The High King: A Tale of Alus (31 page)

Gerid had been forced to retrace his path slightly due to his bargain with Admiral Koort and the need for solidifying his crew. With the addition of the three Klosten ships, his crewmen needed to be shifted between other vessels. He made sure to leave half of the ships nearly full, while adding enough men to the malas to make nearly a full crew as well. Some of the one hundred and fifty Klosten sailors had been drafted into service to help somewhat. It wasn't something that he could do a great deal with for fear of mutiny. Spreading the klostens throughout the entire fleet limited that as well, but still the commander didn't want to push his luck too far.

As they had sailed back in escort to the tseulty port of Daria, Gerid couldn't shake his worries about Admiral Koort either. The man was ambitious. He had to be to become an admiral. With that knowledge, Gerid feared that the man would still try to take the captured Klosten ships, especially the malas.

The commander hoped his fears were unjustified as they neared Daria, one Tseult’s northern ports. If the admiral did have treachery in mind, it would occur at the city. They entered without any trouble though and the men at the docks who checked them in had given them an easy time of it. They had even said that the admiral had ordered leniency to be given to his fleet for harbor taxes.

Even so, discretion led Gerid to only allow shore leaves in limited numbers when his men had asked. He usually allowed nearly full dismissals except for a crew of guards for each ship. Even though Tseult was technically an ally of Rhearden and Daria was one of their cities, the commander felt that he needed to be wary.

A rather large city, Daria was a home to thousands including shipwrights and a great many boat builders. Maybe half the size of the capitol city, Camerton in Rhearden, the Tseulty city was a maze of brown wood buildings with several nearest the water being huge enclosed shipyards. Being a north facing port, it was wise to protect both the skeletons of the ships and the workers building them since the North Sea was often a source for large this far north and west. The Talmoth Sea to the west of Malaiy helped fuel the storms by funneling warmer water from the southwest side of the continent adding to the frequency of storms from the west.

No storms of nature or man came for Gerid’s fleet and thankfully, after three days the fleet was ready to leave. Nothing unfortunate happened during that time other than a pair of sailors who had become drunk enough to start a brawl and get thrown into jail for an evening. As the fleet prepared to cast off and resume the journey, Gerid spied Admiral Koort with a squad of soldiers accompanying him approaching his dock. He groaned fearing that the man had simply waited until the last moment to try something.

Watching the admiral walk up the boarding plank swiftly while leaving his guards on the dock, Gerid prepared for the worst while hoping that he would be wrong. The commander moved to greet the man upon the deck. Hand outstretched, the admiral pulled the giant close for a friendly hug. "I'm glad that I caught you before you cast off, commander!" the elder sailor stated cheerfully and his actions seemed genuine. "I wanted to make sure to give you something before you left."

