She returned to the bridge with her mind occupied. She handed Sirius his food and Sonny his egg. They both told her, “Thanks.”
“Bruce wanted to know if it’s for the lights?”
“Err… yes,” Sonny replied in a way that made Amanda pretty sure that it was most definitely not for the lights.
She sat down to eat her own breakfast, pancakes covered in maple syrup, what little remained that hadn’t been unloaded at Wildwater after the whole beetle debacle. As she ate she wondered how to ask, or if she even should, what the egg was actually for.
Sirius interrupted her thoughts. “Oh hey, it’s the next day. I get another guess now.”
“Huh?” She turned to him with a blank expression on her face.
“About what your powers are.”
Her whole insides dropped several degrees and she desperately tried not to show it in her face.
“R-right,” she managed to stammer out with a half smile.
Sirius didn’t notice her tone. He too was busy trying to think of a guess.
“Mindwalker?”
She laughed, half in relief than anything else. “I wish.” She attempted to shake off her worries and thoughts of buildings and people on fire. To claim the same playful feeling that had worked so well last night. The best way to present yourself as something was to actually be it. She fixed her mind on the moment, the look in his face, lighthearted, playful. It reminded her of what had occurred last night, their bodies so close, intertwined. That memory did the trick. She found herself smiling again naturally and without even intending to. Fire and fear were pushed to another corner of her mind, at least for now.
“Hmm, no I suppose not. But you’re so good at poker, and reading people. Damn I should have gone empath.” He studied her again. “Are you an empath.?”
She grinned wildly. “That’s a second guess.” Damn, how many did he have before he finally hit on the right one? At least he seemed like he was having fun. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sonny glance at her. Was he listening to their conversation? Probably. She needed to find a new topic.
“Hmm. I seem to recall you promising me a hint.”
Gods! That slight curve in his mouth, so subtle and yet it said so much. The green sparkle in his eyes that contrasted so well with his black hair made her want to trust him, to just tell him. But Sonny was right there, and after what Bruce had said… she felt a sudden urge to get away and think. She couldn’t think when Sirius was looking at her like that.
The sea provided her with a lucky distraction. The boat came out of a extra large trough just then with a strong whack from the next wave. They had to hold tight onto their plates and the ship. All three of them looked out at the sea. Sonny struggled with the wheel a little.
“Try take the waves at a bit more of an angle Sonny. You’ll find it’s a bit smoother,” Sirius told him.
“Is it going to get much rougher do you think? Once the rain hits. How big do they get?” Amanda asked.
Sirius gave her a knowing almost devious smile. “A lot bigger than this, twice as big at least. This is nothing.”
“Twice?” Amanda could easily imagine waves like that just swallowing the ship whole.
He glanced at her and noticing her worry he added in a serious but compassionate tone, “The ship can handle a lot worse than this. If you don’t see Pete out there with his head hanging over the sides then it’s nothing to worry about.”
Sonny chuckled at that. “And even if you do see Pete, as long as he hasn’t fallen off all is fine.”
She glanced at Sirius questioningly.
“Pete’s usually the first to get seasick,” Sirius explained.
“He’s nothing if not consistent,” Sonny added.
“He’s a good marker for how rough the sea is,” Sirius agreed. With a look toward Amanda he asked, “You’re not feeling sick are you?”
She shook her head.
“Well, that’s probably a good sign. I do expect it will get a little rougher yet. If you do feel sick the best thing you can do is come up on deck where you can see the horizon-”
Amanda frowned as she glanced out the window at the towering waves. The horizon? What horizon?
“-although out on deck gets a bit risky with the wind and the water. There’s less chance of you going overboard if you just come into the wheelhouse.”
She nodded just as they got hit hard by another wave.
“I might go get them to adjust the trim. Be right back,” Sirius told them.
Both Amanda and Sonny looked after him with a worried expression. Amanda noticed Sonny’s look and it did nothing to calm her own nerves. Evidently this was a boat driving lesson of sorts and remembering how Sonny had hit the reef earlier on their journey she wasn’t feeling confident about his driving now. But Sirius didn’t seem too concerned and she trusted Sirius right?
He was back several minutes later with a spray-soaked Shiv. He poked his head in the wheelhouse. “We’re gonna shift some of the cargo load. I’ll get Pierre to come up early and supervise okay?”
“Can I help?” Amanda asked.
“Mmm, it’s better you don’t. The cargo’s heavy and when the boat’s moving like this it can get quite dangerous. We’ve got a system that works though. Feel free to hang out here. We’ll be a few hours. Not much else to do on the ship today unless you know how to rig. The rocking makes other work tricky.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Amanda nodded, and then Sirius disappeared. Pierre came up soon and for awhile she chatted with him and Sonny, mostly asking them things about sailing. Pierre had been sailing most of his life, although this was the biggest ship he’d ever worked on. Apparently racing the smaller ones had been his specialty. He’d also spent some time boat building and was a decent wood repairman.
Sonny on the other hand, had grown up on land to an upper class but not excessively rich family who had never quite understood his fascination with the sea. He’d passively done what others had almost expected of him most of his life until a year ago when he’d quit his job as a bartender and walked up the boardwalk of the Black Dog. Now he was living his dream of driving a boat.
“It took Sirius six months to convince Shiv we should let him have a go but apart from the two reefs and one whale he hasn’t done that badly,” Pierre told her.
“A whale?”
“She don’t need to know about that,” Sonny complained.
Pierre leaned in conspiratorially.
