These Seas We Travel

By Derreck Hanson

A hidden darkness skulks a peaceful land. Thieves and killers hold hostage a kingdom. An empire held together by isolationist tradition is challenged by virtuous evolution. Two soul mates ripped apart by an unspeakable tragedy struggle to endure alone. Join the crew of the Restless Hope and sail across the sea into new lands filled with mystery, danger, and adventure. Be with the knights of the Bakran Empire as they defend their lands from those who serve the darkness. Join the Tempest Brotherhood as they fight to discover the truth behind their mystic power. The beauty and the horrible meet and the adventurers will never be the same. Will the battle of love and atonement win the day? Or will our heroes succumb to the abyss of the darkness? Everyone has a part to play, and all are affected in these seas we travel.

A tale of love and friendship, trade and politics, kingdoms and extortion. Join a circle of friends and family through two generations and share their perils and their adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887930923

Book preview

These Seas We Travel

Derreck Hanson

Copyright © 2023 Derreck Hanson

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88793-086-2 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88793-092-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

First, to thank my wife, Sarah. Your encouragement and support mean the world to me. Your love will be cherished and returned beyond Eternity…

Secondly, to the writers, the inspiration behind countless works of art: Thank you for sharing your hearts with us.

I encourage everyone reading these words to never give up on your dreams. Reality and fiction are often worlds apart. But our fiction allows us to escape, to entertain, to uplift. This is a great calling for those who have the talents.

How many Tolkiens, Rowlings, and Martins are out there undiscovered because they are too afraid to take the chance, to put one foot in front of the other and dare to see where they might be swept off to?

Be the change you want to see in this world. Dream big! Ignore the critics and the naysayers. Most of them never created anything in their lives. This book is dedicated to those like me. Those who were afraid or intimidated. But who choose to do it anyway!

Introduction

She stood across the town square from me, drawstring pulled back, aiming her arrow at my heart. Her eyes filled with hate and loathing. Her legs thin, but strong. The town burned around us as folk fled in every direction. A woman screamed for her child in a burning house, a neighbor rushing in to save it. Elderly rushing into the woods to nearby refuge, praying someone would take them in. Youth trying to prove to the world they are strong, picking up arms to defend their homes and families. The dead and dying scattered across the square. Smoke and death. And her, about to end my life.

The arrow was set loose and I turned about, barely missing that deadly spear. She let loose another shot in the split second I dodged behind a fractured door of a burning house. I could never hurt her. Fighting back was never an option. A horse sped between us without its rider and I charged toward her position. Her arrow hit my chest when I was clear again and I charged forward, not even feeling the pain. I lunged at her, knocking her down as a sword from an enemy on horseback cut the air where she once stood. Taking her bow and an arrow from her quiver, I struck down the man who tried to kill her. Grabbing her by the arm, I pushed us both down into a nearby cooking pit. I held her down until the siege was over.

At least a couple hours went by. She had fought me at first but my weight and grip were too much for her. She cursed my name and threatened my existence but this didn’t concern me. The only thing was keeping her safe. The evening was long as we lay there in the cooking pit, still smelling of charred pork. I had pulled the arrow tip out of my shoulder, and some blood had poured out. The bleeding eventually subsided as I held pressure on the wound with my shirt.

The screams grew quiet and the fires turned to glowing red ash. I heard people talking and I lifted my head slowly out of the pit to look around. She had fallen asleep, exhaustion and shock. I took her bow and left her there. Walking around the burnt marketplace, I saw the shopkeeper giving his clerk orders to move the unspoiled goods into a nearby unburnt building. In the distance, through the smoke, I could see other townsfolk coming out of their homes. There were surprisingly few homes which were burnt this side of town.

Had we fought them off? Had we won? I walked up to the shopkeeper and his clerk.

Tonlin, said Percy, the clerk. Where were you? You alright?

I am, yeah, I said. Are you both okay?

What the bloody hell do you think, kid? The whole place is destroyed! the store owner, Clyde, yelled. He took a breath as he turned toward me and dropped some ruined, charred black items he had picked up. By the spirits, are you hurt?

Remembering my hand was still clutching the wound on my chest under my bloody shirt, I looked down and saw I was also covered in black ash and grease from the cooking pit, I must have looked dreadful. I’m okay.

