Lelieth opened her eyes with a slow draw, feeling completely exhausted. The early morning rays shone through the window and the birds chirp chimed throughout the air while she moved the cotton sheet down her body.
The harpy squawked while it waited to deliver the message.
“Leave the message on the table to the left, take whatever you want from the bowl for payment,” Lelieth commanded, groaning as the harpy hopped over and dropped the scroll before taking a large piece of venison from the offering bowl.
Voices of the villagers filled the morning air, chatting about mundane topics such as the chill of the early morning or how handsome the new Guardian captain was.
A knock on her door stirred Lelieth further.
“Lady Lelieth? Are you awake?” a deep voice inquired from outside, muffled by the thick oak of her door.
“I’m coming,” Lelieth replied, groaning as she swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, reaching over to remove her robe from the nearby chair, wrapping it around her body and wandered to the door.
She opened her door to reveal none other than Gabriel, the local soldier that was well known to pester women for companionship in the night.
“Yes?” Lelieth asked, still shaking off the delirium of recently waking.
“Lady Lelieth, it’s a pleasure to see you this fine morning,” Gabriel stated, his green eyes sparkled in the early morning light.
“No need for a show, Gabriel. Aren’t we past that by now?”
Gabriel sighed and shrugged his broad shoulders. Lelieth saw the muscles in his fine jaw clench while he kicked at the ground, suddenly acting nervous.
“Are you bothered by something?” Lelieth asked. As long as the man didn’t ask for her company at night, she would be more than satisfied to simply end the conversation as fast a possible.
“I’m hoping that you’ll join the expedition to the Axian Isles. We’re leaving tomorrow morning at dawn and a teacher is required. The pay will be good, and you will be going on an adventure to a new land undiscovered.”
Lelieth stared incredulously. “You know, Gabriel, I never thought of you as a stupid man before. But you’ve just asked me to uproot my entire life, give up my career, forget about finding a husband and you act like you’re being serious right now!”
“I am serious. I just wanted to ask if you would willingly come with us. I’ll be there, so there will be a friendly face.”
Lelieth spit, a pitiful attempt but it was as real as she could muster. Gabriel reeled back, green eyes wide in surprise.
“Fine,” Gabriel grumbled and dug through his pocket, pulling out a badly crinkled scroll bearing the Queen Galira’s seal. He broke the seal and unfurled it, not at all bothered the damage he’d caused the paper. “Then by the order of our Queen Galira, the Knowing One, Mistress of our Gold Empire you are hereby ordered to accompany the Gods Favor expedition as the required teacher.”
Lelieth stood agape, snatching the scroll from Gabriel’s hand to read it for herself. She lowered it in disgust. “You’re ruining my life, Gabriel. Are you proud of that?” she asked while suppressing welling tears.
“That’s not my problem. We set sail at dawn, remember that.” Gabriel turned away.
“What about my school? My home?”
“Taken care of,” he called as he continued walking away.
Lelieth closed her door, slumped down to the floor, and cried.
#
The next morning with as much as she could muster, Lelieth walked through Mithic to join the expedition. She stared up at the sky, watching the harpies fly around, squawking and nipping each other before flying off. The men and women went about their day, talking as normal and nothing was happening.
Little did they know that a young woman’s life was being forced into servitude to a land she didn’t want to arrive upon. She’d heard the stories, a single axian man was able to murder over thirty common men before being felled. What monstrous beasts was she going to meet when she arrived on their lands?
The light of the sun warmed her as she walked, her belongings across her back and in packs helpful citizens brought along for her. Her heart sank when she approached the docks, and the cool breeze of the vast ocean wafted across her cheek. The ship was enormous compared to others she’d seen growing up. While the docks were always active, Lelieth had no reason to go there, so seeing the ships docked at port, lined up neatly and swaying in the ocean water made her heart sink.
Her heart sank even more as she saw Gabriel’s gorgeous face smiling at her as she approached the God’s Favor, their vessel for the journey.
“Welcome aboard, lady-” Gabriel began. Lelieth slapped him across the cheek, making him clutch a hand over the skin and stare at her with wide, astonished eyes.
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” Lelieth spat and walked up the bridge to the deck. Her feet met the wood and she stumbled, feeling the deck suddenly shift and she clutched at the sides of the main deck.
“Are you alright, darling?” a woman’s voice called as a hand rested on Lelieth’s shoulder.
“I’ve never been on a ship before,” Lelieth admitted, nervous to stand upright, feeling the wood sway beneath her feet.
“It’s fine. Here, take my hand.”
Lelieth turned to see an matured woman of a particular age, her gray hair tied back in a neat bun and her wrinkled face concerned as their eyes met. She had a most beautiful shade of eyes, almost lavender in color and despite her frail appearance, supported Lelieth with relative ease.
“My name is Katrin, I’ll be the scholar joining this trip. What is your name?” Katrin asked, guiding Lelieth down steps into the ship and sat her on a nearby barrel, just tall enough to reach her bum.
“I’m called Lelieth Olean. I’m sorry, I thought myself stronger in constitution than this.”
