When he was back in the town he had decided to buy a fur coat, he also bought candles and packs of writing sticks.

  Hawkers were still shouting, their voices polluted the corralled building. Gabrio thought he was in a box for a second, then choose to ignore the feeling, returning to the docks.

  Back on the docks, he noticed a group that differed from the rest of the rabble. They were different in a way that the strange group of people didn't look like soldiers or crew for the Galleon.

  One of them was a middle-aged man. Carrying a bag hung on his left shoulder, his bundle covered by a cape draped over it. His hair tied with a band, and his hands on his dagger.

  Near the middle-aged man was a red-headed young man. His hair was the color of red-sand. He wore a simple leather coat and a sleeved shirt. His eyes are still as water. He also carried a red-hilted saber with serpent markings coiling the hilt.. The mark that belonged to the Serpentines. Was he a part of the Serpentines? How can a master of the serpentine be this young?

  Next to that red-headed young man was a black-haired and black eyed young man. He carried a brown, wooden hilt of a short sword. He wrapped himself with a red cloak, also a cloth wrap like a headband around his forehead. He had a lazy eye and he was staring at the sea with fondness.

  Besides the young man was a woman who wore a hood over her hair. She wore no dress, but a uniform with a medal pinned to her shoulder cape. She was staring at the two who she seemed to looked at as if they were a pair of backwater boys.

  The last person in the group was a woman who had the same uniform as that young woman. She looked young, and yet there was something in her gaze that made Gabrio thought of her as aged and wise. She was like a cliff face in how solid and emotionless she was. Her calmness made him think of Lady Eletha.

  As the wind pushed against Gabrio, he walked to the ramp and was about to take a step when he heard a voice protest.

  "How come he's going first?" a voice said.

  Gabrio turned to that voice. It was a black-haired young man.

  "He's the Physician of the Ship," the Seaman handing the boarding said. "Will you kindly take a step back? Captain Malfor will be here before long. I asked that you stay here first."

  "Mardon,'" the older woman said. "Patience, can you learn it?"

  "I was only asking?" Mardon said.

  "Please do not embarrass us," the blonde young woman said.

  "Leave it alone will you?" the red-haired young man thumped Mardon on the shoulder.

  "You too, Terin?" he said to his friend with accusing eyes.

  "Enough," the older gentleman said with the voice of a judge. "We are going to wait here before we met the Captain. Do you understand?"

  His voice have authority. The three younger nodded their heads. His hardened gaze made them keep their noses down on the ground. Looking away from them, he turned his attention to the traffic. The Seaman looked at his chart and started writing.

  "Than you for that, Caldor," the older woman said. "Forgive their rudeness, Doctor. I hope they did not offend?"

  "They didn't," Gabrio said.

  "Why am I involved? I did nothing," the blonde-haired young woman said. Her mutter was then lost to the sound of the wind and the crowd.

  "No, it is nothing, Milady," he said with a pause on the end, looking at the woman

  "Rosalve Merete," she said. "I am the Guardian of these young ones, and I hope that we did not bother you. It has been a journey for them."

  "I see," Gabrio nodded. "They looked stress."

  "Indeed they are," Rosalve said. "Children, introduce yourself to the Physician of the ship."

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  "Mardon Lam," the black-haired young man said.

  "Terin Gaspar," the red-haired young man said.

  "Felecia Avara," the blonde young woman curtsied. Her noble-like tone of voice and the locket around her neck made Gabrio thought of her as blue blood.

  "I am Gabrio," he placed a hand on his heart. "Gabrio of Fort Rava, I have no last name."

  Mardon Lam stiffened. The three of them did. Gabrio wondered if the name of the Fort or the fact that they were talking to a recently freed freeman?

  It didn't matter. He was used to being looked at like some weird animal. Fort Rava was a place where prisoners vanish without a trace and found next to gutters, gutted like a pig on a feast day.

  "Doctor," the older man broke the silence that happened. "I am Caldor Ando, I hope that you are not offended by this."

  "None taken," Gabrio waved his hand. Mardon and Terin heaved a sigh of relief, while Felecia Avara snorted and looked away.

