Vanessa grabbed onto the railing on the deck and leaned towards the water in delight. She could feel the cool breeze brushing her cheeks, the salty smell of the sea, the noise of the waves breaking against the ship's hull, and most importantly, the excited beatings of her heart due to her newfound freedom. Everything she came across was a new experience. A new page in her journal. And now she was approaching the first stop in her journey.
She used her left hand to shield her eyes from the sun’s glare and looked west to see if she could spot Verin. From this far away, she could only find a few small buildings on the horizon. Yet, that was enough to get her heart racing again. She leaned further away from the ship, as if doing so would hasten her arrival.
“My Lady! Please get back, it’s dangerous. You might fall if a big wave hits the ship,” her maid said.
“Relax, Anna. I can handle myself. Forget about that and tell me, have you ever been to Verin?” she asked.
Anna could not, in fact, forget about it and said, “I have. But I won’t say anything unless you get back from there.”
“Even if it’s an order?”
Anna started fidgeting when she heard that.
Vanessa laughed out in a cheery voice and said, “I am just joking Anna. You always take everything so seriously that I can’t help making fun of you. Anyways, here. I am back now. Happy?”
“Yes,” she said sounding unhappy.
“So?”
“Alright,” Anna sighed. “Verin is an island on the Turquoise River delta. It has a natural canal system developed by the local fauna which divides the island into seven sectors. It has no major roads and most transportation is carried out in the canals. It’s a beautiful city, my lady. The blue tiled roofs along with the canals make you feel like you are still in the sea. I’m sure you will love it.”
Vanessa was squiggling from enthusiasm. She couldn’t help herself even though she knew everything Anna said from her lessons.
“And is it true that they don’t use boats to traverse the canals?” she asked.
“It is my lady. You will see what they use when we get there.”
…
The ship docked at the port after half an hour. Without a word, Vanessa ran out and climbed down the ship. Anna and her guards ran behind her trying to keep up with her speed.
“Slow down, my lady!” Anna panted.
Vanessa didn’t heed her words and ran up to one of the canals that led away from the port. Everywhere she looked was a different shade of blue. The houses, the canals, and even the fashion choice of the residents. It was like she entered a different world.
As she was sightseeing, she saw some animals playing with a ball in the canal in front of her. She recognized them as dolphins from her picture books. She went closer to get a better view of them. They had dark blue skin with white wavelike patterns and were only about one meter long. One of the dolphins saw her and whistled to its companions. Then they all swam up to where Vanessa was standing. They started whistling and Vanessa could understand that they wanted to play with her. She leaned down excitedly and started petting their beaks which the dolphins seemed to enjoy. As she was petting one of them, another dolphin came up and pushed the ball to her. It then swam away from her and waited in the distance. She grabbed the ball and inferred its intentions. She threw it as far as she could and watched as the dolphin happily swam to get it back.
“A fine creature aren’t they your highness? It’s rare for them to approach a stranger.” someone said from behind.
Vanessa turned back and saw an old man along with Anna and her guards.
“Oh, they are just adorable!” she said. “Can I take one home?”
The old man stumbled over his words in bewilderment, “Ahem. Unfortunately, that cannot be done, your highness. This is their natural habitat. They can’t survive anywhere else.”
Vanessa was slightly disappointed, but she quickly regained her enthusiasm and asked, “What are they called?”
“These are hatchlings of Giant Water Dolphins. They have minor water manipulation abilities and mostly spend their time playing around in the canals,” he explained and then introduced himself. “I am head butler Francis of the Verin family. It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness. Your grandfather is waiting for you at the mansion. Allow me to take you there.”
“But I want to play with them a bit more,” Vanessa complained.
“You will meet a lot of them on the way your Highness. They are all over the canals,” he said. “I think you will enjoy the ride to the mansion.”
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“Oh! Are we going to use the canals?”
“Indeed, we are. Look over there your Highness,” he pointed a bit further ahead where she noticed a floating carriage in the canal that was surrounded by a group of larger dolphins. Some of them had a rope attached to them that connected to the carriage and others had saddles on their backs in front of their fins.
Vanessa immediately realized their method of transportation and quickly followed the head butler to the carriage.
“Can I ride the dolphins?” she asked with glitter in her eyes and pointed to one of the dolphins with a saddle.
The head butler was taken aback by her eagerness. Most of the young ladies he knew were deathly afraid of the first time they tried to ride a water dolphin.
“It’s dangerous, your highness. You have to have a good connection with the dolphin before they allow you to ride them,” he said.
“They don’t bite do they?” she asked.
“No. They are amiable animals as long as you don’t hurt them,” he replied.
“Then I will be fine,” she said and pointed at one of the larger dolphins reaching almost 2.5 meters. “That one! Yes. I feel like we already understand each other. Come here.”
She called out to the dolphin.
Head butler Francis thought that she was just waving at the dolphin, but surprisingly the dolphin swam up to her like it already knew her. Francis was flabbergasted. Young water dolphins were much better trained and would never move until they were ordered to do so by their handlers.
