ALIENA

   I gave each of the nine wolves a rub behind their ears as I checked their leads, giving Chia an extra rub though I wasn't sure if she actually enjoyed the attention. This would be a long journey for them, the longest they've taken. I hoped they could handle it as well as I expected.

   "Don't worry for them." Said my mother as she finished checking over the nine that would be pulling my brother. "They travel often."

   "But not so far." I reminded her. "What if they're unable to find their way home again?"

   "They will always find their way home." She stood and smiled as my father and brother came out the back gate of the castle, apparently finally finished talking business.

   "I still don't understand why we must leave." Aaren was saying as they approached. "There's still so much work to be done here."

   My father clapped him on the back. "You'll not have your sister traveling alone. Protect her, yes?"

   My brother nodded, accepting the responsibility. "Always." He promised and turned to mother to say his goodbyes while I went to my fathers' waiting embrace. I felt a mild type of panic reaching up when I let go. "Papa, come with us." I begged. "Come now, please. There's not much time left. I just know it."

   He gripped my shoulders in his aged hands. "There is too much work to be done."

   "But---"

   "Shh." He said with a shake of his head. "Listen to me, daughter mine. I want to come with you. I truly do. If only to keep us together and know that my family is safe and well. But I am king, Aliena, and part of being king is having to be a husband and father second, not first. No matter how much I may wish it otherwise."

   "I understand." I said, and I truly did. "The blood of family is strong, but it is royal blood we bleed." I repeated something he had said to me a long time ago.

   He nodded, proud. "Do you remember what that means?"

   I thought I did but I shook my head.

   "We will never be remembered for long as a father or husband," he tapped my nose, "or even a daughter; we are remembered as kings or queens. And we wish to be remembered so that our daughters and our sons and our grand children can strive to be as we are remembered, for if they always try to be as good as our legacy, then they can become even better than us."

   "Even if it kills you?" I asked but I already knew the answer and do not wait for it. "I love you, Papa."

   "I love you, too, Aliena."

   But there was something else I had to say. "Promise me you will follow. Promise me you will come with us when you can."

   "We are already with you, darling." Said my mother as she approached before my father could answer. "Remember that: we are always with you."

   It was in that moment that I understood they both believed they would not escape in time. She hoped otherwise, but she was trying to prepare me just in case. I hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go, but knew that it was time.

   "You should go." Nania said before she, too, stepped up to embrace me.

   "I wish you could come with me." I whispered.

   "And ruin your fun by ordering you about? Forcing you to eat with you are supposed to and drink when you are distracted?" She tutted and shook her head. "I wouldn't dare." She was grinning, but there were tears in her eyes when we finally released each other. It was my mother that raised me, but Nania had a close hand in it and it was she who became my closest friend in the castle. Leaving her was nearly as difficult as leaving my parents.

   "Come now, Sister." Aaren called, standing on the bar of the sleigh and taking the reigns in his gloved hands. "I'll race you to the road."

   I forced a grin as I placed my feet on the iron grips that were dug deep into the wooden bar. I smiled at my brother a moment before I covered the smile with fur and lowered my hood to protect my face from the wind. I knew he believed this trip was a foolish one, but he knew that I  believed it and so he was trying to cheer me up. I was lucky to have such a brother.

   "No racing, you two." Our mother said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "And don't forget to check the paws each time you rest. And don't go fighting!"

   "Yes, Mother." We both called. Then, with one final look at my parents and my friend, I picked up the reigns, hooked them to the bar, the gripped the bar itself before I called out to Chia. "Alright, girl, let's go!"

   The lands this far north were beautiful, I'd always thought so, but as we crossed the hills of snow and went through the deep valleys of ice, I knew there was nothing in all the lands that was more beautiful than this that surrounded the White City. Too cold this far north for trees to survive, the blanket of white shimmered endlessly all around us, like billions of diamonds sitting upon soft, fresh, white cotton. The only thing I wished to change of it was the bitter wind that flew across it, stinging my eyes. After a couple of hours, my hood was pushed back by it and I was forced to stop and fix it to prevent the wind from burning my brows.

   "It will be night soon." Aaren said. "Why don't we go down and stop in the valley for the night?"

   "We can still reach the road before nightfall."

   "There is nowhere to camp once we reach the road. We'll camp here, then head out in the morn."

   "Very well." I agreed, not wishing to argue.

   He nodded, then paused and cleared his throat before speaking again. "I must return."

