Novels2Search

A New Journey

Starlex dreamed she was in Mynimium. She had no memory of fleeing her birth city as a small child barely old enough to walk, but dreams held different memories. Flenn Illymimium had taught her that.

In her dream, she was dressed in the traditional Illymimium garb: a white fluted silk gown with iridescent threads shimmering in the golden sunlight when she walked and a trailing mantel of purple wool embossed with the Illymimium crest of moons and scattered stars.

Although now her people were equally reviled and lauded for their rarity, in her dream, Starlex walked with pride through the city's sun-baked streets, redolent with clove incense. The streets were not abandoned as they were today, but alive with people like herself who did not hide with shame, tall people with feet on the ground and minds in the stars. They spent their days making things: paintings, beautiful clothes, and new songs. Some of them, white-haired elders like Flenn, spent their time in the towering observatories charting the stars by night and writing about their findings by day. Every new moon, the citizens would gather in the city's large outdoor amphitheater to watch plays about the elders’ findings.

Seeing it all now in her dream, Starlex wondered why something so beautiful had to die. The Davadas people told her the Illymiums could not sustain their way of life, that they never learned to apply their craft to practical economics or fight the inevitable invaders.

Funny how the ultimate invaders who scattered most of her people to the winds were the Davadas, and yet somehow, the Illymiums were expected to be grateful. In her half-awakened state, Starlex wondered about the Illymiums who rejected civilization altogether and chose to live in the wilds of Terragonian Bluff.

At least they are free.

Her mind left the pink stone streets of Mynimium and returned to the white beach cove where she had slept until the following morning. Someone had thrown a Bonn’s fur caplet over her while she slept, and when she pushed it from her face, the moons were milky saucers disappearing in a brightening sky, and a red sliver of dawn tipped the white peaks of Kadaar from across the sea.

Starlex sat up.

Leiffen, whistling a lively tune, approached and handed her a cup of scalding tea.

"Milady," he said, bowing.

"Thank you," Starlex replied throatily. "I'm sorry I slept so late. I could have helped."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Leiffen added an eye roll to his whistle.

"Oh, you're a shipbuilder, are you?" This was Bonn Skaard's voice, a low thunder over the lapping waves and gulls singing their morning song.

"No," Starlex admitted, embarrassed. "But I do know how to sail." Regaining some of her dignity, she sipped the tea. It tasted heavenly. The medicine of the herbs reached her brain, clearing away the remnants of her misty dream.

If they insist on treating me like a princess, perhaps I should act like one.

When she had finished her tea, she stood, shook the sand from the ragged Nazeer gown, and inspected the men's work. The raft they had built during the night sat on the edge of the surf. It was simple but strong, fashioned from ten logs, crisscrossed with another layer of logs, perfectly recessed into the bottom layer, all tied together by strong interlocking vines. Bonn saw Starlex gaping and laughed.

"You made this last night?" she asked, amazed at the workmanship.

"She looks pretty, but will she float?" Bonn laughed again.

He's certainly in a good mood for one who stayed up all night laboring by torchlight, Starlex thought.

But then she followed the Skaard warrior's gaze across the sea and instantly understood. He is one step closer to his homeland and his people.

Leiffen shook the sand from the green Nazeer capes and approached Starlex.

"Can you sew, milady?" he asked. "If we stitch these two capes together, we'll have ourselves a strong sail."

"Yes! I'm an excellent seamstress," Starlex piped up. "I'm not completely useless."

"Good to hear," Leiffen said, his voice still tinged with sarcasm. "Somewhere in that bag of mine is my paper of silver pins from my old grandmother in Mynimium."

"I dreamed of Mynimium last night," Starlex blurted before she could think.

Both men stopped to gaze at her.

Bonn's eyes, as ice blue as the peaks of Kadaar, bore into her. "Did you dream foretell of our sea journey, princess?" He turned his bearded chin toward the sea. "That's the Canopus Strait ahead, the narrowest part of the sea, but also the most dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" she asked, following his gaze.

Leiffen cocked his head as he loaded their provisions onto the raft. "You think old Quetzex is one mean—" He bit his tongue before the curse word escaped, "Her sea dragon sister, Zetax, resides just below those waves. No man's seen her ugly smile for over two Zars, but when has that ever stopped a dragon."

Starlex shuddered at the thought. She had seen the illustrations in Flenn's ancient tomes of the great sea dragon swallowing an entire fleet of ships with its gaping jaws. "But aren't we just sailing around the lava spill? That should not be that difficult."

Bonn shrugged his large shoulders. His muscles glistened in the sunlight. "If we catch a good wind, we can sail back to Oran in half the time it takes to ride there."

"But why should we risk—?" Starlex shut her mouth; her cheeks reddened.

Of course, he wants to shorten the journey so he can get back to his people. I'm a fool to think I am his only priority. I'm the bargain for him. A trade. And nothing more. But why should that bother me?

Silently, Starlex picked up the green capes and sat down in the shade of a boulder to sew the sails while the men ate and rested before they embarked on the next leg of the journey.