Raising an eyebrow curiously, he asked, "You needed to give me something, admiral?"
The man nodded and produced a tube for holding documents sealed with wax. "This is a letter to my king telling of how you helped my northern fleet. There is also a personal note for him about my current status and future plans to fight the klostens. If you would be so kind as to deliver these for me on your trip to the capitol, we can consider all matters settled between us."
Gerid kept waiting for the catch, but that was all the admiral would say as he waited for an answer. Having no reason to believe otherwise, Gerid nodded agreement. "Is that all?" he questioned the man.
"No," Koort shrugged, "should there be more? If not, then I think that it is time to wish you good fortune on the rest of your voyage."
Gerid nodded again, "I thank you and good voyage to you as well, sir."
The admiral smiled kindly and started to turn away, "I'll have to take you up on that blessing after I have repaired my fleet. A fleet that I have you to thank for since you were right."
"Right?"
Turning back to face Gerid momentarily, he nodded answering; "I admit that I was hard headed when we first met aboard my flagship after the battle. I hope that I have made the right actions to apologize to you, commander. We are allies against a common foe you and I. I shouldn't have tried to take more ships than those we had earned and, truthfully, you earned them all. You were right that day when you said that we owed you our lives. I value my life and those of my crew enough to know that you treated us fairly. In your place, I don't think that I or another leader would have even bothered to help us at all." He grinned mischievously, "I would have waited until one side or the other had won and simply used my fresh ships to take them all."
Gerid smiled easily. He believed the man's words. His reply was only half joking as he said, "I had half given that a thought, admiral, so perhaps you are giving me too much credit."
"No, son, you served your lord admirably. I believe, as I think that you do as well, that your king and mine will view these actions as only helping us to strengthen our alliance. I only wish that you were on our side as one of my captains. Your strength and leadership would be useful in our navy, I'd guarantee it."
"Thank you again, admiral, such praise is gratifying. I'm glad that you think this way."
Admiral Koort shook his hand again and nodded, "I shall take my leave of you now, commander that you may leave before the tides or the weather changes. Again, I wish you good voyage."
Gerid nodded and watched as the man left his deck. He ordered the men to cast off the lines holding them fast almost as soon as the admiral’s feet touched the dock. Most of his fleet had already released their lines and awaited the Vengeance in the harbor, though the ships had taken their time in moving away as they monitored the admiral's visit to Gerid's flagship. With the casting off and the Vengeance quickly under way, the others soon picked up their pace and added more sail.
Soon, the fleet had all left the shelter of Daria’s harbor and was once again under way. The western seas beckoned and Gerid and his men were quick to follow the waves towards the peninsula nation of Malaiy. He would pay a visit to the nation's capitol, Yala, before turning south towards Tristan, Tseult’s capitol city. It had been an added errand to his mission to act as a dignitary to that kingdom long enough to pay King Colona's respects. Gerid knew it to be only a minor inconvenience. The visit would last, at the longest, about a day and a half. Then they would have to brave the strong currents and even stronger winds of the Talmoth Sea. He had never traveled this far west before and this would be his first trip into the sea flanking Taltan's western coast. Rumors of its unpredictability didn't make him comfortable with that fact, but the need was there.
As he watched the waves and the clouds of a half grey sky, Gerid's thoughts returned to those that awaited his return. His mind painted him a picture of Catiya holding his son in the garden behind the Holtein home. Visions of the roses that would still be in bloom thanks to the work of the gardeners would pale compared to the beauty of his family.
Family. He wondered what new plans his brother, Simon, would be working on even as he sailed onward. Whatever they were, Gerid was sure that they would be profitable, but somehow the idea of wealth just didn't seem to matter to him beyond the need of money to pay his men.
Gerid nearly laughed as he realized how his priorities were unable to fully direct him. Getting back to his family was his utmost wish, but the need for revenge on Merrick for the family and friends lost to him previously led him back to needing to leave to win the resources needed to regain his life.
"You're daydreaming again, m' lord," Finneas spoke up from behind him.
Gerid chuckled as he turned to face the elder man, a man that was nearly like an uncle to him in his support. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am not a lord or a god, Finneas?" It was an ongoing joke between the two of them that the elder man call him lord at least once a day.
The captain smiled at the usual counter and replied, "You may not be just yet, commander, but, once you finish the errands for the king, you might be. I may as well keep in practice, don't you think?"
Gerid snorted at the idea. Raising an eyebrow questioningly, he asked, "Do I really look like someone that Colona would make into a lord? I'm a sailor now. I have a fleet. Will he make me a lord of my own possessions or perhaps a lord of the sea? That would be ambiguous enough, don't you think?"
