Continuing with my trend of feeding the first chapters of my stories through multiple languages in Google Translate, here’s The Bandits of Goldharbour.
Unfortunately, I did this one long enough ago that I don’t remember what ten languages I did and apparently I neglected to include that in the file I saved…
a thief Gold port:
a fairy tale
Written by Realmgard
Copyright by J.B. Normandy
at Carleton University Faculty of Humanities in 2013.
Don’t take away the dedication of this book as an offense to pirates and robbers.
Chapter 1
Kat Darkstone wants to talk about family vacations.
He often hated him.
They spent a week in the free trade city of Golden Harbor. Golden Harbor wasn’t much different from her hometown, the free trade city of Port, so Kat didn’t feel like she was on vacation.
They don’t even have to leave the house to find out what a free trade city is.
The local language wasn’t the only reason Kat was reluctant to go on this holiday.
In fact, holidays are not for him.
Darkstone came to Gold Harbor for the 93rd annual meeting of the Brotherhood of the Seashore, the main pirate guild of the Sphere Guard. Here’s another reason why the holidays don’t end like this. He was also surrounded by pirates in Port Haven.
And so the plan in Gold Harbor was to stay as far as possible from the meetings of the Brotherhood. His father and sister, Admiral Dorian and Captain Dunstan Darkstone, on the other hand, were deeply rooted in the knowledge of the Darkstone pirates and spent every waking moment with the other members of the Brotherhood.
The highlight is definitely the fraternity’s annual awards ceremony. The prize is called Sharky because it looks like a shark. Back at Darkstone Manor, the admiral lined up a line of small golden sharks along the cape.
Kat uses it for target practice when no one is around.
During that mission in Gold Harbor, Kat sees her best friend, the very wealthy Amara Ward, also vacationing in the very wealthy town of Gold Harbor, visiting her very wealthy relatives. That means it exists.
They met in the morning.
The question is whether it can survive until tomorrow.
This night seemed to last forever as Kat slept in the worst bed ever.
In fact, Kat bitterly thinks that “sleeping” might be the wrong word. This also applies to “in”. Because of her sister’s sleeping habits, Kat was forced to get up on the cold, hard floor.
“Come on, Dunstan,” said the tired cat to his brother as he went back to bed.
“Sleep,” Danthana said sleepily. Besides, Danthana also snores.
This is exactly why Kat hates holidays.
The bed is not too small either. There is no reason why the two cannot be combined. Except, of course, Dunstan didn’t insist on lying like a starfish in the middle of the bed, with Moonflower Princess dolls on either side. There may be enough room in the bed for Kat, but the shape isn’t right for her.
Unless it’s an octopus or an eel.
“Please,” Kat said again, trying to push Dunstan to the other side of the bed.
Dunstan, who was still fast asleep, said “Sunruk” and immediately returned to the center.
Even in her sleep-deprived state, Kat knew she couldn’t win this battle. She tore the pillows and sheets from under Dunstan and cried on the couch.
Kat collapses on the couch and is immediately horrified to discover that the couch is covered in the roughest, grossest material in the world, with long legs hanging over the armrests.
Bathing in the moonlight shining through the window, looking at the shadows on the ceiling, trying to sit on the very short couch that itches, trying to cover himself with a very short and very thin sheet.
Meanwhile, Dunstan continues to snore in bed.
The good thing is that Kat doesn’t have to share a sofa.
To her surprise, Kat woke up to find that she had somehow fallen asleep.
As the sun rises, he realizes that some things in his life will never change, whether in Port Haven, Gold Harbor, or some other distant place in Realmgard. They will take comfort in the fact that there is certainty in a world that is constantly changing.
Even if that reassurance doesn’t come in the form of a sister, it will be.
“Oh!” The call came as surely as the sunrise. “Come here!”
In response, Kat returns as confident as the rising sun and tries to ignore him.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” Dunstan exclaimed as she hurriedly shook her sister’s shoulder. “It’s time for breakfast!”
