The Lost Kingdom

Chapter 10 - A Thousand Feet Under

Why did emotions have to exist? Sure, it made the word interesting, but if no one had emotions, no one would be exactly bored, either.

Fox laughed out loud at her thought. "Stupid." She mumbled. "Doesn't even make sense. We'd all just be walking potatoes."

The crate beneath Azeria creaked, bringing the girl back to reality. The boat shifted, and she held back a hurl. She never liked water trips, but no way she was missing her chance to prove herself to her kingdom. She wasn't going to get seasick in front of them either.

Feeling the urge to do something, Fox started to head towards the steering wheel where the captain would be. She knew where he was due to the fact she could hear the the wheel spin every now and then. She heard snickers from all around her, and she felt a pang of sadness. They treated her so unfairly, all because she was blind and had a temper. Her temper probably wouldn't even be there if it weren't for them!

As she took another step, her foot crashed into something hard, and Azeria fell to her knees. She sucked in her breath as there were laughs and more snickers from the other warriors. Did she seriously have to fall in front of all of them?

"And she thinks she can actually fight in a battle." Azeria heard a Pulcharian whisper, purposely loud enough for everyone to hear.

It was so easy in that moment to think of not getting up. What was she even fighting for? No one was left to encourage her. When she got back to Pulcharius, if she made it out of this alive, Stark would probably hate her for not coming back with Cayden. Plus, the pain in her toes really didn't help anything. Maybe being a walking potato wouldn't be so bad. 

Azeria shifted so she was sitting against the wood of the boat, the sound of laughter all to loud in her ears. There were heavy footsteps against the wooden boat planks, and she thought someone might have actually gotten the courage to laugh at her right in her face. So what? Let them. She couldn't stop it. If she tried to punch them, she'd miss their face entirely. 

"Get up."

Azeria snapped her head up. That was the voice of Prince Makon, hard and commanding. "What?" She asked, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Get. Up. You're better than this." The Prince growled.

"And what if I don't want to get up? What if-" 

"Shut up," He interrupted her, and suddenly he was pulling her up roughly by the arm. "There are steps in front of you. They aren't that high. Now walk."

Reluctantly, Fox lifted her foot and felt for the step. Finding it, she walked up, Prince Makon by her side. She scowled at him, but he helped her up to the captain none the less. 

"Why did you do that?" She snapped at him, her question for the captain now unimportant.

"A thank you would be nice," Prince Makon retorted, letting go of her arm. "You needed someone to lean on."

"I had someone to lean on, and he died!" Fox said. She didn't know why she continued to argue with him. This had all started with a stupid question for the captain.

"People tend to do that." He replied evenly, and Fox huffed. His wry wit was equal to that of Ivory's at the moment.

Turning to the captain, though she couldn't see him, Fox asked, "How much longer until we get there?"

"We went through all that so you could as such a-" Prince Makon began, but stopped dead in the middle of his sentence when Fox held up a finger to her lips.

Something had caught her attention. 

"Be gone or be forever captured amongst lost souls..." A dark, disembodied voice whispered, echoing around the ocean. It sent shivers down Fox's back, and she couldn't tell where it had come form.