Chapter Nine

July 27, 1601

”We were saved,” Weyln says.

“Wait, that can't be the end of it! What about Rowan? What happened to him?” Eos asks, frantically.

“We’ll he never left the island.”

“He stayed? Why would he do that, after all you had gone through there?” She asks.

“Love of course.”

“Love?”

“Yes he met a girl in the village. Her name escapes me at the moment. Was it Nova..Opa…no it was Hosa! Yes, her name was Hosa. She was one of the women in the village who tended to our injuries. She was a beauty, only a year or two younger than I at the time. From what I remember they grew quite close during our time there.”

September 4, 1580

We stayed at the village for over a month. It was a port town, so we waited for a ship that was going in the same direction as us, to come to the island. Luckily a few days before, one did. We talked with the captain about boarding his ship, and after telling him our story, he agreed. Today we're set to sail.

“Aye the weather's perfect. Doubt any storms will pass us on our journey,” Jonas, the ship captain said to me, as I carried the last of the supplies abroad “Is that the last of it?”

“Aye sir.”

Jonas nods to me in response. He walks over to the stern of the deck.

“Everyone ready?!” asks Jonas.

“Aye!” The crew begins running around the ship preparing to set sail. I walk over to Rowan, who is sitting against the edge of the ship, and sit next to him.

“Ready to go home?” I ask.

He doesn't respond, nor does his eyes leave the ocean.

“Luckily we didn't land too far from home, and Captain Jonas’ ship is fast for its size.” I say, as the ship sets sail, “The journey shouldn't be long, only a month or so. In the blink of an eye we'll be back home, in our cots with a warm meal-” Rowan shoots up.

“Weyln i’m sorry,” he turns to look at me for the first time throughout our conversation. “I can’t go back.”

My smile fades, and turns to one of shock, and concern, as he kicks off his shoes. “What do you mean you can go back?!”

He pulls off his shirt, and throws it down next to me. “I have to go!” He yells. I stand up, and try to run after him but I'm too late. He jumps off the boat.

“Rowan! Come back!”

“Lad let him go, he’s in love. I saw em talkin’ to a girl on the island.” I look up to see Jonas. “He’s a strong swimmer, he’ll make it to where he needs to go.”

I looked back to the water, and in the blink of an eye he was gone. I sat there staring at the water till the sun set, and the moon rose, I never saw him resurface.

His fate was unknown to me. Either he was seafoam, or an islander.

We got back home in less than a month's time, but I decided to work for Captain Jonas as his cabin boy for the next three years.

July 27, 1601

“I’m sorry it isn't a satisfying ending,” Wyln sighs, “the truth is I don't know what became of him. Some believe that he made it back and married that girl from the island, others don’t think he ever came back up.

“And you? What do you believe?” Eos asks.

“I couldn't tell you. Haven't thought about it in decades. Either is a good possibility.” He strokes his chin, “he was a strong swimmer that's for sure, but he was so erratic at the time, and I never saw him come up. I like to think he made it back, but deep down I think that the sea took em.”

Eos thanked Weyln for his time, and brought a few trinkets from the shop on her way out.

“Well did you find what you were looking for?” Amora asks as Eos walks out the shop.

“I got as close as I ever will.”