Chapter 24
Rain batters the deck and causes chaos from unsettled, antsy elemny waiting out the storm. Wind and water work in unison to gain some semblance of control as the ship sways, tipping from side to side in this frantic motion.
There’s a whirlpool near the entrance to the Kingdom of Storm, preventing us from docking without fear of damaging the pier. They tell us they will wait it out until we can travel any further.
At this rate, I sense the damn Knights of Eraminia on my arse, and there’s nowhere else I can go.
The ship tilts again, and my stomach splutters in panic. I stumble forward, grip the corner of the kitchen counter, and grit my teeth whenever the ship moves back and forth.
Fuck me, I’m going to throw up.
The tightening in my throat constricts, and a strange funk crunches through my stomach until a wave of nausea sweeps over me.
I make it to the toilet. How the fuck does that work? Why does my body hold on to the vomit until I reach the bathroom? Then it’s like a switch flips. Spewing sprays out until an acidic taste burns down my throat.
After weathering the storm here, I’ll never complain about the ride to the Kingdom of Flesh! Who would ever want to travel out here?
Unless you’re a literal water element.
I wipe the corner of my mouth, flush the toilet, push myself to the sink, and wash my mouth with water and toothpaste.
Since the storm flowed through the ship, gaining any form of reception or news has been challenging when there has been more static than conversation. I need to know what is happening inside those castle walls.
Even though the reception will improve in the Kingdom of Storm, what use will it be to me if they are here and I am seconds away from dying?
Is Prince Reen still there, or are the Knights of Eraminia already on the move, hunting down a likely suspect through dripping shadows and violence?
If they confirm it’s me, they will go to Oceanview Harbour first after questioning my friends and Xavier.
There’s nothing of value there besides the gun under the bed, and if they want to delve deeper into my scars, see the cream I use for the bur—
Deep breaths.
My eyes widen at the sudden thought of what’s inside Nancy’s apartment. Would she have information about the Sweethearts Orphanage?
I lace my hands through my dark hair and glare at the tiles.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
This is going to bite me in the arse. I know it. But all I need to do is go to the orphanage and get someone to smuggle me the hell away from Prince Reen before he figures out where I’m at, and then I’m home free. Right?
…Right?
Maya will know what to do. There must be a reason she works for Nancy, not because she works well with children at the orphanage. They can smuggle me in and out of anywhere without anyone noticing. And if they can’t, I can only imagine what that mutt of a prince would do to me.
The speaker in the corner of the room crackles with static. Orders flow through, telling us we’re finally docking after the chaos of an overflowing ship. Nonetheless, his words ease my shoulders, and a sigh of relief escapes me at the thought of finally being able to leave.
At least I can gain more ground, and it’s also easier to hide if something comes up. Like the prince of fire appearing or something.
Fuck, I sound obsessed with him.
But is it really an obsession if I’m thinking of him in an I-need-to-get-the-fuck-away-from-him kind of way?
Maybe.
Yes.
Fuck.
I unfasten the shoelace from the dresser and return the dining chair to its original position.
Then, I stand at the door, staring at the stained brown oak.
Exiting the room, I pull my hoodie over my head and avoid the camera in the hallway.
I follow the crowd as they march down the stairs like antsy, testy soldiers itching for a fight.
I clutch my bag as the automatic doors open. It’s chilly, and the billowing wind gushes through with an onslaught of rain. Fire and earth elements slip across the deck, only desperately to clutch the railing for support.
But what baffles me the most is the laughter filling their fucking faces over the damn ordeal.
They laugh when they fall as if they’ve stumbled down the two steps on their front porch, not over the fact that air elemny “think” they can soar through the storm, only to disappear with wailing screams, getting sucked away by the wind.
Muttering my complaints, I grip the railing like a lifeline. If I fly away, the damn railing will come with me!
Tall, dominant cliffs tower over us as lightning illuminates the Kingdom of Storm.
Floodlights glow along the path, flickering a sickly blue.
They move to the top of the cliff when more flashes of lightning illuminate a staircase flowing with water, making it look more like a landslide than a place one could easily walk up.
“It’s low tide here,” a water elemny woman bellows over the crowd.
She stands on the crates near the exit sign. Her dark blue eyes illuminate in the storm, scanning the pale, trembling faces through the onslaught of fucking rain.
“You can enter one of the hotel ships down here and wait until daybreak for the tide to float the ships and boats to the Tempest Hall entrance. Or follow the lanterns to the top, but it will take about an hour on foot. Tread carefully. The stairs are steep and slippery.”
“Fuck that,” a man chatters. “I’m staying on the ship and waiting for the high tide.”
I weigh my options as we form lines, like when I entered the Kingdom of Flesh. Who am I kidding? I don’t have any options. Sure, I could stay here and hope the Knights of Eraminia turn into headless chickens as they roam around Oceanview Harbour with their heads buried in the sand.
But they’re the Knights of Eraminia for a reason, and if that mutt is with them, it won’t take him long to sniff me out.
Breaking away from the crowd, moving towards the other ships floating against the dock, I move to the group, which mainly comprises a few earth elemny but also includes a majority of water and some air elemny.
They head toward the steep stairs leading to the entrance of Tempest Hall.
I let the confident elemny go ahead of me so I can mimic their movements.
