"Nothing! All this salty air and motion sickness for the last three days, and nothing!"

Well, not completely nothing; my quarters in the helm had a lovely view of just how incompetent the crew was, not to mention the Cardinal's love of wine, even for a man of the cloth. If only the King allowed me to wander around the ship, then I'd be able to find his stash. It'd make this morning meeting in Connor's chambers much more pleasant.

"What exactly do you expect me to do? Grow a pile of sand and jungle out of the ocean? The winds are with us, we're moving as fast as possible, and scouts are scouring the waters day and night, but I can't find something if it's not there."

Connor taps the table furiously. It'd honestly be amusing if it didn't look like he was considering throwing me overboard. Gene stands to his immediate right, a look of dismay on his face.

"Sire, we have supplies to continue for another two weeks... but I must say that the further we travel, the more difficult it will be to navigate back to land."

"King Quist, apologies if this is an overstep, but how about a compromise," I muse. "Now, I have held my end of the bargain faithfully. I have made nary a snide remark, nor an obscene request, which is quite difficult for me."

"Your point being?" growls Quist. He didn't seem to be in a bargaining mood, but then again neither are most of my clients.

"What if, after today, we return to dock and relaunch, this time with a smaller crew to conserve supplies. It'd be just you, me, your darling daughter and nanny, a team of five crewmen, and my mother, so I can ensure her safety."

"Are you insane? Trust you in the middle of nowhere with even less guards? Even with your mother nearby, I doubt that'd guarantee my safety."

"At heart, I am a family man, my King. Put your trust in me, and I will follow your word, so long as money and my mother's safety are no issue."

Much to Gene and I's shock, the King seems to consider it. If this goes right, by this time next week I'll have a blade at his and his loyalists' necks, my mother out of bondage, and the gorgeous Natalia by my side under a beautiful sun...

"Land Ho! My king, we have found land!"

...of a bitch. A soldier stumbles into the quarters and alerts us of the find. Connor pushes Gene and me out of the way and races to the deck. I'm hoping all the man has found is a few craggy rocks as we follow him. As seems to be the natural course of this trip, I am wrong.

About two miles away from the boat's eastward side is a sweeping island with bronze sand, lush green jungle, and the slight caw of seabirds. The rest of the crew races up to see the find, most dazzled to silence, sans the Cardinal, who falls to his knees and praises his God. Connor whips around and grabs me, practically foaming at the mouth.

"Don't just stand there! Prepare for us to land. We have found our prize, on the port bow!"

"Starboard bow."

"Whatever! Just get us there!"

Connor practically throws me up the steps to the helm, and I take the wheel and steer us toward the beach. The soldiers stare at me for orders. These fools are supposed to be in the country's navy.

"Close the sails, prepare the anchor, and get the boards ready for us to disembark!"

The soldiers start racing around like ants, following the tasks as best they can. After a good 10 minutes of screaming, steering, and general idiocy, the anchor drops and we're fixed wading distance from the beach. I exit the hull with a bow, and flash a quick smile to Natalia, who joined the others on deck with Lina while I was busy making sure we didn't die. Connor is practically salivating as Gene and his men lower the boards.

"Onward, men! I, Gene, Ozzy, and 5 soldiers shall search this strange place! Grab your weapons and let us begin!"

Gene calls together a squad and they grab their little boomsticks from the armory, but I stick with my reliable dagger and a good pike. There's no way I'm going to blow my foot off for a bunch of undiscovered plants. I fix my weaponry and see Lina grab her father's coattails.

"Father, bring me back a flower, okay?"

"Sure, sure, darling. Be good for Natalia!"

He brushes her off and simply races off the platform, bobbing through the water like an overweight dog. The girl is nearly moved to tears while her brute of a father can't even give her the time of day. I walk over to her and bend down to face her eye to eye.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he finds the brightest flowers on the island, alright?"

She doesn't seem much soothed by my words, but thanks me anyway. I extend my hand for a high-five and, shockingly, she accepts and cracks a small smile. The girl races away, but Natalia stands there with a smirk.

"It may not seem like it, but she likes you. You should be honored; it usually takes a lot more kicking and screaming before she starts warming up to someone."

"Well, it's nice to be appreciated, especially by a kind princess."

Natalia chuckles and looks toward the island with intrigue. I follow her gaze for a moment and smile.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Would the lady-in-waiting like a bouquet as well?"

"As long as it's not from the king, I may consider it," she chuckles.

"Interesting," I muse. I bow and depart toward the platform. I leap off with a bit of style with the hope of catching her eye . My legs explode with pain from the force of the landing, but when you're trying to impress someone, pain's the last thing on your mind. Natalia merely rolls her eyes with a small smirk and walks away, but any reaction is better than none, I suppose. I paddle through the water to catch up with the others; Connor is buzzing with ideas as he runs the sand through his fingers while Gene stares at me with slight disgust.

"You know you don't have a shot with her, right?"

"Well, I got us to a mythical island, so I'd say my luck is pretty good right now."

"Perhaps, but she would not be like your past flings; you despise the Royal Order. Do you really want to spend your days sneaking in and out of castle grounds for late-night rendezvous?"

"Clearly, you have forgotten the lengths both of us went to for a fun night during the academy. Do I need to remind you of our graduation weekend?"

