Sigurd came into the room quite late. He had been drinking with the King and some of the other men and the time had passed more quickly than he had realised. He had planned to come earlier, but each time he rose to leave, someone had suggested he stay for one last drink. He had not drunk overly much, but he was definitely feeling the effects. He crept into the room, towards the set of drawers as quietly as he could manage in his partially inebriated state. He paused to gaze down at his sleeping wife.

He thought she was most beautiful at these times when he looked upon her silent figure. It was really the only time he was truly allowed to look at her. If he tried to gaze at her during the day as lovers were supposed, she only asked him to stop staring at her like a ninny. At the thought of this he turned away and began to undress himself quietly.

It took him a lot longer than he thought it would as he fumbled with his tunic and underclothes. He nearly tripped and fell as he pulled them over his leg and he had to stifle a laugh that almost crept out of his mouth. Yes, he had definitely drunk a bit more than was necessary.

He stumbled over to a chair and sat down heavily. From here he watched as Varda’s chest silently rose and fell with each breath.

Her face looked luminous in the candlelight, her long dark hair falling softly against the curves of her neck. It was only when she was asleep that she was soft, during the day he could never describe her as such. But at night, when she was somewhere deep within her dreams, her body began soft and supple and he could put his arms around her and hold her close to him. At the thought of her body he had to stifle a sob, that rose unbidden in his throat. By now she should have been heavily with child, her body round in places that it was angular.

He covered his face with his hands as more sobs racked through his body, fueled by the wine that was coursing through his veins.

In a few months, their child should have been born. Perhaps it would have been a son, whom he could have taught to fight and proudly passed his name to. Or a beautiful daughter with luscious, black hair like Varda’s and his own blue-green eyes. But now it would forever remain unknown to them, a bodyless soul floating there in the dark, just out of reach. He trembled with emotion as the tears poured down his face and dripped onto his shaking knees.

He heard Varda stir and desperately tried to bring his emotions under control. With a quiet sniffle he wiped the tears away with a force that made his eyes sting.

He stood up soundlessly and moved over to the bed, where he pulled the covers up and settled in next to Varda.

He lay for a long time, struggling at the edges of sleep, but it would not come to him. His ears rang with the sounds of a hollow infants cry, a cry that had been with him since they came to this place. He shivered with horror. He needed a distraction.

“Varda”, he whispered softly turning his body to hers, “Varda, are you awake?”.

She did not reply so he carefully wrapped his arms around her unresisting body. He did not feel so bad with her warmth against the length of his body, and the gentle sound of breathing could almost make him forget the other far less pleasant sound that accompanied him everywhere he went.

He slowly drifted off to sleep, as Varda lay beside him, wide awake her body rigid at his touch.

Morven stood before the bookcase trying to choose a book. She was not certain if she was in the mood for a Latin historical text or some French poetry. She could not decide so she picked one of the two with her eyes closed. She was not feeling very well today. She hadn’t been feeling so well since they arrived on Mhalwae. Perhaps it was the weather.

She walked towards her desk but was stopped by a sudden sharp pain in her chest. She clasped her hand to her breast waiting for the fluttering of her heart to die down. This was happening more frequently as the days went by. She remembered her father used to say he sometimes got the feeling that someone was walking on his grave. She understood what he meant by that now. She breathed deeply as the pain subsided.

She sat down and was soon engrossed in her book. So engrossed that she did not notice Alexis coming quietly into the room.

“Morven, my darling, my dearheart”, he crooned to her.

She looked up from her book, “Oh hello dear, how has your day been so far?”.

“Oh, it’s been fine, I was just wondering if you are busy right now?”.

“Well, yes dear, I was hoping to finish reading this set of poems before dinner”. She turned back to her book.

Alexis dropped to one knee and began to serenade her. His voice was quite terrible, but he made up for it with enthusiasm.

“Oh lovely darling, you are such a sweet little starling. If you come and give me a kiss, I am sure you won’t miss… out on anything”.

She looked at him incredulously. His rhyming was also dreadful and Morven turned back to the French poetry which was really a lot better.

“Morven, your smile is like the sun, and I must say that I think you are the one… who will make me very happy”.

Morven had managed to block him out quite effectively, a skill she had possessed since she was very small. Once she began reading she became so involved that she would not notice things around her. And although she was fond of Alexis he could be quite bothersome when he was in one of his silly moods.

