“The only way we can do that is to talk to Iren,” Scarlett told her.
“Then, we go talk to Iren.” Alara looked at them all and then back to her horse. She nuzzled the side of the mare’s head and hugged her snout between her head and shoulder.
They had decided to continue toward the edge of Grotia, keeping well away from Anaphias and the palace. Once in Grotia, Jazia promised to secure them a small vessel to travel to the island of Ikrith.
When they reach the island, things would prove to be more than interesting. Talia had left her mark on the island once she’d secured her plan to become the next ruler of the kingdom. She’d placed a spell on the island, preventing any of its dwellers from leaving and keeping any who arrived on its shores… out.
Grotia, on the other hand, was visited by all; anyone looking for work, fleeing from Anaphias or merely looking to travel the waters.
Omath and Shagari were mountainous regions. Neither gave way for boats to get close enough to their shores. Even in the smallest dinghy, the journey to land was precarious. Rocks jutted out along the borders. The people of Vlora never had much use for export by sea. They didn’t care for what was found on the other continents.
Alara remembered while in her studies, she was never taught about the lands beyond Anaphias. Her instructors had always said they weren’t worth the breath it’d take to explain their kind. Their kind, she learned once in the palace, was the Fae of Idrisi.
Grotia had two ports— one north, between Edela and Esix; the other south, where they would travel to Ikrith.
Alara couldn’t even count on one hand how many times she’d gone to Grotia in her lifetime, mainly because she never had. She found the people to be similar to those in Anaphias and Vlora before it was left in ruins.
People didn’t linger as they did in Edela, waiting around to find the best deal in the compounds. No, they had definite points of travel and kept to them. They were courteous enough, greeting passersby with a nod of the head and a smile, but they so often saw people come and go. It was nothing new for them.
Declan pointed to Alara’s hood as he raised his own. He dipped his low to cover his face, using the back of Cedric's feet to follow along.
Alara tucked her twin braids under the hood of her black cloak and carefully covered the hilt of her sword with it as well.
Jazia took the lead. She kept her long braid pulled over the front of her shoulder. Her high cheekbones and pointed chin coupled with almond-shaped eyes and olive skin. She wore no cloak to hide her identity.
It was as if she needed the people to see her. Everything about her was a way to be the center of attention. Her clothes were too thin to conceal anything. The silk garment fastened at her shoulders and split open, revealing her bare arms to her wrists, where it joined again in a cuff. The clasps were gold and ornately designed. The thin material of her dress was sheer blue, allowing the naked eye to see the small bits of fabric— darker in color— covering her breasts and bottom. She wore a gold belt at her hips, similar to the one given to Alara. The most interesting thing, Alara noted, was the fact her feet only had a thin piece of material, held onto the bottom of them by loops around her first two toes.
Her companion walked close to her. Alara figured he was either a guard or friend. In a way, she thought he could have been both, the way they kept eyeing each other while the other wasn’t looking. There was an undeniable attraction, but whether they each knew was another story.
The boy’s name— as they were told shortly after they decided on their venture— was Nico, and less likely to be anyone of importance in Grotia. His clothes were worn and fraying. His slacks had tears in them at the knees, and his shirt may have been white several years before.
Like Jazia, he had pitch black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. Though as she walked through the quaint village of Grotia, Alara noticed dark hair and olive skin was a trait of the region. Time spent on the water had given each of the fisherman a soft golden hue, some darker than others.
Alara felt like a cloud floating through a drove of blackbirds. Her pale skin made it hard to hide on her face. She pulled her hood over a bit more to keep from taking any attention.
Though as they went, she noticed Jazia seemed to be taking the attention of the passersby on purpose, hiding her company in plain sight. She walked with a lightness of foot, waving to everyone who bid her hello. Her broad smile was bright, and her eyes lit up just a bit, if it was due to the light of the sun or her character, none could tell.
They were nearer the docks when Jazia stopped them, pulling them between two buildings. “I cannot go any further. My mother forbids me by the docks. Nico will see you to a vessel and take you to the island. I hope you can help the sorcerer, Iren. Or I fear all may be lost for us.” She glanced around in front of the buildings. “I must return to my sister. Please hurry.” She gave a slight nod to Alara and Nico and left down the alley.
“Ok, keep quiet. Follow me and act like you’re supposed to be here,” the boy stated.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Declan asked.
“You're too busy. You look every which way like someone is going to jump at you with a dagger. People don’t do that when they belong somewhere,” Nico stated.
“No, but they do that when they’re expecting someone to jump at them with a dagger,” Declan pointed out.
“Fine, but just be a bit more casual about it. You’re sightseeing, not looking for the dagger. Okay?” He raised an eyebrow at the prince, who conceded.
They moved from between the buildings without a look from anyone. Nico led them down a dusty road. People kicked up pebbles as they walked by hurriedly.
Alara looked from under the hem of her hood and saw large boats docked in the port, more extensive than any she’d ever seen.
Their white sails were down but visible along the mast. Ropes hung all over. Wood gleamed from the light of the sun. The area was far from quiet. Men and women alike moved back and forth from the docks to the ships with boxes and crates.
