The Angry Mermaid 33 or Y Morforwyn Dicllon 33

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A chapter where Drustina finds herself in the thick of battle again fighting to secure her husband's throne.

The Angry mermaid 33
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon.

Mabina. The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin the twins grandfather.
Giana The twins grandmother
Caderyn The twins father.
Herenoie The twins wise and beautiful mother.
Morgaran The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe The twins oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara The twins second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun. Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin. Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina Child of a Demetae fisherman, (rescued by Aiofe, Drustan and Mabina.)
Penderol Dumnonii Minor chief.
Udris Young Dumnonii warrior.
Dryslwyn High chief of the whole Celtic nation. Dwells in Brithony.
Bronlwyn Dryslwyn’s wife (and queen.)
Magab The moor who taught numbers.
Eric Saxon galley slave rescued from Corsair pirates.
Carl Another Saxon galley slave rescued by Drustan.
Torvel Celtic galley slave rescued from the same captured corsair ship
Arton. Turdetani Chieftain Holder of Gibral Rock.
Carinia Arton’s wife.
Isobel. Arton’s adopted daughter.
Appotel King of the Turdetani Tribe. (Southern Iberia.)
Bramana Queen. (Wife of Appotel)
Pilus King of the Capetani.
Shaleen Pilus’s queen and sister to Bramana.
Pedoro Lord Marshal of the Southern border region.
Lady Shulaar Lord Pedoro’s wife.
Taan. The scullery maid.
Isaar. Pedoro’s oldest son.
Ferdie Pedoro’s 2nd son
Sular Pedoro’s 3rd son
Gontala Pedoro’s youngest son.
Shenoa Pedoro’s only daughter.
Portega. Tyrant King to the west.
Portua. Portega’s grandson.
Jubail. Old Fisherman.
Mutas Magab’s younger brother and usurper.
Walezia King of Malta.
Alviar Megalomaniacal bishop of Carthage. (Hates Drustina.)
Ethelia Female healer who treats Drustina during her pregnancy.
Seripatese Drustina’s faithful horse.
Astos & Amitor Minor royalty who govern Alexandria. King and Twin Queen.
Meronee Nubian Queen of Nobatia The northern Kingdom of the Nubians.
Horam The Egyptian master Boat builder.
Muraa King Astos’s male partner.

The Captain of the guard saw the incident and cursed as Arina finally broke the Mermaid free from the treacherous barge’s broken oars.

“Dammit. Can she swim?”

“Like a fish,” Arina reassured him. “We were born and bred by the sea. Can your sergeant swim? He looked badly wounded as he fell.”

The captain cursed and was almost tempted to blame Arina for causing the Mermaid to lurch but he knew it was entirely accidental. With a heavy heart the captain concluded he had lost both his sergeant and Drustina. The latter loss left him almost numbed into immobility and it was Arina who had to shout at the men to keep sheltering their comrades and the crew. They responded with heavy hearts as the Mermaid finally slid downstream of the traitor’s barge and Arina managed to get her under control. Fortunately, with the wind blowing across the river, it was an easy task to haul the Mermaid around onto a broad reach again and claw her way upstream away from the grip of the Nile as it rushed between the buttresses of the bridge. It was obvious they were no longer fit to fight but the realised with huge relief, that the Royal barge was now beginning to overpower the cousin’s treacherous crew and it looked quite clearly, that Astos was getting the upper hand. The Mermaid’s efforts had not been in vain.

As the exhausted platoon of men stood recovering their breath and watching their effeminate king actually fighting in the midst of the battle they shared amazed expressions and nodded approvingly. Astos might appear to be some timid and effeminate excuse for a man but he was proving himself at least willing to put his own life and limb on the line. What they did not know was that Astos’s boyfriend had been severely wounded and Astos was fighting in a lover’s rage to avenge the guardsman’s injuries. Steadily the royal barge guard found courage and encouragement from Astos’s uncharacteristic display and they felt, at last, that they had a king worth fighting for as well as a king worth fighting alongside. On the mermaid, now standing off from the fight while her crew recovered their composure out of arrow range, the guard captain turned to Arina.

“What shall we do? Do we rejoin the fight or search for our comrades?”

