Chapter 12: Hermes
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It is far too
dangerous for a prince of the realm where I am going,” Morgan replied coolly,
almost choking upon the words. She turned, willing herself to move, one foot before
the other.
Morgan’s next
stop was Nia, there was gentle kindness in the sisters all-knowing eyes, “Take
this potion; it has redemptive qualities, you will know, when to use it,” Nia
signed.
Nodding Dumbly, Morgan
took the gift into her hands before placing the necklace holding a tiny potion
bottle around her neck. “Thank you,” she replied, mustering a smile.
“I am always
here for you Morgan,” Nia signed in goodbye.
Thankfully,
placing one foot before the other worked, because before she knew it, she stood
before Leo, standing tall shoulders back, his exuberant nature evident upon a handsome
face. That aside, it was possible that the man who stood at Leo’s side was the
most handsome person that Morgan had ever seen, “Meet Aiden, our spy master, he
will be going with you on this voyage,” Leo asserted. Before Morgan could disagree,
he continued, “I insist, he looks after the kingdom’s interests, but also knows
a lot about where you are going, his contacts will come in handy and help to
keep you safe.”
Morgan’s mind
was still stuck on the concept of such an attention attracting man being a
spymaster when he strode past her, “Hurry up, Arlo, the luggage won’t cart
itself,” he asserted pompously. She assumed the comment was aimed at a
manservant who was stumbling towards her ship, already laden under the weight
of excess baggage. Still caught off guard, Morgan was nearly toppled when a
rare Hanan eagle flew past and landed upon the spy masters shoulder. The eagle
sat there preening its pure white plumage, then when Aiden reached the bottom
of the gang plank it took flight once again, its new perch The Tempests topmost
spar.
"He’s a
spymaster!” She exclaimed.
The crown prince
offered pragmatic words, “I know he’s a bit much, but he will grow on you.”
Leo’s voice got thick with emotion, “Here are letters of introduction in case
you need them. I have given Aiden funds for your trip and sent a bird ahead to
the Garrison to let them know you are coming.”
“Thank you, Leo,
but now it’s my turn,” Morgan affirmed. She was warmed by the glistening in the
corner of Leo’s eyes as she pressed the reigns into his hands. “His name is
Hermes he is yours now. Not only is he from pure breed plains herder stock, but
he was trained for a chieftain, which means he is full of surprises, for
example,” waiting first to check if Leo had a firm hold of the reigns, she
continued, “If you want him to head home with or without a rider, whistle twice
like this.”
After her
whistle, Leo stood in awe as Hermes raised his head, flicked his ears, and pranced
on the spot. It was obvious that without control the horse would have headed
home. Leaving Leo to regain composure, Morgan stopped in front of Piper who
stood next to the Queen with a dejected look upon her face, she bent down and waited
patiently for the child to meet her eye. It wasn’t long before Piper responded
with a typical lack of restraint, running deep into her arms, the resulting hug
fierce. When Morgan felt that she was on the verge of never letting go, she
straightened her arms and offered pragmatic words, “You look after these two boys
for me, okay? They need someone to make sure they don’t get into trouble.” Piper
rolled her eyes, she continued in earnest, “It’s okay, I will come back to you.
I always do.” Nodding dumbly the child dispensed another hug that was so tight
it hurt, then she backed away, wordlessly telling herself to be strong. “Watch
this one, she may try to escape; she has a habit of wanting to stowaway,” she
said, meeting the Queen’s eye.
“Of course, I
won’t let her out of my sight,” Mira Dallinger affirmed, coupling the response
with a rare smile. Morgan turned towards her ship, her every laden step harder than
the one before. Her boots touched deck and she instinctively called for cast
off. Marlo’s swearing and the hurried steps of her crew remained unnoticed,
nothing could drown out the noises in her head, not even concerned stares.
Thankfully, she made it to her cabin and after closing the door free and
unbound her legs and tears fell downward. Unchained emotion plagued her, the worst
was shame, mostly because she had stopped Sha from going because she was afraid
of her own feelings. Now an uncharted sea awaited her, and duty was added to
responsibilities weight, a weight that had seemed inconsequential up until now.
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The
Tempest stalled mid tack, his brother’s eyes fixated upon the mournful scene,
the forlorn expression tugging at Leo’s heart. Unable to take it any longer he
gripped Sha’s shoulders and turned him away, “I didn’t think that you were one
to give up so easily,” He asserted, trying but failing to keep amusement from
his voice.
“She has made
herself clear,” Sha replied miserably. Not at all in in a patient mood Leo
shoved Hermes reigns into one of Sha’s hands and then placed one of Marlo’s
inventions into the other, his words stern, “Snap out of it! Where has my annoyingly
relentless brother gone.”
Shocked, Sha stared
at his hands for a few seconds before getting the idea, “Thank you,” he
blurted, then he was moving. Hermes pranced sensing action when Sha leapt onto
his saddle, after attaching Marlo’s invention to the pommel, he kicked. Hermes
moved, slipping on the cobbles at first then he conveyed Sha towards the
Southern Bridge.
Leo swallowed
down a sudden wave of sadness, it was never easy to see his brother leave. A
small hand grasped one of his fingers, pulling his attention downward, “It’s
okay, she always comes back, so will he,” Piper offered, her confidence
uplifting.
Leo’s heart
ached, smiling his thanks he lifted Piper up onto a guardsman’s horse, “Get her
back to the castle, there is a storm coming,” he ordered, the guard nodded then
squeezed to move away.
“That one’s
growing on me,” his mother offered.
Leo smiled in
the direction of Pipers departing horse, “Yes, she would have been a similar
age.”