   "What?" I nearly fell from the sleigh. "You cannot!"

   "I forgot to sign some parchment father needed from me. Becides, I should fetch my quiver as well."

   "You forgot your weapons? We're on the road!" Or going to be.

   "I brought my sword, Sister." His voice was defensive. "Anyway, I'd rather go back and deal with this now while we are only a hand or so away rather than later when I am unable to go back at all. I'll lighten the load in the valley and return before nightfall."

   Down at the valley, he dumped most of what was on the sleigh then went to get back on, but the surety I felt that he would not return if he left came as a sudden panic, making my heart pound and sweat to coat my face and freeze instantly on my skin.

   "You're not leaving me, are you?" I asked, and he looked so entirely insulted by my question that I relaxed in relief before he even answered.

   "Of course not! You honestly think that of me, Alie?"

   "No." And it was true --- he would not abandon me without at least warning me of his plans first. It was foolish that I had asked. "I just... do not wish for you to go."

   He chuckled. "Relax, Sister. I'll be back before you know it." He was gone before I could protest further.

   I watched him until he was over the crest of the hill, then went to work building the shelter with the skeleton rods made of silverwood, also of thick fur and leathers to block the wind further. I had done this task so many times that I did not need to think as I went through the process and therefore, it left my mind vulnerable to wandering toward Aaren and of the vision and of time.

   When I completed the shelter I fed the wolves and as they ate, began building a small fire below the narrow smoke hole. I was using flint to try and light the dry moss when the wolves began to howl and bark. I grabbed my bow and quiver as I quickly exited, expecting to see a snowbear approaching the temporary camp.

   The wolves were near frantic, yanking at their ropes and leaping. I realized that they were not trying to chase something down but instead, trying to run away. I had never seen my wolves afraid before; I held my bow in a tight grip, my eyes searching the white lands but could see nothing.

   "What is it?" I asked them. "What do you see?" I touched my necklace. "Mother, show me what it is I should fear." I whispered so low that the words did not even carry on the wind.

   Moments afterward, Chia sat and howled long and loud up into the sky and the others followed her direction until the chorus of howling near hurt my ears.

   I looked up.

  Just as a shadow crossed the sky.

   It crossed so quickly that I could not describe accurately what it looked like. Only that it was black and massive and fast and had wings. It came from the south and I knew what it was though I had never seen one before.

   "Dragon." I whispered. Then: "No."

   It was heading north. Toward the White City. Toward my home.

   "No! Stop!" As if it could hear me, I screamed it. As if it would listen, I demanded it. Even as I ran up the steep hill of snow and ice, I shouted it. Shouted and screamed. I desperately hoped that I was wrong, that I had imagined it, that it had been a bird and the size and shape had been nothing but an illusion on the eyes.

   I struggled through deep snow. Fast movement impossible without snowshoes or sleigh but I hadn't though about that, only thinking of my vision and my parents and my brother who he himself had said only a dragon could catch the castle aflame. My brother, who would have made it back to the castle by now. I thought of him and my parents and my home and all the friends I had left behind and all these thoughts moved me faster and faster, even as my feet sank into the snow. Sometimes up to my ankle, sometimes to my thigh. "Please." I started whispering when my voice became too hoarse from screaming. "Please, please. Please."

   By the time I reached the top of the hill, night had just fallen. I was unable to see the castle from here of course, but there, directly north, there was a glow that had never been there before. The yellow-red glow of a bright fire. Beyond it, the stars fading and flickering as distant smoke blocked their shine.

   For a moment, I could only stare, then pain overwhelmed me and with all my heart, I screamed a wordless cry of rage and grief that was loud enough to make the wolves fall silent.

RITCH

   Cutting wood was a more complicated skill than most would think. You could not simply chop away at wherever you felt like; the process was long and laborious. 

   First, it was the cutting of the tree itself. By Averton law, a tree could not be cut down until it reached a certain age. Seeing as silverwood grew first wide, then tall, this was a simple matter of measuring the width of the tree with a notched leather cord. Once the tree is selected to be cut, it is marked with a notch and someone else would come to the tree and measure the approximate age to tell what the wood would be used for and the expense of it.

   See, silverwood was actually a very pristine white in colour, only barely different in shade that fresh snow. But the way the wood condensed and shined it looked as if it had ribbons of silver in it. The younger the tree, the more condensed and therefore, the harder the wood. Hardwood was more expensive, used for high priced furniture and building houses, while the older trees --- softwood --- was used mostly for firewood, shavings, or even jewelry like the one I wore around my neck.

