CHAPTER SEVEN

THE VOYAGE

Queen Elana wouldn’t be coming down to the docks to see her daughter off. Instead, Ivy said goodbye to her mother within the king and queen’s bedchamber that morning.

Ivy had never seen her mother so distraught. The queen’s eyes were red and puffy from tears shed throughout the night. Her mother tried to smile for her daughter’s sake, but Ivy saw the sadness in her eyes. She tried to reassure her mother that everything would be alright and that Ser Osmund wouldn’t leave her side. Elana fussed with Ivy’s auburn hair as she tried to hold back her tears.

“I’ll be back by spring,” Ivy reassured her.

The queen hugged her daughter, telling her to be safe. “You do everything Ser Osmund tells you. Watch each other’s backs. Tell no one your identity. There are enemies and outlaws on Traders Road.” She glanced at Promise hanging on Ivy’s hip. “And only use that if you need it.”

Ivy agreed and hugged her mother for a long time, fighting to keep her own tears back.

“You’ll be eighteen when you return to me,” her mother said. “A woman.” She smiled and sent Ivy off. Ivy walked with her father and brother down to the docks, turning back once to see her mother standing in the tower’s window watching them.

When they reached the docks, Magnus stood back while Rayner said farewell. “Stay safe, and try not to beat up on Ser Osmund too much. The man is getting old.”

They turned to see Ser Osmund fighting to get his horse aboard; then both burst out into laughter. Ivy’s eyes began to fill with tears. Rayner pulled her close and hugged his sister tight. The two had never been apart for more than a few days. They were close in age and grew up not only as brother and sister, but as best friends. Rayner would be twenty years old when Ivy returned as their name days were close together.

Rayner sniffed as he pulled away. “I have something for you.”

Rayner unbuckled his sword belt, slid his dagger off, and handed it to Ivy. It was a beautiful blade with an onyx grip. Ivy looked confused. The knife was one of Rayner’s most prized possessions. He’d won it years back when competing in the yearly tournament games. Rayner had disarmed one of Magnus’s knights in a sparring contest. He was becoming a great swordsman and would be knighted within the next year. Ivy always looked up to him and strived to be like her older brother.

“I want you to keep it for me until you get back. Every warrior should have two blades on their sword belt. We can spar when you come back. If you beat me, then you can keep it.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep it safe.”

He smiled at his sister, then hugged her again, whispering against her ear, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Rayner.” Ivy sniffed. She clipped the dagger to her belt and watched Rayner walk back to the tower, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

Magnus came up behind her and rested his heavy hand upon her shoulder. “That was very nice of him,” he said, and then Ivy broke down. The tears started rolling down her cheeks as she turned to face her father.

“Oh, sweetling,” he said as he cradled her head on his shoulder. His own eyes threatened to betray him as the tears started forming. It was the hardest decision Magnus had ever made, and he questioned it in the days leading up to the departure. How could he let his little girl go? His only daughter to be sent to such a dangerous area by his own orders. Magnus prayed to the gods to keep the seas clear and his daughter safe. “Do you know what?” he asked, wiping his own tears away.

“What?” Ivy sniffed.

“You’ll ride straight through the city of Rahama. You may finally see those white-sand beaches that your mother talks of so fondly.”

Ivy smiled, but then a horn rang through the air to tell the sailors to begin boarding. Magnus saw a flicker of panic in his daughter’s eyes as they listened to the horn echo through the docks.

He adjusted the clip holding her cloak together. “Do you know why I named you Ivy?” She shook her head and dried her tears. “There’s an ivy plant that grows up the back of the central tower. The first time I held you was in our bedchamber. I walked over to the North window with you bundled up in my arms, and I saw that ivy growing strong, its long vines clutching the window. And then you grabbed my finger and wouldn’t let go.”

He brushed his daughter’s hair behind her ear and continued. “An ivy plant grows taller and stronger the more that they mature. It can take over whole castles if allowed to grow untamed. But no matter where it is or what it’s reaching for, it never loses its roots. I knew you would become a strong woman and do great things with your life. No matter where you go, your roots are here. This will always be your home, and you’ll always be my daughter.”

