It’s not all fun and games when confined

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Disclaimer:

No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended by the author of this directory which is copyright © 2015 – 2022 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

The references are to the ongoing multi-part tale that throws some light into just how Garia's innovative 'suggestions' are being implemented in the lands awarded to her. These tales are copyright © 2013 - 2022 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

These chapters are a side tale to Penny Lane's great masterpieces “Somewhere Else Entirely” and “The Voyage of the Visund” and of course use some of the associated characters and situations that arise from those stories set in the world called ‘Anmar’.
These main stories were created by Penny Lane, whose stories are also copyright © 2010 - 2022 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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“Why are you two laughing at me? You always try to put me down somehow!” So saying, Davvy crossly stood up from her desk and stormed out of the room, tears welling on her lids.

I was NOT going to have such behaviour, so I too jumped to my feet and stormed after her. “NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME YOUNG LADY! …” I had got as far as that when she slammed the door behind her. I was reaching for the handle when Prevet grabbed my arm. I swung round on her, but before I could roar at her as well, she just said: “Hold, Mistress, hold! ’Tis but frustration that is the cause. She shall come to her senses soon. Let it all cool down for a moment or two. Hasty words now will make but a trivial matter far more serious than it warrants.”

She looked steadily at me, some message in her eyes that I was too incensed to comprehend right at that moment.

We had been alone for the past five days, no visitors, no-one from Blackstone House for meals, no deliveries, no nothing! We had been staring at the same walls, we had exhausted every topic of conversation it seemed. The dim light indoors seemed dusty and stale, the food in the kitchen seemed … boring and uninspiring.

Prevet and I had simply smiled at each other when we saw Davvy use her fingers to tuck her hair behind her ears, hair that she no longer had but the gesture was so strongly engrained that she still did it automatically. ’Twas a simple fond smile of, I had thought, gentleness. But Davvy had exploded in anger.

But also right at that moment, I heard the cheery greetings from Maralin and Varran as they entered from the disrobing room.

And an amazing transformation took place then. I felt lighter somehow, my dangerously bad mood dissipated like early morning mist in the sunlight.

And I belatedly realised that I had reacted badly to Davvy’s misplaced distress. I took immediate steps to rectify that and we were soon hugging each other with some more tears.

And then we dived straight back into learning English, which as it happened was a ‘Good Thing’ because something happened on the next morning; but I shall tell you about that a bit later. Suffice it to say that Maralin had decided to go back to basics as he said yet again: “The stronger the base, the stronger the structure.”

… … …

Later that evening, as we all sat around the dining table enjoying the peace and companionability (I suspect this might be yet another word I have invented!) after another fine meal – not bland at all this one! - Gullbrand started a lengthy explanation, having been asked about the Einnlander origins of their presence here in Palarand.

He started by describing briefly his capital town and the King there, along with hints of the way of life. We women all winced as he described the King’s intentions regarding his daughter, Princess Eriana. He explained the decisions taken to run away from such harshness and then he launched into the tale of their travels.

“After all the trials and tribulations of our journey - a hasty departure, storms, massive waves, pursuit that was steadily gaining upon us - it was sad that three of our number had to die when we eventually managed to come ashore in some sort of safety. Poor Goran, Klaas and Wulf. There were many bruises and sprains and also a few broken bones, but all in all, we were 40 other souls happy to be still breathing.

“We had been 58 aboard when we embarked. Captain Balrik Fork-beard was generous and honourable though, announcing that we were all about to go into exile. He allowed anyone to leave the ship before we cast off and even gave them a handful of coin. Seven took up his offer, the first of which promptly ran along the quayside to alert the authorities that we were about to sail away. This added to the urgency for us to cast off and I personally felt that Balrik delayed a hand of moments too long. A pursuit ship very nearly caught us a day or so later.

“So we were 51 when we sailed, or so we thought. A stowaway was found just as we were about to round the headland that protects Jotlheim and its port so that made 52.

“Captain Balrik’s family had never been to sea before so they clustered closely around him, hampering his easy movements around the ship. His wife and daughter each had a maid, of course, who were even more nervous and clung to their principals in a state of almost permanent fear. His two trusted lieutenants were added to the group to help provide an air of calm and safety. It certainly worked - for a few hours.

