The three men stood gazing into the depths of the enormous hole that lay before them.

“And you say the scouts found this?”, Eallair asked Garrick.

“Yes your majesty, I sent the scouts to explore the lowlands to the west and they came back to report they had found something very odd. And I think it is probably safe to say that they were right. I thought you should be informed of such a thing”.

“Yes, you were right about that Garrick, this is a very odd occurrence indeed”, Eallair agreed, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“It must be many fathoms deep”, Lochan exclaimed, peering over the edge of the hole, “I cannot see the bottom”.

“I can solve that problem by measuring exactly how deep it is my dear cousin”, the King picked up a rock pitching it as hard as he could into the depths of the hole. Eallair had a strong throwing arm from many years of practice skimming stones on the castle lake. He had beat all of the other young males living within the castle walls, to become the well-known champion stone-skimmer. Unfortunately, he thought ruefully as the stone sailed through the air, being excellent at stone-skimming did not give you the necessary skills to be a good King.

All three men strained their ears to hear the sound of the stone when it hit the bottom. Long seconds passed until it became evident they were not going to hear it at all.

“How very odd”, Eallair mused.

“What is going on here!” Lochan cried gesticulating in the direction of the hole, “ I have never seen a hole before that was so deep a man could not hear a thrown stone hit the bottom”.

He turned to Eallair, “Could it be so deep that the sound would not reach us? But surely not, then it would be so deep it must reach to the very centre of the world itself”.

He paused for a moment to ponder this thought.

“But Lochan, what could make a hole of such a size”, the King asked excitedly. “This is not a natural feature as far as I can see. Could it have been some sort of giant explosion?”

“That I cannot say”, Lochan answered, “But do you not think it odd that everything surrounding it is dead… the grass does not grow here and the trees around it are blackened and definitely live no more”.

Both men were so involved in the conversation that they did not notice the growing discomfort of the Baron.

“What say you Garrick?” Lochan turned to him and asked.

“I… I do not know”, Garrick mumbled.

Lochan shrugged and turned back to his conversation.

Garrick was listening very hard. He thought he could hear something more than just the wind gently rustling the bark on the dead trees. He thought he heard a voice whispering very softly caught up amongst that sound.

“Garrick… Garrick”.

He turned to the King and the Duke but they were deep in conversation.

He shook his head in an effort to return to reality, but a sense of dread had settled over him like a blanket.

“Garrick!” the voice was louder and distinctly female, so shrill it felt as though his skull was pierced. But it was a voice he knew.

“Garrick!!! Garrick no!! Oh Garrick! No Garrick… please don’t!!!” the words were replaced by a loud shriek.

He clapped his hands to keep out the horrible sound of her screaming. It was a sound he knew very well.

The screaming stopped as abruptly as it had started.

He carefully removed his hands from his ears and looked around for the source of the noise.

“Isabelle?” he furtively whispered her name.

Almost immediately the screaming began again, this time it sounded like a thousand voices but all the same, all screaming his name over and over.

His hands flew up to his ears again, his eardrums feeling like they would burst under the pressure. The sound was so horrible, so ungodly, he wanted to claw his ears off so he would not have to hear it anymore.

This was not a mortal scream, but the scream of something unnatural that was not meant for human ears. He gritted his teeth in pain as the reverberating in his ears moved to his gut until he felt as though he would vomit from the intensity of sound.

He clutched at his stomach to hold himself together. He felt that if the sound continued his insides must liquefy completely and he would break apart.

With his hands removed from his ears the sound was now unbearable, and the pain in his head excruciating

He felt the world going black as he crumpled to the ground, his own name ringing in his ears.

Lochan carefully opened the door and walked into the room as quietly as he could. He knew that Isaura was unwell again today and he did not want to disturb her. But she was awake, hands clutching her wasted stomach protectively, an expression on her face bordering on desperation.

He knew what this meant and he began to steel himself for the conversation that would follow. He must be strong for her, she could not be for herself. He stood by the bed.

“Hello my darling”, he said with as much compassion in his voice as he could muster.

He was a dried out husk. It was so hard for him to pull all the pieces together into a support structure. He felt as though the slightest breeze would scatter these remains of his being, and there would be nothing.