“Worry not, Lelieth. We’ve all gone through the rigors of finding our sea legs. I spent a week on my first travel vomiting over the side of the boat,” Katrin laughed. “We’re being lodged further down in the cargo hold. Here, follow me.”
Lelieth stood, her head reeled and she sat back down with a groan.
“You poor thing. Don’t worry, just stay here and I’ll be back for you.”
Katrin bent down to reach for Lelieth’s largest pack.
“Oh wait, that’s very…” Lelieth began but trailed off as Katrin lifted the pack with ease and walked further into the bowels of the God’s Favor. “Heavy.”
#
They set sail quickly. Lelieth sat alone on her bed, a meager mat on a hard surface risen up off the floor. She looked away from the fellow passengers, trying to hide her tears running down her face.
“Hi,” another woman’s voice came from behind.
Lelieth sniffled and wiped her face with her hands. “Yes?” she asked without facing the woman.
“I’m Cassandra. Were you also ordered into this at the last moment?”
Lelieth turned around and nodded. Cassandra was young, beautiful, vibrant. Her brown eyes wide and full of life. Lelieth smiled.
“I’m sorry for being tearful,” Lelieth began. “This is just so fast.”
Cassandra sat down beside her, adjusting her dress below her knees for comfort. She reached in a small pack and pulled out a sweet cream roll. “I heard there were two women coming with me so I brought just one for each of us,” she whispered as she handed it to Lelieth. “We women are going to do just fine.”
Lelieth smiled and accepted the roll, taking a bite along with Cassandra and licked their fingers to clean them of the sweet cream.
“Thank you, Cassandra. I’m Lelieth. What is your role with this?”
“I’m a cartographer, so I will be mapping the Isles when we arrive. I’m excited, despite leaving behind my brother and my father. And you?”
“I’ll be teaching them to read and write common.”
“How exciting! Have you ever seen an axian?”
“No, have you?”
“I haven’t. But I heard they’re over nine feet tall, with the body of a grizzly bear, covered in fur and eyes as bright as the sun.”
Lelieth smiled at the exhuberant young woman.
“Obviously that’s not true,” Cassandra admitted. “But it’s still fun to think about.”
“I won’t lie, I’m nervous about them. What I’ve heard about them is frightening.”
“I understand. But the war has been over for a year. The queen must feel that relations can be established, otherwise why would we be sent there?”
Lelieth shrugged. She had no idea, and she didn’t care. All she cared about was the fact that the only men she could possibly hope to marry were the soldiers coming along with the expedition. She glanced behind her shoulder to see a young man, maybe 18 years of age, well built, chiseled, handsome.
“That’s Mika,” Cassandra whispered, noticing Lelieth’s eyes on him. “He’s the youngest member of the guard in Mithic. He joined this expedition willingly.”
“You know him?”
Cassandra was silent for a moment. Lelieth watched the muscles in her jaw clench. “I hope to,” she revealed.
Lelieth lowered her gaze, Cassandra was young and beautiful. Mika was young and beautiful. It should be those two together, no a woman in her twenties.
Gabriel stepped down, eyes searching until they found Lelieth.
“Gods,” Lelieth cursed as Gabriel approached.
Gabriel stopped behind them and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry Cassandra, may the Lady Lelieth and I have some time together?”
“Of course,” Cassandra replied and stood, bowing slightly before leaving.
“Lelieth,” Gabriel whispered quietly and knelt down before her. “Look at me. Look at me.”
Lelieth hesitated then met his bright green eyes. “Yes?”
“There’s something you have to understand. I want you to know the truth of this. Can you promise me that you will listen to me?” he asked, brow furrowed.
“Fine.”
He reached for her hand but she pulled it away. Gabriel sighed and sat down on a barrel beside her bed. “I need you to understand that I did everything and I mean everything to keep the teacher required from being you. I even sent messages back to the queen herself asking if it could be an acolyte. But she refused, insisting and commanding it be the best one with the most experience. That was you. It had to be you.”
Lelieth sighed and put her face in her hands.
“Do you believe me?” Gabriel inquired softly, his sweet voice coming over her like the smoothest silk.
“I believe you,” Lelieth muttered into her palms.
“I’ve never wanted our relationship to be this negative. I’m sorry.”
“You jest,” Lelieth grumbled.
“Why would you say that? Of course I care about you.”
“Please, stop with the honeyed words Gabriel. You lost that right when you shamed me through the entire city. I gave you my body because of your beauty and because I thought if ever I were to be with a man of caliber, you were it. What a mistake I made. You are not the man I thought, and I will never want you in my life, do you understand?” Lelieth stomped a foot and left him in the cargo hold.
In a rage, Lelieth went above deck and tripped over her dress, falling onto her belly ungracefully as the ship shifted. She grunted as feet met her ribs and suddenly a massive man was atop her, a series of ropes fell from his grip.
“Gods above, what is a woman doing above deck!?” the man cursed. “Get up and get out of my sight.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lelieth gasped and went back down into the darkness of the cargo hold, quaking with nerves and shame.
