His Majesty, Her Grace - Sequel to A Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 15 - Nasty Tricks

Althea's POV

It's been a week already. One miserable week of this never-ending storm that tosses everyone around relentlessly. I'm surprised no one has gotten sick from the constant dipping of the ship, not to mention that everything is wet all the time. We're still actively trying to navigate the storm but without the stars I'm useless.

I'm back in the office sitting next to Caspian, our backs to the rain-covered windows. Edmund and Drinian joined us a few minutes ago to discuss how we should handle the unceasing storm.

"So, we're stuck here." Drinian moves the little ship piece to our theorized position of the map. "At half rations, food and water for two more weeks maximum. This is your last chance to turn back your majesty's." I unintentionally tense up when he says 'majestys' but quickly realize he was referring to Edmund and not me. "There's no guarantee we'll spot the blue star anytime soon. Not in this storm." Caspian glances at me briefly. "Needle in the haystack trying to find this Ramandu place. We could sail right past it and off the edge of the world."

"Or get eaten by a sea serpent," Edmund says.

I'm not sure if he's trying to be funny or serious, but either way, I highly doubt this is the time or place to suggest such a thing.

"I'm just saying the men are getting nervous. These are strange seas we're sailing." Drinian continues, moving towards the door. "The likes of which I've never seen before."

"Then perhaps Captain, you'd like to be the one to explain to Rhinse that we're abandoning the search for his family?" Caspian says, standing and moving towards the map. He rests his hands on the table in a defensive manner.

Drinian looks apologetic and backs down immediately. "I'll get back to it." He pulls on his rain slicker but hesitates before leaving. "Just a word of warning, the sea can play nasty tricks on the crew's mind... Very nasty." And then he's gone.

Caspian stares at the map but doesn't make any motion to come back. I stand and carefully cross the room without falling.

"Are you alright?" I ask. He nods but his face is hardened in thought. I can imagine he's trying to think of every possible solution to our predicament and beating himself up about not having one. I rest my hand on top of his reassuringly.

"As soon as the storm has passed, I'll find the blue star." I bite back the words 'I promise' because I realize that's unrealistic.

"It's not your fault, you can't control the weather," Caspian says.

After brainstorming endless ideas, all of them discussed and concluded to end in failure, we head back out into the storm to help with maintaining the deck's condition. Caspian doesn't worry so much about me helping anymore so he leaves me and Ed to work on repairing a snapped line at the crow's nest.

"Tie this around you!" Ed shouts, handing me a thick piece of rope. "I'm going to climb up and inspect the lines at the top."

Caspian explained to me that sometimes crew members tie each other together so that if one falls overboard, they can be pulled back up. I don't ask questions and do as Edmund says. The rope has several extra feet of slack which worries me slightly. He climbs up the ladder, the sheet of heavy rain making him difficult to see after a few minutes. The coiled-up rope stops moving so I assume Edmund has made it to the top and it's time for me to follow him. The wooden railing is slick and the possibility of going overboard is terrifying but I start the climb anyways. The ship tilts forward and my stomach lurches forcing me to pause before continuing up any higher.

After the ship has leveled again, two hands firmly grab my ankles. My first thought is that someone is trying to get my attention but when I look down, the person's face is covered by their hood and their arms are stretched out still holding onto me. I'm about to shout at him when he suddenly pushes my feet off the ladder. I yelp and lose my footing. My legs dangle over the edge of the ship before the wet ladder slips through my hands too. The railing at the edge connects with my hands and I'm able to react fast enough to grab it. I grunt from the effort and try to pull myself up with soaking wet hands and manage to get my elbows up. The person is still standing there and I naively assume it was an accident so I reach out a hand, hoping they'll pull me to safety. They step closer.