She did not acknowledge his presence but only stared straight ahead as though noone had spoken.

He turned so that she would not see his face. It still pierced his heart every time he gazed at her withered frame, the sunken hollows of her eyes and her lank hair. She was still beautiful to him, almost ethereal now, her skin so translucent that fine blue veins were visible at her temples and across her breast.

“May I lie with you for a while?”

She did not respond, but she did not object so he sat carefully on the bed, taking all the weight on his knees until he had settled so as not to disturb her by moving the bed more than was necessary.

They lay side by side, both staring fixedly ahead. Neither spoke for a long time. Lochan thought he should be content that he could still hear the faint sound of her breathing, reassuring him that she was still with him, but he was not. He wanted so much more.

He turned to her, “Isaura my love, was there something you were wanting to tell me?”

She did not reply, only stared. It seemed to Lochan that she stared past the walls of the ship’s cabin and beyond, to something he was not able to see. It unnerved him greatly.

“Isaura…”, he whispered, desperate to break this suffocating silence that threatened to drown him, “Isaura, I know. I can see the signs. You have not bled for two months now. Please talk to me.”

She sighed, a sound that reminded him of the hollow wind whispering between the graves in the cemetery where he had played as a child.

“You are right Lochan, I am bearing another child”, her voice caught in her throat, and his heart cried out in pity for her and for himself.

He gently wrapped an arm around her frail shoulders.

“But Isaura, this is a wonderful thing, should you not be happy?”, he tried to sound as convincing as possibly even though he felt his mouth was full of ashes.

“It will be different this time, you have been eating a lot more, and getting more fresh air, and there has not been the stress of an impending war. You do not have to do anything here but sit around and grow fat and happy, and you will”, he wished he could believe it himself but he did not and he felt sure she must realise.

To his surprise he noticed a wan smile move across her tired face. Oh how he missed her smile from days gone by, the beatific look upon her face right before he kissed her. He softly nuzzled her ear.

“Perhaps you are right”, she sighed again, “And even if you aren’t, we can play pretend for a while can we not?”

This struck him right to the core and his heart flipped uncomfortably in his chest, like the death throes of some nightmarish fish. When they had first met, they had spoken almost constantly of their future life together and had pretended they were already married. They had sat side by side in the beautiful castle gardens and shut their eyes tightly to imagine the future that lay before them. Their dreams had been so different from the reality they were now living.

“Close your eyes Lochan”.

He closed them very tightly, tighter than ever before, because he feared if he didn’t the tears would spill forth and he would not be able to stop them. He was the strong one. He had to be.

And he imagined a life for them, a happier life where Isaura was well again and the halls rang with the laughter of little children and the patter of tiny feet. There was still something there among the dust, a tiny speck of hope that could not be suppressed and he clung to it fiercely with both hands, in fear that if he let it go his humanity would be lost forever.

Still keeping his eyes firmly shut he found Isaura’s mouth with his and kissed her very gently. His hand was on her back but it was resting so lightly he was barely touching her, as though afraid he would break this fragile creature who had so entirely consumed his heart.

Her kiss back was not gentle and suddenly he was seized with a wild exhaltation that teetered on the brink of hysteria, and he kissed her hard and squeezed her tightly, clinging to her with all his might and both his hands.

”Now there ye are my fine wench”, Engin snuck up behind Darina and grabbed her firmly on the rump. He was pleased at the weight of it in his hand. He did not like small woman, but much preferred the filled out figure of Darina. Hers was the body of a real woman. Everyone could tell that he was a good husband who kept her well-fed.

“Engin! Don’t you be doing that now… right here where any eyes could be peeking in at us!!! Get your grubby paws off the likes of me”, she scowled at him, her hands on her womanly hips.

He liked this too. Within the bedroom she was completely his, she would allow him his every wish out of her desire to be a dutiful wife. But here, in public he was not supposed to touch her. It seemed like a great game to him.

“Sorry me luv… ye know I just can’t keep these hands oh mine off that fine body you be possessing there”, he felt in a much better mood now that he was with her, away from that sodding Noah and his airs and graces.

