In the morning, after breakfast, they went down to the port once again, where they boarded a large merchant ship, the Blue Surf, to take them to Carmaine. They weren't the only passengers on this ship -- several soldiers of fortune were headed to New Carmal as well, to join in the fighting -- and so they were obliged to share their small cabin with two other men. One of the men, who called himself Trip, was a younger fellow, barely twenty years old, but he claimed to have already participated in several battles and sieges in the Holy Empire.

  "I'm from New Carmal, originally," he told Arai. "Joined up with the Pretender's Company a couple years ago. Captured outside of Fort Wolf." He shrugged. "It was a dumb idea, attacking Fort Wolf. I don't know what our captain was thinking. I came within two feet of being trampled by a Jek war-elephant. Anyway, the Elentish got sick of feeding us a few months ago. I've been kicking around Manthe ever since they released me, but when I heard about Carmaine..."

  "This Dayan is said to be a formidable general," Arai said. "Are you familiar with him?"

  "I started hearing his name in Holybell, after he defeated the Black Birds at Getter's Gate. He somehow got the Holy Legion to join him after that; they threw back the Trustees, seized the Narrows at Balbaroy, and defeated Railit, the Iron Duke, at Arl's City. Last I heard he was mopping up in Manrador, but preparing to march on the Crevak de Che." He shrugged again. "I don't know much about him, personally. He's said to be a terrific warrior, but they say that about all the promising young dukes and generals. A pious man, too, they say. He travels in the company of a scheradatze named Bellarue."

  Shell, who was listening in on the conversation, asked, "What's a scheradatze?" This was one of those words, apparently, that the Stone of Many Tongues couldn't accurately translate.

  "A priest-sorcerer," Arai explained. "A follower of Arl, the god of the Holy Empire, but a sorcerer as well, who blesses soldiers and joins them on the battlefield."

  "A kind of holy battlefield mage, then?" Shell asked.

  "Something like that."

  Trip frowned down at Shell. She was wearing her hood up, as she usually did, to hide her ears, but Trip must have noticed something strange about her, because he had started studying her intently. "What a lovely child," he commented. "Is she your daughter?"

  "Yes," Arai said brusquely. "Come along, Shell." And he led her away, back to their cabin. "You're going to have to be more careful," he told her.

  "I hate having to hide my face all the time," she complained. "It's been weeks."

  "It's for your own good. Would you rather be mobbed by travelers and stared at everywhere you go?"

  "I think I'd prefer it to this."

  Arai sighed. "I don't like it either. But it's not just for your sake; it's for ours as well. If word gets around that there's a real-life elf girl wandering around the Holy Empire, every duke and duchess from here to the Fool's Purchase will want to get a look at you. We don't need that kind of attention."

  "I know, I know," she said glumly. "But I'm throwing off this stupid cloak as soon as we get to Velon."

  "That might not be a good idea. It gets pretty cold in Velon."

  She nodded. With her eyes fixed on the deck, she suddenly said, in a rather shy and quiet voice, "So I'm your daughter now?"

  "What?" It took him a second to figure out what she was talking about. "Oh. Did that bother you? I didn't mean--"

  "I wouldn't mind it," she said, still looking down, still sounding rather shy and vulnerable. "I wouldn't mind it, if you wanted to think of me that way."

  Arai was touched. He knelt down, took one of her little hands in his, and said, "I love you, too."

  "Well, there's no reason to get all mushy about it," she said, jerking her hand away and marching off. Arai watched her go, grinning.

  * * *

  The weather improved somewhat as the ship proceeded north; the skies cleared, the sun came out, and the wind no longer had that same cold bite to it. And as a result, they made good time; hugging the coast, the Blue Surf passed a number of small towns and fishing villages, sailed beneath the the dark and forbidding Elentish citadel of Fort Wyrm, and finally arrived at the port of Carmaine, the capital of the Duchy of New Carmal.

  Arai had visited Carmaine several times with his father and the Steelmen. Seeing its arches, its cathedrals, and its blue shark-flags fluttering in the breeze, Arai was struck by a peculiar feeling, a nostalgic feeling, a feeling that he had come home. Of course neither Carmaine nor the larger Holy Empire was really his home -- he was Velonese, first and foremost -- but this, at last, was a world he understood. He knew the language here; he could read the writing on the signs above the inns and bakeries. He knew the people -- he knew their politics; he knew the gods they worshipped; he was familiar with their food and fashions. He wasn't an outsider here, as he had been in Addis, Galleus, and Elent.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  And all this came as a great relief to him -- in fact he was so overcome by emotion, when they stepped off the ship, that he had to take a breath to steady himself. "Carmaine," he murmured.

  It didn't take long for them to gauge the city's mood -- the people they saw were nervous, tense, or wearing grim expressions. Soldiers -- some of them New Carmal regulars in blue uniforms, others hired mercenaries in all kinds of outfits -- walked the streets, and as they were soon to find out, the city's gates were being watched very carefully. After collecting their luggage and buying breakfast for themselves -- the Blue Surf had sailed into port an hour before dawn -- they went immediately to the city's eastern gate. A man in a blue uniform stopped them. "Are you sure you want to go this way?" he asked.

  "We're sure," Arai said.

  "Well, I won't stop you, but you should know that Duke Caldarach has ordered that the city's gates be closed starting tomorrow evening, so if you leave now, there's a very good possibility you won't be able to return. There's half a dozen mercenary companies prowling around out there, too."

