[Child of the 7th Age]

A small coracle with a thatched wicker frame covered in deer hide advanced steadily towards the sheltered cove. Once the boat touched ground, the two Lossoth set down their paddles, climbed onto the beach, and dragged the small vessel several feet higher where it would be safe from the tide. Only a close observer would have noticed that the stocky figures tugging at the boat, garbed in heavy parkas and thick woolen scarves, were both women of mature years, the brown braids gracing their heads shot through with iron grey.

Alakhseey, the taller of the two, turned to speak with Hilde, who had picked up her satchel and was beginning to walk away. The Elder’s voice was manifestly polite, a modulated tone that masked whatever real feelings were hidden underneath. “You are free to go. The Council has said that all may return to their families. Should you have acquired any booty while with the Corsairs, these things must be returned to the owners." Under her breath, she added, " At least things will be normal again, and that scoundrel Marreth is safely locked up and will soon get his due.”

Hilde nodded and shrugged her shoulders, as if to indicate she would comply with the measure but that it was of no concern to her. The only souvenir of her expedition was the small pouch of coins that Marreth had awarded her from his treasure store. These had been lost when the Elves had dragged her off to prison. Other than that, Hilde had only the few meager possessions she had brought along when she had first approached the Corsair captain. She would return to her household, visiting her sons and their wives, just as she had always done, and make her living by doing odd chores for the benefit of her neighbors. Outwardly, nothing whatsoever had changed.

Yet, there are things that change inside a person the world can not see that may be more consequential than outer appearances or wealth. Hilde grunted her consent to Alakhseey and parted with a swift shake of her hand, adjusting her pack on her back and trudging northward across the stony beach. She struggled to put down the smile that kept slipping over her face. When she had walked on for some time, she stopped and set down her pack, hugged her belly with her arms, and collapsed in a convulsion of mirth as she recalled the Elder’s final words: That scoundrel Marreth is safely locked up and will soon get his due.

Marreth might have been a scoundrel to the Elves, but he had been a grateful and hearty fellow, and a handsome eyeful to boot, who had rewarded her with an open hand and had not failed to come to her rescue. She had spent enough time as a housekeeper on the Spirit to know its every nook and corner. One day she had been given dozens of keys to the storage rooms to help prepare them for the new supplies. Attached to the same ring had been another key, so old and forgotten that no one had even noticed it. A little investigation had shown it to be the key to the brig. For once, she had done something right and had immediately presented her treasure to Marreth, just in case he found himself in a tight situation one day. He had thanked her and hung it on a chain around his neck.

Let all the stuffy Elders think they had defeated the dashing young pirate. Hilde knew that they were wrong, and that pleased her enormously.