“A ship, a ship!” Hans cried.
Wes and I ran to the beach where Hans was jumping about. Sure enough, white sails.
“What if it’s a pirate ship,” said Wes, the persistent pessimist.
“What if we stay on this forbidden rock for the rest of our lives?” I snapped.
“Let’s get the boat.” Hans pulled us off the boulder and onto the pebbles on the beach. I could tell he was excited.
We raced on the loose rocks along the beach until we reached our small rowboat. Nimbly Wes untied it from its stump and we all pushed off in it.
On the glittering water in full sails the ship moved. Huge compared to our dingy and probably bigger than the Jeanette Marie. The sunlight reflected off the water, lighting up the brass that ornamented the ship. My eyes were blinded by the breathtaking sight. I had never been so happy to see a ship in my life.
I turned around to sit properly in our rowboat. I had my seat on the bow and had been leaning altogether too far out. Hans and Wes were pushing hard on their oars. Hans was staring at me.
“What?”
“Your eyes are the same color as the sea.”
I blushed and stared down at the sea beside me. Close up it was a deep murky green but when I raised my eyes it became a sapphire. My eyes drank up the sight until they began to water. The excitement of sailing was arousing within me.
The ship’s name was Baroness. I liked it. It sounded royal. I felt the Anthony stone at my heart and felt a surge of pride within me. I was practically a baroness. Nearly royal myself.
When the sailors noticed us they threw ropes down for us to board. I wished I hadn’t lost my money at the shipwreck and I could pay for my fare.
Hans was most polite to the captain as he explained our dilemma. “Is it favorable to you to allow us to work for our passage?”
“What about the girl?” The captain stared me down. I felt the scrutinizing gaze shrink me up. I wanted to disappear.
“Take this for her fare,” Wes procured some coins from under his clothes and tossed them to the burly captain.
I wondered where he’d gotten those coins and why I hadn’t heard of them before. Nevertheless the captain took them willingly and I was relieved.
Now we were underway! Next harbor I’d bid a fond farewell to Hans and a not so fond farewell to Wes and continue on my way. Nothing could stop me.
“We’ll be at sea for nearly a month,” the captain informed Wes. I turned away sorrowfully. A month seemed a long time and I wasn’t about to spend it fighting with Wes.
I took to exploring the ship. Its many facets. Emerald paint decked the steering wheel tipped with brass. Brass covered the rail and shone on the figure at the bow. The regal figure of a baroness. At the bow a man stood. Tall, leaning on the rail. Under his plumed hat curly white hair blew in the sea breeze. From the back and by his apparel he looked like a lord. I observed him carefully. As I glanced over his indigo cloak from the back I noticed a sword. As I moved nearer to the rail to gain my full impression of him I noticed the fine jewels bedecking his blade. He appeared to be a rich English lord with fine standing.
I turned away to keep exploring. The sight of nobility did much to raise my spirits. I spotted another man wearing the same sort of finery as the lord at the bow. Hat of the same style, plumed with a peacock feather, and made out of fine red cloth. Well decorated with ornaments and jewels on his ****** catching the light of the sun. My breath left me when I spied the sword at his side. The same sword which I had seen in my home in Norway. The same sword that had run my father through. The figure carrying it was none other than Roderick. He had noticed me. I had no doubt he could recognize my mother and father in me. He probably also had me described by anyone who was short on cash. But perhaps he was merely passing me by. His deliberate gait towards me denied such hope. Should I run? Should I pretend I didn’t recognize him? Did my terror show? Terror coupled with hatred.
“Why, if it isn’t Little Miss Anthony so far from home. I’ve been searching everywhere for you since you slipped through my fingers.”
“Stay away from me.” I backed away. He didn’t stop.
“I mean no harm to you, Miss Anthony. Do as I ask and no harm will come to you,” he took a step closer. “I swear.”
“Murderer,” I hissed.
His polite demeanor changed quickly. His grey eyes turned to storm clouds. “Say one word of that to anyone and you won’t live to see another sun. I give you my word on that,” he placed his hand on his sword hilt. “You know, I never break my word.”
