fandomania | The Adventure continues...

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We left that village a week later, when I felt strong enough to travel. During that week, Donal proved once again the amazing man that he was. He helped with Yusaf’s care just as he had with Jayzon and with his own children.

Donal also caught me up with all the family news that happened while I was gone. It turned out that the attack on Alfaria was little more than a sortie and was quickly rebuffed by the Alfarian army once they arrived. There were some lives lost amongst the Alfarians and many injuries, but Rosa was the only family casualty. She and I were not the only captives taken, but I was the only captive who had been rescued. I am sure that Pahpey spent a lot of money and effort in my return. I was going to have to find a way to repay him for this. Donal had said that at first he despaired of ever finding me again, but when Tuščia Žemė was liberated, after a coalition army was finally formed, more information came to light. Donal told me that using the name I had, which was one that he had made up back in Lag Valley, was the key to finding me. He said that the rest came about with patience, bribes and political influence. Uncle Haral had volunteered to help with the rescue because the only men who were allowed in the hareem had to be eunuchs. I didn’t know this, but for many centuries it was required of all priests to give up their sexuality in order to be better priests for the ghods and for their worshippers. Since Uncle Haral was already a eunuch, he was the perfect person to make sure that I was in the hareem and to facilitate my rescue. I owed him a lifetime of debt also. I wasn’t sure how I would repay him either.

The hardest question that I had to ask was about Eryssa, my daughter who I gave birth to a year ago and who I had only seen for a few seconds. Donal reassured me that she was fine, that she was thriving and growing well. Aunt Suthi had personally devoted herself to raising her and caring for her, since she had felt so guilty in having to leave me behind. I expressed my sorrow to Donal and worry that Eryssa wouldn’t know me as her mother and wouldn’t accept me. Donal tried to tell me that this was something to worry about when we arrived home again; that worrying about it now was pointless and unnecessary.

When we finally left the village, our journey to Ostas was slow and careful. There was no indication that we were being followed or that there was any threat to us from the Rajfaharans. In Ostas, we found Captain Bayard conMiros, one of Pahpey’s best captains and the husband of Nell, waiting for us to arrive. We quickly boarded the ship, the Merry Nell, and we set sail at the next high tide. The passage was to take two weeks, as we were far from Alfaria. The first several days were smooth sailing, but soon the weather changed and the ocean turned rough. In no time, the winds and the waves were constantly churning and threatening to founder the ship. Four days of constant winds and high waves, worried me, as I didn’t know how to swim. When things went from bad to worse, I stayed in my cabin and cleared my mind of all my worries and fears. I called out to any nearby water dragon or storm dragon to come to our rescue, but no dragon was anywhere in the vicinity. Again, I cleared my mind and let it flow and spread out. I felt something. Something powerful. Something ancient. Something that I had felt before years ago in Mahajatma. It wasn’t sentient, but it was there and it called to me, like a magnet calls iron. It asked me to come and find it. I said that I would but asked it for help first, to please calm the storm that threatened us.

**Acceptance**

Within the hour, the storm stopped and the wind ceased howling. The ship was once more safe and sailing, although Captain Bayard was having problems finding where we were and how far off-course we had blown. He needed nightfall and the stars to help him with his calculations.

When night fell and the stars came out, Bayard discovered that we had been blown hundreds of miles off course. We were somewhere south of the Archipelagos, in waters that he was personally unfamiliar with. He had maps and charts for where we were, but they were old and he wasn’t sure how reliable they were.

According to his charts, we either could sail west to the Archipelagos or we could head east for the port of Xianpetê. If everything was correct, Xianpetê was closer to our position, but the Archipelagos was a known quantity and where Uncle Stevar and his family were headquartered. On the other hand, the prevailing winds were coming from the west and battling headwinds would impede our journey by days.

It was decided to head for Xianpetê. We could replenish our food supplies and find a cartographer who had better, more current maps.

We made port the next day, with the winds filling our sails and pushing us faster towards the east. Xianpetê port was hidden behind a barrier reef that had only one entrance. Fortunately, the chart Bayard had was correct and we passed through without harm.

The city behind the port seemed wide open and lawless. Many were the taverns, drug dens, brothels and slave auctioneers. There were legitimate establishments there, but to my inexperienced eyes, they seemed colored by their immoral neighbors. I didn’t want to stay here and I didn’t think that this was a place one should walk about in at night, unless heavily guarded.

Bayard found a chandlery and ordered more supplies through them, but it was going to take several days to complete the order. We then went to find a cartographer, but none were to be found. Haral suggested that we look for a jeweler or goldsmith. We found several, but they seemed more like pawn brokers than jewelers and they had no idea what stone we were wanting, nor could they direct us to anyone or any place that might have that knowledge.

As we walked back to the ship, we came upon a slave auction in progress. Donal, knowing how recent my experience was with slavery, put his arm protectively around me and was trying to hustle me quickly passed it. But I saw something that stopped me dead in my tracks. Donal noticed my pallor and interpreted it to bad memories and tried to hurry me away, but I refused to go.

“How much money do we have?” I inquired.

Puzzled, Uncle Haral answered, “About five thousand gold pieces. Why do you ask? Do you see someone up for auction that you know?”

“Yes,” I replied, “The next girl up for auction is my half-sister, Laela.”

“Are you positive?” asked Haral.

“Yes. I will admit that I haven’t seen her in four years, but she looks just like her. And knowing the Georgist propensity to sell their captive women into slavery, I am almost certain it is her. Please, Uncle Haral, please rescue her for me? I could not bear to think of her spending another day as a slave.”

Uncle Haral went into the auction and returned an hour later with my sister. She had that spaced out look that women get when drugged, but it was starting to wear off. “Patra? Is that you? Or am I hallucinating? What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you.” I took off my coat and put it around her, to cover up her nakedness. As I put my arm around her, she began to cry.

“Before we leave this wretched place, I need to know if your mother or any of your sisters are here. If they are, we will buy their freedom also.”

“No,” she replied emotionally, “I don’t think they are here. I haven’t seen any of them in a long while. I am only here because the ship that I was on with my owners was taken by pirates. Everyone left alive on board was sold at this auction. I can’t believe you are here and that you saved me.”

Laela was very much like I remembered her, other than being four years older. That would make her about sixteen years old now. She was about 5’4” tall and slender in her build. She looked just like our father. She had long dark brown hair and gray eyes.

Rather than standing around, we rushed back to the ship. I was all for leaving that port immediately, but we had to wait for the supplies to be delivered. We stopped only to purchase clothes for Laela and me, since neither of us had much in the way of appropriate female garb. Once back on the ship, she and I had long talks, sharing our stories and crying a lot for our lost family. I told her of the warm, loving family that I was part of back in Alfaria and reassured her that she would be welcome there also.