* * *
Around a week later, they reach the calm waters of the Eastern Reefs. Dozens of small coral and sand islands were surrounded by shallow reefs which endangered the ship’s deep keel. Captain Warron gave strict instructions for slow speed and at regular times he dropped a sounding line in the water to check the depth.
The high lookouts called out suggestions for the man at the helm who was the tallest and broadest man aboard, Pilot Steward. He looked the type to resolve disciplinary matters with his fists and to sleep with a dagger under the mattress.
The Voyage was passing Hatu Island on its way to Diddlibah during the low tide. Pilot Steward issued a warning to weigh anchor until the tide came in.
Captain Warron studied the crystal-clear water and the many-coloured reefs visible ahead of the ship. He answered after a long pause, in a voice rough from the salt air. “Very well, Pilot. I respect your opinion. Weigh anchor and make sail with the high tide.” Two whistles were blown and the sailors released the anchor and furled the sails.
No sooner had the ship settled than dozens of boats filled with fierce-looking warriors surrounded them.
Fandri gasped.
The queen stood up stiff and white-knuckled. “The Vaimelie. Rumours have reached even the Elven Kingdom of their fierce fighting against pirates and other tribes. They behead their foe.”
The ship’s crew and passengers dashed around grabbing pikes and swords to repel the boarders. Vaimelie’s hooks caught in the rigging and they scaled the attached knotted ropes. The insurgents yelled out in their deep foreign tongue.
“Dế-artế! Dế-artế!”
They leapt on the deck and surrounded the knights and sailors.
Fandri grabbed a pike and raised it in the air.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” Fandri-La’s scared voice hissed in his ear.
The halfling met her eyes with a steady gaze. “Trust me.”
Bit by bit he lowered the pike in both hands to the deck until he was kneeling in front of the most vicious-looking Vaimelie. “We have no wish to harm you or trespass on Hatu or any of your islands. We will stay on the ship and leave with the high tide, when our keel will safely pass over the reef.”
“Huh?” The chieftain’s brow raised in surprise and he looked at Fandri as though appraising his intentions. “Mế-na lo-au hai ếtu. Di nu-ala dế-artế?”
Fandri tilted his head, trying to determine whether this was good or bad.
“He wonders if you are brave or foolish and perhaps keen to die.” Nnarndam stepped forward beside Fandri and lifted him to his feet. “No dế-artế, friend Isilan. We stopped the ship here to give you a pair of horses for breeding on Hatu Island.”
“Horses, horses?” Chieftain Isilan rolled the unfamiliar word around on his thick tongue. “Nnarndam, you make horses magic?”
The mage chuckled. “No, Isilan. Not magic this time, my friend. We have horses in the hold of the ship. Let me show you.”
The mage gestured and the sailors stepped back to open two large doors in the deck floor and reveal the horses’ cramped quarters below. Captain Warron gestured to two sailors, who hooked up the winch with the sling. They hitched one of the pack mares and hoisted her up for the chieftain’s inspection.
Isilan raised a trembling hand to the mare’s face and touched her cheek with a wide-eyed expression of awe. The mare was quite rigid, with her ears angled back, but as the islander stroked her cheek and spoke gently, her ears came forward and she gave a small neigh of pleasure. Isilan smiled at her, showing white teeth in his dark face.
Fandri smiled too, unaware that behind his back the other Vaimelie tribesmen were frowning and edging closer with sharp wooden hooks.
“Fandri, look out!” Varl grabbed him by the arm and thrust him onto the deck just as an arm-length hook passed where he had been standing.
“Dế-artế, die trai-tor.” The muscle-bound islander placed his heavy foot on Fandri’s chest and the halfling gasped as air was forced from his lungs. His fairy dropped to the deck like a stone beside him and he felt an excruciating pain coursing through the bond. He looked up into a face twisted with hatred and he shook his head, failing to comprehend this attack. He gestured for Varl to help him.
The young squire was frozen with wide-eyed shock.
The islander’s loose shirt burst into flames and the man yelped in surprise and horror. He batted his fists against his chest and jumped over the side of the ship into the sea.
Fandri scooped up his frightened fairy and their eyes darted from face to face for an explanation.
Nnarndam stepped forward. “Sometimes the Vaimelie are a little short on manners and need a reminder to obey their chieftain. Everyone, meet Isilan, the leader of the Vaimelie.” He gestured to the man patting the horse, who was now glaring at the other islanders. “I have secured us safe passage with the gift of two of our pack horses. I don’t believe we will have any further trouble from these feisty men. Let us break bread together and put this unpleasantness behind us.”
The mage was playing with a small flame which jumped from one palm to the other while he spoke. Fandri watched with open-mouthed fascination.
Isilan bent his head so far down that his shaggy black hair swept the deck before he jerked it back and jumped up in the air. “Mế-liế. Very good. Come, see Vaimelie home.”
He sprang up to grab a Vaimelie cable which was still attached to the rigging with a carved wooden hook. He shimmied down the knotted rope rather faster than Fandri could have thought possible. When he reached the canoe, he gestured for the travellers to follow him. “Come, come.”
Liara-Star waved goodbye. “The elves shall remain here with the ship, although the knights and sailors may choose to accompany you.”
Varl and Fandri exchanged glances and ran for the ropes, gaining a bit of rope-burn in their haste to see Hatu Island.
Fandri-La fluttered after them, feeling Fandri’s excitement through their bond. “Wait for me.”
A blast of air made her look around in surprise. A male fairy just her size was hovering beside her. She blinked a few times before realising that this was a very young-looking Mage Nnarndam transformed into a bond-fairy. He took her hand and raised it to his lips for a tender kiss. “Well hello there, pretty fairy. Shall we go and explore a tropical island together?”