I kept backing away until I fell against the rail. I looked around for help. No one. I was alone to face my enemy.
“As I was saying,” he resumed his refined manner. “I learned a sorrowful peice of information during my meeting with your father in Norway.” Now he was only a foot away. He smelled of fine oils and expensive cloth. “Your brother has disappeared with a certain jewel I need to attain my inheritance. I need both the stone and your brother’s life to fulfill my promise to myself and the people in my homeland.”
The captain walked by and nodded at Roderick. Roderick tipped his hat then put both hands onto the rail trapping me between them. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s the name of the ship he left on?”
I was silent. How I wished I’d said I didn’t know. I was too frightened to lie.
“I will follow you,” he threatened. “Until you find your brother, then I will destroy both you and him. Stop protecting him. He’s as good as dead, just like you are unless you tell me the name of that ship.”
“I will protect him!” I glared at him menacingly. My fear had been replaced with anger. “In your cruelty you’ve already taken my father away from me. Stay away from my brother.”
“Make me, little girl.”
“I will! I’ll kill you before you ever get to my brother!” With that I pushed past him.
“Wes!” I found him on his hands and knees swabbing the deck. I shuddered at the revolting job.
He looked up; no shame whatsoever in his task, but his face showed he was clearly surprised I should be so anxious to speak with him. “What is it?”
“I want to learn to fight.”
He wrung the cloth out and kept working. I wished he’d devote his full attention to me while I was talking to him. “Why?” He finally asked.
“I’m…bored,” I said after hesitation.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah right.”
“Really,” I protested.
He stood up and locked my eyes into his steely gaze. “Tell me the truth and I will.”
I sighed. I couldn’t tell him. Especially not now that Roderick was on this very ship. “Alright Wes, there is a reason but I can’t tell you. It’s absolutely vital you teach me.”
“You don’t even trust me so why on earth should I?” He continued his task. “Tell me the truth and I will.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because my life and the life of someone else important to me hinges on my ability to stay silent.”
He paused his work for a moment. Perhaps he was relenting. Then deliberately he dumped the cloth into the bucket. “Tell me the truth and I will.”
Dejected I turned away. What could I do? He was the best fighter I had ever seen. If he wouldn’t teach me I didn’t have a chance against Roderick. A man who had trained for years. Why did Wes have to be so stubborn?
Alone I walked toward the rail. Looking out at the sea trying to formulate a plan.
“You want to learn swordplay Miss?”
Startled I looked beside me where the voice had come from. I hadn’t noticed him coming. It was the lordly gentleman I had seen earlier at the bow. His face was nobler than I had envisioned before and I suddenly felt shy in his presence.
“I’m sorry I eavesdropped. But you seemed to be anxious for a teacher.”
“Yes,” I finally regained my voice.
“If you wish it I will be your teacher.”
My heart throbbed in excitement and nervousness. I nodded faintly.
He smiled like a true gentleman would. “Come.”
I followed him until he came to his personal cabin door. Opening it he took up a sword leaning against the cabin wall. “Strap that onto your waist,” he ordered holding it out to me.
I fumbled it about for awhile but eventually figured it out.
I faced him again. Silently I observed his face. Well trimmed beard and mustache, blond and white just like his hair. Tanned face, well chiseled even for someone his age. His eyes were particularly striking because he had one blue eye and one brown one. It took some will to stop staring at that strange feature. He smiled, probably knew what I was studying so earnestly. I guessed him to be nearly seventy.
“Lord Franz Edward at your service Miss,” he bowed chivalrously. I liked him instantly.
“Elady Anthony,” I said before I remembered I shouldn’t let anyone know my name.
The name seemed to strike a chord of familiarity to Lord Edward but he didn’t say anything. “You may call me Franz if I may call you Elady.”
I nodded, eager to avoid being called Miss Anthony for all to hear.
He invited me into his cabin and motioned for me to sit down on a deep armchair. He took a seat across from me.