Engin couldn’t stand the man, he always knew everything about everything, but not in a showing off sort of way. Noah was a smart man underneath that thick-looking exterior of his and even if Noah had not realised it himself, Engin was smart enough to see it. He was also smart enough to see that Noah was smarter than he was, and he would do everything in his power not to let the other man ever see what an asset he would be to the King. Because Engin knew that even though he was smart, he was also lazy and this was not a quality that Noah possessed.

“Well me luverly lass… you wouldn’t believe who I just saw wif me own eyes”, Engin played up the drama of the moment by pausing dramatically, “The King hisself that’s who”. He waited for Darina’s response and he was not disappointed.

“Why Engin me luv”, she replied, her demeanour changing completely now that she wanted something from him, “You must tell yer old Darina what he said… please luv… I’m almost dyin with suspense… don’t make me wait”.

“Well… ye see, twas like this. I was hard at work up on that there hill building his fine castle, when the King hisself and that angry cousin of his the Duke, came on up the hill. I couldn’t bow cause I was holding in one of them heavy stone walls while Noah put in a wooden support”, he was getting into the theatrics of his story and began to act it out for Darina.

“And I think the King was very impressed with me work, but then he got stuck talking to that boring sod Noah. I knew he didn’t want to be talking there with him, so I entered into the conversation with a very clever idea if I do say so myself”, Engin was quite please by the effect his story was having on his wife, he knew she loved to hear anything about what the nobility was doing, and here he himself had met the actual King. It was a moment to good to be missed and he could see his wife’s breathing get faster as she anticipated what he was going to say next.

Unfortunately she interrupted him just as he was getting going, “That Noah… how could he think someone as rich an powerful as the King would want to hear him droning on about something or other”.

Engin had lost his train of thought and was feeling rather annoyed at his wife, “Anyway… I think the King was rather impressed by my clever ideas if I do say so meself”.

Darina butted in again,”Engin… I’ve got some interesting news meself I do”.

Engin could hardly believe that her news was exciting as his, but he soon found out he was wrong.

She reached down a hand to gently stroke her belly, and her face softened into the expression he only saw when she was deep in the folds of sleep, and unaware of his presence at all. During the day her face was often creased into expressions of annoyance, exasperation or anger. He did not see her like this often and it was so strange to him he was suddenly apprehensive of what she would say next.

“Engin, it’s a baby we’ll be havin, if I’m not mistaken, before the year is gone”, it had now been said and she sighed deeply. It was not her secret anymore.

Engin was so surprised at this piece of news, he could not even control his arms, “Are you sure? How do you know this thing? How can you tell?”.

Darina calmly replied, “Engin, have you not noticed that I have not bled these last months gone by, and how I been sick many of these mornings. And Engin…”, her expression turned inward again and she almost whispered, “Engin… I can feel it move”.

“Darina… you wonderful beauty you!!!”, Engin crowed, suddenly grabbing her hand and kissing it exuberantly, “Were gonna have a baby! Our very own baby! Say do you think it’s gonna be the first on this here island… I haven’t heard of any others?”

Darina had to admit that she had had the same thought herself.

“Let me feel it!”; he advanced upon her all pawing hands, “I wanta feel it movin too”.

She giggled and batted his hands away, “Engin… don’t do that… yer tickling me”.

His face grew suddenly serious.

“Darina, I don’t know if I ever told you this afore, and if I dint then I shoulda… yer a beautiful woman and I love you”, he wrapped his arms around her slightly swollen waist and buried his face in her neck.

If he had still been looking at her, he would have been blessed by one of her rare smiles, one that stretched across her entire face and lit it up like the sun after a dark storm.

And then she let him kiss her, there in the mess hall, even though someone might have seen.

Noah sat at the rickety wooden table admiring his handiwork. He had been assigned to assist in building the fortress that Eallair would rule his new kingdom from. Noah was very proud to be part of such a monumental thing. Back home he had been nothing more than a carpenter, building furniture for the wealthier amongst the lower classes. Now here he was, a lowly tradesman, taking part in something he saw as so far removed from his ordinary past life that he was utterly awed. He could see a new path for him and his beautiful Gena, each brick gleaming in the sunlight as they trod carefully along it, her hand in his.

