I
Leaving a Home Behind
Finally Calypso was leaving. Standing by the railing, she watched the docks slowly fade into darkness, until all she could see were the lights of Constantinople. She took a deep breath, and then went over to Bjartr.
Bjartr was a trader from the north. His eyes were grey, and skin was tanned after spending many years at the sea, sailing between England and Constantinople. He had pale hair gathered in a low ponytail, and his beard was neatly braided. He wore blue, purple and silver, something which quickly would tell anyone he'd had luck as a trader. Right now, he was steering the boat.
"Where's first stop?" Calypso asked as she stopped beside him. The tall man found a map and held it up under a lamp.
"Our first stop, should be the Emirate of Sicily. Then we continue towards the Papal States. Afterwords we head to the Kingdom of Burgundy where I'm planning on celling some pretty nice fabrics I got in Constantinople. Then it's County Toulouse, the March of Spain, Ummayad and Caliphate, Kingdom of Leon, Pamplona, France and finally the end of the journey – England." All the time he'd followed a red mark at the map.
"That's pretty many names," Calypso commented. "Are you always stopping those places?"
"Yes," Bjartr replied, rolling up the map and hiding it. "But, since I promised your brother to help you flee from your family, I probably won't be welcomed in the Byzantine Empire any more."
"Yeah, about that-" Calypso started, but was cut off before she could even think of finishing.
"You, young lady, have to start working with your English. Remember that not everybody talk Latin out there," Bjartr told her. He went over to a huge bag which he easily lifted, and then dropped into her arms.
"Wha-?!"
"That's all you need to know about history, geography, languages, mathematics and so on and so forth. I believe you should start reading at once."
"But..." Calypso stuttered, struggling under the weight of the books. "What if the bag gets wet? Doesn't that ruin the books?"
Bjartr chuckled. "That bag is water proof. Made of real dragon skin! It costed me a high prize, but it's worth it."
"Does that mean dragons exist? Those huge, fire-breathing things with enormous wings and reptile eyes?" Calypso nearly forgot the bag at the thought of those myths being true.
"Aye, of course they do! But you're not going that far north. Now, get started on the reading. Tomorrow I expect you to present yourself in English!"
Calypso didn't want to argue more with the trader, so she made her way towards her cabin. Once inside, she let the bag fall to the floor with a heavy THUD. She flinched by the sound and waited for Bjartr to come running down, asking what she'd done to his precious books. Fortunately, he instead started singing some song – most likely English – and did not come down to check on the books.
Calypso sat at the floor with her legs crossed and opened the bag. To her surprise, the books were neatly piled, yes, even categorized, in it. She pulled up some huge books about languages. Most of them were in English – why was it so complicated? – but the basic ones were in both English and Latin. Calypso took a deep breath and opened the book.
This would be the beginning of a new life.