“But this large group proved to be a fatal mistake when the first storm arose. The steersman and a crewman were combining to fight the steering sweep when the Captain came over to them for some nautical reason beyond my knowledge. And so all seven of them moved as an unwieldy group. The wind was howling, the sail was down and the men in the belly were all rowing as if the Gods themselves had commanded them. The drumbeats for the rowing cadence were almost impossible to hear, but somehow these men managed to keep an even time as the ship knifed through the confused seas.

“I was looking back at one point and I could scarce credit my eyes. Behind us, a rogue wave reared up and broke across the stern of the ship. One moment the group of nine people were all gathered there and then, in the blink of an eye they were all swept overboard into the hungry depths. We non-rowers were suddenly tasked with bailing the shipped water out, and Tor Magnusson, who had been nearest, ran and grabbed the now-untended steering sweep and swiftly brought the ship under control before it could broach. One moment we were 52 aboard, suddenly we were 43.

“Although we came close to losing several others overboard in the wild days that followed, we managed to keep everyone afloat with us. I had been going to say we managed to keep everyone dry, but none of us were that. It seemed to us that the storms were unrelenting, marching one after the other intent on nothing less than bringing about our doom. The heavy pounding we received took a great toll on us as people and also on the ship itself, with several planks eventually springing, thus allowing water in. At one point we were foundering so we had to ditch our swords and shields just to help the vessel ride a bit higher.

“Then we spotted a low-lying shore, mostly reeds and marshy, muddy banks which we could see more and more clearly as we crept closer and closer – it seemed at first though that there were few if any trees, trees which would be necessary for us to make much-needed repairs. We all knew we had to land as soon as we could, it was unclear just how much longer we could keep the valiant vessel from foundering.

“And so we came ashore in Plif. With a thump that unfortunately three of us failed to survive.

“Almost as if the weather was aligned somehow with our ship, as soon as we were no longer bobbing about (well in all reality ’twas more lurching with all that water sloshing about in the ship’s bilges) at the water’s behest, the weather eased. It was as if the storms fled from us once our keel had kissed the kelp.

“We were no longer bobbing, as I said, but we were also no longer horizontal. The ship was canted over enough to make things awkward as the men first started making a more private area at the prow for the three women. At the same time, others had already scrambled to inspect the hull from outside and soon plans for repairs were being drawn up.

“Meanwhile still more men, four in all, had been tasked with rowing one of the praams along the coast to see if there was any habitation, even hopefully a port, nearby. They first headed east which was into the wind and sea. We all knew this was the natural thing to do since it would make their return easier; but they failed to find any trace of anything or anyone on that first day – much to Her Highness’ intense displeasure. And that despite the fact we had actually sailed past that bit of coast just before our unscheduled and ungainly landing.

“And so it was that the three dozen and four of us spent a less-than-comfortable evening and night living at an angle. An acutely disagreeable angle.

“As mentioned, the women were given some privacy by erecting a sailcloth wall just abaft of the prow and I dare say that made them feel a little less uncomfortable, but I can guarantee that no-one aboard was going to use the word comfort in any association other than longingly during that long and seemingly unending night. It was almost with relief we greeted the noisy chorus produced as the avians sang their aubades to the sun which was wearily heaving itself above the horizon. At least now we didn’t need to pretend to be asleep.

“And then, quite early on on that next day, we heard a hail from inland and saw a wagon drawn by a fearsome creature – one I now know to be a dranakh – with some locals who were generously bringing us some supplies. Once the tricky business of discovering a pathway through the marshy land surrounding us had been completed, then of course Eriana and her maids wanted to go to whatever village these saviours had appeared from and there find some decent rest. So Eriana, Geska and Odgarda accompanied by Lars for some protection, and by myself to help with translations and the like, hitched a ride on the now-empty wagon to meet the local headman, leaving the other 35 men with the stranded ship; four of whom were in the praam again searching this time to the west, so of course they too soon saw the village and port, which excited report they brought back to the stranded ship only to be a little deflated when they found out the others already knew!