   They measure the age of the tree by removing some of the bark and pushing a thick, curved, glass plate onto the bare wood. On this glass plate were small markings which measure the size of those silver ribbons. Once this was finished, the tree was marked with a coloured ribbon.

   Then came the cutting down. Using a two man saw, the tree would be sliced two thirds of the way through, then using a contraption and rope it was pushed over by several men.

   The next process was dividing. On hardwood, it was much easier as the wood traveled a far distance before it was cut down and created into masterpieces by woodmasters. The log was cut straight through every ten feet then simply piled onto a log-cart to be taken to storage until it would bought and sent out to the buyer.

   The softwood was much more work. The branches were cut from the tree, stripped of bark, and chopped or sanded for cups and other such things. The remaining log was stripped of bark (which was put into sacks for kindling) and then cut every two feet. Those stumps were then chopped into eight or more pieces, depending on the width of the log, then stacked and tied with twine and piled into carts.

     If a knot in the wood was found (rare for silverwood, but still possible), it was ground up by a six-man machine to later be mixed with the dirt and soil and waste to fertilize crops.

   All this for one log.

   My job was to split the wood all day. It was a job that was hard on the back, arms, hands, and generally exhausting.

   Slavework, they called it, which was why it was always an available job to those who were able, willing, and desperate for work: like me. I was only twelve years old, but because of my size I managed to pass myself off as fifteen and so they allowed me to work for cheep. I'd only been working here for a year, but I had the process down so good that I barely needed to pay attention to what I was doing. This was a good thing, seeing as how my mind wandered today. Constantly, it went back to my aunt and my long nights work.

   After I had pulled myself together enough to get off the floor, I had gone to the window and asked Anul to give me the strength to do what needed to be done. It must have worked because after I had washed myself and changed my soiled clothing, I used a precious coin to rent a horse and cart then carried my aunt wrapped in the soiled sheets to it. No one said anything about the body I carried, not in my part of town when so many died of hunger every day.

   It took me all day to reach a secluded part of the wood I knew I would never be disturbed in. The clear night allowed the stars to reflect off the silverwood, making the forest glow gently and allowing me to see as I dug into the ground. When the hole was big enough, filthy and soaked in sweat I stripped my aunt, carried water from the river, and washed her from head to toe, scrubbing blood and filth away with moss and leaves until even her hair was glistening. I put her in the ground as naked as a babe so that Anul would find it easier to strip her of her self at first light.

   Taking some pieces of silverwood, I gently covered her eyes so she could better see the sun that was Anul, then used twigs to layer her skin gently from neck to ankle. Finally, I crawled out of the grave and covered her with dirt.

   It wasn't until I was finished covering the dirt with a spatter of silver-white leaves that I realized I was shaking and shivering, not with cold --- for the air was warm or an autumn night --- but with a dull sort of shock. I had to force myself through the words that would catch Anul's attention and, once done, I was unable to even remember if I had said them correctly.

   I returned home just at first light, washed myself, and started walking to work.

   I came here with a plan. I would work the day, get my pay, then leave Silver City. I knew I would not be able to go back into that room where I had... where it had happened. And I was shaky enough that I knew I needed a fresh start somewhere. I didn't have a perfect plan, but for some reason, I felt that whatever plan I made would prove unnecessary anyway. My vision still came to my mind and the needle pointing east. That was the way I would go when I left.

   Though I had been thinking of fire (or perhaps because of it) I was shocked when someone began shouting about it. 

   "Fire! The castle be afire!" Someone screamed distantly. Then: "Dragon! Oh, Anul save us!"

   A dragon. So Dargolyn would be blamed then. I knew it wasn't the king that sent the dragon, seeing as I knew Dargolyn would be afire as well, if not now, then soon. As would Florn. And Tark. And Nascia.

   For a moment, I felt near-overwhelmed with grief of so many losses and I just stood there as dozens of men ran past me to fetch buckets to soak the nearby trees in order to stop the fire from spreading far.

   I stood there.

   I stood there and I thought of my now-dead father stuck in that burning castle. I thought of his wife and all the now-dead servants and cooks and kingsmen in the castle. I thought on how there were four other castles sharing the same grief, though no one yet knew but me.

   I stood there, sadly, until I was alone.

