20 LONNIE
ABOARD THE FORESIGHT
Several hours passed, and I laid flat on my back on the creaky, single-person bed, my eyes squeezed shut.
I remembered Scion’s explanation that his brother was not omniscient, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. If the Dullahan really could see everything within the ship, all he would see of me was that I was sleeping. He wouldn’t know that I was waiting for the sun to set outside the small port window, or that I was silently planning my escape.
There was no possible way I would willingly remain on this ship, bound for Aisling knew where, without any means of protection. Neither though, did I think I could fight my way out. I assumed that the ship’s crew was made up of the same rebels who had stormed the obsidian castle, and attacked our party in the harbor. Whatever else one might say about them, it was clear they were well trained and fiercely loyal to their leader. It seemed unlikely therefore that I’d be able to hold my own against any of them, or find a friend on the ship to help me.
I was well and truly on my own, but that only made me more determined to escape.
As the sun slowly descended below the horizon, the once busy sounds of the crew working on deck began to fade. I supposed they would all have to eat eventually, and perhaps there was less to do on a ship like this during the evening. Not that I had any idea what sort of ship we were on, but I imagined it must be large to carry an entire army to Nevermore, or wherever else we might be going.
Finally, when the sky outside the window was nearing total darkness, I rose from the bed.
Creeping toward the door as if my mere footsteps would send the rebels running, I held my breath and tried the latch. To my shock, it opened readily, and a huge gust of salty winter air flew in to greet me. It rustled the maps on the wall, and the tattered ruins of my clothing—still destroyed from the last few days’ events.
Something between frustration and embarrassment washed over me. Had I truly never bothered to try the door until now? I’d assumed it was locked, but apparently the Dullahan had kept his first promise too: I was allowed to roam the ship, I was simply not allowed to leave.
I peered outside and took one cautious step onto the deck, then gasped. The sky was wider than I’d ever seen, every tiny star somehow brighter and more lovely than I’d ever noticed before. The rush of waves moving past the ship was almost soothing, and though the air was cold, it didn’t hurt my skin as I moved further out of the cabin.
The ship was massive, its deck stretching the length of several royal dining halls, and it stood completely and utterly empty. I’d thought I might need to sneak past a guard, or avoid the evening crew, but I was entirely alone in the middle of the star-filled darkness.
For a long moment, I simply stood, marveling at the beauty of the silent ship, then I shook my head. What was I doing? One only knew how long I would have before someone else came out to work, or because of the sounds of my feet. There was no better time than now to search for a way to escape.
I didn’t allow myself to worry about Ambrose Dullahan or his visions as I made my way around the edge of the ship. Either he would see me, and come running, or he wouldn’t. There wasn’t a single thing I could do about it either way, but I could do my very best to leave this cursed ship in the meantime.
The ship was long, with a deck reachable by stairs on either side. The cabin I’d been sleeping in must have been Ambrose’s personal cabin, as it was the only one accessible from the main deck. On the opposite side of the ship, below the huge wooden steering wheel, was another door that I presumed led to the lower levels.
As I passed the wheel of the ship, I had a moment of alarm, realizing there was no one up there steering. Then, I noticed that while the waves crashed against the sides of the boat, we didn’t appear to be moving much at all. I supposed the wind was not strong enough to carry on, and Ambrose had allowed the crew a brief rest, as we drifted softly on the waves.
That, or this was some elaborate ruse, meant to give me hope of escape only to snatch it back again when the crew emerged from wherever they were hiding.
In truth, both options seemed equally plausible.
Quickening my steps in case I had less time than I thought, I continued my inspection of the ship. I’d never been aboard one before, but I thought there must be some smaller boats somewhere, to escape in the case of a crash, or perhaps to row to shore when anchored.
Finally, tied to the edge of the ship with two long, thick ropes, I found what I was looking for. A rowboat, no larger than the bed I’d woken up in, hung ready to be lowered to the water below. It didn’t look large enough to carry more than one person, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t need a large vessel, only one that would not capsize.
Leaning my head over the edge of the ship, I took a quick survey of the water below and the distance to reach it. Immediately, it became clear that there was another problem beyond any monsters in the water. We must be very close to Nevermore, as large chunks of ice floated along the waves, bumping against the hull of the ship.
In a ship this size, the ice hardly mattered, but in the small rowboat…Well, I supposed I would just have to be careful to avoid it. Despite Ambrose’s warnings about the creatures that lurked beneath the oceans, I would much rather face them than the creatures aboard this ship.
Clambering up onto the side of the ship, I put one leg over the edge, and eased myself down onto the small rowboat.
Immediately, my heart flew into my throat as the boat sank several feet downwards before jerking to a halt. I froze, and my breath heaved, as I sat perfectly still for a moment, processing the realization that I had not just fallen fifty feet into freezing water.
I swallowed a fearful gulp, and looked up at the two creaking ropes that held the boat, and me inside it, suspended in the air. There was a pulley on one rope, clearly intended to lower one’s self down slowly, although after that fall I was not sure how much I trusted its strength.
Still, I had little other choice. Now, hanging midway between the deck and the water, I couldn’t pull myself back up onto the ship even if I wanted to. There was nowhere to go but down.
Gripping the rope in both hands, I took a deep breath and began to lower myself down into the waiting water.
There were no further problems as I slowly descended, and after a minute of straining my arms, I felt the bottom of the boat touch down. The water seemed more ominous from here, and the waves larger. I shivered when the salty spray hit my face, lapped against the edges of the boat, and sprayed over the sides to pool by my feet.
Looking out into the silent night, I suddenly became aware of the vastness of the ocean, and the empty skyline ahead. Had this been a fool’s errand, and now I would find myself sinking to the bottom of the ocean, just as Ambrose had warned? Perhaps, but if so, it was better than a death in the hunts in Nevermore, or whatever else the rebels intended for me.
