Chapter 8

The next two days were a blur for Anduin. He had refused to leave the cabin whilst on the ship, due to the fact that he had never even walked on dry land before so the deck of a ship was out of the question as far as he was concerned. Not to mention, he was useless on deck and the sailors much preferred that he stayed below as well.

A good eighteen hours after he had been picked up, the fishing vessel return to port with a full catch of fish. Anduin, still weak from his ordeal, was bundled into one of the post chaises and sent off to the castle with all the letters. He had been outside in the world of the humans for perhaps ten minutes, but even that was enough to shock him. On board the ship, he had seen naught but the cabin and, while the softness of dry fabric and the strangeness of roasted food were novelty enough, they could not compare to what he saw on land. All the animals that ran amuck around the docks were both terrifying and amazing. The variety of beasts that bayed and lowed as he staggered by was mind-boggling. He saw brightly lit fires in the windows of inns and had to restrain himself from going over to see if they were real. The flames that had been but legend under the sea truly existed out here and Anduin, morbidly curious, was wondering just what a burn was. He had no time though, the first mate had given Anduin strict instructions to follow him to the mail coaches and Anduin was terrified to be lost in this strange place. So he followed him through the streets, staying upright as best as he could. The smells were incredible; for there was no such thing as scent under the water and to have all the smells of the wharf hit him at once was staggering. But he made it to his destination in the end, only to be astonished by the enormous horses and the strange carriages that they were attached to. He was bid to climb in to one of those strange houses on wheels and, once he was loaded in, the conveyance began to move. Anduin gripped the sides in terror, unable to comprehend this form of travel for he had never experienced such a bumpy jolting ride in all his life.

It didn't take too long, however, for Anduin to accustom himself to this and, slowly but surely, the young merman drifted off to sleep in the post chaise, completely unaware of his destination or his destiny.

He awoke a few times on the ride, mainly to eat and get out of the coach to stretch his legs. He was quite the invalid though, so he stayed in one place as often as he could.

When the coach finally reached Gilld Hall, Anduin heaved himself up onto his unsteady legs and took a deep breath. This was it; this was the strange place they had said he was going to.

He tumbled out of the carriage and fell face first in the mud. The sound of childish laughed filled the air and Anduin shut his eyes, not wanting to get up just to be laughed at.

"Ignore him," said a gentle voice as a sympathetic hand was laid on his shoulder. "He's only three, though he should know better." Anduin looked up at the speaker. She was dark haired woman with a gentle face that still retained much of its youthful beauty. Her eyes were as blue as the sky and she seemed both kind and caring. Anduin smiled gratefully as she helped him up. "So, you're our mystery visitor?"

He nodded politely, thought there really was no need to reply. "I am the Duchess Elizabeth Gilld, though I daresay you will not be addressing me as such." She smiled and he couldn't help but share the wry grin. "Since we must be able to converse somehow, I am going to ask you a few questions and you will nod or shake your head in reply depending on how you wish to respond, do you understand me?"

Anduin nodded his head vehemently, grateful that she was making such an effort to allow him to speak, but irritated that he wouldn't be able to impress her with his wit or musical ability. That left good looks as his only charm and she was too old to fall victim to his wiles, not to mention the small boy clinging to her skirts and eyeing him warily was undoubtedly her son and it seemed churlish, to say the least, for him to flirt with the Duchess if he was trespassing on the Duke's hospitality. He sighed to himself; perhaps she had a daughter or younger sister that was unattached and therefore available. He had heard that some women preferred a strong, silent type.

"Very well," Lizzie said, "Shall we walk?"

He nodded his head and offered her his arm. She inclined her head graciously and accepted it. The boy ran off in front of them, for he had seem his older brother up ahead and wanted to go and "help" him practice his swordplay. Lizzie let him go, knowing that the fencing master would never allow her troublesome son to get too close. She was planning on gleaning as much information from her silent visitor as she could. Already she had learned quite a bit, for he had offered her his hand gallantly and, more importantly, with an easy familiarity that bespoke years of training in court protocol. His mannerisms were similar to those of the English court, but different enough that she knew he was not from there. A foreign noble..., this could prove very interesting. And it made it worth her while to ask the next question.

"Can you read and write?"

He nodded his head tentatively and Lizzie grinned. Things were looking up.

"In what language?" she continued, which got her a confused look. "I'm sorry, I forgot you can't answer. Can you write in English?" His blank stare remained unchanged. "Do you know what English is?"

He shook his head. "That's worrying," Lizzie murmured, "Since you understand when I speak it. You do know that I'm speaking English right now."

Anduin shrugged, as if to say "Well I do now."

"You are quite a conundrum," she continued. "One that I doubt I can solve on my own. In the meantime, let's get you inside and feed you before I continue my interrogation."

Anduin nodded excitedly and Lizzie smiled, patting his hand. "Don't worry, my friend, we'll find some way to help you."

Anduin hoped she could, for he was head over heels in love and the only thing he knew about winning the hand of his fair lady was that a faint heart was sure to fail. He followed her into the kitchen and soon found himself presented with a plate piled high with corned beef. He took the proffered seat at the table and ate as slowly as he could, under the circumstanced.