“Those are the export ships. This one here—” Nico pointed to the closest craft with blood red sails. A man stood on the top deck, shouting those moving below him. “This one goes to Idrisi. The passage to the port is closed to all ships unless it has a red sail. This is the only red-sailed ship I’ve seen. That man up there is the captain. He’s been transporting supplies forever.”
Alara remembered the Queen of the Fae was very private. Untrusting of others, she never allowed anyone other than fae or sorcerers to her island. The fae only let a select few enter her domain for fear of an attack.
On just one occasion, she allowed Tomas and herself to visit; during the time of the Concessions.
“How is it that Ikrith has a force field keeping them in, and Idrisi does not?” Scarlett asked. Her eyes darted here and there.
She wasn’t looking for anyone with daggers. She was honestly an interested tourist. She marveled at a ship preparing to leave the docks, men running from rope to rope. They untied them from big hooks keeping them secured to land. Once they were thrown back onto the vessel, it was free to roam the water as its captain saw fit.
She watched the men sprint from the docks to the edge and then propel themselves to the railing of the ship. Two men stood on opposite sides of the vessel with long poles. They placed the ends onshore and pushed. It moved a bit from where it was marooned, far enough so the paddles could be put through the holes near the hull. They moved in unison, pulling it through the shallow water and out to sea.
“Here.” Nico pointed to a much smaller boat at the end of the docks, closest to the shore. “We’re using this one.” He ran at a crouch around the boat. The rope wasn’t tied on hooks but looped over two banisters.
“Who does this belong to?” Declan asked with a bit of callousness.
“Does it matter? It’s going to get you to Ikrith and be put back before anyone realizes it’s gone,” Nico said, jumping on board.
It was a small boat wi
th a large mast. Declan spoke low, so only Alara could hear, “I doubt nobody would notice it leaving the harbor when the sail finally goes up.”
“Here, everyone grab an oar,” The boy said.
“A what?” Alara asked as the boy handed her a long-handled wooden paddle. “Oh, oar,” she said, just as Declan tried to take it from her.
“You don’t need to.” He tried to sound sympathetic, but it came off as antagonistic.
“There’s no reason why I can’t help. I’m able-bodied and have never let anyone do my work for me. I don’t intend to now,” she said, raising her voice just enough that everyone stopped and stared.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Ala—a-… Er…moth…” He stumbled on what to call her, looking sidelong at Nico.
“Alara. Have you forgotten my name already?” Everyone laughed, and Nico dismissed them by attending to the vessel.
“That’s not what I mean, Alara. Your muscles are still healing. You shouldn’t strain them,” he handed the oar to Cedric, who didn’t object to the extra work.
“Oh, I didn’t realize. Yes, of course, you’re right.” Alara could feel the heat rise to her cheeks. She’d forgotten her predicament for a short while and was just reminded of it all over again. As much as she’d hated to admit it, Declan was right. She had to be careful.
They each sat on a bench in the boat and rowed out to sea. Whereas the larger ships headed north, they headed east and then south. They would have to travel up and around Esix to gain access to Ikrith unseen. Had they used the southern port, royal guards would have stopped and captured them, since Talia had her men positioned there to make sure none traveled to the island.
Alara looked out at the water. The dark blue of the ocean contrasted to the green of the lands beyond and the bright blue sky above. The clouds were white puffs of cotton floating overhead with the slight breeze in the air. Salt wafted about, coating her skin and hair. The breeze dried her lips as they pushed against the wind. She wet them with a lick and took in the taste of the salt. It wasn’t unpleasant.
Before they left, she was afraid of what the rocking of the waves would do to her. She’d heard stories of grown men who couldn’t hold their stomachs at sea. However, with each stroke of the oars, she found the movement on the water comforting. The rise and fall of the boat made her stomach do little flips, but nothing as horrifying as the horrors she’d once heard of.
She glanced back at Scarlett, who looked peaked. Alara’s hood flew off as the wind swept into it with the motion. Pieces of her hair pulled loose of the braids. The force of the wind pushed it against her face, stinging her where it touched. Hooking a finger around it, she pulled it lose from the corner of her eyes and mouth, and pulled the hood back up, careful to keep her head tucked as the men rowed.
Nico sat next to Scarlett at the back of the vessel. She leaned over the side slightly, and he laughed. “That’s a good idea, since its borrowed and all,” Nico said low, so the boys in the front of the boat wouldn’t hear. “Give me your oar.”
“No, I’m okay.” She shot up in her seat, rocking the boat slightly. “Will we use the sail?” she asked, looking at the large mast in the middle of the benches.
“Not until we round that bend, over there.” He pointed toward a bit of land that seemed like it ended abruptly. “It’s the northern tip of Esix. Once we get around it, we won’t be visible from the shore here.”
“Do you do this often? Borrow things without asking?” She snickered at the idea of the things he might use and return to unsuspecting villagers.
“Only when it’s necessary.” He looked at the water. “I promised Jazia I wouldn’t anymore.” He seemed to be contemplating something rather than paying attention to the coastline. “It’s how we met. She was the first one to catch me.”
