AISLIN | I

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE SEAGULLS cawed overhead as the sun beat down on my head and warmed the deck. The breeze billowed the loose white shirt Leland had given me the night before. It had fit him well, but it was loose enough on me to hide the bandage around my arm, and with my vest buttoned over it, nobody could tell it wasn't my shirt. I had hesitated to wear the shirt, but I didn't want to risk anyone discovering my injury by trying to get one from below-decks.

I heard an exasperated groan behind me as Leland's sick and green figure stumbled up the stairway and onto the deck. Following behind him was the rest of the crew looking rested and ready for the day.

Prince Grey bounced up the stairs and onto the deck; his eyes blinking from the unexpected sunlight. He made his way across the deck and up to the wheel where I was standing ever vigilant.

"How long have you been up here?" He asked me.

I shrugged, "All night."

"All night?" His eyes met mine, with a glint of worry behind them. "You didn't sleep at all?"

"Nope," I replied, popping the p. I look at his furrowed eyebrows and sigh. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"You haven't slept all night. You aren't fine." He grabbed my hands and removed them from the wheel. He goes over and takes control of the wheel, nudging me out of the way, obviously hinting that he wanted me to go elsewhere and let him do his job.

"Okay, fine," I grumped as I backed away from him and the steering wheel, hands up.

I was happy to see Prince Grey take charge and do what he had come here to do. I wasn't going to stand in his way. I meandered down to the main deck with a slight swell of pride found myself standing next to a very green commander. Leland leaned over the railing retching up bile.

"On a scale of one to ten, how dehydrated are you?" I asked when he came up for air.

"Probably 8 going on 9. I haven't been able to keep anything down since I stepped foot on this blasted boat." Leland spat out in irritation.

"Well, that's too bad. I'm glad seasickness is one battle I've never had to fight." I teased.

"Well at least both my arms are intact." Leland snapped. Note to self. Don't poke a sick, dehydrated commander when you've already irritated him by taking his job.

I rolled my eyes at his lame combat. He did have a point about my arm though. I still had no strength in my right hand. When we got to Calflalm I was going to have to find a medic and get it stitched up.

"Hey guys!" came the call of a concerned Grey from the helm. "We have a bit of a situation."

I could see what he was referring to. Ahead of us loomed a wall of white and gray. Deadlock Coil. I felt the tension rise around me as the crew realized where we were going. I saw their eyes go wide and their hands fidget as their nerves became overstimulated.

Deadlock Coil was a section of thick, heavy, swirling fog that protected Calflalm from outsiders. The fog was so thick that it filled your lungs and made you feel like you were drowning. It completely enveloped the whole island, concealing it from the rest of the world. Only those who had set foot on the island had been through the Coil. Most sailors knew the general location of Calflalm, but none had ever been there before.

The crew around me panicked as we drew nearer and nearer to the approaching wall. I marched back to the helm and took the wheel from Grey.

"This is beyond your job description," I told him. He backed away from the wheel and looked at me with nervous eyes.

"Have you navigated that before?" he asked.

"I've been navigating through Deadlock Coil since before you were old enough to hold a sword," I replied. Everyone on the island learned how to sail in Deadlock Coil. You learned, or you shipwrecked. It was that simple.