CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Kolan wasn’t deterred by his previous failures procuring ships and as usual he went for the cheapest one he could find to take them to Ithaca. He knew it wasn’t far, so what could go wrong?
The captain, Noah Nathaniel, seemed pleasant enough, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to waste time on anything. Almost as soon as Hilary, the last in the party, stepped aboard, he set sail. The weather was fine for the trip, which he told Kolan would take about a day.
As the coast of Ulrica came into view, it was obvious that something was wrong: there were fires in the fields by the sea shore. The whole coast was ablaze. Heavy black smoke filled the air.
“Are they burning their crops or something?” said Princess Candera, optimistically.
“I doubt it. I suspect an arm