Lizzie deigned not to eat with him, she remained in the background, conversing with the cook about dinner and what Rose, Diana and Joshua would like most. Anduin was soon done, however, and as soon as Lizzie noticed, she guided him up the stairs to one of the studies.

Anduin was in awe of the room he found himself in. It was piled high with all sorts of books, from small leaflets to leather bound monstrosities that seemed to be repositories for all the knowledge in the universe. He had seen books before, but the thin slates under sea were to these books like a lantern was to the sun. He couldn't help but wonder what was in them. In the center of the room sat a large, cherry wood desk. Lizzie started walking towards it and, ever courteous, Anduin beat her to it and drew out a chair for her. She thanked him and told him to bring another chair over so that he could sit himself. That made sense, especially if he was to be writing, so he did as she bade.

"Now," said Lizzie, pulling out a piece of paper and inkwell. "Here you are." He stared at the strange apparatuses, uncomprehending what he was to do. Cautiously, he picked up the quill and examined it. Lizzie sighed, wondering just what sort of writing implement he was used to if this puzzled him. She grabbed the quill out of his hand and scribbled her own name on the page. Understanding dawned in his eyes. Anduin grabbed the pen and held it in a passable imitation of what she had done. True, it was nothing like the way he used the thin, chalky rocks at home, but the basic hold-the-end-near-the-page-and-press-down principle would always be the same.

"Can you write your name?" Lizzie inquired. Anduin rolled his eyes, trying not to let her see that action. Of course I can write my own name, he thought to himself. How old do I look?

He scrawled his name on the paper, before pushing it back towards her with a flourish. Lizzie gazed at the writing on the page, squinting to try and decipher what he had written. It became clear quite quickly, however, that whatever language he wrote it, it wasn't English… or anything else that used those letters. Lizzie bit back an oath. How could he speak her language without actually being able to communicate back in it? And how could he not even know the letters?

Anduin looked at her quizzically, before the problem dawned on him. After a cursory glance at what she had written, it occurred to him that, thought some fluke of nature made the spoken language of the land and sea the same, the written words had obviously evolved differently. Or perhaps writing was more prevalent up here, since only mages ever learned to read or write more than their own names.

Both of the room's occupants sat lost in their own thoughts, wondering how they were going to defeat this seemingly insurmountable obstacle. In the middle of their silent meditations, a knock came on the door.

"Come in," Lizzie called.

Allisande poked her head in the door and Lizzie was on her feet before the other woman had even begun to speak. Allisande laughed. "I see you can guess what my message is."

Lizzie chuckled as well. "I can indeed. Have they reached the house yet?"

"Not when I had last seen the coach. But if you don't hurry up…"

"What, I'll have to wait thirty more seconds?" she retorted, though she was already halfway to the door. "Stay here with our guest, I would like Joshua to come up and meet him."

"Yes, Your Grace," Allisande replied with a very undeferential bow.

"Cheeky," Lizzie called from down the hall, before reaching the stairs and dashing down them to greet her husband, daughter and niece.

"So," said Allisande, taking the seat Lizzie had just vacated, "What's your name?"

Anduin rolled his eyes and pointed to the piece of paper.

"Your name's Lizzie?" she asked disbelievingly.

Anduin groaned and pointed to the bottom of the paper where his name was.

"What does that say?" Allisande asked herself. "I've never seen letters like that before."

I could have told you that, Anduin thought to himself. Well, hypothetically, I suppose.

"Where are you from?" In response, Anduin pointed out the window, down the road the way that he had come.

"Can't you speak?" Allisande demanded, sick of the game he was playing.

"No!" Aduin mouthed in an exaggerated gesture while shaking his head. She got the point.

"Oh," she said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." He sighed and shrugged. "Would you like me to read to you until my mistress comes back?"

Anduin's eyes lit up and he nodded his head yes. Thank Neptune for understanding old ladies. Allisande fetched one of the books from the shelf and began reading from it. Once Anduin figured out just what a pilgrimage was and what exactly was going on, he found himself engrossed in the stories that these twenty-four travelers were telling on their way to Canterbury.

Lizzie hurried to the entrance and peeked out behind the door. The carriage had just drawn up and there were three very excited children clamoring around it, waiting to see their Papa again. Lizzie smiled and drew back slightly, allowing them the chance to greet him first.

Joshua descended the carriage, grateful to have returned home safely. He smiled broadly as his young ones flung themselves at him. He embraced them each in turn, especially Jonathan who had turned eight three days earlier and whose birthday he had missed.

"Did you bring me a present?" Jonathan asked eagerly.

"No, should I have?" Joshua replied innocently. Jonathan groaned. "Of course I did," Joshua said, ruffling his hair, "Did you honestly think I'd forgotten?"

"Of course not," Diana said, picking up her little brother and kissing him on the nose. He wiped it off immediately afterwards, but it was the thought that counted.

"Your Papa brought you a very special present," Rose said, greeting Abigail, who remembered her from their last visit to Gilld castle.

"What is it? What is it?" Jonathan asked excitedly.

"Should I give it to him now?" Joshua asked Diana.

