The Chronicle Keeper (Formally - Destiny)

CHAPTER NINETEEN | aislin

The 10 minutes it took Nolan to lead Belle, Lady and I to the ferry, was filled with silence. How could you let yourself fall like that Aislin? I said to myself. Now, he surely thinks you can't ride and stay on a horse. Gosh, I must have looked like an idiot!

With each thought that burrowed into my head, I felt myself slip farther into a sulking 'woe is me' state. My pride had been trampled, turned to dust, and now it was all I could do to hold on to what little confidence I had left. Pretty pathetic. I couldn't help but beat myself up with how stupidly I had not only handle the situation, but how it hand myself. And yet, I still couldn't think of a better solution that would have helped me any better than what I had already done.

Leading us to the first dockworker Nolan saw, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I watched as Nolan walked tall, with shoulders squared. He looked pretty intimidating. But after having traveled with him for almost 2 months now, I wasn't intimidated of him and I was pretty sure he already knew that. It was shocking to think about everything we had learned about each other in just a short time. Like how Nolan wasn't scared to assert himself with strangers, but when it came to me, all he could think about was how intensely blue my eyes were. I guess I never knew because I was never on the receiving end.

"Is there a ferry that is heading to Mudanya?" Nolan asked the guy, as he stopped both Belle and lady with a light switch of the rains.

Eyeing the dock worker, he was a burly man. He didn't quite fit in with the rest of the dock workers with his super curly red hair and beard. I don't know if he was slightly taller or shorter than Nolan from my position on Lady's back. But he seemed pretty willing to help Nolan out. At this point, this was all that mattered. He also had strikingly green eyes. His appearance was a character I would have pegged Disney to use in one of their story lines.

"Not for passengers. Just freight." He answered. I couldn't tell if he was genuinely sorry for the unspoken apology or if he always talked with such a soft demeanor, whether it was acted or real.

Watching Nolan's reaction, his brows came together and he did something with his mouth. It wasn't a frown but more like a thoughtful, determined pinching of the lips together. Turning to look at me, he was trying to give me some sort of signal with his eyes and even though I had no idea what he was up to or planning on, I gave him a warm smile. Trying to play along the best to my ability.

"You see, my wife here is pregnant and we need to get across the sea." Nolan said. I saw his neck twitch, as the word 'wife' was spoken.

But the words still came pretty easily to Nolan's lips. I held back the shock and the instinct to widen my eyes in disbelief at such a comment. But I did see the dock worker's eyes go big, as he looked in my direction. I hadn't been able to hold on to my smile, as it was no longer a warm and inviting, but forced. I tried to steal Nolan's gaze for just a moment, but I felt the resistance. Silently, I gritted my teeth together behind the permanent smile I had plaster to my face.

"Congratulations!" There was a slight pause as his gaze shifted between Nolan and I. "Hold on. I'll see what I can do." The dock worker said, having what looked like a change of heart.

"Thank you, it would mean a lot. We don't take up much space." Nolan said to the dock worker as he went in search of someone in charge.

I seized the opportunity to flick Nolan's ear and managed to say, "what was that all about?"

"Would you stop doing that! I'm trying to play on these guy's emotions, and my best option was to tell them you are pregnant." He answered me. He didn't sound like he had a reasonable explanation, but there were two things wrong. One; I didn't know how to act pregnant even if I was, and two; I didn't look pregnant.