Ivy began tearing up again, and Magnus could no longer hold back his own tears. He let them fall freely as he pulled Ivy into his chest, not wanting to let go. He cupped the back of her head and whispered in her ear, “I love you, Ivy.”

“I love you too, Father.”

Magnus pressed his lips to her forehead, and closed his eyes, searing the moment into his mind. “Now,” he began, drying his tears, “I don’t want you to be sad. Don’t worry about us back here. Focus on your training and try to have fun. You’re going on a great adventure, and Ser Osmund will be at your side the whole way. Listen to Ronin, and you may just yet become a knight.”

Ivy’s eyes lit up with excitement at that. “A knight?” she exclaimed. “But, your rules—”

“Will be revisited upon your return.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” Magnus proclaimed, placing his fist across his chest, and Ivy mirrored him. The horn sounded again, giving a final warning cry.

Ivy gathered herself, and Magnus walked her to the ship that would take her away. They embraced one last time, and Magnus watched his daughter climb the ramp to the Red Maiden. Ser Osmund was already aboard, waving to the king as he helped Ivy onto the ship. Magnus would stay standing on the beach until the ship disappeared over the horizon. Ivy turned back to look at her father one more time, and he placed his fist across his chest again as if to say everything will be alright. Because it had to be.

Ivy leaned over the gunwale of the Red Maiden, feeling the sea spray on her cheeks. Seagulls circled above, and Ivy’s auburn hair whirled around her face as the wind came off the water. It was the first time Ivy had been on a ship of this size. Most of the local fishermen of Godstone set out in rowboats to fish the Onyx Cove. Her father had the largest ship in the kingdom, but Ivy had never seen him use it.

The Red Maiden was massive. Her three masts stood as tall as the ship was long. Her red sails cracked and snapped with the winds of the Shadow Sea. They’d been sailing for days now and would arrive at Port Tsue tomorrow. Ser Osmund was largely confined to his cabin, as the choppy waters didn’t agree with him, and he could scarcely keep anything down.

Ivy, however, spent her days above deck, following the captain around and listening to his stories. Captain Erik Seafarer was a stout man, not much older than her father, though his hair was gray. Erik had a scar across his throat, and some of his front teeth were missing.

“Was a Siren did this,” the captain said one afternoon, pointing to the scar. He told Ivy the story, in a raspy voice, of how a Siren almost dragged him down to the bottom of the sea.

The Siren Sea lay to the southwest and the captain told her it got its name from the creatures that lurked in the warm green waters. Erik told Ivy how he’d sailed South years ago, and the Red Maiden had been caught in a storm and run aground. Erik was the last off the boat, to make sure all the men got off. When he lowered himself down into the waist-high waters, he heard someone singing.

“A young girl lay floatin’ on her back, singing to herself,” he said. “I thought she must be hurt. I tried to rescue her.” Erik said she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her hair was black as night, and her pale blue eyes shone in the dark storm. He pulled her to shore, and when he dragged her onto the sand, he realized she had no legs, but the tail of a fish covered in thick black scales. “I grew up hearing stories of how the song of the Sirens can put men in a trance,” the captain recalled.

“I turned to run, but she had hold of my ankle. The creature clawed at me and shrieked, and her face had morphed—her teeth were sharp things, her eyes had become hollow holes. The Siren started dragging me back into the water, and no matter how much I yelled, my men couldn’t hear me over the storm.

“I tried to kick the creature off, but she sliced her talon across my neck. We struggled, and my lungs filled with salty water. I could taste blood in my mouth. I don’t know how, but finally I managed to pull a knife and I just slashed at the creature. The Siren retreated to the deep waters, screaming as she dove under the sea.”

Ivy didn’t know whether to believe Erik, but it was a good story, and she listened anyway. He had many strange stories, and Ivy enjoyed his company during the voyage since Ser Osmund wasn’t feeling well. Ser Osmund’s black stallion, Eclipse, had been brought aboard and hadn’t stopped screaming since. Ivy’s chestnut colt, Cassius, seemed to be faring better, though he still wasn’t eating much.

