Raul stepped in front of the mirror and stretched his back, then started combing his disheveled hair. After a minute’s hard work it lay flat against his head. It was as black as a raven, but no one except himself knew its natural color. He put on his top hat and spun around to check that it did not look awry. His reflection satisfied him and he tried not to linger by the mirror. There was no time for that.

He walked down the stairs from his bedroom and out onto the courtyard where his coach waited for him. His butler informed him that the morning correspondence lay on the seat and helped him step inside the wagon. When Raul was young, he would never accept the humiliation of being helped by a human to climb into a coach. But now he knew better. True enough, it made him feel small, but what else could a half-gnome expect from life? He was shorter than adult humans, but he was a giant amongst gnomes. Besides, a man’s size did not matter anymore. The era when broad-shouldered swordsmen ruled the world was over.

The coach rocked back and forth as it rolled out onto the cobbled street in front of his mansion. Outside the window he saw two beggars sitting on his porch. He added another bullet point to his mental list over things to do that day: to tell his butler to make them go away. Then he drew close the curtains and browsed through the pile of letters and reports. The coach bounced forward on Norma’s lively streets, towards the House of Commons.

There were plenty of people in the great hall as he stepped inside the House. A toothless baron with a toupee greeted him with a welcoming nod. There had been a time when Norma’s elite pointed fingers and laughed at his revelation. Back then, he was just an ugly half-gnome in oversized clothes and they believed it to be their birthright to mock him as they pleased. No one understood that they laughed at his ambition, that they laughed at the future, no one except Raul himself. In those days he considered himself lucky if everyone ignored his existence when he walked into a room and kept their humiliating remarks to themselves. Nowadays people used to greet him with respect. Yet there was much room for improvement. One day they would bow before him. Maybe he would be satisfied then, but he was far from convinced of it.

Most of the city’s nobility and wealthiest bourgeoisie had arrived. Few held a lawful seat at the Thing, but that was how politics worked in Norma. You simply knew if you were welcome in the House of Commons. Raul was the only one present not a purebred human. That is amusing, he thought. The Beings are free in Norma, but no one is there to stand up for them and protect their freedom. At least he did not intend to waste any effort on the matter.

Raul walked over to a collection of familiar faces: Count Alfred Astor, Colonel Raymond Burg, Duke de Marquis of Estén and a tall man wearing a red-blue uniform with a silver star on his chest. Louis von Sachs, the second son of a poor baron. The young military had made a name for himself earlier that year when he played a prominent part in defeating the invaders on the Dolgrad border. Thick as sewage water in the slum, but bold and handsome. The type of person Raul disliked the most.

“Raul Wager!” exclaimed Ludvig von Sachs with feigned adoration. “How wonderful that someone has come to represent the little people!” He stretched out his hand, but held it too high for the half-gnome to shake it. Raul just glowered at the man. He admitted that big men had a minor advantage on him after all. Then he added the event to his list of reasons to destroy Ludvig von Sachs.

“I see you’re still looking up to me,” said the military and laughed, but interrupted himself as he realized that the others did not partake in the joke. He excused himself and disappeared into the crowd.

“Von Sachs is low in rank and of little wealth, yet so presumptuous,” said the Duke of Estén and shook his head. “Whenever I see the youth of today, I say to myself that the future does not look bright.”

“Not bright indeed,’’ agreed Count Alfred Astor.

“Had I not retired and were still in charge of the army, he’d spend his days digging latrines,” muttered Colonel Burg.

“Another lucky idiot, that’s all he is,” said Raul. “He’ll be quite a people’s hero if he sees a second victory.”

“Then let’s hope that Norma does not defeat Dolgrad again,” said the Duke, “but don’t let von Sachs interfere with more important matters. Time is scant and we have much to discuss before the Thing.”

A man passed by with a golden watch and a pair of shoes so shiny that one could use them as mirrors. He wore a patterned wool coat, a snow-white shirt and an ascot silk tie. Noticing the half-gnome, he turned around and hurried off in the other direction. Raul could not recall the man’s name, but he remembered that the man owed his bank a sizable amount of money. Soon time to claim the debts, he thought. The question was just when. Finding the right timing to maximize the profit was always the most delicate part.

“Did you say something?” He had not noticed that the Duke of Estén continued speaking.

“How should Norma handle Anland?” asked the Duke. “The Thing will vote on that issue today.”

“Anland continues to grow in the north, on both land and water. They open new mines every year and control parts of the Northern Sea. It cannot be tolerated,” added Count Alfred Astor, as always pointing out the obvious.

