Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

17 │The Mourning Sea

"I'm going to throw up again." Giselle hurried past Freya, heading for the ship's side. The Princess didn't have to wait long to witness her maid's ailments. They had been sailing for three days now, and while Freya was feeling great, her friend was going through a real ordeal. She calmly approached the maid who was now leaning on a banister an d asked quietly, "Could I ease your suffering somehow?"

Giselle's face betrayed all the signs of her torment but for a brief moment, she collected herself enough to confidently answer that there was nothing on the ship that could help her and that Freya should focus on herself. Freya, understanding Giselle's dilemma, moved away to the farther corner of the ship. For poor Giselle, the situation, apart from physical difficulties, also plagued her mentally. After all, she was the one who had insisted on going on this journey and now instead of serving Freya, she was utterly useless in her own eyes.

For Freya, there was no problem that Giselle wasn't able to serve her. She didn't need much attention. She could take care of herself. What worried her though was the fact that with every single day, her maid was getting paler and skinnier. According to Leander, if the winds were favorable enough, they should not have sailed for more than a week. That gave them about four more days of travel on the mercilessly rocking ship. Poor Giselle. Freya was on high alert all the time if her friend needed anything. However, every time Freya asked, she refused any form of help. Such a proud and stubborn creature her maid was.

The sun shone high in the sky creating perfect conditions for distant observations. But nothing on the horizon indicated any land nearby. Before them appeared only the depth of the sea. And it was surprisingly soothing for Freya as if she had been born to live on the ship.

From the first moments after unmooring, she felt as if she was gaining more and more strength with each breeze. This feeling was very similar to the one she felt when she was in the forest, on her long, sometimes several days long, hunts. Unity with nature soothed her and gave the impression that everything would be fine. And maybe naively, but she believed that with time a lot of things would work out. She believed in herself, she believed in Leander, and she believed in Giselle. This company was enough for her to survive the difficult beginnings.

As for her relationship with Leander, a lot has straightened out since their earlier confrontation in the cabin. Some could even say that their relationship has gone to the next level. Freya no longer blocked his willingness to help, and Leander himself seemed to show her that putting trust in him was not a wrong decision. Admittedly, there were a few situations where he could prove himself in this matter. Mostly it was about her verbal skirmishes with the ever-disgruntled Qadir, but it was enough to make Freya let go of her trusting barriers. The company of her future brother-in-law was pure pleasure. She even found herself impatiently waiting for the sun to set, indicating his imminent arrival.

While sailing across the sea, Freya decided to give in to her old habits and went to sleep according to her biological clock. However, she slightly shifted her sleep frame, only for those few hours with Leander. Their time together was precious and other than fun, she was learning a lot. One day, she confessed her insecurities about her lacking knowledge of their lands and culture, and from then every time they talked, he smuggled some piece of information, which could help Freya with initial adjusting to the vampire court. That was tremendously helpful when it came to easing her worries.

Watching Giselle leaving downstairs toward her cabin, Freya signed, silently wishing her all the best. But just as her maid said earlier, there was nothing she could do right now, so she sat in her spot, watching gathering clouds appear on the horizon. Had she been in thought for so long that she didn't see them approaching? That didn't look good.

Freya jumped from the crate she had been sitting on and aimed toward the quartermaster. His name was Billy and he appeared to know what he was doing. He came to warm to Freya enough to talk with her eagerly about the ships and sailing in general. Freya didn't mind. Billy was a funny and kind man.