Amanda listened politely to the story and then excused herself. Eventually returning to her cabin she lay down on her bed, temporarily exhausted. She felt she needed just a few minutes to regather her bearings. After the night’s events and then Bruce’s comments she needed time to think. For several minutes she just lay there, feeling the movement of the boat. It wasn’t particularly pleasant, more like a slow roller-coaster than a gentle rocking. Lying down she felt her head almost starting to spin a little so she sat back up.
Her gaze casually roamed her room. Despite being smaller it didn’t feel as cozy as Sirius’s room. She missed the stars on the ceiling, and the fluffier duvet, but most of all she wanted nothing more than to go back to that room and find Sirius there and curl up in his arms again. To hold him. To touch him. Somehow she felt as distant from yesterday as she did from a year ago. The world was new and she wanted to explore it. She’d had sex and dated others before but never in her life had she missed someone’s company so quickly. How little time she had spent with him and yet every time she saw him she was focused on him such that it felt like she’d known him her whole life. And there was still so much more to know.
Her gaze found the book, the one he’d given her. Seeking a way to get closer to him she reached for it, turned to the second story and began to read:
The Gilded Cage
Once upon a time there lived two princesses who were captured and imprisoned in two separate cages in the tower of a mean sorcerer.
One cage was bare and damp. A pipe in one corner continually dripped and produced a echo the never ceased, an ever lasting PLOP PLOP PLOP which permeated the mind and harassed the princess regardless of whether she was awake or asleep. The water caused a fine algae to grow, making the floor slippery to walk upon, so the utmost attention was required, unless one wished for a bruised tailbone. There was no bed, only the cold stone floor. And no windows or anything interesting to look at. Nothing but the algae and a dark hole in one corner which attracted the flies all year round. Food was served once a day, always the same unidentifiable slop that had a texture like a sheep’s brain.
The other cage, in contrast, was lavishly decorated. The large window, which provided a lovely view of the sea, was elegantly adorned with velvet curtains dyed in the richest of reds. The floor was made with mahogany wood, speckled and knotted with markings so detailed that it was a work of art all on its own right. The artwork itself covered ever inch of the wall, paintings of far off lands, places and things a princess could only dream of. There was a bed filled with piles of cushions and soft, warm, blankets. Food could be summoned day or night by the ring of a bell. Anything the princess might require could be brought to her cell. Cheese or sugar. A kitten or a cowbell. As long as it fit in the room and would do her no harm, nothing was too much to ask. Except for one thing.
And that one thing the cages had in common, which was that the door was always locked.
For years the two princesses lived their separate lives. One dreamed of the sea, the crashing waves that served the backdrop to her thoughts. It was right there, under the pale moon, so close and yet unreachable, just outside her window. She longed to visit the places she saw in the art that hung on the wall.
The other dreamed of not very much at all for sleep is difficult when a pipe is constantly dripping not very far away, and without knowledge of the outside beyond her early years before she had been taken, she found it hard to imagine another life. But every day when her food came she wondered if today was the day he would finally let her go, one way or another.
One day she got her wish. The sorcerer opened the cage doors and each princess was given a choice.
To the first, the one in the gilded cage he spoke, “You may leave this tower now or you may stay where you are but know this, once your choice is made, if you choose to leave you may not come back. This is your choice.”
Outside she saw the sea beckon and, without thought or attention to anything else but the sea, she took her chance.
The sorcerer then went to the other princess and he made her an offer. Presenting her with the cage of the princess who had left he said, “Now this is your choice. You may move into this new room or you may leave the tower entirely. But know this, once you choose, you can not change your mind. This is your choice.”
The princess looked outside the tower door to the large mass of dark swirling water just down the hill. Outside the tower the wind howled and the rain went PLOP PLOP PLOP. Algae and moss grew on the cobblestones that led down to the sea, it’s dangerous surface glimmered in the lightning.
Then she turned to the new room and saw such comfort and warmth as she had never seen before. On a table in the middle of the room lay a hot plate with a juicy steak and crisp sweet-smelling green vegetables. In the corner a bed made up and sized just for her. And so she too, made her choice.
Outside, the wind and cold stung the skin of the first princess, but she pressed on, all the way to the edge of the sea. Her body was like ice by the time she reached the water, her tailbone bruised and sore. But the moment her fingers touched the surf, she realised her mistake. She had nowhere to go and no way of sailing the ocean like she had in her dreams. And the weather was cold and wet. She turned back.
She banged on the door of the tower. “Let me in please. Please let me in. It’s so cold! I want to come back in.”
But no answer was heard and eventually she turned back toward the sea and when she reached its edge once more, she found she could no longer feel the cold, for her skin had turned to stone.
Inside the gilded room, the other princess had just finished a delicious meal and was eyeing up the comfy bed but there was one problem. It was the sound. From somewhere out the window, layered in among the sounds of the sea and the storm was horrible wailing cry, like someone in pain.
After awhile she went to the window and she looked out. And down there by the sea she saw a girl, not unlike herself, only this one was made of stone, a statue of sorts just frozen there gazing out at the great big blue. And for the first time the princess considered that there might be something else beyond that horizon.
“What is it my princess?” asked the sorcerer gently.
Still looking out she replied. “Oh, nothing, I’m just tired.”
“Then rest my dear.” He gestured to the bed and then he left her alone.
So she turned her back to the window and found her soul content.
Amanda set the book down not sure she was content with that ending. It was as depressing as the first one had been. She turned to the next one, but she was barely a couple of lines in when there came a loud crash, similar to the one that had startled her the night of the sirens. For a moment she wondered if it had something to do with them, the sirens, that perhaps maybe they had returned. But after a few tense seconds she shook the feeling off. That was silly. It was just something elsewhere. Maybe the men moving cargo in the hold? Except it was too similar to the other night. It was a sound she’d heard before and this time she was going to find out what it was.