“We won’t find those two now. The river will have carried them through the bridge. Provided the bridge guardsmen don’t recognise the pair as our men they might get away with it, if Drustina can help the sergeant. There are dozens of men and bodies passing through the bridge from the traitor’s barge. Who knows which are Drustina and our sergeant, if at all?”
Arina’s most mortal and yet unspoken fear was that Drustina’s blond hair would immediately betray her identity even whilst floating in the river. It would invite a veritable cascade of arrows from the bridge that Drustina could surely not survive. She did not mention her fears to the captain for he had worries enough of his own.

With dread causing his heart to thump, the captain decided they might as well resume the fight against the traitors. Nobody had any idea where the two over-boarders might be now. He turned to Arina.

“Shall we resume fighting? The men seem recovered.”

Arina’s shoulder’s sagged. She could not see Drustina’s golden hair anywhere amidst the press of heads gathered in the sucking maelstroms of the Nile's flood that was causing mayhem under the bridge’s many arches. She nodded despondently and the Mermaid returned wearily to engage the traitor’s barge. The job was not finished yet and any assistance they rendered would help King Astos and his men. She nodded to the captain and signalled her intentions to the pair of Apprentices who immediately set to with the sails. The Mermaid commenced close-hauling across the river under the traitor’s stern to first find a suitable angle of attack that most assisted King Astos’s hard pressed and still outnumbered crew. As they closed under the stern, two sights brought them joy and relief. A golden head of hair with a man under one arm and the other hand clinging on to a secure hand hold under the traitor ship’s counter. Drustina recognised the head and nudged the captain who was scanning the tangle of smashed oars where the royal barge had finally closed with the treacherous cousin. Now the blue coated royal guards, though still outnumbered, were struggling to board the traitor’s ship.

The moment the captain realised what Arina had spotted he gave a bellow of relieved joy.

“Steer under the stern and rescue them!”

Arina wagged her head.

“Better I think Captain, that we attack the ship first. Drustina is safe there for now. She’s got a good hold and she’s out of sight from the traitors and she’s more concerned with holding on to the sergeant. She’s got a firm grip, a safe position and nobody can see her under there. Let’s help the king first.”

“But they’re our comrades. I mean she’s your companion, she’ might even yet be carrying the heir to the throne.”

“She knows that better than you or I Captain. She hasn’t made a distress sign to me. We have secret signs between us two. Let’s first help King Astos. It’ll be no good rescuing those two if we all end up in a prison cell. If Astos is defeated the first thing his cousin will do is kill any potential threat to his claim to the throne. That would include Drustina and any baby she might be carrying.”

The captain frowned thoughtfully. His head told him the Celtic girl was right but his heart wanted to rescue the pair.

Reluctantly he agreed to Arina’s plan so they took the Mermaid up river again to lay off broadside to the traitor’s barge and pour arrows as best they could into the soldiers crowded on her decks. They knew they would face an even heavier onslaught of arrows in return but that would detract from the number of traitors and swords King Astos would have to face while attacking his cousin from the other side. They were splitting the traitor’s forces. With two turtles formed up at the rails, the Mermaid set about her attrition. Within an hour the battle was over. Much blood had been spilled by both sides but few of the Mermaid’s crew were wounded. As the cousin’s ship struck his colour the traitor stuck a knife through his own heart and a cheer went up amongst Astos’s remaining men. Meanwhile Arina and the Mermaid’s crew had little time for immediate celebration. They busied themselves under the traitor ship’s stern as they recovered an Exhausted Drustina and a nearly dead sergeant.

“What bloody kept you?” Drustina gasped as she sagged into the rescuing arms of the corporal who had plunged into the river to help her climb aboard.

The corporal grinned with relief as his sergeant coughed to reveal his being alive. He smiled at Drustina as they paddled in the water while the other rescuers tied the sergeant into the lifting sling.

“Why were you lazy two buggers taking a dip when there was a bloody battle to fight?” he asked her as his grin of relief widened across his features until it resembled an idiotic mask. He was just glad and relieved that Drustina and the sergeant were alive.
She smiled. The corporal was somebody she could grow to like. When they finally clambered aboard a cheer of relief went up and only then did the captain notice tears of relief flooding down Arina’s cheeks. Arina had turned away to stare over the stern and hide her tears as her emotions overwhelmed her. He realised then that Arina was still only a maid, and a young one at that.

It was then that the difference between the two women became apparent. Drustina was already rendering help to the badly wounded sergeant and issuing instructions to the crew while Arina was vomiting over the side.