You two should go find your folks, Clyde said, suddenly forgetting about his shop. The two were likely in the shop when the siege started and had taken shelter there. The first thoughtless instinct of the shop owner had been his inventory.

Percy, the clerk, ran off into the smoke in the direction of his family home. Percy was nineteen years old, same as I. We were lads together growing up. He had secured me a position as a part-time shop clerk a few years ago when he wanted some time off and that got me out of the mines for a while. Surprised Clyde thought anything of me, covered in black soot. Although I had always tried to remain clean working his shop. Perhaps he didn’t see me as a miner, which I appreciated.

I nodded at Clyde and started a brisk walk home. My family lived outside the city. My father was a miner, hunter, and sometimes a carpenter. He made extra money bringing in meat and pelts which allowed us to live more than meagerly. My mother worked at one of the mills in town. Hopefully, they and my two siblings would all be safe at home when I arrived.

Before I left the town I passed probably ten bodies. A father of a school friend next to his sword, the man had went down fighting. An elderly couple who had retired from their carpentry business and had lived a very wealthy and philanthropic life. Stefan, a teacher from the school, also next to a sword.

The town priest passed by, his mace swinging from his right hand as he walked. He nodded at me but said nothing. On his way to see if any on the town council had survived. There was order to be restored and damage assessed, funerals to be planned.

Outside the town, I looked back and the glowing red from some still-burning fires made the city glow in the distance as I walked farther and farther away. I reached my family home. The rooms were empty, the home untouched by the siege. I walked outside and around the house, shouting for my folks. Nothing. Gods, they must be back in town. Crash, a crushing blow to my head and I fell to my knees on the ground. It was at this moment I realized I still had the bow. I swung the bow as hard as I could and hit something which fell hard to the ground. I stood up, wobbled a bit, and focused my eyes in the darkness.

Lorn. I sank to my knees beside her. She wasn’t badly hurt, I thanked the gods for that. She was smaller than me and as fragile as she looked, despite her prowess with the bow. I picked her up and brought her inside, resting her on the bed in my room. I sat down in a chair across from her. She was coming to.

She looked at me with that hate and loathing I’d seen before. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as it had for a while now. How I longed to just let her kill me, to give her what she wanted most in this world. Anything to bring back the joy into her life, to have her smile again. Even if it meant my life.

Ton, she said, her eyes welling up with tears. She paused through quiet sobs. You took everything from me. You took my world away from me.

Lorn. I looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. One day, you will get what you want. That was all I could think to say. I was still in shock at all that had happened in the past hours, and she would never believe me if I told her the truth of what she thought she saw.

I stood up, went outside to get her bow. I’m taking this, I said as I came back inside. But you’ll get it back one day. And when that day comes, you will do what you must. I walked out of my family home, leaving Lorn resting on my bed.

Part 1

Politics and Do-Gooders

Tonlin

I found out my father was among the dead in town that day. He had heard the attack and ran in to defend our friends and our home. My mother had also been in town. She had managed to rescue some stragglers and injured and had taken refuge at the temple. My younger brother and sister were with some friends when the attack began and, fortunately, some townsfolk had brought them to shelter at the temple.

The next few weeks were devastating for the town of Keyes. The funerals were held in one large burning ceremony. The night sky outside the temple was black but the stars shined brighter than many of us ever remembered. They were strange to us, as if we were seeing them truly for the first time, truly appreciating what they were. The smoke rose into the beautiful clear night sky, taking the memories and souls of our loved ones to the afterlife. There, they would be blessed with peace and would never hurt again. At least that’s what we were taught. It was the most solemn time our town had ever experienced.

Weeks went by and the city was slowly rebuilding, and life had returned to a humble sense of normalcy. One day, my mother told me Father had, before he died, set me up for an apprenticeship in the city of Marshod. My parents had planned on telling me about this on that coming weekend. They had planned a surprise party for me. It was going to be a very special day.

On foot, Marshod was two days journey away. I told Mother I would never abandon our family. I was the oldest and most capable of supporting the family. Mother told me my father had money I didn’t know about, set aside for all of his kids. She proved this by giving me a small sack of gold, enough to rent a place in Marshod for a year.

