A Distant Tomorrow. Бертрис Смолл

She quietly closed the cabinet door behind her. She needed no one to tell her that she was on the Terahn vessel. For now the best choice she could make was to remain exactly where she was. Captain Corrado would come eventually, and she would learn what she needed to know.

       Spying a tray upon a small table she walked over to it. It held a short squat decanter of liquid, two small carved stone cups and a bowl of fruit. Lara uncorked the decanter and spilled some of the liquid into a cup. Putting it to her lips she smiled and drank it down. It was a light and fragrant wine. She filled the cup and, taking a peach from the bowl, settled herself in the cushioned seat that was built into the bow window. From the position of the sun it was obvious she had slept many hours into the morning of the next day. And there was nothing but blue sky reflected in the deep blue waters of the sea around them. Now and again she saw groups of the arcing jumping fish that she had seen from the deck of Arcas’s ship, but nothing else. They were alone upon the sea.

       Why, she wondered, had Arcas betrayed her into the hands of the Terahn captain?

       Because, she reasoned to herself, she was meant to enter the Terahn Dominion. But to what purpose? It would be so much easier to live out her destiny if she knew what that destiny was. She had never liked riddles, and yet it seemed her whole life, from the moment she had departed the City, had been one riddle after another. She turned as the door to the cabin opened. A young boy scurried in, giving her a quick look with his wide dark eyes. He handed her a plate upon which was a thick slice of bread and a wedge of cheese. Then, turning, he hurried off.

       “Thank you,” Lara called after him.

       The boy stopped and turned a face to her that was rigid with surprise. Then without a word he ran from the cabin.

       Lara shrugged, and, after pouring herself another cup of the wine, began to eat the bread and cheese. When she had finished her meal she looked about, and saw a basin and pitcher stowed carefully in a small cranny. She poured water from the pitcher into the basin, and washed her hands and face using a small cloth she found by the ewer. Then she went back to her seat in the bow window and continued to watch the sea sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky.

       In midafternoon the door to the cabin opened again, and Captain Corrado entered. “How long have you been awake?” he asked her.

       “Since morning,” Lara said. “The wine was drugged, but how?”

       “The servant was instructed to pass the tray to Arcas and to me first. We knew which goblet contained the sleeping draught,” he explained.

       “Of course,” Lara answered him. “’Twas cleverly done, Captain Corrado.”

       “Are you not afraid?” he asked.

       “Of what?” Lara replied.

       “You have been betrayed by King Archeron, and sent into bondage across the sea to another strange land,” Captain Corrado said.

       “Archeron did not deceive me, Captain. He has always been a friend to the Outlands. And Arcas is foolish to believe that by telling me, I should lose all hope. Hope of what? I am here upon your ship now because it is meant that I be here. What lies did he tell you about me? But no matter—I shall tell you my history myself. Will you not sit down and allow me to offer you some of your most excellent wine?”

       He was fascinated. He nodded his agreement, watching her closely as she poured the wine and handed him the cup. Then he listened as she quietly and succinctly told him her tale. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her voice was clear and sweetly mellifluous. It was a bewitching sound that caressed his ears. He was not used to hearing a woman’s voice. He found Lara’s enchanting. And her story fascinated him. She was the daughter of a great warrior, and a faerie queen. Arcas had not quite put it that way. If he had to trust either of them, he realized, it would be Lara’s truth he accepted, and not the wily Coastal King’s.

       As she finished he heard her say, “I hope you do not mind, but Andraste and Verica have come with me. They are quite harmless when not wielded, Captain.”

       “I did not see the servant carrying you bring anything else,” Corrado said.

       Lara laughed. “No, he did not, but my weapons came nonetheless. I told you that I am magic, and I am surrounded by magic.”

       “If you have such power then why are you here?” he asked her.

       “I have already told you that, Captain. I am here because I am meant to be here at this time,” Lara explained gently as if she were telling a child.

       “What is your purpose in being here? Have you come to spy for Hetar? Arcas talks a great deal and much too freely. There are changes coming to your world, lady.

       “Your people will take new territory. After they have taken the Outlands they will surely turn their eyes to the sea. The Coastal Kings will no longer be able to keep their secrets to themselves, and once Hetar learns of Terah and our Dominion they are sure to seek to conquer it. Or has Arcas already betrayed his own kind?”

       “The Outlands are protected from he who would be emperor, Captain Corrado,” Lara said. “Gaius Prospero cannot know that yet, and he will strive mightily until he figures it out, if indeed he does. Hetar believes that its provinces and the Outlands are all that there is of the world in which we live. I know it is not, but does your Dominion take up all the rest? Or are their other places, and peoples? How much more is there? Have you not ever wondered that?”

       Her curiosity fascinated him. “I do not know if there is more,” he admitted.

       Lara smiled. “But do you want to know?” she asked teasingly.

       He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.

       “Is there magic in the Dominion?” she queried him.

       He nodded in the affirmative. “Aye, there is.”

       “Good,” Lara told him. “I shall look forward to learning all about it.”

       “You are being given to the Dominus Magnus Hauk,” the captain said. “You will live in his castle, and your freedom will be greatly curtailed, for you will be considered a slave, lady.”

       Lara laughed. “I was once before considered a slave by men, for all the good it did them. I am not a slave, and your Dominus will soon learn that. If all he wishes of me are pleasures he may have them, as long as I am free to follow the path set out for me.”

       Captain Corrado shook his head in wonder. “Lady, I had never seen or heard your like before. But because I see no evil in you I must warn you to tread carefully. Magnus Hauk is a very strong, and extremely determined man. He will not tolerate disobedience, especially from a woman.”

       “I thank you for your kindness and your advice,” Lara responded.

       “We will be arriving tomorrow,” the captain said.

       “Tomorrow? Arcas said each ship met three days out from their home port in the center of the sea,” Lara exclaimed.

       “Lady, you slept two days,” came the answer.

       “Two days!” Lara was astounded.

       “The brew we gave you was potent,” he said.

       Lara laughed softly. “Aye, it must have been.”

       “I could not be certain you would not object to your current circumstances, and resist violently,” Captain Corrado told her. “Had I known your disposition I would have permitted myself to enjoy your company more. Terahn women are not at all like you.”

       “If that is so, can you be certain that I will appeal to your Dominus?” Lara asked.

       The captain smiled. “A man would be a fool not to want you, lady.”

       She smiled at him. “You flatter me.”

       “Tomorrow when we prepare to enter the fjord, would you enjoy being on deck?” he offered generously.