(Author’s commentary): YAY! I finally have all my main characters… well… so far… in one place. That’s: three princesses, one brand-new king, one captured Skull prince, two ship’s captains and their ships and crews, brave little Sanara Trist, and the nucleus of the rebel army that will someday make those evil Skulls squeal, for those of you keeping count! Also, I really like the way the weird relationship between Sanara and the helpless, brand-new king Aluff is developing.

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The Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 10

Sanara prepared food for the four soldiers and her father, then ran to their closest neighbor’s farm to tell them to check in on her father in the morning, giving them the news that the Skulls had invaded the kingdom and that the king was dead. She new this information would spread like a wildfire, but she didn’t know what anybody could do about any of it. She returned home and packed a small travel bag. She was a little surprised to find that almost all of her belongings would fit in such a small space. She wrapped up a little extra food and stuffed it in on top of her things. Then she threw on her only cloak, checked to make sure her sling and the bag of stones were still in her belt, and went to say goodbye to her father.

He reached up and laid his hand along the side of her face. “I have always been proud of you,” he said, his eyes glistening, “but never more than today. I swear, if that shadowclaw had been real, you would have put its eye out, and maybe even sent it on its way.”

“That she would have!” exclaimed one of the soldiers who had been in the great hall.

“True enough,” added the young king.

And with that, they were off. It was a long walk to the coast in darkness, and then a long sail in the dark to the mouth of the bay. Bram’s father landed them on the beach on one of the tips of land that enclosed the bay, and they pulled the small boat up the beach and covered it with sea grass. They shared the food she had brought without lighting a fire.

Sanara dozed against a tree, wrapped in her cloak. The first rays of the rising sun woke her, and she went off into the trees to take care of her personal needs. Minutes after returning to the beach, Bram’s father announced, “that’s my brother’s ship, sure enough.” They sailed out and cut off the ship before it entered the bay. The captain was surprised to see his brother and his nephew, and more surprised to hear the rest of the news they brought with them. He greeted his new king and got him settled into his own cabin.

“There’s a black ship sailing out of the bay to intercept us!” shouted the lookout from the top of the main mast.

“Good luck to them,” the captain muttered, and then began bellowing orders. The ship, called the Shooting Star, was soon outpacing the black ship with little trouble.

Bram’s father was not happy to have had to abandon his fishing boat, but he saw the logic. He realized that the Skull ship would have turned and given chase to him as soon as it became obvious that they weren’t going to catch the Shooting Star. “But I don’t know what your mother is going to think,” he said to his son. “Good thing she has your three brothers to look after her, but I am going to catch the scolding of a lifetime if I ever manage to make it back.”

“Best thing to happen to that poor woman since you married her!” said the captain with a hearty laugh. But he stopped teasing his younger brother when the black ship gave up the chase and began towing his fishing boat back into the bay.

“They will pay for that,” the fisherman said, adding a few other choice words under his breath.

The Shooting Star sailed on, and by evening, Flame was visible, rising out of the waves. They entered the bay soon after a beautiful sunset, and anchored in the harbor. Sanara was fast asleep by this time, curled in a looped pile of rope on deck in the bow of the ship, wrapped in her cloak, and lulled by the gentle rocking of the sea. She awakened as the sun rose, and lay still for a moment, eyes still closed, listening to the cries of the windriders sailing the currents of the air above her, enjoying the tangy, salty taste and smell of the ocean. She at last decided to stand and face the day, and as she did, as her eyes rose above the level of the deck railing, her heart went cold.

Anchored not more than 200 feet away, in the still dim light of the new day, was a black-painted Skull ship. Sanara looked around, expecting to see the crew of the Shooting Star making preparations to flee, but the few crewmen she saw were casually going about routine tasks. Captain Crest stood at the rail not far from her, and he was looking at the Skull ship, but with a decidedly happy expression on his face. She went up to him, intending to ask him about it, but he noticed the worried look on her face and forestalled her.

“Not to worry, missy, that is no Skull-built ship, that. Even in the star-lit darkness I recognized her sleek lines. That is the Wavebounder, captained by none other than my old friend, captain Reef. He showed himself in lantern light, to let me know all was well. I have no idea why she is done up in Skull colors, but we will have an answer to that soon enough,” and he poked his chin out towards the other ship to direct her attention that way.

Sure enough, a small ship’s boat was being lowered into the water beside the other ship, and soon, the little boat was making its way towards the Shooting Star. Sanara watched as an older man with a neatly-trimmed beard climbed nimbly aboard the Shooting Star and then fell into a hug with captain Crest, involving much backslapping and loud laughter. Then the two men lowered their voices and began to speak back and forth, very quickly and very earnestly. A short while later, captain Crest sent one of his crewmen to his cabin. The man returned in short order with young king Aluff, who looked very unkingly in his plain garb, yawning and stretching and scratching himself. The two captains conversed with the king, and then the king went back into to the captain’s cabin.

