Sailing with the jib only, and the mainsail furled, made the passage through the dense fog slow going. If they had not been following the mysterious glow in front of them, they would not have been going anywhere, thought Johan to himself. If the area around the Shadow Islands was always enveloped in fog this thick, it was no wonder ships disappeared once they entered. Just before he had dozed off, Johan thought to himself that if he survived this journey, he was going to have grand tales to tell at the pub in Mumblesey during the winter months.
Thorval was not thinking in terms of “ifs”. He was as determined as ever to get through the fog and as far away from the ship that had followed them into the fog as possible. With the thick fog between the Mowenna and open water, the other ship could not see them, but neither could they know where the other ship was, or if there would be more than one ship waiting for them when they emerged from the fog. It was hard to tell the hour. It had been near dusk when they had entered the fog, but based on his fatigue, Thorval suspected half the night was gone. They needed to get out of the fog far enough away from the ship that followed them, and then make a break for the capitol without being caught.
The break between the fog and the open water was so sudden that even the starlight seemed overly bright. Thorval was thankful there was not a full moon, for even with a dark colored boat and dark sails, once he raised the mainsail, their silhouette would be visible if someone were really on the lookout for them. As the stern of the boat came out of the fog, Thorval looked over his left shoulder. He could see the running lights of the other ship, pinprick dots a long way away. Fortune had favored them in that he could not see any other ships. Thorval took out of his pocket the digeron he had used to call his mysterious help and played a silent thanks. The glow turned and winked out.
Thorval looked up to get his bearings, but to be on the safe side, reached over and placed his hand over Johan’s mouth while gently shaking his shoulder. The old man had fallen into an exhausted sleep about an hour prior. Thorval had covered Johan’s mouth so he would not make a sound upon being awakened because sound carried over water. Johan awoke with a start, and then seemed to quickly understand where he was. He sat up and stretched.
Thorval leaned in and whispered, “We’re out of the fog. The ship that chased us is over your left shoulder. You can just make out her running lights. Can you get a fix on where we are before I raise the mainsail?”
While the Mowenna slowly crept away from the fog bank, Johan got his instruments out and took a sighting. Then he went below, where no light would show, to plot a course on his charts. Not many minutes later, Johan was back and gave Thorval the compass setting.
“Once ye set the mainsail, hold her to this course. Should head us straight towards the Fiske Yates reefs.”
“You want to head straight towards the reefs?”
“There be a place a boat our size can get through but where the ship back there can’t. If we be spotted and have to make a run for it, tryin’ to get through the reef unscathed be risky but doable. If no one be followin’ us, then we be skirtin’ the reefs,” stated Johan, with such conviction that Thorval believed him.
Thorval was beginning to suspect, with great certainty, that Johan had at one time been more than a simple long trawler fisher. He certainly was a handy ally to have now. It was time to raise the mainsail and hope they did not get spotted. Once Thorval raised the mainsail, he went to the stern to take over the helm. At first he thought their luck had held, but looking back he was appalled to see that the ship behind them was lit up, and in the lantern light, he could just make out the crew hoisting sail. At that same moment, the wind freshened, and the Mowenna began to pick up speed. Thorval chanced to look back again and noticed something strange was happening to the other ship.
Master Rollag, Lady Celik, and Seeker Eshana talked quietly for a few more minutes and then left the tavern, deciding to put some distance between themselves and this backwater village. Travel back towards the capitol would be a bit faster, despite being slowed down somewhat by Seeker Eshana’s two pack animals. The journey back would also be more direct because Master Rollag and Lady Celik would not be chasing rumors this time. The trio had been traveling several hours when Seeker Eshana, who had been at the rear, moved up and pulled alongside Master Rollag.
“I think someone is dogging our trail.”
Master Rollag looked up in surprise. He thought he had been paying attention and had had no indication that they might be being followed, but he did not question Seeker Eshana. The man had an uncanny sense of knowing that most folks did not possess.
“What do you want to do?”
“Here, take the leads of the pack horses. My horse will follow you. Do not take his reins.”
With that said, Seeker Eshana moved his horse to the edge of the road without slowing down, stood in the saddle, grabbed a thick branch that hung over the side of the road, and swung himself up. Master Rollag, Lady Celik, and Seeker Eshana’s three horses continued on.
“Who would have thought a man so big could be so nimble,” Lady Celik remarked. “I would not want to be the one he suddenly drops on out of that tree.”
Lady Celik and Master Rollag traveled on for what seemed to them an extraordinarily long time, but was not, when suddenly Seeker Eshana’s horse wheeled about and trotted back the way they had come.
“Should we be concerned?” Lady Celik asked.
Evan was bored. With Master Clarisse spending so much time in meetings at the capitol Glassmakers Guildhall, Evan was left to his own devices much of the time. He had finished his entry piece for the judging, had cleaned and repacked the wagon, had been to the guildhall quartermaster for new clothes, for it seemed he had suddenly grown out of all of his old clothes, and now he was at loose ends. Evan decided to use his time to get a feel for the rest of the fairgrounds. He had been to the capitol guildhall before, but never during fair time. Besides, he wanted to see where the horses and other livestock would be shown and sold.
It surprised Evan a little how much more enthusiastic he was about checking out the animals than beginning another glass piece or taking up Aure on another glassblowing lesson, something that would have been his heart’s desire not even a year ago. He had begun to wonder lately if glasswork were really his calling, but he had been reluctant to talk to Master Clarisse about his confusion. Yet another reason to wish Master Rollag were here. Evan had always found him easy to talk to.
