The Captain's Queen

Prologue: Madya

Narrator's POV
1704

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3-4

A young girl sat on a stool, at the sacred docks of Madya, gazing thoughtfully out to the majestic ocean in front of her. The ocean gave her a gift of the horizon, symbolizing endless possibilities and adventure around every corner that she could only dream of.

In a world of strict orders and manners, Idina may have been young but had always felt confined and trapped in her privileged life. She lived a restrictive life due to the rigid formality of the royal court. She often dreamed of leaving her country to travel the world, but for now, she can only escape by painting.

Just like her siblings, she was born in the palace by the sea. Idina was rather unique compared to her brothers and sisters. She was quite outgoing, she adored the outdoors, and she loved being active. However, the rest of her family were not too keen on these traits. They did not believe that was how a proper princess should act.

Idina was painting before she learned how to write. It was her artistic way to escape her reality and hide in her imagination, and create a world where she can do whatever her little heart desired. Here, she is safe to run away. With her gaze to the sea, she held a palette that held blobs of all the colors she would need to create a shimmering ocean upon her canvas, and emulate the breeze through her oil paintings.

The young princess closed one of her innocent amber eyes and used the other to dart back and forth between her palette of colors and the turquoise water in front of her. Idina eyed a warm white shade with three different hues of teal, as well as a light and a dark shade of ocean blue. She dipped her brush in the white and began stroking her canvas with the prominent color to emulate sea foam.

Her parents, King Victor and Queen Narissa, were insistent that Idina learn how to play the piano, to give her a passion that would inspire and draw others to her with the beautiful instrument, just like her older brothers and sisters. Idina just so happened to be a lovely pianist with delicate fingers, however, she adored painting far more than playing the piano.

Continuing up the canvas, Idina included her lighter blue paint as well as one of her teal shades to express the wave turning at the bottom. Then, she stacked some of her dark teal to show the deep shadows of the wave. The thinnest part of the wave was painted with the lightest tone of teal to express how light passes through the water, giving her painting some dimension.

The foamy parts of the wave that were crashing down was created through the warm white paint she had on her palette, and she mixed it with a darker blue to create the sea foam that's in a shadow.

Playing around with dark colors and white to create shadows and highlights, Idina wiped her forehead with her hand and continued to paint. She was quite cautious to ensure that no paint would get on her serene dress of seashell white made of the finest silk, lace, and satin. She constantly looked out to the waves in front of her, with a little smile picking up her lips. She was very proud of her canvas.

Narissa was not lenient on any of her children adventuring around the kingdom without an escort, and the only child who wouldn't listen was Idina. So, when Narissa went into her chambers to bring Idina down for supper and couldn't find her, she knew exactly where to look for her.