accuracy. She handed the rope that had been attached to the weapon to her husband while telling him there was a difference in tools of war and those used to hunt game. The crewman laughed and made comments as the body of the deer was pulled through the marsh to the vessel.
As the body of the animal was cleaned and readied to be sent to the cook, Renwyn looked at the harpoon while asking Terniff about particulars in throwing the weapon. She enjoyed working with him through the steps. While she noticed the other men watching her, it was the attention of Renwyn that she truly desired. Terniff thus looked with alarm showing on her face when she noticed that he was looking elsewhere.
He saw her glance, then pointed up in the air while asking, “How far away do you believe that bird is?”
Realizing at what he was pointing, Terniff answered, “It is very very far away, my lord.”
“It must be a big bird.”
Terniff heard the soldiers and a number of crewmen laugh as she replied, “That is a roc, my lord. It is a very very big bird. If you keep watching, you might catch it returning from the ocean carrying a whale.”
Renwyn had been in the war with Terniff. He had not only dealt with the illusions of the enemy mages, but as someone foreign to the land and foreign to those of Mardon he had to deal with being the object of a number of jokes. She again saw the good traits of her husband as he accepted being a source of humor while seeking to discover the truth.
“I can accept that it is a big bird, Terniff, but can it really pick up a whale?”
She nodded while saying, “A young one. There are a lot of big fish out in the ocean, my lord, and it usually hunts those. I remember being in a tower of my family’s castle and watching as one roc brought a large whale to shore. It had killed it out at sea, but it was much too large to carry. I saw what appeared to be a storm out on the water, but then I saw the massive wings pumping and pumping to power the roc to shore as its talons kept a hold on the whale’s body.”
Renwyn looked at the faces of those around him, then asked his wife, “The people of Sekurd are not afraid of the birds?”
“Oh, people are not even a morsel for a roc. They thus don’t bother us.”
He watched as the sight of the great bird was broken by a nearby tree, then asked, “It is one of those things that the report said Norvichy was going to get.”
“Yes, when things get desperate it is not unusual for somebody to think about attacking a roc. One of those birds will feed all of Mardon.”
“It has happened?”
This time his expression was not of disbelief, but Terniff smiled feeling that her husband simply wanted to continue talking with her. “Oh, yes, especially after a report of one of the birds attacking a ship. Like I said, we are too small to satisfy the appetite of a roc, so it attacking one of our ships is an act of stupidity. We hunt the big fish as well, but there is plenty for us and the rocs. If one of the great birds cannot understand that, then we go to remove it from its nest and put it in our stewpots.”
“What chance do you believe Norvichy has?”
“I really don’t know, but by the end of the war he and Kaervel were doing some fantastic things.”
Renwyn wrapped his arms around his wife as he said, “By the end of the war we were all doing some fantastic things. If Norvichy does succeed in capturing one of those great birds, I want us to go see that animal up close.”
“I don’t see why not, my lord. If I didn’t want to do fantastic things with you, I would not have married you.”
Terniff liked the fact that his hands did not move to certain parts of her body, but simply tightened their hold upon her as he said, “I simply married you because I loved you, but hearing you say things like that makes me love you even more.”
Kevalla join the crew in the next installment.
Posted by TerishD on Tuesday, January 05, 2010 (12:25:47) (70 reads)
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