While the fair was still almost a week away, the fairgrounds was a busy place with workers setting up temporary structures and laying out the lanes that would be filled on either side with booths. The signposts were being repainted, the ones that directed fairgoers as to where each guildhall, trade, or type of merchant might be found. Evan wondered if Nissa would have her booth at the Glassmakers Guildhall, or if she would set up with the other woodworkers.
Evan stopped to watch a sign painter freshen up the lettering on a sign when he noticed that beneath the weathered signs there was a new one on raw wood. He moved closer to read what the new sign said. It read “Rovers and Misc. Merchants.” All thoughts of looking at the livestock left Evan’s mind, and he began following the new signs to see where they led. Once he came to the end of the signs, he stood for a brief moment, then turned, and began the long run back. He needed to talk to Master Clarisse immediately.
Beezle had tossed and turned and could not get comfortable. He had been sure that after the days of long hard riding, and then the long hours of talking to his aunt, uncle, and others about what he had seen and heard since he had left Glendalen, he would fall into bed and be instantly asleep. Turning over to punch his pillow again, he tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable. Though his body was fatigued, his mind would just not stop going over and over what he had learned this night. The information that his uncle and aunt had both gathered from sources they trusted and were loyal to them, while sometimes conflicting, was dire indeed. A great many decisions needed to be made in a very short amount of time.
One of the debates going on was whether the larger landholders should go to the capitol and confront the Regent at this time, leaving their holdings without leadership. Or whether just some of them should go, and if so, who, and could they really trust the ones left behind? Beezle’s uncle was prepared to go because he knew Lady Hadrack and his loyal staff would be able to handle any crisis while he was gone. That was not as true of some of the other landholders in the region. Another debate that raged was even if those loyal to the Crown were to form a large group and travel to the capitol, were they placing themselves at risk by putting themselves in an area controlled by the Regent? Were they better off guarding their own lands and waiting to see what the Regent planned to do about the Princess coming of age?
Tomorrow would be another round of debates and discussions. The difficult part about making choices is that Beezle and his aunt and uncle did not dare let the others know that the Princess was alive and well, contrary to the most persistent prevailing rumors. To give others that information was to put the Princess, Nissa, and the other rovers in even more danger than they were in already. All anyone knew with some amount of certainty was the fact that the Regent was supposed to make a major announcement on the third day of the fair. Somehow there needed to be some type of plan in place, or a number of plans in place to face every possible contingency, which was a near impossible task considering all of the variables and all of the things that could go wrong between now and then.
Master Clarisse was very close to screaming, jumping up abruptly, walking straight out of the guildhall’s meeting room, and running for the hills. It was no wonder that Master Rollag spent as much time away from the capitol as he possibly could. The men and women in this room were those master glassmakers who governed the guild, and many of them were very intelligent and hardworking. But there was always one in any group who was either overly cautious, or overly self-important and longwinded, who made any meeting tedious at best and downright frustrating at the moment. One foolish fellow, who was way too fond of disrupting just when the group seemed to be getting on track in the discussion, had just cut into the conversation again, and his comments had little or nothing to do with what had been under discussion. He is such a nyargle, Master Clarisse thought to herself. She wondered if she could just make an excuse and sneak out. Would anyone really notice? Just when she thought she would probably collapse from sheer frustration, a discreet knock came at the door. The master closest to the door rose and answered the knock, listened, and then signaled to Master Clarisse that she should come to the door. It was with some trepidation that she rose and walked to the door.
“I apologize for dragging you away from an important meeting, Master Clarisse, but there is something that demands your attention,” stated the guildhall seneschal. “If you will follow me please.”
With an apologetic look to the master who had answered the door, and feelings of both great relief and some apprehension, Master Clarisse left the meeting and followed the seneschal down the hall and into a smaller room. Evan was pacing back and forth in the small confines of the room between the two chairs and the fireplace, looking more agitated that Master Clarisse had ever seen him.
“I would not have bothered you had the young lad here not been so persistent. I was fearful he would either burst into the meeting in front of all the masters gathered there, which would not have boded well for his rise in the ranks, or he would simply have just burst,” stated the seneschal, backing his way out of the room, but not before giving Master Clarisse a wink.
She now was not sure if he had just taken pity on her, knowing she hated meetings, and sprung her from the dreadful meeting for which she was going to owe him, or if there were really something wrong.
Once the door was firmly closed behind her, Master Clarisse addressed Evan. “Just what is so important that you felt it necessary to summon me out of a meeting?”
“I was out taking a walk, and I noticed new signs were being put up on posts. You know, the signs that direct fairgoers where to find different areas of the fair.”
“How nice of you to let me know that the fair has new signs that will let me be less lost as I wander the fair. This is what you dragged me out of a meeting to tell me?”
“No, all the old signs are still there, but they’ve added new signs.”
“And what is important about these new signs?” Master Clarisse asked, trying to hold on to what little patience she had left.
“They pointed out the way to where the rovers and miscellaneous merchants were supposed to set up their booths. I overheard some of the painters who were working on the signs comment that the new signs were ordered by the Regent, and the set up was not the way it has always been done. The Regent has declared that rovers must set up their booths in a certain area and would not be allowed to set up in the area of their craft or skill like everyone else. Master Clarisse, you should see where he has put them. Something needs to be done.”