Henry was startled awake by a rough hand shaking him by the shoulder. He gasped and opened his eyes to meet the dry and wrinkled face belonging to the captain.
He then blinked hard a few times and glanced around. Oh. Of course. He was on a ship. How could he have forgotten that he'd run away from his home, and now he was...
Wait, where was he?
"Where are we?" Henry asked, his hoarse voice stunning him. He sat up and cleared his throat.
"At your destination, son," Captain Andrews responded, standing upright and moving away.
Henry finally noticed Ivy leaning against the staircase and smiling at him. However, her smile dwindled when she turned her attention to the old bloke.
"What is it that you and your crew do, exactly?" she innocently questioned. "You travel to kingdoms and probably to other places I've never even heard of! But why?"
Andrews snarled at her. Henry leaped out of the bed and stood in-between him and his cousin.
"The deal was you don't ask, and you get a free ride," Andrews reminded Ivy.
"Sorry, I was just curious!" she spewed.
Andrews shifted his glare to Henry and he snorted. "You get out of my way and get off my damn ship."
They'd docked somewhere between the western and the northern region. Despite not being from Aristol, Henry knew enough to understand how close they were to the Outlands from here. The crew members were hauling cases off the ship. Ivy wanted to linger and investigate what was in those cases, but Henry grabbed her by the elbow and led her away.
"I think it's safer if we hurry out of this area," he whispered to her, glancing around for any signs of incoming danger.
"Why?" Ivy asked. She also began surveying the grounds, even though she had no idea what she was supposed to be looking for. "It's very pretty over here. How far are we from the castle?"
"Quite far." Henry gently turned her so that she could face their right. Then he pointed with his thumb. "You have heard of the Interlopers, haven't you?"
"Um... yes!" Ivy nodded, patting her satchel. "In my book about the rulers! There's a mention of the war between the royals and the Interlopers during Queen Beatrice's reign. There was a lot of conflict between them. One day, the leader of the Interlopers demanded gold from Queen Beatrice. If she refused, they would make her regret it. She refused, and they declared war. Apparently, the Interlopers had a special weapon on their side, which thankfully didn't manage to cause too much destruction."
"What special weapon?" Henry blinked. He'd only learned snippets about that particular war. Although Caelum had assisted toward the end, his professors hadn't considered it important enough to thoroughly teach.
Ivy smirked. "A dragon."
Henry chuckled at the mere idea. It wasn't likely for anyone to keep and tame dragons. They were not pets; they were wild beasts that craved their own freedom. But even if the Interlopers had accomplished such a thing a century ago, it was safe to say they no longer had anymore dragons hanging around. There hadn't been recent reported sightings of the large flying creatures for the past few decades. Most people now assumed dragons had officially gone extinct.
"Well, we are very close to where the Interlopers live," he explained. "We must head the other way and pray to the Goddesses that we reach Starset before sundown."
Ivy stared up at the sky. "We've got the entire day ahead of us. Let's hurry, then!" As they started walking, she smiled back at him. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find someone who can get us there faster!"
YOU ARE READING
A Guardian's Fate (Book #2)
Fantasy(BOOK #2 in the Secrets of Aristol series.) It's almost been three months since Elouise's birthday. Although she's kept herself distracted by Beatrice's past, she's left with more questions. Perhaps she isn't concentrating hard enough. After all, sh...
