"Where am I?", was Lisabeth's first question when she opened her eyes again.
"You are still on the Stormy", the First Mate answered, carrying Lisabeth in his arms. "Landlubbers, they are all the same, daydreamers they are.... And they can't even stand on their own feet" he declared.
"I must have fallen", Lisabeth guessed.
The Firts Mate carried her to the Captain's cabin where Mary O'Lein was writing in a giant book at her desk.
"My journal", she explained. "As a captain, I have to write down all the events which happen aboard this ship", she said, laying the blotting paper on the last page and then closing the book.
"Well, well, what did you see in the spraywater, which made you so upset?" she asked Lisabeth.
"That's of no importance", the latter answered. "I'm more concerned about what happened right after that".
"All right then, please do enlighten me on what happened right after that", Mary O'Lein proposed, leaning back, folding her hands behind her head and stretching out comfortably.
"I have fallen and I have been unconscious, haven't I?"
"Indeed", Mary O'Lein mocked, "You did sum up both possibilities".
"I do understand", Lisabeth said, "I do understand completely, but that doesn't take me any further."
"Then you may tell me a nice little story about that other world from which I brought you", Mary said, growing visibly impatient.
Lisabeth's head was still spinning after all the past events, but she disliked seeing Mary annoyed and so she decided to take a chance.
"All right then. I'll tell you about a little flap-table in the Grand Duke's Palace. Everything you placed on it was likely to disappear. I was aware of that, because I had put something on it myself, which disappeared within a few moments. This made me curious enough to look for clues and I managed to open it. I discovered a great many things which other people had been looking for, for years and years. For instance, a ring which once belonged to the Grand Duke's mother, the Ring of Clouds, which could only be worn by the Grand Duchess herself. And wearing that ring made me a Grand Duchess".
"That certainly was a nice little story", Mary O'Lein said with satisfaction. "And are you still in pain after your fall?"
"Not that I'm aware of", Lisabeth replied in surprise.
"I knew you wouldn't be", Mary said, standing to join Lisabeth in a stroll on deck.
"How long have you been a sailor?" Lisabeth asked.
Mary O'Lein stared at Lisabeth and then asked: "Do you want to stay here?"
"I don't know. A ship like this is such a small world and it seems easier to get aboard than to disembark."
"Everything has an entry as well as an exit", Mary said. "Jumping overboard might be the final way out."
"That would kill you!", Lisabeth exclaimed, knowing as she said it that Mary O'Lein wouldn't understand what she meant.
"Yes, that would kill you", Mary said calmly, casting her eye towards the horizon.
"You have brought storm with you", she continued. "You are confused and none of it has found its proper place yet".
"No, what did you expect of me then?" Lisabeth asked angrily. "I'm entangled in some kind of spider's web and I'm trying to get out, but I do not possess any witchcraft, you know!"
"She possesses whitchcraft", Mary said to the First Mate a few moments later, loud enough for Lisabeth to overhear.
"This is getting crazier by the hour", Lisabeth thought, after she had slipped into her berth right after her stroll. She desperately tried to find out what was reality and what wasn't. She didn't succeed and she even wondered if she had slept at all when the ship, already cracking, was severely shaken by a storm which had suddenly broken. To her great surprise, it didn't scare her at all but rather soothed her.
"They won't get me", she promised herself. As she was flung to and fro, it amazed her that she could think clearly for the first time during this voyage.
"Something must have gone terribly wrong", she knew, "But... What was it? What is the reason for my presence here?"
A thundering noise disrupted her thoughts.
"Watch out! It's the mizzen!" One of the sailors shouted so loudly that she could hear him despite the howling of the wind. A split second later came the bang on the deck and the noise of the sails flapping on the deck.
"They won't get me," Lisabeth proposed once more. And she had to laugh about this situation. "It will get even worse", she knew. "For I'm still dry".
That very moment, one of the tiny bull's eyes cracked and a jet of green seawater poured into her cabin.
"I knew it would", she concluded, reassured by this event. "This certainly is a nightmare of the first degree. And how on earth am I supposed to escape from it?"
