One Problem at a Time

The Coast of Alden, Nine Hundred and Forty Years Before

The ships’ holds were crowded and uncomfortable, but the villagers were not secured or restrained within and had access to both barrels of water and to the top deck for bodily eliminations. Many of the men and the young boys chose to remain above deck and helped the sailors with the ropes and sails, making themselves useful in the fresh air rather than remaining in the stuffiness of the hold.

Most of the women chose to remain below and, as the ship left the mouth of the river and entered the ocean, Thaelen hovered at the stairs, waiting for the inevitable trouble that would arise. It was just a matter of time, he predicted grimly.

Sure enough, as Etrait and Concordia became a dark shadow on the horizon, some of the soldiers decided to seek “comfort,” laughing as they nudged the youngest amongst them, joking that he should get some experience before battle and whilst the women were “fresh.”

Thaelen had positioned himself with a cr