Aqueous Passage. Krystyna Faroe

heard bustling and looked up to see Cook had moved away, he was breaking up ice and putting it into a towel for her. The huge body swung toward her, his large arm extended with the towel and ice, stopping just before it would have toppled her over by its arcing action. The cold eyes stared down at her but no words were said.

      “Thank you.”

      She received a cursory nod and the large body wrenched itself away from her and bounded toward the ovens. She watched him efficiently move between the other bodies, grabbing bottles of dried spices on his way and depositing their contents into a large pot that bubbled slowly. The plop plop sounds were barely audible above the other noises but she heard them, they were the only soothing sounds for her in the room.

      Clutching the towel and ice she pressed it to her lips and quietly left. She almost wished she hadn’t gone there but she knew she had to face Cook and cope with how he felt about her. One day somehow, she would atone for the hurt that she had caused him. He held her responsible for what had happened to Ensign Jones, as did she.

      As she walked through the corridor once more she felt short of breath and knew it was the lack of space that was bothering her, losing the freedom to go wherever she wanted. She had no doubt that all the Woodlanders on board felt the same, except Elm; she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t bothered by their entrapment. She scrambled up the steps suddenly unbalanced, no longer angry but forlorn; she wanted to cry and didn’t understand why. How pathetic was she? Why cry? What was wrong with her? The tears couldn’t be stopped; they flowed and unwanted subdued hiccups erupted hurting her chest from trying to suppress them. If only she could be like Oak and crush all of her emotions, everything would be so much clearer. No blinding anger, no foggy feelings, but most of all no misty tears. Her tears were her weakness.

      As she pushed the door to the deck open the sunlight momentarily blinded her, spots flashed before her eyes as she stumbled out and turned away from its direct light. The sun was in the east and they were travelling west. She preferred to face away from it and knew she would have to move again later to get away from its overwhelming brightness.

      With her hand full of the towel and ice still pressed to her lips she moved down the deck to her familiar railing. The spots that were a blotch to her sight where starting to fade as she looked at the sky ahead. She wiped away the tears, hoping to get rid of the occlusion to her senses with it. One particular blotch wouldn’t shift and she shook her head as if she could shake away the distortion to her sight. She looked back but it was still there. Squinting she tried to force it to shift but it didn’t. Opening her eyes wider she saw the reason why it wouldn’t shift, it was something in the sky, something familiar to her, something she knew carried someone special to her.

      The smile that spread across her face was joy. He was up there ahead of them on the airship, they hadn’t lost them, they were travelling in the same direction as they were. She was ready to run to Elm and tell him of her discovery but stopped herself. Elm wouldn’t share in her joy, even though he was different to the Elm she originally knew, jealously would twist him and as annoying as he was to her, she liked the Elm that she was travelling with. He was an Elm that was no longer trying to compete with Oak, an Elm that was comfortable in his surroundings and most of all comfortable with her. His feelings for her were unabashed, even though she held him at arm’s length. She could sense he was content to wait for her to succumb in her own time, as if it were inevitable that she would love him. Strangely, she didn’t scoff at the thought and that disconcerted her.

      It was better for her to close off all emotions to the other sex and concentrate on where they were and what was going on. What she needed to focus on was the question that everyone was trying to figure out; why had the Citans and Aviatilians kidnapped Oak and Blackthorn? What good was it going to do them? It made her head dizzy trying to figure it out because each time she thought about Oak and Blackthorn and the clans that had taken them there was never a logical conclusion. However, it excited her to think about where they were going and whom they may eventually be in conflict with.

      The quest for adventure meant more to her than being pathetic in a relationship. She couldn’t help but still think the sappy kisses and longing looks were ridiculous. She’d leave all that to the flouncy, flippy, floppy girls that giggled their way through the camp. Listening to them chop and change their minds about which defender they liked best annoyed her, there was more to life than romance.

      She pulled herself up as she noted it was only a few days ago that she’d wished she had stayed at the camp and been more like one of those girls and not got into all the trouble she had. What was the saying? It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. She’d had to look the word up when she read it in one of the magazines and it had made her laugh, but now, she fancied that being changeable meant you would never be dull. She’d talked with Elm on the subject and Elm had stated that she, herself, would most certainly never be dull. At first she’d felt offended but a little later she liked the air of mystery it gave her. No one ever knowing how she would be or what she would do, now that was exciting, but it was also silly.

      Someone clearing their throat took her attention away from her thoughts.

      “How are you Miss Fern?”

      She recognized the voice of Captain Rostin and slowly turned to the now formal Rostin. He was looking down at her but his head shot back at the sight of the blood stained towel of ice she held to her face.

      “What has happened?” His voice was soft with concern and she warmed at the sound of it for a moment, until he continued in a more priggish manner. “Miss Fern what have you been up to now?”

      She was affronted by his accusation but held back her retort and gave a simple statement instead.

      “I lost my balance and hit my lips, it’s nothing.”

      She couldn’t see his face clearly as the sun behind him was too bright and she brought her hand up to shade her eyes.

      He continued politely, “I hope it doesn’t inconvenience you too much.”

      She felt a pang of sadness at the platitude given to her, they’d been close, she deserved better than this. He’d protected her and she had confided in him, he was her confidant. She felt shunned by his new behaviour, now he was the captain and no longer lieutenant. What they once were to each other was gone and it made her grieve for the friendship they had lost.

      “I’m fine.” She said trying to be formal too.

      “I’m glad.” His eyes quickly scanned her. “You have recovered well from your ordeal.” He halted waiting for a reply but she said nothing, only continued to try to look into the eyes that were overshadowed by the blazing sun.

      “I just wanted to warn you that Mr. Laroche will be walking upon the deck this morning. He hasn’t been well and needs some fresh air.”

      Fern’s eyebrows locked together into a deep furrow which didn’t go unmissed by the observant captain.

      “He will be escorted. There’s no reason for you to be uncomfortable, you’ll be safe.”

      “I have no doubts I’ll be okay, I can’t say the same for Mr. Laroche if he comes anywhere near me.” She retorted in a lowered tone. She saw a slight curl to the corner of Captain Rostin’s mouth as he nodded his head.

      “Duly noted Miss Fern.”

      He bent his head down toward her as if he wanted to add something more personal but stopped.

      “Have a good day.”

      Giving a nod of his head he turned away without waiting for a response. Her sad eyes followed him as he walked away; he was so much more rigid than he was before. Is that what power did to you? It changed your personality, stomping out the kinder person that you used to be. Even Oak had changed but his differences had been more gradual over the years. She had thought it was just that he was maturing and that was why Oak wasn’t the same person, but seeing how Captain Rostin was behaving made her think otherwise. Leadership changed you and not always for the better.

      Her eyes were caught by movement elsewhere; three bodies were walking