Untitled, by Rich & Troy

Frigid winds sang through the valley. Three days passed since we set sail.

The bitter cold was starting to make the men restless; a hypothermic insanity that could only precipitate through these harsh and bleak expanses. I looked over to port and watched a small shard of ice bob passed the frost-covered sides of our galleon.

Travel on, soldier, I thought, wondering how far the compact frozen splinter had journeyed.

“Steady as she goes men!” the captain commanded; a man who controlled his men more by fear then by compassion. It was the first expedition that the men had been on, and everything rested on the knowledge and experience that this man possessed.

The captain’s first mate, a dark-skinned woman of unknown origin, was almost as tyrannical as he. Some scorned them for treating the shipmates so gratingly. I, however, preferred the powerful, taciturn type… Especially when it came to women.

The men were restless. The thought of having a woman on the ship eased the tensions between them. That is, until they got to know her.

Most of the shipmates joined up just for the idea of a warm meal and possibly even a bed to sleep in. The others joined for the promise of riches. No one knew how Captain Wallace would make true to his pledge—100 gold parloons each—but any whit of uncertainty in his actions would surely mean an icy demise. 

The quest sounded easy enough: travel North and intercept a nautical vessel. The biggest problem was traversing through origins unknown.

Whatever nations were involved, one thing was certain: if Captain Wallace and his men were found successful, they would never return to the unsuspecting nation involved in this conquest.

It is easy to ne’er return to a place with no ties. Most of us on the ship lacked bonds and kin. After the loss of my wife, Adelle, and son, James, it seemed futile to stay in one place for very long.