It didn't take long to get the horses to the village, no one even tried to stop us as we left the castle grounds. Nor did they ask questions, but I couldn't ignore the fact that we were being watched - or followed - by one of my fathers warriors. He tried to keep a far away distance, but I could still delicately feel him through the summer land.
Whether Nazim noticed it or not, he didn't announce it. I guess it didn't matter, only because we weren't trying to be discreet about where we were going. The sun was high in the sky and brightening the land with its saturated yellows. Along it there was not a cloud in the sky to block the heat, even for a few seconds. The grass slowly started to lighten into patches of sand as we neared the beaches where the fishing village was. The smell wasn't the best - it's strong aroma was noted a mile away, and it didn't help that the wind pushed the sent to us.
The excuse Lave used to get out of the kitchen today was that the the summer princess was having a craving for the best swordfish summer can make. Although with the over whelming smell of fish everywhere, that probably wasn't going to be made after all.
"The owners of the house have moved to another home, payed for by your father, just a couple miles down from where their old house was," Nazim stated.
"Okay, we'll go to them after, first we'll see the house."
Everyone nodded and we made our way through the narrow village streets without the horses, holding their reins tightly behind us. Our footsteps were hardly heard on the wooden floor boards used over the sand to create a simple walkway with the afternoon commotion. Villagers were yelling out prices for their fish while others were heard yelling back a lower price for bargaining. The seagulls that never closed their mouths kept crying out their sounds as they swept above us, searching for a chance to steal some fish with someone looked away.
The amount of people grew in numbers the deeper into the shopping center we went, but the crowd paid little attention to us. Not one of them noticed who Nazim and I were. I soon felt Lave hold onto my hand so we wouldn't get lost. Her calloused fingers from years of cooking and baking were gentle in mine. After a few minutes and we were out of the shopping area and into the more lightened streets where some homes were built, but the one we were specifically looking for was the farthest one away from the village - and the closest to the ocean.
Salted air filled my lungs as I took in the broken home for the first time. It was built on slightly higher grounds, sharp tall rocks and sand were all that stood between the house and the gentle waves of the ocean. I could imagine a man who was desperately in love with the ocean to only build his home here, right where he can breath in the oceans scent every second for as long as his mortal life let him live.
But walking closer and this house was not the beauty it had once provided to be. The honey colored exterior was now faded and washed by the years of being this close to the ocean. I guess it had its ups and downs. The rest of the house looked like it would have still been livable for a long time, if the earthquakes didn't crack it in two.
"Wow," Lave whispered to herself.
I kept my mouth tightly shut. Chewing on the inside of my lower lip, looking for any clues as to why this damage happened here only. The wooden stairs to the front door were shattered splinters, but Nazim jumped onto the front porch that was untouched and helped us two up. Inside the house was what I expected. Two cracks that deemed this house unsafe - one that ran along the ceiling, bending and shaping its way to the other side, and the other more damaging one down on the floor boards. I knelt in the middle of the room and saw that the earthquake even broke some of the smooth rocks that the house was built on.
Footsteps along the house creaked as Lave examined the other rooms, and Nazim right behind her to make sure she was safe from anything falling. Other than the two strong cracks that split the house almost in two, everything still held together. Flowers, now dead, were still in their vases, white candles were unlit, little shells and colorful rocks from the ocean still decorated the shelves. I made a move to stand when the sun through the broken roof shone into the cracked floor and reflected its light off a silver object. I slowly reached in to grab it when my eyes focused on the wood. My fingers grabbed a fork that had fallen in, and my eyes caught the sight of dried blood that stained the sharp edges of the wood.
"The wife, Ellen, was standing there eating breakfast. She fell in when the quake hit and got a shallow cut on her ankle," Nazim said when he noticed me staring at the spot.
"Evie?" Lave questioned.
"This could have been worse," I muttered, "She could have been hurt a lot worse with no medical help for miles if she was standing somewhere else, standing differently, standing on the porch."
"This isn't from spring Evie," Nazim spoke.
"It will be easier to blame them instead of us just standing around here without giving people answers to their questions."
"We can still help them in other ways."
"I know," I sighed and looked around their house one last time before we left to visit the previous owners. I noticed the years of flooding stained the bottom of the walls at various levels and thought to myself, that the previous owners were indeed crazy to live here in this house. Crazy, yet brave to fight against the ocean when its summer storms came and rose the waters for weeks. "Lets go see them before the sun sets even more."
---
"Your majesty!" Exclaimed the women who opened the door, Ellen. She bowed deeply once she saw me. Ellen was in her late fifties but hardly any ounce of age showed on her rich dark skin. Her black hair was braided into a loose bun, and her clothes were simple thin linens that helped keep the summer citizens cool.
"Good evening," I said lightly, " I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions about the earthquake. I know my fathers men have already been here but I wanted to see for myself."
"Of course!" she exclaimed, "Come in, come in."
Us three entered her new home, and it seemed like my father did indeed put a good amount of money into it. The house was bigger, wider and taller than her previous one - but their furniture was the hint of something old.
