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use! "There were seven ships in the attack," the Queen of Dularn ad- ded. My
total fleet had numbered eight with the ship from Talon. That meant that Sela
had sent a ship south to Sarn, to Darlanis!
"How long before the North Star will be ready for sea?" I asked. Maris'
emotional reactions to the news of the destruction of Sana did not surprise me
too much. Her father was the mayor of the village. It was the place of her
birth. I suspected that Sela had decided to destroy it exactly for that reason
too now!!!
"We should be ready by noon," Maris replied in level tones.
Chapter Thirty Four
"Careful!" Maris breathed as the sailors lowered me into the small boat
that would take me out to where the North Star was an- chored. She was
nervous, jumpy, her nerves obviously bad now! I hoped she would settle down a
bit once we reached the North Star. We might need all her judgment as soon as
we reached the ocean! The barometer had been falling steadily in the last few
hours.
"I'm a `tough old bitch'," I assured her, taking her hand.
"If anything happens to you...," she breathed. I nodded.
"Everything will turn out all right," I assured her, forcing a smile. We
would have to catch up with Sela. That might be a bit "difficult" as I had no
idea what the Princess would do next!
"I wish...," Maris breathed softly, the oarsmen taking their places. I
wondered what they thought of all this? Of their own Queen going to sea like
this with the "enemy's" very own Warlady!
"The day will come when we will all live in peace," I said.
"Give way!" the midshipman squeaked, "awed" by being in the same boat
with two Queens. Maris was of course more "impressive" than me. I fear I was
not just then very much to look at either! My face was pale, drawn, my hair a
tangled mass, my body covered by blankets. I probably looked at least a good
hundred if not more! (I am referring here of course to how people in the 26th
Century look at such ages, as I am of course only an actual "40")
"Mankind has been fighting wars for thousands of years," Ma- ris
answered, perhaps more to herself than to me as the oars bit into the calm
waters of the harbor. The North Star's masts now towering up into the cloud
sprinkled sky, while a growing dark- ness to the west made me worry what the
weather might be there!
"Some have been `justified', some have not," I said to her.
"Those who fought in them no doubt thought so," she said.
"It is too easy to see the `enemy' as `different'," I said.
"As something `hateful' to be destroyed," she smiled back.
"Frogs, slopes, geeks, honkies, wops, huns," I agreed.
"Yours was a century of wars," Maris noted with a smile.
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"I `gave you' Janet Rogers," I pointed out with a smile.
"You had no way of knowing about the Lorr," Maris replied.
"I think the Priestesses of Lys are of `benefit'," I smiled.
"Who you `founded'," Maris observed back with another smile.
"I fear I am `guilty' of much," I smiled back at her then.
"I don't like the way the barometer is falling," Maris said, standing
there on the quarterdeck of the North Star as I laid on a cot beside her. She
had first wished to have me put below, but I would not hear of it. I had no
wish to be alone just now. To lie there in her stern cabin not knowing what
was going on above!
"I think you are as `good' as Jon or any of my people," I said to her. I
had absolute confidence in her abilities to sail her ship through anything.
Maris' eyes for a moment glowed into mine as she nodded. I had been studying
the North Star's design. I had a pretty good idea now of what the ship was
capable of. I had no doubts that it was well commanded. The crew well trained.
Maris, I suspected however was a woman plagued with "self-doubt". In that she
reminded me much of Darlanis, another much like her. Both grew up without
having a mother there when they needed her.
"I intend to reach Sana before it hits," she answered, her keen green
eyes missing little as the North Star smashed into the now growing seas. Maris
carrying more sail than what one would consider "wise" considering the
weather. A "driven" woman, I thought to myself, lying there, swaying in my cot
on the North Star's quarterdeck, a bit of spray from time to time wetting my
face. The sky above now growing dark, the clouds moving swiftly.
"Or perhaps drown us all in the attempt," I smiled back at her. Maris
nodded, smiled, tucked the blanket up a bit about me.
"I am Maris Marn," she said. I understood then her emotion. She had used
her maiden name. Darl Jord was but a "bad memory".
"The weather grows worse, your majesty!" the North Star's first officer
spoke, his voice filled with concern, and per aps a bit of terror, the North [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]