056 – Farewells And Fair Waters

Rox put the chains into the bag she had been putting her last things into, closed it, and took one last look around. Everything else that she had acquired or been given was already gone. Then picking up the stick and bag, she started out the door. In the hall Linell quickly run over to Rox, hugged her, said thank you, and ran back to her chores.

The feel of a child’s arms around her was a lingering reminder as Rox strode the halls of The Palace. Down several levels across the complex and down into the stables.

The King and Queen were waiting in the stables, to the mild surprise of Roxanne. However she was privately gratified to see the royal couple holding hands. Both were simply dressed, with the only part of their costuming that betrayed any royal status being the gold collars each wore. Two blue uniformed body guards were in proximity.

Roxanne curtseyed on their acknowledging her presence. “Your Majesties.”

The King spoke. “Rise, Roxanne Caplan. Be at ease.”

Rox stood back up. “Too what do we owe your presence?”

Rox continued over to the mules, where Steven had tethered them. They wore their full loads. Rox looked them over, seeing where her main bag had been put. Then moving between the tethered animals to deal with her last burden.

The Queen answered. “We are here to see our guest off. But you seem to be missing the young lady, Abey.”

Steven, leaning against a stall rail beyond the mules, answered. “She left with the Mountain Wolf Trading Company. She is with them now.”

The Royals nodded. The Queen spoke. “Ah. Good luck to her with them, then.”

“Yes.” Steven answered a bit distantly. He was a bit torn, as he had prior experience in young people leaving his employ, but none quite like Abey, or the experiences that surrounded her.

Caspian entered the stables, his coat and cloak slung through the strap of his shoulder bag, Cyrril on his shoulder. The bag looked more full than Steven remembered seeing it. Looking around as he noticed the guards, Caspian spotted the Royals standing aside. He bobbed his head to them as he walked past.

“Sorry I am late. The Sorceress said I should raid the kitchen before leaving; your bakery does such wonderful breads. Are we ready to go?” Caspian turned his full attention to the Caplan’s.

Both mules were tied to a post, the animals standing in the passage down the middle of the stables. Steven leaned against a rail, Rox between the mules facing in Caspian’s direction doing something with the load, a stick under her right arm. She pulled a bundle of leather thongs out from one of the bags, pulled a thong off, then put the bundle back and closed it, and moved out from between the animals.

Steven was in his traveling clothes, as Caspian was used to seeing. Rox was in her trousers, boots, shirt and vest; her soft side hair tied back, her course center hair standing up.

Steven stood up and walked to Rox’s side, running his hand along the mule as he passed, and taking her arm stepped her away from the hind legs of the animals. “I think we are now ready. Your Majesties, thank you for your graciousness and hospitality.”

The King nodded and the Queen bobbed slightly. “You are most welcome, Steven Caplan. Should your travels ever bring you back this way, you will be honored guests.”

Caspian watched as the Caplan’s each took a lead and started out. Cyrril was slightly agitated, sitting on Caspian’s shoulder, but wanting to be elsewhere.

“Your Majesties.” Caspian bowed to the monarchs, and then turned to follow his companions.

The Guards stood at the open gates and nodded as the group left. Roxanne, for her part, took the mules lead she held and hooked it to the back of the pack saddle on the mule Steven led. Then she took her staff and started wrapping the leather thong around it next to the grip point for separating into two sticks; as she worked on it, Rox put a loop into the thong for her hand, to retain the staff when holding it as a walking stick.

The road first headed east out of the palace complex. There was clear sky above them. They walked a block before the road intersected with a north-south running road, where they turned north. About half a block along, the road began descending and quickly went to the valley floor level of the city. This road continued north gradually descending to the port on the lake that demarcated the north edge of Veradale here.

In planning the quickest route to the coast, Caspian had suggested going around the coast of the lake and up its western shore to the town where the highway to the coast started down the river valley there. All the locals they talked to said it was faster to take the lake ferry. Finally Caspian relented and they booked passage.

As they walked through Veradale’s markets and warehouse districts Steven led the mules along, Rox walked beside him wrapping the leather thong around her new staff. Caspian walked behind the mules by a few steps, watching as the Caplan’s unconsciously fell into step with each other. He also watched as the crowd stepped aside from them or around them. Cyrril was as alert as Caspian, watching the crowd.

During his stay Caspian was impressed with the order of the city. There were few law-breakers, and only a comparative few constables in evidence in their red tunics. Now, being between breakfast and lunch, the city moved about its business. Where they moved through business was the trafficking of goods from the lake port to the warehouses and markets.