The next time she looked up Alexis certainly got her attention. He stood before her completely naked and with a huge grin on his face. She could see that she had his attention too.

Perhaps she was not so interested in her book after all now that she thought about it. She snapped it shut and stood up.

She went to put the book away on the shelf but he grabbed her in an embrace as she walked past, causing it to fall out of her grasp and onto the floor with a thud.

“So, now you’re wanting to pay some attention to me after all”, he smiled cheekily at her.

“No, I just thought it is rather cold in her and it was my duty to warm you up a bit”, she said grabbing his behind not too gently and leaning in to kiss him. Hi skin felt cold under her hand after all, but she knew her embrace was warm.

Suddenly she felt the sharp pain again and her hand flew unthinkingly to her chest as she gasped. Her heart was pounding in her chest. It seemed as loud as the book hitting the floor over and over to her, but Alexis did not seem to hear it.

However, his smile fell when he noticed the look of pain on her face. He looked at her with concern spreading over his face. “Are you alright Morven love?”, he asked.

Cursing herself for being so obvious she tried to speak brightly “Yes, I’m fine dear, I just had a bit of a hiccup”.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her to hide the worry on her face. But he did notice that she clutched at him a little tighter than usual.

Hepsie sat happily in the rays of sunlight. After her initial fright when they first arrived she had regained her courage and continued to explore every day when her chores were done. She had found lovely little nook in a corner of the forest were noone else ever came. It was a delightful place with flowers of many colours and it was quiet apart from the gentle chirping of the birds.

She sighed contendedly and streched herself out, watching the clouds between the cool green leaves above. She was glad she had managed to get away for some time on her own this afternoon. It was such a beautiful day, and it had rained for weeks since their arrival on Mhalwae. She lay in the soft grass daydreaming of the little house Steen was going to build for them when the nobles had finished with his services. It would be a fine house and she had many plans of how she would make it nice for them.

She was startled from her musings as a face came into view.

Alexis gazed down at the supple young figure of the peasant girl lying before him. What a wonderful surprise he had found here. His eyes were immediately drawn to her creamy soft bosom peeking enticingly from her bodice. He grinned widely.

The girl, startled, jumped to her feet. “I’m sorry sir, I din’t see you there. Did you need anything from me?”.

He smiled to himself, she was so innocently endearing with her wide eyes and soft brows. He did need something from her, but he was not so crass as to ask and he thought it better to be a bit subtle.

“Do you know who I am?”, Alexis asked her.

“Yes, of course, you are Lord Hwratar”, she answered with a slight curtsey.

“But I, unfortunately don’t know your name, my beauty.

“It’s Hepsie sir, Hepsie Cade”.

“Ah yes, Cade, I know the young man of that name, are you his sister?”.

“No sir, his wife”.

Alexis was slightly surprised, she seemed quite young to be married, but he did not see this as much of an obstacle. She would of course be in awe of his status and succumb willingly.

“His wife, aren’t you a little young to be married my dear?”.

“Yes”, she cried, “I mean no… I mean… uh… yes he is my husband and no I’m not too young, I’m sixteen, seventeen in just a few months”.

She giggled and blushed, oh she was simply delightful and Alexis could not wait to get his hands on her. But he wanted to take this slowly, he was having too much fun with her.

He laughed with her, “Well I guess you do seem quite fully grown”, he eyed her figure again.

“Let’s see how fully grown you really are”, he said moving towards her, his hands tickling her sides.

“No, no stop please”, she cried, her cheeks blushing brighter in embarrassment, her hands swatting at his to protect her body from his advances.

He moved forward wrapping his strong arms around her and pressing his mouth to hers. He felt her wriggling against him but that only made his desire stronger. He was sure any moment now he would feel her body become soft and willing against his. He was very sure of his attractiveness to womankind.

He was thus startled when she mustered all of her strength and pushed him away from her with a force he did not think she had in her.

He was even more surprised when he felt the sharp sting of her slap across his face.

“You stay away from me you”, she said angrily, “I don’t care if you’re a knight, that doesn’t impress me. So you just keep your awful pawing hands away from the likes of me, you hear”.

Alexis turned from her angrily, nursing his wounded pride and strode into the forest.

It was not until he reached the fields that he had cooled down enough to laugh heartily. He was not so arrogant that he could not laugh at himself. What a positively charming wench she was.