“The headman of the village, Mucro, was warily welcoming at first since, as with all sea-faring communities, they understood the problems and privations brought about by a shipwreck. The women were found suitable accommodation and we two men had cot beds in a nearby room, so our sleep was a lot better than it had been just the night before. But Mucro was also concerned by the sudden jump in numbers he might have to feed.

“Whilst we were with Mucro and his village, the weather had moderated sufficiently for the crew left behind to patch and then refloat the Visund and move it down nearer to us. Too large for the tiny fishing port, the ship was beached a little further along the coast but this time with the sides level - thus far more conducive to sleep than they had been.”

Gullbrand then sat back letting all that information wash over us. And giving himself a chance to have a drink!

“But that was in Plif, you say? How then did you all get to Palarand?”

“I deem the full complications of our journey to Palarand City and subsequent acceptance by King Robanar and Queen Terys into the Palace is really a tale for some other time, but I will just say that meeting the now-Princess Garia was MOST beneficial to us all, but particularly so to Princess Eriana. I shall attempt to explain that at some appropriate moment.

“As we are effectively alone here in this house, I shall be somewhat familiar with names otherwise I fear confusion will reign if I keep referring to one or other of the Princesses!

“So Garia made a somewhat surprising suggestion; Eriana, Lars and I discussed it in detail; the King gave some promises and finally Eriana accepted that suggestion and the challenges involved in it. Subsequently, I was despatched to fetch most of her crew who were now billeted in two overall locations back in Plif. One group, the larger of the two, were with the ship as it was patched up, and the other group was in the town of Simbek, which some of you may not know is Plif’s capital.

“We had split the men originally after the advice of the village headman Murco; he had suggested a Princess should have an honour guard after all when paying respects to the country’s leader, Duke Shabreth. We strongly suspected that he also wanted a few fewer mouths to feed from his meagre supplies! With Lars there to make it a ten-man squad, we took with us nine of the crew which of course left 26 men with the ship. The nine extra men were then found billets in Simbek when we moved on to Palarand, Duke Shabreth having found accommodation for them and also conveyances for the five of us.

“And so it stayed like that for the next few weeks as we got to know Palarand, its King and Queen and its Palace.

“And then, as mentioned, I was sent back to Plif to fetch the men. We had decided that we needed enough men to stay with the ship and to bring it when properly sea-worthy to Palarand in general, Dekarran in particular, as the advice we were given was that the Palarandi shipbuilders were the most likely to be able to do a solid and trusted job, Plif being a relatively poor country of mostly fishermen and reed-cutters; and also that, of the Palarandi shipwrights, then the Dekarran men were considered to be nowadays the most skilful.

“So we three - Eriana, Lars and myself - expended much thought about the men we had available. We pored over the crew list and made a selection of those suitable. It was always clear that maybe when I got back to the ship, other factors could have cropped up, so we treated our deliberations as a simple plan, one that was flexible enough to pass muster.

“In the end, I left Adin, Bo, Brodgar, Halvard, Niall, Ormund, Toke, Tor Gunnarson and Tor Magnusson behind to bring the ship to us when they could; the last mentioned being appointed Captain.

“The rest of us left the ship then and made our way to Simbek where we collected the others and, after certain celebrations to begin Yuletide (not that that was what the locals called the period lasting a week and a half from the shortest day), we travelled as surreptitiously as possible to Palarand City where the 26 men were delivered to the Kellend Estate.

“It was deemed unwise to let any Yodan agents or spies know that an unusual fighting force was about, so we had progressed along our journey with a great degree of secrecy. Once at the Kellend Estate, the men all trained enthusiastically although not all were selected for the cross-country trek to Boldan’s Rock – for example Vidrik had been injured when we crash-landed onto the Plif shore and he was not considered to be yet of a sufficient degree of fitness for the rigours of a snow-covered cross-country trek. He had proved himself to be adept at Garia’s new-to-us unarmed combat techniques and so joined Garia’s personal guard.

“Kjellmund and Olof had expressed a desire to learn more of Master Haflin’s arts and so they joined him, the Royal Armourer, to help both the Palace Guard and the Armourer’s forges.

