Throne of Blood

WITHIN THE EMBRACE OF STORM

My teeth were clattering loud enough to drown every other sound in my head. Hair on my skin stood erect as goose bumps graced my body. Every muscle in my body screamed with pain and fatigue that was multiplying by every passing second. The wind slapped my faced with great strength with a never ending continuity, dust particles flying in the arms of havoc wreaking winds were every now and then finding my eyes to settle in; causing them sting and burn till the point that tears streamed down my cheeks. The tears lingering on my skin merged with the drops of rain falling hastily, and were left unnoticeable. The clothes drenched in the down pour stuck to my flesh, like a second skin, leaving too little to imagination.

Despite the numbness battling my consciousness with an increasing ferocity, I fought hard to not let it win. I pushed my feet to place one lead heavy step after another. I forced my eyes to remain wide open. I urged my body to not slide down to the ground. I battled the drowsiness and sleep from settling upon me. I refused to surrender, and let the storms wipe away the traces of my existence. Even when it was the hardest option to take I kept struggling to keep going on for the sake of my unborn child; who had yet to experience the beauty and wonders of this world. I refused to give up for the sake of those helpless men, women, and children who had never seen the face of hope in their life until hours ago just to be deprived of that hope again. I refused to let the spark of fight in me die most importantly for the sake of the life of the man I loved dearly.

The strength of my will succeeded in pushing the weakness prevailing over my body into deep unreachable pits. I moved ahead of our panic stricken progression, and let out words of encouragement with consistency to remind each and every one of my companions that all hope was not lost, that we were not lost in bottomless seas of impending death, that we could and we will make it to the shores of life and safety.

After the struggles of what seemed like ages, but may in reality be mere hours, faint sounds of raging waves crashing against the hardness of the rocks were picked up by my freezing ears. The spark of happiness chased away some cold from my body. I pushed harder my limbs to cover up the distance between me and the source of the sound.

After investment of a tremendous amount of willpower and energy, I made it to the harbors, my companions in my tow. The storm was worse here where the trees were no longer to take a larger part of the impact of the storm. The larger ships rocked wildly on angry sea, while the smaller boats lay upturned or were smashed into pieces.

It was evident that Gritti had a number of capable men under his employment, as his ships were secured safely to the solidness of land, implying the fact that they had predicted in advance the forthcoming of this storm beating on our heads.

Sending off a prayer of gratitude I led my people on board of Mary Kathleen and Victoria. The ship was devoid of any form of live, most probably due to the stormy weather. Everyone rushed into the cabin finding shelter from the harsh winds. Fires were lit in the fireplaces on immediate basis, and everyone set out to wait for the passing of the storm.