Again another giant flow of green water poured inside. Lisabeth grabbed her pillow from under her head, tucked it into the round hole and crept under her soaken blankets as if nothing had happened.
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". She decided, this was going to be her strategy. "Don't let them master your feelings".
Resolutely, she pushed away her blankets and told herself that the most sensible thing to do was to take a look on deck. But that wasn't easy under the circumstances. The swaying motion hampered her in her efforts even to get to the door. And when she opened it, the storm flung it out of her hands. Once on deck, she needed all her attention and strength to keep herself upright and not swept away by the ever pouring water.
By clinging to everything she met on her way, she finally managed to reach the Captain's Cabin. Mobilising all her forces, she prevened the door from being blown from her hands and, after yet another short struggle, she found herself huffing and puffing in front of Mary O'Lein.
"I report some damage to the mizzen", Lisabeth shouted above the storm. "Is there any need of my assistance?"
"By coming here, you already did the best part of it. Just hear, the storm is already calming down", Mary O'Lein shouted back, pointing her finger in the air.
Lisabeth could also hear it.
"Mary", she said, after the storm had ended a few moments later. "Where are we? Is there a port nearby where we can have our things repaired?"
"This is our own world", Mary O'Lein explained. "We repair things ourselves. And where we are?" She paused, started to laugh and then went on deck were the sun had started to shine already.
Lisabeth followed her.
"Mary, I want to escape from this nightmare", she said.
"Who told you that this is a nightmare?" Mary O'Lein asked in surprise. "Was it the First Mate?"
"I won't tell you", Lisabeth said. "But it is evident enough. Strange things happen here and you can influence the course of events with your own thoughts".
"That alone is not enough to make it a nightmare, for when you think positively, positive events happen."
"I know that now", Lisabeth said, "But, nonetheless, I would like to return to the normal world."
"What is normal?" Mary O'Lein cried fiercely. "Perhaps your own world is a nightmare and this is normal."
"I preferred the world with Anne and Govert", Lisabeth whispered, "And I want to return".
"You may find out how, all alone", Mary snapped, "There are lots of exits". She then turned her back on Lisabeth.
"I would like to try such a cat-o'-nine-tails myself tonight" Lisabeth shouted after Mary, who turned back in surprise.
"On whom?" she asked.
"Your First Mate. Does he like it?" Lisabeth asked, with a blush on her cheeks.
"These days he enters other worlds, especially when you start hitting him hard," she answered.
"Then I want to have him for one night", Lisabeth said.
But Mary O'Lein had some objections.
"That isn't possible without a cause. First he must have done something illegitimate", she explained.
Lisabeth understood.
"Then I'll just wait and let it happen", she said.
Mary O'Lein didn't speak as they slowly walked to the poop deck, where the sailors inspected the damage that had been done. Mary O'Lein hardly noticed them.
"You are beginning to understand. But, Lisabeth, you musn't think too lightheartedly about it. Tonight you may have dinner with me, for I like you more and more and then I'll tell you some of my secrets", she invited her prisoner.
"Only if the Mate will be there too", Lisabeth stated.
"That's all right", Mary answered with a laugh. "He'll be there too".
In her captain's cabin, Mary had laid a table for three and Lisabeth was the last to arrive. Then Mary rang the table bell and a silent sailor, wearing a cook's hat, distributed the first dishes.
"Lisabeth, did I understand that you considered your stay here as being just a dream from which you can awaken?" Mary asked, while studying Lisabeth's face intensely.
"Or the other way around". Lisabeth answered.
"Or the other way around" Mary repeated, "You did sum up both possibilities".
"I do understand", Lisabeth joked, "I do understand completely, but that doesn't take me any further".
"I suppose that you must be fond of this kind of discussion," Mary concluded seeming annoyed.
"Yes indeed, it seems rather funny to me", Lisabeth added.
"In a way it seems funny to me too and it goes well with the rest of it," Mary said. "You are starting to get the right feeling already. Come and take a little glass of rum". She filled Lisabeth's glass to the edge.
Lisabeth lifted the glass to her lips and prudently took a little sip, not knowing how to hide her distaste.