“Sigsten was a tall and capable sailor, indeed one of the better sailors, but Milsy felt he would be the best candidate for helping with the stringing of her wires aloft. He was delighted to be able to learn more of her arcane arts.

“Jorl, Folke, Tor Hakonsson, Orm and Knut were all employed helping build up the Estate for its future use.

“The remaining seventeen all went on that heroic and successful expedition that so set the Yodans on their heels. Sadly, two of them were killed outright – Sten and Gylfi – while Kammon died later of his wounds. Four others – Dakig, Lukku, Matz and Radwan – had to be left behind, too sorely injured to travel back to their new home here. The ten men who did return with Eriana were greeted as heroes, along with the two women guards who also went along.

“So seventeen men set out, ten returned.”

He stopped there as the gravitas of the situation worked its way into his audience’s mindset. We all took a drink and I found myself raising a glass on high. All the others soon followed my action. Gullbrand mouthed a ‘thank you’ to me before continuing.

“Now, the surviving warriors had a sort of triumphant return journey through the several countries in between. Forguland and Ferenis had gladly donated wagons and carriages to make their journey more pleasant. They departed after the pyres of Gylfi and Sten. This was a signal for Eriana to disband officially the force and, for the moment, to retire from the war.

“Their departure was complicated, of course, by the need to reascend to the Fort and collect their frayen and belongings before once again descending after also taking their leave of the five injured men they were leaving behind. As it happened, they had been gone for no more than a few days when poor Kammon succumbed.

“So their first stop was across the Sirrel in Forguland, just at the foot of the scene of their triumphs, but this time to take passage across the water! The next day they crossed the river yet again to Hulmar and made their way, after a strong request from Duke Wallesan, to Joth City itself rather than take the normal trade route direct to Thorn. There they were feted and dined and generally made a fuss of - for, would you believe? - fourteen days!

“All right, yes there were also some practical reasons for that length of stay; Eriana and Duke Wallesan agreed to travel to Palarand in company, for Duke Wallesan had determined he was to go all the way there and might as well travel with the Eriana group. But he first had to set his affairs into order and consider his plans for the countries they would pass through and also the needs he would have when sharing information and having discussions with their leaders.

“After leaving Joth, the enlarged party got to Smordan for their next overnight stop, and then they got as far as Virgulend where they had a further grateful reception and overnighted for two nights. This was then repeated in Brugan after which they departed once more but this time with Duke Bardanar and his retinue also joining them and Wallesan’s group.

“Which meant that their progress became almost painfully slow. It took a day to get to Brikant and then another to get only as far as the Moxgo Junction, where accommodation was tight for the simple reason that there were plenty of others using those facilities too then. Trade caravans didn’t stop travelling just because of a distant war!

“They eventually arrived at the Palace in Palarand in the late afternoon of the following day. There they received a heroes’ welcome, of course, separate from all the other arrivals of the high and mighty who were gathering there for some important meeting. As honoured troops, afterwards they were accommodated with the Palace guard.

“All this was nearly a full month before The Wedding …” we could all hear the capital letters in his speech! “… and I was briefly involved again with Eriana and her men in that intervening time, despite having transferred my expertise and allegiance here to House Blackstone not long after the Einnlander Regiment had departed for Boldan’s Rock and their subsequent heroics. I had been left behind with nothing to do, so I was glad to be of use to someone! I found myself becoming an organiser for Garia rather than for Eriana.

“Now, before I continue, I must just hark back briefly to previous events. You will recall that Eriana, Lars and I had had long and detailed conversations as to who would be brought to the Kellend Estate and who should be left with the ship?”

We all nodded.

“Well, the time had come for the Visund to be shifted to a carefully selected boatyard, chosen after much detailed advice from others, for professional repairs. This entailed much more consideration that might at first be apparent. You may recall we had left nine men with the ship in Plif, but two of them were quite ineffectual, being the ship’s lad, Tor, son of Gunnar, and Adin, the ship’s cook. And so we determined that we should send some of the men to assist, to swell the numbers for this brief passage.

