Thorwald and his second-in-command slowly walked over, followed by the other sailors.

“I hear you’ve found something that requires my attention.” Thorwald said with a curious tone.

“My father often told me that it’s a captain’s right to decide about the more valuable spoils.”

“Spoils, huh? Now I’m really curious about what you found.”

“Go ahead.” The young giant said with a wide smile, already knowing that as the one who found those chests, he had the right to at least a tenth of their content.

The sailors cut the rope that bound the chest together, lining up the boxes along the side of the ship. Thorwald opened the first chest, letting out a low whistle.

“A whole crate of refined Eastern Abralt steel.” The older seeker said, giving him an acknowledging nod.

“And quite a high quality by the looks of it,” Ulf remarked from the side. “It shines with a bright and clear bluish hue. No discolouration.”

“Indeed,” Thorwald agreed. “The one thing those silk pants know how to do is refining Abralt steel. Judging by your look, you’re not familiar with it. Not that it would be surprising, given that you live so far from the capital.”

“Father has a seax made from Abralt steel,” Einar said, still dizzy after his dive. “Although he prizes it so much that even I had only seen it twice before.”

“And with good reason,” Ulf noted. “Abralt steel is one of the best materials for a weapon. Even a knife made from Abralt is worth ten gold if not more.”

“Alright,” Thorwald calmed his laughing men down. “Let’s see what’s in the second chest.”

Opening it, they found it full of Abralt steel like the previous one.

“Damn,” Ulf couldn’t stop himself from cursing. “Two whole chests of Abralt steel. If nothing else, that’s already worth a small ship’s price.”

“Let’s see what’s in the last one, lads.” Thorwald said as he opened it, revealing the neat rows of silver coins.

“It’s just a bunch of silver.” Someone said from the side disheartened.

“And what’s wrong with that?” Another one asked baffled.

“It’s barely worth a tenth of the first chest.” Someone else remarked.

“Quit your whining,” Ulf growled at them. “Free spoils like these are a blessing from the gods. If you keep whining like that you’ll incur their wrath.”

“This is a fine haul,” Thorwald said, patting Einar on the back. “I’m sure your father has also told you before that the one to find such valuables will get a tenth of the spoils.”

“A tenth?” Haftor spoke up indignantly. “Are you out of your mind? Who knows how much he had already hidden in his pouch? We’ve all seen before that it can hold several such chests’ worth of stuff.”

“My brother’s right,” Ingrid joined in. “The only reason this oaf was willing to bring up the chest for you to see was because he must have already hidden away a lot more for himself.”

The sailors and other God-marked kept glancing at Einar and then back at Thorwald, the latter about to say something but Ulf was faster as he smacked Haftor in the face.

“Just who do you think you are to talk to the Captain like that, brat? It’s the same as badmouthing the King. If King Baldr hadn’t ordered us to bring every God-marked in front of him alive, I would have already thrown you overboard and left you for the sharks.”

“But you do have to bring…” Ingrid tried to argue, earning a smack just as heavy as his brother did.

“Enough,” Thorwald spoke loudly, cutting off the argument. “We can easily find out if Einar had been hiding some godly riches that are worth more than these chests.”

His words earned a discontent murmur from the sailors as some of them found it unfair for the young giant’s honour to be questioned in such a way.

“However,” the older seeker continued. “If he doesn’t, then you will have to pay for your schemes. Whatever value he carries in that world eater pouch, you will match it in silver and gold as punishment.”

“But…”

“My word is final,” Thorwald silenced Ingrid’s protest. “Einar, are you willing to empty your pouch to clear your name in front of the gods?”

“Fine by me.” He shrugged as he pulled the square pouch off his belt, opening it and turning it upside-down.

As he did so, different items began to fall out of the pouch in quick succession, littering the wooden floor beneath him. A few wet coin pouches, some food, a few ordinary items and the like fell out along with a few handfuls of ore. After the curved blade, the strange hat and the rest of the dead man’s belongings fell out as well, silence reigned on the ship. The awkward silence was broken by Thorwald as he stepped forward.