As usual Engin was stretched out on the ground while Noah worked, soaking up the rays of sunlight and chatting about how much he didn’t like someone or other. It seemed to Noah that Engin only had unpleasant things to say about people. Noah wasn’t exactly fond of people himself having received mostly unkindness in his life, but he still did like to try and think the best of them until he was proven wrong. He had to admit, somewhat ashamedly, to himself, that he didn’t think the best of Engin. When he wasn’t spouting some venom he was slacking off from the work, which was one thing Noah certainly didn’t approve of.

Like at this very moment, which turned out to be an unfortunate choice of times for Engin, as Noah heard voices coming up the hill. He turned to look and saw the King and his cousin striding determinedly up towards the beginnings of the fortress.

Engin tried to scramble to his feet as though he had not been lazing about, but the King was there before he could make it and Noah was already bowing low before him. He had only ever seen the king from afar and he found himself more than a little awestruck.

“You may rise”, Eallair said to Noah.

“And you may rise as well”, he said with a laugh and a slight wink to Engin who had not yet managed to bow to him.

Noah was filled with admiration for this man who was so majestic and yet could joke with lowly peasants of his and Engin’s status.

His cousin Lochan looked exceedingly displeased on the other hand.

“Good to see that you were hard a work”, he said to Engin, his face a mask of distaste.

“Bah… I can’t be bothered with this today”, he flailed his hands as though to push the situation away and turned to study the beginnings of the castle.

Noah did not really know what to think of this man. He had heard that the Duke was a very great man and he knew that the King depended on him in all of his affairs. In days gone by he had been known for his kindness and his just decisions.

But to Noah he seemed bitter, like a mellow wine that had been left too long and had spoiled to vinegar. Gena had told him the gossip she had heard from the other womenfolk, that the Duchess was very ill and they had lost many babies before they had been born. If this was true, Noah felt deeply sorry for the man, and could being to understand. This kind of thing could reduce one to the state of half-living he saw before him.

Noah was startled out of his musings by the King addressing him.

“B..b..begging your pardon s..s.sir, was you talking with me?”, he was embarrassed at the sudden return of his childhood stutter. Now of all moments, he felt as though he had a small bird fluttering in his mouth hindering his speech.

“No I was talking to this lovely grey rock here… of course I was talking to you my good man”, the lively grin on Eallair’s face put Noah instantly at ease and soon they were engrossed in a conversation about the best way to structure the east tower, on which they had begun work recently.

He was too deeply involved in this discussion about architecture to notice the muscles tensing across Engin’s back as he clenched and unclenched his fists. If he could have seen Engin’s face he would have been shocked by the angry grimace that darkened his face.

Thus he was surprised when suddenly his excited explanation on the benefits of foundations of that lovely grey rock Eallair had mentioned, further supported by wooden bracing, was rudely interrupted by Engin’s rough voice.

“But yer majesty… wouldent you think that that there black rock over near them hills over there… you know that one with the shiny bits init would be better for yer castle. I think it would be much prettier for your nobility don’t you?”

The king looked confused, “I’m not sure… Engin wasn’t it. I haven’t seen this black rock that you speak of as yet, so I can not give an opinion on that, but perhaps you are right. It might be nice to have part of the castle hewn out of this black rock”.

Noah felt he must speak up out of duty to the king and also to the others who would inhabit the fortress.

“Your majesty”, he said, carefully trying to round out the vowel sounds in your as he had heard the gentry do, “I think important it is that I tell you that there black rock of Engin’s would’nt make much of a good foundation. That rock is nice but if you put your eyes up close you’d see that it’s full of them small holes you sometimes see in rock. The shiny parts will break like glass if you try and perraps your castle will fall down if we built on that”.

His duty done, the conversation continued a while longer. Noah could feel Engin’s glare boring into the side of his head but he refused to acknowledge it. Eventually the King and Lochan headed back down the hill and Noah was left alone with Engin again.

Engin wasted no time, turning to Noah, his finger pointing accusatorily at him.

