(Chapter 8 continued)
It was bright day. By now the “Ruhig Blut” was just leaving the river Ruher entering the Rhine, moving upstream towards their goal in Thusseldorp. After having passed a complex of harbours not long ago this part was surprisingly green flood plains, dotted with a few ruins of buildings from the fallen union, which now were overgrown by plants. Cara was trying to pay attention to her surroundings. Everything looked markedly different here than in Monasteria but she kept getting distracted by the strange glances her master and Eliza were exchanging. It reminded Cara of one of the documentaries they were shown at school, always a highlight in young Cara’s life, where two dominant male orangutans had encountered each other, where on of them was obviously in the wrong territory. Yet instead of fighting they made a conscious effort to ignore each other.
In this case it was more an aggressive ignoring that contained suspicious amounts of side eye as well as polite almost gestures daring the other to step forward, if they thought they were hard enough. Cara was fascinated by how these two predators kept just outside of the distance that would force a response of the other. Now unlike how it would have been if they were fencing. Only that this to Cara smelled and tasted mostly childish. Which puzzled her even more, both these woman were obviously masters of the art. Cara could recognise the subtle shift in stances, a slight shift in balance of Eliza’s would result in Natalie moving so very slightly forward in her seat, so that she would be able to counter any attack that might come from the forge walker. While one was still pretending to look out of the window, with Natalie sipping on a mug of coffee that was coming to terms with the fact that it might soon turn into improvised brass knuckles. Manfred had completely removed himself from the possible lines of fire. He was now near the coffee maker checking the fire extinguisher. While so far it was Erika that had been the main fighter of the two, Cara could see that if need be, Wolfram was ready to fight for his bridge when push came to shove.
Instead the two great apes seemingly grew bored as time passed, Eliza actually starting to focus on the vista outside starting to point interesting points they were passing. Interesting to Eliza were smoke stacks of factories that were functional again, the power plant running, the two fortresses of high science that were deeper inland where the bright and the obsessed fought to keep the fading light of science going and of course most important of all the mines old and new that gave this region its enormous power.
“And around this bend”, Eliza said pointing forwards, “Is our goal palace Benrath.”
This woke up even Natalie who had not been as fascinated by Eliza’s accounts as Cara, her head that had hung backwards over the backrest of her seat, snapped up. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand blinking in the direction where Eliza was pointing.
“I don’t see any palace.” Natalie said yawning.
“I see many ships.” Cara said, “Is that even a real harbour? I don’t see the usual cranes and most of the ships are small…”, she went to the window at the port side to have a better look, “and behind them… is that a fair? A marketplace?”
“A bit of both.” Eliza said, “This is a port of convenience that grew here over the years. The palace is a bit further inland. It changed functions several times. It was a command HQ, a hospital, the mansion of a wolf back in the day, but by now it is the ‘guildhall’ of the independent traders union. The large park of the castle and how close it is to the river made it the perfect place for smaller merchant outfits to come here and trade directly and it somehow turned into this.”, she said with grin. “Took a lot of tenacity to get where it is now, they fought hard to keep this bit of earth mostly independent. To them this confusion of quays is a feature. It is easy to get in there with a small boat while large freighters wouldn’t dare to land here,” her gaze shifted towards Wolfram, “present company excepted it seems.”
Wolfram smiled a thin smile, his eyes glinting, “We have friends in low places.”
“And in high ones.”, Erika added.
“And in between”, Wolfgang said. After a short pause, “We have friends everywhere.” He moved towards the the radio station next to the helm. “Free Port Benrath, this is captain Wolfram Hartman Serafini of the “FMS Ruhig Blut”, we request permission to dock.” He cast a long roaming glance through the bridge, the shadow of raised eyebrows only reinforcing his poker face. The radio crackled back to life, “Captain Hartmann Serafini, welcome back to Benrath Free port, you can dock at your usual place and convey our welcome also to your wife captain Erika Hartmann Serafini.”
“Thank you and will do. “FMS Ruhig Blut” over and out”, he gave everyone enough time to process what just had happened. Natalie grinned, Eliza smiled nodding to him, while Cara was deeply impressed her mouth forming a an O, her eyes wide. She started clapping, Natalie and Eliza followed her example. Wolfram lowering his head humbly. Erika snorted.