“Ulf,” he called out to his second in command. “Check them out.”

The man did as told, crouching beside the pile so that he could pick things up one by one. First, he picked up the food, clothes and other miscellaneous things that were clearly brought along from Bear-rock Island. Ulf handed them back to Einar so that he could pack them away. When it came to the few wet pouches, the man opened them one by one, pouring their contents together.

“Eleven silver, plus a brass earring with some cheap gem.”

“See,” Haftor said triumphantly. “He was really hiding…”

“Hiding what?” Thorwald cut into his words with a deep-toned growl. “A few coins and an earring? Do you want me to take away such finds from the rest of the divers as well? Even I’ve found a pouch or two myself while down there.”

His words silenced the youth as the man turned back toward Ulf and the waning pile of items. Most of the things were of little worth, the captain taking fancy to the strange hat which he said to be willing to buy from Einar. When it came to the sword, Ulf let out a low whistle.

“A fine sabre.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Sabre?” The young giant asked back puzzled.

“That’s the name of this kind of curved sword. Although it’s not Abralt steel, it’s still a fine blade. You could sell it for at least five gold at the capital. As for that bronze looking glass in that leather holster, I suggest you keep it. It may prove useful in the future.”

Some more items were handed back to the young giant before Ulf finally picked up one of the ore chunks, giving it a scrutinising look before holding it up to Thorwald. The man accepted it, only looking at it for a second or two before his gaze snapped toward Einar.

“Where did you find this?” He asked, his voice almost commanding.

“From one of the crates down in the area where the cargo was kept.”

“Were there only these few chunks…”

“Five crates.” Einar stated, the older seeker almost choking after he heard his answers.

“Five crates? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, about the same size as these chests, but they were raw ore and I didn’t know how good they were so I only took a few handfuls.”

“You hear that, Ulf? Five crates. Five whole bloody crates!”

“Get ready to dive, lads!” Ulf said aloud, the rest of the sailors standing there baffled until Thorwald decided to give them a short explanation.

“This here is raw Zubralt ore.”

His words created a storm of arguments among the sailors, all of them staring greedily at the apple-sized chunk of rock that had a thumb-thick dark reddish vein of metal running across it.

“If Abralt is one of the best metals to be used for making weapons, Zubralt is its equal when it comes to tools used in rituals or to cast magic.” Ulf explained with a serious tone.

“A single ingot the size of your fist would be worth fifty gold. These few ore chunks are worth about two gold, since they’re unrefined.”

“So what’s the tally?” Thorwald asked from his second in command, the latter’s experience in dealing with merchants making him frown.”

“I’d say it’s between seven and eight gold if we count everything together, although the Zubralt would first need to be refined to see how much there is actually.”

“Seven gold,” Thorwald hummed. “His share of the coins and the Abralt steel would be worth more, right?”

“About thirty-five to forty gold if he sold off the Abralt to the right people.” Ulf confirmed.

“You hear that, brats?” Thorwald turned toward Haftor and Ingrid. “It looks like the lad’s findings are worth less than his share. That means…”

“You owe him seven gold.” One of the sailors said from the side with the others nodding in agreement.

“This is absurd,” Ingrid fumed in anger. “If my father heard about this...”

“Then he would tell me I was too lenient on the two of you,” Thorwald cut into her ranting.” He told me about the stunt you two pulled with the black bear on the day of Proving. He asked me to ensure that you two reached the capital alive, but also asked me to keep you in line. Now pay up!”

The siblings looked at each other, Einar, then back at each other before finally pulling out some coins from their pouches and adding them together before handing them over to the older seeker. Thorwald gave the seven gold to the young giant with a smirk before turning toward the recently returned divers.

“Did you find it?” He asked from the men floating in the water beside the ship.

“It’s all there, just as the lad said. It will take us some time to get the crates out of the ship though.”

