The Six Sailmakers of Mumuray: Yecelentan Tales Short Reads, #4

By Kevan Kenneth Bowkett

When the Queen of the demonic Kakkos desires the services of the renowned sailmakers of Mumuray, they prove more elusive than she expects. 

 

The fourth of the marvellous Yecelentan Tales. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sixth Planet Productions
• Release date: Oct 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223042853

Kevan Kenneth Bowkett

Kevan Kenneth Bowkett is a Winnipeg writer and researcher. His writing has ranged from an International Convention on the Evaluation of New Technologies to poetry to Elizabethanesque drama in Time’s Fancy: The War of King Henry V and Joan of Arc. He’s also done door-to-door sales, built and slept in an igloo, and run for Parliament. .......... To sign up for Kevan's e-newsletter to keep in touch with his new books, productions, and other projects, please go to http://eepurl.com/g1dX6z

Book preview

A Note on Chronology

This is a very ancient tale that takes place in the Northwestern Sea—also called the Vlazoryan Ocean—which lies north and west of the Empire of Cothirya. Presented here is a version told in the late 39th century, around the time of the events of Sweet Acorns (Yecelentan Tales #2).

Solya Wingweaver, mentioned in the story, lived in the time of Imperial division, which ended in the mid-37th century. For some events of that time, please see the Yecelentan Tales called The Wizards of Wand Street and The Tower of Torn Faces.

1.

In the city of Mumuray on the Northwestern Sea lived six makers of sailcloth. They were renowned throughout the Gulf of Kalutwaz, and even in the Vlazoyan seas beyond.

One day, hearing of their quality, an evil queen of Nwataiveh decided to capture them to make sails for her ships on the Great Desert Water that lay partly in her country.

This queen ruled a powerful realm of a half-demonic people called the geggegwai, or kakkos. Some of that species of creature were ocean-farers, but the kakkos of Nwataiveh were mainly hostile to the wide blue waves—aside from the odd one of them who lost their head and fell in love with the sapphire salt, as they called it. The sober majority of this particular kakko nation sought instead dominion over mountains and deserts.

This queen, named Sentirellu, sent a kakko kidnapper to bring the six sailmakers to her. Two of these clothmakers, who were older-middle-aged brothers, heard the kidnapper coming when he was still a day or two’s journey from the city of Mumuray. They mentioned it to their four associates.

Why doesn’t she just hire us? asked one sailmaker, a young girl.

Would we agree? asked another, her brother, a boy in his teens.

Probably not, said the girl.

That’s why,