[piosenniel]

Lalwendë's post

Tarn looked out of the door at the brewing storm with an angry look on his face. He had to go and feed his seals and leave the warmth of his new stone hut behind him. He felt such pride in having been able to build this humble dwelling that he did not like to leave it. One of his cronies, Talsson, was slumped by the fire in a drunken stupor. They had been playing knucklestones and Talsson had lost his money to Tarn. The agreement had been that if Talsson wanted another game then he would have to offer the labour of his son, Thynne, to Tarn. The man, drunk as he was, knew that the labour would not be handsomely rewarded, and he knew that he could lose the profits he normally gained from hiring out the lad, but he would not lose face, so the deal was done.

Thynne, a well-fed fourteen year old, sat in the corner of the hut on a pile of furs, staring at Tarn, wondering whether his new job was a good thing or a stroke of bad luck. Tarn looked at the lad and motioned with his head towards the door.

“Get yourself wrapped up, there‘s a storm coming in. You will come with me now and start by learning how to feed the seals” Tarn watched as the youth scrambled into his warm clothes. “I suppose you can swim?”.

Tarn was the seal handler, but he rarely went into the water these days. He paid those with little hope, such as Thynne, to do this for him. He himself had survived by carrying out hard labour such as this when he left the family, so he didn’t see any harm in others making a living this way. Sometimes, he thought he was doing them a favour. If he’d had any children of his own then he’d have had them working with the seals as soon as they could walk, and that would be for free. But this lad looked strong and bright enough, he might have hired him anyway, had his father not been such a drunken idiot and offered him at half the going rate.

*********

Tarn stood a bucket of fish on a flat rock by the side of the water and let out a long, piercing whistle. The lad pursed his lips and tried to copy him. Tarn laughed. “I suggest you get some practice in, though I doubt you’ll ever truly master it the way I have. Watch me.”

Again he whistled, and ten sleek bodies came towards them through the water. The dog-like faces of the seals surfaced; they could smell the fish and came right up to the edge of the rock, circling and crying. The smallest one heaved itself out of the water, and his head bobbed up and down expectantly.

“This is the youngest, I think you could start with him,“ Tarn said to the lad, who had stepped back a little from the creature. “No need to be afraid of him, he’s learning just like yourself”. Tarn put one of the silvery fish into Thynne’s hand and the lad gingerly offered it to the young seal, who carefully took it, and slipped back into the water. Tarn quickly threw more fish out to the older seals, to keep them from taking the fish from the youngster.

“Why did he have a golden tag in his ear?” said the boy, suddenly finding his voice.

“That,” said Tarn, “Is how they are identified as my own seals. As soon as one is born I put the golden ring into his ear, and then anyone knows that he is mine. If one were to be hunted, then that hunter would have to pay dearly, probably with more wealth than that of five chieftains.” Thynne looked shocked. “But that, thankfully, has never yet come to pass. And these fine sailors, they seem to appreciate their worth as much as I do.” Tarn looked solemnly towards the cliffs, where the masts of the Corsair ship were rolling to and fro in the swell.

Tarn admired the Corsairs, with their proud bearing and fierce talk. He was eager to do well for them, partly because he might get greater rewards, but also because he wished to earn their respect. He was starting to form notions of making some kind of allegiance with them. Tarn did not exactly fawn around the Corsairs, as grovelling was not in Tarn's nature, but he made sure to impress upon them how invaluable he was, and made great show of both his skill with the seals and what he considered his status among the other Lossoth.

Tarn and Thynne threw out more fish, and several seals came out of the water, nudging Tarn’s legs with affection, which prompted him to scratch their necks. He started to do a few of his training rituals while the lad stood and watched, shivering in the driving rain and wind. He was hungry and licked the remains of the fish from his gloves. Having finished this, he squinted out to sea, where his attention was caught by a ship being tossed about on the waves.

Tarn soon noticed that the lad wasn’t paying him any attention. “Look sharp, lad, or it’s just the diving you’ll be doing. Thought you were brighter than that.” He looked up to see what Thynne was peering at and he soon picked out the shape of a white ship trying to tack into the bay.

“By the stars…”