I was confused. Father didn’t make all this extra gold mining and selling furs on the side. How did he come into this gold? We could have had a proper home in town and lived like kings. Then again, we had lived well, very well actually.

My mother worked at a mill in town even though, as I was finding out, we didn’t need the gold from her job there. We also had a small vegetable garden at our home, which she assured me my brother and sister could, and did, tend to. We had all pitched in our whole lives. It was commonplace for families to do so. Not just in Keyes, but the whole of the Bakran Empire. We didn’t think much about it. It was expected of families to pull together and everyone to do their part. If my father had inherited wealth, he had chosen to instill in us all a work ethic so we wouldn’t become layabouts and overly prideful. I did see the value in that.

After a month of arguing, Mother showed me a letter she had just received from a man named Harwood who wrote his apprenticeship would start in one week and had expected me weeks before and that if I wasn’t there in this one week’s time, the apprenticeship would go to another candidate. I indeed believed our town was safe. The band of marauders who had attacked us had been hunted down by the guard sent from Marshod, as well as Bakran legion troops, which had been called upon. We hoped few had escaped justice. At last, I conceded to leave for Marshod.

The day I left, almost five weeks after the attack on Keyes, I gave my family the warmest of goodbyes. I hugged my brother Roland, my sister Lienne, and my mother, Jess. As I left town, I saw Lorn standing by a tree watching me walk away.

*****

The apprenticeship was better than anything I had ever imagined. There I had been expecting to be stocking or counting inventory in a general goods store. Harwood was Quartermaster for the entire shipping yards in Marshod. The place was an enormous trade center. I was one of over a dozen apprentices who were in charge of overseeing the unloading of ships and the logistics of where those goods ended up. The entire supply chain of Marshod sent goods into every corner of the map into every city. Hundreds of wagons were loaded each week. Grains, meat, fish, clothing, armor, weapons, tools, gold, silver, ore, parts for wagons, and construction materials—you name it—we distributed it. There were clerks in charge of operations, financial transactions, inventories, disputes, and staffing. As apprentices, we worked under the clerks, and the clerks worked under the managers of our own departments. I was placed in vessel unloading operations to start. I was thankful for the opportunity to develop such prestigious skills in business and commerce, yet I wasn’t too excited about watching over burly grown men unloading ships. But it was a place to start.

Since I did not come from Marshod, I wasn’t very well known, so I was given a lower assignment than some of the other young apprentices who appeared to be from wealthy stock. I felt out of place among the apprentices but I excelled in my duties because I was used to hard work. I was efficient and useful and it got me noticed. The laborers grumbled about a kid being in charge of them as they did with most of the apprentices, but when I got my hands dirty, when extra help needed to be done, or when we were short-staffed, it won me a little slack. I also learned bookkeeping and management skills.

Harwood was a busy man and did not make any time to speak with myself or most of the other apprentices. But Harwood did have his eye on a handful of apprentices he thought might make worthy clerks. It was all very political as most places seemed to be. The wealthy, well-connected apprentices typically moved up quickly. Yet, to my surprise, many of the apprentices did not stay in the shipping industry. Either they didn’t like the work or they were sacked from the job due to slacking off. But many of the apprentices moved into other more prestigious industries. Over the first six months I was at the shipping yards, I saw some apprentices leave for jobs at banks, apprenticeships at law firms, apprenticeships in mining or precious metals management, agricultural positions. Some went to work at the royal palace, and some even went into the theater and entertainment sector. I suppose we all have different desires and skill sets, but something I noticed was that if one is wealthy and parents can pull strings, doors tend to open up more readily.

These departures, along with my job performance, opened doors for me to try different things. After the first eight months, my first clerk position was overseeing the loading of wagons. Basic inventory management very much like the job I had already done. I was no longer an apprentice and the pay was a small amount better, but it was a position I had reached my peak at. I could learn no more from it. I tried to set a meeting with Harwood for the next two months to ask about being rotated to a different position, but his secretary had always told me he was booked up. I ended up speaking with the different clerks and managers I crossed paths with. Eventually, some strings were pulled and at the third month of my second year I was a clerk over general operations.

