THE FARANG
a novel
by
Mile Mitrov
THE FARANG
Published by Mile Mitrov
Copyright 2015 Mile Mitrov
The events and characters in this book are fictitious. Certain real locations and historical figures are mentioned, but all other characters and events described in the book are totally imaginary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
About the author
Author's note
PROLOGUE
The crashing of the waves against the hull is making the heavy oak beams, the width of a church columns, twist and turn like young willow twigs in the wind. The lucky ones that managed to grab a hold of something that’s nailed down are gripping down hard trying to stay alive with the last ounce of strength in their bodies. The unlucky ones are flying through the air from one side of the hull to the other, hitting the thick planks and bouncing off breaking their bones and twisting their necks. Large strong men now look like the rag dolls of small child. The Esperanza now looks like a restless little girl that is jumping around and throwing her dolls in the air to see how far she can do it. The screaming of the poor men is silenced only by the thundering rumble of the crashing waves. What they are experiencing now is the mother of all storms.
He is hugging the post near the entrance to the ship’s hold as tight as he can. When they first saw that the storm is coming fast most of his shipmates didn’t think it would be serious and they were making jokes how this ship, the biggest ever built in the history of Spain, could endure even through the wrath of God and that she is even stronger than Noah’s arch. They just went down to the sleeping quarters to continue their drinking. Now he is looking how his comrades are being pummeled by the ship that was their home for the past two months. These men had become his friends, together they had travelled farther than anyone they knew had ever travelled before. He closes his eyes, no longer wanting to be a witness to his friends’ terrible fate, and to try to regain a sense of balance because the ship is swinging so drastically from side to side that he almost comes to a vertical, the swell of the sea is so great that it’s threatening to crush them all to pieces.
A piece of a chain link hits his face, and he opens his eyes to the sight of the large bronze cannon flying across the hold and crashing through the plank skin taking two men along, and leaving only a large black gaping hole. ‘This is it. We’re doomed. Dear God, we’re going down.’
All the cannons have come undone from their heavy iron chains that held them in place and found their way out of the ship, each taking a piece of her skin with it. Just as his consciousness is escaping him, water rushes inside and she is gone, The Esperanza has come to the end of her journey.
..... ‘I’m in the water? How? Where? Where are the others?’.....
..... The sky is clear again. ‘Thank god it’s over. Don’t let go of the plank..... Must hold on, I have to…. ’
He had come out of consciousness and gone back under who knows how many times by now. In all the deliriousness somehow he had managed to keep hold of the plank. Without a sense of time or distance passed, bruised and battered, he washes up on a beach. The hot sun is burning his corneas and all he can see is the outline of a small head with white hair standing over him. The old man pours a few gulps of fresh water in his mouth. “Where are the others?” his voice barely a whisper through his cracked lips, and he falls out of consciousness again.
******
The Esperanza sailed out of the San Sebastian port on the 17th of May in the year of Our Lord 1545. She is a mighty ship. Paid for by the King and it is the grandest ship in his navy. Her mission is of great importance for Carlos I, the Portuguese had already landed on the distant shores of Asia and that is why he spared no expense on the Esperanza. A fine crew was assembled and prepared for this crucial mission, because it couldn’t be allowed that his enemies take full control of the lucrative trade routes to the Far East.
King Carlos I had been disappointed by his colonies in the new world. The riches that were promised by that Italian adventurer Columbus proved too difficult to bring back. The Italian had promised Ferdinand and Isabella that he would find the route to Asia and he had failed. But now it would be him that will make that dream come true. The name Carlos will be honored forever like the king who made Spain the richest empire that the world will ever know.
His secret weapon was a map that showed the route from Arabia to the Far East. At first he didn’t believe the man that told him about it. It was a prisoner, a very old man from Persia who had been captured when a group of Turkish pirates had tried to board one of his ships in the Mediterranean. The old man was being held in the dungeons of his castle and he had offered secret knowledge in exchange for his freedom. Carlos was intrigued by the man’s offer and he ordered him brought before him so they can speak alone. The Persian told his life story, how he had sailed for the great Shah to many lands in Asia and he spoke of all the things that he had seen. The wild tribes in Sumatra that they had learned to avoid at any cost and he told about the great cities of the Thai people that were made up of magnificent buildings that are covered with gold, and of their kings that had huge treasure vaults filled to the ceiling with gems in many different colors the size of an apple. Where the people are dressed in the finest silks and even the men wear intricately crafted headdresses of pure gold.