  "Are the Steelmen at Crevak de Che?"

  "They're the only ones there right now," he said. "But Duke Caldarach will be heading there in a few days, with the Grand Army, and the whole valley's soon to become a battlefield. Now, are you sure you want to go this way?"

  "We're sure."

  "Well, then," the guard, said, shrugging, "so long as you're sure." And he let them through.

  The Crevak de Che was approximately six miles west of the city, situated upon a high hill overlooking a flat plain, and adjacent to the coast; the castle had a commanding view of the entire region, and its strategic importance was obvious -- any army making its way west into New Carmal would have to contend with the castle at some point. The fact that its walls extended to the coast, allowing it to be resupplied from the sea in the event of a siege, made it even more formidable. The Crevak de Che was, in short, New Carmal's first line of defense against any eastern threats.

  There was a road running directly from Carmaine to the castle, and it wasn't far, so they simply walked there. There was a good deal of traffic on the road, but most of it was headed west; almost nobody seemed to be traveling in the opposite direction. This, Arai thought, was probably a bad sign.

  Sir Estil was impressed. "Are castles of this size common in the Empire?" he asked.

  "This is one of the larger ones," Arai admitted, gazing up at the imposing structure. It had been built of black stone, and was surrounded on three sides by a high curtain wall, complete with decorative machiolations. "The Bell Tower in Holybell is bigger, and there's some very large castles in the Marquisates. At any give time probably a third of the states of the Holy Empire are at war with one another; they've been building these gigantic castles for years."

  "But this is something different, isn't it?" Shell said. "This war that's going on now."

  "Arl's City was captured," Arai said. "That hasn't happened in a long, long time."

  They soon arrived at the outskirts of the castle. They were met at the gate by another guard, this one also wearing the blue vest of the New Carmal regulars. "State your business," the man said.

  "My name is Arai. I understand the Steelmen are stationed here. I'd like to talk to Grizz."

  "About what?"

  "It's a long story."

  He looked them all over and sighed. "If you're not here on official business, I'm going to have to ask you return to the city. That'd be to your benefit anyway; this so-called Holy Legion will be here soon."

  "I know all that," Arai said. "But this is extremely important. I have to talk to Grizz."

  The man frowned. "Is this about the Holy Legion? Do you have some information that might be helpful to us?"

  "Yes," he answered immediately, although this was, of course, untrue.

  He sighed again. "Very well." He called over another guard and told him to fetch one of the Steelmen out of the castle; a few minutes later, a thirtyish man with a shock of white hair, and wearing a black and silver tunic, appeared at the gate. Arai recognized him immediately; that unusual white hair set him apart. He cried out when he saw him: "Vaix!"

  The man blinked at him. "Arai? Is it really you?"

  "It's really me," he said, pushing past the protesting guard and running up to meet the man. He clasped hands with him, and then, on impulse, pulled him into a hug. "Vaix," he muttered. "It's been too long."

  Vaix quickly extricated himself from the hug, wanting to get a better look at him. "It is you! Estellaria's grief, what are you doing here? We thought you were dead!"

  "Not quite," he said. He called Lillandra, Shell, and Sir Estil forward and introduced them. "This is Vaix," he said. "An old friend of mine. He's one of the Steelmen's scouts and spymasters."

  "I can't believe it," Vaix said, now overcome with emotion. "We were sure you were dead. We never would have left Velon if we had thought otherwise. What's happened? Where have you been?"

  "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," he said, throwing a glance at Lillandra. "Where's Grizz?"

  "I'll take you to him at once." He thanked the guards, and just like that, they were invited into the castle, passing through the gate and making their way through the bailey and up a watchtower, to where Grizz's office was apparently located. They encountered several more familiar faces on the way, including Bastion, one of Arai's old comrades-in-arms, and Kel, an old veteran who had been a good friend of his father's. Their eyes widened when they saw him, and immediately they rushed up to greet him; he was soon fending off a cheering mob, and doing his best not to burst into tears.

  There were many others he expected to see, however, who were nowhere to be found: Silver, and Nial, and the Robber, among others. What had happened to them?

  Vaix led them to a sturdy door at the top of the tower. He didn't bother to knock, but simply pushed the door open.

  And there was Grizz, standing behind a desk, looking over a collection of maps and papers. He was a short, stocky man, somewhat ursine in appearance, with shaggy gray hair and a shaggy gray beard -- although he was only in his early fifties, Grizz had been gray for as long as Arai had known him. His eyes and eyebrows, however, were dark.

  Grizz didn't look up from his maps, but simply said, "Yes? What is it now?"

  Vaix cleared his throat, so that Grizz might look up. When the older man saw Arai, he stopped and stared. "Impossible," he whispered.

  "It's good to see you, too, Grizz."

  "Arai!" The old warrior embraced him, hugging him fiercely, and then started patting him down, as though he were trying to determine whether he was a ghost or an illusion. "By all the gods of east and west, lad...how can this be? We thought you were dead!"

  "You were mistaken," he said, grinning like a fool. It was such a huge relief to see Grizz again.

  "Where have you been? What happened at the Nightfall? And how did you get to Carmaine?"

  Arai threw another glance at Lillandra, and at his other companions. "You'd better sit down, Grizz," he said. "I think we've got a lot of catching up to do."