"Alright, the beginning is there", Mary O'Lein said, satisfied with Lisabeth's effort."
"But it still remains real poison", Lisabeth said. "Even a child can taste that".
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mary said, emptying her glass in one gulp.
"Lisabeth", Mary said, ignoring the First Mate's presence completely. "I presume that you have read "The Chain of Mountain Crystal?"
"A bit," Lisabeth said.
"And you know about Timur Leng or Tamar Lan who ruled Mongolia?" asked Mary O'Lein, grabbing Lisabeth's hand.
"One of your ancestors", Lisabeth said.
"Quite right", Mary O'Lein declared, straightening her back in order to tell the story which had burned on her lips for a long time.
"Timur Leng tried to conquer Europe, wanting to lay his hands on the Muscovite Glasswork".
"Yet another idiot", Lisabeth murmured.
"What other idiot?" Mary asked, disturbed. "Perhaps you are talking of those Gosselings, those weak and miserable derivatives of something that should show some resemblance to the great warrior Attila?"
"Yes I'm talking of them," Lisabeth said candidly.
"If it had been up to us Lengs, it wouldn't have turned out in such a devastating way", Mary O'Lein said. "Then the Glasswork would never have left Mongolia".
"Then the Leng family didn't do their job properly, for the Glasswork travelled a lot during these past centuries", Lisabeth said, sensing victory.
"It's all Attila's fault, and his afterbears', those miserable, creepy, slimy,..."
Lisabeth interrupted her table companion.
"I do like them, at least Govert. You certainly can laugh with him".
"And Alexej, his son, do you know him too?" Mary O'Lein asked.
"Just from Anne's stories", Lisabeth replied truthfully.
"He seemed to look a lot like Govert and because of that resemblance, she was able to make a big fool out of him."
The First Mate, hearing those words, began to move on his seat uncomfortably, but still didn't speak a word.
"When I was at the Grand Duke's, Alexej had already left and seemed to be hiding somewhere in the Land beyond the Woods, or something," Lisabeth said, meanwhile carefully looking at the First Mate, who tried to serve her, without letting his hands shake.
He failed to do so and a potato rolled from his spoon onto Lisabeth's lap, when the ship rolled violently sideways.
"Rather convenient, to be able to influence the course of events with your thoughts", Lisabeth, wide-eyed with expectations, said silently to herself, as she looked at Mary O'Lein.
"Yokel!" Mary shouted at the First Mate. "Now see what you've done! This night you're in for trouble again!"
"No!", the First Mate cried in fear. "Please don't do it again, captain. You already got me so many times during this voyage."
"All right then, for once I won't hurt you. I'll pass the privilege to my guest," Mary said, exchanging a glance of understanding with Lisabeth.
"You know, the quest for the Glasswork is rather complicated", Mary continued in a confidential tone.
"Originally it was made by my ancestors, but it was Attila who stole it from us, to impress the beautiful royal ladies in western Europe. The situation didn't change for some centuries, until my ancestor Timur Leng wanted to recover the Glasswork to bring it back to the Mongolian Gold and Silver Mines. He had collected a vast army, but was stopped before he reached his goal".
"I can guess the rest of this story," Lisabeth said with a smile. "You took over his task, didn't you?"
"That's it", Mary O'Lein said proudly, "And I will succeed"
"Who knows?" Lisabeth asked. "But you certainly didn't make things easier by bombarding my Crystal Castle. For, together with that Castle, the entire Glasswork was destroyed".
Mary O'Lein's choked on some food, stuck in her throat and her face turned red. The First Mate tapped her helpfully on the back but Mary recovered only after coughing a lot and drinking a glass of water, which Lisabeth offered her.
"Are you serious?" she then asked, shocked.
"Yes I am", Lisabeth said. "I should have known better, but I was too stubborn to admit it. I knew things would turn against me if the Glasswork remained in the Castle. It was foreseen, but I didn't believe it. I defied Anne and Govert and now they are dead and the Glasswork will be reduced to smithereens. And I find myself on some old yawing barge".
"You are on the Stormy, one of her Majesty's proud vessels," Mary O'Lein said calmly. "And if you don't like it, you can always leave".
