Things might have been seen easy but every time we met, we faced away without uttering and quickly left the place at a faster pace due to the awkwardness. Yes, we’re in love with each other but we couldn’t show it in front of the crews. Keith had been by his side ever since morning took place and that saved everything and the crew didn’t suspect anything odd between us.
The sea was mild that day and I decided to do some cleaning in my chamber. Everything stopped when I finally found the letter which uncle John gave me when we were still in Faintlight. Since that everything was clear now, I didn’t think that I need to give away the letter to his son. Overwhelmed with curiosity, I opened the envelope and started to read the letter.
“Dear son,
As you read this, the person upon you who gave you this letter is the lost princess of this kingdom. Her background is not yet been revealed but by the time you attained this letter, I guess she has finally gained her whole memory. I beg of you my son to protect her even if it costs your life on the line. Your father has finally done with his quest and now it is you to continue it. Whether will she be the next queen and rule the kingdom with the one she choose nor the other one will not change the future but her death will threat the world’s peace. Bear it in mind my son if her death occurs or she falls to the wrong hand, the citizens of the world will not tolerate with it since the mother, Queen Arianette has given her life for the sake of human kind. She exchanged her life with the citizens and her daughter’s happiness. Bow upon her and be her knight. Do not let me down and you will be known as a warrior.
Yours sincerely,
John deFloid”
The letter fell on the wooden floor like a feather fell from the sky. I sat on the bed in dismay but unfortunately, it wasn’t the bed I was sitting on. It was Penelope! He jolted out of the bed and grumbled angrily at me. I apologised and by then he was able to calm down a bit.
“You startled me, Eleanor,” He hissed.
“I’m sorry. It was a major accident.”
A pigeon accidentally landed in my room with a small-scroll attached to its feet. Penelope was ready to make it a dinner but I stopped him on the spot from continuing. He did whine a little but then he settled down like an obedient puppy, wagging his tail. I removed the small-scroll from the pigeon’s leg and was about to open it when finally Captain Kenny came barging in my room.
“Wait! I didn’t open my window just now that’s why it comes here. Give it to me,” Captain retorted with sweats running on his face.
“What’s this?” I asked bluntly, forgetting my awkwardness in just a few seconds.
“A letter of course... Please, hand it over,” He demanded.
I obediently handed it to him. Without a slight delay, He opened the letter and read the contents of it. His face abruptly went red while pouting, “What are you, a stalker?!” I whispered to Penelope to retrieve the letter from him and he made it and handed it over to me.
“Wait, Eleanor! You literally don’t want to read that!” He shouted.
“Oh, really? Is it from Mammy?” I snickered.
“You ‘definitely’ DON’T want to read that! I swear!” He raised his right hand as if he was performing an oath.
“This is getting good,” I paused and started to read the contents out loud which can be heard within the room only. “Dear Kenneth, it has been a while since I wrote you a letter. How’s my daughter? It seems that she has gained her memory back. And speaking of which, I can still forgive you about the accident kiss but I literally AGAINST you from kissing her which is not an ACCIDENT! Do not underestimate the power of a fortune-teller! And finally, send my regards to her. Yours sincerely, Mammy.”
Right after reading the letter, my face went read. I instantly replayed the flashback of the moment when we kissed in the castle and what’s worse, being seen by the prince himself! And now Mammy?! Was she been watching us from her fortune crystal ball all these time? Captain Kenny quickly grabbed the letter and swiftly hid it in his pocket.
“Told you so,” His face went red again.
“I’m sorry,” I stared at the wooden floor and now my heart was beating like mad.
“You don’t have to,” He said mildly.
“You guys just date already,” A child’s voice, somewhat pissed off, came from the doorway where there, stood Keith and Chast.
“You little rascal,” Captain Kenny was on his temper but then he cooled down for a bit.
“Sis, look, Brother Keith taught me how to carve on a wood! Isn’t it beautiful?” Chast showed me a wood carving with his name carved on it.
“Well, I enjoy carving things back in the orphanage,” Keith’s face went ruddy.
I hugged Chast with a smile on my face, saying, “It’s beautiful! You’re very talented Chast and you are a good teacher Keith.”
“It’s nothing,” He faced away and folded his arms in embarrassment.
“Well, since he’s a year older than me, I decided to call him Brother!” Chast smiled happily.
“That’s great then,” I patted Chast’s fluffy head.
“Hey Penelope, want to do some cool stuffs?” Keith was so keen of Penelope since he’s a dragon.
“Sure thing!” And finally, all three of them went out of the room, leaving both of us in my chamber.
I didn’t know what to do and I just remained silent and stood there like a statue. Minutes later, Captain Kenny noticed the letter that fell on floor which was written by Uncle John and read it.
“Am I not good enough to protect her, old man?” He whispered to himself silently.
It was taking forever and it was getting more and more awkward. We didn’t look at each other and we avoided our gaze from staring at each other. Finally, Captain Kenny finally broke up the silence, “Hey, what should I do now?”
“Wha- Pardon?” I slowly replied.