“What was you thinking there… making me look so stupid fore the King like that”, his anger was so apparent Noah felt as though he could almost taste it on air between the men. “I had a good thought and you comes up and ruins it… and it was a good one too… you, you think so highly of yourself sir Noah”, his voice turned mocking, “and you are nothing. The only wench who will ha’ you is a blind one, so she don’t have to see yer ugly face when yer lying on top of her”.

Engin stormed off down the hill now, leaving Noah alone with the beginnings of the castle that he was so proud of. Noah did not understand men like Engin, he could not fathom such anger, such venom and such a wish to make others unhappy. He thought he never would.

Cindra stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was bored. So bored. She had spent the day with the women embroidering and talking and it had been so dull. Why couldn’t they talk about something interesting. Whenever they seemed to speak they only wondered what their husbands were doing. And every time she opened her mouth to speak Varda would glare at her. It really was no fun at all. She had noone to talk to.

She had to admit while she didn’t speak of it she spent a large amount of time wondering what her husband was doing too. He obviously had no time to spend with her. He was always off riding around with the men doing lord knows what. Building castles and drinking beer probably. She wished she could go too but she was stuck in the stuffy ship all day with nothing for company but a whole lot of sighing women and a sewing needle.

She spoke to herself in the mirror, “What about us Cindra, he never pays any attention to us anymore”. She giggled at the absurdity of it, her only friend, a reflection in the glass. And then she had an idea of how to get Garrick to pay more attention to her.

After she had changed into her nightgown she put her plan into action, stopping first to giggle with glee. She was going to give him such a delicious fright.

Then she sat down on the floor arranging her skirts in an attractive manner and lay down in a postion that suggested she had fallen.

She knew Garrick would be coming through the door in a moment and she meant to give him a shock. It was all she could do not to laugh out loud as she anticipated the look on his face. This would teach him not to pay her enough attention.

Garrick walked through the door with a smile on his face as he looked around the small room for his wife. It had been a busy day, but he had weathered it with his mind focused on the kissing the soft lips of his wife when he walked into their room that night. The smile collapsed as he saw a figure lying on the floor beside the bed and his hand flew to his mouth in horror.

In a few quick strides he was at her side. Seconds had passed but it felt like time was slowing down for Garrick and he could not get to her fast enough.

He knelt down on the floor next to her, his breath catching in his throat, ragged with terror for her.

“Oh my god Cindra!”

She moved and sat up, unnerved by the fear and devastation in his voice. “I’m alright Garrick, I just wanted to surprise you”.

“You what!”, he hissed, anger replacing the fear of the moment before, “What do you mean you wanted to surprise me you silly girl, you terrified me, I thought you were hurt, or worse… why would you do such a thing?”.

Cindra took one look at his angry face and burst into tears. “I am just so lonely and bored, and I thought that maybe if I gave you a shock you would pay more attention to me, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you such a terrible fright. I thought you would think it was funny”.

She sniffled loudly and wiped her hands with her eyes. She truly had not meant to frighten him so badly. She had thought it would be a funny joke but only when she heard the horror in her husband’s voice had she realised it wasn’t funny after all.

Garrick looked at his sobbing wife and sighed. He couldn’t bear to see her upset. She had frightened him, but now that he knew she was alright, he felt a little bit bad for neglecting her since they had arrived at Mhalwae a month ago. The poor girl, she was obviously missing him and that in itself was a pleasant thought. He lay back on the floor and sighed again.

“Oh you silly thing, I’m not angry anymore. But what are you going to do to make it up to me?”.

She wiggled over to him. “Oh I could think of a few things”.

He closed his eyes and felt her hair brushing against his face, and then her soft lips against his neck.

He reached up and stroked her thick brown hair as she continued to plant small kisses all over his neck and nuzzle his beard. For a moment he remembered how it felt when he thought her hurt or worse, and he suddenly pulled her close to him and buried her face in the warmth of her neck.

He would have stayed there breathing her scent for a long time had she not pulled away from him laughing softly.

“So do you forgive me now?”, she asked pursing her lips prettily.

He wrapped his arms around her small waist and pulled her towards him.

“Yes I forgive you”, he said smiling up at her, “perhaps you can make it up to me some more in the bed though. Remember your husband is a great deal older than you and this floor is getting a bit hard on the old back”.