"I'm sorry, I haven't cooked anything yet. If you're hungry I could make something, I don't mind."
We had sat on the ash wooded circular table that was made to fit a small family. Lave to my left, and Nazim to my right so the only other chair would be for Ellen across from me. And even though she wasn't particularly asking me if I was hungry, I still answered for my group, "No thank you Mrs. Greely. We don't want to trouble you any further."
Ellen opened her mouth to object but Lave spoke first, "Plus, I've already brought you baked goods I made this morning."
A smile bloomed on Ellen's face as the sweets were taken out of the bag and placed in the center for everyone to grab, "Thank you, that was very kind."
"Where is your husband Mrs. Greely," Nazim asked.
Ellen placed some water down by the baked goods and took a seat down. "Oh he's off on the docks trying to see if he can get an open spot on the next fishing boat I'm sure. His old boat went missing during the earthquake."
"How so?" I asked.
Ellen smiled shyly, "I should start from the beginning, how the quake started," I nodded my head for her to continue, her dark eyes softened at recalling the memory, "Well that morning was just a regular morning for me. I woke up, did some cleaning and planned to spend the day out on the fishing boat with Don. We felt the little earthquakes before, but thought little of them. Just the waves crashing harder than usual on the shore. But that morning I felt the rumble in the house, the shells fell to the floor and cracked the same time the house did. Don caught me before I fell in the crack completely. And just as quickly as it came to destroy that old house, it was gone.
"Or so we thought," she continued, "The ocean went very quiet. And from our home we noticed the tide of the water fall back. For a few minutes it stayed that way, we didn't wait for it to come back when we went inside the house to check the damage. But we should have. To quickly the roar of the waves sounded and the water came flooding into the house, washing away everything that was on the floor. It usually floods in our home, but this time it was different - stronger. It was pushing us out of the house but we were stuck. The water kept rising, hirer than ever, up to our waist. And then it stopped rushing in, and slowly the tided went back," she sighed again at the memory, "When everything was cleared we noticed the boat was gone, that there were broken pieces of wood in between the rocks. It wasn't hard putting together what happened."
"Thats a tsunami," Nazim's voice felt louder than usual, "I read that a few happened a long time ago. Compared to those, this sounds like it was a small one if no one else experienced the same along the coast. It seems like you two were very very lucky."
"Why didn't you say anything about the flooding before?" I asked.
"At the time we just wrote that off as being the usual flooding, the final push Don needed to move out of the house. But now, well, it seems odd. And I just can't get the memories out from my head."
"I recommend Mrs. Greely that the next time the tide falls back that quickly, that you run deeper into land. It will be safer to hide than to be any where near the waters," Nazim's voice was strong like a warriors, it had Mrs. Greely nodding without any objection.
A small drop of sweat formed on the side of her temple and she quickly wiped it off with a napkin.
"I'm sorry for the loss of your boat and home Mrs. Greely. Is there anything else that you need that I could take care of?"
"No no your majesty-"
"Have you ever seen the snow before?" I cut in.
She took a quick look down to my hands and then back to me, "No your majesty, not yet."
"Would you like to? My land is always open to summer citizens. There is even a stop every few miles or so on the boarder for summers to get winter materials."
"I'm afraid Don loves the ocean to much. He's a man bound to the sea, he swears he goes crazy if he stays to deep in land for to long."
She smiled sweetly in an apology, "I understand. But if you want to see it Mrs. Greely, I can show you."
I know a mischievous smile formed on my lips as Ellen's eyes went wide with excitement. She didn't have to say anything before I lightly made the room snow. Her dark eyes watched the snow flakes with such entrancement, watching each flake's unique detail before it melted.
We left a few minutes after, making small talk about her life and the children that were long gone from the house having their own children. I left a small bag of gold on the table, next to the glass of water she asked me to make into ice, for her help.
"Earthquakes and tsunamis," Lave said once we were back on our horses.
"I guess we're talking to the fishermen next," Nazim said.
"You guys go home. I'll spend the night at Zinnias house and question the fishermen in the morning before they set sail," I told them.
"No I'll help you," Lave said.
"You dear friend need to get back to the castle before the people start to starve," I said, she just snorted.
"I'll escort you back."
"I don't need an escort Nazim," Lave jumped back onto her horse and the setting sun made her hazel eyes seem like gold, "Plus, I know you want to go see your old lover." She winked and quickly rode off before Nazim could object to that. We stared at her until she was just a speck of dust in our vision.
That still didn't stop him from turning to me and saying, "You know I don't have feelings for her anymore. We're just friends now."
I stopped my laugh from coming up, but I couldn't hide my smile, "Sure cousin."
"I don't," He grumbled as we started riding out of the village and started the short trip to Zinnias home, which was located in the next village deeper inland. Sand started turning into the hard beige grass as the horses hooves took us forward. And the best part, the smell of fish was fading away.
"I mean, she is the one who broke up with you. It's only common that you still have feelings," I pried.
"It's been three years," his voice flat.
To bug him even more I just shrugged my shoulders and kicked the horse to run.