I was notified that my father wanted to meet with me in private, which was odd because he hardly ever requested that; it usually meant I was in some form of trouble.
"What did I do this time?" I asked mockingly as I closed the door to his office behind me. My father office, ever since he had become Oberjarl, had always been decorated extravagantly and in bad taste, which in my opinion was a horrible combination. His art taste was terrible.
My father chuckled at my words and gestured for me to take a seat in front of his desk. He seemed rather businesslike today for some reason.
"Sooo," I asked. "What's up?"
"Do you believe that the Herons are ready for guard ship duty in Araluen?" He asked me.
"With Thorn's guidance, yes. I believe we are." I replied confidently.
"Isn't he a part of your crew now?"
"True."
"It's settled then. My only other hesitations are foolish."
"And what are those?"
"Sending my daughter off with her betrothed when they're still too young to be married and I can't... supervise."
"Thorn will be there," I pointed out.
"True," he conceded to my point. "I'll be notifying your skirl at the end of the week."
After telling him goodbye, I left for the place in Halasholm where I was supposed to meet Jesper: naturally, the docks.
He wasn't there yet so I stood there watching the different crews, calling out to people I knew. Suddenly, though, I felt him slip his arms around my waist.
"Hello my love," I said, smiling brightly and leaning back into his chest.
"Hello Cora," he replied, kissing the top of my head.
"So what was so important I had to wake up early?" I teased.
"I wanted to spend time with you. I have no idea what we're doing yet." He replied, tightening his grip on my waist only slightly.

Time skip
Well that was a grand exit, I thought as the Heron departed from Halasholm. My father was definitely not happy.
KLOOF!
I jumped at the sudden loud noise beside me. That dumb dog ruined my dad's axe. And his staff. And it's practically the size of me.

When we arrived, Hal was speaking with the skirl of the previous guard ship. Meanwhile, Jesper was picking on me, trying to get me to lash out.
I was paying more attention to Stiv and Missy, who were standing hand and hand thinking no one had noticed. I had always thought I would be the awkward one, not Missy.
Our next adventure began when we heard of an attack of an Araluen village...