Titanic: An Amourshipping Story

Chapter 9

Aunt Sonia was worried about Serena the day after the party. Half of her mind was on how she enjoyed herself with all of the third class passengers, particularly with meeting Leon. The other half dwelled on how Serena looked when she followed Morfious and how crushed Ash was. Aunt Sonia wanted to cheer him up, but there was nothing she could say to encourage him when they both feared for Serena.

Aunt Sonia's fear grew when she met up with everyone in the first class dining saloon for church. She stood in the front row with Chairman Rose and Timothy while Mivashkama, Oleana, and Serena stood several rows behind her. Mivashkama and Oleana appeared keen to avoid Aunt Sonia, thinking she was a bad influence. Aunt Sonia and Timothy sang the worship songs earnestly while Chairman Rose sang with a strong voice as though he were performing in an opera, though he could have done so out of outward appearance rather than faith.

Every now and then, Aunt Sonia would look back to look at Serena. The honey-blonde woman was staring at the stage as she robotically sang. Mivashkama sang with disinterest, like a schoolboy forced to read a passage from a textbook in front of his class by the teacher. Oleana was even more disinterested than Mivashkama, singing flatly and sometimes just staring at the stage while holding up her worship book. Morfious stood beside the group with his hands behind his back, not singing at all. He looked peeved that his master was obligated to partake in a religious assembly.

Aunt Sonia's heart sank at the sight of Serena. She wanted to scream at whoever broke her spirit, disregarding that the person might be the Lord of Hammerlocke. Not to mention Mivashkama's manservant was willing to be violent or at least intimidate people with his gun to get what his master wanted. It seemed all Aunt Sonia could do during service was mentally pray for a miracle to save Serena.

After service, Mivashkama, Oleana, Morfious, and Serena met with Chairman Rose and Timothy at the Grand Staircase. Serena felt better being around more friendly company with Timothy there. They decided to take a walk and took the staircase up to the Boat Deck. Mivashkama, Oleana, Morfious, and Chairman Rose walked ahead, while Serena and Timothy walked behind. Eventually, the group made their way to the bridge from the port side, where Captain Drake was in the wheelhouse with the helmsman, Kanoa. The captain noticed the group and smiled as he exited the wheelhouse to meet them.

"Lord Herløv, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Korvashka, ladies, lovely to see you all," Captain Drake greeted. "Service went well, I hope?"

"Well enough," Chairman Rose replied. "No troubles here, I presume?"

"No, sir. In fact, the last four boilers are lit, and we've gone up to 22 knots. We should expect to arrive in Wyndon Tuesday morning," Captain Drake said.

"Outstanding," Mivashkama said.

As Mivashkama talked, Clemont walked over to Captain Drake from the Marconi Room. He looked nervous as he held a small parchment. Captain Drake noticed Clemont from the corner of his eye and turned to face him as Clemont held up the parchment.

"Pardon me, sir, but there's been a rise in messages from other ships warning of icebergs," Clemont said. "This is the latest one from the K.M. Medali."

Captain Drake took the parchment and read the message. Serena looked at the captain, unsure whether to be concerned about the message. Captain Drake looked up from the parchment, noticing Serena's concerned look, and smirked.

"Oh, not to worry, Ms. Yvonne. Icebergs are quite normal this time of year," Captain Drake said. "Nothing that can't be handled with our men in our Crow's Nest looking out so Mr. Kanoa can steer the ship away in the wheelhouse. Isn't that right, Mr. Kanoa?"

"Yes, sir," Kanoa said proudly.

"Only there? Why can't you also use the steering wheel on the bridge?" Oleana asked.