Good old Alfred, thought Raul. There we have someone with no need to borrow money. Imagine the riots if the public found out that the generous old count filled his own pockets with tax payments. However, it was money that he could not claim for himself. Alfred Astor lived in the southern part of the country and his business did not interfere with Raul’s. Besides, he liked the man. It would be foolish to turn against one of his allies, unless the count became too interested in Anland’s mines.

“I believe we should sponsor pirates, maybe take a few ships from the armada and convert them to the black flag. That’s the only way to keep Anland’s freighters off the mainland coast without declaring open war. And people like us don’t profit from a war. You are too weak and I’m too old,” said Colonel Burg in a hoarse voice.

“It just has to be a war on our terms,” said Raul. “Our slums are in commotion. The first generation of elves born in freedom have grown up and are now threatening the peace in Norma. Meanwhile, naiads are swimming upstream from the coast and have settled on the suburban delta. The Thing won’t like my idea, but we can solve these problems all at once.”

“Why not pirates?” asked Colonel Burg.

Did the man want to sound slow and make jokes at his own expense, or if he was truly stupid? Raul decided on the latter. Sallow teeth were an unmistakable feature amongst those who smoked too much spiced hemp and the colonel’s ugly grin was more yellow than last time they met. He recognized the symptoms. His father had looked the same. Rumor had that Raymond Burg could not stay away from the weed. A servant carrying a decanter shoved his way through the crowd.

“Save me a seat,” said Raul and hurried off to fetch a glass of wine before the meeting started.

A bell rang at the other end of the hall and two high doors opened to the great chamber next door. Men shouldered themselves through the doorway to obtain the finest seats at the long table. Raul entered the room last of all. To elbow himself forward in the physical sense was not his way of doing things.

*

Kaan woke to the sound of jangling tools and humming machines. The train had parked outside a giant brick building, which spread out over an area at least the size of the Elf Bosket. He lay alone on the floor of the train wagon, wrapped in a thin blanket. Next to him stood a pile of wooden boxes covered with blue labels. The sun had already risen high in the sky and a damp breeze brought with it a salty scent unfamiliar to him.

It was a beautiful day, and he figured he ought to enjoy his freedom, but he felt uneasy by waking up alone. He began digging in the bag for the dagger. It was easier to cope with tough situations if you had weapons close at hand, that’s what Leon had said. Just after he put the knife in his pocket, Liv jumped into the wagon.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

“I talked to a worker in the railway yard here beside us and paid him a coin to forget we were here. He told me the fastest way to the docks,” she said and picked up Shannon’s old cap from the floor. She put it back on the elf’s head and took extra care to cover his ears.

“What is a railway yard?”

“It’s a place for trains not on the railways. In the far part of that big building in front of us they construct new locomotives and in the brick house behind it they build ships. Come here, you’ll see,” she said and pulled Kaan to his feet.

She made a run-up and jumped as high as she could, kicked with her foot against the wall midair and grabbed hold of the edge to the wagon’s roof. She swung herself up and signaled to Kaan to follow. Liv’s hair whirled around her as she moved and he thought she had never looked more like an elf. He pondered for a short while why he had failed to see what she was from the beginning, then leaped after her.

Southport spread out beneath them. It was a smaller but more lively town than Sommerfort. Closest to them stood several brick buildings. From their chimneys’ rose thick smoke that blurred the magnificent view behind it: old stone houses on top of high cliffs next to a crystal blue sea. Out on the water sailed countless tiny ships. Occasional steamboats heavy with goods drove straight out of the bay, marking their superiority as they passed the tacking sailing boats.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They turned around and let their eyes follow the rail track inland. There were no buildings on that side, only dense forests, green foothills and steep slopes which disappeared into a blanket of white clouds.

“Time for breakfast,” said Liv, and produced a pack of crackers in brown paper from her pocket. They sat with their feet dangling from the roof. Over time, the clouds drifted aside and revealed a line of snow-capped peaks high in the sky.

“That is the Domedus massif,” she pointed out. “The highest mountain range in Anland.”

Once they had silenced the worst of their hunger, they packed their bags and walked towards the port. Imaginary shadows about to attack them materialized in the corner of her eyes. She expected someone to shout elves and start chasing them, but in reality no one even spared them a single glance. Kaan felt no discomfort. He had survived his upbringing in the park with his mind intact if anxiety came easy to him. Now that he was far from the Dream Park and its officers, his lust for adventure grew.

