"Make sure the grain is stored properly. Don't let it get damp!"
"May the Main God bless us! The kingdom's army has already captured Golden Bay City..."
"Right! His Majesty is invincible in battle. He'll fight his way here very soon!..."
Everyone nodded, murmured among themselves for a while, then fell quiet again. Priest Mekat thought for a moment, gripped the amulet at his neck, and prayed devoutly for a while.
"May the Main God bless us! Through the terrible storms, past the enemy's obstruction, across waves that filled the sky, to reach the kingdom's coast..."
Hearing Priest Mekat's words, old militiaman Chiwako raised his brows. He stared at the eastern night sky, and the hardships and dangers of the return journey surged up in his heart, scene after scene.
Last October, four Longships carrying two hundred people had begun their return voyage from Iron Bay Town, which the kingdom had established near the Mayari Tribe. He had led the fleet westward all the way along the northern coast.
The fleet passed in turn through the great coastal Taino tribes: the Palm Hill Tribe beside the brown forest, the Fishing Bay Tribe rich in catches, the Gabi Tribe with its abundant Divine Smoke, the Salt Shore Tribe that produced sea salt, the Well River Tribe that occupied natural deep wells, the populous Havana Tribe, the Iguana Tribe that raised iguanas, all the way to the Ridge Tribe beneath the western hills of the snake's tail.
These great Taino tribes were all very friendly. Not only did they provide food and drink, they even provided company for the night. The fleet's morale stayed high. At the Ridge Tribe on the westernmost end of Snake Island of Cuba, they passed the ill-omened days at year's end and took on a final batch