Nearly a week had passed.
They were a few days away from docking in Aristol.
In the days that had gone, Henry had spent his time sharpening the iron heads of his arrows, flicking his coin, and watching his cousin struggle to get herself comfortable whenever sea sickness kept rushing back to her in spurts.
Currently, however, Ivy was on her back, indulging herself in some sort of book, while Henry paced back and forth on the deck. He kept darting his eyes from her to the crew members who were tidying the ship.
After a few more minutes of this, Henry's patience finally waned.
"What are you reading?" Henry finally asked Ivy, halting nearby and leaning against the railing.
Ivy glanced up at him. Her tan skin had drastically paled the moment they set foot on this ship. He figured she wouldn't be regaining the usual rosiness on her cheeks until they were on land again and her stomach was completely settled.
Nonetheless, she smiled. "The history of Aristol's past rulers. I find it fascinating that although queens are far more powerful and far more loved than kings, there's actually been more kings. However, you won't find much about them."
Then she scrambled to her feet and stood beside him, her attention never leaving the faded pages. "Here's a fun fact: Queen Lisbeth, who ruled from years thirteen hundred and seventy-eight to fourteen hundred and three, was rumored to have had four different lovers after the passing of her husband."
Henry could hardly care about these "facts." But for his cousin's sake, and partly for the sake of his own boredom, he humored her. "I see. She did not want to be lonely?"
Ivy smirked up at him. "That wasn't the fun part."
"What is it, then?"
"They were all women." Ivy flipped the page and sighed dreamily. "Yet another reason I often wish I were born and raised in Aristol instead. There is no discriminations against who you love and marry."
Henry folded his arms across his chest and shook his head solemnly. "That is not entirely true, Ivy." He turned away from her and stared out at the miles of water surrounding them. "A queen will still need to wed a man in order to produce an heir."
"That does not mean she cannot have fun after having an heir or if her husband passes."
"When you say it that way, it sounds morbid."
Ivy grinned and continued reading in silence. Henry leaned forward and took a deep breath.
"I can't believe we left," he whispered. "If I'm ever discovered, Victor might have me locked up in the tower for the rest of my days."
"He will never find you," Ivy stated, and he didn't miss the sharpness in her tone. He blinked and looked at her, yet she was smiling sweetly. "I promise you he won't."
Henry took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on the sounds of the waves, the footsteps of crew members walking behind him, and the occasional laughter from below the deck. And it was the feeling of Ivy's hand on his arm that yanked him from this moment. He questioningly eyed her again, and she offered him another smile—a softer and more hopeful kind of smile that eased the tension in his chest.
"Could you do me a favor?" she asked.
He nodded.
"Should anything happen to us..." She paused and shifted her gaze to the open sea. "Should we get captured, I want you to just run. I will do what I have to let you get away, and I don't want you worrying about me."
Henry blinked a few times. Then he gawked at her. "You cannot expect me to do that, Ivy. If anything happens, we're going through it together, even if that means death. I'm sorry, but I cannot do you that favor. Anything else but that. I could never leave you behind."
Ivy pursed her lips and squeezed her eyebrows together. Instead of further protesting, though, she reverted her focus to the book and turned a few pages. Then her face surprisingly lit up with another grin.
"Did you know Queen Beatrice passed away at the age of eighty-six? That makes her the longest living soul in all of Aristol!"
And Henry, despite everything in his strength willing him not to, returned her smile.
---
When night fell, Henry sat on his bed and examined his gold coin in his hand. Specifically, the letter 'H' in the center of it. It brought on an all too familiar ache—one that was dull now from how much he'd felt it before.
"Why are you so obsessed with that coin?" Ivy suddenly asked.
Henry flinched and closed his hand before looking up at her. "I thought you'd fallen asleep hours ago."
"I can't sleep for too long on this thing." She pouted. "It never stops moving. But don't change the subject. I asked you a question!"
Henry swallowed hard and nodded. "A mere habit I've picked up. It keeps me... distracted."
Ivy sat up a little and titled her head. "From what?"
Henry glanced around the small room in hopes that an answer—any, really—would pop into his head before she became suspicious. Except he hated to lie to her. So, he opted to squinting at her and forcing the corners of his lips to rise instead.
