with Aylis, for I would have nought but the best; hence, I’ll send word to thee.
“But as for staying aboard the ship, I know thou wouldst rather hie to that redheaded wife of thine, as well as thy boy Little Tom, and I would not deny thee that.”
“Cap’n, Larissa understands Oi’ve a duty t’th’ Eroean .”
“Mayhap. . yet I think Little Tom doesn’t.”
A great smile of relief lit up Long Tom’s face, and he said, “Oy, naow, Oi do b’lieve y’r roight about that, Cap’n. Oi do b’lieve y’r roight.”
Aravan stepped forward and surveyed the main deck teeming with sailors and warriors at the last of their chores, some of them, as did Fat Jim, yet bearing the remnants of hurt. In addition, Binkton and Pipper and Lissa were adeck, doing what they could to help with the cleanup and repairs. And belowdecks and under the care of Desault, there remained several of the more severely wounded, some who couldn’t seem to recover from the Rucken arrows, yet they had none of the rotting blackness; still, three couldn’t quite get a full breath, while two others had numbness in arms and legs. And then there were those who were yet knitting severely broken bones. However, the majority of the cuts and bruises and punctures the crew had suffered had healed on the voyage home.
“We’ll put up at the Red Slipper,” said Aravan, turning once again to Long Tom.
“Oy, th’ crew’ll go f’r that,” came the reply. “Oi mean, we’ve been asea a goodly long spell, ’n’ they’ll welcome some toime wi’ th’ laidies o’ th’ Slipper.”
“I ween the ladies themselves would welcome that as well,” said Aravan, and he glanced at Aylis.
A low, throaty laugh was her response, but she took not her eye from the wind pennant above as she made a minor adjustment in the wheel, Fat Jim behind her twitching his hands in concert, the hefty helmsman’s mouth pursed in concentration.
“Besides,” added Long Tom, stepping forward and looking down on the main deck, “they c’d use some gaiety to help ’em get over their grievin’ for good comrades lost, ’n’ t’ help ’em forget our bad toime ashore.”
“Land ho!” came the cry from above. “Port Arbalin dead ahead!”
As Second Officer Nikolai came up the ladder to the aft deck, Aravan said, “Stand by to hale in the studs and full reef all others; we’ll take her in on nought but the stays.”
“Aye, Kapitan,” replied Nick, and he called orders to Noddy, bosun of the fastest ship in the world, and Noddy piped the commands to all.
And as the crew made ready, swiftly did the Eroean cleave the indigo waters of the deep blue Avagon Sea.
In gathering twilight, the elegant Eroean slid into the harbor, now running on staysails alone, and then even these were loosed to luff in the wind, and dinghies were lowered and towropes affixed to hale the Elvenship to dockside.
There she would deliver her wounded unto the care of healers, as well as off-lade the hard-won treasured cargo she held in her hold: prized, precious, translucent stone the crew had wrested from a ghostly foe in the long-dead City of Jade.
53
ELVENSHIP
SPRING, 6E10
The crew put up at the Red Slipper, the large, rowdy inn and bordello a favorite gathering place for warriors and sailors and travellers of all sorts. At times Elven warbands would come through, or battle-hardened Dwarves. Fjordsmen, Vanadurin, Gelenders, occasionally the dark men from the far south, as well as others of various nations seemed to cluster here on their way to or when returning from distant realms. Traders, trappers, hostlers, shippers, merchants, minstrels, Mages, tradesmen, even passing royalty: all seemed to make it a point to stay awhile or even to just stop by. And whenever the Eroean was in port, townsfolk themselves came to spend an eve, all to see and hear of the adventures of the Elvenship’s crew.
And the ladies of the Slipper-Yellow Nell, Dark-Eyed Lara, Laughing Jane, and the others-enjoyed the company of these men, especially the crew of the Eroean , for they seemed the best of the lot.
Burly Jack, owner and bartender, always had a tun of the Vancha Dark held in reserve especially for this crew, and he had a standing order for kegs of ale from the Holt of Vorn to be delivered on short notice whenever the Elvenship came to port.
And the local cadgers were happy to see the Eroean moored in the bay, for Captain Aravan’s crew loosened their generous purse strings. And this time, on the day the Elvenship was sighted, Dabby the Cadger, making his way around a barroom brawl in the Red Slipper’s common room, was the first to report it to Burly Jack, and received the reward of a mug of the Vornholt for the welcome news.
And so, that eve, after off-lading their wounded and the cargo of jade, and after mooring the Elvenship in the bay, the crew descended upon the Red Slipper and procured rooms and hot baths and laughed and drank and partook of the other amenities of that splendid inn.
But though they seemed joyous at being in port again, there lurked in the backs of the eyes of some of the sailors and the Dwarves and the two Warrows, as well as the captain and his lady, a painful memory or two, something it seemed they’d rather not discuss. And the only glimmering of what it might be was when the captain called for quiet, and when it fell he raised his glass and said, “To absent friends.”
And so said they all.
Some of the patrons not of the crew found it odd that Captain Aravan seemed to have a pet fox-“A marvelous ratter,” declared Burly Jack, hastily adding, “Not that the Slipper has rats, mind you.” But now and then those who worked at the inn would glance from the fox to a small cluster of darkness lurking here and there, and they would nod to themselves and say nought of the shadow to others.
The crew spent nearly the full of the spring resting, relaxing, and celebrating. And every night, it seemed, a small group of them gathered about the fireplace and told tales to one another until the wee hours of morn. And the next day patrons would overhear references to Gelvin’s Doom, and a wyrm in a well, and other such mysterious things, yet what they might be about, none but a few of the crew seemed to know.
Four signal events occurred during the stay of the captain and his mates, each of which caused ripples of excitement to flow through the town: the first was when Bair and his sire and dam and his truelove came sailing in one day, for Bair was known as the Dawn Rider, the one who brought the Silver Sword to Mithgar, and that was the sword Aravan used to slay Gyphon. His sire and dam-Urus the Baeran, and Riatha, the legendary Dara with the darksilver sword-were also famous in Mithgarian lore, and Jaith, Bair’s truelove, was a bard beyond compare. The Red Slipper was packed night after night to hear their tales and to listen to Jaith sing. And many citizens dropped by during the days on the chance they might catch a glimpse of these famous folk.
The second event of note was when Dalavar the Wolfmage and his pack of Draega came to call, the ’Wolves as big as ponies. He stayed but two days, and he and the captain were as thick as thieves, and with a few others they sat in a far corner and spoke quietly to one another. What they said, none of the townsfolk knew, but when Dalavar and his Silver Wolves left, they took Bair and Jaith with them. And just after they were gone, Urus and Riatha sailed away, heading for Caer Pendwyr, or so someone said.
Over the next days the captain and a small circle continued to talk together quietly, while the crew of the Eroean relaxed and fought and gambled and sang and drank and dallied with the ladies of the Red Slipper.
As for the arc of friends at the hearth, they continued to gather each eve, and they spent a moon and a sevenday telling tales in the wavering candlecast shadows. Toward the mid of this time, Urus and Raitha returned from Caer Pendwyr and rejoined the hearth-tale group.
The next event of note was when Aravan and Aylis and Long Tom spent the afternoons meeting with the glut of men who wanted to sign aboard the Eroean and fill any of the positions now open on the sailing crew. One by one they came into a small room, where Long Tom and Aravan asked each of them questions as to his
