Avarice of the Sea | | b o o k 1

1: Across the Sea

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:  C H A P T E R  O N E  :

            "Father, please let me stay behind. I promise to be good!" I begged, but it was no use. Nothing would convince my father to allow me to skip out on this journey over seas. He knew all too well about my rather unfortunate seasickness that never failed to crawl up on me whenever we took to sea and visited the vast island off the coast of Damunt.

            "Stand up straight and keep your feet together," he chided. His hand, all worn with age and yet warm to the touch, came to rest on my shoulder. I hadn't realized how cold I was until I was already shivering.

            A buffet of wind carried my hair back, and caused me to squint my eyes to see the ocean ahead. It smelled of seaweed and salt, and touched my skin with an icy dampness that compared to nothing before. From my home on the hill, I could see the city and the ocean, but I rarely ever surged so close to the shore before. The rocky face terrified me, ever since Theo fell and broke his arm.

            Speaking of Theo, he was standing on my other side with the arm of a girl clinging to the crook of his elbow. Ella was a high standing woman, both in status and structure. Her long legs were tucked beneath the folds of a casual gown for the trip over seas. Around her neck, there was a dazzling gem ring strung through a cord.

            I was happy for my brother. Theo loved Ella, and as far as I knew she loved him just as well, but that did not hinder my annoyance at her clinginess that he seemed to adore. It bothered me that she had become so dependent on him, though I never knew if she was this way prior to being arranged with my brother. She showed up at one of the Coming of Age balls hosted at the Damunt court and Theo was under her spell, and they've been the same ever since.

            He caught my eye while I was studying the two of them, and he offered a brilliant smile in return. His dimples spotted the corners of his mouth where the freckles spread over his cheeks and nose. Whenever he smiled, his eyes squinted, and it was one of the attributes we both shared. We went squint-eyed when we smiled, but lately I hadn't been squinting much.

            Mainly because of this trip, and mainly because I had only just turned seventeen.

         Theo was seventeen when he met Ella, and now he's nineteen and married, and heir to Father's throne and all he owned. No matter what I did, Father would insist on taking me to balls for the newly-aged princes, and I knew all too well that eventually, I would not just be visiting, I would be there to meet a husband rather than just an average prince.

            Unfortunately one of the princes of Valens was due to turn seventeen, just a mere month after I did. Every now and then I would find it in me to feel guilty for those princes--they were expected to find a suitable wife within the span of a week, all while I simply had to wait until Father decided for me.

            Or I found a man that was even slightly becoming, but that wouldn't happen with this prince.

            Eli of Valens was turning seventeen, and I recalled meeting him on more than one occasion. He attended my Coming of Age celebration, and the two of us danced, we talked, and I did not like him much. My sights had been on a young Sir Ambrose of the kingdom next door.

            I fidgeted with my necklace's medallion as I followed behind Father up the wooden walkway bridging the gap between the dock and the ship. Thinking about Ambrose made the cross easier, but I could still see the waves lapping against the thick wooden posts holding the dock up. His eyes, so amber; his shoulders, so broad; his hands, so warm, I mused fretfully, trying my hardest to keep my eyes straight ahead. With a deep breath, we arrived in the dark cabin beneath the deck.