"I told you we'd never speak of that again," whispered Gene. "Besides, how was I supposed to know they were the nieces of an aristocrat?"

"The fact they wore their family's symbol on their bodices should've been a clue."

"Enough of your chattering," bellows the King. "We have important work ahead of us. Onward, through the trees! Who knows what may lay within!"

"Are you sure that's wise, Sire?" questions Gene. "We have no idea what kind of wild-"

"I said onward!"

Like a spayed cat, Gene puts his head down and walks ahead gingerly to lead the group through the tree line, and my laughter is barely containable as I follow from behind. In perfect 'strategic' fashion, Connor stays in the middle, with two guards on each side and the fifth behind him, mostly to protect him from me rather than the elements. We walk through the trees for what feels like a good half hour. I keep my eyes peeled for good flowers, but none quite fit my vision yet, however that's not what catches most of my attention.

"Gene. Look down for a moment."

"I'm not falling for that, Saint."

"Seriously. The ground. Something's not right."

Gene groans, but finally complies. He peers at the jungle floor for a moment, at first not seeing what puzzles me, but soon his eyes adjust.

"Hmmm, you're right."

"What? What is it?" says the King with confusion.

"We've been walking for quite a while, but we haven't stumbled over a loose vine nor had to cut through any overgrown branches," I explain. "Not to mention, the ground is smooth, not bumpy. These are the sort of traits one would expect from antiquated roadbuilding techniques to allow easier travel. More simply put, this has the makings of a manmade path, not a natural clearing."

"Manmade? That's ridiculous!" the King scoffs. "Look where we are; aside from the trees and the chittering of random bugs and birds, there's nothing living here. It's a coincidence, surely."

"Is that a chance you want to take?" I chime. The guard directly in front of me cackles.

"As if we should take the word of some thug! You know just as much about this island as we do. It's just a lump of sand and trees; the most dangerous thing here is probably you."

I'd usually respond with a joke rather quickly, but a rustling of leaves halts my banter. I back up from the guard and raise my hand to my pike. Immediately, he grabs his musket.

"W-what do you think you're doing?"

"Kid, you might want to duck."

"Why on earth would I do such a thing?"

"I said MOVE!"

I push the soldier to the floor and launch the pike above his head, narrowly missing Connor (God, that would've felt great) and hitting a wolf right in its shoulder before it could launch at us. The pike luckily keeps the raving beast fixed in a tree trunk. On closer examination, however, it is not a wolf. At least, not one we know of; the beast has two rows of teeth, bluish fur, green and red eyes, a ratlike tail, and is about 13 feet in length. The furry behemoth howls and hisses in pain, but his howling is difficult to distinguish from the fearful bellows of the king.

"What is that?!"

"That is a creature on this island that can kill us. Does that look like a coincidence to you?" I groan. Gene holds the King up to ensure he doesn't faint, and surprisingly, makes an interesting point.

"As powerful as that creature seems, there's no way he could do this to the soil. You'd need tools like shovels, plows, extensive planning, not to mention opposable thumbs."

"...Well, there's always the chance the inhabitants domesticated these beasts for hunting, transport, and defense," I suggest, as my slowly raise my hands above my head.

"Why do you say that? And why do you look like you're surrendering?"

Without a word, I point behind the group. Gene, the king, and the soldiers turn around and immediately follow my lead, as we are greeted by a pack of six more blue wolves, guided by a group of about twenty cloaked soldiers armed with smooth clubs and sharply pointed shields interlaced with shining vines. Expecting an immediate death, I close my eyes for the feeling of a death strike to my head, but instead the wolves surround us and push us further down the path. The King tries to protest and run but the heavy paw of one of the beasts immediately pushes him back in line.

"Where are you taking us, you brutes? How dare you do this? I'm a king!"

"I don't think they understand, nor care, your Highness," I say with an eyeroll.

"Actually, we understand you perfectly," says one of the cloaked beings standing to my left, with an accent that makes them sound like a baritone serpent.

"Well, glad you're talkative. Apologies for my employer's use of the word 'brute', but what are your plans for us? Agricultural servitude, mining, death, other kinds of enslavement?" (Hey, I need to try and get something good out of this.)

The creature moves his head with confusion.

"Nothing of the sort. However, it has been a long time since we've had visitors. I think the Queen would like to meet you."

"You hear that, Quist? A Queen! A royal chat should fix this just fine," I say with a thick cloud of sarcasm. I turn to Connor, expecting him to be either unconscious or in tears by now, but instead his eyes are fixed on what's in front of us. His and the others' faces are now covered in a bright light. Sensing the obvious twist ahead, I turn back to the path and understand his gaze of wonder: Beyond the trees and lush vines of this island lie a massive plantlike city, filled with massive towers that reach the top of the trees; flower-covered, boulder-sized domes with flumes of smoke exiting them; and all sorts of strange animals running among green-skinned... people... throughout the roads.

"What on Earth is this place?" asks Gene with astonishment.

"Welcome to Ralachar, friends," says the baritone creature, who lifts his mask and reveals a face with emerald skin, covered with wood like protrusions and four eyes (Spider sized and all different colors for those wondering). Perhaps Connor and I are both right: These islands may exist, but they are certainly still mythical, and we are about to become part of the legend.