A Princess Torn (Alys Book #2)

Chapter 39

Despite the storm, it was not as cold in the boat as Endolynn had expected once the leather blanket was tied down. With the heat of all the bodies around her, the temperature was only slightly cold.
The boat sloshed around as it traveled down the river. Sometimes it would bang into rocks, and sometimes it banged into other boats. Every time it hit something, it made a loud thud that made Endolynn's blood run cold. It felt as if the boat would shatter against the impacts, but it never did.
After awhile, the swaying was not as intense.
"Is it time to pull off the leathers?" Endolynn asked in the darkness, unsure of where to direct her voice because she could not see Leofrick.
"Not yet," Leofrick answered, "This is only a short smooth area. The next part is very rough."
As if summoned by Leofrick's words, the boat dropped a bit and started to move all over the place. Endolynn held her breath, but released it when the screams of men's voices could be heard amidst the crashing of the boat against other objects.

"What is going on?" Endolynn asked in alarm. She instinctively tried to sit up, but her head bumped against the tight leather above her.

"Another boat likely pulled back their leathers and were caught off guard."
"What does that mean?" She already knew, but she could not help herself from asking anyway.
"The boat has overturned."

Endolynn fell quiet, listening to the voice of the distraught men become drowned out as the water invaded and filled their lungs.
Already, the death toll against her had started.
She felt as if she would be sick, but thankfully she managed not to vomit. There was already not enough air to go around under the leathers between her and the men with her.
The hostile waters continued long past when the last voice became silenced.
Endolynn prayed fiercely that her brother's boat had not been the one to capsize.
She had not heard a woman's voice, and Rose was with her brother. That was the logic she clung to for the remainder of the rough ride.
When the water finally calmed, Leofrick took the liberty of untying the leathers himself.
As he pulled them away, the cuttingly cold air of the storm blasted against Endolynn.
Ignoring the painful gusts against the skin of her face, Endolynn sat up and looked around desperately for any sign of her brother.

She could not see far around their boat; the blizzard had created a white blur of everything around them.
"Zaiden!" she called through the winds, "Zaiden!"
She paused, adrenaline racing through her veins. She was not sure what she would do if no one answered.
"-OKAY!" came back to her, and although the winds pulled away his voice, Endolynn knew it was Zaiden's.

He was okay.
Satisfied and comforted, Endolynn looked back to Leofrick and nodded.

It was not Zaiden's boat.

The cold was already too much to bear, and they had not even been uncovered for more than a minute.

Leofrick instructed everyone to catch their breath before being covered again. A high-pitched whistle came from in front of them, and Leofrick started gesturing quickly, "Get down."

Endolynn only had a second to take a breath and duck before Leofrick had pulled the leathers back over their heads and tied it down.

After about a minute of smooth drifting, the water became rough once again.
"We might as well settle in," Leofrick said calmly, "We still have a while to go."

Though she would not have thought it possible, Endolynn soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

It was a restless sleep; the kind where one is in a light sleep that gets interrupted by noises and movement around them, but never truly wakes up.
When they emerged from the leathers the next time, Endolynn felt a little less jittery.