   Then, ax forgotten in my hand, I headed east because the vision told me so.

LORYN

   I let myself slide down into the water on a violent shiver. I had woken earlier to find the tide high and I was half covered in icy water. Though it was warm all year in Florn, the sea always remained ice-cold and I avoided it as much as possible. I had moved up on a higher ledge by the faint light coming through the cracks in the walls but every wave seemed to lift the tide a little higher than before and soon, I was shivering again. Finally, I braved myself to swim out of the cave and get to the beach; I had to go home eventually and father would be furious.

   Mother would be...

   I couldn't think on that now or I would never leave the cave.

   I took a deep breath and dived under the water, using the light shining through my eyelids to tell me when the sun was above me instead of stone and went up, sucking in a gasp of warm air that smelled of smoke and sewer from the castle, which flowed out only a few dozen feet to my left. Disgusted, I trudged to the sandy beach and wrapped the dripping robe around, thinking I should have waited until nightfall afterall so no one would see me in such an embarrassing state of near-nudity---

   I stared, my mouth dropping at the sight of Garden City and the smoke that rose from it.

   I could see no flame, but the thick, black smoke told me that there was still fire somewhere, the slight breeze pushing most of it away. From where I was, I could hear nothing and I wondered if the whole city had burned along with the castle.

    The castle which my home was built next to.

   "Father!" I screamed and started running barefoot across the sand.

GEACOB

   "Geac!" Angus called out from behind me and I turned in my saddle to see where he pointed. I couldn't see shite paste the thick branches of the surrounding oak and pine so I backed the horse up expertly and looked at the top of the mountain where Angus and Falcon were both pointing.

   Thick smoke bellowed and a dark shape circled slowly in the sky above it.

   "Dragon." Angus said and I nodded.

   For a moment, the three of us looked at the smoke in the high distance, but not for long.

   "Let's keep moving." I said and started forward. After a moment, Angus and Falcon followed.

LORYN

   Near half the city was gone. I found the remains of my home: a mess of ash really, and not much more. Even some of the stone wall that had surrounded the castle had literally melted and warped under the heat of the fire. I new from stories that only dragonfire could burn so hot and so quickly --- the king never had a chance and neither had my father. I thought of my mothers last words to me bout my father and pushed them away, refusing to allow the memory of my father be tainted by her words.

   There were still small fires around, lingering, but they would go out on their own as there was nothing left to burn. For now, as the sun faded in the sky the fires gave me light to see by in the nearly deserted ruins. Occasionally, some came to search --- for gold more likely, after all, this had been the richest area of Garden City. The richest area in Florn, in fact --- but none stayed long. I should have been in search for shelter elsewhere in the city, but I kept wandering, unable to believe that all this had happened in a single day while I lied in a cave not at all far away from the castle wall.

   I knew the vision had been real. If only I had told father --- he would have believe me. I was sure of it. He  would have told the king and we would have all run away.
    Perhaps the king would have been grateful enough to grand me a favor of some kind, or adopt me as his own and allow my father and myself to live with him while they rebuilt, leaving my mother to work as a whore... or worse, be force to marry a pig farmer.

   "What we got here?" Came a leering voice, interrupting my morbid thoughts. I looked around, realizing that I had wandered to the north side of the ruins without even realizing it. Then my eyes caught on the sight of the one who had spoken which was now approaching from the trees.

   I stepped back when I saw another emerge from the tree and for the first time, noticed their black cloaks. "Outsiders." I hissed in surprise and fear. But of course they would be here amidst such destruction, drawn here like a moth to a flame.

   The tallest of the two clucked his tongue and shook a finger at me. "We prefer the term Ranger, if you don't mind none. The word Outsider is just so... rude, don't you think?"

   I wasn't going to stand around here chatting. I turned to run as he stepped nearer, only to come to an instant stop when I saw my way was blocked by yet another of them. This one was as large as he was tall and he reached out to tug at my robe. "Doesna leave much to the imagination does it?" He asked the others, who laughed.

   "Pity." Said one, the voice nearer behind me now. "I like unwrapping presents." I felt the robe being grasped and I stumbled as it was yanked. It ripped, but I still kept a good tight hold on it.

   "Don't touch me."

   The robe was yanked again, this time, leaving my with only a piece of it which I clasped against my barely growing nubs of breasts. "Please." I begged, trying desperately to find a way out of the triangle only to see that a forth had joined the group. The circling triangle had become a circling square. I was blocked in by all four sides.

