Mortance: Summer's Snow

Ahryn Ⅰ

I'd not the knowledge of numbers to know just how many days ago the Woman Scorned had been claimed by the sea. Nor could I have known just how long this rock had been my home. But none of that mattered anymore, for now there was a ship in the distance, and the return of Captain Ahryn had once again begun.

"Sail ho," I announced hoarsely to an empty island, a smile playing its way onto my face. There was a ship out in the distance, and I could see them turning towards me now. It was a small vessel, nothing much, but it looked to be sailing. And that be enough for the moment, I thought.

This was not how most would think to find a legend of the sea, but that was the trick of it. Here I was, knee-deep in the ocean, signal fire behind me, and with every scar I had on display. Hardly a captain's look. Whoever was aboard that ship would have to know me to take me for who I really was. Luck would determine that, of course, but luck had yet to truly fail me.

I glanced back at the island. Half the trees were gone, not that there had been many to start with. They were burning for my salvation, a worthy sacrifice. My return was long awaited. It would soon be time for me to complete the duty Ouran had tasked me with, had it not been completed already.

They were sending a dinghy out for me now. Three men aboard, by my count. I watched as they rowed forth, and waded out to them as they got closer. The men eyed me with contempt. "So it be a wench, then," one said. He looked the oldest of them, what with his messily cut grey hair, and even messier beard. This was a man who'd sailed all his life, and forgotten to enjoy it.

"Are ye alone?" the youngest of the men asked. He was a handsome fellow, what with his long black hair and stubble of a beard, and he looked no older than seventeen.

"Wish I could say otherwise," I answered. "All my crew perished in a storm. I've not the knowledge of numbers to know how long it's been since." The best lies had a bit of truth to them.

"Where's yer clothes, wench?" the first man shouted angrily.

The sea rose to just below my breasts here. I swam up just beside the boat so they could see less, not that it mattered much to me. "How do ye think I started that fire?" I gestured behind me. It was the second-best lie I could think of, but I wasn't pretty enough to pretend a whore. The truth would only have led them closer to my identity.

The first man grunted. I saw the third man, the rower, eyeing me with some desire. My state of dress must've been enticing to him. But the poor yellow-haired lad was too weak to have me, even if he tried. I met his eyes with a teasing glance, and he quickly glanced away.

"Might the girl have a name?" the youngest of them broke in. He sounded a bit nervous, though polite, at least. Politeness wasn't like to get him far on the sea, but it was refreshing at least.

"Emma," I lied quickly. "I seek passage."

"That was my mother's name," the youngest boy muttered softly.

"Where to?" the oldest man asked.

"Away from here," I said. "Kark, mayhaps."

"Kark be a long ways away, wench."

"We're home bound at the moment," the youngest boy reached out a hand for me. "But maybe my father could sail you to Kark after."

"Yer father may need a new crew fer that," the old man muttered.

I took the boy's hand. "If ye can take me te civilization, I can find my way from there." The boat rocked as I pulled myself up. One with less skill might've tipped the boat, but the oldest man still glared at me. "Ye got names?"

The youngest boy draped his jacket over me for my decency. "Sam," he said, shivering slightly.

"Gareth," the oldest man said. "First mate. The mute 'alfbreed on the oars be Osh."