"I don't think we'll have peace in this house until you do," she replied.

"There isn't any peace in this house anyway," he pointed out. "Though I take your point." He opened the carriage door one last time and a black and silver ball of fur came bounding out, landing next to Joshua and barking excitedly.

Jonathan's jaw dropped. "Is that… for me?"

"Of course it is," Joshua replied. "His name is Gareth and he's an Irish Wolfhound." Jonathan knelt down and cautiously offered his hand to the puppy. The animal sniffed it for a moment before enthusiastically licking it. Jonathan giggled, then picked the dog up in his arms. Gareth liked that and transferred his enthusiasm to liking his new master's face.

"Well chosen," said a voice from behind Joshua. He whirled around and saw his lady wife standing against the side of the carriage.

"Thank you," he said, striding forward and embracing her. "Christ, I missed you," he murmured, burying his face in her neck.

"That bad, was it?" she teased, smiling tenderly at him.

"Two teenaged girls," he said. "Two of them! And no sane adult to keep me company."

"Rose is twenty," Lizzie pointed out.

"You know what I mean," he answered.

"Indeed I do, but you left me alone with your children."

Joshua laughed. "Does that make us even?"

Lizzie grinned. "I suppose. Now kiss me, I've missed you too."

"With pleasure," Joshua replied, raising one eyebrow. They kissed slowly and Joshua's arms tightened around her.

"Well," Joshua said after they had broken apart and Lizzie laid her head against his chest. "How is everything?"

"Interesting," Lizzie responded. "I have something I'd like your advice on."

"Oh?"

Lizzie made a face at him. "Follow me up the stairs and I'll explain it to you." They entered the house and were followed by the ever curious Gilld children. Diana and Rose went as well, knowing that their articles would be safe in the hands of the servants. Jonathan took Gareth along; the squirming puppy ran by his new master's side, eagerly exploring his new home.

By the time they reached the door of the study, Joshua, Diana and Rose were caught up on what had been happening in the castle. Joshua was intrigued by the story of his rescue and Rose felt sorry for the poor boy, since she had so recently suffered the same way. Diana asked her mother whether or not he was handsome. Joshua glared at her, but Lizzie simply told her to see for herself.

Lizzie knocked on the door before barging in.

"You're back?" called Allisande.

"Me and the entire calvacade," Lizzie agreed, "So tell him not to worry about the number of people."

Anduin rolled his eyes. He had a large family too, he knew what this was like.

Lizzie pushed open the door and Anduin's jaw dropped. For, standing in between the man who could only be Duke Gilld and a young girl who looked suspiciously like the Duchess and was undoubtedly her daughter, was the woman of his dreams.

T.B.C.

A/N – Hello again. Okay, this took longer than I expected to get out, but here it is. I wound up wasting more time than I wanted to playing video games and walking the dog. (I'm back at my parents house in between school and summer and, of course, now that I've moved out, they got a dog. I've only wanted a dog since I was 3. Life's so not fair.) So, apologies for not having a good excuse. Anyway, hope you like this installment and two notes. The book referenced is Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which, since I haven't really decided on a time frame for this yet, seemed like a good choice. Gareth the Wolfhound is based on the dog of the same name and breed in The Sunne in Splendour. If you're in the mood to read 900 pages about Richard III, it's totally worth it. It reads like a fantasy novel and makes me feel so bad that Richard got such a bad rap from Shakespeare. Ah well, pet peeve of mine. Now that the necessary redeem Richard statement is done, on to my reviewers!

Soofija – Yeah, Anduin's kinda been out of things recently and the story is sorta supposed to be about him. And he's legged now, not to mention annoyed that he can't talk. It's okay, I'm sure his wonderful personality will shine through anyway. And communication will remain a mystery until I figure something out. (grins sheepishly)

Lesalanna – You're welcome. New reviewers always make me happy and you deserved to have a dedication. Glad you like Ursula, she was my favorite character in Little Mermaid (except Max the Sheepdog) and I always thought the reason she was so mean was because Ariel was such an idiot. So I'm glad you like her makeover for when she deals with intelligent human beings.

Anarea Rose – The fairy tale spinoffs may go on for a while ( I have three more Gilld children after this one and Disney's done a lot of fairy tales). I don't like the King either and he's going to cause trouble soon, though I feel bad for the rest of his family. He's up to something all right and I hope it's catastrophic, because my characters can be dense if no one's life is in danger. Not that I would do that or anything… And I'm flattered that you consider this as exciting as the soundtrack to BATB.

Shortstef – Thank you. Of course he's going to suffer, he's a fairy tale hero! And everyone liked the sea witch, so that's good. Thank you for the compliment and hopefully I will live up to your expectations.

Kate – Well, I can't give away my secrets yet, but it did seem like Disney had them in the world already and I had to expand on that. I'm glad you like the way I did it, I was hoping it wasn't too confusing, but it seems to have turned out well, so thank you. And If I Can't Love Her is wonderful and it fit so well!

So, thank you all for reading and reviewing. I'd like to promise the next chapter will be up in shorter time than this one took, but I don't want to eat my words just yet. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!

Levana (Damian)