Isolde

Chapter 14 - An Unwelcome Return

As much as Isolde wanted to be able to celebrate their marriage now they were away from the prying eyes of Alouette, the trip back to Rilia was to be a solemn one rather than joyous. Frelian spent most of the time just pacing backwards and forwards in a state of panic and often there was nothing she could do to help him. He was distraught, his homeland was in turmoil and he was at a party. He was racked with guilt. Isolde wanted to explain to him that his attendance in Inovine was as much for the good of his country as fighting the Turige was but she held back knowing that he wasn't in the right state for reasoning.

They reached the coastline five days later, the journey had been tiring emotionally but still the hardest part was yet to come. Frelian had initially planned to dock in the bay nearest the palace but as they began to travel through the chasm it became all too clear that that was no longer a feasible plan. Turige troops lined up along the sides of the cliffs, peering down onto those arriving. "Go inside" Frelian whispered to Isolde

"Why?"

"It's better if they don't know you're here."

Isolde didn't understand but sensed from the tone in his voice that Frelian had reverted from being her husband to being Prince Alvaro, commander of Rilia so she obeyed and hid inside the cabin of the ship. She stayed low but peered through the windows. She had no idea what they were going to do, if the Turige were this far along the Rilian coastline they must have already taken the palace or be close to it. That meant they controlled Rilia, that there no longer was a Rilia.

As they sailed further along the chasm, Isolde sensed that Frelian was heading to the port they'd decided on originally, that although it was the most dangerous option it was also the fastest route to the palace. He steered fearlessly into the midst of danger, ignoring the Turige all around on the clifftops. Some began to fire arrows at the ship. Isolde worried they'd hit Frelian when then it began to list slightly, that he might have fallen and there was no one steering. She crept out of the cabin and crawled to the main door, she looked up through the window and saw that he was still alive. He'd left the wheel for a second to grab something to use a shield against the arrows but now returned to his position, bolder than ever.

Frelian steered the ship into the dock and leapt onto the wooden beams of the jetty without even mooring it. It shuddered against the poles of the jetty as he jumped, throwing Isolde from her crouched position and sending her hurtling down the stairs. She stopped rolling when she hit a barrel and sat up dizzy and slightly disoriented. Her head hurt but she wasn't injured, just slightly dazed from the fall. Carefully she stood up, holding onto the barrel for support as the ship continued to move. She was in what would be the sleeping quarters if they had brought a crew, hammocks were all around and chests littered the floor full of clothing or weapons. Darting between barrels, she headed towards a small window. They were completely away from the port, the force from Frelian's jump had sent the ship from the jetty back into the waters of the chasm and floating back downriver. She was now alone on an out of control ship in enemy quarters.

Frantically she began to search through the chests for a weapon of some kind. But all they seemed to have in them were tankards and spare sails. She pulled all the hammocks down in case one might have a cutlass secretly hidden but still she had no luck. Even after she had pulled the cabinets from the wall and smashed their glass she was left with no weapon or anything she could use as one. Panicked, she climbed back up the stairs and back into her cabin and began to search there in all the drawers, under the bed and within the floorboards. No swords but she did find a set of pistols.

Seizing the closest thing she had to defence, she ran back down the stairs and hit the barrels until one opened. Finally some luck, it was gunpowder. She loaded each of the three pistols in the way she prayed was correct and took one in each hand, hiding the other in the waistband of her dress. Then back up to the top deck she climbed for the second time. But this time she didn't go to her cabin but instead walked proudly out onto the deck and to the wheel. She had never steered a ship but had watched Frelian do it on three occasions so decided she knew enough to try. The Turige on the cliffs didn't seem to have noticed her marching onto the deck giving her the perfect opportunity to get one step ahead of them. She spun the wheel to the left and with the help of the wind brought the ship out of the divot in the cliff it had come to rest in. Then with all of her might she held the wheel in position, allowing the ship to glide along the water back towards the dock.