He actually quite admired her for standing up to him. Most wouldn’t, but she must truly love her husband and he did respect that. Unfortunately, his desire was not quenched, but then, his lovely Morven was probably still sitting in their cabin on the ship and reading and he was sure she would be willing to oblige him.

Valeriya had left dinner early in the hope of falling asleep before Radomir came to bed. She had seen him guzzling down ale and the thought of giving herself to him that night disgusted her more than usual. Not that she was really giving herself, rather he was taking what he demanded. She shuddered at the thought of his rough hands on her body. And she knew he would be rough tonight, he always was after he had been drinking.

She heard the sound of fumbling hands on the doorknob. She was too late. He finally managed to open the door and his hulking form burst into the room. He reeked of ale and sweat, she could smell him from across the other side of their small cabin.

“Valeriya my love, there you are”, he stumbled slightly as he came over to her.

He reached a hand up to roughly stroke her cheek. His hand was warm and clammy and his breathing laboured. She turned her face away from his panting, and slavering. He was repulsive, a dog of a man. How could she have ended up here when she had hoped for so much from her life.

“Come here”, he mumbled wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards his body.

Then his foul mouth was upon hers, his hands pawing at her so that she couldn’t breath. She tried to pull her face away from his but his mouth and his hot tongue were everywhere.

Then she made a mistake, she squirmed and tried to push him away. She seldom did this because she knew what the consequences would be, but she was half-panicked from the lack of air and the heat of his massive body.

She felt the slap across her face before she saw it coming. It was almost as though it were a reflex for Radomir now. Her head snapped back and she almost lost her footing from the shock. She tried to put some distance between them but he was too quick for her. Suddenly his voice was coldly sober.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you leaving the dinner early. You are my wife, you leave when I leave, I don’t care how tired you are. And if you thought to pretend to sleep you should not be so stupid. I will have you when I want, even if you are sick on your deathbed. You are mine and you should not be so quick to forget”.

“Now get undressed and lie on the bed”.

She turned away from him so he would not see the expression on her face, the tears pooling in her eyes. She would not let him see her cry. She would not give him that. He may take everything else from her but he couldn’t have that.

She slowly undressed and lay down on the bed, trying to cover her nakedness with the blanket.

He lay down beside her and tore the blanket off.

“Don’t cover up, I like to see you like this. You are lucky you have me, most men wouldn’t want to look at a body like yours”.

She knew this wasn’t true. Her body was still firm and supple. He told her these things to squash her personality further but she would not let him. She knew inside that she was worthy of love, no matter how many times he told her she was nothing.

He roughly grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her head towards his.

“And look at all those ugly freckles”.

This was the one thing he could say that would upset her and he knew it. She had always been self-concious of her freckles, ever since she was a little girl. She inwardly cringed as he thrust his tongue into her unresisting mouth.

When he was finished she crawled out of the bed. She would wait now till he was asleep and then she would quietly wash herself. He would beat her if he found out but she didn’t care. She would not have that man’s baby writhing inside her. She would not give him that.

Cindra sat and played with sleeves of her dress. She was so bored. Meetings of the court back home had always been exciting with wine for everyone and jesters to entertain them.

Sometimes one of the ladies had sung or she had been asked to tell a joke (and everyone knew that she had the biggest collections of bawdy jokes despite her young age). She was very proud of her jokes, even though they often made the ladies gasp and blush. She didn’t care about the ladies, but she liked the way the men roared with laughter. She had gathered these jokes from countless soldiers and sailors, from feasts held in the old court, from her now dead brothers and most of all from her father, the bawdiest joker of them all. But he too was gone so it was now up to her to carry on the tradition.

She surveyed the room looking for some form of entertainment. She liked to watch what people did, count the number of times Alexis stroked his goatee or the Queen nervously played with her hair. The King and Queen sat now straight backed in their chairs, listening to someone talk about plans for the new church or something equally boring.

Opposite her sat Valeriya staring unnervingly at the wall behind Cindra, her face beautiful and blank. Valeriya did not say very much and usually when she did her husband shushed her or talked over the top of her. Sometimes Cindra wondered if there was even a person behind that expressionless face.

Valeriya had always reminded her of a marble statue, exquisite but lacking in warmth. And her husband, well he was a dreadful man, even if he did laugh the loudest and hardest when she told her stories.

