Chapter 16

Cat

Cat stood before the large set of double doors that lead to the Patriarch of Hatha’s office. She marveled at the beauty of the doors, made from the palest Rock Maple wood with large pieces of clear faceted crystals set in a stylized whirl wind pattern that glittered in the light of the enchanted globes filling the halls with their soft white luminescence. The whole temple was decorated like this, though some areas not as lavishly. Even the Acolytes dormitories, where she had been staying for the last few weeks were richly decorated. She wished her parents could see where she was now, and Irnoc.

Irnoc; the thought of her best friend sent a pang of guilt through her. Here she was living in the lap of luxury like some noble woman while Irnoc was likely breaking through rocks in one of the mines in Sydan’Kulta. It was her fault that they were both sold as slaves, her idea to rob the Justice that sold her parents into slavery.

Cat shook herself mentally. There was nothing she could do for him right now. She was summoned to appear before the Patriarch himself and she was stalling at his door. She reached for the large crystal knocker on the door and just as her fingers were about to touch it, the doors swung open revealing a tall beautiful blond woman in the ivory robes of a high priestess. “Ahh Catharine, the Patriarch is expecting you. Please come in.” her voice had a rich warm velvety smoothness.

“Cat please ma’am” cat replied as she entered into the front office.

“Yes of course, Cat. The Patriarch is ready to see you now” she said as she opened the door to the inner office.

Cat gave a slight curtsy at the priestess and walked into the Patriarchs personal office, head bowed slightly in respect. These were not people to get on the wrong side of, and besides they rescued her from being a sex slave in that brothel. She was grateful for freeing her and teaching her the basics in how to use Corana’s gift. These last few weeks had been a wonder. All the good food she could eat, no worry about rats biting her when she slept, or having to sleep with a knife in her fist in case one of the boys got some ideas in their heads.

“Hello Cat, how have you been adjusting these last few weeks?”

Cat looked up and saw an old man sitting behind a beautiful white marble desk with a bunch of crystal animal figurines decorating it. He looked in good shape for someone so old, wearing a stark white robe, and long blond and grey hair flowed over his shoulders to his chest. Cat dropped into a wobbly curtsy, she had only learned how to do one a short time ago, and it still made her knees ache from the awkward position. “I am doing well Lord Patriarch” she said.

“Please, you may call me Patriarch or Father, whichever you prefer. Please have a seat” he said and gestured to one of the armless but cushioned seats in front of his desk.

Cat took a seat as she was bid and said “Yes Patriarch” she couldn’t call anyone father except her own. She didn’t know if he was still alive anymore, but he was a good man.

“My child, you suffered terrible circumstances before Hathas will brought you before us. You were so injured, and suffered much cruelty. How has your recovery been?” the patriarch asked in a kindly tone.

Cat thought back at Leif, the man who paid specifically to take young girls maidenheads. She tried to suppress the shudders at the thought of his touch against her skin. She wanted to bathe again. the thought of what he almost did to her made her skin crawl and she felt dirty deep inside even though he didn’t succeed. She shook herself mentally and looked the Patriarch directly in the eyes and in a firm tone said “Yes Patriarch, I had a hard time before I was brought here. My injuries were not too severe and by the blessing of Hatha, I was healed of them fairly quickly.”

“Very well. I called you here today because I’ve spoken with Corana’s Matriarch recently, and she is eager to have such a talent as yourself brought to her temple where you can receive the best training for your abilities. Fortunately the early training in each temple is fairly close to each other. Close enough that we can help guide you in discovering your abilities and gaining some basic control over them. The Matriarch understands that you needed time to recover from your ordeal, but would like you to be sent to her as soon as you are able to travel safely.” The Patriarch said.

Leave? Already? I just got used to this place, and learned so much. They want me gone so quickly? Cat thought to herself.