“I must tell you straight off I have little to pay you for your trouble.”
“I expected as much from your attire.”
I blushed as I glanced down at my ragged dress. It had once been a very nice red travel dress. Now it merely looked like faded tatters. My cloak was still decent enough though. Perhaps that was merely because it wasn’t really mine. I felt out of place in the nicely furnished room with soft wools and expensive cloths.
“I am a teacher of swordplay, Elady,” he continued. “This is a long journey and it would give me pleasure to put my trade to use.”
For once, I felt something was going well for me. A teacher of swordplay would be sure to teach me tricks to best even Roderick. I didn’t know if he was a very good teacher, but he was a teacher, that made him better than Wes by a lot.
“Now, you may think I teach people to kill.”
I didn’t bother to argue with him. I’d learned enough in my short existence to know that teachers enjoyed talking.
“This is an honorable profession. I don’t just train anyone because they have a long harbored grudge against their enemy and want to kill them.” He focused his strange eyes on me. “I must know if your motives for learning this skill are honorable.”
I waited hoping he didn’t expect me to talk. He didn’t. “Two reasons come to mind for why someone your age and gender should wish to learn this art. Someone has threatened you, or someone has caused you great harm and you wish for revenge.” He waited. Allowing that sink in. “Which one is it?”
I thought for a moment on how to answer that question without giving everything away. “Someone has threatened me and one I care very much for…someone who has already caused me great harm.”
“So you wish to learn for defense?”
“Yes.”
“Very well, we shall begin.”
So we did. I took to sleeping in Lord Franz’s cabin. I felt safer there from Roderick and there Franz could wake me up at his unearthly hours to begin training. Every morning before the sun rose he’d begin me on arm exercises, and then footwork drills. A lot of footwork drills. Sometimes he’d work on my strength and agility and make me climb up the mast. We did this till breakfast.
“If you can fight in rough terrain you will have an immediate advantage over your opponent,” He’d tell me whenever I complained about all his strength and agility exercises and drills.
After breakfast he’d work on my balance and my speed. When I had no breath left in me we’d take up our swords.
“Swordplay is like a strategy game. You must try to outwit your opponent not overpower him.”
“Then why so many strengthening exercises?” I asked trying not to sound as whiny as I felt.
“If you’re fighting with a clever opponent you’ll be fighting for awhile. He may try to exhaust you before he’ll make his move,” he explained. “But if you can keep steady strength and alert mind for hours you have a sure advantage.”
My favorite part of the day was when we’d actually start fighting. Mostly he focused on my footwork and then my endurance. He’d rarely teach me tricks which disappointed me. Roderick had known swordplay for years. He could beat me with any trick. But if I knew a trick he didn’t I could best him. But Franz focused on footwork. I hoped he knew what he was doing.
When lunchtime came we’d break, but he didn’t let me eat for long. We’d be back to it in the early afternoon. I couldn’t believe Franz. Seemingly old, this man could fight longer than I could.
Eventually Franz would call a halt when he knew I was far beyond exhausted. I would get about a half hour rest then he’d quiz me on what I’d learned that day. After that I got to quiz him.
“What happens if my opponent has better footwork?” I asked.
“Every combatant has a weakness. Your job is to pick it out. If he has better footwork, force him into a small space where he can’t use it or tire his upper body. Whatever you do though, you must keep your head. As soon as you become angry or scared you’ve lost.”
“Why?”
“If your opponent allows himself to be intimidated or angry he’ll lose his reasoning power. His ability to strategize. If you still have yours you’ve won. Swordplay can be a bit of a mind game. Lose your head. Lose the battle.”
I enjoyed this part of the day. I liked Franz and I liked being with him. His gently gallant manner reminded me of my father. Franz was a wise man.
When quiz time was over he’d instruct me on honor and chivalry. Imagine teaching a girl about chivalry!
“Elady, don’t think that just because you’ve killed your opponent you’ve won.”
“Why not?”
