Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy) (30 page)

Iliana took William into her arms and kissed his cheeks. In
her saddle bag were packed fruit and vegetables and bits of lamb. "I will
change William into dry garments and feed him. No doubt he is hungry."

Erik looked back toward the way they had come, frowning.
"Iliana, do you know if there is a port in a nearby town?"

"There is, Erik, but it does not matter."

"Of course it matters, my love, perhaps my ship sailed
to a --"

Iliana pointed and Erik turned on his heel.
The
Merry Maiden
sailed around a great rock, her sails billowing, his men standing on the deck,
waving and cheering. Erik put his arm around Iliana.

"There she is," he said proudly and with obvious relief.
"There she is."

¤¤

Erik was loath to leave behind the destrier. He knew the
stallion would be good breeding stock should they make it back through time.
However, they needed a harbor dock to load the horses onto the ship.

"Captain, am I glad to see you. I feared you
dead," exclaimed Jock when he rowed to shore. Normally bland of
expression, Jock stared with wide eyes at Iliana, then William, then back to
his captain.

"I thought you dead also, Jock, and Camdork swore he
sent you to your maker." Erik expelled his breath, shaking his head.
"Thank the lord you are well, as are the men. Do not ask to me explain now,"
he said, clasping his quartermaster's hand, "but yes, this is Iliana whom
you met three years ago, and this is my son William."

Slack-jawed for a moment, Jock shook his head. He nodded
respectfully at Iliana, then looked at Erik. "The little time I've been
here, Captain, I've learned there are things which cannot be explained."

"You have no idea. But I am heartily glad to see you
are well, Jock."

"I managed to escape -- Camdork wasn't much concerned
with me anyway. He had wheelings and dealings he was involved in. For all his
talk of the queen, he was a scheming one, that's for sure."

"For which he will pay dearly," Erik acknowledged.
"Jock, I would bring the horses with us. Iliana is certain there is a
harbor hereabouts. Do you know of such a harbor?"

"Aye, Captain. We've sailed this sea so many times in
these last weeks, I know it like the back of my hand. Just beyond this bit of
land there lies a seaport. The loading docks appear quite sturdy and should do
us well to load the horses. The men will have to get busy putting up makeshift
pens."

"When William is fed, we shall ride there. I want to be
off before dark falls."

"Aye, Captain, I don't mind setting sail." Jock
looked upwards. "And I don't care if I never see another dragon the rest
of my life."

"Don't talk badly of the wer-dragons," Iliana
said, feeding William bits of meat. "They helped save our lives."

Jock looked doubtful but made no further comment.

It was decided they would ride to the seaport town while
Jock rowed back to the ship and the
Merry Maiden
was brought round into the harbor.

Iliana had never been to the seaport town, but she knew
vaguely of its existence. Now, as they entered the town, dusk had begun to
settle. Torches lit the waterfront, and a celebration kept the town bustling.
Happy faces, running children, food being cooked on open fire pits. It was
certainly a festive air.

They were almost to the wooden docks where t
he
Merry Maiden
already waited, when three young men hailed them down and stepped in front of
Erik's horse. Erik leaned forward in his saddle and surveyed the happy troupe.

"What is it you celebrate?" he asked.

"The whole countryside celebrates," one of the
young men said with a big grin, and it was apparent as he swayed on his feet
that he'd imbibed more than his share of ale.

His friends, similarly unsteady on their feet, nodded
vigorously. One friend placed an arm across his mate's shoulder. "We are
free men. It is a cause for all to celebrate. The fields are lush once more,
the water flows freely to our crops, and no boys are marched off to the queen's
war. Her ladyship has worked a miracle, and we are free to live once
more."

Erik laughed. "It is surely a cause to celebrate,"
he said, lifting a brow as he looked at Iliana.

The first young man waved his arm. "Come and join us,
travelers. Your party is most welcome."

"Aye, that is generous," Erik said, "but we
have a ship that sails, and there is no time to delay."

The first young man raised a jug in the air. "On your
return journey then," he called as they trotted away. "Upon your
return."

