The Fall of Vequera

Chapter forty-three | Amaryllis

LOCATION: WALDEN, HELELL - AIREDAL, HELELL

YEAR: 621

IT TOOK THEM A MONTH TO CROSS THE GREAT OCEAN.

During that month, Mary learned two things: she liked sailing and Drystan was seasick. She watched as he threw up overboard before turning back to the side of the ship. In the horizon, Helell could be seen about a thousand yards away but Mary could not really tell the exact amount. She had always been terrible at sums. It was night when they made it halfway to Helell and she remained on deck, alone. She liked to listen to the sounds of the ocean and the birds flying overhead. If she remembered correctly, they were close to Walden and not the capital city of Airedal where the High Lord was.

"Are you alright?" Valia asked as she rose from the captain's quarters.

King Aslan had gifted them their own crew while they traveled and Valia spoke frequently to the captain. Captain Luther was a man of sixty but he didn't look his age. Far younger. The human captain rose from his quarters alongside Valia. He spoke to his first mate. A pale slender man with shaggy blond hair that ran down his back. She hadn't caught his name but he rarely ever spoke to her or anyone who wasn't Valia or his captain. Valia had grown in the last months both physically and emotionally. It had been over a year since they had met and she had changed a great deal. She smiled more and seemed to have become more open with people.

Mary turned to her friend with a small smile and said, "I'm alright." She wasn't. Her emotions would not give her peace. It felt as if Zeohr was in her mind. A vision would come when the whispers made themselves known. She didn't have to sleep for the visions to come anymore. With the visions and her newfound gift, Mary could see the threads of time more vividly now. Every person was connected to the other with a white string. Sometimes, it would glow sometimes it wouldn't. Amaryllis couldn't figure out why that was but she noticed one that always trailed after Valia and connected to Koa.

She knew nothing of the threads but she had an inkling of what was growing between the two. Valia's emotions were all over the place when she looked at Koa. Mary could not tell which one overpowered the other. "You haven't spoken much," Valia spoke again, her voice holding a certain calmness to it. Mary sighed, turning away from the princess.

"Visions are a tricky thing to get the hang of. I can't...the dreams...don't need them anymore." She could not find the right words to say. Valia's eyes softened as she glanced at Mary.

"How long until we reach land, Captain Luther?" Valia called out to the older man without turning his way.

"By daybreak, Princess." He shouted as he climbed onto the poop deck with his first mate.

Luther pointed toward Helell and said something to his mate with a blank expression before he burst out laughing. The blond man stayed emotionless as he stared at his captain. Almost feeling Mary's eyes, he turned to her with cold eyes. "He doesn't like to be stared at." Valia brought her back to her.

"Maybe when we get to Helell, you'll meet some of your family. Malvolia tells me that there's Litinae in Helell. They could possibly help you with your gift. You don't need your mother or uncle...We will be in Helell for a good time and you can learn as much as you want. There might even be Litinae at court." Valia reasoned with her friend as she leaned on the side of the ship. Her eyes stared off in the distance. They weren't that far from Vequera. Mary wondered if that was what Valia was thinking about.

"Hopefully, you are right." Said Mary as she copied Valia, staring off into the distance.

Koa rose from under the ship with his mother. His eyes searched the area until they landed on who he was looking for. Valia. Mary and Koa made eye contact and he immediately turned away, starting up a conversation with his mother and eventually his brother. Valia's softened gaze hardened as she became lost in thought. Her hand inched toward her sword almost out of instinct. A light appeared about three hundred feet away from them, it was another ship. Light from lanterns filled the night as the ship came to a stop next to theirs.