Daughter of the Witcher Ch. 08

All told, there are still seventy-two people and fifty-three horses. The largest boat here cannot carry them all, and you are four among you."

"Five," Louhi said, "The place where we were belongs to a troll and his wife. They were gone for a time, but returned yesterday with a cousin of his. She wishes to come."

She turned in the saddle to look at Màiri, "Something must happen for us, my cautious new friend. Leif is in a rage because Annikki's boy is a kind that he fears will steal his wife from him no matter how she tries to gainsay it all. We have only two days to leave there.

I can help even seventy-seven to travel overland quickly, but I cannot do it if we only travel to the nearest landfall and ride the whole way, and I cannot cause a large boat to just appear, along with a crew. I do not have enough gold to pay for even the short crossing. How much have you?"

"I can manage something," the red-haired one said as she indicated her saddle bags. "I was given what the laird who we were to work for thought was enough to last a year, and though I have been frugal, I know that it will not suffice by half. But I think that I can do better than you.

It still will not be enough," she said sadly, "I am almost certain of it, looking at all of this."

"Well," Louhi said, "let us go down and find out how much we will be short by."

They sidled their horses through the crowded place and stood at last on the dock between the two largest of the ships, knowing that they couldn't manage it, but wanting to see anyway.

One ship looked almost deserted and the other was bustling with goods being off-loaded. Cuilén went to speak to the unhappy-looking master.

"Passage to Urbs Gyddanyzc?" he asked, shaking his head, "For how many? Seventy-seven? And horses into the bargain?"

He shook his head, "Friend, I tell you honestly, I could have managed it a month ago. These two Frisian cogs are mine. I could have handled it easily. But my luck has turned sour and --"

There was a frightened yell from the other ship as they all heard a crunch. Looking over just in time, they all saw some broken timber fly into the air, followed by a yelling man, who flew upward for a moment to come landing with a loud thud half on the dock not far from their feet. He was dead a moment later.

There was a commotion and many of the dockhands walked away on the spot.

The master hung his head. "I would take you, ... "

He shook his head then, "No, I have had more than enough of it. I want to take what I can of my business and go to live with my wife in Jutland. How much have you for the passage?

I will sell you this one, along with the overseer and thirty crew -- all slaves, if you take both ships. What say you?"

"What happened over there?" Cuilén asked and the master hung his head again.

"A dragon has made its home in the hold of my boat and will not leave it. This misfortune is my ruin. I have tried priests and men who said that they have hunted and killed dragons, but, ... "

He looked at the broken corpse a few feet away, " That one was a little famous for it hereabouts. I have no hope any longer."

"A dragon?" Louhi asked, incredulous, "I thought they were all imaginings. I know of no real dragons."

"Then take a little walk, Mistress," the man said, indicating the other ship, "but have a care. You will see what afflicts me then."

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A little while later, they stood on the docks looking at the two ships which they'd bought, still in a little amazement over it. Louhi looked at the men who stood in a large group, clearly wondering what was to become of them.

She turned to Annikki and Ren. "Ride back to Leif's place and bring his cousin. Hurry, and we might have our passage yet."

As Annikki rode off, Louhi spoke to the group of men after checking with Màiri.

"I have no want to hold slaves. It is an evil thing to my eyes. But we have a great need to get to near Urbs Gyddanyzc if we can, so I seek to make a bargain with you all. Crew both boats for us to as near to there as you can, and after we land, you are all free men. With a little careful talk among you, you might see that you will have a way to make a living for we will give you the boats."

Most of them understood her and those who didn't listened as others told them of it.

"Good words to hear, Mistress," the overseer said, "but what of the beast over there? As it is here, none of us will set foot on the thing. Do you plan to just sail with the beast there down in the hold? It will not allow it."

Louhi nodded, "Yes he will. I have met my first dragon this day, ... well, of a different sort and some things are as I have heard. Dragons can speak many of the tongues of men."

She smiled a little, "That one can even speak to me in mine.

