A huge crash somewhere in the distance startled Lewis awake. Sitting up, he looked around the dark cabin. As the ship tilted dangerously to one side, there was another crash.

Feeling around for the lamp that he had left on the table beside his bed, he struck one of the matches that sat beside it. As the match flared into life, he opened the small hatch on the lamp, lighting it quickly. Holding up the lamp, Lewis freed himself from the bedcovers. Despite the crashes and the howling wind outside, it seemed that Arthur was still fast asleep.

It had been nine days since they had left Eraea behind as they set sail for The Misty Islands. Thomas hadn’t been too far off when he estimated the length of their journey. Unfortunately for them, though, a storm had picked up when they got close to The Misty Islands. Three days later, they were still anchored a little way off the coast, waiting for the storm to pass. Fortunately, Jonathan had packed far more supplies than necessary; otherwise, they might have starved before they made it to The Misty Islands, let alone on the journey back.

Leaving Arthur to sleep, Lewis slipped quietly out of the cabin that they shared. It wasn’t until he was some way down the corridor that he realised he shouldn’t have bothered trying to be quiet. If he hadn’t been awoken by the storm, then the closing of a door wouldn’t make much difference, surely.

With the oil lamp in one hand, he wandered down the corridor, not entirely sure where he was going or what he was planning to do. Leaving his feet to lead the way, he found himself heading for the main deck of The Wings of Gold.

When he opened the hatch to the deck above, he found, to his surprise, that the sky was almost completely clear, the moonlight illuminating the deserted deck. Stepping out into the cold night air, he felt the wind whipping around him furiously. For the first time in days, it had stopped raining.

Keeping a tight hold on the lamp, he staggered across the deck as the ship rocked in the wind. It wasn’t until he had almost reached the side of the ship that he realised he wasn’t alone. Staring out in the direction of The Misty Islands was Emily, oblivious to the fact that she was no longer alone.

For a moment, he considered slipping away again before she noticed him. Despite what Arthur had said in Eraea, Lewis and Emily hadn’t spoken since their argument in Mrs. Miller’s spare room. In fact, they had hardly seen each other at all despite being on the same ship for over a week.

During the days when they had been sailing, Lewis kept himself busy on the deck, helping Jonathan and the rest of the crew. Jonathan, on one occasion, allowed him to take the helm for a few minutes. As far as he knew, Emily had kept herself below deck the entire journey, helping out in the kitchen. It was only at mealtimes that their paths seemed to cross. Yet here they were both standing on deck in the middle of the night.

‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there,’ Emily said when she turned around and found him standing there.

‘It’s alright,’ Lewis replied as he walked over to the rail, watching the waves break against the side of the ship. ‘What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?’

‘I couldn’t sleep,’ she said.

Is the storm keeping you up?’ Lewis guessed.

‘I haven’t been sleeping very well lately anyway. The storm was just another thing to keep me awake,’ she sighed. ‘It must be difficult being so close.’

‘It’s been strange,’ Lewis admitted. ‘I’ve barely seen you since we left Eraea.’

‘I meant being so close to the crown but not being able to do anything,’ Emily said. ‘I know what you mean, though.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t realise you were talking about the crown,’ Lewis said sheepishly as he stared out at the outline of the islands in the moonlight.

‘What’s going to happen?’ Emily asked quietly.

‘I assume we’ll just wait until the storm blows itself out before we try and get to the crown,’ Lewis said, catching a glance at her. In the moonlight, he saw the confusion on her face. ‘You weren’t talking about the crown, were you?’

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

‘No,’ she admitted. ‘It’s alright; you’ve got more important things on your mind these days.’

Turning to face her, Lewis leaned against the rail, watching her as she stared out at the sea. ‘You’re important to me as well. I don’t know how I would have gotten through everything that’s happened without you.’

‘You probably wouldn’t have gotten caught up in it without me, though,’ she muttered.

‘Maybe that’s true, but we can’t change that now,’ he said, reaching out a hand and placing it on top of hers where it rested on the rail. ‘My father always used to tell me that the decisions we make don’t define who we are; it’s how we deal with the consequences of those choices.’

‘It’s funny; sometimes you sound so much like Sebastian. It’s actually a little unnerving,’ Emily said, shooting him a weak smile as she glanced up.

‘I guess it just runs in the family,’ Lewis said.