The captain reflected on the situation as he summed up the girls.

Both were women and both were as brave as you could ask for,’ he concluded ‘but yet ... one a ferocious fighter, skilled in all weapons and a natural leader no less; the other, a more thoughtful, more cautious, more calculating commander.’ Despite the differences between the two girls, the captain knew he had reason aplenty to be thankful they had both been at his side that day.

‘Or was I at their sides?’ He asked himself.
Having regained his composure he stepped amidships to see what progress the Lioness of Carthage was making with his injured sergeant.

“Will he live?”

“Too early to tell,” Drustina answered phlegmatically, “we’ll have to see what the king’s healer thinks.”

The captain wagged his head and smiled.

“You amaze me girl! Have you got any dry clothes?” He asked as his eyes fell on the tight-fitting wet cotton chemise that revealed more than it hid. Drustina had shed her heavy fighting clothing on falling in the river.

“Only on the royal barge.” She replied. “You’d better put me aboard it or Astos will be wondering what’s happened to me.”

As she said this both she and the captain looked up to see a familiar face staring down at them from the high counter of the traitor’s captured barge. Then the face let out a loud relieved shout.

“I can see what’s bloody happened to you woman. You’re a crazy bitch. What would have happened if you’d been killed?”

“You’d have had to find some other receptacle for your seed!” Drustina shouted back.

The whole of the Mermaid’s let out a roar of laughter. Here was a maid they’d follow to the very gates of hell ... and through them! The captain realised he was in the presence of a natural leader and he bent down joyously to hug her. Ordinarily this act of familiarity with the queen, no less, would have brought him summary execution but that day it was a familiar and privileged action accorded to him only because of his rank and hard-won comradeship.

Astos looked on and nodded approval. ‘Moral was obviously high amongst his palace guard and that could only be a good thing.’

By evening the mess was cleared up and Astos’s barge made a belated torch lit, ceremonial arrival at Memphis.

In that city Astos was forced to hold an emergency court and get word to Queen Amitor of the situation for if there had been plans to kill him, it was a safe bet that his sister’s life was also in danger. Fortunately the king’s healer was able to save the sergeant but the man was condemned to a life without full use of his left arm. The sword thrust had cut some tendons in his shoulder and he could not raise his upper arm properly or use it for strength. The king’s boyfriend also suffered cruelly from his wound for it had damaged his thigh and left him with a severe limp and thus unable to resume duties in the ranks of the King’s bodyguard. Both men found light administrative duties amongst Astos’s staff.

Drustina found herself and the Captain of the Guard co-opted onto the court that Astos had formed quickly to weed out the traitors. It proved to be a difficult and tedious exercise for Drustina was determined to find hard evidence of treachery amongst the old governor’s courtiers. Her forensic efforts fascinated King Astos, and the guard captain followed her activities avidly. He realised that getting to the truth in the long term won King Astos much respect, loyalty and affection as honest men learned that they were not to be punished unjustly. It also delayed Drustina’s journey by four solid months.

During those four months, Arina made herself familiar with the entire length of the Egyptian section of the Nile for she and Drustina had deemed it prudent to hedge their bets if some sort of escape was necessary in the future. Both girls were hard bitten when it came to trust. It also gave Arina the opportunity to collect Seripatese, Drustina’s beloved mare from Alexandria and deliver her in foal to Memphis.

Eventually the situation at Memphis was repaired and Drustina was free to resume her voyage. She, Arina and the two apprentice lads were soon setting forth south to Nobatia. When she and her companions finally brought the Mermaid to the lowest cataract Drustina was already beginning to notice the tell-tale swelling in her belly. She smiled as she felt a similar development in Seripatese.

The Nobatian canal pilot who was to assist them through the canal to bypass the lowest cataract, brought the Mermaid to a lock cut out of the bank. Drustina was pleased to enter it and discover exactly how such a mechanism worked. They entered a system that exactly matched the locks on the Pharoic canal that connected Memphis and the Nile to the Asian seas. Transiting the canal and bypassing the cataracts was a full morning’s work that left them tired, hot and enervated despite having Seripatese and several other horses to help haul The Mermaid between the locks. They had to work the Mermaid slowly through each chamber, then along a short length of canal to the next chamber and repeat the work.