What he wants is to be taken elsewhere. He does not care where it is, so long as it is far from here. He is a winged one, but he knows that to fly will only cause him to be seen and hunted once again if it is marked where he lands and he is not the sort, he said, who can see well at night as he flies.

We argued over everything. He insists that he is not a dragon, so it would go better if you all did not call him by that word."

"Well what the fuck is he then if not that?" the man asked.

"Look here, this all sounds well and good enough, what you tell us, but I do not want to sail on a ship which rocks and sways from more than the swells that she sails on. When that thing moves, I have seen men fall overboard."

"We have the rest of the goods which remain in the hold of this one as part of the bargain," Màiri pointed out. "The master said that most of it was food, salted fish and that sort of thing. He can eat some of that, can he not? Then we split the cargo and the crew between the boats. The horses go on this one and most of the people go on that one, say about sixty or so."

"Sixty people plus fifteen as crew trapped on a ship with a dragon for a week or so?" the overseer asked, and then he chuckled, "The load will grow lighter the farther that you go, I think."

Louhi shook her head, "We agreed on some things. He is something called a basilisk, and he does not wish to be called a dragon. In exchange for that, some food, and a little peace -- as well as clear passage into and out of the hold, he will not bother anyone, he says. He will come out on deck and do his business over the side. It is what he has been doing, but at night."

The overseer shook his head then, "I still do not want to get on a boat with a dragon--"

"Then stay on this ship here," Màiri said, "and find one in the crew of the other one to act in your stead. You sail on one ship or the other regardless. You are a free man AFTER we land and not before."

Several of the town guard strode onto the dock at that moment threatening that now that the boats had new owners, there were landing and dockage fees owing.

"But the previous master paid them, he said, "Louhi protested.

"That was when he owned the ships. Since it is you now, the fees are owed once more," the representative of the harbor master said and the sergeant of the guards nodded, clearly expecting his cut.

"What are YOU here for?" Louhi glared.

The sargeant smiled, "Protection. To make certain that nothing, ... unfortunate happens to your property."

"Nothing unfortunate will happen to the shipss," a deep and dry-sounding voice said, with accents on the sibilance of the phrase, that is, leaning heavily on the 's' sounds in it.

They all spun around and a scaled head with a leathery crest on it looked down from the end of a long neck which snaked out of the cargo hold.

"A pity that I do not guard you," the head leaned forward, looking down, "is it not?"

At that point, the pale eyes which wore vertical irises blinked once and seemed to glow or change color for an instant and the harbour official and the sergeant fell to the dock with thin cries, both quite dead.

The men on the dock stared at the smoking hair on the two corpses.

The large face seemed to grin for a moment as it turned to the other soldiers, "You should leave. I may sneeze in a moment."

The men ran off.

The creature tuned to the overseer then. "I pledge that I will protect you and thosse who ssail here, if I musst, only never call me dragon again."

The overseer looked pale -- as though he was about to faint. "It -- It speaks!"

"Of course, I sspeak," the thing said impatiently, "and one of uss iss an idiot. I have jusst told you that I will aid you. What elsse do you need to hear?"

"How --how did you do that? You did not even touch them!"

"I had no need to touch them," the creature hissed, "It bringss me to my name. If you can closse your mouth and lissten, I am to be called Rex, not 'dragon', not ever that, or you join them.

And I will need ssome sspace around the door left clear, sso that I can come and go more eassily."

"Rex is the Latin word for 'king', Louhi smiled, "A basilisk is called the King of the Serpents because I have learned that in addition to most of what dragons are said to be able to do, only a basilisk can kill with a glance.

"My thankss," the creature said, "Now, ... when do we ssail?"

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Word was sent to the company of rangers and they began the trip to the town and the docks in small groups over the rest of the afternoon and evening. Any who had their families along brought them, though after hearing about the beast on the ship, a few more decided not to go and rode off.

Most made the journey, however.

As well, Màiri sent one of them off in the company of several of the crew to buy hay for the horses.

Everyone went aboard the ships almost without incident -- almost.

A young woman rode up to Màiri and dismounted, carefully holding her infant child. "My Robby died in the last skirmish a fortnight ago crossing the borderlands, Mistress Màiri. His horse and his sword were brought back to me, but I have no place to go. Are we to go along?"