Liv led them through narrow alleys filled with dirt and junk, but empty of people. She tried to move fast, but the elf found endless reasons to drag behind. He wanted to watch the stream of people, to soak up the scent of fruits from far-away countries or to talk to a stray cat. Every time they crossed a large street, he stopped, and every time she dragged him away. In the alleyways he glanced upwards along the cracked walls and stroked his hands against the laundry that hung from washing lines above their heads. More than anything, he wished to glimpse the free people behind their closed shutters. At last, they stumbled out of a stuffy alley and stopped with a jerk at the quay.

A gigantic port opened up in front of them. Kaan, awestruck to the point of dizziness, tried to comprehend the countless ships and busy docks. Torn horses dragged squeaking carriages out onto the docks to load the ships with cargo. Stinking fishermen slumbered in small rowing-boats and sailors carried heavy sacks on their shoulders. They were already drunk, though it was still a few hours until noon. Seeing many people in one place reminded him of the visitors crowding against the fence. It felt as if they had entered a massive anthill. His head pounded, and nausea filled his gut. He staggered, and Liv grabbed his arm to support him. A man with a rattling bag over his shoulder stopped and stared at the elf.

“What’s the matter, are you ill?” she asked, annoyed but with a touch of concern. She gave the man with the bag a look that told him to better hurry off and leave them alone.

Kaan took a deep breath and directed his gaze to the ground. There he saw only real ants, no humans.

“Too many people,” he murmured.

“Let’s find a boat right away. Over there.” Liv pointed at a row of boats across the port where the cleaner and smaller of the vessels lay at bay.

“Passenger ships,” she explained.

They went out onto the dock and stopped next to a sailing ship big enough to carry half a dozen people.

“Good morning my young couple, are you going on an adventure?” A cheerful white-haired man with a rubicund face and a pipe in his mouth leaned back in a wooden chair on the foredeck. He wore a crumpled blue jacket and a pale captain’s hat.

The man got up and stretched out his arm to shake Kaan’s hand, but the elf failed to understand the gesture. Never in his life had someone greeted him as an equal.

“I’m Captain Marks, nice to meet you,” he said without taking the elf’s rudeness as an insult.

Kaan gave a stiff nod in reply.

“We are going to Northport, then further inland to Norma,” said Liv. “We are looking for a cabin aboard a ship. Have we come to the right place?”

“It may happen that you’ve come to the right place, my young couple. It may indeed. Everything depends on the wind and weather, and if you can afford to pay. I’ve brought travelers from Southport to Northport, the Triland Islands and the Teng Islands hundreds of times. Tomorrow morning I will do so again. The passengers aboard my ship ‘the Rising Cloud’ always arrive in good health in high spirits. They enjoy my egg stew for breakfast and fill their bellies with Elijah’s fish stew for dinner,” said the captain and nodded towards the stern where a seaman slept on a pile of sacks. The man wore dirty clothes and had a cap pulled over his face. Liv concluded that he must be Elijah.

“But in return you must pay,” the captain continued. “It costs more than the large and unsafe vessels. I only have two berths left onboard and if you want them to be yours, I require you to pay half in advance.”

After he had declared his price to them, Liv realized that they would not have much coin left after the trip to Northport. Unless they figured out a way to earn money soon, they had to go outside the law to survive. In her childhood, back when she believed everything her father said to be true, it had been unthinkable to steal or break the law. Now she felt indifferent to the rules of men. Imagine if everyone knew that Sommerfort’s first lawman had a half-blooded daughter who lived outside the law. For a second, she wanted to hijack the Rising Cloud just for the sake of it. Instead, she paid the down payment and stepped onboard while the captain counted the money.

“What will you do in Norma?” Captain Marks examined them with his sky-blue eyes. “You’re better off on this side of the water if you ask me. The road from Northport to Norma is dangerous and thick with bandit packs of every breed imaginable, competing to gain the worst reputation.”

“Our plans don’t concern you,” she said. “Now, where’s our cabin?”

Captain Marks walked over to the stern and woke Elijah up with a gentle kick.

“Show the angry lady and her shy companion to our most price worthy cabin.”

The seaman got up and groaned, then staggered over to the nearest door and shoved it open. Liv and Kaan disappeared into the cabin and shut the door behind them. Outside, they heard Elijah yawn, followed by a soft thump as he collapsed back onto the sacks. Kaan took off his hat and scratched his reddened ears. He walked over to the bunk and stroked the thin mattress as if he were petting a wild animal that would run away unless he was tender.

Liv studied the elf as he lay on the bed with his boots on the blanket. He closed his eyes and filled his chest with air, ready to snore the way he had done on the train.

“Kaan, have you ever slept on a bed before?”