"Let us hope there is no return journey," Iliana
said simply, hugging William's warm little body to her.

"Aye. It is time we set sail for home," said Erik.
He dismounted at the bottom of the wide sturdy plank leading to
the
Merry Maiden
.
Jock and seaman Markin greeted them enthusiastically, Markin taking the reins
of the destrier.

"Captain, you have been sore missed!" exclaimed
Markin.

"It is good to see you also, Markin. This is Iliana and
my son William. Let us not linger. Handle him gently," Erik said to the
young man as he led the destrier up the plank to the ship.

He turned and took William in his arms, dropped a kiss on
the sleeping boy's dark curls, then lifted a hand to Iliana. She dismounted
slowly, a bit stiffly, and she was brought into his other arm. He hugged her,
dropped a kiss on her nose.

Jock took the reins of Iliana's horse and a smile lit his
face.

"Jock," Erik said, "In my arms I have all
that I hold dear."

Jock's thick whiskers widened his cheeks as he smiled.
"Aye, that I can see, Captain."

"Take the mare up before us. You have a separate
holding area for the mare?" he asked.

"Aye," Jock said over his shoulder, rolling his
eyes, "and let us hope the mare does not go into heat on the journey back."

Erik laughed and tugged Iliana along with him. "Come,
let me introduce you once again to
The Merry Maiden
and her crew."

¤¤

Iliana stood at the rail beside the man she loved. Today,
she had seen yet another side to this fascinating man. Erik, captain of t
he
Merry Maiden
,
a man whom she knew to be accustomed to the sea, was also a man who loved being
a father. He took William about with him as they sailed, explaining to the
child the workings of the ship.

No matter their future, Iliana felt content and loved. Some
of the memories from her previous time on board the ship had returned, but not
all. Perhaps there would always remain the elusive memories.

And then there was the story of her sword which had afforded
Erik amusement. In his cabin, he showed her his sword collection. Five swords,
all flamberge rapiers, all similar in appearance to her own waved-blade rapier.
He had collected them over time, and none of them had been created before the
mid 1500's. Had she seen his collection and this sliver of memory had stayed
with her? It was one of the missing bits of information that might never
return.

They rode the ocean swells, sailing west toward his
homeland. Iliana was not sure what to expect, but by the third day she sensed
something was troubling Erik. He and Jock continuously consulted their maps and
charts, and each time they came away looking less than reassured.

Finally, Iliana blurted, "Erik, I know something weighs
upon you. Please, you must tell me if we are in danger or lost at sea."

He looked up from the chart he was currently studying,
spread out upon a makeshift table. For a moment he looked affronted, and then
he laughed. "Iliana, my dear, I assure you we are not lost."

"Then what troubles you so that you frown and Jock
stomps across the deck as if killing the weevils in the wood?"

Momentarily distracted, Erik gave a bark of laughter.
"And what do you know of weevils?"

"Markin told me about the weevils that jump from the
biscuits when the men eat them, and that's why Jock stomps around on deck."

"Hmm. We do need to talk." Erik motioned her over
to where the charts and maps lay upon the table. "Where is William?"

She smiled. "You know Jock has become quite taken with
him."

Erik laughed. "Aye, I've never seen anything like it.
Jock turning quite soft for my son." It pleased him. But now he looked
down at the chart with a frown. "This chart shows our course when we
arrived in this time." He traced with his finger a path from a land mass
and across the sea to England. "Here, in the Sargasso Sea we were sucked
into a whirlpool vortex, a strange phenomenon I had never experienced in my
years on the sea." He moved his finger closer to England. "We emerged
here."

"And we sail the same course?" she asked.

"Aye, but we have been on the sea three days and when
we arrived, it only took half a day." He frowned. "As a seaman I know
is logically impossible to traverse the sea in that amount of time."

Iliana bit her lip. "Do you think we have missed the
whirlpool vortex through time?"

He shrugged, troubled. "I know nothing for certain,
except that it's all different this time."

"And when we reach the land of your birth, what will we
find if we remain in this time?"