"Your name, girl," Màiri asked, "Tell me your name. As to the other, you may come, yes."

The young woman looked relieved at that and she bowed her head for a moment, "Oh thank you, and my name is Chiorstan, Mistress -- and my wee bairn here is Màiri-Ceit, though I call her Red-haired Katy. She is named partly after you. You were there when I birthed her. I didna know if we could come, but I want to. With my Robby gone, there's nothing here for us so I want to leave to go with you."

Màiri smiled, "Then come along Chiorstan and Red-haired Katy. I remember you, have no fear, and I'm pleased to know you better. Your horse goes on this boat with the others and you and your bairn go on that one there."

Chiorstan nodded and handed off the reins to a cousin of hers before she turned to look at the other ship.

The other incident was the hurried arrival of Gudrun, Leif's cousin. She arrived just then and she didn't come alone.

Annikki and Ren rode with her and behind them, driving a large wagon loaded with everything that a smith can load onto a wagon -- in addition to several barrels of mead - were Moppy and Leif himself.

Leif apologized to their friends for being stupid and pig-headed, saying that he'd tried to make an attempt at befriending Ren as well. The others were astounded.

"What made you want to leave your inn?" Cuilén asked, "You had everything there. Why pack up to go with us into the unknown?"

"Because Ahm wantin' te go inte the unknown!" Leif laughed, "Ah've not been there fer a time, and Ah daresay there's more te stir the blood there than there is running an inn without all of ye around."

When it was suggested that his horses and wagon were to go on one ship and that he and Moppy were to go on the other, they protested and out of the need to store the wagon strapped down on the deck, where there would be no such space for it on the other boat, due to the requirement that the hatch to the hold be kept clear, Leif and Moppy got their way.

Gudrun handed her horse over and then looked around. She wasn't like her cousin, who didn't care a fig what anyone thought to see him there as a troll. She didn't think that it was all that hard a position for him to take in any regard, having the ability to appear very human if he desired.

But she had no such option.

Either way that she could appear would cause -- at the very least -- a lot of stares, and so she just steeled herself as much as she could for it.

"Who is that?" Chiorstan asked her dead husband's cousin as he prepared to lead her horse up the ramp.

He looked back and stopped for a moment, "I daresay that there will be a few odd ones among us on this little trip," he said, "I think that it is a troll, pretty small for one, though she is large to me, large enough to make me want to keep my blade close by."

Chiorstan tried not to stare, but she couldn't really help it at all. Though to be fair, she thought, she felt no fear and the way that the female looked even appealed to her a little bit.

From her mother's tales before the hearth when she'd been a little one, trolls smelled badly and never took any care about themselves or the way that they looked. This one quite obviously did, looking about as close to a human girl as she supposed that it was possible to, with her hair kept neatly and her fur looking well-brushed.

The she-troll looked her way once, but it appeared to Chiorstan that she didn't see her in the throngs there on the dock, not that it mattered at all. She watched for a moment as the troll shouldered one large (for a human) pack and picked up another by the straps and walked off carrying an unstring bow and quiver as well. By the time that Chiorstan walked over and up the ramp of the other boat, the troll was nowhere to be seen.

She had a bit of a time finding out just where their place was to be among the multitude of them all. All of the available sleeping space, not that it was anything more than a place to lie down, had been taken up. She walked back up on deck and wandered there for a time, running into Louhi and then staring at her man, as he quite obviously was. She introduced herself and asked where she and her child might find a place to sleep and to place her few things.

Louhi had no answer. "I can only say to look about as you can and try to find a place." She put her hand on the girl's shoulder then and her expression grew a little concerned, "But if you find nothing more than a spot on the deck for you and your little one, then you must look for me or Cuilén here. I will not have a mother and a babe sleeping out in the open."

Chiorstan nodded and spoke her thanks before she wandered off once more. Her travels brought her nearer to the second cargo hold and she started down the rough steps, hoping that there might be a place there.

