One Crown & Two Thrones : The Dragons Egg ( Book Two)

Chapter Seven - Isle of Man - Eveline

                                                                                          VI

                                                                                 Isle of Man

                                                                               15th April 1941

                                                                                   Eveline

"There, there," William soothed kindly to a vomiting Olivia, whose head along with Eveline's was bent over a plastic bowl. Trying to keep the sickness down, Eveline closed her eyes, the swaying of the steam boat highlighting the constant threat of being sick. It had seemed that out of the six dozen passengers, most being made up of foreign internments heading to an internment camp in Douglas, Eveline and Olivia were the only to succumb to sea sickness. She could feel the eyes of German and Austrian prisoners as she sat bent double over her bowl, her auburn hair being gently held back by the kind Edward. As she sat, her head spinning as well as her stomach, she watched Matthew peering out of the round window. With a flashing grin upon his face he rushed over to the company.

"We have made port!" he gushed, his voice loud and clear for all to here. Instead of seeing relief flood the faces of the war prisoners, Eveline observed the fear and unknown in them and felt a great flood of pity flow through her. She had not known much about the activities of the Isle of Man during the Second World War; she was however afforded an in depth, detailed account of their affairs by Edward, when not vomiting. She had despite her current predicament, absorbed the information carefully. It seemed the RAF had established an aerodrome at a place known as Jurby, on the North West coast of the island, it was being used as a training camp for air gunners. The airport at Ronaldsway was also being used as a base for a Ground Defence Gunners School. As interesting as all this information was to Eveline, she couldn't help feel sorry for the prisoners of war, many of whom when looking upon them, she knew wouldn't or couldn't be possible of war crimes, most of them looked to be artists and writers. She wondered what would happen to them, and wondered further if their fates were destined to be similar to the fates of those taken to camps across Europe. Would the British be as forgiving? Would they treat their prisoners fairly?

"How are you feeling now?" Edward asked kindly, his eyes upon Eveline as she gazed across at the pensive looking prisoners. Eveline turned her face to Edward and could see that he too shared in her worries. It was odd she thought to herself a moment, his eyes were grey and yet they seemed to change colour, specks of gold, green and blue suddenly appearing from nowhere. In the last week, she and her fellow companions had settled into an easy friendship, but Edward in particular had taken Eveline under his wing and had for the first time in her life, acted as a fatherly parent. At first she found it oddly suspicious, but as the days went by, she grew accustomed to his kindness and friendship. He and Eveline has spent a good deal of time, huddled together before the small fire, discussing various issues and subjects. Knowing his time with her would be short, he began almost instantly to teach her the ways of magic and with each day, she learnt a new and vital method of protection and could for the first time feel that her energy and powers were being used productively. She had developed a soft spot for the middle aged man, quiet in his ways but passionate in his conquest to create unity between those who held magical abilities. She knew from his in depth discussions on his family, that he loved them dearly and that despite his current location, he was greatly missing his wife and daughters. Eveline felt jealous of his children, and in turn found herself having to deal with the grief of being parentless and orphaned.