Stormy Depths

Chapter 5: The End

The ship sailed for quite some time before we arrived at an island where a caravel awaited to pick me up and bring me to my temporary home. "Time for you to meet the man responsible for you're rescuing." Benny helped me down from the ship and out onto the beach where three men awaited to speak with me. "Ah, you must be Layris." And older gentleman smiled softly. "I'm Prince Cavory and this is my son Benjamin." he pointed to Benny who was standing behind me and I almost fell over.

"Benny! You're a prince?" He smiled and stepped over to his father. "Yes, my father let me travel the seas with Maroon while he waited with my grandfather."

Cavory nodded to me and looked over at Benny. "Benny tells me you have an elder brother still on bored the Halto?" I nodded desperately.

"I hope you can free him too." Cavory nodded. "We will try our best." Benny led me with his father onto the large caravel. "Will you come with Benny?" He stopped in his tracks and smiled. "I'm afraid I have one more rescue before I can go home. I bet Etho is worried about you."

I nodded in gratitude and left onto the caravel that waited.  When I was safely in the hands of the prince many men came to help me with my things and asked about my adventures with the pirates. Unfortunately, I knew I was not strong enough to face them.

There where no tales of bravery and certainly I had done nothing important. I had been the damsel to the very end and maybe I could stay that way never fighting like I thought I could never helping those I think I can. But as I searched my feelings I noticed something rather strange.

I felt no guilt for my brothers capture and I didn't have any thoughts of revenge I only wanted my brother home safe and sound. I knew however that my life was not over and trials where going to appear and if I satyed the way I was I would never be able to protect the only family I had left.

"Teach me to fight." I asked the prince boldly interupting his convorsation with the ships captain. 

"Teach you to what?" He turned from the captain intrigued by my request.

"Teach me to fight. I know I'm not as stong as I thought I was." I paused. "In fact I know that I was not brave enough to face everything I went through. I was a sitting duck and now I know that the only way to protect myself is to stand up against evil.

The prince chuckled, amused really, he put a hand on my shoulder. "You are braver then you know young one." He glance at the captain and they both shared a breaf smile. "You just interrupted a prince. To talk about something that no one ever thought someone like yourself would ask."

I had realized what he said was true but I still knew I was not good enough so I persisted. "I apologize for the interruption but I still would like an answer. Will you teach me to fight?"

He smiled and dismissed the captain. "Will you listen to every word I tell you? Fight evey fight I gave you?"

I nodded enthusiastically "I will."

 His eyes were full of amusment and his light hearted chuckle reminded me of my father but even though he passed away along with my mother I still knew that I had one more person to protect, my brother.

Training proceded that convorsation. I was woken up early in the morning on the ship and pulled away by the prince to the top deck.

Most of the crew where still asleep and the only people there to watch as I fumbled around with a sword was Cavory and the ships captain. "Lunge harder, Jump quicker, parry!" The words came faster then a horse out of his mouth as he taught me. But I did everything in my power to listen to him and calm down.

After a few hours of training people began to wake up and I was called away by the prince to his cabin. 

"You know a lot more swordplay then the average person I can tell you that." He shuffled though some old papers then collected a few boks from the shelf in his cabin and set them infront of me. "Read these in my cabin whenever you get the chance. This is the most crucial part of fighting, understanding why and how you fight."