"NO!" she heard as she started down, wondering who she might have angered by blundering in there, but as her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the single lantern there, she gaped at what she saw.

The troll was on her knees, with the head of a great scaled beast before her. That head was not at the level of the she-troll's face. It came nearer once again and a long tongue slipped out between them and the troll hissed then, slapping the face with her large hand.

"NO! Too rough yet again. If you cannot even begin a little softly then it is hopeless and I will go to the other boat."

She looked up then and groaned in some shame as she looked down, "I am so sorry."

She looked up again and she saw that the woman before her held a tiny child who was asleep against her mother's breast -- as infants are wont to be at times.

"No, it is my fault," Chiorstan said, blushing as she tried to walk back up the steps a little backwards, "I am looking for a place to sleep later on. The ship is so crowded, and there is no place for us. The other space is full to bursting and I saw the doorway and thought, ... I will go back up."

Gudrun grabbed the chin of the beast and leaned down for a moment, "I will return. But first, my knees are already tired. So think a little and try to find a better way."

She got to her feet and, trying not to hit her head, she stepped away and moved a little closer to the woman.

"Is that your babe there? Can I see for a moment? I seldom see human mothers and their children." She shrugged, "I hardly have seen any children at all other than trolllings."

Chiorstan stopped and moved the small blanket which she'd had over her little one a bit and Gudrun sighed with a smile, "She looks so pretty there and at peace. For her, there can be nothing wrong in the world when she is against you."

Chiorstan thanked the troll and was about to try to go back up, but then stopped. She'd never seen any sort of troll in her life before and she'd heard nothing but bad things about the creatures. The she-troll in front of her looked to have none of the traits which she'd been told of.

"If I can ask it," she began, "what were you doing just now?" She looked down for a moment, blushing furiously. "I mean, I know what you were, ... Oh, never mind."

"I am bargaining," Gudrun whispered, "Do not say it so that it can be heard, but he is a special sort of dragon called a basilisk; very powerful and strong. It is hard to see all of him here, but he is also very nice to look at, well for a girl such as me."

She saw the woman's curious expression and she leaned a little closer, "I am a half-troll, but I am enough of one to know what I see when I look at it. Basilisks can breed and make young with others of their kind, but they are a little crusty and impatient sometimes, and females ones are very rare.

Basilisks can also make their young with troll-girls and do most often."

She hitched her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the beast and she whispered, "Our two kinds can be attracted to each other and both of us feel this. We have only just met a few minutes ago. But everything must be bargained for at the outset between trolls and dragons and that is where we are in it now.

I do not know if you know Louhi at all. But she is a witcher and knows much of things. As soon as she knew that there was a basilisk here, she sent her friend to tell of it to me, knowing that I have no one for me and that a dragon of any sort with a lover is much easier to deal with."

She grinned just a little, "He thinks that we are bargaining so that he might have me for a pet.

I am bargaining so that I might have a fine husband. It is a rather touchy thing at the moment, but he knows that I would make him a fine female and I wanted him from the moment that I saw him.

You need a place? Why not stay here? There is a little room there," she pointed, "though it has only two walls and the side of the boat. We could make you a curtain out of the rough packing cloth piles in here and you would have your place. It would be no palace, but I think it would be better than anything that the other humans have to sleep in."

Chiorstan made to decline, "But my Katy cries sometimes, friend. She is a very good little girl almost always, but sometimes --"

"Sssometimess a babe feelss the gass which comess as air when they are fed," The beast said quietly.

The two females turned to see the beast's head as he spoke softly in his deep voice, "The cry of a babe when they feel that way can grate the teeth of a human. I know thiss. But the ssame ssound is very ssoothing to my kind. We feel the babe'ss distress and do not like it, but thes sound is pleassant to our earss. Pleasse, if you need a place, young mother, you can sstay here.

I am a bassilissk and I have no patience with most grown humanss, for I find their thoughtss to be sstupid a lot of the time. But a human child -- even one as ssmall as that one there -- their thoughtss are pure and fresh. You and that little thing are in no danger from me -- no matter what you have heard of my kind. I would like it if you sstayed here.