Chapter 3
1469 Words
3
We stopped and a half dozen of the guards, all with long halberds, hurried over to us with the plumed helmet fellow in the lead. The soldiers grouped themselves into an arc and pointed the tips of their weapons at us. He stopped before us and looked over our group. “Please state your business here.”
“We came to investigate the call,” Xander spoke up.
The man shook his helmeted head. “There is no cause for concern, sir. The alarm was proven to be false.”
Xander looked around at the halberd-wielding men. Some of their points shook. “There appears to be cause for concern among your soldiers, captain. May I ask what is the matter?”
The man straightened and frowned. “That is something you need not concern yourself with, sir.”
“Lord Cayden may not be of the same mind,” Xander returned.
The captain’s face blanched. “L-Lord Cayden? What has he to do with this?”
Xander swept his gaze over the others who were equally nervous. “He is coming tomorrow to entertain us at his home.”
Their leader stiffened and his eyes widened. “T-then you are-?”
“Lord Xander,” Xander finished for him.
The guards stepped back and glanced at one another. The captain swallowed a lump in his throat the size of an ostrich egg before he bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies, Your Lordship. If we had any idea-” He raised his head and found the others still pointed the tips of their weapons at us. He glared at him. “At attention, you fools! You point your weapons at Ferus Draco!” They stood at attention so quickly that half of them banged their metal halberds against their metal armor.
Xander held up his hand. “That is quite all right. We approached without introducing ourselves, but I wonder at your concern. Is something amiss?”
The captain pursed his lips. “I do not know if you have heard, Your Lordship, but humans have raided much of our coastline. It may only be a matter of time before they wish to take away our livestock as they did the others. It was they who our sentry thought they witnessed on the waters.”
“What was it they saw?” Xander asked him.
The captain smiled. “Only a mess of drifting seaweed, Your Lordship.”
Spiros stepped forward. “To where did the seaweed float?”
The captain shook his head. “I do not know. The tide might have taken it back out to sea or around the cliffs.”
Spiros glanced at Xander who shook his head before he turned his attention to the captain. He bowed to him. “Thank you for being so forthcoming, captain. We are much obliged for the information.”
The captain returned the bow. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lord Xander, and might you tell Our Lord that he is very welcome to visit us when he arrives.”
“I will pass on the message, and I am sure he will be pleased to oblige you,” Xander promised.
We parted company and walked back to the stairs. I glanced between Xander’s pensive look and Spiros’s tense expression. “Well? What’s up?”
Xander looked to his own captain. “You doubt the seaweed is as harmless as the captain professes?”
Spiros stopped us at the steps and grasped the hilt of his sword before he nodded. “I do. If you will recall Captain Magnus used much the same device to spy on our own ships before the battle.”
“Hiding in seaweed?” I spoke up.
Xander cupped his chin in his hand and furrowed his brow. “I had forgotten that trick, but you are correct. Raiders may use the same tactic to inspect the coast prior to attacking, and because of that we must be wary.”
My shoulders slumped and my face fell. “So does that mean the vacation is off?”
Xander dropped his hand and smiled at me. “Far from it. We can only speculate what may come, but unless they attack our conversation means nothing.”
“What’s going on up there?” an aged, raspy voice spoke up.
We all looked down the stairs and watched a weathered man of seventy. His skin was browned and stretched like leather, and on his head was a worn cap. He wore a patched blue-and-gray overcoat over his coveralls and gray shirt, and on his feet were black boots that clomped against the steps. His faded blue pants were kept up with suspenders.
He reached us and studied each member of our group with a quick eye. “Well? Have the fish snapped your tongues off?” His wandering gaze stopped on Xander and his eyes widened. A crooked smile curled onto his lips. “Well, I’ll be married to a fae.”
Xander smiled at him. “According to some of your stories, you were.”
The man laughed and clapped one of Xander’s hands in both of his own. “Then I’ll be leaving those stories out when I get you beside the campfire, but what good winds brought you back to these shores, My Lord?”
Xander gave his hands a hearty shake. “A need for rest and fun, and perhaps a few tales of the old days. Do you still tell your tall tales around the fires on the beach?”
The man nodded. “Aye, for any who are willing to hear them. Nowadays, that’s the young ones hereabouts.”
“Then I shall be young again, and I bring you one still younger.” Xander nodded at me. “Dreail, allow me to introduce you to my Maiden, Miriam. Miriam, this is Captain Dreail, a teller of tale tales-”
“Some of them are true,” Dreail argued.
Xander smiled and bowed his head. “A teller of tales and a man so of the sea the gods should have fated him to be a Mare fae.”
Dreail eyed me with a studious stare before his attention flickered back to Xander. “You’ve caught yourself an interesting fish, My Lord. I haven’t seen the likes of her for a great many years.”
“Then you recognize her as a Mare?” Xander guessed.
He looked back to me and nodded. “Aye, but a halfling, isn’t she?”
My heart quickened. “So I’m really a half Mare fae?”
He nodded. “Aye, I can see it in your eyes. There’s something not quite right about them. Reminds me of the shadows in the deepest waters, but with a blemish of sorts. Sort of if a boat ran through the water and kind of wrecked the look of it.”
“Can you give us any clues to her fae origins?” Xander asked him.
The old sea dog shook his head. “Nope. I can just see what she is, not who she belongs to.”
My heart fell along with my shoulders. “Damn. . .”
Xander pursed his lips at me before he returned his attention to the captain. “Would you oblige us this night by regaling us with your tales? They would be new to many of us, and a second treat for myself.”
The captain perked up and grinned. “I would be delighted, My Lord. Does anything suit your fancy?”
Xander looked over his shoulder at the guard barracks. “What of the tales of the banshee? Those seem rather appropriate considering this evening’s call.”
Dreail nodded. “Aye, a good choice, My Lord. I shall scrounge up my old tales and meet you above your dock at the usual hour.”
Xander bowed his head. “We look forward to it.”
The old captain turned and clomped down the stairs. I looked up at Xander. “What’s the usual hour?”
Xander slyly smiled at me. “Midnight.”
My face fell. “Seriously?”
He chuckled. “You doubt my word quite often, my Maiden.”
I smiled. “I guess I have a hard time believing we’re going to be sitting on a beach at midnight telling tall tales.” I snorted and shook my head. “With me not being a part of this world I doubt I’ll be able to tell what’s tall and what’s not.”
His smile softened as he shook his head. “You are a fae, and they are as part of this world as any dragon. Perhaps more so.” He half turned away. “But come. Let us return to the house before night sets in.”
I walked a few steps, but paused and looked out on the vast seas that lay beyond the cliffs. Beriadan had told me that the lord of the ocean would be the best person to ask about my origin. I had to figure out a way to get a hold of him before we left. I had to know.
“Miriam?” I shook myself and half-turned to find Xander a few feet behind me. His expression was one of concern. “Is something the mater?’
I smiled and walked up to him to loop my arm through one of his. “Yeah. I was just thinking how I was going to stay awake until midnight.”
He chuckled as he led me down the stairs. “A good meal of fish and a short nap, and I am sure you will be as you have always been: lively and beautiful.”
My eyes flickered to our right and the soft waters of the bay. My gut feeling was telling me trouble was coming, and change. Lots of it.
- Writer
