Chapter Nineteen #5
“Do not be petulant,” Riftan said in a stony voice that sent shivers down her spine. “Bringing you this far was already extremely difficult for me.”
“B-But…the knights will need a healer….”
“There will be plenty of high mages and hierarchs in Livadon. There is no need for you to put yourself in danger.”
Maxi weakly hung her head. She had long since realized that Riftan’s icy warnings were far more dangerous than his loud anger. She swallowed hard and answered sullenly, “I understand. Then…I-I should like to stay at the monastery.”
The tension in Riftan’s shoulders relaxed at her compliance, and he caressed her cheek as if to console her. “I will make sure that you have everything you need, so stop frowning. The monastery in Levan is quite opulent. It is not a bad place to stay.”
Maxi stifled a sigh. Did he truly think she could be at ease all by herself after sending him off to danger?
She knew being with him would put her mind at ease even if she had to ride on a horse all day until her buttocks were sore or sleep on bumpy ground inside a tent.
Though she had suffered hardship after hardship in order to follow him this far, she had never once regretted coming.
Hiding her disappointment, Maxi turned to face the railing once more.
Riftan silently hugged her from behind, but his warmth, usually reassuring, only made her feel more despondent.
Maxi limply leaned her head back against his chest. Once the voyage was over, she would have to watch him ride off to war.
The thought of being left behind to anxiously wait for him to return carved a chasm in her heart.
—
Their voyage continued smoothly. The ship cut across the sea thanks to strong winds in their favor. Although the waves caused violent rocking from time to time, their vessel was steadfast and nimbly navigated the rough waters.
Maxi had become used to the waves, but she still pretended to be scared because she liked the way Riftan held her tightly whenever a rogue wave tossed them about.
Time on board the ship was terribly monotonous, but Maxi never felt weary.
Riftan was always with her except for the times he went up to the bridge.
She cajoled him into continuing her lessons with the dagger and spent time studying the dice game the knights played to pass the time.
For Maxi, it was the most gratifying time of her life.
Riftan never frowned or grew annoyed no matter how much she pestered him.
Even when she beat him at dice countless times, he jovially pulled off a gold button from his clothes and handed it to her.
At night, he helped her bathe and combed her hair like a faithful servant.
She read to him some nights. Unable to refuse his pleas, she would sit on the bed and haltingly read epic sagas of ancient heroes or romantic poems of the bards.
Riftan would lie with his head in her lap, his eyes closed as though he were listening to a sweet melody.
No matter how much she stammered, he never looked at her with exasperation or treated her like a fool.
The peaceful days felt so precious that Maxi secretly wished the ship would lose its way and drift on the sea like this forever.
Still, whenever she had such thoughts, she recalled Ruth’s face and those of the knights in danger at the front and was stricken with guilt.
She was, of course, worried about them, but her heart grew terribly anxious whenever she thought of sending Riftan into danger, too.
Trying to throw off her fears, she would burrow into Riftan’s arms every night. Riftan would caress her all over, and he only entered her when he could no longer hold back. Maxi responded to him more fervently than ever.
When their moments of fiery passion were over, they would listen to the sound of the waves in mournful silence.
Lying on Riftan’s chest always made Maxi feel as though they shared a soul.
The gentle breathing above her head or the pounding heartbeat beneath her ear felt like it was her own.
She sometimes had the lone, despairing thought that she would not be able to live without him.
Her heart burned with the desire to have him all to herself.
She was like a newborn chick blindly following the mother hen.
Yet the time to send him off was inexorably approaching.
“Stay inside the cabin tonight,” Riftan said with a grim expression when he returned from his short trip up to the deck to talk to the captain.
Maxi, who had been reading a book on the bed, responded with wide eyes.
Riftan went straight to the armor stand and donned the protective gear he had not worn in a while.
“I-Is there a problem?” said Maxi, alarmed.
“No. We are merely taking a precaution.”
“A precaution…for what?” Riftan paused from tightening the straps of his breastplate to turn to her with his brow furrowed. He sighed and caressed her pale face. “We will be passing through siren territory soon. If we’re unlucky, we may have to fight them.”
