249 Tough decisions
Relative chaos followed the news of Edmar further absconding with three ships and crews to man them. The outlying settlement had not had any inkling that the Commodore's son had fallen out of favor. They had not seen anything amiss with the request.
Apparently he had come with news of a pod of large sea mammals that was headed east, and required a large fishing party to bring them in. Now that it was widely known he was at odds with his father and potentially under the influence of an evil force, there was widespread alarm.
The peripheral consequences of the Void's last attack wiped out a sizable portion of the Cetoan female population. There was now an existential dread over the havoc a more targeted attack might wreak upon them.
The unofficial counsel made up of Haf, Cora, Caspian, Roland, Duncan, and, on occasion Mayra and Jimmy when their input was needed, worked on the problem of Edmar's plans.
"The ships are not built for conflict," Caspian mused, "and surely he would not mount an attack on the central settlements with a mere three ships. It's large for a fishing party but hardly an armada of war."
"With the magic of the Void at his disposal, we do not know what he would do." Haf responded grimly.
"The Void was defeated in open conflict before. It is too clever, I think, to try the same thing again with a lesser force. Its goal was never war for the sake of war, there was something in the city that it wanted. We never found out what exactly," Roland frowned, "but I'm confident it has some scheme at play that will not involve open war unless it is necessary and has a certainty of resolution in the Void's favor."
"The report said they sailed Southeast, by the information given by the settlement. That's the direction where we appeared when we arrived back home from the world of the pink skies after seeing land there." Caspian offered.
"The land's uses are obvious to us, but what to Edmar? To the Void?" Cora asked.
"Obvious." Jimmy rolled his eyes. "You said the Void needs followers to stay in a world. It probably sent your boy there to find it some, or at least some objects to whip up portal-makers. I been over all the stuff you people brought back from other places. All animal parts! Not a single thing good to make a portal. Bones and skins and such. Need wood, stone, something like that." The quarter-halfling sat in the corner with a knife, whittling at a piece of a branch.
Mayra was fascinated by the quarter-halfing's hobby. He always appeared and disappeared, and rarely did she see him for more than a few minutes at a time. The extended period of interaction and observation was something she was unaccustomed to.
Her attention was only partially on the highly important meeting. What was Jimmy carving? Was this what he did with all of the alone time he must have when he wasn't smuggling? What was the purpose? Did he like decorative little sculptures? Did it have some sort of magical use?
"But the followers need to belong in that world, don't they?" Mayra put in a little absently. "Are there people at all in these other worlds?"
"That's easier to find out by explorin' the land." Jimmy shrugged. "'Less you're looking for underwater people."
"That other world you went to, it had no inhabitants, only the Void, correct?" Haf asked.
"The one I went to, only that thing, and I never even saw that. Now, wherever Mayra went, it had that fire monster." Jimmy's jaw worked in irritation at the memory.
"Fire monster?" Haf, Cora, and Caspian spoke in unison. Lysander's eyebrows rose, but he remained silent.
Mayra glanced at Roland and Duncan. She hadn't spoken of Gwen because she didn't know whether or not that was to be a state secret from the Cetoans. After all, even in Klain, only a few knew the details of the Fae's involvement in the war.
Duncan pursed his lips, and Roland frowned at Jimmy.
"Aren't you supposed to be a hermit? When did you get so talkative?"
"I got places to go, hopefully. Talkin' to speed things up. You people need to get goin' to catch up with that boy, and I intend to ride along. You can try and stop me if you'd like, but I got my ways of makin' things go the way I want… that is, apart from the involvement of nosy, know-it-all foreigners." He sneered down as he continued whittling.
"We're nosy know-it-alls?" Cora was shocked by the offense readily dished out by the rude guest.
"Not you. I said foreigners." He squinted at her as if she were slow.
Mayra sighed, and looked to Roland for guidance. He continued frowning but gave her a subtle nod.
"The Darkness is not the only world we have knowledge of," She said, drawing the Cetoans' attention. "Although, I'm not sure they can hardly be classified as 'foreigners,'" Mayra spared a brief look at Jimmy, "there are beings that primarily inhabit that world that have been helpful to us in the past."
"'Beings'?" Haf stared hard at her.
"Please keep this secret, as even in Klain and Rhone, only a handful of people are aware," Mayra smiled a little bleakly. "The Fae were once inhabitants of our world, but long ago, the Sorcerer divided the race of people up into others. Giants, halflings, Fae, Goblins… I can't remember if there are others. The halflings and Fae are the only ones I've met. Well, and I slept in a giant's skull once. They're extinct now, but that's beside the point.
"Anyway, the Fae now inhabit another world. Their natural form is like light and fire, which is what Jimmy was referring to." Mayra finished and gave an uncomfortable grimace.
"How did the people of Klain get to that world?" Caspian asked.
"The Fae. Roland's wife and I climbed a mountain to find them, and they took mercy on us before we froze to death and brought us to their world. We're the only ones who have been… oh, and Finn's little brother. But nobody else." Once she began talking, it was a little hard to stop. She didn't particularly like keeping secrets from people she liked, and it was no small relief to be getting so much out in the open.
"And these… Beings… would they follow the Void?" Haf asked.
"No, they helped us defeat it. They'd never follow it," Mayra assured.
"They came from this world, originally," Roland said. "We have no evidence so far that any world other than ours has indigenous sentient beings, except the Void in the Darkness. And are we even sure it's native to that world?"
"I'm not sure," The young woman replied. "I haven't given it a lot of thought, but Finn and I talked about some of the similarities between the Fae and the Void. The way they can move rapidly over long distances, the fact that they can take human form or sort of an amorphous light or darkness… it could all be coincidence."
"This is all mighty interestin'," Jimmy interrupted, "but can we get to the part where we leave?"
"I think, unfortunately, this 'Jimmy' is correct. We must go after Edmar." Haf clearly didn't like the idea.
"Who all is 'we'?" Mayra spoke up, drawing the stares of those around her. "I wasn't volunteering! I know women get snatched and eaten or something out there. I was just asking who the crew is going to be."
"I will go," Caspian said. "Father, you should stay. I'm still unconvinced about whether Edmar tried to murder you on the last voyage."
Cora looked as if she were holding her tongue.
"No, he is my son and I must bring him home," Haf replied. "It would do well to have someone with knowledge of the Void with me."
Roland hesitated. Leaving Finn and the babies to come to the sea had been one thing. Leaving land, and even their world entirely, was an entirely different matter.
"I must get back to my people soon." Duncan replied regretfully. "I will stay for a few days to visit the Rhone brides and see that they are being settled well and taken care of, but I cannot leave my people without a leader for so long."
For a moment, Duncan eyed his son, who held perfectly still under the scrutiny. Roland could volunteer to rule in his father's absence. He would be able to go home, and stay in his house, and be with Finn.
"Surely it would be horribly unwise to put the leaders of two of the three major nations of this world on a single boat facing an enemy together." Cora spoke. "It was even foolish of both my sons and my husband to be on the same ship, even though it was only supposed to be a one-day fishing excursion. Had the ship gone down, there would have been no ruler and no heir."
The words settled over the group.
"I have to go, don't I?" Roland sighed.
