The Benefit of a Seahold

Writers: Len, Yvonne
Date Posted: 20th December 2014

Characters: Taril, L'fael
Description: Lafael delivers a message to Taril and gets more than he expected in return
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 7

Today's big job led Lafael down to the docks. It was a rough place where he didn't like to go, but the rain had been going on well over a week without stop and that alone seemed to have kept everyone inside. He picked through the puddles, taking care not to get his bare feet too muddy when he came to the place where the kitchen help had said to go. Clutching the roll in his hand, Lafael opened the door and stepped inside.

Before his eyes could take in his surroundings, Lafael spotted something magical, a tiny brown flit sitting on a shelf. Without knowing what he was doing, the boy said an 'oh!' and walked over to the beautiful creature.

"Ahem." Taril cleared his throat just as the drudge was lifting his hand toward Dodger. He tried not to smile as the boy whirled around, obviously startled. A scrawny boy at that, and something about him tugged at his memory... "Can I help you?"

"Oh...I..." What_was_he hear to do? Lafael scratched his head as he tried to remember what had led him into the man's shop. His eyes darted from the man back to the flit, before really taking the man's features in. Instead of looking startled at the missing ear and left eye, the boy looked relieved. This was someone he recognized. The trader he had lived with had bartered with this man for supplies that turn ago when Lafael had been left behind because of his broken leg.

"Is that for me?" Taril looked pointedly at the paper in the boy's hand.

"Oh..." What was the man talking about? Why was he here, exactly? Lafael looked wide wide eyes from the man to the flit and back again. What...a sound of paper being crumbled made him look down at his own hand. The message! Ah, that was why he was here, he was supposed to deliver a message. "S-sir...Journeyman Farrell said to hand you this message." Shyly, he held the crumbled paper out.

The shy look... that he remembered. This was the trader boy with the broken ankle from the previous turn. Taril took the paper and smoothed it down on his desk to read. "Heard from your uncle lately?"

Lafael gave him a funny look, his eyes welling up for a moment. "My uncle gave me to that man back when I was 12, he wasn't my uncle." He bit his lower lip and glanced back at the flit. "And to answer your question, no I haven't heard from him since he and his wife left me here."

Obviously that was a sore spot. "Trader caravans usually come through late in the spring, once the roads are clear. Keep your eyes open then," Taril told him. The seasons mattered out here. And Journeyman Farrell had a rather interesting proposition for him... He reached for his quill. "How are you finding life at Sunstone Seahold?"

"Oh, they won't be back..." Lafael may have had the concentration of a flit but he knew the truth of his situation. The traders weren't coming back for some silly useless little drudge. He didn't answer Taril's last question. From the bruises on his arm and his sad expression, there was no reason to answer it.

"You could leave, you know. There's plenty of ships that'll take on a scullion in exchange for passage." Taril finished his note and held it out to Lafael. Most of those ships were even honest men.

For the first time in a very long time, a genuine smile broke out on Lafael's face. "Really? I would be allowed to do that? No one would try to stop me?"

"Not unless you owe anyone marks," Taril told him. By the looks of the boy he'd never seen a mark in his life, let alone had the sense to borrow any to improve his condition. "That's the beauty of a sea holding. Pern's open to you."

Lafael bit his lower lip to keep a wide grin from breaking out. His heart lifted with those words from Taril. Escape! And the open sea! Oh...but there was one thing... "Do I need to be able to swim?"

"It helps if you fall overboard," Taril told him.

"Oh...right." Lafael pulled a face. He'd have to learn to swim. Well, that would give him something to work for, now. "Thank you, sir, you've been a great help to me."

"And you'll be a great help to me if you deliver that message back to Journeyman Farrell for me," Taril reminded him gently.

"Oh! Of course." Between what the man had told him about going to sea, and the beautiful flit so close by, it was hard for Lafael to think about such trivial matters like his job.

Last updated on the December 26th 2014

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

The Benefit of a Seahold