“We could, it seemed to us, choose from those recently returned from Boldan’s Rock or from those who had remained at the Estate. In the end, we decided to send the extra men from the group of Estate workers, the others we felt had travelled widely and thus should be allowed to enjoy their rests. It would also have the added benefit of allowing whoever we chose to see more of the Great Valley and of Palarand.

“King Robanar, or someone in his service at least, had arranged for a ship’s pilot to be engaged so the small party of four - the pilot and Folke, Orm and Knut - were despatched to Plif to bring the Visund and the other men to Dekarran. For once, an uneventful expedition passed with no alarums and the ship duly arrived in Dekarran without any untimely delays.

“Which event caused quite some excitement in Dekarran as no-one had ever seen a ship quite like that! It rapidly became the talk of the town. The authorities there decided that there was too much distraction from gawpers, so they towed the Visund to a large enough shed and kept the vessel mostly hidden from curious eyes, safe inside a shed to which access could be strictly controlled.

“This arrangement suited Tor, son of Magnus, who as Captain was satisfied with all the security arrangements. It also suited the shipwrights for they could progress relatively unhindered. They asked a myriad of questions of course but then, having gained all the necessary knowledge, wanted their unfettered access. Everyone was thus happy with the arrangements – so much so that ALL the Einnlander men departed Dekarran and reached Palarand City in plenty enough time to enjoy The Wedding. I can tell you, those who had been stuck in Plif all that time were amazed and astounded at most of what they saw here in the capital of what has become the richest land in the Great Valley. And they had been amazed enough at seeing Dekarran for the first time!

“In the meantime, the Princesses had been talking and laying plans, Eriana openly wondering about what was to become of her and her men. Garia made a suggestion that the Federation to come would require something she called a Navy; soon discussions, discussions that very swiftly involved even the King himself and the high-powered leaders gathered, revealed that there would probably be two branches of this Navy, one based on the River and another based upon the open ocean.

“This of course rapidly developed into a plan for Eriana to sail up the river in the summer for her to see what the river folk were like and what they might require. It was soon apparent that they should, of course, go in the Visund, which would therefore need some further refitting lest they be caught somewhere by the rains. So the Dekarran shipwrights moved the Visund once more, to another dock for some effective decking to be added – all this being done whilst the Einnlanders were over here in Palarand City.

“Garia had strongly suggested that the Einnlander men were particularly suited to be considered as a ship-bourne warrior force. I confess that I have forgotten the word she used but …”

“Marines!” interjected Maralin, with an apologetic grin.

Gullbrand raised a hand in thanks and nodded his agreement. “That was it, I thank you!”

“Now where was I? Ah, yes! Much more was discussed and in the end it was decided that a Navy base would be constructed at Sheldane where both ocean and river coincided. It would also be useful as it was already an old port and it would be advantageous to minimise interruptions to any of the very important existing ferry slips. They agreed that this would be the destination for the return of the Visund.”

He held up a hand to forestall the obvious question that followed on from that statement. He took the opportunity to take a further sip of liquid which he seemed to usher down his throat with his spread fingers to an obvious delight written large upon his face.

He continued: “As I mentioned earlier, it had been decided by those powers-that-be that Eriana would take the Visund upriver, visiting as many countries as she could. She would thus be able to carry the news of the Federation and could extol its virtues, whilst also carrying certain important documents all the way up to Faralmark, since the Margrave of that land had already joined. The principle objective, as stated earlier, was for Eriana to learn about the river of course with a view to designing what might be needed with regard to this branch of the Navy.

“However, the ship must needs be made ready so the Einnlander men soon returned to Dekarran, or visited for the first time, since ALL the men, not just those who had crewed her, travelled there to fully prepare her for the voyage. The plans though can only be described as being dynamic for the original idea was slowly, or maybe rapidly would be more accurate, being buried. That the voyage would take place was always the idea, but that was being expanded almost daily, it seemed to us. They all got to Dekarran some nine days or so before the eventual departure.”

Gullbrand sighed and sat back in his chair, apparently somewhere lost in his memories.