They were busy completing the climb and just departing the last lock chamber when a tall statuesque woman appeared on a splendid horse and flanked by a posse of outriders. Drustina felt fairly sure it was Queen Meronee then the pilot confirmed it. To Drustina’s chagrin, the queen didn’t declare herself to Drustina who was waiting expectantly while Arina, the apprentices and the Nobatian pilot secured the Mermaid to the canal bank. Without approaching closely, the queen studied the craft, said something to one of her retainers, then wrote something on some parchment and rode off again whence she’d come. The main posse accompanied her while the retainer and his servant approached the Mermaid.

“Good day,” he greeted them in Latin. “Are you Drustina the Celt, the guest of King Astos?”

“Yes.” Drustina replied monosyllabically. She was somewhat put out that the Queen had not bothered to greet them herself.

“Then here is your royal carnet to travel the river without let or hindrance as far as Meroe the capital. Her Majesty Queen Meronee will meet you there if she is not otherwise pre-occupied.”

“Preoccupied with what?” Arina challenged.

“It’s royal business. Please do not concern yourselves with it.” The retainer finished as he passed Drustina a hastily written letter.

The two Celtic girls studied the Latin letter and showed it to the pilot. He nodded affirmation that the letter was indeed in the royal hand and signature. He had seen it a hundred times on pilotage carnets and canal navigation permits. He showed it to the apprentices who were now learning to read and write Latin. Drustina sighed but expressed her thanks to the queen’s retainer then they made ready to eat their midday meal. The retainer and his servant looked longingly at the food and Drustina recognised a hungry individual when she saw one. She’d been hungry often enough in her own short life.

“Would you like to share with us? We’ve plenty of food.”

The men nodded and Drustina could see the gratitude in their eyes as Arina prepared some extra rations. Drustina then stepped ashore to start a fire with her flint and pyrites sparking kit. As the fat white sparks fell amongst the kindling Queen Meronee’s retainer looked on curiously.

“What is that golden rock? It cannot be gold if it fires like that.”

Drustina looked at the rock in her hand and shrugged.

“We call it ‘Pyrrhus stone’ because it burns a large hot spark when struck hard with this flint. This stuff comes from Iberia. King Appotel has a mine there and his smiths showed us how to strike it to make the best spark. It’s very useful and makes for a very quick fire.”

The retainer’s eyes widened as he moved in closer to watch. He gave a low squeak of satisfaction as Drustina demonstrated the stone’s effect and a particularly fat spark spat off the stone to immediately ignite the already smouldering kindling. Drustina didn’t even have to blow on the thin wood shavings as the flames took hold and she quickly added fuel. Soon she had a decent fire and Arina was boiling some water for a tea of herbs and spices. Drustina busied herself with the meat as the apprentices prepared some vegetables. As they settled to some hot food the retainer questioned her about the flint and pyrites. Drustina explained and he nodded with evident satisfaction. She gave him a piece of the strange golden stone and realised here was her first opportunity for trade. She unrolled a scroll of parchment and took some ink from her stores to write in Latin of the circumstance as she explained to Queen Meronee’s retainer.

“We are always looking for trading opportunities. If Pyrrhus stone is scarce in Nobatia then this must be an opportunity.”

The retainer rolled the stone in his hand.

“This is not just a trading opportunity. This stone is a weapon. It carries fire without carrying the heat.”

“How so?” Drustina wondered.

“If our archers have to use fire arrows, we carry the fire in small pots of oil. It is dangerous and difficult.”

“Who are you fighting?”

“The Alwa. It is a country further up the great river.”

“Is this what Queen Meronee is pre-occupied with?”

The courtier nodded and sighed at having so easily and accidentally revealed the Queen’s preoccupation. Having rather ‘let the cat out of the bag’ he explained further.

“The Alwans are trying to raise the river tax on their section of the river and all trade south of Makuria has ceased. We are allied with the Makurians but they are weak. Most of the fighting falls to our army.”

“Why hasn’t Astos become involved? Any blockage of the Nile would affect all the countries along its length. We in Egypt haven’t even heard of this war.”

