"Ettinsmoor? Is that what we're calling it now?" Imira asked.
"Better than 'the northern lands the Ettins inhabit' don't you think?" Peter asked in return.
"I suppose it's catchy," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"
Peter looked around the room...
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September 12, 1002
"I don't like the look of this," Hayley said looking at the long slim ship with the black sails on the other side of the ocean.
They were somewhere south of the bright of Calormene and that could only mean one thing: pirates.
Thanks to King Peter's actions there were none between the lone islands and Cair Paravel, but the fact remained that the waters of Calormen were dangerous, especially so far from the shore. Pirates, slave traders and smugglers riddled the waters. No mermaids ever dared go so south, slave traders had no inhibitions when it came to capturing Narnians, or anyone really, that was a well-known fact.
"That makes two of us. Captain?" James said, turning to the Captain who was examining the vessel with his spyglass.
"Oh, it's a Calormene ship, your majesty. There's no doubt in that," the Captain said, handing the instrument over to the king so he could see it for himself.
"Maybe it'll go away," Hayley said trying to be hopeful.
"Unlikely," James replied as he took the spyglass. The ship was far away, but James was still able to make out the distinct shape of a Calormen ship with its characteristic dark sail. James immediately placed the spyglass down, not needing to see much else. "Let's put some distance between us and the pirates, shall we Captain," James ordered right away.
"Right away, your majesty," The Captain began to give orders to his crew and alerted the King's flanking ships of the new orders. Very soon the three Datramite ships began to move south.
"Should I be worried?" Hayley asked him. She had never encountered trouble at sea, pirates, never. There weren't any on Datram's waters. There were smuggles without doubt, but not pirates. Some had been spotted south of Lycia, but none ever dared cross the straight between her home country and Acanthæ. Not with The Iron Arm, a large iron chain hanging taut between the two countries that would level any ship that dared try to cross without authorization, blocking the passage. All she knew about pirates were the dark stories told to her by her nanny when she was a child. If pirates were really like that she had no intention of ever meeting one.
"Three Datramite battleships against one lousy Calormene pirate ship, they wouldn't dare. King Peter knocked some good sense into them," James told her, reassuring her concerns as he remembered the story Imira, Edmund and Peter had shared about the pirates they had encountered.
Like Hayley, James had never encountered a pirate himself, but, like his twin, he had heard the stories from the sailors who had down at the docks of Datram. They were not nice stories. He'd hate for it to come to a fight, but if it came to that, they were prepared. The odds favoured them, but still, knowing the ship was still out there made James nervous.
When first deciding how they were going to be travelling to Narnia the choice seemed easy: horseback. Narnia was close enough to ride to, he had done it before. But all his cousins would be arriving in grand ships, the Lycians, the Calormene and, heck, even King Lune would be arriving by ship (and his country was the closest to Cair Paravel!). James didn't want to be the only one not arriving on a ship. He wanted to show off as well. And besides, he liked sailing and he could use the opportunity to travel. Visit his cousin Æric in Aotherra, go down to Lycia so Hayley could visit her parents, get a look at the south, it'd be fun. He had never been to Telmar or Calormen, it'd be interesting. And besides, such a long voyage had not been done since... probably never! He just had to take part in it. So, he gathered up his mightiest ships, arranged the trip with everyone else so that they'd all travel together in a large fleet, and sailed off in the longest journey of his life. The voyage to Narnia had been fun and easygoing, but now that the safety provided by numbers was gone, he was starting to think perhaps taking the quick easy rode would not have been so bad after all.
James' ship was a fast one, and with the wind on their favour, they managed to leave the Calormen ship behind the horizon just in time for tea.
The kettles were readily boiling and soon enough everyone on board had a hot cup of steaming tea in their hands.
"Have you ever encountered pirates before?" Hayley asked James just to make some conversation.
"Haven't had the pleasure," James said, "but Imira, Max and I used to go down to the docks to hear all about them. Cousin Arnas has though. He's got some crazy stories about them. There are all sorts of things up in the Wild North and south of The Iron Arm,"
"Oh, yes, the one with the sirens," Hayley said, remembering the day before the wedding when Arnas had recounted some of his seafaring stories after Imira, Peter and Edmund told about their encounter with Calormene pirates.
"Yes. I hope we won't meet any of them because we are not prepared for such a circumstance," James said thinking back to the stories his cousin had told of them. He did not know where he had exaggerated, for a good story always has a bit of a touch-up, but one thing was for sure: a warning about sirens as not to be taken lightly.
"Unlikely," Hayley said. No one had ever heard of sirens in the seas of Calormen. "Do you think there are-" Hayley started to say, but the Captain's voice overpowered hers.
"Incoming on starboard!" the man shouted, alerting the crew.
"Brilliant, just brilliant," James said, finishing his tea in an instant before standing up.
"What?" she asked, but James was already gone. He came back rather quickly looking a little pale and very serious.
"Turns out you should be worried. That pirate ship was not alone. Two more. Three in total. They're on to us," James said. "Come on, you can't stay here. It's no longer safe," he said as he leads her to their cabin.
"It's about to get really dangerous outside, so whatever you do, do not come out," James said. He was about to close the door and leave her there, but just as he was going to, Hayley spoke.
"So we're in real danger?" she asked him. She had never been in any actual danger before and the thought terrified her.
"I'm afraid so," James said. He figured she'd need all the facts, but she just looked more afraid than she did before. "Hey, I won't let anything bad happen to you," he said, hugging her. She was shaky and tears had formed in her eyes.
"Thanks. Be careful," She whispered, unable to speak any louder.
"Always," he replied as he let her go. "Stay there until I come to find you, okay? And don't come out," he emphasised.
For once, she agreed at once and without a fuss.
It wasn't long until she began to hear the sound of men running up and down and the rumbling of cannons. She got away from the windows, held her dagger tightly and prayed to Aslan nothing bad would happen.
