Bertrice Small - A Distant Tomorrow

The two men went out onto the deck, shook hands, and the Terahn crossed over to his ship again. No sooner had he stepped from the gangway than it was drawn back to the Hetarian vessel. He turned, but Arcas had already disappeared back into his cabin. Captain Corrado wondered what had induced him to leave the deck so quickly.

Entering the master’s cabin Arcas looked about for Lara’s sword and staff. They would be valuable to him, and she would certainly have no use for them now. But both of the objects that he sought were gone. He called to his steward. “Where are the sword and staff belonging to the lady?” he asked the man.

“Why they are there in that corner, my lord king,” the steward said. He walked to where he had directed his master, and his glance was puzzled. “They were here. I saw them when I passed by to take the lady to the Terahn ship, my lord king.”

Arcas swore under his breath. “They have followed her,” he said. Why had he not thought to enclose them in a cabinet this morning? The damned staff and sword were magic, but if they had not seen her taken away they would have been his. He swore again, but then he said to the steward, “Tell them to raise the anchor. It’s time for us to return home.”

“Yes, my lord king,” the steward said.

“It is unfortunate that the lady Lara tumbled over into the sea during a bout of rough weather, isn’t it?” Arcas told his servant.

“Yes, my lord king. Most sad,” the steward answered meekly, and he backed from the cabin bowing.

She could have been his queen, Arcas thought. Now she would be a pleasure slave for the Dominus of Terah. And the Terahns were not known for indulging their women. But it had been her choice. She could have been his queen!

UPON AWAKING, Lara knew she was no longer on Arcas’s ship. She lay on her back in a small enclosed space no bigger than a cabinet. She could feel the motion of the sea all around her. She reached for her crystal and was comforted by the feel of it between her slender fingers. The adventure has begun, she said silently to Ethne.

As her green eyes grew used to the dim enclosure Lara was able to make out a narrow door. Fumbling about she found a door handle and jiggled it. To her surprise the door immediately sprang open to reveal a large cabin well lit by the sunlight outside its bow window. Sitting up Lara swung her legs over the bunk where she had been lying, and stepped into the cabin. She quietly closed the cabinet door behind her. She needed no one to tell her that she was on the Terahn vessel. For now the best choice she could make was to remain exactly where she was. Captain Corrado would come eventually, and she would learn what she needed to know.

Spying a tray upon a small table she walked over to it. It held a short squat decanter of liquid, two small carved stone cups and a bowl of fruit. Lara uncorked the decanter and spilled some of the liquid into a cup. Putting it to her lips she smiled and drank it down. It was a light and fragrant wine. She filled the cup and, taking a peach from the bowl, settled herself in the cushioned seat that was built into the bow window. From the position of the sun it was obvious she had slept many hours into the morning of the next day. And there was nothing but blue sky reflected in the deep blue waters of the sea around them. Now and again she saw groups of the arcing jumping fish that she had seen from the deck of Arcas’s ship, but nothing else. They were alone upon the sea.

Why, she wondered, had Arcas betrayed her into the hands of the Terahn captain?

Because, she reasoned to herself, she was meant to enter the Terahn Dominion. But to what purpose? It would be so much easier to live out her destiny if she knew what that destiny was. She had never liked riddles, and yet it seemed her whole life, from the moment she had departed the City, had been one riddle after another. She turned as the door to the cabin opened. A young boy scurried in, giving her a quick look with his wide dark eyes. He handed her a plate upon which was a thick slice of bread and a wedge of cheese. Then, turning, he hurried off.

“Thank you,” Lara called after him.

The boy stopped and turned a face to her that was rigid with surprise. Then without a word he ran from the cabin.

Lara shrugged, and, after pouring herself another cup of the wine, began to eat the bread and cheese. When she had finished her meal she looked about, and saw a basin and pitcher stowed carefully in a small cranny. She poured water from the pitcher into the basin, and washed her hands and face using a small cloth she found by the ewer. Then she went back to her seat in the bow window and continued to watch the sea sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky.

In midafternoon the door to the cabin opened again, and Captain Corrado entered. “How long have you been awake?” he asked her.

“Since morning,” Lara said. “The wine was drugged, but how?”

“The servant was instructed to pass the tray to Arcas and to me first. We knew which goblet contained the sleeping draught,” he explained.

“Of course,” Lara answered him. “’Twas cleverly done, Captain Corrado.”

“Are you not afraid?” he asked.

“Of what?” Lara replied.

“You have been betrayed by King Archeron, and sent into bondage across the sea to another strange land,” Captain Corrado said.

“Archeron did not deceive me, Captain. He has always been a friend to the Outlands. And Arcas is foolish to believe that by telling me, I should lose all hope. Hope of what? I am here upon your ship now because it is meant that I be here. What lies did he tell you about me? But no matter – I shall tell you my history myself. Will you not sit down and allow me to offer you some of your most excellent wine?”

He was fascinated. He nodded his agreement watching her closely as she poured the wine and handed him the cup. Then he listened as she quietly and succinctly told him her tale. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her voice was clear and sweetly mellifluous. It was a bewitching sound that caressed his ears. He was not used to hearing a woman’s voice. He found Lara’s enchanting. And her story fascinated him. She was the daughter of a great warrior, and a faerie queen. Arcas had not quite put it that way. If he had to trust either of them, he realized, it would be Lara’s truth he accepted, and not the wily Coastal King’s.