For several minutes, they both fell into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they stared out at the tumbling waves in the dark. Just a few more days and this would all be over, Lewis thought. What would happen after that?

‘The last couple of days stuck out here have given me a chance to think about what happens next,’ Lewis said, breaking the silence. ‘What I’m going to do when this is all over

‘I haven’t really thought about it. It isn’t as if I have anywhere to go. I definitely don’t want to go back to the castle, though.’

‘What about Arthur?’ Lewis suggested.

‘I’m sure she’s nice enough, but I would rather not be around Amanda all the time,’ Emily said.

‘It really wasn’t what it looked like,’ Lewis said as he thought back to what had caused this whole argument to begin with. Hopefully, Emily will actually listen to him. ‘Thomas said we should give you and Arthur some time to talk. When she found out what happened to my father, she told me how the mercenaries captured her parents. She had never really had anyone who could relate to what she had gone through before.’

The fact that you both lost a parent in common doesn’t give her an excuse for being so friendly,’ Emily said, turning to face him. So much for her just accepting his explanation, he thought.

‘I was talking to Arthur about it when we were collecting some of the supplies for the trip. Apparently, she’s always like this with people,’ Lewis said.

‘Really?’

‘You can ask him about it if you really want to,’ Lewis said with a nod. ‘It’s not like it really matters, though; I’m not interested in her.’

‘You aren’t? But what about The Red Clover? You seemed interested then,’ Emily said.

‘We needed to find Thomas,’ Lewis said. ‘I didn’t want to, but I was getting desperate. We had to jump through so many hoops just to get that far. I wanted it to be over as soon as possible so that I could get back to Fir Lodge and forget all about this.’

‘I’m sorry I yelled at you,’ Emily said sheepishly. ‘I knew you must have had a reason. With finding out about Arthur and everything, I wasn’t thinking straight.’

‘It’s alright; it can’t have been easy dealing with what Thomas said,’ Lewis said as they slipped into silence once more, his hand still resting on hers. It seemed as though she was content to leave it there as well.

As he watched the waves breaking against the side of the ship, he thought about Fir Lodge. Would it still be in one piece after they tied Commander Redmond up there? He wouldn’t be surprised if he had burned it to the ground before he resumed his attempts to catch them. Then there was the cottage in Whitecliff. What was he supposed to do with that once his name had been cleared?

‘So, you’re going back to Fir Lodge after this is all over?’ Emily spoke quietly.

‘I think so,’ he replied. ‘If it’s still in one piece.’

‘You think someone would have done something to it?’

‘We did tie up the person with the world’s worst anger issues there,’ Lewis said with a laugh. ‘I still can’t believe you knocked him out cold with a log.’

‘I miss Fir Lodge. It felt safe there,’ Emily sighed. ‘Even if it did have the occasional guard with anger issues turn up.’

‘Would you like to go back there when this is all over?’ Lewis ventured.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s not really the sort of place I would want to stay in on my own for a long period of time,’ Lewis said. ‘If you didn’t have any other plans, you could always come and stay.’

‘Are you asking me to come and live with you at Fir Lodge?’ Emily asked, pulling her hand away from his as she turned to face him.

‘Maybe?’ Lewis suggested, hopefully. ‘I mean, it’s not like we haven’t lived together before. It’s pretty much all we’ve done since we first met.’

‘But this is different,’ Emily said as she considered him. ‘We wouldn’t be running for our lives or waiting for Edmund to show up.’

‘It was just an idea,’ Lewis said, turning back to the sea.

‘I’m not saying no,’ she said quietly as she placed her hand on his arm gently. ‘I just...everything will be different.

‘It’s okay,’ Lewis said.

‘How about we wait until this is all over and then see where we are?’ Emily suggested. Nodding in agreement, Lewis kept his eyes on the sea. ‘I’m going to try and get some sleep; it will probably be a long day tomorrow if we manage to get to the islands.’

For a moment longer, she lingered by his side, waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she turned, heading back to her cabin below deck. At the sound of the door shutting behind her, Lewis looked up, scouring the now deserted deck of The Wings of Gold. Sighing, he took one last look at The Misty Islands in the distance before deciding that he should at least try to get a couple of hours of sleep. Emily was right; if they did get to the island tomorrow, it was going to be a long day.