Apparently, this side of operations was the least sought after and the most stressful of the positions, and I found this out quickly. As a clerk, I dealt with disputes the managers did not want to deal with. Shop owners and their representatives from all corners of the map were in my face threatening blood if I didn’t correct an error in shipping or billing or if a piece of merchandise was missing or misplaced, usually an item most desperately needed seemingly life or death. In my previous position, we would deal with this issue by sending these angry souls to general operations, and now, I was that whipping boy. This position, though, taught me diplomacy, conflict management, it refined my book keeping practices in order to make adjustments and find errors, and most importantly, taught me patience.

Operations clerk had a small perk in that the Operations office closed at four o’clock each day. I took this time to volunteer in Marshod’s Reserve Guard. It helped to de-stress and I had always wanted to undergo military training. I learned hand to hand, sword skills, and shield techniques from the training masters at the guard. My archery skills were graded superior thanks to my father’s hunting lessons when I was a boy so I was able to test out of most archery sessions. I swore an oath as a guardsman to serve in combat if ever called up.

Harwood did take notice of this, of all things, and had confronted me about it. Harwood told me I needed to focus on my duties at the shipping yards and if I was called up for combat it would leave him in a lurch. Harwood accused me of just wanting to have a hobby or a side skill and that I had no desire to serve her majesty’s shipping industry. He came back to me the next day and apologized for this last part though. Harwood said he respected my wish to serve. Perhaps he felt bad about this because, a few weeks later, I was promoted to a management position in operations. In a little over two years I had reached management at the shipping yards.

That night, I went to the tavern and celebrated with a few of my colleagues. It was quite a promotion and rare for someone so young to reach the position. I wondered if no one else wanted the job. The pay was substantially better than clerk, but I assumed I would have a lot more responsibility. Yet, come to think of it, the managers tended to let the clerks take the brunt of the incivility and by the time we wore the offended parties down, then they would step in and make a call. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I had been away from home for two years. Mom and I had exchanged letters through courier every other week and I passed along word to the family how I was doing and they updated me on life in Keyes, which apparently never changed. I smiled, remembering small-town life. Then my thoughts wandered to Lorn.

I went to bed that night thinking about her. A memory floated into my mind of our time in school together. In my last year of school before I went to work with my father in the mines, Lorn and I had built a tree house together after school and on our weekends. It had taken us weeks to build it. I remembered our time together in that tree house. We often used it as a hunting blind. The first time we held hands, quite by accident actually. Our fingers laced around each others so naturally, so instinctively. I wondered if the tree house still hung there, waiting for us to return. I wondered what she was doing now. Two years. Would she ever want to speak to me again? Would her hate for me fill her heart forever? My eyes felt heavy and I tried to think of other things until I fell asleep.

*****

That weekend, I prayed at the temple a prayer to my father hoping he would be proud of what I had accomplished with the opportunity he had set up for me. I was also able to send my mom the amount of gold she had sent with me to come here, along with a letter of thanks for encouraging me to make my start in Marshod. She likely never expected the gold repaid, but I felt it was the right thing to do since my income was now where it was. I told her I had registered to have some time off in a month to visit the family in Keyes. The shipping industry never rests, but as a manager, I had my clerks trained well to do their jobs and make decisions in my absence. There were also two other managers over operations who could cover for me while I was away. But, to be honest, I had found that some of the management positions really should be done away with altogether. Too much salary for someone who doesn’t do much. But as the position exists, I chose to take the salary and enjoy the benefits.

Come to find out, though, my new position wasn’t that prestigious in the city, despite the salary. Perhaps another reason the wealthy apprentices left for greener pastures.

*****

My leave came and I paid a friend to borrow his horse for my journey, cutting my travel time in half. In a day, I saw Keyes, the town I had grown up in. My childhood home drew closer as the mare trod along. I saw my brother and sister tending to the garden. When they saw me coming they came running. My brother twelve and my sister ten years old, full of energy they nearly pulled me off the horse.

Roland! Lienne! How goes the world? I greeted them.

Ton! Is that your horse? Lienne asked.

What is Marshod like? asked Roland.