"I think you should do your best to get back to sleep," he teased. "The longer you sleep, the faster time will pass."
Ivy groaned and jumped out of her bed and right into his. Henry stuffed the coin into his pocket and readjusted himself to give her more room. He pulled his knees up to his chest, and she followed suit.
"We are going to be really happy once we arrive," she spoke so confidently. He didn't have the heart to mention the lingering fear he still had about arriving and finding Victor waiting there to take him back.
The fear wouldn't leave. It kept growing stronger with every moment that brought them closer to Aristol. And he couldn't say any of this to Ivy, who was beaming brighter than the moon and stars.
"The first thing I'm going to do is buy an entirely new wardrobe," Ivy then added, shaking her head. Henry actually felt his lips twitch at that.
"Is that your main concern right now?" he asked.
"I have nothing else but this!" She pointed to her dusty attire and pouted. But then she flashed him another one of her crooked grins. "What are you going to do?"
Henry stared at the dark wall ahead of them. What was he going to do? He had to agree to leave without a genuine plan in mind. It'd been a spur of the moment to escape the darkness that got worse every time he woke up in that palace. And he hadn't thought about what he was going to do in Aristol or how he was going to explain any of this to Elouise. He despised lying to her, too. However, he'd been lying to her for years.
"I am... I am going to see my best friend," he said softly.
"But I'm already here," Ivy told him, throwing up her hands.
Henry widened his eyes and felt his blood turn cold. And then she burst into laughter and clapped a few times before nudging him. He exhaled slowly and tried his best to chuckle, but he was certain his attempt sounded like more sighs of relief.
They talked for a while longer. Or rather, Ivy talked, and Henry listened. She explained more of the "fun facts" she'd discovered while reading earlier. He nodded along, smiling whenever prompted.
Eventually, Ivy fell asleep, curled up with her arms embracing her legs and her head resting on her knees. Henry noticed her book about the Aristol rulers had been left next to her pillow. Since sleep was far from his mind, he decided to tidy up their things. His own satchel was tossed in the corner with his belongings peeking out.
Henry walked over and kneeled beside it. He stuffed his things securely back inside and sat up the bag. Then he carefully adjusted his bow and quiver against the walls before shifting his attention to Ivy's leather-bound history book. He picked it up and made his way to her bag at the foot of her bed. He found three other books stuffed inside, and he laughed to himself. She never tired of reading, while he could hardly get past five pages without his mind wandering. He used to wonder how Elouise could get through a new novel every week. She used to beg him to read her favorites. He once tried, and he fell asleep after the first chapter.
"Perhaps I should read now then," he jested as he put the history book in-between the others. Although he hadn't meant it, he figured there wouldn't be any harm—if it helped him sleep.
Henry peeked back at Ivy, wondering if he should ask for her permission first. His cousin had always been so open with him, though. Always insisting that whatever was hers was also his. As long as he repaid that favor, which he did. He made a mental note of telling her about his coin in the morning in exchange for her letting him "borrow" a book.
Henry picked out a curious one with red leather. Nothing was written on the side or on the cover, so he opened it to a random page to skim through first and decide if it was worth the time. However, he found it completely ineligible.
The words were written in a language unknown to him, which didn't necessarily surprise him. He knew his estrange aunt wanted her children to have the highest education possible, and that included teaching them dead languages no one cared for anymore. This had to be one of the few books that existed from a time when this peculiar language had thrived.
Henry attempted to read a sentence that was underlined more than once. "Fre-in-dis a des mu-o-erta, gran-tah me maj-ica—oh, never mind." He moved through the pages a bit more, spotting the word 'majica' a dozen more times. It frustrated him not knowing what the word even meant.
This was why he didn't read.
Henry shook his head and put the book back into Ivy's bag. He shouldn't have been touching her things anyway. He then stood and exited the cabin. Hardly anyone was left wandering around at this hour. He thanked the Goddesses for that as he reached the railing and leaned over it.
Whatever happened once they reached Aristol, he was certain of one thing: he wouldn't let himself be afraid of anything.
He would simply let things be.
(But that was perhaps the biggest lie of all.)