OathBlade (Wattys2015)

23. Voyage Onward*

The Mariosa sat cradled in the dock, her sails folded like the wings of a neldred at rest. Elery looked over Isandel's neck as he flew toward it to see her companions talking with a few other men on deck.

Isandel landed at the far end of the dock and let her climb off before transforming. This time she watched, fascinated with the subtle shift of scale to flesh and the dwindling size that squeezed in on itself to form a lithe seryn body.

His excess hair shed but did not touch the ground. It hovered around him as if waiting for him to complete his transformation.

He spread his arms and the hair began to move. Some strands lightened, turning red, while others lightened further to a sunlight gold. They wrapped and weaved, stitching together in a chaotic patchwork. As she watched, lips slightly parted, his robes formed around him.

"Amazing..." she whispered.

He lowered his arms and tilted his head, smiling at her.

Her face reddened. She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud.

"Elery!" Cylphi hurried down the dock. "Come, we're ready to depart."

"R-right." She turned away from Isandel.

The crew greeted Elery with a salute and she returned it as soon as her boots landed upon the deck. "It's good to know you are well, M'lady," one man said.

"As well as can be expected." Her arm dropped back to her side. "But why have you stayed?"

"It will take far more hands than you have to sail this ship," he replied. "This is our home. To be safely hidden away is not something we wish when we've the strength to help in some way."

"We've taken your mount to the stables below deck," another said. "As well as several others."

Elery smiled. "Thank you. It does my heart well to know Ishthemir is safe."

"One of the deckhands is preparing food in the galley. You must be starving," a young woman said. "Let us handle the voyage. Focus your thoughts on what we shall do once we arrive in Ildaugh."

Hunger hadn't crossed her mind—or stomach—until the promise of food was given. An angry rumble warned her she'd best not ignore the matter for much longer. With a hasty nod she ran toward the galley, then stopped. Her hand felt weighted. She glanced down to see the crystal pane she'd never set down. She lifted it to brush her fingers gently over the surface.

The flutter of heavy material sounded the lowering of the sails and the ship groaned as it began pulling away from the dock.

Elery watched her silent kingdom drift away from the port-side railing. The last few breaths of life were sailing away. She held one of but a few shreds of home tight in her hands, her fingers trembling around the crystal pane. She'd dreamed of one day attending the annual councils in Suthri, or the winter festivals held in the north.

Never had she imagined her departure would be from a lifeless shadow of her home, a place relegated now to memory.

"I'll revive our home," she said as she looked at the crystal in her hands. "No matter what it takes."

She walked away from the railing and toward the stairs leading to the sleeping quarters below deck. Though it never bore her across the great sea as it had her father, she knew her way around The Mariosa well. She'd spent long hours aboard the ship as it rested at port.

Her father once told her that many royal figures separated themselves from their crew, taking for themselves grand quarters. That was not his way. He and her mother slept among the crew, living with all the same comforts as those who worked so hard to deliver them safely.