“There’s more to winning than killing. And to win, you don’t have to kill. Only kill if you must.”
“Then how do you win?”
“The battle is really a battle in yourself, but to put it bluntly disarming your opponent or just wounding him works just as well.”
“Why not just kill them?”
Franz smiled like he knew a secret that I didn’t. I hated it when he did that. “Life is precious Elady. When you take a life, it is impossible to take it back.”
“What if they deserve to die?”
“Are you God?” He was quite intense now. Staring right into my eyes, unnerving me. “Dealing out justice isn’t your job. You are to fight for the cause of truth and right.”
“You don’t only teach swordplay do you?” I whispered.
Franz smiled. “I teach you how to be a good dueler. There are enough people already who misuse this art.”
My thoughts went to Roderick’s cruel blade.
“It is something that must be used carefully.”
“Why are you intrusting me with it?” I asked hoarsely.
“That is my secret.”
“You know me don’t you?”
Franz nodded in the dim lighting. “Aye, I know you.”
“You must not tell anyone! My enemy is on this ship.”
“You need never fear me, Elady Anthony. When I learned your name I made a decision to help you. I have no fear of Roderick.”
“You’d be the only one.”
“I hope to teach you to have no fear of him as well.”
“He murdered my father! He plans to murder Malcolm! Me! Wouldn’t you be afraid of him?”
“Hush Elady. My cabin has thin walls.”
I was silent, thinking as I slumped back into my chair. Deep and warm it was covered in wool. The floor creaked from the motion of the ship. Franz was watching me process what he said in silence. I knew he could see my thoughts march across my face. Franz knew a lot I didn’t know. But was he right? What was his secret? What are his real motives? Was he afraid for my safety?
“I’m not ready yet, am I?”
“In skill no. I’ve seen Roderick duel. But there are things you have he doesn’t. Things I hope to improve with my training.”
“What?”
“Love and courage. You have an honorable cause to fight for. You fight for your brother. Roderick fights for himself.”
I thought for a moment on what he said. I’d never seen myself in that light. I thought I was a selfish coward fleeing my enemy bound by a promise and my own desires to find and protect my brother. Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps I really did love my brother. Perhaps my fight was an honorable one. I didn’t really think so, but Franz did.
“I believe in you Elady. You aren’t just the young daughter of an exile…” Franz’s words echoed their way to my heart. “You must believe you can do this. You can defeat Roderick and save your brother.”
I raised my gaze until my eyes were locked into his. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to beat Roderick?”
A strange light passed over his eyes. “It is either yours or your brother’s fight. But not to avenge your father’s death.”
I looked down, not willing to let him see all the hate in my eyes. “You don’t believe in revenge do you?”
“I believe it is God’s job to avenge and acquit. He alone sees every side of every fight.”
Now I could face him with certainty. “The last time God took notice of my plight was the day my mother died.”
Franz waited for a moment. Perhaps he didn’t have an answer or perhaps he was trying to make some sort of point to me which I didn’t understand. Finally he spoke, softly but with strength. “Roderick hasn’t killed your brother yet. Roderick hasn’t won yet. You aren’t dead yet, Elady.” His voice quietly resonated the thin walls of the cabin. “You cannot see or understand God’s plan and wisdom anymore than you can the deep depths of the sea. He has never stopped watching you, never stopped caring…”
“If he cared for me he wouldn’t have let Roderick murder my father!” I interrupted knowing that was the last thing I should’ve done. But he was talking nonsense.
“Child,” Franz breathed. “Roderick did not consult God on his choice. He acted out of his own selfish desires and a long harbored grudge. You speak though as if it were God’s fault.”
I looked to the ground again.
“You cannot understand God or his plan for the world. Why he allows things to happen and why he won’t sometimes. But you can trust him. Always.”
I didn’t bother arguing with him. He might just be right. But I wasn’t about to take the chance of trusting anyone but me with my mission and myself. God had already let a lot of bad things happen to me and I wasn’t about to let him let anything else happen. Everything was up to me.
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Updated 12 Episodes
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