The morning was gloomy, in fact that weather had never been new to a remote small fishing town far to the north. Since I was a child, most of my days have passed under those gloomy rain and very often, snow clouds. Today was less gloomy than usual, which in my mind meant a better mood when we set sail. When I approached the docks, my father and brother were already there, of course. The ship was already prepared for sailing, the nets perfectly packed. It seemed like they were just waiting for me. I approached, and surprisingly, my father did not say a word about how late I was and how we could have been halfway by now. His gaze faded into the distance of the open sea, watching the purple clouds and then he would quickly move it and stare in the direction of the Fisherman's Gate of the city. It's like waiting for someone. It turned out that it was so, soon a strange woman rode on a horse, completely gray hair that did not suit her young facial features. She was accompanied by two guards, of the same variety as those who guard the caravan traders. The expression on father's face was both cautious and relieved.
I was completely taken aback. A woman on a fishing boat? The Gods of our people themselves forbade such a thing, and prophesied that the world would sink into chaos when women began to sail on fishing boats. It was never clear to me why it was like that, but no one has tried something like that so far, so there were no stories about the events that followed. My people were simple, as was our entire life after all. He respected the Records of the Gods, fished and rejoiced. We are neither big warriors nor bigscholars. Just a simple people, long forgotten by their monarch and everyone else.
She walked in, leaving the horse to the guards, as if she owned a ship and knew it better than the three of us. She sat down near the mast, and took the book out of her bag, casually waving to father so he could start sailing. The father looked out to sea again, and the expression of concern only deepened.
I cautiously walked past the mast, then down the door to the lower deck to begin my duties. Inside were two benches on each side on which sat our employees, who could not afford their own boats, so they rented their strenght to other fishermen for a fair wage. They were a bit dull but honest guys.
My father's voice from above, and I gave the command. The oars creaked and we launched the boat. This trip should be the last before the winter season, when most of sea what is available to us will be covered with icicles that are too dangerous for us to be able to sail. We haven't saved much for this winter, there seem to be less and less fish in our part of the world. Occasionally we could see the outlines of large warships sailing from a distance.
We sailed calmly for hours, only to be interrupted by a deafening thunderclap. Then the rain drops spread across the deck of the ship, and the father and brother started shouting and screaming, trying to overpower the rain and thunder. I ran to help, at that moment another lightning struck. The moment I looked up, climbing from below deck, I saw the destructive power of nature, the thunder turned our mast into ashes in a second. The rain then began to fall even harder, carried by the cold north wind. I ran to the foot of the mast, to help that woman, convinced that I would find her dead and the corpse charred.
She sat still, as if she had just boarded the ship. Her gaze was lost somewhere far away, in other worlds. It was clear that she was not aware of the slightest bit of chaos happening around her. I turned around trying to see where my brother was, but I only heard my father's voice. I ran towards him. I felt a strong blow to the back of my head, and then darkness. As if in a dream, I saw a gray-haired woman kneeling beside me, then darkness ... a flash of light and the chirping of birds, darkness ... I cried, while the heat of the furnace was right away from my face, then darkness ... I raved, in the distance saw a coniferous forest, then darkness ... I stumbled on the back of a mountain donkey, then darkness ...
I was not an ordinary boy from a fishing village, I learned to write and read, the monks not far from the city were more than willing to teach me arithmetic, history and politics. An old blacksmith, he was always happy when I came to practice sword and bow, as he called it, regularly. It seems that these activities were only allowed to me. My brother only taught fishing. My father never explained to me why I have to fish when I am already learning and possessing all the other skills. He would always say just one strange sentence that I still don't understand. To become honest, that is foundation for great things
Darkness, a flash of light. The sounds of a mill in the distance, a terrible headache.
The boy still doesn't come to consciousness, Marla. Do you think that the king will be satisfied that his only son, whom he has not seen for 17 years, is being brought dead? Use your magic, correct the mistake you made. Said a hoarse military voice.
Of course, everything is according to plan. We'll rest in the mill tonight. The woman said, a voice coming from my right. I did not dare to open my eyes.
You'd better know what you're doing, the future king won't die at my hands.
Darkness.