"Lord Gerid of the North Sea? It does have a nice ring to it, sir," Finneas smiled and seemed wistful. "I could see you as a lord. You have a lot of the markings of a good ruler, you know."
Gerid looked at him skeptically, "And what are those, eh? What traits or skills do I have that would make me lord like, Finneas?"
With a twist of a smirk, the older man gestured at the ship and its crew then he pointed vaguely towards the others vessels still in sight. "Think about what you do have, Gerid. With the addition of the new ships and crews that we gathered in Daria, you rule over more than fifteen hundred men in this fleet alone. If you add the men that Simon has serving in your merchant fleet... I lose track of them all, but I would guess that many lords could only wish to have such an army of men, let alone the ships they sail upon. You lead all of them already and I would venture that most would give their lives for your own if you asked them to do so."
Finneas' eyes became wistful as he looked towards the cloudy sky. More clouds had been pushed to the east already. Gerid feared rain would soon be upon them. He hoped that it wouldn't be a major storm.
The elder man continued speaking again, "The things that you do in battle alone could make you a lord in most countries, perhaps even king. You instill fear in the enemy the way you swing that giant axe of yours and most don't even know that you can't be killed. If the enemy did, they would run at your sight immediately. Some do anyway."
"Being a warrior doesn't make you king, Finneas," he interrupted with a sigh.
Finneas raised his eyebrow in questioning protest. "Maybe not where you came from, sir. A lot of kingdoms were started by warriors before being passed on to their sons later though." He shook his head sadly and added, "Some of those made great leaders, at least those who still remembered to care for their people. Their children were groomed for leadership, of course, but sometimes that isn't the way to pass on good traits. Little spoiled princes make little spoiled rulers."
Gerid smiled at the older man and shrugged, "It sounds like you have considered this before. I'll have to remember to make you my chancellor should I ever become king, but, since it'll probably never happen, don't hold your breath."
They stood there for awhile just watching the sky and sea before them. The Vengeance lifted through the larger waves or simply sliced into the smaller.
Vengeance. Gerid thought about the name of his ship. At the time, he had not found Simon. If only Serra had survived, the man thought that he would drop the need to destroy Merrick. The far off lord could do nothing to him here. Even if the lord cared, Gerid could fight back easily enough now, but she had died. So many people had been killed that night. Remembering their loss strengthened his resolve. It would be a somewhat hollow victory should he win. Defeating and killing Merrick would not bring them back, of course, but it would help all those that the king ruled over that were still probably suffering.
"Remind me to send a few spies aboard our trading ships when I get back."
"Spies, sir? To spy on whom?"
"We need to gather real information on the ruler of Marshalla, King Merrick. I have word that he has attacked other countries near to his borders, but that is all I have heard."
Finneas couldn't hide his confusion at the commander's change in topic and the sudden interest in the far off nation’s king. Gerid had never spoken of his quest to anyone in full. Only Simon truly understood his passion, his need to destroy Merrick. Even Catiya knew little of his intentions to bring an army across the water to attack Marshalla's ruler.
He would fight for his sister's memory and those of the friends that were like an extended family to him as he had grown up. Simon would have to get a few deliveries to Marshalla or one of the other North continent's countries. They could hardly challenge Marshalla without any knowledge of the armies they would face. With a little luck, they might even be able to contact Stephen and the resistance for help.
Sighing once again, Gerid wished again that Serra hadn't died. He wished that the horrors his family had faced had never happened. Serra, the man sighed. He was near to weeping at just the thought of his long lost sister.
Gerid never noticed Finneas as he stepped away from his commander.

The young woman strode through the hallway on an urgent errand for the queen. Serra would have felt elegant in the jewels provided by her mistress, if she had worn any real clothing to go along with them. A scarlet scarf tied across her waist was wrapped to cover her slightly, but her young breasts stood defiantly with a diamond dagger pendant dangling from a golden necklace to fall between each breast. A single dagger earring hung from her newly pierced left ear, the pain of it had forced her to forego the piercing of the right for fear of throwing up. Only the sandals with golden laces could be considered true clothing, but despite the lingering feelings of humiliation Serra was beginning to get used to the idea of serving Alyanna this way.

It had been three days of serving the queen, which had consisted of a search of the whole castle to find serving girls for the queen that were at once both beautiful and loyal to Alyanna. Serra had not liked the stares of all the men as they had gone through the hallways. Alyanna had been with her at the time. The two were each other's moral support in these the hardest days of Alyanna's resistance. It was especially hard from the point of needing to humiliate the women by standing among the castle's residents bare of all facades. It was a hard thing to get used to and hard to get other girls to join them because of that fact.