The Halfblood King: Book 1 of the Chronicles of Aertu by Benoit Julian

Author:Benoit, Julian [Benoit, Julian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: The Bardiche Press
Published: 2014-02-24T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Gurlachday, Day 7, Squash Moon, 8760 Sudean Calendar

Captain Baruk stood in the antechamber to the High Admiral’s office, in dry clothes, with his spare sword and new boots he was not intending to put into service yet. Now I need to buy a new backup sword and boots. It was mid-afternoon. After his rescue, Velin, the Marshal of the City Guard debriefed him on the morning’s incident in which his ships were lost. Upon hearing the details, the Marshal left to consult with the Grand Marshal Haldor. A bell or so later, the Marshal returned with the news that Baruk would make himself presentable, as they would be meeting with High Admiral Kor in two bells. The Marshals had been in the office for over a bell, along with the Grand Admiral, he found out from the orderly stationed at the door. As a closed society, Thallasia is little known to the outside world. Trader ships ply the Kolixtlani Sea to Kolixtlan and Adar, as well as the coast of Elmenia. Foreign ships, however, are not tolerated in their territorial waters. Most believe that piracy still reigns when in fact, Thallasia has become a meritocracy, ruled by a military government. Never having had any aristocracy, they were loath to invent the concept when they progressed from anarchy to governance. The High Admiral, Kor was the son of a goatherd, is the supreme commander of the Thallasian people, with the Grand Admiral and Grand Marshal his second in command of naval and ground forces, respectively.

Marshal Velin stepped into the waiting area and stated, “Please come in Captain; they are ready for you now.” As a Captain, Baruk’s rank was approximately equal to that of the Marshal.

“Thank you Marshal,” he replied and strode smartly into the office, saluting the officers seated at the conference table. “Captain Baruk, reporting as ordered, High Admiral.”

“Come in Captain and have a seat. You’ve had an eventful morning,” High Admiral Kor answered as he returned the salute. “I assume you are familiar with Grand Admiral Lim and Grand Marshal Haldor?”

“Yes Sir and thank you,” he replied, dropping the salute and moving to take his seat, next to Marshal Velin.

“So, Captain Baruk, it’s not every day that I hear of someone fighting off a thrule,” Kor continued. “In fact, none of us has ever heard of it, but Marshal Velin saw you go under, then resurface. Please relate to us, in your own words, what happened.” Baruk recounted the event to his superiors, emphasizing the impression that he was purposely left for last, which allowed him time to prepare, unlike his hapless crew. Midway through the account, Kor asked, “Why did you choose to flame the ship, rather that attempt boarding, Captain?”

“Sir, when I saw them flying the Black Sun, I assumed there were wizards aboard and wished to take them by surprise. I hoped to destroy them before they had opportunity to react, Sir.”

“Good, that was a solid assessment Captain, but unfortunately they did react in time,” the High Admiral commented.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.