Weese looked shocked, but a little glimmer of triumph shone in her eyes. The rest of the women were aghast. Nira’s hand shook with adrenaline as she reached into her blouse and pulled forth a wooden amulet on a leather thong. “See this? Lord Declan carved it for me with a scrap from the shop floor.” She held the skillful rendition of a beastkin wolf on two legs up for all to view. “Lady Stacia insisted he carve her likeness in her combat form to be my protector from elven magic. It’s my wax seal when I write them a letter, which, I believe I will go do right now. Lots to tell them about who is best to work with here on the island, and who is not so good. Lottie, lunch was great.”
And she stormed out.
Lottie and Bett caught up to her down by the quay. She had stopped in her tracks, staring out to sea.
“Now Nira, don’t let the words of a jealous woman steer you wrong,” Lottie began.
“You hit the matter square on the nose,” Bett said.
Nira didn’t answer, still staring.
“Now is a horrible time to write a letter. Never commit angry words to good paper until you’ve had time to think things through,” Lottie said
Vaguely Nira was aware of the other women boiling out of the inn back behind them but she kept staring.
“Nira!” Lottie said.
“What? Oh, Lottie. Ah no, I won’t write any letters,” Nira said. Both women relaxed in relief.
“Stevie?” She turned to a young boy who had been gawking at the women’s council as it flooded around. “Run and find my papa in his shop. Tell him a ship flying Lord Declan’s flag is inbound to port.”
Every person in the vicinity, women’s council or just passersby with curious ears, all turned and looked out to sea. A ship flying a giant green flag with a white tree on one side and a white wolf on the other was clearly headed in.
Lottie gasped, picked up her skirts, and ran back to the inn. Rhine Cobblink turned and raced for her husband’s office. The rest of the women fell into excited conversation. Except one. Weese Slogan stood outside the circles of gossip, all the women turning their backs to her. She looked at Nira and her face went pale. Then she turned, hiked up her own skirts, and ran away.
The ship was just docking when her father pulled up in his wagon, Stevie riding passenger.
Nira had already waved to Declan and Stacia and was standing near the dock, a small knot of the town’s influential hovering about her. Lentin and his wife, Rhine, Constable Kuldennie, Dorian and Lottie Stumbler, and Bett Sounder. The rest of the women’s council was hanging back but watching everything with hungry eyes.
“Hi, Papa,” Nira greeted her father. “Look, they’re here much earlier than we thought.”
Armond waved to the Lord and Lady Realm Holders, who were standing on the side of the boat, staying out of the crew’s way. Actually, Nira had noticed that not a single person other than the captain had come within an arm’s length of the couple. The landing crew started to toss hawsers to the dockside crew to be slipped around the giant bronze cleats on the dock’s edge.
One of the catchers was so busy eyeballing the couple on deck, he missed his toss and the hawser fell into the sea. The dock boss bawled him out but suddenly the looped rope lifted itself out of the ocean and hooked itself over the cleat. Everything went still and quiet, all eyes turning to the lanky young man and beautiful woman.
“Good trip, Lord Declan?” Armond called out.
“I guess,” the young lord said with a quirky smile. “I never sailed on these kinds of ships before, but it seemed pretty smooth.”
The captain, who was overseeing the boarding plank placement, wiped his bald pate. “Fastest we’ve ever made it,” he said to Armond, his eyes a little wild. “Half the normal time.”
“Declan dislikes ocean travel,” the lady of the realm said, having moved silently up behind the captain while he worked. “I suspect that might be why your lovely ship moved so fast.”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Lord Declan said, with a grin. “Thanks for a safe ride, Captain.”
“You’re surely welcome, Lord Declan, my lady,” the seafarer said, sketching a short bow and waving them toward the boarding plank.
The young man walked easily off the ship, like a normal healthy human. His lady, on the other hand, moved as smoothly as an elven warrior. Nira saw many faces focus on her: sailors on the ship, a crabber offloading his catch, and the entire welcoming party. Declan was smiling, but Stacia was not. Her head was up and turning, looking at everything and everyone.
The couple was wearing what Nira recognized to be Earth clothing; Declan wore blue trousers of a thick material Stacia called denim, and a long-sleeved pullover shirt of black stretchy material, while his lady wore a button-down shirt of dark green, with tightly fitted trousers of some stretchy gray material. Nira found the trousers to be rather daring. Women on Lileire often wore work pants, but they were baggy. These pants clung to the lady’s legs and backside in a manner almost scandalous, but Nira found herself wanting a pair. In addition, Declan wore a belt with his pants, an oddly scabbarded knife on his left hip and something else on his right. She’d seen him wear them before and assumed the black metal object on his right hip was a weapon. Stacia wore no belt but had a black strap over one shoulder and around the opposite waist. An arm-length black object hung from the strap, angled from her right armpit to her left
