zilentdreamer | FlightRising - Three Word Prompt (Reply)

User: LeafeonWarrior

Words: Seraphic, Sly, Betrayal

Isabeau leaned against the railing, eyes closed against the brisk wind that carried the hint of salt. She ignored the way the wind combed through her hair and turned it into a tousled mess against the back of her neck and in her face. Once in a while she brushed it aside, or tried to, until giving up and letting the wind push it around some more.

With night having long since fallen it was almost brutally cold up on deck. Without her cloak she would have been freezing, and even with it her hands felt numb where she gripped the railing. It was better than the stifling confines of the berth she’d been given. Everything was too close, the walls, her memories. It was better to up on the deck where there was only the cold, and sea wind to keep her company.

She looked down at the dark waters where they lapped against the side of the ship and her shiver had nothing to do with the cold.

It hurt, a yawning ache between her ribs to realize she’d been lied to her whole life. She had so many answers now to questions she didn’t even know to ask. Why her mother had feared the ocean and why she...hadn’t.

She was still having trouble believing it. The whole mess was just too far-fetched when laid out beneath the hard light of day. An ancient pact, a sea-monster bound by magic, a prince determined to save his child from the duty passed through his blood. It should have been a fairytale, something to stay up reading until the candle burned itself out. None of the revelations from the previous day had any place in real life.

Isabeau wanted to deny it, but...even now she can feel...something.

Ever since she was first brought on board she had an awareness of the sea that didn’t seem strange at first. She’d never even seen the ocean before how could she have known.

There was something terrifying about how close she had come to falling into the trap. Three weeks at sea and two sea battles. She’d even fallen into the water during that last battle trying to repair the rigging. If her blood had touched the ocean water...the magic lying dormant would awaken a creature so terrible that even the legends themselves had tried to erase it.

If she had any common sense she would be hiding in the middle of the ship and doing her best to avoid so much as catching a splinter. Isabeau should be feeling vulnerable and frightened, but right now all she felt was a fury that left her almost breathless beneath the weight of it. Had her mother ever intended to tell her? To explain the invisible weight that had always sat heavy across her shoulders and why she would dream of an ocean she had never seen.

It had been a shock to recognize something she knew, she knew, she had never seen.

If there was anything this blasted war had taught her, it was that ignorance was no excuse. Her mother might have hoped to save her by refusing to tell her the truth, but in the end it had just placed her in more peril.

“So this is where you retreated to.”

Isabeau startled as Captain Eliza joined her at the railing. She immediately felt the fool for taking such a drastic risk with everyone’s safety by lingering by the water.

Her immediate apologies were waved away as the captain leaned on the railing, resting her weight on her elbows. “Don’t apologize. Considering what we learned yesterday I don’t think you could avoid the ocean even if you tried.” She eyed Isabeau sidelong. “That does explain things at least.”

Isabeau pressed her lips together to hold back the tirade that tried to pour out of her. Instead it sat on her tongue, heavy and bitter.

“So what are you out here brooding over?”

Isabeau stared outright in surprise. “Captain?”

The Captain’s smile was soft, not the usual sly curve of her lips. It was the look in her eyes that made Isabeau swallow hard and look back out over the water. * “Your world was basically turned upside down yesterday and judging from your reaction you had no idea it was coming. That kind of thing can cut your feet out from under you faster than any wave.” She looked out over the night-dark ocean. “It might help to talk about it.”

“I don’t think it will,” Isabeau said, the words falling sharp and furious. “My mother lied to me. She risked my life because she was afraid and let me stumble into this,” Isabeau gestured at herself and the ocean as if that was explanation enough, “without any warning. She could have given me answers any time but instead she stayed quiet even when I was -”. Biting back the words Isabeau swallowed hard. She imagined the words were an actual physical weight in the back of her throat.

“When you were what?” the captain pressed. If she had turned to look at Isabeau she would have brushed her off. But her gaze was still on the endless ocean with its churning black waves gilded in moonlight. It was as much privacy as Isabeau could expect on the ship and receiving it from the captain now gave her the courage to continue.

