The Quest, or perhaps The Task Set Before Her Part 17

(Be prepared for the longest, and perhaps, best part of my story)

Jeddi didn't know what to say. He remembered that first voyage all too well. Like a nightmare that replays every time you close your eyes. But he had no information to give. He could see those eyes peering back at him in the darkness, but which one belonged to the pirate's sister, he could not say. His words fumbled out as he tried to explain this to Peleg. Jeddi sat there awkwardly, expecting anger to pour down upon him.

Peleg's only response was a sad sigh. Tears fell down his cheeks as sobs overtook his body. Jeddi watched in silence as the old pirate grieved for his last hope had dashed against the shores of defeat. All Jeddi could do was weep with him.

After a while, Peleg reached for his handkerchief and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Jeddi said, his voice breaking. "I don't know any more than you do."

"It's not yer fault," Peleg said sadly. "I knew in me heart it was a fool's hope. I knew it was. But I had to try, ye know?" A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I couldn't give up on her. She wouldn't 'ave given up on me." His voice trailed off as he thought about Layan. Her kind smile. Her loud laugh. Her fierce anger whenever he returned from a raid. Oh, how he missed her.

Jeddi shifted in his chair. He had sat for so long that his legs had started to go numb. His foot hit something underneath the table. He bent down and saw his pack lying on the ground. After picking it up, Jeddi opened the front flap, looking to see if anything was missing. What he saw resting on top almost took his breath away. The unadorned face of the First Book stared up at him. Only one thought filled his mind.

Frieda.

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A pale dawn broke through the bars and rested on Frieda's sleeping form. She stirred, feeling the cold sunlight hitting her skin. She sighed. What good was sunlight when you haven't left your damp and dank prison cell for days on end with no food and little water? Long days. Short nights. Frieda wasn't prone to despair, but now despair was her only supplement. Hope had vanished after the second day. You have given up far too quickly, she told herself. Hope couldn't disappear so soon, right?

Ha! Hope. Was there ever such a concept? No, of course not, she hurled back at herself. How silly to ever believe in hope. If hope had been real, it had abandoned her. All she had left now was a rough, wooden floor and despair, her only constant companion.

"What about Me?"

Frieda's head jerked up. What was that? A voice? Surely not! She was alone here in the depths of the ship. But was she? There was the voice again.

"What about Me?"

Frieda looked around frantically. There could be no mistake now. A voice was speaking. To her. But where was it coming from? No living soul was near her. Was it even from something living? The thought terrified her yet it brought her thoughts back to the One whom she herself had abandoned or, as she thought, had abandoned her.

Turning her head up, she looked past the bars of the cell, through the hatch, and focused her gaze on the pale dawn that still filtered down.

"Maker?" She whispered quietly into the morning.

"Frieda, child, why have you surrendered to despair? Have you forgotten the beauty I gave you on that winter's night in that hidden glade? Have you forgotten the miracle that fills your lungs?"

His voice was as clear and deep as the ocean. As strong and unbreakable as the tallest mountain. As quiet and gentle as a newborn lamb. As swift and wild as a stallion.

No amount of preparation in any number of lifetimes could have readied Frieda for this moment.

Stunned by this tangible voice, she stammered, "Maker...I...I...I'm... so sorry, I..."

Her voice broke as the tears flooded her eyes. As sudden as a storm, what at first was repentance quickly turned to anger. Not anger at the Maker, but anger at her current situation.

"Why?" She screamed, tears falling down her face. "Why, why has this happened to me? My life was perfect and now I'm starving in a prison cell! All because of a stupid book!"

The voice that answered her spoke in a quiet tone filled with love and gentleness.

"Where were you when creation broke into song for the first time?

Where were you when the sun first rose in the east and set in the west?

Where were you when I placed the Welldrines¹ far into the west away from those who would wish to corrupt them?

Where were you when I led your father to the resting place of an ancient king who held in his hands one of the First Books?

Where are you as Jeddi discovers that same book in his hands safe from harm?

Where will you be when a great evil arrives and twists my work?

Where will you be when I provide deliverance for my beloved?

Have not I been?

Are not I am?

Will not I be?

Take heart, dear daughter, for your troubles are not in vain. Your task will help bring about that distant deliverance. Though your work will not be remembered by future generations, I will never forget you nor forsake you."

Frieda felt a cool wind rush through her. Peace enveloped her soul, bringing fresh tears to her eyes. But this time they were tears of gratitude. Gone were her doubts. Gone was the despair.

Now she could see that hope never left her. She had always been there waiting for Frieda to open the blinds that encouraged the darkness. Once the blinds were gone, hope overcame her.

Looking back up into the morning sky, Frieda needed no one to tell her that she wouldn't hear the Maker's voice again in this lifetime. But she had no need, for His words were engraved on her heart. Never again would she despair. Never again would she lose hope. She may be locked in the bowels of a bounty hunter's ship, but Frieda knew this wasn't the end. The Maker wouldn't fail her.

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¹ Hehehe 🤭 Sorry, but I had to include the Welldrines in here somewhere. In case you don't know, the Welldrines are a group of wolves uncorrupted by evil. Their chief is named Wentith. To know more about them you have two options: 1 - you could go to the role-play post and scroll through almost two thousand comments to try to find where I mentioned the Welldrines. Or 2 - wait until there's another mission from Olluvan and I write more about Lowell. (In case it's not clear, I invented the Welldrines and the Kellmines)