The promise of breakfast was enough to make Kat turn and look at Dunstan. “Come on mom and dad, we’re ready!” Dunstan said as she grabbed Kat’s arm and tried to pull her off the couch. He was not very successful because he was a little younger and 5 years younger.
“Wait a minute,” Kat said, finally sitting up.
Kat did her best to eat breakfast with cautious optimism. However, his fleeting hopes were quickly dashed when the breakfast served at the inn turned out to be nothing more than burnt toast with a strange smell.
Kat took a bite and decided that the dish tasted of disappointment and insomnia. However, the jam has an elderberry flavor and is actually very tasty. His mood worsened due to the fact that no one in his family had such bad mornings as he did. Dunstana swallowed it all.
muttered the admiral from behind a copy of the Golden Harbor Mail. Her mother Estelle looked thoughtfully across the table as she looked into her glass of orange juice.
“What happened dear?” Estelle asked.
“I didn’t sleep very well last night,” replied the Cat, looking at Dunstan.
“Oh,” Estelle said as she drank her juice. “I’m aware of that. But I have to eat something.”
“Listen to your mother, Cat. A real pirate’s day begins with a delicious breakfast,” said the admiral from behind the paper and immediately found a new line in the paper.
Kat feels she should refuse because he’s not a pirate, right or wrong, but she doesn’t stand a chance.
With a final act of determination, Dorian put down the paper and turned to Dunstan. “Ready to go Captain Kidd?” he asked.
Dunstana nodded and said something like “Yanhu” with a mouth full of perfume.
“Before we go,” said Dorian, reaching under the chair. “I have a present for you.”
“What is this? What is this?” Dantan asked impatiently.
Dorian placed a notebook and pen on the table for his beloved daughter.
“It’s a book, but there’s nothing in it,” said Dunstan, stating the obvious. He looked at his father. “What is this?”
“This is my first time attending a Brotherhood meeting, so I wanted to do something special.” If I ask nicely, I’m sure the other pirates there will give me an autograph,” answered Dorian.
“Cool! Amazing!” Dunstan exclaimed. “Thanks dad! You’re the best!” He grabbed his book and pen and headed for the door. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go! I want everyone’s autographs! Let’s go!”
“Okay, we’re leaving,” Dorian said as he got up from the table. He followed Dunstan and stopped to kiss Estelle on the cheek and pat Kat on the back.
“We are in Grog Laxamana Merah’s house in the port area. Don’t miss it. The roof is bright red, it is the tallest building in the area and it smells of alcohol,” he explained. “I’ll meet you there tonight after the meeting. We’ll go out to dinner.”
“Enjoy your date at the club dear,” Estelle said with a nod.
“This isn’t a club, mom!” Mrs. Dunstan protested, wide-eyed, as she pushed the cart up the hill. “It’s the Seaside Brotherhood! It’s Sharkey’s prize!”
He followed Dorio out of the inn’s dining room, still shaking his head at his mother’s ignorance.
After Dorian and Dunstan left, Kat and Estelle were left alone at the table, surrounded by the remains of breakfast.
“So,” Estelle asked as she drank her juice. “What are you going to do with Amara today?”
“I hope you had breakfast,” Kat replied, looking wearily at the mostly untouched breakfast. It did not escape his attention when he turned his head with curious fish eyes. He looked at his mother when an idea suddenly came to him. “If you want, you can come with us.”
“Thank you dear, but I don’t want to bother you,” replied Estelle.
“Mom, you are Amara’s favorite person in the world. She would love to have you with us,” Kat said. “And don’t you want a proper breakfast?”
Estelle looked at her toast, which was mostly ignored. “Really looking good,” he concluded. “There’s a lot of great coffee here.”
So, this is the first one where “Realmgard” didn’t end up as Realmguard. Though, apparently, Realmgard did end up as the author.
As usual, Dunstana ended up as “Dunstan” and Kat is referred to as “him” at least once.
On the other hand, Dunstana going from extending Kat’s name into “Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat” to just yelling “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” is actually still pretty much in character…
But, all in all, these things are really fun. At least in part because the logic behind the translations makes no sense.