“No,” he said. “It’s not what I expected.”

“That’s not a proper bed. The mattress is thin, and the bunk is narrow. A bed should be comfortable.”

“It feels strange, like lying in wet clay.” He rolled over to his side and opened his eyes, his brown gaze striking a warmness within her. Without knowing what she was doing, she took off her shoes and crawled up beside him. She put her arm around his stomach and pressed against him. He shrugged when she touched him, but relaxed after a few deep breaths.

“Better now?” she asked.

*

Shannon knocked his hot pipe against the ashtray and prepared a new load of tobacco. He had told himself several times he had smoked enough for the day, yet the fragrant fumes soon formed a thick fog in the room once more. He had been sitting in the armchair since he fell asleep, but had no desire of getting to his feet.

The night before he came home to an empty house. Sometimes Liv took long evening walks or sat playing her lute somewhere and lost track of time. Thus her absence did not worry him at first, although it annoyed him she never left a note. He was her father after all and preferred to know her whereabouts, but he had learned to push his fatherly instincts aside as she grew older. It was not until after he had eaten a light dinner and the stars twinkled in the deep night sky that he went looking for Liv.

He put on his leisure clothes, an oilskin coat and a pair of boots — his cap was missing so he walked outside bareheaded — and crossed the neighboring fields to the Lake Town. The town lay further up the valley from Sommerfort and had long been a poor fishing village. There were rumors that freshwater naiads lived there before the first settlers came to Anland. In recent years the town had grown and established itself as a suburb to Sommerfort. Large barges with trout, mussels and timber drifted downstream every morning from the Lake Town to the port downtown. When Liv had gone missing before he had found her at the docks. Once when she was a little girl and escaped from her governess to search for lake naiads. A couple of years ago she had been sitting on a canal barge, playing her lute for a pack of far too curious fishermen.

A jumble of high wooden piers stood above the lake’s muddy shore. In the evening they were empty except for the typical smugglers and beggars hiding in the dark. The wind by the water was strong, so Shannon unfolded his coat’s collar to shield his pipe and keep the tobacco glowing. Torches hung from posts along the pier. Their light flickered in the wind and threw distorted shadows around him. On several occasions a torch had come loose, and the piers caught fire. The entire village had burned to the ground, just to be rebuilt without taking any precautions to prevent it from happening again.

It was long after midnight when he returned to his house and threw himself into the armchair. A few hours later, the morning sun’s first beams hit his eyelids and woke him. He walked down to the road and paid a coachman to deliver a message to his apprentice, asking for his help to find his missing daughter. Devastation and painful despair replaced the guilt for worrying about something too late. Liv had acted peculiar since she came home from the boarding school. She had lost touch with the outside world and did not care about her future, nor of other peoples’ opinions of her.

Early in the afternoon, someone knocked on the door. It was Marcus Burr, his apprentice who had worked at the courthouse in Frostport before moving to Sommerfort. He said that he had a theory of Liv’s disappearance and that time was of the essence. Shannon put on his coat and they set off towards Town Hall in the same coach that his apprentice had arrived in.

“You may have heard that an elf escaped from the Dream Park a few days ago?” said Marcus Burr. Shannon acknowledged that he was aware of this. Arthur Greene had warned the mayor and everyone on the Town Council that the elf was violent. He demanded the Watch to help him catch the creature, a demand he had no legal right to make.

“Yesterday another creature escaped, but Mister Greene won’t announce it since he fears it will damage the park’s reputation. This time the elf’s brother ran off. They claim he is less dangerous, but becomes violent when upset. No one knows exactly how he escaped, but a coachman picked up two visitors around the same time. His description matches that of the elf very well. Now, for your interest, he traveled together with a young lady. They were in a hurry and were dropped off near your house. Mister Shannon, you mentioned before that Liv visited the Dream Park a few days ago. I fear the creature abducted her and forced her to help him escape. I know my theory lacks evidence, and much seems unbelievable, but maybe he manipulated her with magic.”

“There is no such thing as magic,” muttered Shannon in response and stared at his trembling hands. Marcus Burr often made bold assumptions. It did not suit a prospective lawman to share far-fetched speculations like that with his master, but he sensed that his quick-thinking apprentice was right in every aspect except for one. Liv had fled with the elf, the question was just who had abducted whom.

Some truths should not be shared with anyone, but secrets press against one’s heart from within. Shannon had protected the story of Dara from his daughter and the outside world for far too many years. Now painful anxiety caused his heart to burst, and his dearest secret poured out.

“Marcus,” he said and told his apprentice the truth about Liv.