I strain a smile, but a sick, queasy feeling cramps my stomach. It’s not until a rush of warmth sticks between my legs that I know the reason. Knitting my brows together, I grit my teeth at the thought that my period has to come now…When I just got off the damn ship.
And I don’t have tampons in my backpack because I didn’t think I would get my period when my mind was consumed with fright over Prince Reen finding me before I fled home.
They are early. A week early. Is it because of the stress?
Shit. This is a nightmare.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
A young, awakened water elemny watches me through curious, sickly illuminated blue eyes. She’s elegantly tall but thin, and I have to look at her through my lashes to see her face.
A tight blue dress shapes her slim figure and clings to her from the sticky rain pouring down on us. Children swarm around her, and one latches onto her shoulders, piggybacking her.
“Uh…yeah. I’m working up the courage to tackle the stairs.” I smile, but it’s strained and hard to muster through my irritation over everything.
“You can join us.” She beams a smile. “After hearing about the whirlpool, I thought I’d come down and help the families who don’t want to wait for high tide to arrive. There’s also word of another whirlpool opening nearby. The docked ships will have to leave until it passes.”
I scan the group again and frown. It consists of kids, all wearing fabric over their eyes.
“Their parents have to care for themselves on this journey. That’s why you only see the children here with me. The parents’ trust that I will look after them.”
I nod once and say, “Okay. But if I’m too slow, you can leave me behind. It’s fine.”
“Slow and steady wins the race, right?” She raises her hand toward me and says, “My name is Rose. Yours?”
“Myra,” I say mechanically, thinking of the memories of when Dad wanted to keep my identity hidden for most of my life. I had two interchangeable names: Myra and Averis. But I’m going by Pandora Averis now, so it’s a name I can’t use anymore without question.
Two children in inflatable red floaties move ahead of us and wrap their arms around the railing as if it’s their lifeline.
Rose has a toddler in her arms, and two young teenagers walk behind us.
Rain pours down on us, but the flowing, sloshing water on the stairs weaves around our feet like the parting of the sea. Rose seems capable of her abilities.
The stone underneath each step I take grips without effort.
She’s draining every drop of water from the crevices of the stairs to keep a solid grip on every step anyone takes.
Even the railing I grip has water flowing away from where my hand glides before it sprays down the rest of the railing behind me.
“Uh…Can I ask why the kids are wearing blindfolds?”
Since I saw them, my curiosity has been piqued. No one in the Kingdom of Crystal wore blindfolds, nor have I seen anyone do so in Oceanview Harbour.
Were there any who wore them in the Kingdom of Flesh? When I think about it, my mind wanders elsewhere. Always on killing King Ragan, or in my distant memories of whenever Xavier…
Deep breaths.
“It’s the only rule in the Kingdom of Storm that cannot be broken.
Children cannot enter without something covering their eyes,” Rose says.
“There’s a chance they may tether to someone older; otherwise, if that were to happen, one of the Knights of Eraminia often has to come out and set things right. ”
My brow furrows. “Why is it only here?”
“Oh,” Rose says with a smile, “everywhere else, most children wear coloured contacts that match their eye colour, so no one notices. But here, we don’t want to take that chance. We ensure they are blindfolded in case someone isn’t wearing contacts.”
“Huh…” It’s all I can say.
“I’m guessing that because you asked, does that mean this is your first time here?” Rose says over the rumbling of thunder.
A flash of lightning illuminates her face, but she still holds the same sincere smile from when she first spoke to me. No signs of suspicion. A genuine question from someone who wants to converse with another.
“It is,” I agree. It’s not like I can lie to a literal fucking water elemny after that conversation. “But I’m kind of regretting this journey on foot.”
“You aren’t the first. Unawakened elemny risk the path rather than trust the ships on their first time,” Rose says with a bell-like laugh. “But I can guarantee that we haven’t had an incident since May, so staying on the ships would have been fine.”
“May wasn’t too long ago,” I say with an arch of my brow.
“I guess to all who aren’t from here,” she says with a sway of her head. “What brings you here?”
“Distant relatives. My grandparents live here.”
“Oh! Let me guess. Either your mother or your dad was a water elemental, but they were tethered to someone who was not. So, because they didn’t want to part, they went to live in the free city and haven’t returned since?”
I laugh. “Is it that common?”
Rose laughs, too. “Yeah! Staying inside a kingdom is hard unless one has a work visa. The Kingdom of Flesh is the worst.”
I bite my lip and think about what to say next. Rose hasn’t looked at me with a sense of strangeness. I may be able to push further without her feeling suspicious. “It’s been chaotic over there since what happened to King Ragan.”
Rose nods. “My dads were sad to hear about Queen Ji-Sun. I never met her, but they said she was sweet whenever they went to the castle.”
My brows furrow. “Castle? Like…they actually went inside.”
“Yeah. They were close to King Ragan and often did business there whenever the King didn’t want to enter the Storm, and it was important business.”
I glare at Rose, but she’s gazing at the steep steps ahead. “Who are your dads?”
“Lord Bradley and Emery,” Rose says with confidence. “I’m from the royal family here. Did I not tell you that when I introduced myself?”
“No,” I say, and it takes all my strength not to let my tone come out flat, monotone, and lacking emotion, “you did not.”