Chapter 64

The sea breeze greeted my skin as I sat on the rough boat.

The sea breeze was the only good smelling thing at the moment.

The Sovereign was currently sitting at the helm while me and Brigitte occupied the hull of the small boat.

The drunken song continued through the air and I turned to look at the small, grubby man whose boat we were currently borrowing.

"Ai! Fish! Fish! Fish!" He yelled loudly, I discreetly covered my right ear which faced him.

"We're not fishing, Babang." The Sovereign scoffed.

Turning my head in the direction of his voice I saw that his brown eyes were trained on the sail, the rope in his hand being loosed steadily.

The beard that he'd grown over the past days suited him, especially in the boat.

As soon as we'd seen that there was no way we could get on a ferry we returned to the small man, learnt his name, Babang, and rented his boat.

The Sovereign had discerned that he no longer wanted Babang's boat.

Seeing a mouse scurrying along the bottom of the boat I jumped up and shrieked. Brigitte hugged the side of the boat and we both caused it to nearly tip.

"Ai! Ai! That is Merle, leave Merle alone." Babang said, picking up the white mouse and putting him in his pocket.

I squinted, uncomfortable from the scene and inched away from the bizarre man and his mouse.

Reaching the opposite side of the Kuratuma Pass we'd finally arrived at Wanington.

"And if we ever meet again, I'll be sure to go fishing with you." I heard the Sovereign say flashing the man an uncomfortable smile.

I laughed and covered my mouth pretending I was coughing.

Without our horses we had no way of travel besides Babang's boat but none of us wanted to spend anymore time in that disaster.

We walked along the wooden planks that formed the docks in search of a means of transport.

Finding stalls filled with animals of all sorts we asked the young boy standing by them how much a horse was.

"Horses come with the coach." He said pointing to the battered coach-looking thing parked by the small hut. Inside the hut were two horses.

"Eh, that's alright, we don't need a coach." I said assuredly.

"No coach, no horses." The boy said crossing his skinny arms over his tattered green shirt.

"But you see, we don't-"

"We'll take it." The Sovereign said placing a handful of coins in the boy's palm. The boy's eyes widened as he beheld the currency.

We then led the two dusty old stallions who stumbled along the wooden planks.

"This is a shoddy deal." I said holding one of the reigns as we hitched the two horses to the "coach".

"Nonsense, you can fix these two up just like you did with the last two." The Sovereign said watching as me and Brigitte worked.

I raised myself from my bent position and looked at him over one of the horse's backs.

"Helle and Dahlia were young, healthy mares who only had uncared hooves." I looked down at the once cinnamon coloured stallion and said, "These ones look like they could keel over if given the chance."

"Stop being a child and get in." He said.

We tested the coach out and determined that it would work. Not well, at all; it creaked and groaned and made cracking noises as though it was going to break in the next instant, but it worked.

Brigitte asked if she could drive the horses and we let her.

As I sat in the coach I thought. It would certainly be better to have a coach, we're approaching the colder seasons and Brigitte and the Sovereign both say that it will begin to rain. We would have shelter from the wet and from winds.

"I have a friend in the capital." The Sovereign dispelled my thoughts, "If all is well he should be able to help us, if all is not well…"

I looked up and saw him looking out of the broken window, his hand holding the frame. He looked… dismal in the light and I wondered if he was worried for his friend.

"Who is your friend?" I asked and the coach rumbled as it hit a bump in the road. I clutched at the wooden bench as though I could hold it together.

"He's the son of the Premier of Wanington, Premier Hector. You've met him." He said a smirk framing his lips.

I narrowed my eyes as I thought of who it could possibly be.

"The man from Wanington?" I asked, "From that wretched dinner?"

He laughed in earnest and it caused my heart to flutter as though it had burst into butterflies, I tensed at the feeling.

"You found that dinner wretched? I found it rather enjoyable." He said looking at a spot in the distance as though recalling the horrific night.

"Yes. I found it horrific." I paused and looked out the window at the thin lines of tree, "I was terrified you would do something to humiliate me." I muttered my cheeks reddening at the remembrance of what I'd said about him, I'd called him a coward. And the Wanington man had heard it, his friend. Does he remember that too?

I looked up and he simply looked puzzled, "I certainly liked you a lot less then." He muttered and sighed, his gaze returning to the view passing by us.

When night came we settled down on the lush grass by the side of the road, our coach parked haphazardly on the side of the road as well. Our other recent purchases were lazing in the grass, nibbling it every so often.

The sky was already dark but the night air was only nippy, unlike in Crescent where when the sky turned dark early, you die if you stayed in the cold all night. I thought of my siblings, hoping none of them were outside.

"So." The Sovereign started and I looked down to see that he had drawn a rough map of sorts on the ground, "This, is where we are…" He said pointing to the pointed but at the bottom of the map, "We need to get here, to the capital."

"Why are we trying to get to this capital?" I asked boredly, poking at the fire.

"Because my friend lives there, along with his family and they should be able to help, if they haven't gotten in trouble with the Lords. We need to figure out what's happening on my island."

It was strange seeing him thinking so hard, he was so intent on his plan.

Blinking he seemed to have refocused himself, "There are towns and villages all along the shores, and there's one here," He pointed to the middle of the map between two lines that I assumed were rivers.

"It's called Anaklios," He continued, "It's home to the largest vineyards and olive gardens in the country. We could stop there for supplies." He said looking up as if asking our approval.

I nodded, "That sounds good."

We continued the evening in silence as I observed the map.

"What if your friends can't help us?" I queried.

He looked into the fire, his arms resting on his knees, "Then I suppose we commandeer a ship and head to Crescent."

I sat up and shook my head, "What's with you and boats?"

"Ships." He corrected.

I shook my head again, "I don't care. Your obsession with 'commandeering' a boat-"

"Ship."

"Stop it!" I yelled and he merely smirked, I glowered at him but he was unmoved by my anger, "Your obsession with getting a boat always puts us in danger. If you hadn't searched for one all of today we wouldn't have needed to use Babang's floating shipwreck and we wouldn't have had to run across rooftops in Waxingville's capital!" My voice was getting shrill but I didn't care; he was being reckless and stupid and he would soon get me and Brigitte and himself killed and it was my ridiculous duty to protect him.

He didn't respond and only continued smirking at the fire as though what I said was preposterous.

Heaving a frustrated sigh I walked to the coach and stepped inside.