“I’ve always dreamed of the ocean,” she admitted, speaking barely above a whisper. Just a touch louder than the quiet shush of the waves beneath them. “When we would visit the nearby lake I could never figure out why I always felt so strange in the water. As if it was close to what I wanted, but not enough.” She remembered crying once, only the once, not even sure why. Her mother had held her close and wiped her tears away saying, it was okay, it would fade with time.

It hurt to realize what her mother meant now. “I don’t know if she was ever going to tell me. Maybe she was going to wait until whatever magic lived in me...died.”

“But then you ended up on the ocean.”

Isabeau nodded and looked down at her hands where she gripped the railing. The water danced back and forth on the edge of her vision. It was frightening to realize that a part of her belonged down there.

“I saw a Mer once.” Before Isabeau could pepper her with questions the captain continued, “It was a long time ago, back when I first started sailing. It was in the middle of a storm and the captain had me up on the mast to help tighten the sails.” She laughed, shaking her head. “It was a wonder I survived the attempt. I’m pretty sure the captain had done it hoping I would get swept away.” The captain’s smile was deliberately sweet, seraphic as the one gracing the lips of the Lady fashioned on the prow of the ship. “He didn’t like having a girl onboard. Thought it would bring bad luck. But unfortunately for him I knew what I was doing. I was fighting to keep my grip beneath the wind and driving rain and suddenly lightning slashed across the sky.”

Captain Eliza shook her head and shared a commiserating look with Isabeau. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A Mer in the water several yards off the portside. It was looking right at me.”

Enraptured by the story Isabeau whispered, “What did you do?”

“I was frozen until a crack of thunder right overhead nearly made my lose my grip. By the time I had righted myself and was no longer in danger of falling the Mer was gone.” Captain Eliza’s nails tapped against the railing, her chin braced on the heel of one hand. “I could be imagining things, but I almost think the Mer was waiting to see if I was going to fall.” Another short laugh. “Hopefully they meant to rescue me, but I don’t know. It’s been a long time since they bothered to speak with us. In fact, I think it was almost two hundred years since any have bothered to speak with the royal family.”

Isabeau pressed her lips together. “That would fit with when my supposed ancestor took his family and fled the ocean.”

Captain Eliza hummed in agreement. “That would make them a bit salty about us land-lubbers huh?”

Isabeau blinked and then looked at the captain askance. “Did you just…?”

The captain’s response wasn’t so much a laugh as an actual cackle. Isabeau was pretty sure she’d heard seagulls make the same noise. “It did the job didn’t it. Aren’t brooding anymore are you?”

“If it weren’t too dangerous now I think I would be tempted to throw myself overboard,” Isabeau muttered.

Captain elbowed Isabeau in the side, ignoring Isabeau’s yelp of complaint. “You talk big. One of the reasons I like you.” The captain didn’t move away but instead slung her arm around Isabeau’s neck. “One more thing before I leave you to your hopefully much lighter thoughts.”

Feeling a change in the air, Isabeau carefully nodded.

“What your mother did hurt you and only you can decide if you will ever forgive her for it.” Isabeau tensed but didn’t try to pull away, aware that she wouldn’t be able to escape the captain’s hold. “But if you learn anything from this, I want it to be that even the people you care about will betray you if they think they are doing it for the right reasons.”

Even with the cloak on Isabeau felt suddenly so cold. “Captain…”

Letting go, Captain Riley carefully turned her until they were standing face to face. She put both hands on Isabeau’s shoulders and leaned in, continuing just above a whisper. “Be careful, Isabeau. Whatever protection your mother tried to give you is gone now. If it were only my crew who knew what you are I could try to buy you more time, but unfortunately I wasn’t the only captain at that encounter.” She pressed her lips together hard enough to drive the blood out of them before continuing. “We are at war and there will be those who will look at you and see the key to an ancient power. They won’t stop to wonder if they can control it, or what it might do to you in the process.”

Isabeau knew the captain was right, but it hurt to hear it spoken out loud. This wasn’t something she could hide from.

Not anymore.