Something of what she was thinking must have shown on her face because the Patriarch followed up with “I know this is rather sudden for you, and we do not believe you are quite ready to travel yet. I tell you this now so that you may grow accustomed to the idea as you finish up your initial training. I believe that in about another fortnight you should be ready to begin the more specialized studies that each temple can provide its initiates.”

“I understand patriarch, I will ready myself for the journey in a week’s time” cat said, tone even and controlled.

“very good my child, you may go back to your lessons now” he said with a gentile smile.

Cat rose, gave another curtsey and left the Patriarchs office.

After the outer doors closed behind her, Maja entered the Patriarchs office and said “poor child, she didn’t take that very well”

“I know, but she will do better in the long run with others of her kind. The temple of Corana is a better home for her than here, though she has been doing very well in her studies and adapting from the wretched life she lived before being sold as a slave.” The Patriarch said.

Irnoc

The cabin I was given was fairly small but comfortable. The bed frame was bolted to the floor, the knotted ropes holding up the straw filled mattress was tight and held up the thick mattress well. The flat topped chest, also secured with bolts to the floor doubled as a table, with wood ridges all around the edge to keep small items from easily rolling off. A fish oil lamp bolted to the wall was the only light source in the room. It was one of the middle rooms and had no window, so the air felt stuffy and had a faint scent of mildew. The room was a far cry better than many places I’ve had to sleep.

The ship made way just after the peak of high tide, letting the oceans current carry us out to sea after the pilot boat, a small galley ship with twenty men at the oars, pulled us out of the slip and into the ship lanes.

Once the ship cleared Quintar’s Fingers and the docks were out of sight I climbed up the ladder, or are they stairs? I can never remember which they are called on a ship. I could feel the difference in the ships movements once we left the deep shelter of the bay. The ship began to dip and rise more, the rolling increased. I felt a sudden unease as my stomach seemed to fall a moment after the ship did. I swallowed hard and tried to ignore it. The ship seemed to slip sideways and I lost my footing on the ladder leading up to the deck and nearly hit my head before I caught myself with my hand.

Once I reached the deck, I was nearly blinded by the bright blue sky, the sun just clearing the horizon. The salty sea air filled my nose, and the cries of sea birds filled the air between the snap of canvas in the wind, the humming of ropes tied tight and the shouts and curses of the sailors as they went about their tasks.

Once my eyes adjusted, I could see the open see all the way to the horizon on the left side of the ship, port? Starboard? The cliffs that made up Quintar’s fingers rose to the right but were slowly shrinking in the distance. The ship rose and fell with the waves, my legs felt unsteady in the unfamiliar movement, I could barely stay upright. How are the sailors able to stay upright, let alone move so easily and quickly without stumbling around? I thought. I looked around at the ship, and the rising and falling waves, my head started to swim and my stomach felt like it was rising into my throat. I stumblingly lurched to the nearest railing and proceeded to bring up every meal I have ever eaten.

For two full days on the open sea, I was either lying in my bunk or heaving over the side of the ship. At the end of the second day, the first mate took pity on me and gave me a foul tasting oily concoction, but it seemed to work. I still felt uneasy, weak and dried out, but it stopped the heaving of my stomach. I was able to start keeping down water and the fish soup that seemed to be the staple of the ship. By the middle of the third day I finally gained my sea legs as the sailors called it. I grew used to the constant up and down and sideways shifting movement and was able to move reasonably well across the deck.

I stood on deck, enjoying the warm sunlight and the cooling breeze when the coolness of the breeze dropped; it became cold in what seemed like no time. The wind picked up and the sun’s light began to fade. I looked up and saw ominous clouds racing towards the ship. The sea turned grey, and the large but steady waves began to churn back and forth, whipped to froth by the wind. The ship began to lurch unpredictably and I lost my footing as a particularly large wave crashed against the side of the ship. I heard the captain shouting unintelligible orders to his crew, I could hear the sound of his voice but the now howling wind distorted the words to gibberish, the crew seemed to understand what he wanted at least as they darted around the ship, securing everything and doing tasks I didn’t understand.