Next to her sat Alexis chatting animatedly with Cordell for once leaving his poor, patchy goatee alone. Neither were accompanied by their wives.

She didn’t know where Morven was and Lisbet wouldn’t go anywhere with Cordell. She was the one person Cindra could really talk to on this island, apart from her husband of course, and they had confided in one another many times. She knew that Lisbet despised her husband and that they did not even share a bed. She felt a bit sorry that this was the state of affairs, as she did not think Cordell was such a bad man and if Lisbet could see through her anger at the arranged marriage she could realise this. But for once in her life Cindra did not meddle, she was too terrified of losing her one friend.

On her left sat Sigurd and next to him Varda. She didn’t think much of Sigurd, he always seemed so apologetic and snivelling to her, and she knew that Varda hated her. Well, Varda wasn’t so wonderful anyway, she was only the wife of knight and not a very good one at that. And imagine choosing to marry a man like that. Cindra was very grateful for her strong, manly husband when she looked at them.

Then of course there was Lochan, her cousin and the biggest stick in the mud of them all. He seemed to be intent on taking the fun out of everything. Isaura wasn’t there of course, she was probably lying in bed at home feeling sick as she usually was. Sometimes Cindra wondered if she wasn’t making a bit more of a fuss than she should. If she just went out in the sun and ate some food and stopped moping about she would probably be fine.

She had to admit Lochan was a very different man than the playful fourteen year old she remembered who used to carry her around on his shoulders while she squealed in delight and help her make mudpies, always taking the blame when they returned home covered in mud. She missed that muddy boy a great deal. The constant death and sickness had all but sapped the life out of him and his youth was long gone.

She focused her attention back to Radomir who was delivering a monologue about how they should make a list of the most important things that needed to be done to renew their kingdom.

Her cousin Eallair was looking bewildered as he often did in these discussions and she thought that perhaps she should help him by suggesting something a bit more light-hearted and save everyone else from the displeasure of having to listen to Radomir drone on.

“I know one of the most important things that needs to be done”, she piped up.

She could feel Varda’s gaze boring into the back of her head, she did not even have to turn around to know that the woman was disapproving of her nerve at interjecting in the conversation.

“What was that Cindra”, Eallair asked her gently.

With more courage she continued, “Well… I think that the most important thing is to try and encourage everybody to start having lots of babies”.

She saw Valeriya nervously clasp her hands opposite her.

“I mean… I guess most importantly the Queen, cause we are definitely going to need an heir to the throne around here”.

She heard the kings sharp intake of breath and noticed Varda cringe next to her.

Lochan was glaring angrily at her and the King’s mouth had seemingly dropped open in disbelief.

“What?”, she asked bewildered, “Did I say something wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?”.

“If it’s so easy to have a child Cindra, then why haven’t you produced one yet”, Madlenka spoke up haughtily, “I haven’t noticed your waistline swelling as yet and you have been married for almost half a year now”.

Cindra thought the criticism would have been much more effective if the Queen had been able to hide the waver in her voice a little better. Madlenka now turned to her husband with a distressed pleading look on her face. Eallair looked as if he had no idea what to say or do.

It was Lochan who spoke up.

“This is what comes of allowing silly, young girls into the court. We are all to bear the brunt of tactlessness and stupidity. Do you not think that everyone is trying to have children. Do you not remember that Isaura and I have tried four times. It is not so easy as it seems to you, and it is not a matter which should be discussed in the court”, Lochan almost yelled, so angry he was waving his arms in the air.

Cindra realised she had offended him and Madlenka and maybe others in the room too, but she had not meant to and she would not back down easily. She clenched her fists and opened her mouth to say something horrible to him.

And it would truly have been something horrible, that she would have regretted her whole life if her husband had not come to her aid, laying a hand on her arm to quiet her and taking up her cause.

“Listen… she did not mean any harm, and her point was valid. We should be encouraging the peasants to have children if they are not already trying. Of course it doesn’t need to be said that all of us in this room will be trying to increase the population of our kingdom, but that still does not mean you should treat her this way”.

At that point Cindra’s heart swelled with love for her husband. He truly was a great man. His interjection allowed her to stand haughtily and move towards the centre of the room. Garrick smiled at her reassuringly.

