Chapter 97 SECTION 97 Battleship Suffers Heavy Damage

The luck of other warships is similar to ours.The Resolute confronted the robbers when they were attacking a village, and although they didn't win immediately, they destroyed the red ship on the shore beforehand, preventing the robbers from escaping cleanly.When they saw that their warships were badly damaged, they scattered and fled into the woods, and it took us several days to destroy them one by one.Similar things happened to the other ships: we chased the raiders, we drove them off, and other ships even sank the incoming Red Ship, but we took no more intact ships that summer. So, fewer smelting events, and every time we sink a ship, we tell ourselves we're missing one more ship, but it doesn't seem to matter to us how many ships we have left.In one way we have brought hope to the people of the Six Duchies, but in another we have also brought them despair, because no matter how hard we try, we cannot drive the fear of the bandit threat from their homes.

For me, this long summer has been a mixture of horrific isolation and incredible isolation.Verity was with me often, but I still couldn't maintain a connection after any fight had unfolded, and Verity herself was aware of the emotional vortex that threatened to overwhelm me as our crews fought.So he invented a theory that in trying to block other people's thoughts and feelings, I created barriers that even he couldn't break through.He also said it might mean that my Spiritual abilities might have matured, maybe even surpassed his, but I was also sensitive to being overwhelmed by the consciousness of everyone around me in combat.It's an interesting theory, but doesn't solve the problem in any practical way.But whenever Verity travels with me, I have a unique feeling for him, and probably only Burrich has.I knew how the thirst for Skill had corrupted him, and it felt eerily familiar.

When I was a little boy, Kerry and I climbed up a high cliff by the sea one day.As we climbed to the top, he confessed to me that he had an almost overwhelming urge to jump, and I imagine Verity felt something similar.The joy of the Skill urges him, and he has always longed to throw himself into the web of the Skill with every part of himself, and the close connection between him and me has just satisfied that hunger. thirsty.However, even if the Skill continues to gnaw at him, we have done many good things for the Six Duchies because of it. If he is allowed to give up like this, the consequences will be unimaginable.Admittedly, I also shared with him many lonely moments standing in front of the beacon window, the hard chair he sat in, the fatigue that destroyed his appetite, and even the bone pain caused by not exercising for a long time.I saw firsthand how he wasted away.

I don't know if it's good or bad to know a person so well.Nighteyes was outspoken about his jealousy, but at least he was openly showing anger that was ignored, but things between me and Molly were more complicated. She didn't understand why I kept away so often, why not someone else but me being part of the crew of the battleship?I told her it was because Verity wanted to, but she wasn't at all satisfied with that reason.The brief moments we spent together took on a predictable pattern, with wild bouts of passion at first, moments of peace shared, and arguments ensued.She was lonely, hated being a servant, and the private money she could keep accumulated slowly.She misses me so much, and why do I have to leave so often, do I know that I am the only comfort in her life?I once gave her the money I made on the battleship, but she snapped at me for treating her like a whore, and she would never accept anything from me until we were married, and I couldn't do it for her. She brought any real hope of a wedding, and couldn't find a chance to reveal Shrewd's plans for me and Jamin, terrified of what might happen in the future.We've been apart for too long to capture each other's daily life, and when we're together we're always revisiting old events and re-enacting arguments.

When I came to see her one evening, I found her hair braided with red ribbon, elegant willow-leaf earrings dangling above her bare neck, and though she was in austere white pajamas, she It's so mesmerizing that I can't breathe.Later, when we finally got a chance to sit down and talk, I complimented her on the earrings and she said without hesitation that when Regal came to buy candles, he gave them to her because he was happy with her candles Terrible, and often feel that the money paid is far less than the value of the scented candle.She smiled proudly as she said this, and ran her fingers through my warrior braids, her hair and ribbons spread out on the pillow.I don't know what she saw in my face, but my expression made her eyes widen and she stepped back a little.

"You accept Regal's gift?" I asked her coldly. "You don't accept the money I earn honestly, but you accept the jewelry he gave you, that..." Molly narrowed her eyes, and this time I stepped back a bit. "So, what should I say to him? 'No, my lord, I cannot accept your kindness until you marry me'? Regal and I are not like us, and his gifts are only customers for A special courtesy from a skilled craftsman. Otherwise, why do you think he gave me earrings? In exchange for my favor?" We stared at each other, and after a while I said something that made her almost believe I was apologizing, but then I made a mistake.I said he was probably just annoying me by giving her a gift, and then she wondered how Regal knew about our relationship, and questioned my suspicion that her skills weren't worthy of a special gift like earrings?Not to mention how we'll then salvage each other's quarrels in the little time we have left.However, a patched vase is never as perfect as a complete vase, and I returned to the battleship alone as if I hadn't been with her at all.

As I leaned over to paddle in perfect rhythm and tried to think of nothing, I often found myself thinking of Patience and Lacey, Chade and Kettricken, or even Burrich.I rarely have time to visit the princess in the summer, and when I do see her she must be in the garden at the top of the Beacon Tower.It's a beautiful place, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't restore it to the way Queen's Gardens used to be, and there's something mountainous in her blood that prevents her from fully transforming into our ways.The way she arranges and plants the plants has a carefully crafted simplicity, adding simple stones and resting on dead driftwood branches that have been washed by the sea, showing a raw beauty.I could meditate in this place, but I don't want to lie here lounging in the warm summer wind, and I doubt it matches Verity's memory.She keeps herself busy here, and enjoys being busy, but it doesn't bring her closer to Verity as she once believed.She is still as beautiful as before, but her dark blue eyes always reveal a dark cloud of melancholy, and she often frowns, so when she relaxes the muscles of her face, a line of shadows appears in the places where the sun cannot shine. Visible pale fine lines.When I was with her in the garden, she used to dismiss most of the ladies and then ask me about the activities of the Lurris in as much detail as Verity herself.When I finished my report to her, she often pressed her lips into a straight line, and then looked up at the top of the beacon tower and the sea and sky behind it.At the end of the summer, she just stared at her one afternoon, and I approached her and asked her to let me go back to the ship, but she didn't seem to hear my request, and instead said softly: "We must think of a The ultimate solution. Nothing or anyone can go on like this, there must be a way to stop it."