“Catch you?” Scarlett asked, seemingly forgetting her earlier struggle.
“Yes.” He laughed, then beamed at Scarlett. “I borrowed something and didn’t know it belonged to her.”
“What was it?”
“A loaf of bread. Such an insignificant thing. But Jazia followed me to the edge of town and watched me give the bread to a family; a mother with three small children. No husband. He’d been grabbed by the guards for service three years ago, and never returned.” He looked toward the water again, his oars moving in unison with Cedric and Declan.
“So, what? You’re some kind of hero?” Scarlett laughed and squinted at the ocean against the wind. It was the first time she’d been able to see it without feeling like her stomach would retch.
“No. I saw a little girl crying from hunger. I didn’t have the money to buy the bread, so I took it. I didn’t realize it was out of the basket Jazia’s maid carried. Now she delivers food to them weekly. Others in the village too.” He rubbed the salt from around his mouth before rewetting his lips.
“That’s nice of her.” Scarlett considered the way people had looked at Jazia as they walked to the port. They weren't just pleasant but genuinely happy to see her.
“Not really. It’s her duty to care for her people. It just so happens that she enjoys it. Her parents weren’t aware of the state of some of the families. They’d never kept an accounting of the people who lived there. Now they do since the queen took men to voluntarily work for her, in a completely involuntary way. Nobody even knows what they’re being taken for. Just that they aren’t ever returned.”
“How sad.” Scarlett turned to him; a glassy look reflected back to her.
“Yes, very,” he closed his eyes for a minute as if he’d been thinking about something he didn’t want to remember. Just as quickly, the sadness in his face disappeared. “So, how’d you find yourself with them? You don’t seem like a palace employee.”
“I’m not,” Scarlett said quickly. “My mother has friends in the palace. When she heard the queen was awake, she sent me to help them.”
“Help?” Nico dipped his oar in the water on one side then the other to help steer the vessel.
“Defeat Talia, so we can find my father. He’s missing, along with all the rest.” Her eyes spoke volumes. Not tearing up, yet enough to say she was lost without him.
Nico shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s been a long time. My mother won’t talk about it, but Alara waking has given a lot of regions pause. They are talking about a revolution; taking up arms against the queen.”
“Talia is not the queen.” Declan looked back to Alara. It was the first-time Scarlett heard him speak out against the queen consort. Alara tilted her head to the prince and pulled her cloak tighter.
“Look, were almost round the bend.” Nico pointed to where the land ended on their right. Once past the coast of Esix, they would travel away from shore and go south to Ikrith.
Nico pulled his oars into the boat and tucked them in a space below the bench. Declan and Cedric passed theirs back as well.
Nico moved to the lowered sail. He grabbed the rope and pulled it, signaling to Cedric to give him a hand. The rope coiled into a pile on the deck, and the white sail lifted with each pull.
Once there was nothing more to tug, Nico tied off the line and sat behind the large piece of wood the sheet draped over. The end had a handle on it where he could grab on and move it to point-turn the sail. He adjusted a few times, and then the billowing of the sail went taught. The wind caught it, and they moved at a pace that made the boat rise and fall more violently than it had with just hand rowing.
Scarlett seemed to have been cured by the sickness that momentarily came over her. She sat at the side with her hand dipped into the water, splashing it up. Her cloak caught a few drops, darkening where it got wet. For a brief moment, Alara was reminded of the blood that flew from the men she had slain.
“Alara, you okay over there?” Cedric asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
She looked up at him and smiled. Her face felt tight with the coating of salt. She touched her cheek and tried to wipe the powdery substance from
her skin.
“Oh, it’s no use. The only thing getting you clean is clean river water. You won’t see that where you’re going.” Nico laughed, making Cedric scowl, his brows dipped down, making the boy stop short.
The air around them became cooler as the sun lowered in the sky. Night was upon them, and with it, colder temperatures.
The girls pulled their cloaks around them, huddled close on a bench. The boys stood at the front of the boat, trying to keep their eyes peeled on land as the sun disappeared, and with it the only light they had to see by. It was discussed whether or not they would have to remain in the ship overnight.
Nico had traveled the way before and seemed to know where he was going, even with Declan and Cedric arguing whether they’d turned off course. They hadn’t, which was made abundantly clear when Nico called land ahead. The two stopped bickering, and both stood with Alara and Scarlett. Nobody had words for what they saw.
THE sky was pitch black by the time the boat reached the shore, except where the spell touched. A green hue glowed off what looked like brambles of branches, void of leaves. They extended so far into the sky; its height was not measurable. The limbs themselves were as big around as a grown man. The trunks were more widespread.
For the first time, Alara was not the only one experiencing something new. Declan had never traveled to Ikrith. His father told him his mother had banned the sorcerers to the island because of talk about an uprising. That the eldest sorcerer, Iren, wanted to overthrow the palace and declare himself king of the kingdom.
Talia only stated what others had always worried about but never spoke aloud; the idea that magic users would get tired of serving and deciding because they had power, they were the ones suited to rule over the lands— even though they’d lived harmoniously since Tomas and Alara had been crowned.
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