Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [11]
“Sure,” he says.
They stay by the rail as the island ahead of them grows bigger and bigger. It isn’t long before they’re able to make out the docks and other ships at anchor there. The island itself is heavily populated, houses dot the land from one end to the other.
Commands can be heard being shouted by the captain as he makes ready to dock. The sailors begin furling the sails and several go over to the railing at the bow, readying lines to be cast to those who’re waiting on the docks.
With skill honed through years of practice, the captain and his men slow the ship as they approach the dock. The sailors toss the lines over to the men who’re waiting on the dock. With quick speed, the dock workers wrap the lines around mainstays and they can hear the dock groan as the ship pulls against the lines and comes to a stop.
Once the ship has stopped its forward momentum, the ship drifts backward and the dock workers take up the slack in the lines until the ship is securely tied to the dock.
The captain comes over to them and says, “You can disembark now if you like. We’ll be here for some time. Just be back by sunup.”
“Sure thing captain,” James says.
“That sure was something,” Miko exclaims. “The way you brought the ship right up to the docks, at just the right speed.”
The captain smiles at his exuberance and replies, “All in a days work, me boy.” He turns back to his men and begins barking out orders as they start getting the cargo ready to be taken off the ship.
“Shall we?” Jiron asks, indicating the gangplank a sailor had just put in place.
“Absolutely,” replies James as he heads toward it, with Miko just behind.
When they disembark, the first thing that James notices is the lack of soldiers on the streets. There was a reduced presence back in Corillian, but here, there’s a total lack of them.
“Guess the Empire doesn’t feel the need to have soldiers patrolling here,” he observes.
“Probably not,” agrees Jiron. Looking around, he sees not much more than houses and some stores. “Doesn’t look like there’s too much to this place.”
Feeling a tug on his arm, James looks to Miko who’s pointing to a bakery shop. “James, tarts!”
Smiling, he allows himself to be dragged over there where they buy a dozen tarts with a red berry filling. Miko pays for them from the money Miriam had given him and then they leave the shop. James hears Miko licking his fingers and glances at him, one tart had already bit the dust.
They come back to where Jiron is waiting for them and Miko hands him one. “Ever had one before?” he asks him.
Nodding, Jiron says, “Yeah, a couple times. Tersa really likes them.”
Moving along, they proceed down the street to see what there is to see. They come to a woodcrafter who has several wooden ships displayed and James goes over to inspect them. He picks up a small one and says, “This would make a good present for Arkie.”
The woodcrafter, seeing his interest, stops the work he was doing on another of the wooden boats and comes over.
After some half-hearted haggling, he hands over the money and walks away with the small single masted ship. Putting it in his bag, he continues on.
They spend the day sightseeing, nothing real special going on. James begins thinking how nice it would’ve been to have Meliana here with him. As they walk, he sees a craftsman working on ceramic figurines and sees one of a dolphin, at least it looked close enough to one to call it that. After some haggling, he arranges to have it sent back to Corillian and to Nate’s family’s house.
“Why are you having it sent there?” Jiron asks.
“Don’t know where to send it to Meliana, so will send it to Miriam and have her take it to her,” he explains. He writes out a letter and gives it to the man with instructions on where to send it. Handing the man the money, they soon leave his shop and continue on.
As the day progresses, the wind begins to pick up and clouds begin to form on the horizon. “Hope a storm’s not coming,