I just stood there while freezing rain began to pound against my skin. It didn’t make any sense to me. I’ve never seen such a storm whip up so quickly. One of the crewmen grabbed me by the shoulder and shook me to get my attention. He shouted in my ear, and even that was difficult to understand. “YOU NEED TO GET BELOW DECK SIR, GO TO YOUR CABIN AND HOLD ON. YOU WILL GET WASHED AWAY IF YOU STAY UP HERE.”

I looked at the crewman, the stress and fear in his eyes told me more than his words that this was bad. I nodded my head and staggered against the fierce wind and rain towards the hatch that lead below deck. I staggered to my room, barely able to keep my footing and fell into the bed to ride out the storm.

Hours passed as the ship was tossed abut like a twig in rapids, then as quickly as it blew in, it was over. There was sudden silence as the sound of the wind died off. I could hear every creak of wood and the muffled sounds of the sailors on deck. As I lay there getting used to the quiet and recovering I heard a sharp cry of pain and muffled whimpering. I got out of bed to investigate, I knew I could Call on one of Selena’s Daemon level servants to aid I healing if it was needed. I heard shouts and jeers as I approached the ladder to the deck. I climbed to see what was going on.

The sailors stood clustered around a young boy, couldn’t have been more than ten years old. He had long tangled black hair, wore only a loin cloth and an iron collar around his neck. His back was crisscrossed with scars from a whip, and his leg bent at an unnatural angle in the thigh, blood pooled under the boy from the white splinter of bone sticking out of his skin. This is bad; it would likely lame the boy if he didn’t die from fever first.

I heard the captains voice cut through the noise from the crew. “The boy is shark bait. He will never walk right again, the clumsy little shit. He was a poor barging to begin with, I don’t need him wasting supplies while he dies slowly. Throw him over board, may Quintar’s mercy take him quickly.”

The sailors grabbed the boy by his arms and legs, he cried out in agony as one grabbed his broken leg. He screamed and writhed in their grip, his eyes wide in absolute terror. The sailors could bare keep hold on this skinny slave boy, he fought so hard. As they reached the railing and his backside rested for a moment on the rail as they prepared to shove him over I felt a wild surge of power come from the slave, light blazed through him and a sudden gust of wind, as strong as the storm from just a few hours ago, knocked into the boy and the sailors; sending them sprawling to the deck. I saw a faint glimmer of a ribbon like creature, translucent and barely noticeable, and heard the boy scream as he fell to his damaged leg. Fortunately for him, that last shock of pain was enough to make him pass out.

“GET UP OFF YOUR LAZY ARSES AND GET THAT USELESS SACK OF BONES OFF OF MY SHIP BEFORE I THROW YOU OVER MYSELF!” the captain roared. The sailors scrambled to their feet and prepared to grab the unconscious boy and cast him into the sea.

“STOP” I shouted. The boy was a caller, a new caller if he was still a slave. He could be useful to me later and I couldn’t just let them kill him. It wasn’t long ago I was a slave on a ship and barely escaped with my life.

The sailors either didn’t hear me or ignored me. I took a deep breath, reached through into myself and called to one of Corana’s servants, just a small one. I only needed one to make a display of power and get their attention. A small dancing flame appeared in my palm and I mentally showed it what I wanted it to do.

I strode forth a wreath of flame spinning around my head and rolled a wave of heat towards the sailors, not very intense but very noticeable. When the sailors noticed the wave of heat and saw me with a ring of fire dancing over my head I said in a firm voice “In the name of Corana, Stop right now before I reduce you all to ashes.”

The sailors staggered away from me as I walked into the crowd. The captain stood firm as I walked up to him. He said “what is the meaning of this. It is my right to do as I will with my own property.”