Sanara took the opportunity to prepare herself for the day ahead. She wasn’t all that surprised to be back on deck before Aluff reappeared, but he wasn’t that far behind her. She watched as the captain of the other ship scramble back down into the small boat. Aluff peered uncertainly over the rail at the boat bobbing in the water below. Then he tried to imitate the captain’s descent. It took a while, and it wasn’t graceful, but it didn’t end in disaster either. Sanara had to smile as she watched, but was more than a little shocked when Aluff looked up at her and beckoned her to follow. She did, and as she did, she was less than thrilled by the thought of the view of her undershorts the king must be getting from below as she hung above him in her short tunic. She took a seat on the bench across from him, and saw Aluff smiling at her in a way that let her know that he hadn’t been enough of a gentleman to avert his eyes.

The captain of the other ship, on the other hand, was nothing if not a gentleman. He leaned forward from his bench and offered his hand and his name, adding, “young lady, it is an honor to meet you. My friend, captain Crest, told me the tale of your of your bravery in defense of your homeland. I have some passengers on my ship that I think you will be interested in meeting, and I know they will be pleased to make your acquaintance.”

By the time this introduction was complete, they were already reaching the side of the other ship, thanks to the skill of the four crewmen manning the oars. Sanara made a point of waiting until after Aluff had made his ungainly way up and over the railing before, with the help of the captain, she followed. Not long after, Sanara found herself seated at a small table in the captain’s cabin with three princesses, a Skull prince, a king, and the captain whose cabin it was. The captain introduced her to those around the table, and told the tale of her involvement in the fight in the great hall, as told to him by the captain of the Shooting Star. The story didn’t lose anything in the retelling. In fact, she felt that, if anything, his version made her sound much more heroic than she had felt while it was happening to her. She was prepared to downplay her role, but she never got the chance.

Everyone around the table began congratulating her and asking her questions and making a fuss over her, and she just got swept up in the excitement. No strangers had ever treated her so nicely, let alone a table full of royalty. She was thrilled to be made to feel so welcome. She settled by saying, once she got the chance, that all she had done was sling a couple of rocks, but no one would hear a word of it, and they all insisted that she had struck a real blow against the enemy while showing that what might have seemed to be one of the enemy’s most powerful weapons was really just an illusion.

“Oh, I could have told you about Rasp,” said the skinny boy in black across from her. “He is my father’s wizard. He can’t really make anything that can hurt you. He just makes things out of the dust in the air, or something like that. They look real enough, but you can walk right through them.”

Sanara was fascinated by the young Skull prince. She found herself studying him as the conversation moved on to king Aluff. The princesses had all met him previously, and now they all expressed their condolences on the death of his father.

I always loved your father,” said Hildy. “He was a kind man. He used to play with me when I was little, whenever our families got together.”

Sanara took a moment to study princess Hildread. She was dressed in what looked to Sanara to be a soldier’s uniform, without the armor, of pants and shirt made from sturdy green canvas. She was also wearing black boots. This was all surprising enough by all normal, modern conventions, but it didn’t end there. Hildread also had very short hair, which Sanara had never before seen on a female. On top of that, it wasn’t a neat haircut. If Sanara had to guess, she would have said that the princess had hacked her own hair off with a very sharp knife.

After everyone had told Aluff how sorry they were about the loss of both his father and his kingdom, they quickly filled him and Sanara in on all that had transpired to lead them all to where they now were. Sanara listened to the incredible series of events in astonishment. On hearing of the ghastly murder of princess Zareena’s husband, she at last understood why the princess had contributed so little to the conversation. Sanara had sensed a deep sadness in her, and she felt her anger at the Skulls burning higher.

When the table fell silent for a moment, king Aluff asked the obvious question. “So, what are we going to do now?”

Sanara glanced at him. Yes, the question was obvious, but it wasn’t a stupid question by any means. She began to hope that he was gaining some measure of maturity and wisdom from the tribulations life had thrown at him… until he spoke again.

“I, for one, am going to ask the king of Flame to let me live in the castle.”

Sanara was, once again, at a complete loss. How could the boy be so stupid? Didn’t he see the simple truth staring him in the face? The Skulls now ruled five of the seven kingdoms. They weren’t going to stop until they ruled them all. A fleet might be on its way to Flame even as they spoke. This was the time for action, for planning. They had to take a stand against this spreading evil.

Aluff opened his mouth to speak again.

Sanara did what needed to be done. “Shut up, Aluff,” she told him.

His mouth slammed shut with an audible noise.

Everyone around the table did the best job they could of trying not to smile.