Feeling restless, Cuyler decided to go for a walk. It was a dark night, and he was sure he wasn’t going to find anyone out there.
Picking up his cloak, he abandoned the vessel and walked through the forest near the hill where they had landed.
The night was cold, but the moon lightened it enough to make the stroll a pleasant one. Not that he needed the moonlight to see. Drogons had a perfect night vision. It just made it more enjoyable. After all, they had been through these stolen moments alone were very precious to him. They gave him time to remember what he had left behind and mourn the loss of his family.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear anything, not until whoever was walking through the woods was almost on top of him. It was the person’s scent what hit him first. His nostrils flared, and his whole body tensed up warning him of her presence.
He turned in her direction and finally saw her silhouette drawn against the tall trees. She was walking slowly as if she had all the time in the world. The darkness of the forest didn't seem to scare her, on the contrary, she appeared to feel at home, as she caressed the harsh rind of the trees she walked by.
The closer she got to him the more certain he was, she was the one for him.
The urgent wave of passion and lust that rushed through his body almost made him run and take her. The thin threads of self-control he managed to keep, made him step back and hide behind a tree.
It wasn’t the right moment. He would ruin all the plans they had been doing if he acted driven by his passion. He could wait. He had waited for her for so long he could wait a few more days.
He watched her walk by him, and her scent was so strong he almost lost it. She took a few more steps away from him before she stopped and swirled around as if sensing his presence.
“Who’s there? Show yourself,” she shouted out, swirling once more.
Kaylein waited until Millicent; her maid walked out of her room for her to jump out of bed. She had been feeling restless the entire day, sensing something bad was going to happen. She hated when she felt like that, because most of the times, she was right, and something bad did happen.
Of course, she couldn’t tell anyone about her feelings. Her mother would say she was spending too much time with the town’s healer, someone everybody called a white witch, and that was the last thing she wanted. Luanda was one of the few people that actually understood her and being kept away from the older woman would be far worse, than dealing with her bad feelings by herself.
Her father, on the other hand, avoided her presence as much as he could. Being the last of six daughters, she had been his last disappointment, and she was sure he had never forgiven her for not being the boy he had hoped for.
There wasn’t a thing she could do to please him, and she had learned that lesson the hard way, trying and trying, endless times to be the son he wished she was.
It didn’t matter if she was the best rider, the best archer or even the best swordsman in town, nothing mattered to him, because she wasn’t the son he wanted, so she just had given up on him.
That night, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She had been feeling all day as if she had an iron fist clenched around her heart, and no matter how many times she took deep breaths or rubbed her chest, the feeling wouldn’t go away. A walk through the woods wouldn’t make it go away, but it would calm her, that was for sure, and probably tire her enough to make her sleep when she returned.
Once she was sure no one was awake, she sneaked out of the castle, wrapped in a thick cloak and headed to the forest. Nothing calmed her more than walking through the trees, breathing the cold air of the night, allowing it to cleanse her mind and her heart from all the bad things.
She knew the forest like the back of her hand. She had been escaping here since she was a child, so she wasn’t afraid, but after a while, she started to have a strange feeling she was being watched, and the tightness around her heart seemed to grow worse.
She tried to ignore it and walk away, but the feeling was so strong, she pulled the dagger she always had on her and swirled around, trying to see who was out there.
“Who’s there? Show yourself.” She shouted, trying to keep her hands from shaking.
Facing an enemy, you couldn’t see wasn’t very easy, but she wouldn’t fall back.
Despite her words and her challenge, no one appeared. She could still feel the eyes on her, and she decided to walk in that direction. But before she could reach it, something huge jumped up in front of her and disappeared into the night.
Startled, she fell to the ground, and all she could see was a dark figure. She would have sworn, whatever it was, had flown away, judging by the sound of flapping wings. What she heard, not just any wings, but huge wings, like those of an eagle, probably.
Slowly getting up, she decided it was better to return to the palace. There was no sense exposing herself to the attack of a beast she didn’t know.
When she started walking his way, Cuyler had to admit her senses were a lot better than he had assumed, but unless he wanted her to see him, he had to get out of there. Pushing his cloak away, he unfurled his wings and flew away, just when she was about to reach the tree where he had been hiding on.
Quickly, he flew back to the vessel, feeling more anxious than ever, to talk with the people in the village and find out who she was.
The following morning, they received the information from the bird cams they had sent into the castle. They revealed a bit more about the ways of these people. The castle was very frugal, with a main room on the ground floor where they gathered for the meals and assemblies. The kitchen was a huge place, but they still used logs to create the fire they used to cook their food. The light was equally provided by some cylindrical objects that were lit and burned slowly. The light they produced wasn’t the brightest, but it seemed to be enough.
“They have to light the room even during the day. Their windows are too narrow.” Haskell commented.
“I guess it’s easier to defend the castle that way. It also prevents the cold winds from entering.” Cuyler pointed out. “Their knowledge on technology is practically null.”
“Perhaps we should offer to help them,” Eirik suggested.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea. We'll have to think about it thoroughly after we've made contact with them,” Cuyler replied.
He hadn't told his men about the woman he had seen in the woods because he didn't want to excite them about something that still felt like a dream more than anything.
“Igor, have you been able to get a sample of the gold metal?” he asked his man.
“Yes, and we’ve found a source, not far from here. We can go there and get some and make our own pieces,” he explained. “I’m sure that will help us deal with them.”
“What about the clothes?”
“They’re ready. But we won’t be able to go unnoticed. We’re a lot taller than the people here,” Haskell warned. “We might be perceived as enemies.”
“Then we’ll have to announce ourselves and ask for a meeting with their leader,” Cuyler decided. “We’ll tell them we come from a very far land, across the seas.”
“Very well, but we’ll have to be ready for any circumstances,” Igor insisted.
“We will.”
“Let’s go get that gold, then. I want to approach them as soon as possible,” Cuyler ordered. “Igor, take Eirik and one of the smaller vessels and go get the gold. Bring plenty, so that we don’t have to go for more later.”
“Yes, my king, right away.”
Both men got up and left the command center.
Cuyler turned to look at Haskell. “Do we have more footage of the women in this village?”
Haskell shook his head. “No, my king. We would have to penetrate the houses, and I’m not sure we should.”
“No, you’re right. We better wait until we get there. We can take back twenty women. I know it’s not enough, but if we manage to mate them, then we can come back for more, with a bigger vessel, and look for them in a bigger village.”
“Yes, that would be perfect, my king. I really have high hopes for these women.”
“Yes, me too.”
He spent the rest of the day watching the images recollected by the bird cams, trying to learn as much as he could of their language and how to pronounce their words. He knew it wouldn't be that easy to speak their language since it was so different from his, but he would try his best. Hopefully, they would understand him.