She stood tall before the court determined not to let them see how hurt she was.

“I am so terribly sorry for offending you, that was not my intention. I was merely trying to offer my opinion, but obviously it was not well-received”, she could not keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

And with that said she flounced out through the door.

Mella stood alone in her small cabin on the ship listening as the storm outside raged. She was staring at the candles. They were flickering from some small draught in the room. She could not stop staring at the tiny dancing pillars of light. Suddenly the candles blew out and she was left in the darkness.

She closed her eyes tightly hoping that when she opened them somehow the light would be returned. But the things she saw now when she closed her eyes were more horrible than this momentary fright so she opened them again.

It was then that she smelt it, the now familiar scent of rotting flesh. She felt bile rising in her throat as she clapped a hand to her mouth and retched. The smell surrounded her, suffocating in the small room, the foul breath of the crypt.

She fought the rising panic but could not bring herself to make any noise. Then she heard it… the hiss of an exhale and a cold breath on the back of her neck.

“Mella, vous êtes belle”, a hollow voice whispered. “Attendez-moi. Je viens pour vous”.

There was noone in the room with Mella, she was alone and yet she could hear him speaking words she could not understand, she could feel a presence there with her. She wanted to scream but she couldn’t.

She rubbed her eyes frantically and when she took them away from her face it was gone.

She wondered if it had been anything at all, if the voice had been real. She knew what the other women said about her, she had heard their whispers and seen the way they looked at her. She did not feel right herself. It seemed to her that her grip on reality was forever loosening. She could not sleep anymore without nightmares haunting her and even the daylight no longer soothed her fears.

She relit the candles and knelt down beside her bed clasping her hands. She knelt there and prayed silently for a very long time. This was the only comfort she still had, the only time her head was not filled with horror was when her mind was on prayer. At these times she felt calm and unafraid but this never lasted very long.

She sighed and began to take the pins from her long black hair, until it flowed down over her shoulders.

She undressed and put on her nightgown, shivering in the still cold room. Gingerly she sat on the edge of the bed, her body drained from the terror that had visited her tonight.

She lay in bed trying to convince herself that she had imagined it. Perhaps it had only been the wind whistling through the small cracks between the wood of the door, it was not like she had heard actual words. And the smell could easily have been some dead rat rotting in a forgotten corner of the ship.

She could not shake the feeling of uneasiness however and sleep did not come to her for a very long time.

When the boats had anchored Hepsie had been one of the first people to disembark, keen to explore her new surroundings. Steen had been assigned to tying down the ships so she had given him a quick kiss telling him she would be alright and run off.

She had wandered about for a while taking in the sights and smells of her new home until she had realised she was clearly lost. She couldn’t see the ships from where she was and she could not remember the direction she had come from.

She shivered as the cold wind tore at her dress. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to go off on her own and not even take note of the direction.

She was usually very good with directions and had never gotten lost before. Something about this place seemed confusing as though the trees weren’t exactly in the same place she remembered.

She choked back a sob which turned into a scream when she felt rough hands on her waist.

She spun around to confront her attacker only to be kissed by the grinning mouth of Steen.

“Hullo my fine wench”, he smiled at her, “Did you get yerself a bit turned around then?”.

She sighed in relief and felt her fear dissipate.

“Maybe you should wait for old Steen next time before you go running of by yerself eh?”, he drawled at her.

She smiled at him and he wrapped his arms around her.

All of a sudden with a great thunder clap, the skies opened up and the rain began. They were soaked within seconds by the downpour.

“Well my dear, I believe we are now quite wet… do you think there’s any point in running?”

She answered by pulling him in for a kiss. His body was warm against hers and his hands tangled in her usually neat hair, which had come quite undone in the rain.

When she released him they walked back towards the ships hand in hand.

Eallair found Madlenka staring out towards the North, to the mountains of Mhalwae. Though the sky was menacing and the dark grey clouds looked fit to burst, Madlenka stood straight backed and unwavering. The wind tore at her skirts and her thick red hair but she showed no sign of noticing the cold.

“Madlenka, I’ve been looking everywhere for you, the men said you had left the ships and walked towards the mountains… I was worried you had gotten lost”, Eallair said, unable to keep the concern from his voice, “Are you alright?”

