“Have you no central place of authority?” she inquired.
“The castle of the Dominus is that place. You will see,” he told her.
The following morning the young boy came to the cabin and said, “The captain invites the lady to view the entering.”
“Thank you,” Lara told him, and then she said, “Why do you look so fearful?”
“I have never before heard a woman speak,” the boy responded.
“Do you not have women in the Dominion?” she asked him.
“Aye, but our women do not speak,” he answered her.
“Your women cannot or do not speak?” She was again very surprised.
He nodded. “They cannot.”
“Give me a moment to prepare myself,” Lara told him. “Wait outside, and then you will escort me.”
“Yes, lady,” he said obediently, and left the cabin.
The gown she wore was thankfully tailored with a long narrow pleated skirt, and long fitted sleeves. The neckline was cut straight across her collarbone and slightly draped. It was a silvery gray in color. Lara went to the sleeping cabinet, and slipped Andraste in her leather scabbard over her head. She picked up Verica and walked from the cabin. Glancing briefly at her, the boy led Lara up onto the high open deck where Captain Corrado was awaiting her.
“There is our coast,” he said, pointing.
Lara was overwhelmed by the beauty of the green cliffs and steep hills that flowed into taller mountains. It was beautiful, and quite different from Hetar or the Outlands. And then she saw the opening between those cliffs. The ship was sailing toward it. “Is that the entrance to your fjord?” she asked the captain.
“You have a sharp eye,” he said. “We will reach it shortly.”
“And be done with this infernal rocking to and fro?” a voice demanded to know.
“Verica!” Lara giggled for both Captain Corrado and the boy by his side looked horrified. She hastened to reassure them both. “This is Verica, my companion staff. He is most outspoken, I fear, but he means no harm.”
“Stop looking so terrified, lad,” Verica said to the cabin boy. “I am the spirit of the tree from which this staff where I now reside was made. You have, I take it, never seen my like before.”
“N-no,” the boy stammered.
“And you are unlikely to see my like again,” Verica told him.
“This is great magic,” Captain Corrado said.
“My magic is used only for good,” Lara replied.
“Will we soon land, and be off this rolling vessel?” Verica asked again.
“Yes,” Captain Corrado said. “We are almost ready to enter the fjord now. Once we are inside you will find the waters calmer.”
“I am relieved to hear it,” Verica. “Look at my wood. It has a green tinge to it.”
“I cannot believe I am talking to a staff,” Captain Corrado said.
“The staff but houses my spirit,” Verica told him. “Can you not see my face? I am told that it is quite a handsome face. Is that not so, Mistress?”
Lara turned her staff slightly, and the captain found himself staring into a long stern face with sharp eyes, a long, narrow nose, thin lips and a long curling beard. It was a beautifully carved face of a certain elegance.
“Ah, now I see you,” the captain said. “And, yes, you have a most impressive visage, Verica. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“As I am to make yours, Captain,” Verica replied in his most courtly manner.
The vessel began its turn into the fjord, and after a few moments of rough water where the inlet and the sea met they found themselves sailing upon what appeared to be a silken river. The green of the cliffs around them was so vivid it almost hurt Lara’s eyes.
“Just a few miles upriver, and you will see the castle of the Dominus upon the heights,” Captain Corrado said.
“May I remain on deck?” Lara asked him. “It is all so beautiful.”
“I will have the boy bring you something to sit upon,” he replied. “I must now see to our landing and the unloading of the cargo. I will not take you to the castle until that is done. My first duty is to my ship.”
“Of course,” Lara agreed. She was quite content to sit in the leather sling chair the cabin boy brought her and observe her new surroundings. The air was fresh with a mixture of both the sea and the land now. She saw no cattle, or horses, or sheep grazing on the hillsides. There were no villages, but Corrado had said there were. Perhaps this entry to the castle of the Dominus was all private land. And then their ship sailed around a sharp bend in the fjord, and Lara saw it.
The great castle was built half into the rock of the hillside. It was dark stone, massive in size, and yet it was not ponderous. It had soaring graceful towers with peaked roofs of gray slate. She could see greenery trailing over its wall in some places, and thought that there might be gardens behind those walls. There was nothing at all like it in Hetar except perhaps in the province of the Shadow Princes. Gaius Prospero would be pea-green with envy if he saw this magnificent castle. She smiled to herself. She could scarcely wait to learn all she could about the Terahn Dominion. And especially why did the women of this land not speak—a most curious mystery.
Their vessel nosed itself toward the shore where a long stone quay pushed out into the fjord. The ship was tied firmly to the quay, a gangway lowered, and then the unloading of the cargo began. Each box, each container, was quickly removed down the stone way through an entrance in the cliffs. Captain Corrado stood directing his men. As the ship grew emptier it began to float more lightly at its mooring. Finally the last of the cargo had been removed from the ship, and Captain Corrado came to fetch Lara.
“You are ready?” he asked her.
“I am,” she said. “Will I meet the Dominus now?”
“Probably,” he replied. “I am always expected to present myself to him immediately when I return from a voyage. He and I are kin.”
“It is a steep climb,” Lara noted as they walked down the gangway, and began to traverse the quay.
“We need not climb,” he told her. “You will soon see.”
He led her to the entry in the stone cliffs. Inside he took Lara’s hand, and they stepped through a wooden gate onto an open platform enclosed by a railing. Almost at once the platform began to rise up through the interior of the cliff. Surprised, Lara watched as the platform passed by several open gates in the stone walls. As they approached the top of the cliff, she could see through to corridors, each one a bit grander than the one before it.
“How is this done?” she asked the captain.
“The conveyance is drawn up and lowered back down again by a mountain giant. We employ them for this purpose. They are not very intelligent, but they are quite strong and good-natured,” he explained. “You mentioned that you have known giants.”
“Only one, and he was considered small for his breed,” Lara replied.
“These are big fellows,” Captain Corrado said. The platform stopped, and a servant was there to open the gates for them. They stepped into a well-lit corridor. “Lady, our men are not used to the sound of a woman’s voice. Try to remain silent. And be warned that the Dominus is a stern man. Please be discreet, for your own safety.”
“Thank you,” Lara responded, touched by his concern. Then she followed him down the corridor accompanied by the servant who had helped them into