Tayla ran down the path from the Hall to the docks. She lifted her heavy skirts a few centimeters off the ground so as not to trip. She had known she would find her father there staring out at the approaching vessel through his quadnocs.
"Is it her, Papa? Is it Sanya coming back to us?"
There had only been vague rumors for the past couple of months. The most updated communications system had been installed into the ship meant for the Blackwell second son. Even with it however, transmissions would be hit and miss over the water. Still Talya would have thought her twin would have tried to find a way get a holo home.
"No." He lowered the instrument but continued to look in the direction of the ship. "It's not the… what did they say she was calling it?"
"The Bloody Galia." That's what the sailors were saying anyway and Talya had kept her ears open for any mention of the ship or her captain.
"The… Bloody Galia." Papa repeated. "Aye, it's… it's not her. I think it's coming from the Fartrads. Don't know what I'll tell them. Can't possibly afford…" Then he seemed to really notice his other daughter standing there and he smiled guiltily. "Nothing for you to worry about. Maybe they'll have news about your sister." He looked older as if all this mess had aged him several years rather than several weeks.
"I pray to the salt gods they will, Papa." She smiled encouragingly back at him.
Lord Harkon pulled Talya into a hug. "Oh my sweet, obedient girl. What would I do without you?"
"I'm glad to still be here." She admitted. "I'd like to stay at least until Dalla has her baby?" Talya looked to him hopefully.
"Of course, of course." He waved off her concern but looked again toward the nearing vessel. "The plans have not changed with the Blackwells but they have allowed that you may spend your betrothal here at home with your mother and I. Salt gods know that son of theirs is hardly ever at the Hold anyway."
She hugged him again. "Oh thank you, Papa!" She knew her betrothal to Jamos Blackwell was still important. She was beginning to think it was more important than she had first suspected. What was it Papa had said about not being able to afford a shipment from the Fartrads? That particular family were Papa's lumber suppliers. If they couldn't buy lumber, then they couldn't build ships. The production that Harkon Hall was known for would grind down to a halt.
"Papa?" Talya attempted to change the subject while he returned to scanning the waves. "Do you suppose Herron and Dalla will have a little boy? I mean, wouldn't it be wonderful, an heir for House Harkon so soon?"
"A… boy?" he said distractedly. "Oh, no. A girl is what we need."
"A girl, Papa?" she asked, confused.
He gave her a vague smile. "Of course a girl. Trevon Blackwell has a boy it would be another perfect match."
"Jamos's little nephew…" my nephew, she thought. Or he would be soon enough. Before she could really put together the meaning of his statement her father placed hand on her shoulder.
"And Herron should know the joy of having a daughter."
"Of course, Papa," she agreed still musing.
Lord Harkon gazed again through the quadnocs at the ship that was moving ever closer. "It is the Fartrads. What could they possibly mean by showing up now?"
He seemed agitated and Talya wished there were something she could say to calm him.
"You head back to the house now, Nya. Papa will take care of this."
She didn't mention that he had called her by the wrong name. She did as she was biden but slowly, looking backward often to see that he was alright.
…
Talya might have physically returned to the sitting room and her embroidery but her mind was still on the docks with Papa. That morning when she had seen the sail on the horizon out her window she had been so hopeful that it meant she would see her twin again. The past two winters since the Blood Moon had been mild but one never knew when the northern climate might right itself and the sea freeze over as it always had in the past. And what would Sanya do then?
A quick gasp from the occupant of the seat beside her woke Talya from her musings. "Is it the baby? Did you feel it kick?" She asked.
Dalla smiled. "No, it's a little too soon for that. I only pricked my finger." She sucked at the offending digit for a second and then picked up her needle and returned to her sewing project.
But Talya was curious. "What's it like?"
"Like?" Dalla didn't even glance up, keeping her focus on her hands.
"Mother stopped having babies after Sanya and I. So I've never… I mean I've touched the cog mommas' bellies and felt the pups move around inside but… It must be amazing."
Dalla laughed. "It is. Well, I haven't actually felt this one move yet. I remember what it was like when my mother was carrying my brothers and sisters." She tucked her needle into the fabric so she wouldn't lose it and placed a hand on her barely beginning to show belly. "Knowing that he or she is in there and growing, though… it really is amazing."
Talya smiled dreamily. It was one thing she was actually looking forward to. When she and Jamos were married they would be able to have babies of their own. And then even if their father was away at sea, Talya would have a little piece of him back home with her at the Hold.
It wouldn't matter if they had a boy or a girl because House Blackwell already had an heir. Trevon and Miara's son Alon was said to be strong and healthy and smart… And that reminded Talya of something else. "Papa said he hoped your baby would be a girl."
Dalla's head snapped up. "He said what?"
"I asked him if he hoped the baby would be a boy to carry on the Harkon name but he said no, that Herron should know what it was like to have a daughter."
Dalla frowned. The only thing girls were good for in northern society was the bride price they fetched when they were betrothed to another noble family. She was about to ask what else her father-in-law had said when Lady Harkon breezed into the room.