It was the ‘new’ man Nim who then asked Gullbrand what appeared to be a simple question: “If I may, Milord, …” (no-one could yet break him of the habit of giving everyone he spoke to a title) “… you mentioned that plans that had been made with regard to this Vizand ship thing had been expanded?” His intense and yet puzzled visage told us all that he was struggling a little with all this, and yet he was aware enough that maybe he should explain why he was asking, so he rushed on, saying: “If you’ll pardon my interruption, that is. I am truly fascinated by all this information, but, truth to tell, am a little overawed by it all. And you did say we were keeping things informal this e’en!”

I think there were several around the dinner table that night who were secretly glad of the question, for the flow of detailed information had been threatening to become overwhelming.

Gullbrand sat upright once again and nodded encouragingly at the youngster as he once again took up the reins of the conversation: “Indeed so, young Nim. Garia and Keren were off to visit Blackstone, Robanar was busy with the new Federation and the Einnlanders were effectively lounging around with nothing to do.

“As we said, this expedition was basically to gather information. The first addition to the objectives I have already mentioned. This was to carry documents all the way up to Faralmark. Then another addition was added.

“And for the explanation of that, my throat and mouth shall be grateful if I hand over to Tenant Maralin here to continue with the descriptions!”

I took advantage of that ‘natural’ break in the proceedings to arrange for some more drinks to be served and for several of us females to make a swift dash for the ‘facilities’. I was quite surprised at the almost universal fascination with the story of the Einnlanders and the enthusiasm they all had for Maralin to relate the next part of their tale.

A few moments, nay, sorry, minutes of bustle then occurred before we all sat down once more, our faces turned to our visitor.

“Let me start by thanking Gullbrand for his enlightening and entertaining descriptions of how he and his countrymen came to be here. I will gladly follow his example and dispense with titles as I go along, being as how this is such an informal gathering. I deem this will simplify things greatly.

“As you all know, Duke Wallesan and several of us accompanied the thirteen heroes and heroines from our home in Joth back down to Palarand’s palace. So we naturally got to know them quite well. This is relevant because it seemed a sensible way for us to return to Joth by jumping aboard the ship that was going there – and beyond! And so we became yet another expansion in the plans for the Visund.

“Before we go much further, though, I find us must introduce a strange complication to your understanding, a complication that got me very confused at first. Therefore I wish to explain that confusion from the outset.

“A river, or a stream, or a brook, or a rill, or a bourne – indeed any watercourse – runs downhill, however gentle the slope might be. You all know this but have mayhap never actually thought about that. So a stream starts at the top of the hill and travels down to the bottom. That stream has, of course, two sides. So all streams, all rivers, all watercourses are referenced by this motion and one side is known as the right bank whist the other is known as the left bank. This is ALWAYS referenced to the direction of travel of the water.

“Now, when we returned to Joth aboard the Visund, we were travelling UP stream. So we were facing in the opposite direction to the flow of water. Thus the bank to our left as we went along was called the Right Bank! As you can readily imagine, this was really quite confusing at first.

“You may recall or perhaps already know that Princess Eriana’s brother arrived in Plif with two ships and accompanied Duke Shabreth to Palarand with a large and menacing escort of Einnlanders in order to force Eriana to return to Einnland with him. After various happenings, one of Prince Torulf’s ships was sent back to Einnland to reassure the King there, whilst the other remained here to take Torulf back later, after he had learnt enough of our lands and habits.

“As a result of all this, to help gain more insight, four of his men also joined the Visund on its upriver expedition. They were there to help and observe although it soon became obvious that two of them would NOT be returning with Torulf, fully intending to stay here – and probably to join Eriana’s men.

“Also aboard was a river pilot and two armed guardswomen, different from those who went to Boldan’s Rock, to accompany Eriana. Finally, King Robanar allocated a noble to help Eriana with any required diplomacy as the vessel went from land to land.

“Thus, at departure, we had the three women, twenty Einnlander men from the Visund, four Einnlander men from Torulf’s group, Lord Kalmenar, the diplomat, and the Pilot, Master Prell. That’s 26 men and 3 women in all, to accompany Duke Wallesan, myself and the four troops of the Jothan escort, which squad included Captain Hambran and even Sarjant Varran over there. This amounted then to a ship’s company of 35 in all, three of them women.