“I would love to, thanks Nnarndam-Li.” The fairies’ wings fluttered to catch up with the halflings and Isilan in the canoe.
“I yearn to see beautiful women.” Varl’s excitement caused him to stand up and made the canoe sway from side to side.
“Sit down, you clumsy troll. You’ll tip us into the sea if you’re not careful.” Despite the caution, Fandri was grinning broadly at his excited young friend.
Isilan paddled the canoe right onto the beach and pulled it past the high tide mark with heaves of his muscled arms. Other canoes filled with knights and sailors were landing around them.
Varl stopped walking and stared straight ahead, with his mouth opened wide.
Fandri looked back at him. “Are you alright?”
“Girls!”
“What the?” Fandri turned and joined his friend in goggling over the naked-breasted ladies waiting for them at the top of the sand dunes. The island women wore very little, with skirts made of broad leaves and flowers with matching circlets of flowers atop their flowing black hair. Their arms were wide open and they greeted the weary travellers with hugs and necklaces of shells.
Varl ran up to them and hugged each one in the line, ending up being covered in twelve necklaces and red flushed cheeks. “Ah, it is good to see such attractive ladies. I have missed physical embrace so much.”
Fandri tilted his head to the side and rubbed his chin in puzzlement. “You know there is a beautiful elven queen back there on the ship, along with her elegant hand maidens? How could you say these are the first ladies you have seen for some time?”
The squire tsked his tongue. “My friend, you may be old
er than me in years, but have you never been held by a woman? The elves are graceful and lovely, but I fear we stand no chance of receiving affection from them. They are polite, but cold.”
“Wow! I guess I hadn’t thought about them like that. Not cold, surely.”
“Do you recall having ever touched one?”
The halfling scratched his head. “Well, perhaps not, but I did feel as though the king cared for Fandri-La and me too. We were quite fond of him.”
“Indeed, he is a great loss to elven kind. My Father will be much saddened when we bring him the news.”
Fandri-La sighed in sympathy as Varl rubbed a hand across his eyes. When he withdrew his hand, he was composed again, but the fairy had glimpsed boyish emotion behind that reserved exterior. She pondered that the knights and elves were similar in the way they kept their emotions in check more than halflings and fairies ever did, or could. After all, when you shared all life experiences and feelings with one person, you learned to be in touch with your emotions.
Nnarndam fairy nodded and flew ahead of them to join the beckoning islanders.
Fandri-La held out her tiny hand to the squire. “Prince Varl, would you accompany me to dinner?”
Varl admired her iridescent wings sparkling in the sunlight. He gave a bow. “It would be my honour, Fandri-La.” They set off behind the leading maidens and the halfling trailed behind.
An island maiden who looked to be of a similar age to Fandri grabbed him by the shoulders and placed a string of shells around his neck. She knelt on the sand so they were roughly the same height, placed her full rose lips firmly upon his and kissed him with passion. He felt his face warm. His body responded by pressing against hers and when at last she drew back, she licked her lips.
Fandri shook his head in disbelief. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” He gave a nervous giggle and the girl copied him with a laugh. She pulled him on to follow the shore party, which had disappeared over the sand dune.
The tall girl tried to tame her wavy hair, which blew in long strands across her face. She looked coyly up at him beneath long eyelashes. Her eyes were a luminous dark brown.
Fandri’s eyes narrowed as his thoughts sped away from this inviting maiden on Hatu Island to a sleepy farm in the South Lands: Hani’s Farm in Southdale. Fandri was so in love with her that every day he questioned why he had left home. He pictured Emina lying in her bedroom with his arms around her. She made low murmurs of pleasure as he stroked her hair. Emina lifted up her chin and he bent his head to give deep kisses to those soft pink lips. He felt her warmth as she kissed him in return.
The daydream ended abruptly as Fandri opened his eyes and saw not Emina, but a strange, barely-clad islander girl. He jumped with surprise and pulled away from her. The girl mistook his shock for embarrassment and tried to pull him back into her embrace.
“I’m sorry, but no, I can’t.” Fandri ran across the sand hills, looking for a familiar face from the ship.
The girl started to chase him, but then stopped in confusion, her beautiful mouth dropping into a frown.
Fandri-La flew back to comfort the islander with a pat on the shoulder, before chasing her halfling. “It’s alright, Fandri. Emina won’t know and even if she did, a kiss from a stranger is hardly cheating on her.”
“It is to me.” Fandri plonked himself down onto the pristine white sand, with his head in his hands. “What am I even doing here? I don’t belong here; so far from home among a group of strangers?”
“Who are you calling a stranger?”
Fandri started to stand, but a large hound bowled him back over to the ground.
“Wolfer, stay.” Varl came into view, chasing after his excited hound that was slobbering all over Fandri’s face. The halfling covered his mouth with his hands and wrinkled his nose with distaste at the unwanted slavering.
“Ugh. That’s gross, Wolfer.” He stood up, but the hound still licked his face.
Varl grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away. “Heel.” The hound obeyed and to Fandri’s surprise, Varl burst into laughter. “Haha. I have never seen a sight as amusing as Wolfer trying to kiss you with his tongue.” He ruffled the hound’s hair and smiled at Fandri. “On a serious note, I do applaud your loyalty to your Emina. She must be a special maiden.”
“She sure is. Only fifteen, but she has stolen my heart away. I feel so homesick for her, that I would walk all the way back to Southdale if I knew which way to go.” He sighed.
“Come, my friend. Your thoughts turn melancholy. There will be baked reef fish and shells awaiting us in the village. This pretty maiden will lead the way.” Varl nodded at the rejected girl and planted a kiss on her hand. She gave a white-toothed smile and led them onward.
Artwork: ‘Queen Liara-Star’ by Madison, age 12