"Good. You're both here." She paced a bit frantically before she took a seat wringing her hands in her lap. "Your father has gone to get Herron from the kennels and then he said he had something to tell us all."
The Lady of the Hall had been weepy over Sanya's departure and weepy over the promise of a grandchild by turns for two months now. Though she never mentioned her younger daughter. It almost seemed that she was mourning her death. Now that some sort of news had arrived at their docks she was like a storm ready to break.
Herron entered the room first. He crossed to his wife, smiled at her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Do you have any idea what this is all about?"
"Not a clue." She patted his hand still disturbed by what Talya had told her.
Finally, in marched Lord Harkon. He looked around at them all with a smile on his face, happier than he had appeared in weeks. He rubbed his hands together expectantly.
Talya broke the silence, "what is it, Papa?" She could help but smile along with him.
"That ship that's just arrived," he began, "was indeed from the Fartrads and it is filled with lumber!"
Talya looked around and when no one else seemed ready to speak up she answered again. "That's wonderful, but I thought you said…"
"It's all been paid for!" He crowed.
His audience sat, amazed.
"I thought I'd have to turn them away or ask for a delay in payment, but the first thing the captain told me when he stepped off the boat was that the entire shipment was already ours bought and paid for!"
"But how is that possible?" Herron asked. He did prefer breeding Norcogs to the building of ships but that didn't mean hea hadn't been taught the basics of economics for his future as Lord of the Hall.
"Did the Blackwells commission another ship?" Talya asked. "To make up for the one…" She glanced at her mother who whimpered and decided not to finish her thought.
"Well no. The Blackwells decided to forgive the cost of that ship as long as Talya's still promised to their second son."
So they wouldn't be getting a bride price for Talya. She was only being betrothed to the Blackwells now to make up for the loss of the Bloody Galia. She looked down at the embroidery work in her hands and didn't speak up again.
Dalla tried to keep her voice light as she changed the subject. "Then how did we end up with our storehouses full of lumber once again, pray tell?"
Herron gave her shoulder another squeeze. He loved it when his wife said 'we', reminding them all that she was a part of this family now and they were all in the same boat.
Lord Harkon was silent for another moment to build suspense and then he burst out, "Sanya earned it for us."
Lady Harkon gasped and fluttered her hand over her heart. Talya glanced up with the beginnings of a smile again. Herron and Dalla just looked at each other in amazement.
If anyone ever wondered where Sanya got her talent for storytelling, it was obvious once the father got started.. He told the tale as it had been told to him by the Captain but adding little anecdotes of his own, and censoring bits of it for the ladies in his audience.
…
There were more stories for him to tell when a shipload of ironworks arrived the night before salt and light. Then later in the spring more news reached Harkon Hall along with a cargo consisting of kilometers of thick good quality rope.
Sanya "the Knife" Harkon was making a name for herself as a fierce fighter. Her exploits however, more often than not, involved helping the weak out of some sticky situations. And then the Bloody Galia would sail away before the recipients of her protection could offer their thanks.
It was a mystery if she even knew how her family benefited or if it was only happenstance when she came upon and island in need of her services. Lord Harkon had a suspicion that Madam Fartrad had something to do with steering his daughter in the right direction after their first encounter.
He wasn't so worried about her now that she seemed to be finding her way and the finances of the Hall were not in such dire straits. Still they weren't completely out of the hole that he had dug them into while throwing everything into the building of the ship that should have gone to the Blackwells.
Talya's marriage would help them to break even. He'd been counting on a betrothal for Sanya to bring them back to the level where a great house of the north should be. There was no guarantee that his younger daughter would ever submit to such a thing now.
One morning just before the summer solstice, however, the salt gods delivered another opportunity to House Harkon. The Lord of the Hall could waste no time in settling the matter.
...
"You want to betroth her to the Blackwells' little boy now?" Dalla clutched her daughter, Betha, to her chest. "But she's only two months old! Isn't there time enough to wait?"
Lord Harkon didn't look like he wanted to discuss the matter with her but perhaps in an attempt to calm her panic, he did. "This is our best chance. No other houses have put in an offer, so we're practically guaranteed an agreement."
"We could betroth her later though, like Herron and me. She could have a wonderful childhood and then, when she's older, we could approach the Blackwells."
"There's no time to wait." Lord Harkon didn't raise his voice but it was harder than she'd ever heard it. "Your daughter will be betrothed to Trevon Blackwell's son, and that is final."
She knew she couldn't win this argument but there was someone who could. Dalla stormed out of Lord Harkon's office, dropped off her daughter with Talya, and made a beeline for Herron in the cog kennels.
"Dalla?" He turned around when he heard the door open. "What are you doing here?"
Dalla locked the door behind her.
After an hour of making Herron Harkon's every mortal desire come true, the both of them appeared at Lord Harkon's office door.
"Betha will not be betrothed to Trevon Blackwell's son," Herron announced and pushed back his shoulders. "I'm her father and I will not consent to any match until she's older."