𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 | 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

09 | The Land of Leaves

D-138

THE DAYS PASS BY INTO A BLUR, the journey long and arduous. From a warm, spring adventure emerged a bitterly cold winter season that coerced everyone to head somewhere warm, deciding for a detour past the initial route toward the supposed Land of Water. Grey, gloomy clouds drifted across the skies, welcoming another day of broad darkness. The sun was veiled and the clouds felt unusually heavy(according to Rietta's sharp observations), the group expected rain—thunderous, dense rainfall.

And so, they strayed from their official path and down along the glittering seas, passing lush green lands often coated in thick loads of snow. The sleek, borrowed ship scintillated with an ambient, ember glow, sparkling in the opaque winds thrashing about—the small, circled windows were dressed in hefty drops of rain, signaling the murky weather.

[Name] confined herself in her quarters, a muddling mix of unfamiliarity and dread coursing through her veins. While she often traveled in boats through monster-laden waters, the constant shifting of the ship troubled her to no end. The voyage across the sea was shorter than she had anticipated, but she felt grateful nevertheless.

She wasn't all too good with boats.

Even so, she sat upright before her wondrous vanity, bile settling in the pits of her throat. She held it down, the act of standing or even walking in a constantly moving ship made her queasy, and so she hoped that by the time the rain ended, the skies clearing just a teensy bit, that the ship will have docked within foreign lands.

Then, an all-too-familiar knock reverberated in the tactful silence of her room. She doesn't answer to its unspoken message, eyes fixated on the reflection on the shattered glass of the mirror.

Jameel enters her quarters then, her strides weighty and echoing on the wooden floorboards. Her hair was tied into a simple updo, a gentle expression on her visage. Alike [Name], she wore a beige-and-white outfit befitting that of a seafarer, donning a captain's hat she stole to make it further realistic.

After all, they were here as undercover seafarers—more of a pirate crew, really, seeking relaxation in the face of tranquility. They had long since abandoned their formal wear many moons ago(maid clothing, magician robes, butler fit, armor, etc) once they had reached the Border's end, recalling the waves lapping up the shores- [Name]'s eyes twinkling in thrill for she had never once seen a beach in her life.

"Princess, it is—" Jameel stops short, striking blue irises narrowing at the sight of a broken mirror, pieces descending onto the vanity table. Her eyes skirt over the first princess in favor of her bloodied knuckles, dripping onto the wood.

"Princess?"

[Name] casted her gaze off to the sides and focused her attention onto the opaque windows, the turbulent rain pattering harshly down on the ship's surfaces outdoors. The aroused waters wavered, shifting every now and then from the strengthened waves.

A flicker of gloved fingers appears in her peripherals, prompting [Name] to lock around Jameel's wrist, abruptly stopping her from assessing the wound on her hidden hand. She gives a sharp glare, pursing her lips as if daring the older girl to try anything the princess didn't permit.

Jameel's stare wavers, "Princess, why. . .?"

Urged by her voice, [Name] spoke. "Leave my quarters at once, spy. I will attend supper when I wish to."

Appearing pained by her words, Jameel offers her a hand, but she refuses. [Name] didn't want another being to bother her tonight, preoccupied by the weight of her impulsive plans burdening her shoulders.