“In this kind of situation, what should I do?” His face turned redder than usual and mine went ruddy as well.
“Well... We... I mean...” I couldn’t answer his question and my tongue was somehow tangled.
“This is frustrating...” He held his forehead with his right hand.
“Captain...”
“I can’t look at you. Please keep your distance from me right now,” He warned.
“What have I done wrong this time?”
“It’s not you, it’s me!”
“Captain...” I couldn’t grasp what he was trying to say.
“We’re alone in this room and there’s a bed over there. I’m a guy and you’re a girl. Everything can go wrong,” He finally made himself clear.
“You’re not that kind of guy, right?” I answered timidly.
“Why are you seeing me like that?! I’m still a guy and who knows what I might do?! I’m off,” He swiftly went out of my room, leaving me all alone.
He was restraining himself for now. The more he avoided me, the sadder it was. I was deeply hurt and I couldn’t bear with it anymore. He was getting away from me despite that our hearts were finally united. Keith, Chast, Penelope and Hardy didn’t say a word about us and the crews didn’t suspect anything weird out of it. It was like any other day for them.
“Capt’n!! Bad news!! There’s a storm ahead!!” Theo who was the watch-stander for that day shouted in alarm.
“Where is the nearest land here, Scar?!” Captain Kenny asked in alert.
“An inhabited island somewhere within a kilometre due east, capt’n,” Scar answered briefly.
“Draken, Sylvester, control the helm! You know what to do?!” He ordered at the top of his lung.
“Aye, aye, sir!” Both of them did their best to manage the heavy helm which was going against the current waves.
“Randolph, Hans, Alfin, Fredrick, go get the ropes!” He called out.
“Yes, sir!” Their voice synchronised for the reply.
“Thomas, Sweeney, Brad, Josh and the others take care of the masts for the front part and the hind deck!” He demanded.
“Capt’n where’s Eleanor, Penelope, Chast and Keith?” Artney bluntly asked out of the blue.
“They were at the hind deck just now,” Howard answered.
“What?!” Captain Kenny shrieked.
“Captain, the storm is here!” Theo warned.
“Theo, get down from there!! Everyone catch a hold on something!! Draken, Sylvester, try to hold the helm due east with all you can!” He dashed towards the hind deck.
“Where are you going, capt’n?!” All of them asked simultaneously.
“Where do you think I’m going? I can’t let all four of them just like that!” He was finally out of sight.
Somewhere at the hind deck, Chast and Keith were still practicing their sword lesson while Penelope and I were staring at them, doing nothing. We did hear the ruckus at the front deck but we had no idea what it was about. Suddenly, the sky turned gloomy, the heavy down-pour drenched us and wet the floor which made it all slippery. The waves shook the ship and made it moves as if it was dancing on a dance floor. We hold onto each other but we didn’t manage to get Keith with us. He skidded downwards towards the edge and that’s when I went to him and shoved him towards Chast as I fell down into the sea.
“Sis!” Chast shouted.
“Are you guys okay?!” Captain Kenny shouted from afar.
“Captain, sis fell down into the sea when she was saving Keith!” Chast replied anxiously.
“What?! She didn’t know how to swim! Keith, take Chast and Penelope to safety!” He quickly went towards where I fell just now and jumped from the hind deck to get me.
“Captain!” Chast shouted.
“No time to lose! He’ll survive somehow, let’s get you in!” He pulled Chast and Penelope inside the cabin and shut the door hardly.
Meanwhile, I was struggling for air which I was now drowning since I didn’t know how to swim.
“Eleanor!” He called as soon as he got into the cold sea.
I couldn’t reply him but before I could do so, he quickly swam towards me and grabbed me while trying to reach our ship. What fortune befell us? We were swept away by a huge wave and now we lost the ship and stranded on a deserted island.
“Eleanor, are you okay?” Captain Kenny revived me.
“Wh- where are we?” I coughed, feeling a bit dizzy.
“I’m not sure. We lost the ship in a storm,” He replied sadly.
“No way! That can’t be true!” I jolted in surprise, astounded by the fact.
“Listen to me! We’re going to be fine. Just relax and they’ll find us soon enough, okay?” He held both my shoulders and calmed me down.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“We need to find any tribal area here. But, we need to be cautious for fear this island might be inhabited by a cannibal tribe. We’re lucky enough if this place is an inhabitant island,” He muttered.
The bushes behind us abruptly moved. I quickly embraced Captain Kenny, asking, “What’s that?” And both our attentions focused on the moving bushes. A monkey jumped out of the bushes and ran away, climbing another tree.
“It’s just a monkey,” He answered with relief.
As we turned towards each other, our nose bumped and our eyes met. I went ruddy and my heart was throbbing like mad and the situation continued for quite a while. He quickly released me and stated, “Well, let’s search for something to eat. I guess we’re both hungry right now, aren’t we?”
“Yes, yes... Let’s go,” I retorted, agreeing his statement.
That was a close one. I wonder what might happen if we continued gazing at each other like that.
