Sea Gypsies: The Draga Isles

Chapter 7: Already Plotting

Gin watched as Captain Zalez unrolled a scroll on his table. A map of Acante spread where multiple islands cracked away from the largest plot of land at the center of the paper. The captain hovered his hand on the southern region where several islets dotted the map.

"The Belona Isles is a group of sixteen islets," Captain Zalez said. Acante was the province in the southernmost part of the Kingdom of the Nether Isles. It was divided into four regions--its main island at the center, and three groups of islets at the northwest, northeast, and south, which was Belona.

“Seven of those are owned by Mistress Evita,” Rodri who stood beside his brother’s seat added and Gin’s eyes darted to the map again, wondering how a sea gypsy found her way to becoming rooted--no longer a nomad.

“And which one did the Mistress hide the documents in?” Enzo regarded Ria with a dip of his chin. He stood with Gin at the other side of the captain’s table along with Ria and Migal, making the captain's cabin cramped.

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Ria looked to Enzo avoiding Gin’s eyes.

This morning had been interesting. After giving Ria his waterskin, Gin thought of why he had done what he did. He never liked rich people who lived in either land or water in great houses or great ships, carrying heavy coin purses and followed around by bodyguards. Ria fitted that painting perfectly, but something in her eyes said that she wasn’t what her outer shell showed her to be.

Gin stared at Ria beside Enzo. She avoided eye contact, glancing anywhere else--at the floor, the ceiling, or the map.

“I ain't 'gonna know if you won’t tell me what we lookin' for, guppy,” Enzo answered Ria.

Gin tilted his head at hearing the nickname, watching Ria scrunch her nose.

“I already told you that you can’t know what those documents are,” Ria pressed her lips together.

"Then give us something else. How important are these documents?" Gin cut in and Ria finally glanced at him but only for a moment before looking back down at the floor.

"They--not that important," Ria said.

"'You sure?" Captain Zalez raised a brow.

"Think, princess," Gin said and Ria's eyes snapped up to him, lips parted. He hadn't intentionally tried to give her a nickname like Enzo did, it only slipped out.

Ria turned to the captain. They paused for a moment as if they were exchanging thoughts. Captain Zalez ever so slightly shook his head. 

When Ria looked back, Gin watched her features calm--her knitted forehead turned to a composed unreadable gaze. He thought of how she looked earlier when the first light of the morning had kissed her pale skin, her brown hair turning coppery with the sun's rays, a glow grew in her blue eyes. She looked so young then, but now she had a mature posture and a professional gaze.

"I'm not a princess," she said, her voice even and firm.

"You sure do look like one," Gin said, waiting for a reaction but her face remained calm. "Go on. Think."

Though Ria wore common clothes--a tunic and trousers--everything else about her was too pretty to be common. 

Ria blinked and took a deep breath, holding Gin's gaze. "The documents are sealed with the royal crest."

"Ah!" Enzo said with a knowing tone. "Those are 'gonna be on 'er main isle." He pointed at the largest dot on the map of the Belona isles.

"What's on that isle?" Captain Zalez asked.

"'Sgot one o' those underwater caves. Lot of isles in Belona got those, but this is the deepest. Little over two hundred feet," Enzo said, swiping a hand over his bald head.