Freelands

VII. BE-SIEGED

1. The Battle of Saltharbour [Part 1]

Raeia lies half naked with the soilder that keeps her in his cabin, at the deck of the ship. Looking outside the window the waves  that hit the thin glass and the other ships of the navy in the distance. The soilder starts to wake up and Raeia talks to him.

"You were a mess when you came in." She says.

"Really? I'm sorry, I don't remember anything... Everybody was drinking and singing, god knows what we were doing."

"At least you came back alive... I couldn't stay in this cabin alone." Raeia says.

The soilder looks suprised and slightly moved by Raeia's words, but his quilt gets worse now.

"I lied to you..." He says, not being able to hold his self from the hangover.

"...this is not the Rusty Mermaid, we are just a transport ship, bringing foot soilders from one land to the other one."

"It's okay!" Raeia says turning herself and looking the soilder in the eyes.

"I also lied to you... I'm not a woman from the brothels... Well, actually I didn't come here for that reason. I want to get to Hierydor and see my brother as soon as possible, and you are the only person that can help me. What is your name, soilder?"

"I'm Darver. Not someone of important family. Hierydor is far away from here, lady. Barbarians await you at the coast and Theerans and pretty much any other kind of scumbag at the area around Goldengate... You can't go there by yourself."

"You can help me with that, can't you, Darver?"

Darver stays silent and skeptical for a minute. After a while he speaks again.

"No, I can't convince anyone of my comrades to follow me that far. Goldengate is the furthest I can help you to get to. Afterwards, you are on you own."

"You're trying your best, I can see that. Thank you Darver, for helping me out so much."

"No problem, lady. As I told you, nobody is kind like me out of all these people on the ship."

A loud knock on Darver's door interrupts and suprises both of them scaring them out.

"DARVER! RAISE YOUR ASS UP AND COME TO THE CAPTAINS TO HEAR THE PLAN. WE ARE SAILING FOR SALTHARBOUR!"

Darver stands up in rush grabs Raeia and hides her at the corner of the room next to the door.

"Stay here! Don't say a word! If what he says is true, you might get to your brother sooner than you expect."

Raeia nods in aggrement and watches Darver quickly reaching for his pants to wear and exit the cabin while trying to wear his red tunic.

She then sits on her feet in the same corner, watching the shining edge of her sword, that she had hid underneath the mattress, pointing out of it.

¶¶¶

Freyria wakes up refreshed on the tallest room of the Volca Palace. She raises from the huge silver coloured bed and sees the entire city and the coast of Saltharbour right infront of her.

The city has no man-made walls, but it is protected by land, by its dense forest, which is heavily guarded at all times. The city is filled with beautiful wooden houses with stone tiled roofs except the palace which is mainly made out of hard graystone and partially by wooden planks. The big broad harbour, one of the largest in the South Kingdoms, is entirely made out of stone and Freyria can clearly see on the docks huge trunks of trees being carved, in order to make ships.