Resolute, I reached for the oars on the bottom of the boat, and used one to push off from the side of the large ship.
I rowed for several minutes, and barely felt like I’d moved an inch.
Already my arms were aching, and my belly growling with hunger. I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for more than a night—perhaps two.
Judging from the cold, I supposed we were closer to the winter Island of Nevermore than even I’d thought, and therefore decided to row in the direction the ship had been traveling in hopes that I would reach the island faster than the mainland of Elsewhere.
That decision, however, presented its own challenges.
The ice was harder to avoid than I’d anticipated, and all too often I had to stop to go around some tiny, snowy iceberg, so that after what I thought was a full hour of rowing, I could still see the rebel ship in the distance.
I pulled my oars back into the boat, and flopped on my back to rest. The wet, wooden floor of the boat was hardly comfortable, but I didn’t care, my exhaustion taking over.
I would just rest for a minute…maybe two.
As soon as my eyelids fluttered shut, a loud thud echoed from the side of my small boat. My heart raced as I sat up and scanned the dark water. Shit!
Suddenly, another force slammed into the side of my vessel, causing it to rock violently. Panic rising in my chest, I braced myself against the sides, unsure of what was trying to tip me overboard.
Despite whatever reassurances I had given myself regarding Ambrose’s warnings, the last thing I wanted was to be devoured by a sea creature.
I grabbed for my oar, and held it aloft as if it were a battle ax. Holding my breath, I waited for whatever had knocked into me to surface again. A long silence stretched, and I began to feel foolish. Maybe I’d imagined it. Maybe it had been nothing more than ice, and I was overreacting.
A towering wall of water suddenly rose, and crashed down on me, soaking my clothes and skin. Then as I cleared the water from my eyes, a colossal tentacle burst from the ocean’s depths and reached toward me with fierce determination.
In my panic, I completely forgot about trying to avoid detection from the distant ship and let out a blood-curdling scream. I closed my eyes, waiting for the huge sea beast to wrap its slimy arm around me and pull me beneath the waves.
A heavy weight landed in the middle of my boat and I flinched, unwilling to look at what might have climbed within, except…
“There you are, love.”
A large, distinctly human feeling hand wrapped around my upper arm, and then, the familiar feeling of being pulled through the shadows overtook all my other senses.
Suddenly, we were landing back on the deck of the ship. As soon as my feet hit the wood, Ambrose released his grip and I stumbled forward, crashing to my hands and knees. Salt water sloshed around in my mouth and nose, making it hard to breathe. I coughed and sputtered, struggling to catch my breath. My whole body shook uncontrollably, teeth clattering together from the cold.
I felt his presence looming behind me, and pushed up to sitting before turning to look.
Like me, Ambrose was drenched and his shirt clung to his chiseled muscles. However, unlike my shivering from the cold, he shook with fury. His body was rigid and his expression was a steely mask of anger. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“That I would rather drown than be a prisoner,”
I sniped back.
“Stupid Slúagh,”
he hissed. “You were not a prisoner, but after this, all you’ve done is force me to make you one.”
I reeled back, more surprised by the use of the slur than anything else. “Is that how you talk to your human rebels, Dullahan? Or, should I call you Prince Ambrose?”
His eyes widened, and he seemed a bit surprised himself, as if only now realizing what he’d said. Then, he stiffened, and his face returned to its flat, emotionless look. “Get up.”
“No,”
I said instinctively.
He reached for my arm and dragged me to my feet. “If you don’t get warm you’ll die anyway, and then I’ll have wasted my time for nothing.”
He was right. My teeth chattered and I could hardly feel my arms and legs, let alone my fingers, which made it hard to protest as he half dragged, half carried me across the deck to his cabin. As we walked, I saw that most of the crew had emerged from below deck and were watching us with expressions varying from curiosity, to anger, to smug satisfaction. I refused to meet anyone’s eyes, and let my wet hair fall down into my face.
Ambrose reached his cabin and kicked the door open, before stepping inside and slamming it shut behind us. A cold, uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
He released his grip on me and marched toward a trunk at the end of the bed, which I had barely noticed until now. He forcefully lifted the lid and grabbed a shirt and what appeared to be trousers before tossing them in my direction. The fabric hit me in the face with a gentle slap, but I managed to catch them before they fell to the floor.
“Put those on,”
Ambrose demanded, before pulling out another shirt and trousers, presumably for himself.
My numb, red fingers shook as I held up the shirt to inspect it. It was massive, clearly meant for him, and would probably be the size of a tent on me. Still, I preferred it to the wet, torn clothing I currently wore. “Fine.”
My voice quivered and my teeth clacked together. “Get out so I can change.”
He looked up at me with a mean smirk. “Absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere if you’re just going to try to run away again.”
I pressed my lips together and tried to stop shaking. I was not, in fact, planning to run away again. Even if I hadn’t destroyed the only boat, I now realized I would likely be better off waiting until we arrived wherever we were going and trying to slip away there, then launching myself back into the unforgiving ocean. I didn’t bother to explain that, however. He never would’ve believed me.
Instead, I stood a bit straighter, trying to regain some of my dignity. “You can’t stay with me at every moment. Even you have to sleep.”
“Yes,”
he said, reclining backwards on the bed. “And I’ll do so right here where I’ll hear you if you try to leave.”
I blanched. “Where do you expect me to sleep?”
I asked, already sure I knew the answer.
He looked sideways at me, before casting his gaze onto the edge of the small bed. “Here is fine, or the floor. Your choice.”
I gritted my teeth. “You cannot be serious.”
He didn’t look at me, but his lips tipped up in a smile. “You’ll soon realize, love, that I am always serious. I have no time for games.”