As she finished he heard her say, “I hope you do not mind, but Andraste and Verica have come with me. They are quite harmless when not wielded, Captain.”

“I did not see the servant carrying you bring anything else,” Corrado said.

Lara laughed. “No, he did not, but my weapons came nonetheless. I told you that I am magic, and I am surrounded by magic.”

“If you have such power then why are you here?” he asked her.

“I have already told you that, Captain. I am here because I am meant to be here at this time,” Lara explained gently as if she were telling a child.

“What is your purpose in being here? Have you come to spy for Hetar? Arcas talks a great deal and much too freely. There are changes coming to your world, lady.

“Your people will take new territory. After they have taken the Outlands they will surely turn their eyes to the sea. The Coastal Kings will no longer be able to keep their secrets to themselves, and once Hetar learns of Terah and our Dominion they are sure to seek to conquer it. Or has Arcas already betrayed his own kind?”

“The Outlands are protected from he who would be emperor, Captain Corrado,” Lara said. “Gaius Prospero cannot know that yet, and he will strive mightily until he figures it out, if indeed he does. Hetar believes that its provinces and the Outlands are all that there is of the world in which we live. I know it is not, but does your Dominion take up all the rest? Or are their other places, and peoples? How much more is there? Have you not ever wondered that?”

Her curiosity fascinated him. “I do not know if there is more,” he admitted.

Lara smiled. “But do you want to know?” she asked teasingly.

He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.

“Is there magic in the Dominion?” she queried him.

He nodded in the affirmative. “Aye, there is.”

“Good,” Lara told him. “I shall look forward to learning all about it.”

“You are being given to the Dominus Magnus Hauk,” the captain said. “You will live in his castle, and your freedom will be greatly curtailed, for you will be considered a slave, lady.”

Lara laughed. “I was once before considered a slave by men, for all the good it did them. I am not a slave, and your Dominus will soon learn that. If all he wishes of me are pleasures he may have them, as long as I am free to follow the path set out for me.”

Captain Corrado shook his head in wonder. “Lady, I had never seen or heard your like before. But because I see no evil in you I must warn you to tread carefully. Magnus Hauk is a very strong, and extremely determined man. He will not tolerate disobedience, especially from a woman.”

“I thank you for your kindness and your advice,” Lara responded.

“We will be arriving tomorrow,” the captain said.

“Tomorrow? Arcas said each ship met three days out from their home port in the center of the sea,” Lara exclaimed.

“Lady, you slept two days,” came the answer.

“Two days!” Lara was astounded.

“The brew we gave you was potent,” he said.

Lara laughed softly. “Aye, it must have been.”

“I could not be certain you would not object to your current circumstances, and resist violently,” Captain Corrado told her. “Had I known your disposition I would have permitted myself to enjoy your company more. Terahn women are not at all like you.”

“If that is so, can you be certain that I will appeal to your Dominus?” Lara asked.

The captain smiled. “A man would be a fool not to want you, lady.”

She smiled at him. “You flatter me.”

“Tomorrow when we prepare to enter the fjord, would you enjoy being on deck?” he offered generously.

“What is a fjord?” Lara wanted to know.

“It is an inlet that leads to the Dominus’s castle. There are many such inlets along our coast that you can take to reach our villages.”

“Have you no central place of authority?” she inquired.

“The castle of the Dominus is that place. You will see,” he told her.

The following morning the young boy came to the cabin and said, “The captain invites the lady to view the entering.”

“Thank you,” Lara told him, and then she said, “Why do you look so fearful?”

“I have never before heard a woman speak,” the boy responded.

“Do you not have women in the Dominion?” she asked him.

“Aye, but our women do not speak,” he answered her.

“Your women cannot or do not speak?” She was again very surprised.

He nodded. “They cannot.”

“Give me a moment to prepare myself,” Lara told him. “Wait outside, and then you will escort me.”

“Yes, lady,” he said obediently, and left the cabin.

The gown she wore was thankfully tailored with a long narrow pleated skirt, and long fitted sleeves. The neckline was cut straight across her collarbone and slightly draped. It was a silvery gray in color. Lara went to the sleeping cabinet, and slipped Andraste in her leather scabbard over her head. She picked up Verica and walked from the cabin. Glancing briefly at her, the boy led Lara up onto the high open deck where Captain Corrado was awaiting her.

“There is our coast,” he said pointing.

Lara was overwhelmed by the beauty of the green cliffs and steep hills that flowed into taller mountains. It was beautiful, and quite different from Hetar or the Outlands. And then she saw the opening between those cliffs. The ship was sailing toward it. “Is that the entrance to your fjord?” she asked the captain.

“You have a sharp eye,” he said. “We will reach it shortly.”

“And be done with this infernal rocking to and fro?” a voice demanded to know.

“Verica!” Lara giggled for both Captain Corrado and the boy by his side looked horrified. She hastened to reassure them both. “This is Verica, my companion staff. He is most outspoken, I fear, but he means no harm.”

“Stop looking so terrified, lad,” Verica said to the cabin boy. “I am the spirit of the tree from which this staff where I now reside was made. You have, I take it, never seen my like before.”

“N-no,” the boy stammered.

“And you are unlikely to see my like again,” Verica told him.

“This is great magic,” Captain Corrado said.

“My magic is used only for good,” Lara replied.

“Will we soon land, and be off this rolling vessel?” Verica asked again.