“Right here!”  Caitlyn chirped.  “Compliments of the captain’s cabin.”

The oldest of the men, who was actually younger in the face than the white of his hair suggested, came up to Fawnlum after the cages were open.

“Good Lady, thank you for – “

“Wait,” Fawnlum told him, then looked at the youth.

“You were the one who shouted the warning, yes?  What’s your name?”

Looking all of 16 years, standing a lanky one inch over six feet, he was working to get the slipped gag off from around his neck.  She wondered if he would lose his vision in his blackened left eye.

“Lucas Vwerlon,” he said.

His good eye went wide, as the deck suddenly rolled under their feet.  “Who’s steering the ship?!” he asked.

“The rope that’s tied to the wheel,” Caitlyn said.

“Get up on deck!  Before this tub capsizes!”

“Do what he says!”  Fawnlum said, letting him past.  “Sienna, throw the others in the cages!  Caitlyn, you watch them.”

“But they’re tied,” the scout said.

“Never leave an enemy alone in his own prison.”

“Get someone on that mainsail!” Lucas shouted, before Fawnlum cleared the hatch.

He ran and grabbed the wheel, then shouted, “Trim the line and – !”

“I don’t know what that means!” she snapped at him.

“Get everyone up here!  Now!”

She joined the former captives, scurrying to follow Lucas’ orders, made more interesting since they did not know the ways of a ship.  The work they had done earlier proved useful, and eventually the bobbing craft took on a more steady motion, carving an eastward path with full sails.

The white-haired gentleman approached again.  “Now!  May I please talk to you, Lady?”

She sat on the platform’s railing next to the wheel, as Lucas continued to steer.  “Your name, please,” she prompted.

“Of course.  Engel Belvin,” he said with a bow.  “That’s my wife, son and granddaughter.”  He waved toward his family near the bowsprit.  “And who are you?”

“Fawnlum Lichner.  Warrior of the Coast of Storms, descendant of Vongilor, servant of King Dregor, ally of King Boldun.  Dragon Smasher.”

“Well met, Lady Lichner.  And most thankful we are to have crossed paths with you tonight.

“Those men were slavers.”

“Slavers for whom?”

“I don’t know.  They just spoke of ‘the master’s purpose’, and of going to Enwentin.

“We were taken in the city of Meura.  Do you know it?”

She shook her head.

“It’s far to the south along the coast of Calador.  We were fleeing the forces of the Bandit King.  This crew captured and caged us.”

“And where did you come from?” she asked Lucas.

“Farther south, in Spriggingrain,” he said.  “Our town of Ashenvale fell to the Bandit King.”

“And just who is the Bandit King?”

“He’s a thug with a sword and an army,” Lucas told her, with cold malice in his voice.  “The rumor is, he’s a big, magically strengthened creature.  He launched a campaign against our southern lands, bringing the people under his heel.

“Mjolsner Vwerlon, my good father, was a powerful wizard, who defended Ashenvale and its neighbor townships for many years.  The Bandit King surprised everyone by advancing so quickly.”

“Sounds like a war.”

“It is.  Our military had to withdraw to the north.  My father died by an assassin’s arrow.”  His voice sank as he recalled the memory.

“I took my mother and fled to the sea.  Unfortunately, we chose this ship.  Before they seized us, I used one of my father’s spells to cast a portal around my mother.  If all went well, she appeared in the Starlight Tower, the stronghold of the wizards of Humboldt Bruit.  I’ll meet her there.”

“The spell provided a distraction,” Engel said.  “Other refugees escaped in that moment.”

“You’re a wizard?” Fawnlum asked, looking at Lucas with new interest.

“In training,” he said.

“And you had no magic to defend yourself?”

“I had one moment to make a decision.  I used it for my mother’s safety.”

“Young sir,” Engel pointed out, “the Tower is in Tisane, Humboldt’s capital city.  Do you know how far to the north that is?”

“I don’t care.  I’m going to find her.”

“So they cut you for robbing them of more victims.”

“No.  The captain wanted to know the secrets of my father’s magical things, like that green gauntlet.”

“Oh.  I was wondering where he got that.  He tried to hit me with it.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t hit it with your sword!  It would have released a burst of energy that would have killed you both.”

He gave a turn of the wheel, and shouted something to Halrick, who was pulling on a line.  “When I refused to tell, he cut me.”

“What about those girls in the dresses?”

“Quanou went to the Coast for some reason,” Engel said.  “Those girls were promised more money for ‘entertaining’ onboard.  The wine was drugged.”

Engel finished his tale, and looked off to the side as the oldest of the bar-girls – in her mid-thirties by her looks – came to join them.

“Anna-Cora, that am I,” she said.

Fawnlum did not recognize her accent, but many people came through Khostead’s eastern seashore.  They came for all kinds of businesses, whether honorable, or otherwise.  Her swagger and posture helped fill out her dress, and complimented her feminine charms; and her measuring eyes spoke of intelligence built by experience.  It was too bad, to Fawnlum’s thinking, that she followed such a lowly profession.

“Thanks for saving us from these scum.  Many thanks!  Tell me something, warrior.  Did you say you’re the Dragon Smasher?”

“I did.”

“Ha!  Well, I’m glad you picked this boat for your travel.  So, now what are you going to do?”

“My friends and I are going to Humboldt to fight,” she said, as Sienna came aft and also sat on the rail.

“What about this ship?” Anna asked.

“We’ll sell it and its cargo, then divide the money for you and the people of Calador.  You can go your separate ways.”

Anna and Engel looked at each other, wordlessly.

But Sienna spoke up.  “What about our share?  The spoils go to the victor.”

“We’ll get our cut.”

“Engel,” Sienna asked, “How much is this ship and cargo worth?”

Engel gave them his estimation.

“That’s half a life’s stake right there,” Sienna told her.  “Even with equal shares all around.  It would be foolish to let such a good boon slip through our fingers.”

“Anyone buying this ship would be of the sea and its business.”

“So?”

“It would be foolish,” Fawnlum said, “to buy it.  Those brigands were working for a ‘master’.  Might this master lose face, if his prizes were taken and his lackeys slain?  Might the new buyer be someday faced with those questions?”

Everyone in the circle looked at each other.

Anna was the first to speak.  “I led the other girls into this.  I think it’s best we go back to Khostead and the trade we know.”

“If you find a buyer at all,” Engel said to Fawnlum.  “Anyone who inspects her will be suspicious about the cells.”

“Which is why it’s good we’re not sailing on the Bedlir,” Lucas said.  “Other sailors will recognize it here and there.  But when we get to Duanhaum in two days, we’re on the Crimson Redemption, and Fawnlum is selling her.  With the fighting going on, there’s great need of ships to carry goods and people, and little need to know about a ship’s past.”

“How do you know?” Sienna asked.

“I’ve worked on boats before.”

She looked at Fawnlum.  “And you’re going to give away our share, even with a low selling price?  Give away your own.”

“We left home to win glory with our swords, not haggle a bargain.  And don’t go getting bitter about a better deal, when a ‘better deal’ is what got us into this.”

“Bah!”  Sienna folded her arms and fumed.

“Except Lucas,” Fawnlum said, as she looked at the youth.  “You’re coming with us.”