“This boy is no longer your property, this boy is a Rogue Caller, and as such he is under the jurisdiction of the six temples of Heirum. If this is the first time this boy has called, then it is my responsibility to take him to the Hathan temple in Lundness and see he is properly trained.” I made sure I stood as tall as I could without making it obvious that I was straining for each inch and stared him directly in the eyes, asserting my assumed authority.

“You can’t just steal one of my slaves boy, you are no priest. You are just a sampling of a boy playing dress up. You may be of Corana’s get but you have no authority here.” He said, glancing at my flaming wreath.

I banished the ring of fire and let the sprite fade back to Corana’s realm. “You and I both know this boy is a caller, you were going to throw him overboard so giving him to me won’t cost you anything.”

“He will still cost me valuable resources and provide me with no work in compensation.” The captain replied.

I knew what he wanted, more money. The little this boy would eat and drink wouldn’t put a dent in this man’s profits for the voyage. I could try to force the issue, making an enemy in the process and likely have to worry about sleeping too deeply for the rest of the voyage, or I could go the easy way and grease his palms with gold. With a sigh I said “I know the loss of this slaves work and the resources he would consume might damage the profits for this trip. I also know unskilled slaves like this boy are fairly cheap, and since he is damaged as well, the temple of Corana is willing to compensate you for your loss with one gold mark.” Is I said the last bit I extracted one of my gold marks from my sleeve. I tried to do it quietly, but the soft clink of coins could be heard. I held up the gold coin.

“This slave wasn’t as cheap as that, I’ll need at least three gold marks for compensation and to pay for his passage to Lundness.” The captain countered.

Of course he would try charge passage for the boy, but I knew that slaves were seen as luggage and were not usually charged for passage. “The boy will stay in my cabin so will not need extra accommodations, I will give you two gold marks and not a copper penny more. While the temple of Corana is considerate of its devotees, that consideration is limited.” I said, trying to play the hard line while still giving in a little to the captain.

“Deal, though I will still lose money on this slave. I appreciate the concern Corana has for her humble servants” there was a distinct sarcastic tone to his voice.

I extracted one more gold mark from my sleeve leaving the silver and sole remaining gold mark. I handed him the two gold marks. “I will need the boy’s papers as well of course”.

“Of course. Come with me to my cabin, and the rest of you lot, leave the boy where he is and get back to work. We need to get back underway quickly, that storm blew us off course, and will need to put in at Fjoll for some minor repairs and fix that damned cracked mast soon.” He said and strode to his cabin, bare feet slapping on the deck planks.

The captain’s cabin was at least twice the size of mine, but still fairly small. His furnishings were of better quality, and one wall had diamond shaped cubicles mounted to one wall filled with large scrolls, maps and charts probably. The Captain rummaged in his desk full of papers, and extracted a sheet of paper and handed it to me. I looked it over, it was the standard bill of sale for a slave, his name listed as Craig and the term of service was for life, so he wasn’t just indentured. The seal at the bottom looked legitimate and it seemed in order. I slid the paper in my sleeve pocket; those pockets are useful and keep things from being obvious.

The captain watched me read the sheet of paper and put it away. Once he saw I was done he said “I won’t be havin that boy damaging my ship. I will hold you responsible if he does goes wild and wrecks me ship. Oh and I don’t keep a leach or barber on board me ship, too costly to pay, so I’m not responsible if he catches the fever. No refunds if he dies before reaching port.”

“I will keep him under control, and tend to his injury myself. You will not be held responsible for his health on arrival. Just be sure there is plenty of food for him and myself.”

“Aye ye shall have it, now I must be on deck or me crew might do something stupid and tangle the sails. Be off with ye.” He said with a negligent wave of his hand.

“Would you have some of your men carry him to my cabin, I will tend him there.”

“Fine, be off with ye. I’ll have one of my lads cart him down there.”