“Let’s get
inside before the storm hits,” she asserted, steering the conversation towards
safer waters.
“So, what do we
think of the woman in Sha’s life. She’s impressive, isn’t she?” Leo asked
cheekily as he helped his mother up onto her horse.
“She more
impressive than the other woman, whom you are unashamedly smitten with,” The
Queen replied, her parting words leaving Leo disheartened.
He glanced up at
the departing ship, “Please come back to me Bella, don’t leave me alone,” He
whispered. Sighing, he started the walk back home, where the walls were tall,
and the nights were lonely.
Sha’s
pounding heart was timed to the thud of Hermes hooves, the breakneck pace
sending him racing over the Southern Bridge. He brought Hermes to an abrupt halt
then grasped Marlo’s invention and leapt from the saddle, his shrill whistle
sending the horse homeward. Allowing himself a second to align his thoughts, he
stepped up onto the edge. Forcing one breath then another Sha aimed the
invention at the highest spreader. He squeezed the trigger, allowing the rope to
arch over and around, then he jumped. After a split second of falling, he
flicked a toggle, the effect a controlled lowering to the deck. Not stopping,
he released and raced to where he knew that Morgan would be.
Sha found Morgan
in an alarming state, she was on her favourite thinking seat, tears falling
unbidden. The sight tugging so fiercely that he enveloped her in his arms,
trying but seemingly failing to assuage pain, “You don’t have to do this alone
anymore,” he affirmed, holding her as she wept. He waited for her to quieten
before letting her go.
“What if you die?
I won’t make it,” she pled.
Feeling like he
finally understood, Sha placed a hand under Morgan’s chin and raised it until
she met his eye, “I’m not going anywhere; you have given me hope. After Jaiera
died I felt useless and angry, please don’t take that away, after all, I’m fond
of you as well.”
To Sha’s
astonishment, Morgan’s reply was preceded with a childish giggle, “Oh you are
fond of me. Are you? Well, that’s nice.” His quirky response never made it out
of his mouth, before he could speak, she was kissing him lost in the heights of
the sensation, he let himself be carried away. In his excitement, however, he
did not notice they were backing up and before he knew it, her back was against
the wall evident by the slight thumping sound and her exhale. The realisation
that something was wrong was instant, Morgan stopped all engagement and breath,
he stepped back to apologise for his exuberance, but the concentrated look of
panic upon her face stalled all words.
The
memory was crippling, head ringing, a rancid breath, cruel face an inch from
hers. Morgan fought to breathe guilt, fear and shame long thought buried, threatening
to overcome. “Morgan…Morgan,” Sha called through the fog, “Morgan, please sit
down.”
Sha guided her
to a chair, then he knelt in her field of vision, the concern in his eyes tipping
guilt to the top of the scales. A question playing across her troubled mind, “How
could I ever deserve him.”
Closing her
eyes, she slowed her breathing to force calm, when she opened them again, there
he was, waiting patiently, “I’m sorry, Sha, I just remembered something,” She
offered in explanation.
A frustrated
sound escaped Sha’s lips, he paced the room then stopping at a wall, which he
punched, the action causing an involuntary flinch, “If Rorg was still alive, I
would kill him myself,” He avowed vehemently.
“You should leave, I’m not all here right now,”
she offered.
Sha walked back
over to her and knelt, “Oh no! no more pushing me away. I’m not going
anywhere.” He took a seat opposite and they sat in silence. Feeling herself
calm, she spoke haltingly at first then found herself pouring out the pieces of
her soul she had long hidden, emotions ebbing and flowing then eventually
drained, still he listened.
Meena
was thoroughly unimpressed, “What are you grinning at, so your invention worked,
big deal,” she declared.
Marlo aimed his
goofy grin in her direction “What do you think about the name grabby?” He asked
proudly.
She screwed up
her face, “That, is the dumbest name I have ever heard. What about a Grapple?”
“Not bad,” said the
newcomer, who suddenly forced himself into their conversation. She offered him
a scowl.
“Aiden at your
service,” he said, bowing before her. Meena was about to give the newcomer a
piece of her mind, on the topic of inserting oneself onto a ship, let alone a
conversation but it was Marlo that replied, “Just Aiden?” Aiden smiled a
secretive smile instead of responding.
A loud thump
could be heard from Morgan’s cabin, alarmed Meena moved to investigate, after
one step, a hand grabbed her shoulder, “Hold on there, what do you think they
are doing in there?” Aiden asked.
Turning to him
to either break his hand or give him a tongue-lashing, Meena spoke before
realisation dawned, “What do you think they are doing?” One look at Marlo and
Aiden’s faces brought a burning feeling which must have outwardly looked an
impressive red colour. She huffed and walked towards the bow; she need space
from the idiocy. Her comfortably trusty swords helping to calm and after a
series of movements, she was lost in the safety of exercise.
Sha listened until
Morgan’s eyelids got heavy and after she drifted off to sleep, he carried her
gently to bed. As he sat on the end of her bed, he waited, thoughts flashing
from anger to concern, sleep must have come because it was late before he heard
her whisper in his ear, “I’m on duty, you can use my bed if you like.”
Nodding he stood, but instead of sleeping
he followed her to the quarter deck, in the darkness the lanterns lit the
gloomy night as they stood at the wheel together, not quite wanting to break
the contact and because she let him, he stood behind her, arms around, head on
her left shoulder. They casually conversed as if it had always been this way,
the seas turbulent around them, it dawned on him they were headed to the edge of his known world and beyond, looking into the darkness
ahead, his arms tightened around her and he made a promise to himself to always
protect her, or die trying.
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