Uniana (prime)/Dark Water

The smell of coffee reached her first, overtaking the briny scent of the incoming tide. Barely a speckle of silvered orange came up behind the galleon. The promise of sunrise was made less impressive by the multitude of lanterns that adorned the ship, hung over the railing and just barely skirted above the dark water of the bay.

“We should go ashore,” came Teveriel’s voice as he pushed the mug of coffee towards her, “send our own words to the Mirror and perhaps to the family Javilerre.”

Uniana took the coffee and stared down, her eyes fixed on the mellow water over the side of the ship. And with realization she added sadly, “And Lady Bayvel.” She took a long sip from the mug and glanced upwards toward her husband, “can we please just stay out a little longer? I want to be able to say we did everything we could to recover her.”

Teveriel drew in a deep breath and then called out in Elven, “one more chime of the bells before we go ashore! Eyes on the water, keep the lanterns full of oil!” Some of the crew responded with simple verbal acknowledgment though most were silent. For those who had been crewing the Gilded Talon’s fleet out of Solhaven, the winter had proved harsh and unforgiving. It suddenly felt as though spring was never going to come.