For a moment the group watched the inhabitants from the starboard gunwale without saying or doing anything. As the ship was leaning to one side and they were holding fast so as not to slide, the situation was picturesque in the extreme. The turquoise warriors, in return, were watching them intently.
Lasgol decided to warn Eicewald. “Sir, we have company!” he called.
The Mage and Captain Olsen looked toward the beach, where Lasgol was pointing. The look of surprise on Olsen’s face was like their own. But the Mage did not even flinch.
“I’ll take care of this,” Eicewald said to Olsen and the team. “Don’t show your weapons, or any aggressive attitude.”
Lasgol looked at Viggo, who was looking saintly, as if he would never dream of doing anything bad. Lasgol glared at him to make him behave.
“Shall we go with you?” he asked. He was concerned about the Mage’s fate.
“No, I’ll go alone. Wait on the ship.”
“And if they kill him …?” Viggo said.
“They’re not going to kill him,” Ingrid assured him. “He’s a very powerful Ice Mage.”
“I wouldn’t go near those turquoises with their tridents, just in case,” he said. It was clear from his face that he thought it might be dangerous.
Eicewald clambered down from the ship on to the rocks, not without some difficulty, then from there down on to the sand. Very slowly, he walked toward the natives.
Suddenly one of them took out a conch and blew on it hard. The call echoed throughout the island.
“Uh-oh,” Viggo muttered. “This doesn’t look good.”
“Yeah, it sounds like an alarm call,” Astrid agreed.
The Mage ignored the call. When he reached the natives, he showed them his hands to make it clear that he was unarmed. He was not even carrying his staff. The natives responded by threatening him with their tridents.
Eicewald showed them his pearl-guide. “I request an audience with the Turquoise Queen,” he said. Then he spoke in a strange language which they guessed was that of the natives.
Then from the jungle two other groups of natives appeared, to surround the Mage.
The situation was now very tense.
Chapter 24
The group watched from the ship, with their nerves on edge.
“This is turning ugly,” Nilsa asked restlessly. “Shall we pick up our bows?”
“Eicewald told us not to do anything,” Ingrid warned her.
“Yeah, but that lot don’t mean well.”
“Still … we’ll stay where we are.”
Gerd joined Nilsa in her plea, looking worried. “But they’re going to skewer him.”
“The Mage knows what he’s doing,” Astrid said firmly.
Mage use magic.
Did he cast a spell?
Yes, before.
“Don’t do anything,” Lasgol told them. “Eicewald used his magic before he went down. He must’ve protected himself.”
Eicewald repeated his words: “I request an audience with the Turquoise Queen.” And he said it in the language of the islands.
The natives stared at him and went on making aggressive gestures. One of them – apparently the oldest, since his hair showed white streaks amid the green, even though his age was not so obvious from his face – addressed the Mage. He pointed at the ship with his trident, then at the Mage himself. He did not seem to like the answers he was getting, because he was waving his weapon angrily, which made everyone even more nervous.
Eicewald pointed to the ship and gave various explanations in a voice which was serious, albeit neutral and calm. In the end the native seemed to grow calmer, and he signaled the others to lower their weapons.
“It looks as though things are calming down,” Ingrid said with relief.
“At least for the moment,” Nilsa said. She let out the tension she was feeling in a long snort.
“It could be a maneuver to make us relax,” Viggo pointed out.
“We’d better stay on the alert,” Astrid agreed.
Eicewald spoke for a while longer with the natives, and they let him leave. He came back to the ship and called Captain Olsen, Lasgol and the rest of the team. Meanwhile the natives vanished into the jungle, leaving the tropical beach deserted.
“We really are in the domains of the Turquoise Queen,” the mage confirmed. “This is one of the islands of the archipelago, but it’s not the main one, where Uragh lives. I’ve requested an audience with her.”
“Will she grant it?” Lasgol asked.
“Let’s hope so. Still, we ought to be ready for a negative answer.”
“What’ll happen if she refuses?” Olsen asked.
“I’m afraid they’ll attack us. As far as they’re concerned we’re invaders, and they’ll want to do away with us.”
“We can’t be invaders,” Olsen said. “We haven’t brought an army.”
“I explained that, and that we need the Great Queen Uragh’s help. It was hard to convince them. I told them that I already know their Queen and I have her permission. The fact that I speak their language seems to have persuaded them.”
“They didn’t know you?” Olsen asked.
The Mage shook his head. “I was on the main island, the biggest one, and that was many years ago. The natives are scattered across all the islands of the archipelago. I’ve never been to this particular one.”
“We ought to prepare ourselves for a refusal from the Queen,” Olsen suggested. “We might try to get away.”
“That isn’t a good alternative. Where would we go, Captain?” Eicewald waved at the surrounding sea and tropical vegetation. “We’ve no boats to escape by sea, and if we go into the jungle they’ll catch us by surprise. Here on board, thinking of the worst that could happen, at least we’ll see them coming and we’ll be able to confront them.”
Olsen had to admit that he was right. “Quite honestly, I belong on salt water. The jungle doesn’t attract me at all,”
“Rangers, draw your weapons and get ready, but don’t attack unless I give