   "What a pretty girl." Said one, I could no longer tell which. To my eyes, my fear had made the four of them into blurry black images. Solid shadows. For the first time in my life, I desperately wished that I believed in a god. In Florn, only men could be gods. Power made them gods.

   But what was I to do now that the gods of Florn were all dead?

   "So pretty." Another agreed.

   "D-don't make fun of me." I said. "Just... please l-let me g-g-go." This made them laugh and I went to run, trying to slip past them. One of them must have stuck out a foot though because I tripped, landing in a billow of ash. Before I could stand, I felt my nightdress being lifted and I quickly swiveled, hard enough to hurt my hip on a pile of melted brick. "I-I'm... my father is the high lord!" I shouted suddenly. "If you touch me, h-he'll kill you!"

   This brought out another round of laughter and then my ankles were grasped and yanked apart, leaving me more exposed than I had ever been in my life. I opened my mouth to scream, still grasping that pathetic piece of robe against my chest.

   "Stop." Called someone. Before I could get my hopes up, I saw that the voice came from another Outsider who had been outside the circle for who knew how long. Surprisingly, all of them stopped, immediately obeying him. He must be the leader of the group.

   He looked down at me and I noticed absently that he would have been handsome if he didn't wear the black cloak of an Outsider. "What's your name, girl?"

   "Loryn." I quivered. "Loryn Rosel."

   "And your fathers name?"

   "High Lord Barrick Rosel." I answered, my voice a bit stronger now. "So you best let me go. He's friends with the king." I stood as I spoke, putting my chin up.

   He waved his hand at me, tossing my words away. "In case you haven't noticed, the king is dead. Your father, too, no doubt."

   "There's no one to help you, little girl." Sneered the fat one, his hands went to his belt and I backed up but someone grasped me and I started to struggle to escape.

   But the leader spoke again. "Stop." He gave the fat one an irritated look. "Barrick's sister married a lord if I remember. A lord in Dargolyn."

   "Aunt Lavhender!" I remembered. I had only met her twice and both times at court when she came with her husband to Florn for one reason or another. She was a stout woman with a pinched face. Her and Father argued terribly each time, but surly she would pay to keep me alive. I was still blood, after all.

   The leader nodded. "Yes, Lady Lavhender." He studied me a moment and all I wanted to do was cover myself under his gaze by there was nothing to be covered with. Still, I felt a burst of hope when he nodded again and said: "Keep it in your cottons, men; she'll be worth more if she's untouched."

   I was released of all but my nightdress right at the collar. I wanted to try and run again but feared that the dress would rip me of the last of my clothing. After a moment, my wrists were grasped and then quickly roped together in practiced, easy movements that said how often they had done this.

   As the leader whistled for his horse, the fat man reached out to flick one of my nipples that stood out against the faint light of duck. I flinched, more from violation than from pain. "What a pity." He said, looking me over. "You're so fresh, too. Tis a shame." Then he lifted me up over his shoulder and by the time I caught my bearings, I was tossed again only now over a horses back. The fat man hopped up behind me.

   With a chuckle, the man placed his chubby hand on my rear. "Better keep you steady. Don't want you falling off and hurting yourself." He pinched me sharply when I squirmed away from his touch and when I jumped, letting out a yelp, he chuckled.

   "Hands off, Biddy. You heard me." Said the leader. He took his hand away to hold the reigns instantly though with an unpleased grunt, leaving me bottom-up on the horse.

   As tears of absolute humiliation began to blur my vision, we began moving into the trees, heading north.

   Oddly though, what stood out in my mind in that moment was that we should be going north-east, not directly north. The vision told me to.

KOVEN

   The air was cool but I didn't dare go below deck for a cloak. Since I had demanded that we return, the crew had been sending hard looks my way, including the captain. I was a prince, but I was also a third son and so not as important. Most would not dare touch me, but some just might risk it.

   I understood their anger --- I was forcing them a weeks work with no pay, not to mention the cost of the weeks food that would be needed to be restocked for another trip out. If we had only been a day out at the time the vision came, they would have more than likely spent the time teasing me and jesting. Three days out though, meant three days back and six days was far more than one out on the water in autumn when the worst storms could come without much notice at all.

   Hark though, acted as if nothing was different. He chatted away about this and that and made the same terrible jokes I'd heard from him a hundred times before. His normalcy cheered me when he was around and made it easier to ignore the glares and narrow-eyes stared from the crew.