Later that day, Ivy could see a storm approaching from the east. Black clouds hung low to the water, and a sheet of rain cut off her view of the sea beyond. She made her way below deck to take shelter and check on Ser Osmund. The cook had left a tray outside his door—hard bread and a bowl of broth, though most of it had sloshed out due to the rough seas. She picked it up and knocked on his door. The knight sat up in his bed, still looking a little pale. Ivy offered him the food on the tray, and the knight tried a nibble of bread.

“Erik says we’ll arrive at Port Tsue tomorrow. You and Eclipse should be feeling better once you’re on dry land again,” Ivy teased.

“Good,” the knight said. “I don’t know what I’d do if we had to sail all the way to Kame Island.”

“How long will it take us to ride down the coast?”

“It will take more time than our voyage did. A horse can only walk so far in a day, and we’re in no rush. The weather will be better down South, so we don’t need to worry about snow and freezing rains.”

“Will Ser Ronin be inside the castle with the king?”

“I’m not sure, my lady. We’re to go straight to King Mashu, and then he’ll tell us where to find Ronin.”

“Why don’t you call him Ser? He’s a knight, isn’t he?”

“He is. Though he never wanted to be called Ser.”

Ivy didn’t understand. What sort of knight wouldn’t want the title that comes with knighthood? “Will you tell me about him?”

Outside, the rain began to beat against the window, and the wind could be heard howling through the boat.

“Very well,” Ser Osmund agreed. “Light those lanterns above the bed. The sky will be black soon.” Ivy did what he asked, then settled in a chair beside his bed.

“What would you like to know, my lady?”

Ivy considered. There was so much she wanted to know. She decided to start with asking how Ronin came to Godstone and started training knights. Ser Osmund told the tale as best he could recall. Ronin came to Godstone as a young man of twenty years old when Magnus was only a boy of five. He left the Isle of Fire as a boy to pursue knighthood on the mainland. He trained in Rahama and quickly earned his knighthood, as he was renowned for his style of fighting.

“I’d never fought a man like him, before or since,” Ser Osmund recalled. “The way he moved was like water flowing over a rock, and I was the rock.”

Word quickly spread of Ronin’s skill, and King Erwin of Godstone sought him out and asked Ronin if he’d teach his son, Magnus, to fight. Ronin was reluctant but eventually agreed and soon came to train Helvarr as well. Magnus and Helvarr were inseparable as boys. Helvarr’s father had been killed in battle, and King Erwin gave him a room in the tower. He became a friend and brother to Magnus.

Ronin soon grew to care for the two boys like a father. They would train every day for hours at a time, and Ser Osmund would often accompany them to ensure the future king was safe.

“I remember the day I saw a glimpse of the Helvarr I would come to know,” Ser Osmund went on, eyes hooded. “They were seven years old, and Ronin took them to the beach to spar. The day was cloudy, and rain threatened to interrupt the training session, but Ronin insisted they needed to learn to fight on ground that wasn’t stone.”

Ser Osmund took another nibble of bread and continued. “Ronin drew a circle in the sand for the boys—the first to be pushed out of the ring lost. They began with their practice swords, meeting each other’s blows and counter striking. Your father managed to disarm his friend and push him out of the circle, but Helvarr didn’t like that. They reset and came together in a crash, Helvarr never giving Magnus a chance to swing his sword. I could see the anger in his eyes as he sent his sword crashing down on Magnus’s leg. He screamed out in pain and dropped his sword, but Helvarr came at Magnus, sword still swinging, and shoved him out of the circle to land face down in the sand. When I started to approach, Ronin held up his hand to stop me. Helvarr threw his sword down and jumped onto Magnus. The two boys struggled in the sand until Helvarr landed a punch across his cheek and reared back for another. That was when I stepped in and grabbed hold of his arm.

