Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: King of Lies

We sailed for four more days back to the Garden Coast with no sign of trouble at all. We stayed close to the coast and I saw the Rose Castle of Loria glimmering in the Winter Sun. It was beautiful, but not like that of a painting. The white cliffs that held the Loria kingdom in its grasp felt false somehow, like they were sculpted to be that way and not naturally made. The flags of their dolphin banners waved proudly and the land of the peninsula dipped and dived as if it couldn't make up its mind.

After my morning duties, I went to check on Prince Lucas. The Iron Lass had set him up in a cabin of his own and had been recuperating just fine. His spirits were good too; on the second day he smiled again and I took him around the ship, showing him all the apartments and introducing him to the crew. The pirates were all happy to see him. Because of him, they'd be known as the pirates that took down the Green Lizard.

On this day, I went to see him before we made landfall.

"Lucas?" I asked, pulling the curtain and peeking in. "May I come in?"

"If you can fit," said Lucas.

I entered inside and saw him sitting cross-legged on the top bunk, he was reading a book titled, The Lost Cat that the Iron Lass let him borrow.

"How is the book?" I asked.

"It's not the kind I usually read, but it's not bad." He set the book down. "Are we making landfall soon?"

"We are." I put my hands in my pockets. "We should reach the Garden Coast in less than a couple of hours."

"I can't wait to be back on dry land," he said, closing his eyes with a smile.

"You're still well?" I asked.

Lucas opened his eyes to roll them. "For the hundredth time, I'm fine. If I can survive the strangeness of Holland's Manse, I can survive anything."

Prince Lucas smiled at me, but I knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth. It was just what he had to say to get through it and I wouldn't stand in his way.

"Good, just making sure." I went to leave, then turned around before I left. "If you ever need me for anything, don't hesitate to ask, Lucas."

"I'll remember that," he said, and went back to reading his book.

I went to the half-deck near the stern where the Iron Lass was steering the ship at the wooden wheel. We were approaching noon and the Garden Coast was in sight, but I didn't feel as hopeful as I thought I would have been. I still had Eldwyn's curse and Lucas's injuries to worry about and it was still a long road ahead.

"It shouldn't be much longer now," said the Iron Lass with her back to me.

"What will you do now?" I asked.

"We'll stay here for about a week, celebrate with ale, and have fun with men and women, then by that time I'm sure I'll hear about another location that has something I want. Then I will take it."

"You don't have a plan?" I asked.

She looked over her shoulder and said, "I never have a plan. Life is like the sea. You have to go where the tide takes you for better or for worse. It's the waves that decide—unless you have a wind relic at your side of course."

I looked out towards the vast sea and exhaled and the Iron Lass turned around to face me fully.

"It will be fine, Silver Sentry, I promise."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I'm older and wiser than you."

"Eldwyn was cursed by a dark wizard. That's why he destroyed the Emperor King. I fear that soon it will take him over completely and there will be nothing of my relic left."