A short while and some impressive manoeuvres later, the “Ruhig Blut” was fastened to the quickly deployed extension of the very first quay of the chaotic port. Cara watched how the freighter moved with a precision that was very close to magic towards the almost fragile looking quay. There were two people, a man and woman, already waiting for them. Erika was already out of the bridge getting ready to throw hawser on shore. Meanwhile Wolfram kept the ship steady, dropping its anchors. Shortly after the “Ruhig Blut” was as safely moored as possible under these circumstances.
“Are you coming to shore with us?”, Natalie asked Wolfram.
“Erika will, we have some deliveries to make here and maybe she will find something small and profitable in the market. I’m staying on board. Security. Both for our cargo and the harbour. That”, he pointed at the quay outside, “isn’t made for a ship like this.”
“So…”, Cara started, not knowing exactly what to do, “this is goodbye?”, she fidgeted looking almost everywhere apart from Wolfram’s face.
“I guess it is”, Wolfram said, who suddenly was very focused on his instruments. “I’m not got at this… Please take care, all of you. We will meet each other downstream again some day.” He did not look up from his instruments as he said this.
Erika nodded and said, “Goodbye Captain Hartmann Serafini, I will remember you and so will the forge fortress”, she turned around and left the cabin.
“You and your wife are some of the most solid people I’ve ever met”, Natalie said. “Until next time Wolfram, may your business and your boat always stay afloat.” Natalie too left the bridge murmuring, “Hey, that rhymed”, as she left.
“I…”, Cara started, “I just wanted to say thank you for all what you have done for me, I have no idea how to repay you for your kindness…”
Wolfram cleared his throat. “We got paid and we don’t leave anyone behind.” As Cara was still at a loss for words he added, “Become a great swordmaster and remember us.”
“I will”, Cara said. She moved forward a step, saw Wolfram sinking deeper into his seat. She decided to give him a quick pat on his head, turned around and left. ‘What was I thinking patting his head…’, she asked herself as she passed through the door outside. As she closed the door she thought to have heard a silent sniff.
Down on the quay, Erika was signing a paper held by the woman who had helped with the mooring of the boat. She the turned around and with wide gestures said goodbye to first Erika, there was a lot of hugging too, the she turned to Natalie, the ritual repeating. As Cara moved closer she began to understand what Erika was saying. “…and make sure to eat well, it is not easy out there but a strong warrior like you needs to have a healthy diet. You need to keep that edge right?”
Natalie mumbled something that Cara couldn’t make out, but the answer from Erika was loud and clear. “Who are you calling your mom?! I’m not that much older than you. This is just solid advice. Porco d…, mom…. I’m like your older sister!”
Natalie nodded and again said something that Cara couldn’t quite understand, while trying to twist out of Erika’s embrace like a cat that had reached the limits of its patience. It was then that Erika saw Cara approaching. She let go of Natalie who was smiling her politest smile and quickly moved out of Erika’s reach.
“Cara, carissima, come here”, with a side eye to Natalie, “to your big sister.”
Cara moved slowly towards the waiting captain, who embraced her the moment she got into range. At first Cara was impressed at how good Erik’s perception of distance was, that thought was instantly replaced by the feeling of being crushed.
“Piccolina, how I wish you could stay with us a bit longer. But you need to go on, train to be a great warrior like your old aunt Natalie over there.” She shot Natalie a look as she said that. Cara heard a gasp coming from Natalie’s direction. Erika continued, “I already told her that she should be paying close attention to what you eat. You still have to grow big and strong.” Erika finally let go of Cara. Mostly. Her hands still remained on Cara’s shoulders. Cara wanted to say that she had not grown anymore in more than ten years but Erika kept talking. “Listen to your instructors, show them respect but most of all show yourself respect and train every day.” Cara nodded. “I know in time you will become a great hero. I am looking forward to the stories the people will tell of you.”
“I’m not a hero”, Cara just said.
Erika just nodded slowly, “N0 not yet. But you are getting there. Facing off against pirates. Breaking out of a slavers cage. Fighting your way to freedom.”
“But I was…”
“Hurt? Yes you were. And look you are standing again. While the criminals who did this to you are now doing hard labour in Datlem. That,” she finally let go of Cara only to poke her in the chest with her weapon grade finger as she continued, “is how you grow strong.”
“er…”, Cara tried again, only to be attacked by another embrace. “I will miss you, Cara. Please take very good care of yourself”, she suddenly let go of her again. “And now go, Cara. I’ll see you down stream.”
“Thank you. For everything.” Cara tried to say something that could put her feelings into words, but at that moment no words would come. “See you downstream, captain.”
And with that she turned towards Eliza and Natalie. She stepped between them and together they walked towards the open market of Benrath palace.