“I shoved Helvarr aside to make sure Magnus was alright. When I looked to Ronin for answers as to why he let it continue, he only shook his head in disappointment. At the time, I thought it was meant for Magnus because he wouldn’t fight back, but now I know it was Helvarr who disappointed Ronin.” Ser Osmund looked to Ivy, who was listening to the story intently. The room had grown dark from the storm outside, and the lanterns swung on their chains above the bed. “You must never fuel your sword with hate and anger if you’re to become a good knight, Ivy. It clouds your head, consuming you.”

Ivy nodded.

“Let’s see,” the knight continued. “Ronin remained at Godstone even after he knighted your father and Helvarr. He took on a few more young boys and started training others for knighthood. But he always kept a close relationship with Magnus and especially Helvarr.”

Ivy furrowed her brow at that. “Why him? If you say he was disappointed in Helvarr, then why would he continue to look after him?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that, my lady. Perhaps Ronin felt that it was his burden somehow. Perhaps he was only making sure Helvarr wouldn’t lose his temper. Who’s to say what reasons Ronin had? Perhaps you could ask him when we arrive.”

“Was Ronin there the day my father banished Helvarr?” Ivy asked.

“No, he was back at the kingdom training future knights. However, I was there, and I remember it like it only happened yesterday.”

Ser Osmund told Ivy the whole story. The battle, how her father got the scar on his cheek, the arrow that made Ser Osmund slower to swing on his left side. He described the fight in bloody detail, even describing Lady Roe better than her father had when he recalled the event. Perhaps it was a painful memory for her father, and he didn’t wish to discuss it. Ser Osmund said her father took the girl’s death to heart, blaming himself for what happened to her, though Ivy knew it wasn’t his fault. None of it would have happened if not for Helvarr.

By the time Ser Osmund had finished his story, the world outside was black. The knight let out a yawn, and Ivy stood to take her leave. As she walked down the corridor to her cabin, she recalled everything that Ser Osmund told her. Some things just didn’t make sense to her, but she’d soon ask the same questions to Ronin himself. Ivy returned to her small cabin. The room was bare, save for the bed under the round window and her bag containing some extra clothes. Her father had told her to pack light because they wouldn’t be able to bring along a carriage. He’d given Ivy a leather purse with some gold coins so that she could purchase some new clothing down South to blend in, though Ivy wasn’t concerned. It wasn’t as if anyone was looking for them. Why should she worry? Ivy was more focused on training and getting more answers from Ronin.

The storm raged all through the night, making it difficult to sleep. When dawn broke, the rain began to die away, and Erik sent for her to be brought up on deck. Ivy strapped on her sword belt with Promise and Rayner’s dagger and ran up the steps. She found Erik at the bow of the Red Maiden, pointing at the approaching city.

Port Tsue was like nothing Ivy had ever seen. Godstone had the one central tower and high walls, but Port Tsue had many high structures. It was no kingdom, but it was massive to behold. The city’s tallest structures were built from red stone, and all around them, beautifully colored buildings stood below. Yellow, sky blue, tan, and pink, each different from the next.

As the Red Maiden came closer to the docks, Ivy could see two tridents carved from stone marking the city’s entrance. They stood taller than the masts of the Red Maiden, their three spears stabbing at the sky. The city rose high on a hill from the water to stand on stone streets as far as the eye could see, making it seem like the buildings were stacked on top of each other.

Stone steps crept their way out of the water to meet the city above. A hundred different flowers grew over the wall to dangle just above the shallows of the water. The air already felt warmer as Ivy removed her cloak. It even smelled different here. The air smelt of saltwater, fish, and flowers.

“Best go and find your sick knight, little lady,” Erik said, drawing her eyes away from the city. “We’ll drop you at the docks, and then the Red Maiden will be off again as if it was never here.”

Smiling, Ivy turned and ran across the deck. She was anxious to explore the city and see the South. Ivy only wished that her father was here with her, but she couldn’t think of that right now. She was anxious to get off the ship and experience new things. Her adventure was beginning, and everything was alright, just as her father promised her.