"Why am I here then, anyway?" Lisabeth asked yet once more.
"Because our beloved queen is interested in the present situation in Russia and Transsyldavia and it seemed to me you knew more about that. But, as a matter of fact, I welcome the idea that you also know something about the Muscovite Glasswork. So, to be honest, I am somewhat in doubt, between fulfilling my duty and thinking of my own interest".
"I do understand", Lisabeth joked, "I do understand completely, but I wonder if it makes any difference to me"
"Ah, I feared that you would say something else", Mary said in surprise.
"No, for it seems rather funny to me", Lisabeth said.
"In a way it seems funny to me too and that goes well with the rest of it" Mary said. "You are starting to get the right feeling already. Come and take yet another little glass of rum". She tried to fill the glass to the rim this time, but some rum poured onto the table.
The rest of the evening was spent in a kind-hearted way and, at the end, Mary O'Lein ordered the First Mate to obey all Lisabeth's instructions, otherwise she herself would take command. She then gave Lisabeth the long-shaped box and a pair of shackles.
"You can close these locks and there is a hook in the ceiling of your cabin", she explained. "I already noticed it", Liasabeth answered. "I hope I can reach it".
The Mate obediently followed Lisabeth to her cabin. She showed him in and locked the door behind them.
"What is going to happen now is very important", she told herself. "I may find the clue to this entire enigma".
"Just take of your coat and your shirt", Lisabeth said lightly while opening the small box. She looked at the cleverly shaped instrument for a long time. When she looked up again, she saw that the Mate was waiting for her next instructions.
She threw one of the shackles over the hook in the ceiling, took the Mate by the hand and clicked the first lock in place. She firmly immobilised the other hand in the same way. Lisabeth inspected her work by slowly walking around him.
"They certainly took advantage of you", she said, noticing the scars on his back.
"That's all Mary O'Leins work", the First Mate stated.
Lisabeth caressed his back between his shoulders, pressed her head against it and gave it a few kisses.
"It will remain like that for quite some time", she thought as she walked to the table to fetch her whip.
"Hit him hard at once", Mary O'Lein had said, but Lisabeth had other intentions.
"I have to get out of here," she said to herself, "in one way or another".
The Mate was still waiting, his eyes turned to the ceiling, as Lisabeth approached.
"Your pants are very tight here," she explained. "But you really do like that style, don't you".
The First Mate didn't answer.
She resolutely took the last step toward him and began to untie his belt.
"It is in need of some fresh air", she decided, unbuttoning his fly.
"Oh but that is beautiful! Even nicer that I had imagined!" she exclaimed with great satisfaction.
With a brisk jerk, she pulled down the rest of his trousers and then started to undress herself. After she had finished, she went behind the Mate and laid her head on his injured back, sliding her arms around him.
"You are quite stiff", she said in admiration, when she moved her hands further down. Then she kneeled in front of him.
"Come along then," she said as she opened her mouth wide. The Mate knew what she meant and fulfilled her wish. Lisabeth's mouth shut carefully and her hands slid downwards over her belly.
"It will take just a moment, if it all works out as I meant it to", she thought, trying to take herself to another world.
The transition took place when the Mate let himself go. Lisabeth swallowed, but then coughed the very moment she felt herself slipping away.
"You'd better stop", Anne-Christine said. "Can't you see that she doesn't swallow well?"
Lisabeth opened her eyes.
"What the hell are you trying to make me drink?" she asked. "It isn't rum, is it?"
"You must be an expert", Govert Gosseling said. "But you are slipping away every now and then, as you are under-cooled. Perhaps some alcohol will make you feel better."
Despite the discomfort, Lisabeth was glad she had made the transition.
"I want to stay here," she said faintly. "Don't let me go away again, for Mary O'Lein and Alexej are there!"
"Where?" Anne-Christine asked.
"Aboard that warship!"
"Are you certain of that?" Anne-Christine asked.
"Very certain", Lisabeth said as she closed her eyes once more.
"Too much alcohol", Govert Gosseling concluded. "She must react strongly when she has too much alcohol in her blood".