“Being on the water opened all our eyes, I deem. We learnt that to make headway against the river, we must sometimes let ourselves be driven back downriver for a short while. This sounds strange but is easy to understand when I explain that the strongest current sometimes changes sides of the river. So, to make decent headway, we need to fight against the weaker currents. And that means we have to change sides of the river from time to time. Which means that sometimes we have to go across the strong current, which takes us downstream for a little bit.”

A breath of sudden understanding was expelled by someone and then a few more until we all understood.

Changing topic slightly, the Tenant began again.

“The Sirrel at Dekarran is quite wide when compared to further upstream and as we went upstream the river narrowed relatively quickly. But that is NOT to say that it is narrow, not by a long way. Up at Joth, ’tis still roughly two marks wide. But by getting our timings correct, we managed to catch the incoming tide and this swept us upstream at a rate that was frankly astounding to those of us unused to such practices.

“The river bends a lot around there, almost doubling back on itself as it sweeps from side wall to side wall. And gradually the tidal influence waned. But the sail on the Visund meant that we need not row all that much. Which was quite important as it happened once we had passed the Brugan Edge Ferry and made a fair distance towards the large bend round the south of Brugan. One of the men, Folke if my memory serves, who would normally be rowing was acting as a lookout when he spotted something on a low-lying sandbank, not really able to be classed as an island.

“As you all know, Princess Garia came to Anmar from another world where knowledge levels are far in advance of those currently here. She gives of that knowledge freely that all Anmarian lives might be bettered. On that world are many countries just as there are here. As it happens I too come from that other world and indeed from the same country as Garia. As this has become open knowledge nowadays, I am not breaking any oaths in telling you this – although there are still some topics I am oathbound NOT to mention.

“But let me return to our voyage, where, despite working our way against the current of the mighty river, we happened to have an increased number of men available to keep watch. Folke called an alert and pointed to a small lump of dried mud, just slightly above the water level, upon which we all then saw something unexpected.

“Lying there, in the middle of the Sirrel, was something that upon closer inspection proved to be another transferee from Earth!

“This time, she came from another country to that of Garia and I, but she can nevertheless speak our language. After the usual initial confusion we have all experienced, she seems to have settled down to life on Anmar. For various reasons, we named her Ursula and that name has been accepted and used by her.

“She chose to continue with the Visund rather than settle in Joth and so I do not know whether or not she remains with the ship, since we have heard nothing from them since before the rains commenced. The last message we had, or at least about which I have been told, is from just after they started a return journey and it suggested that they might have cut things a little short in attempting to get all the way back to Palarand. At that time, no mention had been made of Ursula leaving them.

“I do hope that they made it at least as far as Joth where we know they will have had a warm welcome. But to come back to Ursula, she is a skilled and trained healer and when the ship stopped in Joth for an extended stay, she demonstrated her skills ably and put into practice many sensible suggestions.”

“Excuse me, Tenant?”

“Yes, Nim?”

“You say there was an extended stay in Joth? That seems strange to me if one of the objectives of the voyage was to get all the way up to this Faralmark wherever that might be.”

“Well the fact was that the Visund had again been damaged after an attack from a river monster. Repairs could not be done overnight. But, if you will forgive me, I shall not go again into the stories of the voyage up to Joth, Gullbrand there has all the details and shall have a little more time than I currently do to explain them all in detail to you on some future occasion. My task, I deem, is now to give you an introduction to this Ursula. All of course framed by the passage of the Visund.”

He stopped for a sip of water at that juncture leaving us all impatient for him to continue.

“We met monsters both in the water and on land, …”

“Duke Jarwin!” I found myself spitting out, for I knew of that unsavoury incident.

He nodded his agreement at me and swiftly continued: “… but, for now, I just wish to let you all know as much as I do about Ursula who had become the 36th member of our company.”

He paused again there, not only to gather his thoughts back to his track but also probably to let us reflect on the things he had said before about this mystery woman. But it was, inevitably, young Nim, with his new-found thirst for knowledge that broke the silence: “Tenant, you said the other evening, a week or so ago, a few things about this Ursula but seemed hesitant for some reason. Has something now changed that you feel you can say more?”