Carlos took the bait completely. When the old man offered to draw a map of the safe passage way to this fabulous land, he had accepted and had granted him his freedom right then and there. This could be his big chance to get ahead of the Portuguese and to fulfill all his ambitions, he will be known as Carlos the Great. His eyes started twinkling with the color of all the promised gems. The old man was sincere when he had made the offer. He just wanted to live out the short time that he had left on this Earth in peace and comfort. Carlos granted him his wish and gave him a small house in a near village and had gave orders that the palace servants are to check up on him and take him food at least once every day. Not one known for patience, Carlos had summoned his best cartographer who sat down with the old man and they produced the small parchment that Carlos was hoping that would bring him many exotic riches. The old man told everything that he had learned about the sea route to this magical land, over his years spent sailing under the banner of the great Shah. He made sure that he didn’t forget to make a note of all the possible dangers that might be encountered. He was grateful to the king and held nothing back. Armed with this secret Persian knowledge and an arsenal of the largest cannons that they had, the Esperanza sailed off.
The voyage was very uneventful. They had made a short stop at Las Canarias to top off their water supply and had not encountered the wild tribes of these islands. They had chosen the most favorable part of the season for a long voyage and it was nothing but clear skies and good wind all the way to the southernmost point of Africa. And it had
taken them only around a month to get this far. The men had never seen such a sight, the place where the two great oceans meet and it looks like they are crashing into each other and it looks like the Indian Ocean is losing the fight because it turns back on itself. The Portuguese captain Bartolomeu Diaz named this place Cabo das Tormentas when he discovered it in the year of Our Lord 1488, and the name is quite fitting, this truly is ‘the cape of storms’.
Not many Spanish sailors had ventured into the expanse of the Indian Ocean, these men are trailblazers. They sailed close to the east coast of Africa for safety. They had stopped for water and food in a large archipelago made up of many islands rich in fresh water and wildlife. The men thought that they had found the Garden of Eden.
When they were passing from Arabia towards India, on a few occasions, small ships had tried to approach them, most likely pirates, Persians or Arabs. But only with a few shots from the large cannons that Esparanza was carrying in her bowels, they were scared off, she was too big of a ship for them to attempt to board her.
Just off the Southern tip of India they saw the most incredible sight. Hundreds of islands spread out like a long string of pearls spread over more than a thousand leagues. It was the most perfect tropical setting that any of the men had ever seen. The highest point that they could see on any of the islands couldn’t have been more than the height of a normal man. They looked like tiny personal paradises where one could relax under a cool shade of a palm tree and then enjoy a swim in the crystal clear waters that are filled with fish in every imaginable shape and color. They could see small villages on some of the larger islands but the water was just too shallow for the huge hull of the Esperanza, and the natives were too afraid to approach in their canoes. When they left that string of islands the men had a good night’s sleep dreaming about how incredible would be to spend the rest of their days on these paradise islands with one of the gorgeous exotic looking brown skinned beauties.
They had stayed far clear from the two large islands that they had to cross between, for the stories of the old Persians told of terrible losses by his kinsmen in the past to the hands of the warrior natives. He had warned that the seas close to their rich destination could be very dangerous and the conditions could change at the whim of any of the local gods. But nothing could prepare the brave men on the Esperanza for what destiny brought on their heads. Shortly after midday dark clouds covered the sky in the blink of an eye. Day had turned to night and the sea was jumping high like a raging bull in the plaza del toros of their native Spain.
Chapter 1
Tigers!!!! As soon as the shout was heard the tigers had already mowed down half a dozen of the men that formed the escort party. The ones left standing formed a circle around the carriage to protect their precious cargo.
When they set of on their trip, this was the furthest thing on their minds. The mission was a secret one. Only a small group of men, escorting a simple carriage drawn by two buffalos, they had used a very popular type of carriage, the kind that many well off villagers use. The convoy not an uncommon sight on these country trails. But tigers, they never even considered that possibility.
Yes, tigers have been known to attack people in this part of the jungle. But to attack a group of twenty armed men, that was just unthinkable. Maybe that was why they were caught off guard. Perhaps they just happened to stumble upon the tigers and interrupted some sort of mating ritual.
There was no time to consider the possible reason, the attack was ferocious and lightning fast. The big cats moved like shadows, picking the men off one by one. The men fought bravely and despite all their training there was little they can do. After all, they were trained to face other men, not such beasts. One of the soldiers, in a desperate attempt to defend him, self somehow managed to run his sword straight through the mouth of the smaller lion, putting it down with one lucky thrust of the blade. When the male tiger heard his mate’s dying growl went straight for the young soldier and tore his body like it was a child’s puppet. The young man’s pupils still fully dilated from the adrenalin rush of just surviving the first tiger attack, a feeling lasting only seconds.