“Egypt is rich and not so seriously affected. Besides, the Alwans were in league with that treacherous cousin Astos defeated so little news was allowed to pass north of Memphis. We have only been fighting for about two months but the logistics are fearful. The river is at its lowest and passage is impossible above the third cataract. The Makurians never built a set of locks to bypass the rocks of the third cataract. We have an army but it is slow going marching troops and supplies across the desert and we have not the man power to provide sweeps for every transport ship. Besides, marching is slightly quicker and it hardens the men up prior to battle, provided she doesn’t over-exert them. It’s making harsh demands on Queen Meronee’s reserves.”

“But why not use the river to move supplies if not men. We have just sailed without hindrance all the way from Memphis.”

The courtier nodded sagely and motioned significantly to the Mermaid.

“That is the mystery. We have heard talk of this remarkable craft and it’s inexplicably fast passage southwards up the river. That is why Queen Meronee arranged to meet with you here; she wanted to see the ship and meet you. She wanted to find out about your ship but there were urgent affairs to deal with. Our army makes slow progress and the Makurians are considering agreeing to the Alwan demands. She is making haste to allay the Makurian submission.”

“Are the Alwans likely to invade Makuria?” Drustina asked.

“No. That would precipitate war all along the river. The balance of power on the upper river would be too unstable.”

“So it’s just money and taxes.”

“Was there ever anything else?”

Drustina could have given the courtier a thousand ‘anything else’s’ but she kept her counsel. She decided to push on for Meroe and invited the courtier to accompany her while his assistant took both horses back across the desert. The pilot had already explained that the great river took a huge bend in Nobatia and it was shorter to cross the desert at this point provided one had the means. Drustina concluded that it would be better for one man with two horses to make the journey alone. The path was well marked.

“Your assistant will be better equipped with a second horse to carry food and water. He can have some of our supplies while you dine with us and sail up the river.”

“You are very generous but I see you wish to keep your own mount with you. Astos is very lucky to have found a consort in you.”

“I am only his consort until our child is born. Then I have agreed to hand my baby to his sister Amitor to be raised by her as the future governor king ... or queen, of Egypt.”

The courtier stared at her.

“That is a cruel decision for a woman to make ... to give up her child.”

Drustina’s expression darkened as she wondered what sort of woman and mother she was that she could do this.

Since Carthage, Drustina had done a lot of agonising soul searching and she was reconciled to the fact that there was also her male side to her nature. This was the side that occupied itself with recovering lands and killing enemies.

‘Would she ever be a normal person?’ She asked herself. ‘Losing her first babies had been a brutal destructive wrench and it had left her hard hearted and merciless. Woe betide those who in future, interfered with her motherhood against her express wishes.’

She felt a shudder sweep through her body as though she had an ‘out of body’ experience as she recalled the total insensitivity she showed when she exterminated the bishop. She could see it now, as clear as the day she did it ... a simple asphyxiation and the job had been done.

Looking back, she realised that she had that night, experienced a strange spiritual, bisexual metamorphosis inside her head The female mother Drustina had persuaded the male warrior Drustan to kill the monstrous Bishop for her. Drustina reflected that she had a mental duality that paralleled her physical duality and it was that mental duality that enabled her to kill without compunction or remorse. When dirty, dangerous, deadly work needed doing, Drustan was always available, inside her head, part of her very spirit even, yet always there for Drustina to call upon. As she mused on these feelings, Seripatese came to nuzzle her and Drustina hugged her neck thoughtfully.

Her silent reverie was interrupted by the courtier again as he gently tapped her wrist to catch her attention.

“Will you remain Astos’s queen once you have given him a child?”

Drustina shook her head as she returned to the present.

“I don’t think so. I have a burning ambition to see my homeland but it is a long, long way away. Besides, everybody knows, his interests lie with boys.”

The courtier nodded, Astos’s preferences were well known. Then he remembered the rumours. Astos had taken this maid as a wife because she had some strange sexual duality. He decided to make sure the rumours were true and boldly asked Drustina.

“Is it true, you are both; that is ... a man and a woman?”

Drustina shrugged. Her condition should be known now the length and breadth of the Nile by now. Drustina wondered what other information about her history was missing.

“Yes, I have both parts but I choose to live mainly as a woman.”

“Well that will be no hardship in Nobatia. Queen Meronee’s sex ensures that women are deemed equal.”

“I’m told she is a brave and courageous warrior.” Drustina pressed.

The courtier smiled.