Maralin looked at Nim with an almost shocked gaze. “That, Nim, is a very astute question. There is a simple explanation, though. But a complicated explanation of the explanation!” He grinned at us then, shrugged acceptingly as he realised he had once again been diverted from his main path.

“When Princess Garia originally arrived, she managed to persuade everyone around the King that she was indeed from another world. And also that she had knowledge that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. And so it was agreed that everything she wanted to tell us would be … passed through, I suppose is the best way to say it ... a selection committee. That in itself involved many oaths of non-disclosure. Once it was established that I too came from this other world, naturally I too was involved with this process. Ursula is also clearly from our world, and so I had to discover to what extent this selection committee would approve of any knowledge about Ursula being bandied about. Had we still been at war, then I have no doubt that I would have been silenced on the subject, but now the war is over, except for a few hard-core fanatics, then I have been allowed to tell you about her.”

“Ah!” answered Nim, “thank you.”

“But you must also remember that none here in Palarand have yet met Ursula except myself and Sarjant Varran, all that anyone knows is from our reports and from the messages sent by Princess Eriana and her company. Ursula is a very talented healer, indeed she saved the life of a guardsman in Joth using techniques from our world that were not known here, and she is learning local healers knowledge at a fast rate. As well as expanding THEIR knowledge.

“So she has been a very welcome addition to the ship’s company as they travel onwards. But she was not the only addition to the numbers! After the attack by a gogon, the Visund was stationed in Joth for repairs for a good few weeks and it soon became obvious that Ursula could not go around freely without a maid, so one was found, young Tyra. When Ursula elected to remain with the Visund, then Tyra too went along. So she would, if you have been keeping up with me in the counting, be the 37th member of the crew, but forget not that six of us Jothans had removed ourselves once we reached home. So she became the 31st member.

“Once they had departed Joth, I was with them for a little bit of the way, but what I am about to report can no longer be considered as direct personal observation. The river Pilot, Prell, had taken on another contract, intending to return to the Visund before they departed Joth, but sadly he twisted an ankle which had been weakened in the gogon attack. So Eriana continued the short passages up to Ferenis and Forguland without any pilot. There they found an abandoned boat’s officer who had been a prisoner of Yod and who was trying to return to his home in Faralmark. So he was hired to replace Prell.

“I was told but confess cannot remember whether ’twas in Ferenis or Forguland, that a young runaway leaped aboard just as they were about to cast off and the issue was finally resolved when Eriana formally adopted the young child to get them away from their abusive father. So that was another added to the crew list. 32 now.

“They passed on upriver to Yod where they encountered several further difficulties. At one place, they stopped for an overnight, anticipating a normal riverside welcome, but discovered some renegade soldiers were holding the locals in some sort of slavery. These men tried to take the ship and crew prisoner but were soon shown the error of their ways, very finally for several of them. In this event, Eriana rescued several people, men and women, who had been previously held and had been treated most harshly.

“There were six men and five women who travelled on with them from this most unfortunate place, and also Eriana took along one of the barges these thugs had captured in order to help with the accommodation. So now she had a small flotilla rather than just the Visund. Two ships with thirty-two men and eleven women in all.

“And of course, their onward journey was also not without incident. But I deem that is enough on this subject for now.”

… … …

The next morning presented me with a surprise. No less than five Questors appeared, led by Master Rindal. They all wished to make early starts, or so they claimed, in learning English, one of them not having been here before.

But then came my great surprise. This time, Maralin handed them over to me rather than teaching them himself. He was going to sit in the background and help only if required.

And so my days of teaching the greatest minds of our land began. After a first few stumbles as they got over their perceived problems of being lectured at by a girl, they appreciated, I deem, being firmly reminded why they were here, why I was the one to do it and why the King had so arranged it all. I confess that having Rindal there was a great boon as he fully supported me and squashed any suggestions that the others made regarding my capabilities. After the initial awkwardnesses, those seemed to be forgotten as they allowed the knowledge to sink in and override nearly everything else.

The day went quite well and the men all enjoyed the lessons (or so they said) but maybe not as much as the evening meal!

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