Borrowed the horse. Owner said her name is Popa, I said, knowing this would brighten Lienne’s eyes, which it did. I let the two pet the horse. Well, I began to answer Roland, there is much to say about Marshod. It’s a busy place, but it’s a completely different world from Keyes. Lots of commotion and lots of people. You’ll have to visit someday.

I’ll go back with you! Roland said excitedly.

Mom would never let you go back with Ton, Lienne said.

Yes, she would!

How is school going? I said, trying to stave off the childish argument.

Love it.

Hate it, the two said at the same time.

I’m top of the class, said Lienne.

That’s wonderful! Learning a lot then?

Well, I have to if I’m going to attend law school in Bakra.

My eyebrows raised at Lienne’s ambition.

Wow, that’s quite a goal, Lienne! And you, Roland?

I don’t get why we have to waste our time in school, Roland said, kicking the dirt at his feet. It’s no fun, and we’re not going to use anything we learn.

I thought that too when I was your age, I said. But it’s amazing how much of it I’ve used at the shipping yards. If it wasn’t for school, I wouldn’t have known how to do basic math or be able to write inventories and calculate all sorts of things or read, for that matter.

That’s very boring, Ton, Roland told me as his eyes glazed over.

I thought the same thing at your age. Just hang in there. It’ll be over before you realize it. Then you’ll have to decide what you want to do. Take some advice from Lienne here and dream big!

I want to be a soldier, Roland said.

You’d be a good one. Training for the guard is a lot of work. Just get through school and you can do whatever you want.

Ton, are you staying with us for a while? Lienne asked.

I’m here for a couple of days and then I have to go back to work I’m afraid.

We’ve missed you, she told me.

I’ve missed you both too. I got down on my knees and hugged Lienne. I reached out to Roland and he came over and joined us.

How’s Mom been? I asked.

She used to be very sad after you left, Roland said.

She was sad because Dad died, Lienne told him. Ton, why did Dad have to die?

Heavy questions for having just arrived home.

Dad was trying to fight off the marauders, Lienne, I said. Believe me. He didn’t want to leave us. Just think how many children still have their parents because Dad helped protect the town.

I didn’t really know how many marauders Dad had brought down. Maybe none. But it was a small comfort I had even told myself.

That’s why I want to be a soldier, said Roland. Someone has to fight.

That’s an admirable goal, I replied, agreeing with him more than he would ever know. Are you two still keeping up with your archery?

There’s no one to take us hunting, Roland said, disappointed.

Well, maybe we can do that before I go back, I told them.

Ton, I don’t like hunting, Lienne said. I don’t like hurting the deer.

Well, you don’t have to hunt if you don’t want to, I told her with a small chuckle. But I think I remember you liking the deer Dad and I brought home, didn’t you?

Yes, she said and lowered her head. But they’re so pretty.

They sure are. But we all have to eat. You have to keep the deer out of the garden don’t you?

We have to keep everything out of the garden, she said, rolling her eyes at the chore.

I tell you what. It’s still early. How about we go hunting now? I asked them.

Yeah! said Roland. Lienne stood there and nodded her head.

Let’s go get our bows, I told them.

We went inside the house. Two years had been such a long time. I smelled the familiar must from the wood floors and the remnants of cooking in the air from the last night’s supper. We went to the corner of their bedroom where our bows were hung from a long rack on the wall. I handed Roland and Lienne their bows and I reached out for mine and I saw a bow I hadn’t remembered seeing before. It was Lorn’s bow.

I forgot I took it from her. That terrible day. My stomach sank as I once again thought of her. My mind wandered for a moment as I slowly reached out.

You okay, Ton? Roland asked me. Can I use Dad’s bow?

I handed Roland Dad’s bow and he returned me his bow which I hung back up, my eyes never leaving the bow I never expected to see. Again, I reached out. When my hands touched Lorn’s bow, I felt such sadness. So much lost hope. A loved one gone forever. I didn’t even feel that when I touched my father’s bow. I pulled Lorn’s bow from the rack and squeezed it in my hands. I remembered Lorn hunting with me like something from a dream, yet it wasn’t so long ago. I should have let her take it back. If she wanted me dead I should have let her…

Are we going? Lienne asked. I snapped out of it. Looking over, Roland and Lienne were watching me, waiting.

Yeah. Of course. I took Lorn’s bow.

