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Chapter 177
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The Birthright Series Chapter 178
THE FIRST FEW DAYS ABOARD seemed to both drag and fly by. Waking each morning brought an instant of ridiculous hope with Ignatius watching me from the table and looking, to my sleep blurred eyes, just like Alek. It didn't help that my dreams were a mess of memories of Al and Yakov. After the brutally clear truth registered again in my mind I ate breakfast with Ignatius, and occasionally Kassie. I spent the days with Loushka, often joined by Kassie and Kerak. We watched the allies and soldiers practice. Occasionally the Lieutenants or Leseach would join us and dissect the performance of whoever sparred on the large main deck. With so many things to distract me, I managed to keep the really bad moments to a minimum; just the mornings and evenings in the cabin, when Ignatius would kindly leave me alone for a quarter hour.I sat with my back to the base of the bed, watching the morning sun create patterns on the floor. Ignatius had gone to collect breakfast. It gave me fifteen minutes at
The Birthright Series Chapter 179
THE NEXT MORNING, I SAT in my usual spot with Loushka, watching the choppy waves with a dubious stomach.Really hope I don't get seasick-I watched everyone on the main deck, spying Kassie and Rumal tucked into a discreet alcove by the covered entrance to the decks below. Rumal caressed Kassie's hair while they stared over at Loi and Sabyn's ship. Watching the way they moved together, the constant touches, always aware of the other, produced a hollow sense of longing. In some ways it felt like Alek sat with me constantly and I directed my thoughts to him while the often present but unwelcome tears crept down my cheeks.Miss you. I guess before too long I'll see you again.Religion wasn't part of my life. I was too suspicious of organized religions that required so many rules yet the mere humans that followed them frequently adjusted those rules however they liked, all too often at the command of the power-hungry leaders. But I recalled Elena and Yakov teaching us about rebirth, at
The Birthright Series Chapter 180
NOT LONG AFTER DINNER THE Princess feigned tiredness and excused herself, but Ignatius knew better. The days of practicing and conversing with those aboard wore her down. Waiting for another quarter hour he caught Leseach's eye and excused himself, heading to the kitchen where the cook had the mug of nellor waiting. Ignatius took his time walking to the Northerner's room. Their spat the other evening went unmentioned by either of them the next day and they managed to reach a sort of equilibrium. She appeared to respect him for his devotion to the task and he, well, he could appreciate some of her skills if not her personality. A yawn hit when he rounded the corner, in time to see Rashid walking away from the room.You better have not annoyed her, he thought too tired to be really irritated. I can't be bothered with that this evening.Leseach appeared at the door with a calm expression and gestured for him to enter. Ignatius shook his head and motioned for her to go first. The courtly
The Birthright Series Chapter 181
KASSIE GRIPPED THE EDGES OF the bed, taking what comfort she could in the solid wood. A flash of lightning lit the room so bright she could clearly see the whites of Cat's terrified eyes. The room veered to a ninety-degree angle while they both shrieked and clung tight to whatever they could. Thunder boomed and voices roared from the deck above while soldiers, allies, and Draoths fought to keep control of the ship. The guilt Kassie had felt at not helping vanished when the storm hit and the floor pitched high and low. Even with living in New Zealand, none of the girls knew much about sailing and with all the experienced persons aboard there wasn't a need to help.Still, thought Kassie gritting her teeth and keeping her death grip on the base of the bed, it'd be nice to not feel quite so useless. Might take her mind of the pitching and heaving of her stomach.'Oh c-r-a-p,' Cat said in a tight voice. 'Kass, I think I'm gonna be sick.''For the love of all that is holy,' hissed Kassie
The Birthright Series Chapter 182
'WHAT'D YOU DO THIS TIME, Kass?' Aswaran soldier Oomoth said loudly, making everyone twist to look.Kassie flushed. 'This time? I didn't do anything!''She tried to pick up a mernoyd baby,' the goblin with the broom helpfully put in.'Are you mad?' The centaur grinned when she glowered at him.'No! I haven't seen them before.'Oomoth tsked and beckoned to her. 'Come have a look then.'On the way to the handrail Kassie spotted Cat and Leseach making their way over and stopped to greet them both first, then they joined Oomoth and the others who watched the water below with grim eyes.'Have you seen them before?' Cat asked Leseach.'No,' the Northerner replied, staring at the waves. 'We don't often get them in our waters.'Kassie listened while watching the waters breaking away from the ship, the motion quite mesmerizing and she forgot for a moment, until the sleek bodies rose up with the bow wave. A sudden hush came over all those watching.Perhaps something like these had insp
The Birthright Series Chapter 183
'WHAT'S HAPPENING?'Ignatius turned to find Catherine watching him, an eyebrow arched in question.'The mernoyds are gathering in greater numbers. The blood is attracting them,' he explained loudly. She stood from her seat and joined him, peering down at the creatures her upper lip curling in distaste.'What are the Nyjens and Leseach doing? And Rashid,' she added as an afterthought.Ignatius glanced over then turned to grin at the Princess. 'Looks like a competition, want to practice with your sleeve?'Her eyes lit up then she squinted, lips twisting in concern. 'What if I lose the blades?''Not to worry, there's extra if you do. Elena had another few sets charmed.'With an encouraging smile at her he turned and hurried off, climbing down to the lower decks and pushed his way through the crowded corridor, making his way to the armoury along with most onboard. Two Rodhite centaurs kept track of the comings and goings in the armoury, calling it out to a General Guard soldier who
The Birthright Series Chapter 184
SCRUBBING THE DECKS, THE NEXT few mornings gave me a chance to properly meet some of the other allies. It also helped to work out some of the morning gloom that hit, especially now when each night in my dreams I tried to persuade him not to go on that fated morning run. His lips and touch, the feel of his body beneath my hands felt gloriously real in those dreams. Somehow it seemed that if I stopped him leaving for the run, then I'd wake and find him here.Sloshing the long-handled brush back into the bucket of soapy water I yanked it out and slammed it to the wooden boards, focusing on the task while I tried to distract myself from the dreams.Those dreams scared me, he felt so absolutely real in them yet when I woke I could feel the sense of him drifting from my memory. Like wisps of spider web floating away in the breeze my mind appeared to be building a wall over the memories, pushing them further away and making them that bit more unreal. Yes, the dreams scared me because I didn
The Birthright Series Chapter 185
MID-CONVERSATION KASSIE GLANCED AT Cat and saw the half smile on her friend's face.'It's the only time you see her smiling now, when she's remembering him,' she thought to Kerak with a pang of sorrow.Kerak stayed silent but a sense of discomfort wafted through the link. Kassie reached out to stroke around his ear, making the griffon twist his head closer while the rumble of a purr shuddered out. His thoughts appeared focused on the beautiful griffon beside him and the sorrow she felt. Kassie watched various images flick through the link and quickly realized Kerak wasn't aware of projecting them. All the images showed Loushka, and Kassie watched in fascination while feeling a hint of shame at spying. The very first image and apparent favouriteKerak flicked back to it oftenmust have been when the Griffon Guard was first introduced to their newest member and she watched avidly when Rumal's face appeared from above.Kassie often forgot how young Kerak was when he joined the Guard. In
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