Empress of the Sea

Chapter Ten

When they returned to camp, Elesa safely stowed her journal beneath her pillow before sitting by the fire to warm herself and dry the damp parts of her skirt.

Mury was already seated by the fire with Luhn. The other sailors were helping Hail to skin the fish that would be their dinner. As Elesa sat down, Mury wrinkled her nose at her.

"You smell of fish," she complained.

"I should." Elesa laughed off any annoyance she might have at Mury's usual nagging words. "It was not just the men doing the fishing; I tried my hand at it as well."

Luhn had discarded his whittling and was digging in the soil with a sharpened twig to distract himself from the boredom of a long day. He looked up at her words, smiling widely. "Did you catch anything, m'lady?"

"I did," Elesa said proudly. "My very first catch."

Luhn laughed at her enthusiasm. Apparently, sailors were not as enthusiastic as she was about catching fish. "Very good, m'lady. Was it as enjoyable of a distraction as a walk down the beach?"he asked, but there was a teasing note to his voice.

"It was very enjoyable, but I would have enjoyed your company as well." Elesa was sincere, and she smiled to prove it. The first mate was easy to talk to, and it was a refreshing change for her.

Luhn looked pleased as he tossed the twig he was holding into the flames. "I think I will go see this fish that you so proudly caught."

Elesa smiled as he walked away, spreading her skirts out across her legs to help them dry faster. She felt pleased with her progress with the crew members; at least half of them didn't seem to mind her anymore. Perhaps by the end of the expedition they would even respect her. That would be a testament to her father about her leadership skills.

Dinner tasted better than it had any of the previous nights, and Elesa ate more than she had before. Once she was finished, she decided to read by the fire because the night was pleasantly cool. She could write about the rest of her day before going to bed.

Thalmeas had always made fun of her for it, but Elesa loved to read about Tria's history, and that was the kind of book she had brought along with her to fill her spare moments. When she had slipped it into her trunk, she hadn't expected to have many spare moments, but now she knew how naive she had been.

Elesa settled herself comfortably into the sand, leaning up against one of the logs for support. The fire and the dying sunlight cast just enough light on the pages to make reading easy, and she soon lost herself in the world of the first emperors' of Tria.

"M'lady."

Elesa couldn't be sure how much time had passed before a voice broke her concentration. She looked up to see that Hendric had seated himself on the log beside her, Doldrid close behind him.

"Yes?"

"May I ask what it is you are reading?"

"It's a history book," Elesa admitted, feeling a little bit foolish at being caught with such an uninteresting book. She looked down at the book, thinking that he, like Thalmeas, would find her silly.

Doldrid looked hesitant as he joined in, "Do you think-would you read aloud?"

Elesa looked up, pleasantly surprised. Before Valhanan had arrived, Elesa had spent hours in her sisters' nursery reading tales aloud do them; they were always enthralled by what she read, and she loved to read aloud. Thalmeas had even joined them on a few lazy summer afternoons.

Hendric quickly added, "The nights get long out here; it's nice to break the quiet with a tale."

"I don't mind. I like to read aloud." Elesa flipped back a few pages to a story she had just read about a hunting trip the first emperor had gone on, a tale she thought they would find interesting. Clearing her throat, she began, "In the first year of the Emperor Ildred's reign . . ."