#
For three weeks the trip was nothing but rocking boat and rationed meals. Lelieth tapped her head against the cargo hold, feeling the vibrations through her skull while she hummed.
Katrin slept most of the time, unbothered by everything, only waking to use the lavatory or eat.
Cassandra often had to run above deck to vomit over the side of the ship. Mika would often join her, hurling his meals over the side almost in sync with Cassandra.
“Exactly how long is this trip going to be?” Lelieth asked Katrin one night while she washed her face.
“Four months,” Katrin said affirmatively.
“Gods above.”
“You’ve done well, though. For your first excursion you’ve handled it well. You’re not even falling over as you walk anymore.”
Lelieth smiled. “I guess so. Have you been to the Isles before?”
“Oh yes. Once before when the war first ended and the concept of peace and trade became the topic of discussion.”
“Can you tell me what the axian are like?”
Katrin smiled at her. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m just curious.”
“Well, they are human-like such as you and I. They’re not beasts as people enjoy to speculate. However, there is a very obvious difference between us and them in terms of our humanity. But I will let you discover that for yourself. They’re very intelligent, which I shamefully admit I was surprised by.”
“I see. I guess it will be quite the experience then.”
Katrin smiled again, her gaze soft as she stared at Lelieth. “Oh yes. It will be quite the experience. Who knows? Maybe you will enjoy it more than you’d think.”
“I don’t know about that,” Lelieth laughed. “Thank you Katrin.”
#
It was a quiet night as Lelieth ventured up above deck, inhaling deeply and stared up at the night sky, a vast array of luminous constellations. She saw everything in the sky, her wonder raw as the sky stretched as far as forever, never ending and unobstructed by buildings and completely silent save for the lapping of the water on the ship.
“What if someone comes?” a voice said.
Lelieth peeked up toward the bow of the ship, and saw Mika embracing Cassandra in a sensual kiss. Smiling, Lelieth opened the door quietly and returned to the hold, giving them privacy.
#
Lelieth yelped when she was thrown from her bed against the wall. Panicked shouts filled the air and from above. Lelieth stood up, hitting her head against a pillar as the ship jolted to the side.
“Storm!” a voice cried out.
Katrin stumbled back on her bottom, her hands flying to grab anything for footing. She stood up and yelled out, “Lelieth come!”
Lelieth followed Katrin out onto the deck, a display of chaos and rain drenched sailors and soldiers.
“Help me!” Katrin commanded and pulled on a rope. Lelieth joined her, pulling with all her might as the winds threatened to rip them off the deck and swing them into the raging ocean. As they pulled on the rope, a sail began to close and pull against the mast. Katrin expertly tied the rope and held firmly to the rail. “Hold on.”
Lelieth wiped her hair from her face, her dress and undergarments now fully soaked as the waves crashed across the deck, knocking men off their feet and launching toward the water below. The rails caught them and they quickly stood up, returning to their stations.
“We need to get back down below!” Katrin yelled over the roaring rains and gailing winds. Her silver hair was matted against her head, the bun now a messy flop of wet and she looked up behind Lelieth and screamed.
Lelieth look back and cried out just as the stern lurched upward and the crest of a wave smashed against her, knocking the wind from her body and sliding her down the ship, carried by the water.
As the water released her head, she saw Katrin gripping a rope while the wave continued to carry Lelieth toward the edge of the ship. She cried out as she saw nothing but water below her but clasped on to the bar just as her feet left the edge, swinging her legs up and rolling back onto the ship.
Another wave slammed the side, turning the ship almost completely to the side. Men cried out as they were rushed off their feet toward the ocean. Lelieth saw a man sliding down and in a panic reached out and found his wrist, using her arm and leg around a bar to support them both.
“I got you!” Lelieth yelled as the man flailed at her arm, finding a hold and she yelled as she used all her strength to pull him up.
She watched a man scream, a rope around his neck as he was thrown off the boat. He clutched at the rope as he screamed and went limp as it went taught, breaking his neck.
Katrin was there, pulling Lelieth up along with the man she’d caught and was surprised to see Gabriel’s wide green eyes on her, his curly hair streaked across his face while he gasped and stood up with her.
“Let’s go,” Katrin said and pulled Lelieth back toward the cargo hold.
The storm dissapated hours later and Lelieth quickly returned up top to help.
A man pulled the rope up, hoisting the man’s corpse from the side of the boat and the crew looked away as they revealed Mika’s young body, the rope around his neck, his handsome face blue and lips purple.
Katrin knelt beside him and unraveled the rope, exposing his neck and lowered her head. She clutched at her dress in mourning as Lelieth stared at him. Such beauty and youth, wasted.
Cassandra.
Lelieth went below deck and found Cassandra screaming and sobbing into her pillow, slamming her fist into her mat.
“Cassandra,” Lelieth whispered.
“Leave me!” she screamed, face distorted in rage and grief.
Lelieth knelt down beside her and grabbed her shoulder slightly. Cassandra clasped her and sobbed into her shoulder, shaking and crying in grief. As much as Lelieth tried to keep strength, she too broke into tears.