I left the captain’s cabin and went down to my cabin to wait for Craig to be brought down. I noticed a few other passengers on deck; they eyed me warily and kept their distance. They must have seen my display of power, and any display of magical power, the power of the priests made people nervous. First people avoided me with my sea sickness now they will be avoiding me thanks to my efforts to save the slave. As I climbed down the ladder leading to the cabin section of the ship I could hear the captain bellowing orders to two of his men, tasking them with delivering the unconscious slave to my cabin. I waited in my room as the men brought my new slave to my room. They carefully placed him on the floor of my cabin, careful to avoid eye contact with me. One of them gave a jerky kind of bow before they darted out of my room and away from me.

The boy moaned slightly as he lay on the hard wood floor. I could clearly see the shard of bone poking out of his thigh, the leg swelling grotesquely and a dark purple splotch was spreading around the wound. I touched the leg and it felt as hot as fire. This was way beyond my personal ability to help, but I knew something that could fix him up better than he was before.

I closed my eyes and reached into the part of my mind that held the doors to realms of the gods. I reached out to the golden glowing door that went to the realm of Selena, opened the door and Called. A human looking form coalesced out of a golden fog, with birdlike wings sprouting from its back and the head of a sparrow on its neck. It was the size of a small child, perhaps as big as a three year old.

The Daemon looked at me and let out a series of whistles and squawks. I got the feeling of a question emanating from the creature. I looked at the Daemon for a long moment and considered “I will call you sparrow.” the newly dubbed Sparrow nodded “please heal this child for me.”

The daemon turned to Craig and rested his tiny hands on either side of the injury. A golden light flowed like liquid from its hands and saturated the leg. When the healing energy entered the injury I felt a strange resonance from within him. I could feel a slight echo of the same energy coming out of Sparrow deep within Craig. Damn, he must have a dual affinity. The ability to Call on Hatha’s servants and Selena’s, that could be extremely useful. I can’t let the temples have him; they would ruin this boy’s potential. He would be forced to train in only one of his two affinities.

The bone shard slid back under the skin, the muscle and bone seemed to writhe under the skin then settled moments later. The gash where the bone poked out through sealed itself closed and the swelling lowered until it matched the other leg and the dark coloring faded until it was a healthy tan color. In less than a quarter candle mark the boy’s injury was gone and he was back to normal, as the golden liquid light turned to mist and fade away the echo of that power within Craig faded as well.

While Craig was still unconscious, I left the cabin and acquired a few rags and a bucket of water from one of the crew and used those to clean up the blood from his injuries. When I was finished he was still out cold, so I sat on my bed to wait for him to wake.

It was about a quarter of a candle mark later that Craig woke up thrashing and screaming. It took him a few moments to realize that he wasn’t being thrown off the ship to his death and another moment to realize his leg want injured any longer. His eyes were wide with shock and looked about until his eyes fell on me. “Wha...What happened s-sir?” he managed to stammer out.

I got off of my bed and knelt on the floor next to him, and as gently as I could I told him “Right before you were thrown overboard for that broken leg, you managed to Call on one of Hatha’s servants to save your life. As a Caller myself, I saw and felt what you did and prevented the captain and crew from trying to throw you over after you passed out from the pain. I bought you from him and secured you food to eat for the remainder of the voyage. Once I depart this ship, you will accompany me.”

“Yes, mi lord” his eyes fell to his thigh as he rubbed the spot that had bone jutting from it not long ago.

“I used my Calling ability to heal your leg; it and the rest of you should be fully recovered and as healthy as any half-starved boy.” I said, noting his gaze and movements.

He looked back at me, eyes watering and gratitude suffusing his face. he got to his knees and placed his head to the floor and arms stretched out before him. Quietly he said “you are a kind and mighty master, this humble slave swears to follow and obey you to the end of his days.”

My face flushed with embarrassment at his actions, no one ever bowed to me, let alone prostrate themselves before me like this. I squirmed a little at his accolades of me and said “please, no. don’t do that, get up.”

“As my master commands, so I will obey” he said and rose to his knees, eyes cast to the floor.

I sighed, what was I going to do with a slave.