Madlenka turned away from so he could not see the distress on her face. She hated for him to see her like this. She always felt so weak and powerless when she was upset. Madlenka had never been good at hiding her feelings, a trait she now thought did not suit a Queen. One had only to glance at her face to decipher her every mood. And she did not want Eallair to see her like this. She did not want to bother him with her fears and worries right now when she knew he was under so much pressure.

“Madlenka, have I done something wrong?”, he asked, his voice pleading, “Because if I have can you please tell me… I can’t think of anything that I’ve done recently, but if you let me know I’m sure I can at least try and make it better”.

She spun around shocked that he thought she was angry at him, before realising that her despair was now visible to him.

“Why Madlenka darling, whatever is the matter?”, he cried surprised by her appearance. The way her little mouth turned down at the corners and was trembling distressed him greatly.

He grasped both her hands in his. They were freezing cold from the wind and he rubbed them gently to warm them.

“Please tell me, I’m sure I can make it better”.

Madlenka smiled weakly at him, she would tell him what was wrong if only she could determine it herself. She just felt like there was a huge weight pressing down on her, suffocating her and she could not escape. The air was thick with humidity and she could not get enough air. She took a deep breath trying to dispel the thought of suffocation and felt nauseous, which only served to remind her of her lack of a certain desired sickness. Her thoughts turned inwards to her womb. She felt as though it had dried up inside of her and she would never produce an heir. She felt panicky at the thought and took another deep breath.

Eallair was still looking at her, concerned.

“I don’t know what’s the matter love”, she said, “I guess there is just something about this place that is making me feel uneasy”. She didn’t mention her worry about her fertility. She knew he was worried too and talking about it would not make things better.

“Darling, there is nothing wrong with this place”, he told her, “You’re probably just feeling bad because of the coming storm, the air out here is getting a bit oppressive”.

“Oh… is that the first drops of rain I feel”, he said releasing her hands and looking skyward. “I think we should go inside Maddy before you get your lovely dress all wet. Maybe we can find some way to warm up those cold hands of yours too”, he winked at her and drew her in for a kiss.

She did feel a bit better with his warm hand on her back and his familiar lips on hers. He reached a hand up and stroked her face and she smiled and pushed her worries aside to be looked at later, “Yes lets go inside before the rain comes”.

“I don’t like this place at all”, Isaura said shivering and wrapping her arms around herself, “It feels wrong”.

Varda stared at Isaura’s pale, gaunt face and thought to herself that the woman did not look well at all. Her wide frightened eyes seemed huge in her skeletal face.

Varda tried to comfort her, “Don’t be silly… it’s just a lump of rock sticking up out of the sea, there’s nothing wrong about it at all except that there’s a storm coming and if they don’t hurry up and finish tying down the ships then we’re all going to get very wet”.

Varda tried to make her voice sound reassuring to the sickly woman, even though she felt unsettled by this strange place herself.

“But don’t you feel like this place is a bit scary”, Cindra joined in.

She had obviously been eavesdroppping on their conversation. Varda felt a surge of irritation at the young woman’s tactlessness. Isaura was looking frightened again and Varda shot a quick look of anger Cindra’s way. Cindra responded by grinning at her cheekily.

Varda silently cursed her, it was just like the silly girl to stir up trouble like this. Everything was a big joke to her and she obviously wasn’t observant enough to notice Isaura’s failing health.

“I mean I felt a shiver as soon as I stepped off the boat… all the way down to my toes”, Cindra said clearly enjoying the drama of the moment.

Varda wished she would have some decorum and a bit of sense to realise how much she was upsetting the other woman. But she forged right ahead until suddenly they both noticed a silent tear slide down Isaura’s cheek and drip onto the sand.

Cindra’s face fell when she suddenly understood that Isaura had taken everything she said to heart.

“Oh Izzy, I’m so sorry, I was just teasing you. I’m sure there’s nothing actually wrong with this place”, Cindra said trying to muster some conviction.

But Varda knew that Cindra had the same reservations as she did, she could hear it in the way her voice wavered just slightly when she said the word wrong. Varda sighed audibly, thinking that it would be a very good thing when Cindra grew up a bit. Having a mischevous girl like her running around the court was a disaster waiting to happen. Not that it was much of a court come to think of it.

“Well ladies”, she said brightly, “I feel the first drops of rain and it seems the men have finished with the ships so I suggest we retire inside before we are soaked by the impending downpour”.