The Iron
Crown

That moment was some twenty years ago.

When I had crowned the King I simply broke down and wept, but could not speak.

I and my men were handsomely rewarded with gold and treasure from the coffers of those two royal persons, and the King granted my wish that Wollis should be enabled to rejoin me.

But the greatest honour was this: one of the Seven Boats of the Valley of Silence was brought forth from a secret harbour, cut out deep beneath the Mount of Taramus, and made seaworthy again for the first time in four hundred years, before it was entrusted to my care.

My companions were to form the crew.

The rarest foods and yet more treasures were piled high in the newly caulked holds, the best maps of the surrounding oceans were amassed from many lands to aid our navigation, and on a bright morning in late winter we set sail from the Silent Harbour to loud fanfares and the waving of the silent people.

We took with us the wishes of King and Queen, and steered the ship southwards.