Maxi gulped down a sudden lump in her throat. Sirens were notorious for causing shipwrecks by luring sailors with their magical voices. Having unconsciously assumed that they would be safe while at sea, Maxi froze in fear.
“W-Will everything be all right?”
“Yes, everything will be all right. They might not even bother to come after the ship. Try not to worry, just get some rest.” Riftan buckled his sword belt tightly around his waist and left the cabin.
All alone, Maxi anxiously leafed through her book, then looked out through the porthole to the sea.
Out of the silver horizon, a fog-shrouded island slowly came into view.
A steep, ivory rock face topped with lush greenery rose from one side of the island.
Peering out of the porthole, Maxi felt a chill run down her spine for no reason in particular.
Is that where the sirens live?
They got closer and eventually passed by the rock, but no sirens appeared.
Maxi relaxed and returned to reading her book, but the words were impossible to keep in her head.
After flipping through the book of folktales she had gone over twice already, she felt the need to relieve herself, so she slipped out into the passageway.
That was when she heard the faint sound of someone singing. Maxi stiffened, worried that it might be the sirens’ attempt to lure them, but her shoulders relaxed when she noted the gruffness of the voice. It must be one of the sailors singing a sea shanty.
Maxi hurried down the passageway to the privy and, after relieving herself, was about to return to her cabin when she heard the song grow louder. Unable to resist her curiosity, she crept up the stairs. The boisterous song rang out across the deck, now bathed in the copper light of sunset.
The sailors sang the chorus and rhythmically stamped their feet as they marched about the deck. They hoisted large barrels of water or pulled at the lines, adjusting the sails.
Way-hay, way-hay, pull on your oars,
Sailing through waves like mountains, to the end of the sea we go,
To where the sun falls asleep.
At the end of the glorious horizon lies Adrina’s Paradise,
No storm shall stop us,
Way-hay, way-hay, pull on your oars,
To the end of the sea we go!
Maxi listened to the voices with a bewildered but delighted expression. A fully armored knight who had been pacing nearby noticed her and strode over. It was Jack Breeman, one of the younger knights.
“Lady Calypse, you must not wander about the ship on your own.”
“I-I am aware. I…heard th-the singing…and merely wanted to know…wh-what was happening.”
The knight glanced at the sailors and furrowed his brow. “This is apparently the best way to prevent the sirens from beguiling the sailors into wrecking the ship on the rocks. We were told that they will continue to sing through the night until we are a safe distance from the sirens’ habitat.”
“Th-Through the night?” Maxi asked, eyes wide.
The knight gave her a bitter smile. “I know it is loud, but please bear with the noise. Nothing matters more than safety, after all. Singing loudly like this allegedly keeps the sirens and the mermen away from the ship.”
“I-I see.” Maxi gazed over the sea that now shimmered like rose gold. The sonorous song of the men drifted out over the swells. Indeed, the enchanting songs of the sirens would be hard to hear over such blaring noise. Feeling reassured, Maxi returned to her cabin.
The sailors continued to sing even after the sun completely sank below the horizon.
Maxi listened to their songs as she ate the food brought to her cabin.
Although it was a stretch to say that the rustic tune was pleasant on the ears, the sailors’ boisterous voices felt like a promise that everything was well.
Maxi’s anxiety gradually faded, and she lay on the bed to try to fall asleep. Despite her best efforts, however, she only felt more alert as the night grew deeper. At the first bluish hint of dawn, Maxi raced up to the deck, tired of tossing and turning.
The sailors were still singing, this time to the tune of a shawm and a mandolin.
Their voices no longer sounded as vivacious as yesterday.
Following the melody as it gently filled the still morning, Maxi made her way around the deck to the stern.
A group of sailors sat in the middle atop cargo crates arranged in a circle.
Around them, a few knights stood guard at the railings with longbows slung across their backs.
Maxi spotted Riftan and rushed to him. As if sensing her presence, Riftan glanced over his shoulder and scowled.
“Why are you not in the cabin? It’s not safe for you to be out yet.”
Maxi clung to his arm. When she peered into the darkness, she could see the rock face that rose above the waves appearing and disappearing behind the fog.
“Shouldn’t…we be safe now…a-at such a distance?”
“We can’t be sure. They sometimes chase after—”