NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 212: On The Road Again.
I ended up staring blankly at the ocean water until the boat slowly floated all the way to land, and as it finally started to come into the harbor only then did I finally force myself to get up and grab some food but by the time I found the dining hall I was no longer hungry so much as just anxious to get off the boat, still feeling a bit seasick.
It was a shame too. It was my first time seeing a large transport vessel. What I did see was either amazing, or I didn’t understand, either way, I wanted to see more. Rather than in the middle, the sails were on the side, sticking out from the ship diagonally. Then in the center was essentially just a mansion, with the top floor being where the crew operated from. The boat was huge and beautiful… Most importantly though, it was heavily armed, that was what got me excited. A part of me wouldn’t have minded fighting a few monsters, just to see what the ship could really do.
‘Now I want to see what the empire ships look like… They do most of their sailing in the open ocean, rather than the bay, so I’m sure they are different… Maybe they even use magic to power them… If we end up at war, it would be useful to know how badly we are outgunned…’
I went to check on Fritz before we hit the road again and before I knew it that time had passed aimlessly as well. At least it was a comfort to have a big fluffy horse to pett though. The truth was that I didn’t actually have to do anything to get her ready. She still refused to wear a saddle, so while everyone else saddled up their horses and tied them back to the carriage… I just rubbed her belly.
“Lady Siyasivede.” I turned around to see Zu standing next to my brother, his armor dented and torn, his face swollen, and his left arm drooping a bit, blood almost soaking through the bandages. “I apologize for the misunderstanding earlier.” He said strongly.
‘This isn’t something I needed…’ I just ignored him, turning to my brother. “What did you do to him?”
His indifferent stare nearly burned holes through me. “I told you we would be sparring. Oh, but that’s totally unrelated to his apology.”
“That’s…” I turned back to Zu. ‘I guess I should say something… He’s apologizing… That almost feels wrong at this point though… Should I apologize? No that wouldn’t make sense either would it?’ “Just, uh, be more careful, and… Uhm… Are you ok?”
He lifted a thumbs up with a beaming smile, light shining through several new holes where he used to have fangs. “All good! My teeth will grow back in a few weeks or so.”
“Airsidh… You didn’t have to go that far!” I whined, nearly shouting at him.
He smirked and crossed his arms settling into a comfortable stance. “Whatever could you mean by that I wonder.”
“You know exactly what I mean!” I yelled. My whole body started to burn up until I felt my skin start to shift like moving scales, letting out steam in a thin translucent cloud. Before anyone could notice I cooled myself off with ice, but by the time I had calmed down he was already walking away.
“The horses are ready to go, hurry up. We wanna get there before sundown.”
“A- Airsidh! Don’t just walk away! Ugh, Why are you like this!” I wanted to chase after him, but seeing Zu standing there looking like he had one foot in the grave made me unsure of what I should do. ‘I mean… He said he’s ok…’ “You’re not dizzy, your balance is good?”
He scratched his head. “yeah I’m fine. And I really am sorry, Having been trained by Catherine I assumed she was the norm for human girls.”
‘Oh… You know that’s actually kinda fair…’ “Just forget about that… And if at all possible never mention it again…” ‘If he really is fine then I can go chase after Air.’
By the time I got there, the carriage was already getting drug off the boat, as they set up a secure bridge onto land. “Airisdh!” I yelled. “He looks like a zombie! Why did you have to hurt him so badly when you were just sparring? It was just an accident! And…” My voice suddenly dropped from a shout to a near whisper as I got closer. “And he didn’t even see anything…”
He started to snicker, hiding his laugh.
“It’s not funny! Have you ever been on the other side of a beating like that? It’s… It’s not fun you know...” As if remembering all the pain I instinctively reached over and covered the scars on my arm where it had been broken. “It not something that ever feels Fine…”
“Oh? So that’s how you really feel. I never knew. Although I did guess as much.”
“Air…” I groaned as he stopped the horses just after the carriage made it all the way off the boat to mess with some of the fastenings. He didn’t bother responding, just pointing back onto the boat towards Zu. Despite his bruises, he was still smiling, talking to the captain. ‘What are they saying?’ My brother nudged me from behind. “Help me out with this while you're eavesdropping.”
“I…! Fine…”
I turned my attention to the horse's straps, realizing whoever threw them together had no idea what they were doing, perking my ears up towards Zu and the captain.
“Please, take it. It’s the least we can give you for fighting that monster. The others are nobles, but you adventurers need to be paid to earn a living. I can’t have you walk away with nothing.”
“Well. Listen I hear what you're saying but all I did was get slapped around by that thing. The young lord killed it. And besides, I’m a junior knight now, not an adventurer anymore.”
‘There was a monster? How did I not notice the boat was being attacked? Was I really that out of it? Wait but that means…’ I slowly turned back to my brother.
“Judging by how red your face is I’m guessing you finally figured it out. I appreciate you thinking I’d react like that though, it’s cute.”
“H-how am I supposed to respond to that…” I grumbled.
“Aaand, done. Are you ready to go? Or are you going to ride Fritz for a while?”
“I… Uhm…”
“Right, I forgot you become an airhead when this happens, I’ll let your head cool off first.”
“D-do I really?” ‘That’s not true, is it? Can I really not think because I’m so embarrassed? No, I can.’ I froze time while I sorted out my thoughts. ‘I can think straight just fine, can’t I? Right, wait what did he ask again?... Ok just take a deep breath… But… I can’t do that if times frozen…’
I changed my perspective to the third person just so I wouldn’t have to look him in the eye and after a while I finally calmed down, starting to think of the whole situation more like that of an event in a game. ‘OK, do I want to ride in the carriage? No, it would be nice to ride on Fritz, I’m sure she’s been lonely so far this trip. Besides, the last thing I need right now is Airsidh teasing me more…’
I unpaused time, without switching back to first person view, disorienting me so much I lost balance and fell forward into him, my breath stopping as I felt even more blood rush to my face.
“As you have now witnessed for yourself… Total airhead.”
“Sh-shut up…” I whined, my voice turning to a mumble. “Are you riding in the carriage?”
He pushed me steady back onto my feet before climbing clear from the harnesses. “I was planning on it.”
“Ok. I’ll ride on Fritz for a while then...”
We both stood in silence for a moment before he gestured to her. “Then you should probably mount up shouldn’t you?”
“I know that!”
He placed a hand on my head as he passed by on his way to the carriage. ‘I’m starting to see why Lu gets so mad at you… Wait… But this sort of thing never really bothered me before did it? And I slept through a sea monster attack… What are the odds he’s just messing with me again? I’m starting to not even know what to think anymore…’ “Agh… By the time we get to Kasesh, I’ll have lost it so bad I’ll be breathing fire…” I muttered out loud. ‘You know… That might actually happen… Would that count as using magic?’
Finlo snapped his fingers by my ear as he rode past, making me flinch away so badly that I almost tripped and fell again. “Siya, let’s go. We need to get there fast…”
‘Why is Finlo so serious… That’s almost more concerning than everything else put together…’ Fritz kneeled down, allowing me to easily climb on her back, hugging her soft fur as she stood up and quickly caught up to the rest of them. ‘Well… I’m not on the boat… And I still feel seasick… So I guess I wasn’t seasick…’