  "If you have any ailments, then do not hesitate to visit the clinic or call me through someone, Gabrio said.

  "We will."

  "Good, for now, please excuse me."

  Gabrio left the scene, climbed up the Grand-Galleon, and saw Captain Malfor greet them. He went down the deck. He thought that they might a group of people who came here to take the voyage as well. He didn't need to learn more about them than needed.

  As he carried on his way back to the clinic. The deck was silent and the only sound was the shuffle of footsteps above the ceiling. Along the way, he met Scribes carrying their records and bundles of tomes and scrolls.

  Entering his cabin, he placed the writing sticks under the loosed plank next to the crate. Then Gabrio went to Zyra. She was reading the tome, and her eyes didn't even glance at his direction. Gabrio placed the candle and writing sticks on her desk and walked out of her cabin.

  Wiles was outside of the cabin. Carrying personal items he tried to hide. A pair of gloves, booze, and then mead.

  "Doctor," Wiles said.

  "So you'll be joining us?" Gabrio asked.

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Good," Gabrio looked at the booze and mead. "Try not drinking while you are in-duty. We need a pair of good and sober pair of hands all the time."

  Wiles nodded. Gabrio then asked him if he had a face mask, and confirming that he had one. Gabrio returned to his cabin to take a record of his belongings and write on his journal. Then he went inside the clinic, checked the medicine, took account of the trunk filled with herbs. He also arranged the dried medicine and jars that were on the shelves, strapped with leather to hold them.

  Gabrio spotted a bottle of leeches, and his face crumpled like a paper. He took the leeches and put them away. He hated them. He had no use for them inside the clinic. He still could remember being place next to a cadaver with leeches on his body.

  It was then that a Constable came running inside the clinic. Gabrio heard what the Constable had to say, followed him back to the main deck near the center mast. Then he saw the cabin boy that the Constable had told him about along the way.

  "Calm down," Gabrio said. He did not. Tears bounced from his cheeks, and he shouted curses and murders.

  Gabrio sniffed. He felt a stare on his back. He then traced his gloved fingers on the cabin boy's clavicle and shoulder girdle. Gesturing to one of the Apprentices to hold the cabin boy down. Gabrio placed a hand on the injured part. He was sure that it was only dislocated.

  He pulled the hand of the boy. The boy shouted, and snot came out of his nose. Gabrio produced a pellet, fed it on the boy, and tapped on the boy's shoulder. It was a confection soaked in sour cherry wine, coated in melted cocoa, and made to make one drunk.

  "Your bones are not broken," Gabrio said. "But you should rest your body. You, take this boy back to the clinic and have him rest."

  Gabrio looked at the cabin boys. They were looking at the pocket where that confection came. Snorting, he gave them the most heartless and miserable stare he could muster. He then persuaded them with the authority as the Physician of the ship, to tell him what happened here.

  A Bosun gave the story that Gabrio wanted. The kid was trying to show his worth and fell. Satisfied with that, he told the Bosun to stop them from acting like fools and warned them. He then watched the cabin boy get taken to the clinic, down the hatchway. With the cabin boy out of the way, one of the Boatswain roused the onlookers, the crew going back to their business. As the crowd dispersed, Gabrio turned his eyes to where he felt a stare and shook his head.

  As he was about to go back to the clinic. He spotted a group that carried cannons and swivels on their shoulders. Behind this group were camp followers, housewives, and kids.

  Seeing this, Gabrio thought about how many people are there inside the Grand-Galleon. Then he shook that thought away, and saw Caldor Ando on the deck, gazing at the Elder Trees. Gabrio eyed Caldor Ando for a second before turning to the east of the grand-galleon. He saw Galleys and Caravels heading their way to the fleet.

  The docks were full of ships. With the arrival of this group, the docks of Old Carthan became polluted with ships and the sound of their sails.

  There were still a few days to go before the Grand Fleet departs for the Thousand Islands. But before the Grand Fleet could leave the Bays of Old Carthan. They still had to wait for the Merchant Union's fleet to arrive and complete the Grand Fleet.