Erik looked out over the vast sea. "Wilderness. Beyond
that, I don't know."

Iliana took his hand and Erik pulled her close to his side.
For a moment, Iliana wished she had her life tapestry. Suddenly, she recalled
the Abbess's words. She pushed back from him.

"Erik, the Abbess said that which I once shunned I may
now embrace. She stated I had the power to return from whence I came. Have I
been blind to the way back?" she asked. "Perhaps we are not meant to
return to your time, but to my time."

Erik caught his breath. "How do we do that?" he
asked.

Iliana lifted her shoulders and looked up at the cloudless sky.
"I remember a dream of falling from the sky, but I never fell to the
ground." She caught her breath. "It was a wer-dragon who brought me
here. The keepers of the sky." She gripped his arm. "Could that be
the way back after all?"

They both looked toward the blue sky.

¤¤

Four more days they rode the seas. Not being a seasoned
sailor, Iliana was grateful the sea remained calm and the weather balmy. It was
midday through the fourth day that the dark winged creatures appeared in the
sky. Jock spotted them first, and one of the sailors in the rigging called out
the winged creature's fast approach.

Erik ran to her where she and William sat playing a game of
soldiers on the deck. "Iliana, take William and get below until I assess
the danger."

Iliana quickly gathered William into her arms. He had passed
his nine-month birthday only the day before. She could see how much taller he
suddenly appeared, and with that he was growing quite heavy. She ducked into
the narrow stairwell that led down to their cabin, and then she stood there,
staring at the approaching creatures and saw them to be wer-dragons. She bit
her lip. What if William, who was born in this world, was not able to cross to
another time even if they did find the way back? It teased at her mind
continuously. What if they were caught between times in a land where neither of
them belonged? All she had were the abbess's words.

¤¤

Six wer-dragons circled overhead. It reminded Erik of
buzzards in the sky circling a dying animal before they swooped down to carry off
the carcass.

He watched them carefully. They flew close above the sails,
the greenish scales on their bellies clearly seen. His man in the rigging had
climbed down quickly, almost falling to the deck in his haste to put distance
between himself and the wer-dragons.

"What do they want, Cap'n?" asked Jock.
"We're sitting targets if they decide to make a meal of us."

Erik shook his head. "I don't think it's a meal they
have in mind." He frowned. "It's almost as if they are
searching..." he looked at the stairway leading down to the cabin and saw
Iliana standing in the shadows. "Could they be looking for you?" he
wondered.

"Would they carry her and William off?" Jock
asked. "I'll kill as many as I can before I allow that to happen."

Erik grabbed Jock's arm before his friend could draw his
blade. "Be still, Jock. Trust me -- we would be dead already if that was
their intent."

"At least they don't breathe fire," Jock muttered.

Erik lifted a brow but did not reply. Jock's face grew white
and he stared up at the dark dragons.

Erik moved out onto the open deck. He looked up at the
dragons. "What is it you want?" he called. Immediately one of the
wer-dragons swooped even closer, then flew north-northwest. The others
followed. They doubled back and repeated the pattern.

Jock scratched his head. "It's almost as if --"

"They want us to follow," Erik said. He squinted
into the distance, nudged Jock. "Give me your spyglass." Jock pulled
out his telescope and handed it to him.

Erik stared into the distance where the dragons now circled,
then circled back to the ship.

"There's a white mist ahead," Erik muttered.

"Captain, you're not thinking of sailing for it?"
Jock asked.

"Why do you think they followed us?" Erik asked,
staring up at the wer-dragons.

"I think they want to lure us into a trap."

Erik smiled. "Maybe, but they haven't harmed us thus
far, and they did defeat the fighter dragons." At Jock's blank look, Erik
sighed. "A tale for another day." He handed Jock the telescope.
"They could have burned us as we stood, and yet they have not. Change
course."

Jock looked at him, nodded, and then gave the order.

The wer-dragons kept pace with them as the sails picked up
the wind, skimming them very quickly over the sea and toward the swirling white
mists.