Outside by the garden fence I gave the kids a chance to show me how they’d been keeping up with their lessons. Neither of them seemed to have the strength to take down our dinner.

We had a few hours before Mom would be home from work. Into the wilderness we went. I took them to the tree father and I would sit in waiting and watching the forest. It was peaceful. I kept having to tell the kids to be quiet. I didn’t want to be rude to them, having been gone for so long. After a couple hours, we descended from the tree and began to walk back home empty-handed.

It’s okay, guys. Maybe we can try again. I was certain the noise they had made left us no chance of attracting our dinner. I told them to tend the garden while I went to town for groceries.

It was a pleasant walk to Keyes, which wasn’t far away. The town was its usual light hustle and bustle. I remembered this commotion almost making me dizzy just a few years before. Now, compared to the Marshod shipping yards, this place was almost quiet to me, certainly pleasant and peaceful. I bought the groceries and returned back to my family’s place. The sun appeared to be about five in the evening and Mom would be coming home soon. My siblings helped me prepare the food and we talked some more. Lienne told me more about what she had heard about law school in Bakra.

Mom had kept quiet about the inheritance from my father, but both my siblings remembered hearing everything when I fought with Mom about going away a couple years ago.

When Mom arrived home from work she was so happy to see me there. Although I’m not sure if it wasn’t the fact she didn’t have to cook that made her so happy. We enjoyed roast and veg and opened one of the bottles of wine I had brought from the city. Mom and Dad had rarely drank wine but on special occasions. The kids had a small swallow of wine. Lienne pretended to gag and Roland pretended to like it but from his eyes you could tell he wanted to spit it out.

Later that night, after the siblings—as I liked to call them—were in bed, I spent some time talking with Mom.

Have you really been okay as you’ve told me in your letters?

Of course, Ton. Things haven’t changed much around here.

Raising Roland and Lienne on your own has to be a handful.

We make do with what we have. She seemed resigned to her lot in life, but she wasn’t upset or didn’t seem it. They’re good kids. They help me more than they know.

I would have stayed, you know, I told her.

Then you would never have left Keyes. You needed to live your own life. That’s what I want for Roland and Lienne one day too.

What will you do when the house is empty? Have you thought about marrying again?

Ton, that isn’t something I spend any time thinking about. There’s too much to do here and now. There was no way to be sure, but I wondered if she was being honest with me.

Is there anything you left out of your letters? Things I should know about? Are you truly recovered from Dad being gone?

Your father and I weren’t on the best of terms the last year of his life. I do miss him. But I have learned to make do.

What were you and Dad fighting about?

It isn’t anything you need to be concerned with, Ton. It isn’t anything that matters anymore.

Her attitude about Dad seemed so truthful I actually believed it. Perhaps she was putting me on in order for me not to worry, but I truly saw no sadness in her face. She was past the whole trauma of Dad’s passing, and after two years, she truly seemed to have grown to live with it.

I know I should have visited more often. I only get one day off a week. I’m sorry. I wish you all could have visited Marshod.

It was something we knew going into it. I don’t blame you. With the kids in school and my job at the mill, it just isn’t practical for us to travel.

Maybe I can rent a horse and carriage and have y’all down one weekend.

One day we will. That sounds nice, she told me.

Mom, what about the gold? I was trying to be as subtle as I could. We never spoke of it in our letters, but I don’t pretend to believe it hasn’t made all the difference in my start in Marshod.

Your father wanted you kids to have a better life than he and I had.

But if Dad did have this gold, I began, not knowing how comfortable Mom was speaking of it, why didn’t Dad try to open up a business? Why didn’t you try to buy the mill you work at? We all could have even moved to Marshod together.

Your father and I promised each other the gold would only be spent on you kids. Not on ourselves. I really don’t like talking about this, Ton.

Can I just ask where the gold came from?

Your father earned it. She was very short and looked away from me. So it wasn’t from an inheritance as I assumed. I don’t blame you for being curious. But I won’t say any more on the matter.

We stayed up another half hour and then went to bed. That night, I slept in my old bed in the same room as my siblings. It felt good to be home.

*****

Lienne and Roland had woken me with no remorse at the crack of dawn and cajoled me to come with