“Take your time,” Ulf said from the side. “We don’t want anyone to drown.”

The man nodded before diving back down again. A good half an hour later all five of the crates were hauled out of the water, the crew and the young God-marked all staring at the reddish ore chunks.

“Once we reach the capital,” Thorwald spoke loudly. “We’ll get it measured and distributed between everyone. Everyone except those two.”

His sharp gaze landed on Haftor and Ingrid, the twins looking down while gritting their teeth. With the matter settled they spent another hour moored to the sunken ship, gathering whatever they found valuable enough to be taken. Their journey in the following five days went by uneventfully, although two of them were spent under rain and thunders. The sun was already high in the sky when they caught sight of Wolfhold in the distance, the capital greeting done with opened arms and plenty of guards.

“Welcome back, Thorwald!” one of the heavily armed soldiers greeted the older seeker. “I see it wasn’t a boring trip after all.

“Most of the time,” the man confirmed while looking back toward the spoils piled up on the ship. “But we were lucky enough to come across a sunken trading ship.”

“Good haul?” The man asked, earning a slight nod.

“Enough that even the High King can get a share.”

“You know that’s mandatory.” Another soldier said with an almost chiding tone, their comrades waving closer a pair of scribes and porters to help get the pillage recorded.

“This is going to take a while.” Ulf remarked as he and the other sailors helped unload the ship.

“Those three chests were found by that lad.” Thorwald pointed at the Abralt steel and silver containing chests and then at Einar.

“The right of one-tenth?” The soldier asked with a knowing look on his face.

“Yes.” The seeker agreed.

“Lucky lad. Got yourself a fine share for your first time, huh?”Einar gave the man a nod, standing aside to wait for his share like the others. A good half an hour later everything was examined and recorded by describes, the guardsman turning to Thorwald with a scroll in hand.

“According to the law, the King shall take ten ingots out of the hundred, along with twenty-five hundred Eastern silver coins and twenty kilos of Zubralt ore. Then there’s a couple of silk rolls and some precious wood. The rest is for you to distribute among your men. Sign here!”

“When did you lot get so formal about these kinds of things?” Ulf asked from the side.

“We sent out a lot of ships to gather the God-marked and most of them have already arrived. Full of loot.”

“Looks like we weren’t the only lucky ones out there,” Thorwald remarked as he signed the scroll, turning back to his men. “Gather around! Time to get your share. Einar, you first.”

The young giant walked forward, the scribes placing down ten ingots of Abralt steel along with five hefty leather pouches, a small ore-filled canvas sack and other items in front of him. He looked at them puzzled, one of the pale-skinned men letting out a sigh before explaining.

“You receive one-tenth of the hundred ingots along with one-tenth of the twenty-five thousand silver. Besides that, you’ll receive two kilos of Zubralt ore, a small roll of Eastern cloth and two blocks of Ebony wood.”

“I see,” he nodded awkwardly as he began to stuff his earnings into his world eater pouch. “Thank you.”

After putting away his share, the youth stepped to the side so that others could have their turns. When everyone was done, both the sailors and the young God-marked were waiting for Thorwald’s orders.

“I was told to bring the young ones to High King Baldr. The rest of you are free to return home.”

A slight cheer erupted from the crew as they left either toward home or the nearest tavern.

“Alright everyone, follow me!” The grizzled man said with a sigh after packing away his share of the haul.

The nearly dozen God-marked followed the old seeker along the bustling streets of Wolfhold, their Eyes darting from one place to the next, taking in the sides and smells of the capital. Soon the harbour area switched into a more mercantile one, with shops lining the streets.

Blacksmiths hammered at red-hot steel, hawkers offered their wares while laughter resounded from the nearby taverns. The city was massive compared to the village of Bear-rock Island, making Einar feel a bit lost. What made him calm down somewhat was that his scant few talks with the other God-marked told him that he wasn't the only one to see Wolfhold for the first time.