Shortly they came to the port proper and Steven turned to his left and walked along the line of piers. Longshoremen and -women, beasts, and carts moved around each other as goods were off loaded and moved inland, or brought to the shore in preparation for loading. Steven led the mules along this avenue, past piers and wharfs where smaller boats of assorted sizes were tied. They came to a larger pier and turned onto it. The mules noticed the change from cobbles to wood planks, but continued along. The larger slips sat at an angle, with the narrow end closer to shore and the wide end pointing the ship out into the channel between the piers. They passed two boats and came to their ferry.

The Ferry was like yet unlike any boat Steven or Rox had seen. The closest Steven could figure was a two mast sail boat, cut down the keel and moved apart, making a flat bottom center, with round bottom sides. A galley of oars lined the deck just above the waterline, and four masts mirrored across the center line, two large masts between mid-ship and the aft castle and two smaller ones just aft of the forecastle. Ramps were mounted on the fore and aft allowing what Steven understood as drive-on-drive-off use of the ferry. The rest of the boat looked as expected, save for wider to accommodate the hull design. The ferry was tied with the aft facing the shore, the landing ramp open, the starboard side mooring lines secured to the pier.

Steven angled left out of the main flow along the pier and into the line behind a group of cattle to board the ferry.

On boarding from the ramp, fore or aft, the deck split with ramps going up and down. Boxes and crates were pushed and pulled up to the above deck. Animals were herded and led below to the same deck as the oarsmen’s galleys. A crane from the dock lowered large pallets of cargo through a well through both decks to the bottom most hold. Passengers found places around the rest of the open areas.

On the ferry Steven and Rox took the mules below deck, following the cattle, and put them in an assigned paddock, securing their cargo saddles on nearby horizontal posts for that purpose. Close by they found the hammocks reserved for them. The deck had large chimneys at regular intervals along the port and starboard bulkheads for air circulation. Several dozens of other animals were brought aboard to the paddock deck, a load-master arranging them to balance the ship. A gentle fug settled within the compartment as the animals were secured in their paddocks, with a handful of chickens/turkeys/something wandering about.

Caspian stopped on the dock and watched Steven and Rox walk up the ramp and check in. Cyrril took wing and disappeared. Then with some resignation, Caspian went around the side of the ferry and boarded on a pedestrian ramp, presenting his passage voucher to the woman at the top. Caspian then moved to a point as low to the water as he could above the oar galley, as close to amidships as he could tell. He set his bags down and leaned against the rail, watching the traffic below and around him.

Once underway Caspian moved a bit aft to where it rocked least. Clutching the rail he refused to move. Roxanne did not have sea-legs under her but adapted quickly; she came out onto the deck and found Caspian.

Rox leaned on the rail, forward of Caspian, and looked out across the water as the ferry’s oars moved below them, propelling the ferry through the calm. His reaction to the mild movement of the ferry amused her. However here, with a modicum of privacy, she wanted to get to business, and start asking him questions.

Caspian spoke first. “Where’s Steven?”

“Up front, watching where we are going. Watching the pilot boats work.” Rox still looked out across the lake as the port expanded behind them.

She started into her questioning, looking for a lesson of some kind, and to get Caspian’s mind off of the movement upon the water. “What do wizards use their staff’s for?”

“Storing spells, channeling energy, drawing symbols on the ground, self defense, a Badge of Office, and even walking sticks.” Caspian all but yelped this, sounding a bit nauseous. He clutched at his staff with one hand, and the rail with the other.

“Storing what spells?” Rox sensed a bit of ambient magic flow, it swirled around the staff and up and expanded around Caspian. She could not tell quite what it was being organized to do, but there was something going on there.

“Offensive, defensive, other things. Name it.” Caspian’s color turned from a bit green to just pale. The boat was only a few hundred yards from the dock.

“What of that can you teach me,” Rox asked to Caspian. She absently measured the distance, and figured she could easily swim the distance if she needed to.

“What do you want to know?” Caspian’s voice sounded a bit more stable, but he still looked pale.

“We have the better part of a full day, with nothing else to do. I figured we could find a quiet place and you could start on whatever is next for me to learn.” Rox looked at the east shore of the lake, and wondered where the highway was that went north along it.

It took until after dinner for Caspian to move in toward the center of the boat, but he refused to go far under a roof, instead going up to the top deck, and finding a clear place near the center, between the center masts. Sitting on the deck, as the sails were set to catch the evening breeze, using a slate and piece of chalk Caspian began to instruct Rox in the meaning and use of symbols in organizing magic and casting spells.