The enraged tiger turned his attention to the carriage again, and to the last man left standing. The stunned soldier stood in front of the carriage door trying to keep his sword from falling out of his hands. He couldn’t react, he couldn’t move. He desperately wanted to scream and run away, his legs and his body simply didn’t obey the command. The carnage that lay all around him left him frozen in place.
The big cat was intrigued by the strange reaction of the soldier, or the lack there of. He started to play with his prey, taking slow long strides toward the poor, trembling, defenseless creature standing in front of him. As the tiger rose to his hind legs to deliver the final bite to the men’s neck, a long slender blade pierced the tiger’s ribcage from behind slicing through his heart in an instant, dropping the beast’s huge body to the ground, on top of the unlucky soldier who failed to protect his neck from the powerful jaw. In the rage from losing his mate, the male tiger failed to notice the tall man running through the trees behind him.
The tall man pushed the huge body of the still warm tiger to the side and went open the carriage door. Inside he found a girl curled up in a ball in the corner.
“You’re safe now, it’s over” he said, offering her his hand to stand up. Still shaking from the shock of the screams of her protectors she took his hands and slowly rose to her feet. When he saw the tall man’s white skin and blond hair, and the weird color of his eyes, wondering if she’s imagining this strange pale ghost, she passed out, falling in his embrace.
*****
This was not something that he could even imagine happening in his life. There were no strange beasts like this back home. Sure there were wolves that sometimes attacked his father’s sheep, but he had learned how to deal with them and protect his flock from a very young age. But this strange country is something completely different for him. Ever since his pursuit of adventure left him stranded in this land he had to learn a whole new way of life. It’s been years from when he first set foot on these shores, but he was still surprised every day by how strange, how terrifying, and how wonderful this land can be.
And there were no creatures like her back home, of that he was certain. Her father must be an important man in their village, but not a very rich one. He sent only a handful of men to protect her, and she’s dressed in simple clothes. Her yellowish brown skin and her features display spirit and youthfulness that appeal to him.
He feels awkward for staring at the girl that is laying on the soft grass where he had brought her. Who is this strange girl, what is her story. After she fainted he took her a fair distance away from the attack site, because one thing was for sure, with all the mangled soldiers and tiger carcasses out in this heat, that place was not going to be the best smelling camp site. Even now when the sun had dropped over the horizon the heat is still unbearable. He knew that the right thing to do was burry the fallen men and lay them to rest respectfully, but in this heat that was too big of a job for only one man.
The punishing climate in this land is the most difficult thing for a person to get used to. For him at least, the locals are born into it and it’s all that they have ever known, for them it’s normal. He still spends his waking nights dreaming of the cool breeze in the mountains of his native Spain.
He had known many Thai girls here, everywhere he went they found him appealing. They had never before seen someone that looked like him. But this girl was somehow different, she intrigued him in some special way. Dressed in her green simple long garments, there is a gracefulness to her small body. Unlike the girls he had seen before on celebrations, dressed only in small gilded jewelry with their skin on display, this strange creature was somehow different, somehow special. He feels uncomfortable contemplating these things and he turns his attention to the fire and the dinner he’s preparing.
A shout startles him.
> “Who? You. Who are you, you white devil?
Chapter 2
After running for many hours, a man on the brink of exhaustion reaches the tall city gates of Ayutthaya. The guards at the gates hear him whisper only two words before he loses his consciousness. “The princess! Tigers!”
The man is brought to the square in front of Phra Ram Temple, and lay him down in the shadow cast by the gold covered spire. This is the central and most holy place in the whole city. When the spire catches the sun’s rays at right angle it sends a magnificent blanket of shimmering honey color over the whole city.
Lord Anantachai is called to question the poor soul. The big rounded form of the wealthiest man in the kingdom pushes through the crowd, swearing and hitting all the curious people that had by then gathered to see what all the commotion is about.
Lord Anantachai is only forty years old and in a very short time he had arisen to the very top of Ayutthaya society. He had lied, cheated and stole, even killed when need be, but he had made it. He is the most powerful man in the kingdom, not even the King could refuse his wishes all too easily. His ambition was not yet satisfied. Always keeping his eye on the ultimate prize, and working hard to accomplish it. The plans already in motion, and if all the plans worked out, the people will soon bow down to him and call him king. And now this happens. Out of all possible things, this had to happen now.