   I was alone now though, up on deck. It was reaching early dawn so many would soon be coming up top to begin their work while the few here would be turning in for some sleep. 

   Now, though, in the early eve, I had a sudden, sickly feeling that came with the surety that we were too late. The sense of urgency was completely gone, replaced by one of despair and grief. The feeling would not allow me to rest and so here I sat for hours, searching the dark, western skies while the sun began its slow climb behind me.

   Until it didn't and the sky was lightening all over. It looked as if there was smoke in the sky, but I was unable to be sure if it was real or imagine. None of the other crew members said anything about it so I didn't dare voice my worry in case I was wrong.

   I hoped I was wrong.

   But as we went closer and closer toward the narrow bend that was all that separated my line of sight to the city, my heart went back to its quick pounding rhythm, because I knew for sure of what we were about to see.

   "Hey, Venny." Hark said, sliding up next to me. I couldn't even find it in myself to smile at his nickname for me. 

   "Get the captain." I said, my tone was so serious that he ran of without question or objection.

   Captain Riggy stepped up next to me just as we were about to turn the bend. "What's it, boy? You summoned me?" There was sarcasm in his voice but I ignored it for now and motioned to the bend before us.

   "Let's hope I was wrong." I said. "Pray with me to the watergods that I was wrong."

   A moment later, the smoky remains of the east side of the city came into view. Near flattened, even the stone. The wharf, always covered in water, was completely gone as if it never were, as were the boats and ships that had been tied to it. The massive structure on the hill that had once been my home was now nothing more than ash in the wind.

   The captain cursed and I heard several shouts of surprise from the crew, also of outrage and words of dragons and dragonfire and Dargolyn.

   But all I could think of was my family. My father, Gorje and my sweet, sweet mother Anna, my brothers Gorjen and Geoven, the cook who always slipped me extra sweet-bread, the dogs that guarded the castle at night who nipped at my heals only playfully when I snuck in or out, begging for treats of meat.

   Tears slipped down my cheeks silently and the moment I realized it, I wiped them away.

   "What'd you says we do, boy?" The captain asked, his voice suddenly more tired than I had ever heard it before. "Land? Or do we head to Florn?"

   "All the kings are dead." I said dully. "Even Dargolyn. All the castles are burned."

   There was a hesitation. "You sure, boy?"

   I nodded. "I am. King Loris did not do this."

   "Who did then?"

   "I don't know." I sighed. "I don't know anything else except my path lies west."  I frowned as my eyes caught on something inland. "What's that?"

   The captain frowned as well as he squinted his weathered face, then narrowed his eyes. "Outsiders." He hissed. "Lookin' for loot, no doubt. Takin' advantage of those that wander the ruins. Best we don't set ashore, boy, but I will if ye tells me to. You're king now, afterall."

   That word jolted me. "I'm no king." I said firmly. "Not now. From now on, I'm Venny, and that's it."

   There was another hesitation. "Your people need you, boy."

   "I'm a boy of thirteen summers who has spent his whole life dreaming of the sea." I shook my head. "My path lies west. I'm following the vision, Captain. Even if it's the last thing I do. Its important that I do. I feel that now."

   He nodded. "I understand that now, boy, I does." He admitted, looking at the ruined city. "Best not anger the gods, but I'll not be settin' ye off here with them Outsiders runnin' freely. No, we'll go along the shore to Squiddin and ye can head off from there if y'likes."

   I nodded. "Sounds well enough, Captain."

   "I'll give the order." He said and turned away.

   "Captain?"

   He stopped and turned back immediately. "Aye?"

   I knew what had to be done, to prove it, I lost my highborn accent as naturally as a lady would loose a hairpin. "I'll be needin' t'toss my clothes o'erboard, and roughen my hands a bit durin' the trip. I wouldna be much of a shipboy if I got the hand and clothes of the one they call Koven, aye?"
 
   I'd spent so much time around the crew at the wharf and wanted so badly to be one of them that I had often faked their accents --- much to the displeasure of my parent. While aboard, it came and went, depending on what mood I was in, but that was going to have to change now if I wanted to be seen as a poor boy from Tark.

   The captain nodded slow. "Hark'll have some clothes for ye." He said. "And when you're done, Venny, best start scrubbin' them decks, aye?"

   "Aye, Cap'n." I said, but I didn't move until the ship had turned and the ashes of my home was out of sight.