The dolphin whistled to Vanessa like it was speaking to her. Vanessa nodded her head and the dolphin moved closer to allow her to sit on the saddle. Vanessa got on and the dolphin started swimming away.
Francis watched her go with his mouth agape. He yelled and called out to her, “Your Highness! Please wait for us! You don’t know the way.”
“She said she knows the way. I will see you there,” she shouted back and went further away.
“What are you talking about!? Please come back!” Francis yelled.
“It’s no point, head butler,” Anna said with a tired sigh. “No one can stop her once she sets her mind to it. Let’s get on the carriage quickly and catch up to her.”
“But she will get lost if she goes alone,” he said. “And why is that dolphin even allowing her to get on its back? Who was in charge of handling it?”
One of the city guards came forward and said, “I did, sir.”
“What kind of training did you make it do!?” he asked in anger. “If something were to happen to the princess it will be on your head.”
“But sir. She was the most well-trained dolphin of the batch. Even I don’t know how Her Highness managed to do that,” he said in fear.
“Whatever. Let’s go. We will fall behind if we wait any longer,” Anna said.
They boarded the carriage and tried to follow Vanessa. Some of the guards also got on the dolphins with the saddles and chased after her. Yet, none could keep up with Vanessa. It’s like she had been riding dolphins since she was born.
…
“YOOOHOOO!” Vanessa shouted as she cut through the wind. Her red hair ruffled in the air as water droplets hit her face. She felt so alive and free.
Passing through the canals, she saw so many different sights. Merchants sold wares on floating carriages on the sides of the canals. Pods of water dolphin hatchlings scattered all around. Guards patrolling the canals on saddled dolphins. Fountain statues of giant dolphins placed sporadically at some of the larger canals. Everything here seemed to have been built around the dolphins. And Vanessa was loving it.
Along the way, she saw a group of female soldiers with blue and white uniforms pass her by towards the port with a carriage filled with people around her age. Most had haggard faces and some were even severely malnourished. One of the girls stood out among them. She was around Vanessa's height and was the only one who looked presentable. With brown hair reaching her shoulders. But what really drew attention were her stunning amber eyes. She had a grumpy face and looked like she didn’t want to be there.
Vanessa didn’t think much about it and left them behind. Soon she reached her grandfather’s mansion and waited there for her entourage to catch up—which they did eventually.
“You really did know the way,” Francis told her in slight praise.
“Not me,” Vanessa answered and pointed to her dolphin. “She did. You are the best dolphin ever, Pearl.”
"Yip!" the dolphin whistled and jumped around the canal while splashing water on her hands.
“Pearl?”
“Yes. That’s her name,” Vanessa said.
“Is that so?” Francis said. “Well, I am happy that you enjoyed your ride, your highness. But please don’t do that again. We were all very worried about your safety.”
“Yessss,” she said with an exaggerated tone.
Francis chose to ignore it and said, “Alright then let’s go and meet the master.”
Vanessa nodded and followed him to the mansion that was almost as large as a castle. Servants were waiting patiently beyond the gates and bowed when she passed them.
Vanessa was guided to the living hall which had glass for walls. The whole place was encircled by a huge aquarium with different species of fish inside. But before she could inspect it further, she noticed the old man sitting on the couch in the middle of the room.
He was around his seventies. Hair turning gray from old age. She could see where her father got his blue eyes from.
Her grandfather had a stern look on his face, but it melted down as soon as he saw her.
“You’ve grown up into a beautiful flower, my dear. How long has it been? 6 years?” he smiled and waved her to him.
Vanessa also smiled and said, “You still look as young as the last time, Grandpa. It’s good to see you again.”
“It's great to see you as well, Vanessa. So, you are finally heading out to hone your magic. Bit too early compared to your siblings, but that’s good. Your mother coddles you guys too much. The earlier you face reality the better. How are they doing?”
“They are all good, Grandpa. Father also came back recently, I am sure heard of that,” she replied.
“I don’t care about that miscreant! All he ever managed to do was be a pain in my ass. Just thinking about that scoundrel makes my blood boil,” he huffed.
Vanessa laughed ruefully and thought, ‘They still didn’t makeup even after all these years.’
“But he is till your son, Grandpa. It’s been almost thirty years and your feud is still going on. You should forgive Dad,” she said.
“Heh. He can come and seek forgiveness himself if he dares. Forget about him, how’s my heir doing these days?”
“Edward? He is fine. He got promoted to Captain recently,” she said.
“Ahaha. Is that so? That’s great news. I expect nothing less from him,” he said with pride and joy. “Come now let’s have lunch then we can tour the city.”
“Ok. Ah, Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Mother said that I would be traveling with some Amazon warriors to the Great Divide. Do you know where they are?” she asked.
“Ah yes. Your escort. They should be at the Amazon headquarters sector near the port. Don’t worry you will meet them tomorrow morning. Come now we have a lot of catching up to do.”