“It’s true, she has been in battles, but they were minor affairs where her armies had overwhelming force. This battle is different. She has to move her troops through Makuria even before she can meet the Alwan forces. That limits her options and the size of her army. The risk of defeat is very real. Do you understand the transport problems?”

Drustina nodded sagely.

“The logistics you mean, supplying the army.”

“Precisely my lady. So you do seem to understand these things.”

Drustina smiled patronisingly as Arina stifled a titter. The courtier caught the interplay and frowned curiously.

“What have I said?”

Drustina could not resist shocking him.

“Do you know who I am, besides being the carrier of Astos’s baby?”

“Not precisely my lady. I know you are a Celt and technically the consort queen of Egypt and that you come from the far north, through the Pillars of Hercules.”

Drustina nodded affirmation then continued.

“Do you know of the defeat of the Barbary Corsairs and the strange ship that led the battle?”

“Well yes my lady, I ... Oh my God! This is that ship!”

Before he had time to recover from this revelation, Drustina plunged deeper.

“And the war of Carthage where Celtic and Saxon warriors helped Magab win back his throne.” Drustina continued.

The courtier’s jaw sagged.

“You! The Celt! The lioness of Carthage!”

Drustina nodded modestly.

“The same sir. Now I think we should making haste for Meroe. There is chance yet I might be of some assistance to your queen.”
The courtier nodded vigorously and they broke camp quickly. Within the hour the Mermaid was making remarkable progress up the river. The pilot had elected to stay with them, partly to offer advice and assistance in addition to expanding his own knowledge of the upper reaches of the river.

He was also very interested in learning about the strange Celtic ship that had come so far and performed so remarkably. Drustina smiled as she and Arina watched the man trying to appear casual and disinterested. He was obviously afraid of being accused of being some sort of industrial spy. Finally Drustina could stand it no longer and she smiled at Arina.

“You’d better tell him he’s free to study my ship in its minutest detail. After all his colleagues in Alexandria are building ships like this.”

Arina chuckled as she left Drustina talking to the courtier in the stern whilst she invited the pilot to go around the Mermaid with the apprentice lads for company. As they watched the foursome in deep discussions, the elderly courtier turned to Drustina.

“I don’t know much about ships and boats, but your vessel seems to generate a lot of interest.”

“She’s very fast and manoeuvrable, yet she performs very well in a heavy sea and she’s very stable. Arina took those two apprentice lads out onto the middle sea while we were in Alexandria. By their standards it was quite a storm and none of the other ships would put to sea but to us Celts, the seas were of little consequence. In our home seas, the storm waves are sometimes forty cubits high. Arina comes from fisher folk and she’s heard old men talk of sixty cubit waves but the tribe usually laughed and said if they met a sixty cubit wave why are they still here to tell of it.”

“Sixty cubits! But that’s as high as those cliffs over there! Do you believe that?” The courtier gasped.

“Who knows what to believe? I certainly know that the waves are huge. Far larger than anything Posidon and his middle sea can make. If a man spoke of sixty cubit waves, I would be loath to call him a liar. I have seen great whales over seventy cubits long, much longer than my ship. That much, I can truly attest to. When we rescued Arina, her family had two whale bones making the arch to their house and they were over ten cubits long. I tell you, those creatures are huge! Now, enough of whales and mariners stories, I am here to learn of Queen Meronee and her governance skills.”

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Comments

You haven't lost your touch

Good chapter.

The seemingly weak and effeminant king proved his mettle. But then he thought he was avenging Drustina's death. At least the coniving relative had the honor to kill himself in defeat.

And looks like Drusina has found a way to make this Nile Queen her ally, via the pyrites/fire makers, her ship and the military skills of her and Arina.

Hum only both her and her horse *in foal*? I wonder how soon before Arina is with child?

And we got an insight into why Drustina can do what she does, her inner duality to match her physical one.

VERY good.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Answers

Your skill as a writer and story teller is not to be underestimated. But the values and the observations you espouse is where the true gems are to be found. Every time I read a new issue I find things that allow me to muse and consider your points. Drustina observations concerning her duality and the abilities they give Her/Him is especially meaningful in my life. I love your writing and I will continue to come back again and again.
Thank you
Misha

The only bad question is the one not asked.

The only bad question is the one not asked.

The Angry Mermaid 33 or Y Morforwyn Dicllon 33

Wondering why Queen Meronee did not greet Drustina? Could she be testing her?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine