𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Act 1 Chapter 11 JAYLAH
For perhaps the first time in my life, I was down on my hands and knees, scrubbing the boot scuffs off the deck. Khan had conveniently gotten to the single mop first, so I was left with a meager sponge. Ignoring his mocking remarks, I simply began to clean—if this was what it took to get me across the channel, I would do it.
About an hour in, the burning in my wrists and lower back was too much to take. I sat up and let out a breath, brushing stray hair out of my face. My gaze slid to Khan, who was smiling icily at me as if he was trying to soak in this moment of my last shred of grandeur being stripped away.
"You should commission an artist to create a portrait," I told him, drier than the Samasna Desert. "It will last longer."
"I thought art was meant to be easy on the eyes."
I pretended he had not insulted my looks. "It is certainly lucky that it is a portrait of me then."
"Now that you mention it, perhaps I will commission a portrait of this scene right here." He jerked his chin to me sitting on the dirty floor. "I think it will be called 'A Shattered Dignity'."
"Say what you will, but my area is far cleaner than yours."
"Mocking you takes vigilance."
My attention returned to my work. "Perhaps when we land in Ition I shall invest in a needle and some thread to sew your mouth permanently shut."
He muttered a scathing reply in Navrikan, but I no longer gave him the satisfaction of moving me to anger. I focused solely on the task at hand, trying to push the rhythmic rocking of the boat from my mind. Sea travel had never been one of my favorite modes of transport. Something about the incessant tilting from one direction to the other made me want to dig my nails into my palms.
I only glanced up again when an unknown woman came belowdeck, her boots squashing from the water covering the top deck. "I'm sorry to say we may have to turn back," she announced, apologetical gaze flicking between us. "Surely you know how treacherous the Itionic cliff-sides can be, even without this storm pushing us closer to them."
Standing, I threw the sponge aside and brushed past her to head up to the to main deck. As soon as I walked out from underneath the awning, freezing rain began pounding against my face. The black clouds had completely covered the heavens, turning the sky an angry shade of gray-green. Lightening cracked through the fog, lightening the misty air.
I was suddenly aware of someone approaching from the side. Blinking through the rain, I saw the captain's slick coat, having taken this opportunity now that we were above deck to yell above the sea's roar, "Hali rages tonight. This voyage was cursed from the beginning."
