the usual harbour bustle. The warriors had stowed their weapons behind the railings.
‘Jarl, Jarl!’ One of the warriors standing guard at the harbour entrance ran up to Olaf and pointed towards the open sea. ‘A ship… A two-decked one… Armed...!’ he gasped.
‘And the flag?’ The jarl adjusted his weapon at his belt and looked towards the harbour entrance.
‘Imperial!’ the warrior finally managed to say, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Starion, like most Sea People settlements, did not officially belong to the XuinDo Empire, but it paid an annual tribute, thanks to which it enjoyed permits to trade and settle on Imperial lands. Furthermore, the ships of the Imperial navy did not harass Starion vessels at sea.
The arrangement suited both sides. The Ytren could trade and travel safely, whilst the XuinDo capital need not worry about raids on the southern coast or the pirates whom the Ytren regularly hunted down, naturally profiting from the bounties offered for the heads of pirate captains. ‘Legion!’, the man added, and everyone pricked up their ears.
What was a ship of the Imperial Legion doing so far to the south? Moreover, the Imperial Legions mainly had large, ponderous landing barges at their disposal, whilst warships belonged to the fleet. It seemed that the arriving vessel was indeed no ordinary ship.
A drawn-out horn blast rang out from the harbour entrance. Everyone looked in that direction just as the ship’s bow emerged from behind the watchtower. The vessel entering the harbour was a typical warship of the Imperial Fleet. A two-deck vessel, equipped with ballistae and repeating crossbows, with two rectangular sails that were just being furled and long oars emerging from the openings in the lower deck.
‘So it is here after all,’ Olaf gasped heavily, watching the Imperial Navy pennant fluttering on the mast—a black eagle clutching an anchor in its talons against a blue background. Just below it fluttered the blood-red flag of the Imperial Legion, bearing the same eagle, only with a sword and a spear beneath it. What’s more, if the jarl’s eyes were not
